To reach East Port, we had to get to West Port first, so that's where we were heading.
It sounds a bit strange, but West Port is actually located east of East Port, instead of the other way around. The reason for that becomes clear when you open a map. West Port is named as such because it's on the western side of the Millis Continent. Meanwhile, East Port is at the easternmost point of the Central Continent.
Although the names of the two port cities seem related, they are actually named according to the standards of the continent they belong to. Geography and culture sure are interesting, aren't they? This topic always makes me feel a little bit excited and eager to explore more.
But let's put that aside for now. I'm not in the mood.
Our journey at this point was quite comfortable. The road was clear, there were just enough clouds to block the sun, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the fragrant smell of ripe wheat made for the perfect setting for a long trip.
I should have been loving this weather. But the events of a few hours prior still left me feeling bewildered.
Just what in the world was going on with Isolde?
Only yesterday, she held my hand, let me carry her on my back, hugged me, and even kissed me while saying 'I love you'. Yet this morning she left early without a word, then ignored me, finding a way to avoid riding in the same carriage as me.
It was like she was a completely different person.
Could it be that I was hallucinating yesterday?
Impossible... It couldn't be, right? Could it? No, no, absolutely not.
Even if it was an illusion and last night never happened, Isolde had never acted like this toward me. Right from the first day we met, even if she was an arrogant little girl, she was still very friendly and talked a lot.
Now she was dead silent, not even offering a single 'good morning'.
"Sigh... why is it like this? What the hell is happening?"
My sigh seemed to distract Paul, who was taking inventory of the cargo. Normally, Paul wouldn't be doing this job—it was supposed to be someone else's—but it seemed they had taken on a few transport requests to both the Central Continent and Begaritt to earn some extra coins. Among them were some rather expensive items, so Paul wanted to ensure they arrived safely.
Boat fares in this world are quite expensive, after all. So taking on requests for the adventurer's guild to cover some of the cost was a smart move.
Speaking of smarts and wisdom, perhaps realizing I was having relationship troubles, Paul spoke up with a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Got dumped by the 'Ice Princess', kid?" His words sure were sharp, huh?
"I don't know what you're talking about." I feigned ignorance.
"You know what." Paul didn't seem to care about my response and sat right down across from me, his arms crossed very seriously. "They say there are plenty of fish in the sea. Lose this one, there's another, don't be too heartbroken. My nephew is only allowed to break women's hearts, not the other way around."
"Please don't call my girlfriend a fish. Or I will punch you for that."
I know it's a metaphor or whatever, but it was really annoying.
"So you admit that you and that girl are a couple now, huh?" Paul smirked. "And yet you kept denying it the past few days."
Actually, we really had nothing going on the past few days. But I didn't feel like arguing.
"So," Paul continued, leaning in a bit this time, like a nosy best friend. "Did you two have a fight? Need some advice from someone with experience?"
"Everyone should handle their own business." I refused. Truth be told, it was because I didn't want Paul's advice. "I'm a grown man."
"If I were your father, I'd probably be really proud to hear you say that." Paul marveled.
Father? Paul was definitely referring to Pilemon. But would Pilemon be proud of me if he knew what I had done? Well, I don't give a damn.
"Guess how many times Pilemon and I have talked to each other in this lifetime, Uncle Paul."
"What kind of question is that?" Paul raised an eyebrow but still answered seriously. "Let's see, my father and I didn't talk much either, and you ran away from home 5 years earlier than I did, so probably a few dozen times?"
"Only once. And he said he wanted to sell me into slavery."
"Really? Who would say that to their own kid?"
Paul seemed surprised. And rightly so, who would expect parents to never talk to their children. Yet somehow I got stuck with it three times, for different reasons.
"Well, that sounds awful. I knew that kid's personality had issues, but that's too much. I was even going to tell you to meet up with him and reconcile when you returned to your hometown."
"Never. Over my dead body it is."
"Can't be helped then." Paul shrugged.
Yes, it couldn't be helped. Even if my father in this life had lived as wrongfully as Paul, if he were a good father, I would still try to accept him. But Pilemon lived wrongfully, was a terrible father, and even showed hostility toward me when I was only three years old, so it's a no go from the start.
You'd have to call that an extraordinary piece of shit.
"Then it's fine not to reconcile with him." Paul patted my shoulder like a comrade. "After all, you still have a great uncle like me, right? Despite everything we've been through, we're still family, aren't we?"
"If it's you, I can barely accept it."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm saying you're a good uncle. The best one to be precise since you are the only one."
"Well, you've had a silver tongue since you were little, and now it's even more so." Paul shrugged. "But let's put that aside for now. Back to your love life. If you have any questions, just ask, I'm the adult here anyway."
Back to that, really? I told you I didn't want to talk about it. If you compared our ages across both lives, I'm way older than Paul. He should be calling me older brother.
Oh, wait. Come to think of it, that proposal isn't too bad.
At least Paul seemed to be someone with a lot of experience with women. I heard he had a girlfriend since he was ten or something. Meanwhile, across my two lifetimes, I was over forty before getting my first kiss. So if we're counting romantic experience, Paul truly is a top-tier senior.
"Then I guess I'll have to rely on your guidance. The thing is..."
I had to tell the whole story from start to finish.
Two, three hours later...
"And that's how it is."
"Holy shit, did you really tell the story from when you were six all the way to now?" Paul scratched his forehead. "You should've just started from when you arrived in Millishion."
"Because I'm extremely serious, I had to tell it all for complete information. Only then can you see the full picture." I answered sincerely. "So what do you think, Uncle Paul?"
Paul didn't answer right away. He looked toward the carriage in front of us, the women's carriage.
"I think that girl is head over heels for you more than you think."
"I used to believe that too." I admitted. "But that was yesterday, I'm not so sure today. Maybe she hates me now..."
"That's why I said you're still young and inexperienced." Paul shrugged. "Do you really think a woman, after getting close to the person she likes, would want to see them again if she had cut ties?"
"Isn't it obvious Isolde is avoiding me?"
"No, no, that's wrong, kid." Paul clicked his tongue. "They don't avoid you like that; they'd run away completely to another continent, never wanting to cross paths with you ever again."
"Ah. Sounds like Elinalise, doesn't it?" I nodded.
"You get it."
Understood. Actually, I also knew that if Isolde hated me that much as how Elinalise hates Paul, she would openly despise me, maybe even look at me like I was some lowly insect, rather than being this indifferent. I knew her.
"But then why? Why is she still here and acts like that?" I held my head and groaned. "Women are too complicated! Arg!"
"Ha ha ha! Saying something like that means you've truly grown up!"
Paul burst out laughing and patted my head as if I were his child. But despite saying that, I wasn't complaining or anything; I just needed to get back to the main point as soon as possible.
And without me even having to ask, Paul explained.
"Anyway, I guess she's just temporarily mad at you. After all, you made an unimaginably huge mistake last night."
"A mistake? I don't think I did anything wrong."
"Don't think you're that perfect. Try to think a little bit and ask yourself."
"..."
I started rewinding what had happened yesterday. Let's see, I went downstairs after I woke up and asked Isolde out. We then strolled around town, ate, talked, laughed, I carried her for a bit, then came the dramatic confession scene. Finally, we hugged, kissed, and held hands walking back to our inn.
Where did I go wrong?
Probably the eating part? I guess Isolde didn't really like the meal at that restaurant; the meat was a bit overcooked. But getting mad over that seems a bit much, doesn't it? I didn't think she was that unreasonable.
Or the part where I carried her on my back? I wasn't observant enough to realize her feelings at the time, so now she's mad? That's possible, but I don't really believe it. Because if that were true, she would have reacted last night.
In the end, I was completely stumped.
"I still don't see any problem."
"Sigh. You may be fast and good at many things but you sure are bad with women aren't you? What a foolish nephew." Paul sighed dejectedly.
Well I know I'm bad with women, you don't have to say that out loud like that. My ego hurts when I have to hear that from you Paul.
Meanwhile, Paul decides to tell me my 'mistake'. "Your mistake was that after leading each other back, you both went to your own rooms."
"Huh? Why is that wrong?" I furrowed my brow. "Everyone has their own room, so they stay in it."
We rented two rooms, so shouldn't we stay in two rooms? That's maximizing resources. Yet they consider me wasteful.
"I mean, since you became a couple, you should have slept together." Paul replied instantly. "You know what I mean. Don't try to act like you don't know."
"Eh? Isn't that too fast?" My jaw dropped. "I mean... we both follow the Millis religion, so it can't possibly be a mistake that I didn't immediately get into bed with her. Maybe if I was too aggressive, she might end up hating me."
Perhaps Isolde wanted to wait until we were married, I think? She always gave off the aura of a girl who strictly followed the rules. So a follower of the Millis religion would want the most serious relationship possible.
"Did she tell you that?" Paul asked.
"No, but I guessed." I admitted, even though I knew what Paul's next words would be.
"Then you guessed wrong, kid." I knew it. "Think about it, Isolde admitted she's liked you for a long time. Probably ever since you defeated the Immortal Demon King. So obviously, Isolde would want to be close to the person she's loved for so long."
"But we hugged and kissed..." I protested.
"Not enough!" Paul declared grandly. "You have to understand that it's not just men who have desires. Women do too, some of them are even more active than men you know? And you ruined the mood because you couldn't finish what a man needed to do. That was a mistake. Ah no, it's THE mistake, understand?"
"Uh..."
I understood; actually, when I started telling the story, I had sort of guessed that would be the reason, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.
Perhaps, or let's just assume it was the truth. Isolde was sad because I didn't sleep with her. Honestly, I considered that hypothesis to probably be the closest to reality. But I didn't really want to accept it. Maybe because I'm a modern person from another world? My moral standards never allowed that possibility to exist in the first place.
If Isolde really wanted to go further, I wouldn't have any reason to refuse either. After all, I wanted to as well. What man wouldn't want to be intimate with his woman. The reason I didn't do anything was that I hoped I wouldn't make Isolde uncomfortable.
Now it was my turn to feel uncomfortable.
"Even if that's the case, what should I do?" I sighed.
Should I just go to her, apologize, and ask her to do 'it'? Maybe someone else could, but I'm completely at a loss; I'm not that shameless yet. Besides, we were in the middle of nowhere, not in some secluded inn room.
"Don't worry, your uncle already has a plan."
In times like this, Paul suddenly became strangely observant. So he had a plan.
The thing is, we probably wouldn't make it to the next town or rest stop tonight. So we had to camp by the side of the road, which was quite normal.
Along with that, there would be shifts for guard duty to make sure everything was fine. So Isolde and I would be assigned the midnight shift, when most people were fast asleep.
Since the campsite was near the forest, according to Paul, we could use that area if we wanted some privacy.
Honestly, I didn't really like this plan. It went against what I had sworn to myself not even 24 hours ago. But if there was a chance to be alone with Isolde, I had no reason to refuse.
And if she wanted to, I would be ready to fulfill my duties as a real man.
"So do you need me to teach you some more from my experience? You're a virgin anyway, right? If you don't do it properly the first time, you'll get complained about."
"No thanks."
Even though I am indeed a virgin, I'm very experienced in this matter.
I think.