Young Master, Please Put Some Pants On! - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 101

“Can’t you let this go?”

“Please, just overlook it this once…!”

At the center of the crowd, two people were having an argument. From listening to their conversation, it seemed there was friction between the inn owner nearby and a guest.

A woman whose appearance was clearly shabby knelt on the ground, clasping her hands together in desperate plea to a man who appeared to be the inn owner. However, the inn owner paid no heed and roughly threw the woman’s belongings around as he spoke.

“I felt sorry for you and showed you consideration, and you dare to deceive me?”

“My husband went to look for work and will be back soon! Where am I supposed to go with a child in this cold winter!”

“Shut up! Do I have to run my business considering all that? Don’t chase away more customers here and get lost with your kid!”

“But…!”

The owner coldly shook off the woman’s hand, closed the inn door, and disappeared from sight.

“Mom…”

A child who had been silently staying by the woman’s side muttered while reading the situation. When Mellis spotted the child, she could finally understand the situation. Red feathers covering reverse scales were visible from the child’s nape down to the lower jaw.

The child’s mother appeared to be an ordinary human, so the father was probably a beastkin. The small child, who seemed to be about Garulus’s age, hung their head low as if knowing that all of this was their fault.

“Looks like she hid the fact that the child was a half-blood when getting the room.”

“It’s too harsh for such a young child…”

“But what can you do when other guests feel uncomfortable?”

“Oh dear…”

The people around watching clicked their tongues as if feeling sorry for the pitiful mother and child, yet none of them stepped forward to help them. As the situation concluded, the people who had gathered out of curiosity began to leave one by one.

After the people left, the child wiped their eyes roughly with their sleeve and began picking up the belongings scattered on the ground one by one. To make matters worse, since it had been snowing until a few days ago, their belongings had become thoroughly dirty with wet, melted snow.

“Sniff…”

It was then that the child, who had been silently picking up their belongings, finally couldn’t hold back and burst into tears.

“Are you alright?”

Mellis, who had approached them at some point, asked while picking up and handing over items that had fallen on the ground. When the startled child hid behind their mother, the woman who had been sobbing for a while slowly raised her head.

“Ah…”

“The clothes got a bit dirty, but they’ll be clean after washing, so don’t worry.”

“…Thank you.”

The woman, whose eyes were red and swollen, bowed her head. Despite the cold weather, both of their clothes were thin and worn.

Mellis handed a small pouch to the woman.

“It’s not much, but this should be enough to eat and get by for a while. The inns in the Capital Center have frequent Security Force patrols, so this kind of thing won’t happen there.”

“No, how could I take this…!”

“It’s still cold out. If you can’t rest properly on days like this, you might catch a cold.”

Mellis smiled gently and spoke while looking at the child hiding behind the woman. The child still seemed wary of her, fidgeting nervously.

To the woman who hesitated and couldn’t easily accept the pouch, Mellis added once more.

“Please accept it for the child’s sake.”

“…”

After pondering for a moment, the woman reluctantly bowed her head deeply and accepted the pouch. The mother and child continued to express their gratitude to her for quite a while before finally leaving.

Mellis waved her hand until the two figures disappeared from sight, then let out a deep sigh. Of course, she had anticipated that such incidents might occur when Revolity’s investigation became public.

“But this is too much…”

Mellis, who had been biting her lips deeply in dejection, soon glared at the inn where the mother and child had been driven out with narrowed eyes. No matter what, to so brazenly commit illegal acts like that! Just as Mellis, who had resolved to show that owner a proper lesson from the law, was about to move to find the nearby Security Forces.

“Do you really think this is such an outrageous thing?”

At the unfamiliar voice coming from behind, she turned her head in puzzlement. A noble lady with a black veil and a brilliant golden fan covering her face was staring down at her intently.

‘T-tall…’

She was a tall woman who seemed to easily exceed 170cm at a glance. Overwhelmed by the imposing presence and sharp atmosphere conveyed through the black veil, Mellis unconsciously trembled slightly.

‘She seems like quite a high-ranking person… surely she’s not reproaching me for helping a half-blood?’

However, when she remembered the existence of the guards who would be watching this scene from not far away, a faint courage welled up. At least she wouldn’t be harmed.

No, even if this person were to harm her, she had no intention of taking back the words and actions she had already done. Mellis swallowed her dry saliva and nodded firmly.

“Yes. This is an unreasonable thing.”

“An unreasonable thing…”

The woman who muttered those words snorted softly and said.

“From what I can see, you seem like a servant from some noble house. Are you from the Marquis House?”

“…No.”

Momentarily flustered by her amazing insight, Mellis still remained guarded and kept her words brief. However, her following words were enough to fluster Mellis even more.

“If you have time, I’d like to treat you to a cup of tea.”

“Pardon?”

“Consider it a small token of gratitude for how you just helped that mother and child.”

With those words, the woman headed toward her carriage. As Mellis stood there blinking her eyes blankly, she folded her fan and said.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

In the end, after hesitating for a moment, Mellis followed behind her and got into the carriage.

* * *

Contrary to her imagination that they might arrive at some secluded warehouse, fortunately the place where the carriage stopped was a luxury coffee house located nearby.

Seated on the terrace there, Mellis silently glanced at the woman sitting across from her. She hadn’t been able to see her properly earlier because her face was covered, but now that she had removed her veil, despite her mature age, she was an incredibly beautiful person.

Looking at her exceptionally wealthy appearance and beautiful looks, Mellis cautiously speculated about her identity.

‘I haven’t heard of any human nobles in the Marquis Territory…’

Moreover, though it might be her imagination, that beauty seemed strangely familiar somehow. As Mellis continued various thoughts in her head, the woman who had been quietly drinking tea opened her mouth.

“You said earlier that what happened to that mother and child was unreasonable. I’m curious about why you, a beastkin, think that way. I have no intention of harming you for speaking honestly, so there’s no need to be so tense.”

“Haha…”

Mellis, whose inner thoughts had been completely seen through, smiled awkwardly. The reason she thought that way… It was a surprisingly simple question.

Mellis had been thinking for a very long time that discrimination against half-bloods, or rather discrimination between different races even if not half-bloods, was unreasonable.

“One’s race isn’t something you can choose for yourself. Half-bloods, humans, beastkin – all of them.”

“…”

“So I thought it wasn’t right to receive such reproach for something unrelated to one’s own will. That’s all.”

“Why do you think it can’t be chosen? At least that woman knew what kind of child would be born between herself and a beastkin. And the treatment that child would receive.”

At the tone that seemed to reproach the child’s mother, Mellis unconsciously frowned slightly.

“Of course that’s true, but how could she only think of such negative aspects? Maybe she didn’t care that the child was a half-blood. She must have loved her family that much.”

“Love, what an interesting thing to say.”

When that woman smiled slightly as if it was absurd, Mellis, offended by her attitude, clenched her fists under the table.

“But if I were to… fall in love with a man of another race and have a child, I wouldn’t give up out of fear for something that hasn’t even happened yet. At the very least, I would do my best to protect that child.”

“Do you think it would be as easy as you make it sound?”

“Of course I know it wouldn’t be easy. Changing other people’s perspectives is one of the most difficult things to do. But being able to do anything to protect your child—that’s what it means to be a parent.”

Mellis quietly met the woman’s eyes. The woman was still staring intently at Mellis with an unwavering, upright posture.

Just as Mellis felt an inexplicable chill at his voice that had suddenly turned somber, she softened her darkened gaze and spoke with a gentle smile playing at her lips.

“I think the same way too.”

“I think so too.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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