Fraruitt Part 1
Due to an unexpected turn of events, the real Karlos was shockingly staying in a certain room in the State of Salla’s Mid-mountains area. Wrapped in blankets and holding a mug of warm water, he was cackling at unmistakably a soap opera.
After that night, Jel discovered that this man had started looking at him a little oddly for some reason. At times, he would stop midway through his sentence and even his thoughts would wander off. Or he would stare hard at Jel’s face when he was inattentive. Occasionally, he would even strangely… smile benevolently.
Not even saying goosebumps rose all over his body could sufficiently describe Jel’s feelings right now.
Everything thus far showed that, the previous-previous-previous-previous…previous Cleric Knight must have turned silly from fever!
Even Evan noticed this change — John’s tone to Jel was clearly much gentler than it used to be.
In the past, no matter what Jel said, he would only choose what to listen to — if he wanted, he would obey; if he did not, the words would go in one ear and out the other. However, right now, it looked as though no matter what Jel said, he would very carefully remember and treasure it in his heart, afraid to miss even a word.
There was even one morning where Jel woke up in astonishment to find John standing in the kitchen and attempting to cook for him!
Of course… As he was stopped in time, he did not manage to blow up the kitchen.
Numerous times, Jel impulsively wanted to ask him that one earth-shattering question — Do you hold any feelings for me?
But each time, when John’s pair of dark green eyes had emitted gentleness, pampering and adoration… like he was gazing at a baby pet kitten, this bizarre question eroded away in his stomach, causing this Golden Emblem hunter to very cowardly make his escape.
However, there was just one single exception: when Jel attempted to bring up Archbishop Jel to him. Before he even managed to get to the topic, this energetic, happy-go-lucky man’s mood had swiftly changed. His eyes suddenly turned icy-cold, and he very bluntly cut him off, telling him very honestly, “We had done things together for a period of time, but I hate him.”
After that, he seemed to think that his words were too harsh, so his expression softened some as he gave Jel an apologetic look. He then spoke as if to lure babies to sleep, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t attacking you. I’m just used to speaking frankly. Did I make you uncomfortable?”
Other than feeling goosebumps, Jel thought, what else could I feel?
Whenever Karlos saw Jel, he would feel an urge to pat his head, but each time he raised his hand, he would realize with some regret that he was already an adult. As this action would be inappropriate, he would become dejected.
I missed out little Jel’s entire childhood and teenagehood, he thought sadly, In a blink of an eye, he had already gotten this big.
Then, he would sink into his own emotions, a dark, heavy aura weighing down on his head.
So, the poor Jel finally found a trait shared by these two “great” figures from the same century — they absolutely would not let others finish their words at all!
Luckily, after that, Mr. Good summoned the Golden Emblem hunters — due to an issue with the Barrier, they were called back to make every sort of battle preparations. Jel’s vacation turned into dust, flying and drifting away along with the wind. He stayed in the Temple for over twenty days, and avoided the Mr. Cleric who had strangely gained an interest in him.
Of course, because of this, he did not find a chance to continue the topic of “Archbishop Aldo”.
When Jel had finally been released from the Temple, he brought back Healer Amy to do a body check-up for the constantly-active Mr. Cleric. The Shelton residence then became a snake pit.
“John!” Jel yelled in the direction of the second floor. “In ten minutes, my mother will be here to visit with my two nephews — what I’m saying is, Mr. Good intends for you to take care hide your identity from non-Temple members, or it’ll invite trouble to you.”
“I know!” A “thump” came from upstairs. Mr. Karlos with the alias “John” shrieked in a fit of anger, “Get this guy out from my room first! The hell, he wants to take off my pants!”
Amy was holding a syringe in their hands, donning a nurse uniform from God knew where. They practically look like a representative of a new computer game titled “Corpse Nurse”. With a heavy fragrance that could kill every ten steps, they winked alluringly at Karlos. “Aw, come on, sweetie.”
Karlos had a death grip on his waistband. He lacked even the time to button up the loosened buttons from the check-up on his injuries, simply standing behind a chair in a half-stripped manner that invited imagination to run wild, and faced Healer Amy with a feigned bravery. “Just give it up!”
“And let your butt off?” Amy lifted a delicately-trimmed brow. “Oh, no, little beauty, you should give it up.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone who needs medicine to remove their scars in this world!” Karlos’s voice had even changed pitch. “Scars are men’s medals! Why should I stupidly take off my pants to remove them?!”
These two people, did they even hear what I said… Jel sighed, climbing the stairs to shield Karlos. The latter seized the chance to button up his clothes in lightning speed.
“Amy, I remember that you can inject it into his arm too. There’s no need for you to force him to the corner just to see his ass — and give me your arm, John. It’s just a scar-removal injection, it won’t do anything to you. Your chest wound is different from other injuries. I thought you’ll understand. If you don’t remove the scars, there’ll be curse residuals that will make your body decay!”
Amy, “Ehem.”
Jel gave them a warning look. “If I tell Roy that you sexually harassed an injured party, he will definitely lose trust in the moral integrity of the Temple’s healers.”
Their weak spot was hit. Amy unhappily shrugged their shoulders. “Alright, you win — Beauty, roll up your sleeves.”
Karlos looked at them grimly.
The nursery teacher, Mr. Jel, could only turn to the other “little friend”. “John, I’ve just said that…”
Karlos glanced at him, and did roll up his sleeves reluctantly.
“If you say so[1],” he muttered.
Amy had a nasty grin as they injected him. The sharp pain made Karlos pale. The medicine was pushed into his muscles and almost immediately, the injured skin on his chest sizzled. Karlos felt no different from being roasted on a metal board. At the side, Amy spoke nonchalantly as if it did not concern them, “Do not scratch it, do not rub it. You have to bear with it for ten minutes — Jel, hold him down.”
“No need for that, just leave me be, I’ll bear with it.” Karlos pulled a chair over and sat down a little unnaturally. In the midst of pain, he even forced a smile at Jel.
“Oh.” Amy packed their things, and looked at them in a rather surprised manner. “When did you guys get together? Who tops?”
“You’re really… the most ridiculous healer I’ve seen…” Karlos’s voice was a low rumble in his throat as he punctuated each word.
“My pleasure.” Amy gave him a flying kiss.
Karlos raised his head, gave a cold laugh as he finished. “… ‘Mr.’ Berg.”
Amy’s movements stopped as they turned back expressionlessly. “So, you want to have another injection, John sweetie?”
Jel held his forehead. “For the sake of the Temple, I’m begging you two.”
Right at this time, the doorbell rang. Downstairs, Evan went to open the door. Quiet noises of a conversation came from the entranceway. Jel let out a genuine smile, turning to leave John’s room as he rapidly said, “Let me introduce to you, Your distinguished self, this is my mother. The two angels are my older brother’s children, Mike and Lily.”
He ran down the stairs and gave the elegant lady a huge hug. “Mom, I really missed you so much.”
But Karlos stood on the original spot dumbly, staring at Jel’s mother, Mrs. Shelton, dumbstricken.
“Is that… Ms. Fraruitt?” Karlos asked in a daze.
Amy shrugged. “Forty years ago, yes. Right now, I’m afraid she has changed her name to Mrs. Shelton.”
As if he had not heard it, Karlos only mumbled, “She’s… truly beautiful.”
Amy was instantly horrified. “What?!”
“She’s truly beautiful.” A dream-like smile appeared on Karlos’s face as he repeated.
“Allow me to be frank,” Amy said, “Your ages are not compatible, and I’m afraid she’s a married woman — you have no chance, my poor John sweetie.”
Karlos did not listen at all. He walked down so gracefully that it attracted eyes, and stood before Mrs. Shelton. He gazed at her with that pair of mesmerizing eyes, pulled her hand up as if it was a treasure, and asked softly, “May I, my lady?”
“Oh, my…” Although Mrs. Shelton was a beauty who had been popular when she was younger, that was thirty years ago. It took her a moment before she responded with a benevolent smile, “Of course, beautiful young man.”
Karlos bent down, and kissed her hand in greeting. The hand that was behind his back had suddenly materialized a rose from God knew where. “I’m John, John Smith. Your beauty puts flowers even to shame, my lady.”
Mrs. Shelton was clearly amused. She accepted Karlos’s flowers with a laugh. Before he straightened his back, she tiptoed and kissed his forehead. “You really are the most adorable boy I’ve seen. If Jel was as adorable as you, many girls would have already wanted to marry him long ago.”
Evan looked at Karlos who had suddenly transformed into a prince of the medieval ages, and scratched his head in sheer confusion. He asked Amy, “What happened to him?”
“He fell for Jel’s mother,” Amy summarized shortly. “All right, close your mouth, dumb boy. A whole duck egg could fit in your mouth.”
Jel’s four-year-old niece, Lily, bit her finger, staring at the flower in his mother’s hands.
Karlos blinked at her, fingers gently caressing her soft braids. Delicate, emerald vines wound around the girl’s hair, and on the vines, little white flowers blossomed one after another.
Lily widened her eyes. “John, are you a magician like Uncle Jel?”
Karlos broke into laughter. “Not at all. I’m simply a knight who serves beautiful ladies.”
At the side, Amy rubbed their chin, and evaluated softly, “You know what, Evan, silly boy? Great people will always have one or two eccentricities to them. Let’s take this one here for example. From what I see, the elegant ladies he likes are too old for him, and the little girls he likes are too young.”
Translator Note:
[1] 看在你的面子上 means “out of respect for you”, however, it is not a common phrase in English, therefore, the line has been tweaked.
Fraruitt Part 1
Due to an unexpected turn of events, the real Karlos was shockingly staying in a certain room in the State of Salla’s Mid-mountains area. Wrapped in blankets and holding a mug of warm water, he was cackling at unmistakably a soap opera.
After that night, Jel discovered that this man had started looking at him a little oddly for some reason. At times, he would stop midway through his sentence and even his thoughts would wander off. Or he would stare hard at Jel’s face when he was inattentive. Occasionally, he would even strangely… smile benevolently.
Not even saying goosebumps rose all over his body could sufficiently describe Jel’s feelings right now.
Everything thus far showed that, the previous-previous-previous-previous…previous Cleric Knight must have turned silly from fever!
Even Evan noticed this change — John’s tone to Jel was clearly much gentler than it used to be.
In the past, no matter what Jel said, he would only choose what to listen to — if he wanted, he would obey; if he did not, the words would go in one ear and out the other. However, right now, it looked as though no matter what Jel said, he would very carefully remember and treasure it in his heart, afraid to miss even a word.
There was even one morning where Jel woke up in astonishment to find John standing in the kitchen and attempting to cook for him!
Of course… As he was stopped in time, he did not manage to blow up the kitchen.
Numerous times, Jel impulsively wanted to ask him that one earth-shattering question — Do you hold any feelings for me?
But each time, when John’s pair of dark green eyes had emitted gentleness, pampering and adoration… like he was gazing at a baby pet kitten, this bizarre question eroded away in his stomach, causing this Golden Emblem hunter to very cowardly make his escape.
However, there was just one single exception: when Jel attempted to bring up Archbishop Jel to him. Before he even managed to get to the topic, this energetic, happy-go-lucky man’s mood had swiftly changed. His eyes suddenly turned icy-cold, and he very bluntly cut him off, telling him very honestly, “We had done things together for a period of time, but I hate him.”
After that, he seemed to think that his words were too harsh, so his expression softened some as he gave Jel an apologetic look. He then spoke as if to lure babies to sleep, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t attacking you. I’m just used to speaking frankly. Did I make you uncomfortable?”
Other than feeling goosebumps, Jel thought, what else could I feel?
Whenever Karlos saw Jel, he would feel an urge to pat his head, but each time he raised his hand, he would realize with some regret that he was already an adult. As this action would be inappropriate, he would become dejected.
I missed out little Jel’s entire childhood and teenagehood, he thought sadly, In a blink of an eye, he had already gotten this big.
Then, he would sink into his own emotions, a dark, heavy aura weighing down on his head.
So, the poor Jel finally found a trait shared by these two “great” figures from the same century — they absolutely would not let others finish their words at all!
Luckily, after that, Mr. Good summoned the Golden Emblem hunters — due to an issue with the Barrier, they were called back to make every sort of battle preparations. Jel’s vacation turned into dust, flying and drifting away along with the wind. He stayed in the Temple for over twenty days, and avoided the Mr. Cleric who had strangely gained an interest in him.
Of course, because of this, he did not find a chance to continue the topic of “Archbishop Aldo”.
When Jel had finally been released from the Temple, he brought back Healer Amy to do a body check-up for the constantly-active Mr. Cleric. The Shelton residence then became a snake pit.
“John!” Jel yelled in the direction of the second floor. “In ten minutes, my mother will be here to visit with my two nephews — what I’m saying is, Mr. Good intends for you to take care hide your identity from non-Temple members, or it’ll invite trouble to you.”
“I know!” A “thump” came from upstairs. Mr. Karlos with the alias “John” shrieked in a fit of anger, “Get this guy out from my room first! The hell, he wants to take off my pants!”
Amy was holding a syringe in their hands, donning a nurse uniform from God knew where. They practically look like a representative of a new computer game titled “Corpse Nurse”. With a heavy fragrance that could kill every ten steps, they winked alluringly at Karlos. “Aw, come on, sweetie.”
Karlos had a death grip on his waistband. He lacked even the time to button up the loosened buttons from the check-up on his injuries, simply standing behind a chair in a half-stripped manner that invited imagination to run wild, and faced Healer Amy with a feigned bravery. “Just give it up!”
“And let your butt off?” Amy lifted a delicately-trimmed brow. “Oh, no, little beauty, you should give it up.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone who needs medicine to remove their scars in this world!” Karlos’s voice had even changed pitch. “Scars are men’s medals! Why should I stupidly take off my pants to remove them?!”
These two people, did they even hear what I said… Jel sighed, climbing the stairs to shield Karlos. The latter seized the chance to button up his clothes in lightning speed.
“Amy, I remember that you can inject it into his arm too. There’s no need for you to force him to the corner just to see his ass — and give me your arm, John. It’s just a scar-removal injection, it won’t do anything to you. Your chest wound is different from other injuries. I thought you’ll understand. If you don’t remove the scars, there’ll be curse residuals that will make your body decay!”
Amy, “Ehem.”
Jel gave them a warning look. “If I tell Roy that you sexually harassed an injured party, he will definitely lose trust in the moral integrity of the Temple’s healers.”
Their weak spot was hit. Amy unhappily shrugged their shoulders. “Alright, you win — Beauty, roll up your sleeves.”
Karlos looked at them grimly.
The nursery teacher, Mr. Jel, could only turn to the other “little friend”. “John, I’ve just said that…”
Karlos glanced at him, and did roll up his sleeves reluctantly.
“If you say so[1],” he muttered.
Amy had a nasty grin as they injected him. The sharp pain made Karlos pale. The medicine was pushed into his muscles and almost immediately, the injured skin on his chest sizzled. Karlos felt no different from being roasted on a metal board. At the side, Amy spoke nonchalantly as if it did not concern them, “Do not scratch it, do not rub it. You have to bear with it for ten minutes — Jel, hold him down.”
“No need for that, just leave me be, I’ll bear with it.” Karlos pulled a chair over and sat down a little unnaturally. In the midst of pain, he even forced a smile at Jel.
“Oh.” Amy packed their things, and looked at them in a rather surprised manner. “When did you guys get together? Who tops?”
“You’re really… the most ridiculous healer I’ve seen…” Karlos’s voice was a low rumble in his throat as he punctuated each word.
“My pleasure.” Amy gave him a flying kiss.
Karlos raised his head, gave a cold laugh as he finished. “… ‘Mr.’ Berg.”
Amy’s movements stopped as they turned back expressionlessly. “So, you want to have another injection, John sweetie?”
Jel held his forehead. “For the sake of the Temple, I’m begging you two.”
Right at this time, the doorbell rang. Downstairs, Evan went to open the door. Quiet noises of a conversation came from the entranceway. Jel let out a genuine smile, turning to leave John’s room as he rapidly said, “Let me introduce to you, Your distinguished self, this is my mother. The two angels are my older brother’s children, Mike and Lily.”
He ran down the stairs and gave the elegant lady a huge hug. “Mom, I really missed you so much.”
But Karlos stood on the original spot dumbly, staring at Jel’s mother, Mrs. Shelton, dumbstricken.
“Is that… Ms. Fraruitt?” Karlos asked in a daze.
Amy shrugged. “Forty years ago, yes. Right now, I’m afraid she has changed her name to Mrs. Shelton.”
As if he had not heard it, Karlos only mumbled, “She’s… truly beautiful.”
Amy was instantly horrified. “What?!”
“She’s truly beautiful.” A dream-like smile appeared on Karlos’s face as he repeated.
“Allow me to be frank,” Amy said, “Your ages are not compatible, and I’m afraid she’s a married woman — you have no chance, my poor John sweetie.”
Karlos did not listen at all. He walked down so gracefully that it attracted eyes, and stood before Mrs. Shelton. He gazed at her with that pair of mesmerizing eyes, pulled her hand up as if it was a treasure, and asked softly, “May I, my lady?”
“Oh, my…” Although Mrs. Shelton was a beauty who had been popular when she was younger, that was thirty years ago. It took her a moment before she responded with a benevolent smile, “Of course, beautiful young man.”
Karlos bent down, and kissed her hand in greeting. The hand that was behind his back had suddenly materialized a rose from God knew where. “I’m John, John Smith. Your beauty puts flowers even to shame, my lady.”
Mrs. Shelton was clearly amused. She accepted Karlos’s flowers with a laugh. Before he straightened his back, she tiptoed and kissed his forehead. “You really are the most adorable boy I’ve seen. If Jel was as adorable as you, many girls would have already wanted to marry him long ago.”
Evan looked at Karlos who had suddenly transformed into a prince of the medieval ages, and scratched his head in sheer confusion. He asked Amy, “What happened to him?”
“He fell for Jel’s mother,” Amy summarized shortly. “All right, close your mouth, dumb boy. A whole duck egg could fit in your mouth.”
Jel’s four-year-old niece, Lily, bit her finger, staring at the flower in his mother’s hands.
Karlos blinked at her, fingers gently caressing her soft braids. Delicate, emerald vines wound around the girl’s hair, and on the vines, little white flowers blossomed one after another.
Lily widened her eyes. “John, are you a magician like Uncle Jel?”
Karlos broke into laughter. “Not at all. I’m simply a knight who serves beautiful ladies.”
At the side, Amy rubbed their chin, and evaluated softly, “You know what, Evan, silly boy? Great people will always have one or two eccentricities to them. Let’s take this one here for example. From what I see, the elegant ladies he likes are too old for him, and the little girls he likes are too young.”
Translator Note:
[1] 看在你的面子上 means “out of respect for you”, however, it is not a common phrase in English, therefore, the line has been tweaked.
