[V13C32] The Happiness of an Ordinary Guy

The night after arriving in Sazandol, Isaac put on a pair of disguise glasses and headed to the familiar tavern wearing Felix’s face.

This was where he would be having a meeting with Clifford discussing the operation of the carriages from the Anderson Trading Company.

Right as he stepped inside, the sailors gave him greetings of, “Hey there, Walker,” followed by invitations to drink or arm wrestle. He dodged all of their attempts as he proceeded into the back of the building.

His meeting partner Clifford was seated at a table next to the counter, eating by himself with a gloomy expression.

Since Isaac already had dinner with Monica, he ordered ale and a few snacks from the waitress, then sat across from Clifford.

“I would prefer it if you didn’t force weird clothes onto my partner,” Isaac said.

Clifford, who had been silently removing the bones from his fish soup, paused his fork and looked at Isaac. The gray eyes behind his thick glasses seemed completely emotionless.

“What are you talking about?” Clifford asked.

“That creative summer vest of yours. Is that the kind of clothes you prefer?”

The design had a rose as big as a person’s head, with eyes and a mouth tacked on. This was the stuff of nightmares.

It took a while, but Clifford finally remembered.

“Ah, that. Lana asked me for a design, so I drew a random sketch in five minutes. Then, the artisan made it as a joke. Also, the eyes and mouth weren’t my idea. Some weirdo added that later.”

Perhaps people as weird as Cyril might not be so rare after all, Isaac secretly thought to himself.

Needless to say, Isaac’s pocket buddy Wildianu was away at the moment, currently getting guided around the house by Monica and Nero. There was no way Isaac could complain about the vest in front of the kind-hearted Wildianu.

“Either way,” Clifford muttered, going back to removing the fish bones from his soup. “That’s a bit hard to believe.”

“You mean the complete lack of sense of the summer vest?”

“No, the fact that there is someone you call a partner, Walker. It’s hard to believe such a crazy man exists.”

How rude. As Isaac went silent, Clifford pushed his glasses up and continued.

“First possibility, you’re blackmailing him. Second, you think of them as a partner, but he doesn’t reciprocate. It must be one or the other.”

The correct answer would be option three, he was a spirit rather than a crazy man.

Of course, Isaac had no intention of revealing Wildianu’s true identity, nor was he going to acknowledge Clifford’s offensive remarks.

“Can we talk about work now?” Isaac asked. “I’ve received a letter from Chairman Anderson. He’ll be sending the items needed for my research by carriage next month.”

“In that case, let us have the carriage afterwards. We won’t need them right now because we’re still busy with the Rose Festival.”

Clifford became very efficient and straightforward when it came to work.

He could probably recite the delivery schedule without looking at his notebook, while multi-tasking his removal of fish bones.

Ultimately, they finished their meeting in just a few minutes.

Isaac’s order arrived soon after, so he simply started drinking. After all, there was no way Clifford would ever join him for a toast.

Isaac poured the lukewarm beer down his throat and let out a satisfied breath.

He ordered seconds as soon as his first mug was empty, and the accustomed waitress promptly placed a second mug on the table.

Clifford, who was still nibbling on his food, paused with a piece of bread in hand and looked at Isaac.

“At least wait until I’m done before getting drunk. I don’t want to sit at the same table as a drunkard.”

“Sorry,” Isaac apologized with a shrug. “I’m in a good mood because something nice happened.”

The nearby sailors at the counter called out to him with a grin.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Walker! Did you finally make it with the girl you like?”

“Who was that again…? Uh, an older blonde chick with big boobs or something?”

“No, you saw him bringing that silver-haired girl the other day. Remember? The day when the Silent Witch used that artifact at the lighthouse…”

“That was my rival in love,” Isaac interjected.

Several sailors raised their voices in surprise.

Ignoring their confusion, Isaac took a sip from the second mug. Delicious. It felt like he was finally alive.

Isaac nibbled on a piece of salami as he recalled the events of earlier today.

＊　＊　＊

Even after returning home from the capital, Monica still had a lot of work to do.

As the inventor of the shadow-removal spell, Monica’s desk was piled high with questions from users, reports on the progress of patients, and paperwork related to patents and rights for spell development.

There was also a mountain of other documents that Monica needed to review, including a report on the current mana concentration of Sazandol, and one on the movements of the water dragons that had gathered in the port.

“Ugh, I-I need to go to the Mage Association… but there’s probably a lot of paperwork waiting for me there too.”

That was when Isaac returned from greeting the neighbors with Felix’s face. Upon seeing Monica slouched in front of a pile of documents, he hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

“Monica, I’m sorry to bother you while you’re tired, but… there’s something I want you to see. Do you have time?”

“Yes, what is it?”

At times like these, Monica never frowned.

She would always listen carefully to her disciple’s suggestions, just like a caring master should. Isaac was proud to see how much Monica trusted him.

“I’ve made some slight improvements to the underwater reconnaissance spell,” Isaac continued. “I think it could be useful for investigating the water dragons in the harbor. If it withstands your scrutiny and is practical, I’d like you to take it to the Mage Association.”

This improvement was truly minor. There was no massive increase to detection range or anything like that. Isaac had no time for thorough research, so he only managed to make slight boosts to precision and visibility.

Monica began reading through the paper Isaac offered. All the expression disappeared from her youthful face as her round eyes scanned through the magical formulas.

Isaac waited nervously for Monica to finish.

This reminded him of the first time Monica had read his report. That night in Reinberg, back when he still didn’t know her identity.

Isaac had been incredibly anxious. The moment when the great witch corrected his magical formulas was far more nerve-wracking than any public speech.

Eventually, Monica lifted her face from the paper and looked at Isaac. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and there was a sparkle in her eyes.

“Ike, this is amazing. Really amazing.”

Hearing those words made Isaac excessively happy. Even though his heart was already full of joy, Monica continued, waving her clenched fists up and down.

“You’ve thought of everything down to the smallest details, improving the accessibility and ease of use.. It’s amazing, really. Ike, the spells you create are so… um, considerate.”

Isaac struggled to keep his face from loosening too much, as he crouched slightly in front of Monica.

“Are you praising me, Master?”

“Yes!”

Monica reached out her right hand to pat Isaac’s head… but then, she gasped in realization and abruptly pulled her hand back.

Isaac stared back, practically begging Monica to continue, but Monica fought back with her ‘reliable master’ face.

“I-Ike… Y-You’re an adult man, so we won’t do this kind of thing anymore!”

Isaac was taken aback.

She had made the strange declaration of “I promise to protect your dignity!” yesterday. It seemed that Monica was genuinely trying to treat Isaac as an adult man.

Monica slipped past the stunned Isaac and hurried out of the room. Then, she peeked her head out from the door. Her desperate face looked very cute.

“But, um, I really do want to praise you a lot! You’re amazing! Really! …I-I’m off to the Mage Association!”

Monica promptly rushed out through the door.

＊　＊　＊

“She said I’m an adult man, so she won’t pat my head anymore.”

The loss of headpats was definitely a bit sad. After all, this was a precious opportunity to have the girl he loved reach out to him.

But at the same time, Isaac was so happy that he clenched his fists in triumph.

Because Monica had finally gotten to this point!

“At long last, she’s become conscious of me. She sees me as a man.”

In contrast to the joy written on Isaac’s handsome face, the sailors gave him mixed looks.

“Walker,” Clifford muttered as he dipped a piece of bread in his soup. “You seem to be using the wrong word there. She was not ‘conscious’ of you at all. It’s more accurate to say you were ‘recognized’ as a man.”

“…”

“In other words, she considered you as ‘something resembling a human’ up until now. I’m glad to hear you were recognized as a human. Congratulations.”

Of course, his congratulations lacked any hint of sincerity.

Though his face remained expressionless, Clifford continued with a strange sense of pride.

“By the way, Lana recognized me as a man a long time ago.”

“How many years have passed since then? Without ever reaching the next step?” Isaac retorted.

“…”

“…”

Realizing that they were on the same level, the two silently exchanged a series of kicks under the table.

Meanwhile, the waitress brought some drinks and snacks to their table without being asked, apparently, a treat from the nearby sailors.

Isaac looked over to see them wearing expressions that seemed to be a mixture of astonishment, pity, kindness, and teasing.

“Well, uh, at least you’ve taken a step forward, right?”

“It’s going to be a long time before you can treat us, huh…”

Come to think of it, Isaac had once promised to treat everyone here once his love was fulfilled.

Isaac chugged the free booze and raised the corner of his lips into a defiant smirk.

“Say what you want. This step is a big leap forward for me.”

The revived Isaac Walker was a greedy man. He didn’t intend to give up on a single thing.

(Be prepared, Master. And brace yourself, my rival in love.)

Isaac took a voracious bite from a piece of steak, and upon seeing this, one of the sailors mumbled, “I’ve always thought you looked too perfect to be one of us, but you’re really just an ordinary guy, huh.”

As he gnawed on the meat, Isaac couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

“…Yeah, I’m just an ordinary guy.”

With a face handsome enough to be a prince, Isaac licked the meat juices off his lips.

For now, the first order of business was to find a way to have Monica pat his head while still recognizing him as an adult man.

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