Konbini Ossan Volume 6 Chapter 17 — A Stern Rebuke
It was probably about time for guests to begin entering the banquet hall.
Even so, I still hadn’t changed clothes.
I was sitting in Arisa’s room, which she would never again need, staring blankly at the walls and furniture.
A lot had happened. Perhaps the beginning was the day I was thrown into another world.
No — more accurately, it began long before that.
It began the day Arisa was born.
My sister called me over and asked me to help name her newborn daughter.
Back then I was a twisted, worthless man.
I took a character from a line in The Tale of the Heike and gave that tiny spark of life the name Arisa.
Until she entered elementary school, we remained uncle and niece with some connection.
At some point — I don’t remember why — I stopped visiting.
Around the time I dropped out of university and drifted between part-time jobs.
I thought I was still young.
I thought I could still become something.
I thought that as long as I kept trying, the days wouldn’t slip away from me.
But the days passed.
I aged.
My body grew misshapen, shrunken here, swollen there.
My skin turned a dirty color from unhealthy habits.
It was more than enough change to realize that I had become a man who was nothing.
My arrogance flipped, curdling into self-loathing.
I started wishing I could at least die doing something useful for someone. Anything at all.
Then that day came.
After a night shift at the convenience store, I reunited with Arisa — and we were thrown into another world.
Thinking back on it now, I must have been absurdly fired up back then.
For the first time, I felt capable of something.
Every small effort returned real results.
My confidence crept back.
And just then, I found a lost Arisa and took her in.
Days changed so quickly it was dizzying, and in those days, she relied on me, stayed near me, cared for me — and I began to feel drawn to her.
Everything twisted from there.
And now here we are.
If I think about it calmly, this result is correct.
There was never any possibility of Arisa and me becoming lovers.
She is my niece. I am her uncle.
Anything beyond that was a passing delusion.
I could never give her happiness anyway.
This outcome… is for the best.
“Why are you sitting here doing nothing?”
A voice cut through my thoughts.
I turned toward the doorway. Maria stood there.
“It’s pathetic to admit, but… I’m afraid of seeing Arisa-san in her dress. My legs won’t move.”
“And you call yourself her guardian? What a pitiful excuse.”
Her words were sharp and merciless — but deserved.
“You’re right. I disgust myself.”
“Then fix it. Have you even thought about the reason? The cause? To me, it’s painfully obvious.”
“Yes… I suppose. The reason is… obvious. No one has to say it.”
“You love her, don’t you?”
Hearing it aloud crystallized it.
I love her.
I truly love Arisa.
More deeply than my rational mind ever allowed me to admit.
My heart was far ahead.
It was so accurate I couldn’t even pretend to deny it.
“Yes. Though ethically… it’s not exactly acceptable.”
“Why not? Among nobles, close-relative marriages aren’t uncommon.
…
High-ranking adventurers and major merchants too — rare, but not unheard of. It isn’t typical, but neither is it unnatural.”
“In my homeland, it would be unthinkable.”
Maria sighed heavily.
“You live in the capital now. Don’t cling to the customs of a place you no longer belong to. Think realistically.
…
From the capital’s perspective, you’re nothing but a traitor. You sold your own woman to a noble.”
“Ahaha… maybe I did.”
“Then why are you still sitting here!”
Even her raised voice couldn’t stir me to argue.
I answered quietly, sorting the truth aloud.
“Because this is what leads to her happiness. Marquis Roosevelt won’t mistreat her. I can’t give her anything — not looks, not money, not safety.
…
Compared to a noble’s stable life, my side is full of risk. If I want her to be happy, this is the natural conclusion.”
Maria exhaled sharply.
“Heavens!… what are you sulking about? A girl’s happiness is always to stand beside the person she loves most. Why won’t you give her that?”
“I’m not sulking—”
“You are. Painfully so.”
Her words sliced through my weak protests.
“What are you so dissatisfied with? What are you so afraid of? Why do you avert your eyes from the most obvious truth and run from it?”
I had no logical rebuttal.
“I’m not… running away.”
Maria simply shook her head at me, exasperated.
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E/N:
Maria-mommy, do me a favour! Smack the shit outta this wimpy ahh biatch!
Exams finally over! Now back to translating! Stay tuned! (1/3 chapters)
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