Chapter 59 – Rumors

R̀​ea&d; ̀ｏ​n‍& ;​KаtЯe&a;d​ｉn​g̈&C;ａϝ&e;

–

After leaving Mari with Yuika, Hosanna came down to the lobby on the first floor.

True to what he’d been told about everyone already gathering, the usually empty lobby was bustling with more than ten people.

The first to notice his arrival was Ulrika, who was conversing with someone nearby.

“Perfect timing, president. Did you meet with Yuika?”

“Yes. Is anyone missing?”

“Everyone’s been here for quite a while. You’re the last one to arrive.”

Hosanna let Ulrika’s teasing words slide past one ear while carefully scanning the people with his eyes.

It wouldn’t actually affect the boss room raid if a few people were missing, but that wasn’t the only reason he was checking.

As mentioned several times before, people who were actively interested in dungeon clearing were few and far between. Those like Hosanna who sincerely wanted to return to reality quickly were even fewer. Even among those gathered here, he could barely count them on one hand.

The rest were people who just found dungeon diving fun or those who didn’t care either way and were just there because they’d been asked. Because of this, there were quite a few who had lost interest and become indifferent to dungeon clearing.

Considering that there had been twice as many people when they conquered the first level’s boss room, Hosanna’s behavior was perhaps understandable.

‘Fortunately, the numbers are the same.’

He almost became disheartened when he momentarily couldn’t spot Kang Hanna, who was adorned in black from head to toe, but he eventually noticed her slight movement and inwardly sighed in relief.

At least until the next level, everything should go smoothly.

“Then let’s depart right away—”

“Excuse me, President!”

Just as he was about to depart without any briefing—since it wasn’t a particularly difficult boss room—someone raised their hand high and called out to Hosanna.

Turning his head, he saw a quite familiar face. One of the few women in the breakthrough team, alongside Kang Hanna.

They weren’t close enough to casually exchange words, but she had always been present during dungeon breakthroughs, so he felt mentally close to her.

Perhaps she had a question. She should have heard the general information from Yuika. Hosanna smiled and asked:

“Yes, do you have a question?”

“I heard you were with the subject of the rumors until just now, is that true?!”

His gentle smile cracked. As laughter spread among the people along with the clear voice, Hosanna turned his head and glared at Ulrika.

“Ulrika, you rotten wolf—”

“N-No. It wasn’t me this time, I swear!”

“If not you, then who?”

The only people who knew about Mari here were Yuika and the two of them.

Of course, there was also the Saintess at the cathedral, but she wouldn’t come here, so she was naturally excluded. And Yuika, who didn’t know Mari was here until she saw her directly, wouldn’t have spread it, so naturally only Ulrika remained.

Besides, given his past record, suspecting Ulrika was only natural.

Just as Hosanna was about to cast a spell on Ulrika, who was making an innocent face:

“Um…”

“Miss Kang Hanna?”

“I spread it… no, I didn’t mean to spread it, but I unintentionally saw… I’m sorry…”

Seeing Kang Hanna answering timidly and shriveling up, Hosanna wore a puzzled expression.

He couldn’t believe that she, who like himself was most active in dungeon breakthroughs but was so unsociable that the only time she mingled with others was during boss room raids like now, was acquainted with Mari.

Rather, it raised questions. Both Kang Hanna and Mari are equally shy and reserved—when did they get to know each other?

But Hosanna’s questions didn’t last long. The hyenas who had been eagerly waiting for a chance to tease him had already caught the scent and pounced.

“President… I didn’t see you like that, how could you…!”

“What did I do… I didn’t do anything. Besides, I’ve already explained that we’re not like that.”

“But the fact that you called her early in the morning means that, as expected, since you won’t be able to see her for a long time, you expressed a lot of affection…!”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Paralyze.”

“Gack…”

Laughter spread as the man fell backward, paralyzed.

Even after seeing this, a few more people continued with their bold questions, but they were all kindly given the paralysis spell and made to embrace the floor intimately.

Looking at the people squirming on the floor making “uugh” sounds, Hosanna sighed.

He understood their obsession with gossip in the Novice World, which lacked entertainment, but he wished they would at least spare Mari.

Unlike himself, who was only physically young, she was truly young. If the other party had been an adult, he might have laughed along and played along a bit, but with Mari, it was different.

Hosanna tapped his wand on his shoulder and said:

“Rather, pair me with someone else. Not with that kid. Do you need to make someone a criminal?”

“If we pair you with someone else, that person might become a criminal—”

“Paralyze.”

“Gaaack…”

Just because you shouldn’t defame someone doesn’t mean you can speak the truth.

Well, it’s not entirely wrong either. Hosanna thought as he lowered his wand.

Though he referred to Mari as a kid, to be frank, the height difference between the two wasn’t even 3 inches.

Just as Hosanna thought it would be criminal to be paired with Mari, others seemed to think the same.

Damn, if only he were 5 inches taller. Even then, it would still fall far short of his old height, but at least he could have been treated as a short adult.

The only consolation might be that he was quite tall for a dwarf race. But to others, he would still look like a kid, just like Mari.

Hosanna inwardly lamented as he cast dispel on the paralyzed people and said:

“If you’ve enjoyed yourselves enough, let’s get going.”

A lot of time had been wasted. Of course, time was abundant, but since nobody except Kang Hanna liked wandering around the dungeon during the dark night, it was better to depart quickly. Even those who had been paralyzed for teasing Hosanna followed his words and moved.

After a final check to ensure they hadn’t forgotten any items necessary for the dungeon stay, Hosanna and the others left the building.

“Take care!”

Raising his head at the high voice, he saw Yuika leaning out from the window of the President’s office, waving her hand in their direction. Some men who were acquainted with her, like Kang Hanna, or those who had feelings for Yuika, waved back with goofy faces.

‘It would have been nice if Yuika had come down to the 7th level too.’

Yuika’s lock point was the 4th level, but considering her skills alone, she wouldn’t be out of place in the current boss room raid party. However, since she didn’t show much enthusiasm for clearing the dungeon, they had no choice but to leave her behind.

Hosanna’s principle was that dungeon clearing should be done voluntarily. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’ll stop trying to persuade others to go down the dungeon with him.

Just as he was about to leave after waving back, a small head popped up beside Yuika.

“Oh.”

Although she had a hood pulled over her head, being at a height, her appearance was clearly visible. Hosanna was startled and opened his eyes wide at the appearance of the girl with blue eyes and brown hair. He hadn’t expected Mari to show herself while so many people were watching.

“…ful…!”

While Hosanna was surprised, Mari shouted something, but the sound was so faint that he could barely hear the end part. And then she disappeared from the window like a mole, making it impossible to know what she had said.

Fortunately, there was a wolf beastman with good ears here.

“‘Be careful!’ is what she said, President?”

“Mari said that?”

“What, why are you looking at me with such suspicious eyes? It’s true!”

Ulrika made a wronged expression, but Hosanna still couldn’t easily believe it.

It was naturally hard to believe that the shy Mari had cheered for him.

But, conversely, if it was true, it meant his efforts to get close to Mari hadn’t been in vain, so it wasn’t a bad feeling.

‘Though there’s a feeling she’s becoming too comfortable with me too quickly…’

Even so, saying things like it’s okay to touch her is a bit much.

Of course, considering the flow of the conversation, she probably meant it was okay to touch her hair, not her body, but because Yuika made such a fuss, he ended up agreeing before he knew it.

Of course, it wasn’t bad to give a warning in case Mari had meant something else by those words.

‘That kid, her sense of distance is strange.’

It’s hard to get close to her, but once you do, she feels infinitely defenseless.

I need to be careful that no weird person approaches her. It would be good to ask Yuika later to warn her to be careful.

As Hosanna was thinking this, he opened his mouth:

“Now let’s depart again… What’s going on with everyone?”

Seeing the people suddenly surrounding him, he was puzzled when a woman asked in a clear voice:

“President! Who is that cute child?!”

“Could it be that she’s the protagonist of the rumors Ulrika mentioned…!”

Come to think of it, I wasn’t the only one who saw Mari. Looking at the people surrounding him and chattering as they pleased, Hosanna exhaled a pained breath.

It seemed the path to the boss room would be arduous.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Truthfully, Hosanna still treats Mari like a kid… but if you strip away his ‘president’ title, he’ll get similar treatment to others too.

The only difference is—unlike Marie—Hosanna’s fiery temper makes it so that no one dares to say it straight to his face… Though secretly, plenty of people still think that way.

If Hosanna was the type of person who enjoys being treated like that… 

(Omitted)

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Plenty of shameless people love to be treated as a child.

What? I’m not wrong, I know a lot of you would like it, smh.

Just like how some of you want to be TSed too, smh.

Noobs~ Sloppy~

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