A mid-level (middle-aged) office worker's laid-back industrial revolution in another world - Chapter 123

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

Takeo and Alice were almost at the Elvis residence.

“We took some time getting here,” said Takeo.

“Yes, those four men never stop drinking and talking,” said Alice. When Takeo and Alice had arrived at the top of the castle gates after the practice, the men all began toasting them at once, saying, “You’ve done it, Kitamizato-sama!”, “Bravo!”, and all manners of congratulations.

“By the way, why do you think they congratulated you so heartily, Takeo-sama?” Alice asked.

“…Probably because they never thought I could ever tie against you,” said Takeo.

Takeo had known that this was what those four men were thinking, but he answered all of their praises with inoffensive thanks. Alice thought to herself that their expectations of Takeo were too low, and smiled bitterly as they walked on.

They arrived at the mansion. As they entered the foyer, they ran into Frederick.

“Welcome home, Lady Alice. Takeo-sama,” he said.

“Thank you, Frederick,” said Alice.

“Yes, we’re back,” said Takeo, “And thank you for your hard work today, Frederick-san.”

“The others have already finished dinner, and are sitting in the parlor, at the moment,” said Frederick.

“Is that so? Alright, then, we’ll head over there after having dinner, ourselves,” said Takeo.

“Certainly,” said Frederick, and led Alice and Takeo to the dining room.

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After hearing someone say, “Come in” for permission to enter, Alice and Takeo opened the door and stepped in.

Inside were Grandpa Elvis, Smith, and Frederick.

“Hello, Grandfather. I’m home,” said Alice.

“Elvis-san – we’ve returned safely,” said Takeo.

“Alice. Takeo. Welcome back,” said Grandpa Elvis.

“Hello, Smith,” said Alice.

“Master Smith. Good evening,” said Takeo.

Alice and Takeo took their seats.

Frederick poured them their tea and placed their cups before them. He then backed away politely.

“You two put in a good amount of work today, didn’t you?” said Grandpa Elvis.

“Yes,” Alice replied, and Takeo nodded.

“Takeo, you did me proud,” said Grandpa Elvis.

“Did I live up to your expectations?” asked Takeo.

“Mm, yes. You’ve done more than I could have hoped for,” he replied and nodded.

“What? Was Takeo-sama under some kind of obligation?” asked Alice.

“No, no. I didn’t agree to anything like that. I simply deduced that there were certain expectations,” said Takeo.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“Like what?” Alice asked, with an expression demanding answers.

“…Before I tell you my thoughts on that – Master Smith, do you know what I’m referring to?” asked Takeo.

“What? Hmm… Do you mean you were expected to fight Lady Alice seriously…?” said Smith.

“…Ah, no. That wouldn’t be a mysterious expectation, now, would it? Think about the conversation between me, Elvis-san, and Lady Alice yesterday, before he proposed the mock battle,” said Takeo.

“Yes… If I remember correctly… Takeo-sama, you were talking about riding practice, and you said Lady Alice cause you to make a mistake or something,” said Smith.

“Yes. Then, very abruptly, Elvis-san brought up talk of a mock battle,” said Takeo.

“Yes,” said Smith.

“And? What did Elvis-san say to me this morning?”

“What? …He said ‘You seem to understand’, didn’t he?” said Smith.

“Yes. That was the moment I grasped what was expected of me,” said Takeo, “Those two conversations… stuck out to me.”

“What do you mean?” asked Smith.

“Yesterday, from the way the conversation was going, I took it that I was expected to lose the mock battle that was proposed. But then, this morning, if I was really expected to lose, I would have heard encouragements along the lines of ‘Do your best’ or ‘Fight like your life depends on it’,” said Takeo.

“Those don’t quite sound like encouraging words to me,” Alice said, sounding a bit exasperated.

“…As things stood this morning, it was pretty much a given. I would probably be defeated, since I was going up against Lady Alice, after all. And yet, he said, ‘You seem to understand.’…”

“Yes. And, how exactly did you take that, Takeo-sama?” Alice prompted.

“At that moment, I realized that the assumption that I would lose might just be wrong,” said Takeo.

“Meaning?” asked Alice.

“It wasn’t my loss that Grandpa Elvis was looking to see – it was Lady Alice’s loss,” said Takeo.

“What!?” Smith and Alice said together, turning to look at Grandpa Elvis.

“Mmm, yes… That’s mostly correct. Even if Alice didn’t flat-out lose, I thought it may be something like that… I wanted to suggest it was possible for her to lose,” said Grandpa Elvis.

“Why, Grandfather?” Alice asked Grandpa Elvis, but Takeo began to talk before he could answer.

“I wondered why, as well. So, I was in a sort of daze of thoughts before the mock battle. Then, I remembered something. Before the proposal for the mock battle, Lady Alice said, ‘I want to cause Takeo-sama to make mistakes.’I think those words were what made things click for me,” he said.

“What?” said Alice.

“Mm, yes. Takeo, you’ve figured things out quite impressively. Do you really want to talk about that, though?” asked Grandpa Elvis.

“Yes. That fairytale… The goblin battle two years before Lady Alice’s turning point. Ever since then, Lady Alice said she hadn’t made a single mistake, correct?” asked Takeo.

“…Yes, that’s correct,” said Alice.

“And with that, Elvis-san thought that this would be a good opportunity. If I lost, I would be making mistakes like Lady Alice wanted me to. If Lady Alice lost, it would help her by proving to her that she wasn’t invincible,” said Takeo.

“Hmm, yes. That is quite sufficient for an answer, Takeo,” said Grandpa Elvis.

“Grandfather, why didn’t you tell me?” asked Alice.

“If I did, it would have affected your fighting, no?” he asked back.

“…No, it…”

“…It would, wouldn’t it? You might have even challenged me to a battle,” he said.

“That’s a bit cruel to lead me into that situation, no?” she asked.

“Takeo had already heard about your fight with the platoon leaders. I knew it would work out,” he said.

“Ah, well, fine. It ended in a draw, anyway, thank god. It seems you got what you wanted,” said Alice.

“Mm. yes. You’ve both tasted a bit of defeat, now, haven’t you?” he said.

“Yes,” said Takeo and Alice together.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]