The Expelled, Oblivious Strongest Boy Saves an S-Rank Beautiful Female Adventurer and Unknowingly Forms a Harem - 8-9

Chapter 8: Lydia Experiences a New Emotion

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Lydia opened her mouth to speak, intending to express her own thoughts, but Liam hurriedly interrupted her before she could get the words out.

“Ple-Please wait! To be honest, I don’t really understand what Lydia-san is talking about, but… I didn’t have any strange desires toward that woman! I didn’t have the intention nor the desire to embrace her or anything like that!”

Upon hearing Liam’s words, Lydia recalled the moment when Liam had been staring at the red-haired female elf. These memories made her unable to accept Liam’s words face on, so she pressed on.

“If that’s the case, then why were you staring at her body, Liam-san?”

“Th-that’s…. We-Well…. I-It’s…”

Liam stammered on his words, unable to give a clear response. That being said, although Lydia was practically interrogating Liam, she was well aware that Liam didn’t harbor that kind of desire toward a woman he had just met. She knew this not only because of Liam’s gentle heart, but also from her own experience. Even when she was severely weakened after fighting a dragon, Liam hadn’t done anything to her even after seeing her clad only in her underwear. In fact, Liam had been so flustered by the realization that he almost passed out. That just showed how inexperienced Liam was regarding that kind of thing. 

Liam-san, I know you were only staring because of your innocence, just like when you saw me in my underwear. I understand that. I really do, but…

“….”

The mere thought that Liam had been captivated by another woman’s body wouldn’t leave Lydia’s mind. This gnawing feeling on her heart was the fuel that drove her to interrogate Liam like this. The same thought kept spiraling in her mind and then, the words she uttered earlier came to her mind. 

“So, since you’ve helped me and you are also far stronger than me… If you need to relieve such desire from your body… I… I’m willing to—”

For that kind of words to come out of my mouth so naturally like that… Have I grown to be that attached to Liam-san within this short amount of time I’ve spent with him?

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After thinking it through, I decided to offer my sincerest apology to Lydia-san. Although there were many things I still didn’t understand, but at the very least, I knew I had made Lydia-san feeling uncomfortable. 

“Lydia-san, I’m sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. I’ll be more careful from now on to make sure nothing like this happens agai—”

“No, Liam-san… I am not telling you that I want you to rid yourself of that kind of emotion.”

“…Huh?”

I was puzzled, sensing a bit of a contradiction between what Lydia-san had said earlier and she was saying now.

“It’s just… I just want you to think twice where to direct those emotions. I believe the person who should receive that kind of emotions from you is definitely not some suspicious woman that exposes her body in public without any ounce of shame like that. You should direct those emotions to someone close to you, someone who can support you wholeheartedly, Liam-san.”

Then Lydia-san grabbed my left hand with both of her hers. Her cheeks were flushed in red from embarrassment and yet, she had such a beaming smile on her face as she continued on. 

“In other words… I would like you to direct those emotions towards me instead. If Liam-san so wishes, then I’ll… No. Even if you don’t desire it, I… to Liam-san, I…”

Lydia-san continued talking, but I became unable to process her words anymore. Her jovial expression, the warmth of her hands holding mine, the rapid pounding of my heart… Everything made me feel overwhelmed. Unable to contain it any longer, I… I blacked out.

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With face flushed red, Lydia gently laid Liam down, who had fainted from getting too worked up. While gazing at Liam’s sleeping face, Lydia murmured to herself. 

“I’ve lived as a knight and as an S-rank adventurer, but… This is the first time I’ve ever felt this way towards a man…”

Gently, as if she was touching a fragile cotton, Lydia placed her hand on Liam’s face. 

“Liam-san, I promise you. I will keep on supporting you in many ways from now on. I will hone my skills to be someone worthy of standing by your side. I will assist you in your journey, be that training journey or whatever. And then, I will… Fufufu~”

Still blushing, she continued to speak while her hand remained on Liam’s face.

“Even if you show me this adorable sleeping face of yours, you still have to take responsibility for me. You cannot escape, Liam-san… You will have to take responsibility for making my heart bloom with a love I had never felt before and… For stealing my heart from me… Liam-san, I will be sure to support you from now on. I will be the one closest to you, more than anyone else ever will.”

After saying that, Lydia spent a considerable amount of time watching Liam’s sleeping face.

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Chapter 9: Liam, Guaranteed

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The next day. 

I ended up passing out yesterday, but I woke up a bit later after that. Then, I took a proper bath and went back to sleep again. 

“Good morning, Liam-san.”

“Good morning, Lydia-san.”

When I woke up in the morning, Lydia-san, who had woken up before me, greeted me with a morning greeting, so I replied in kind. This was my first time sleeping in the same room with a woman. Not only that, but we also slept in the same bed. I was sleeping right next to her. That being said, being expelled from the party I used to be in and traveling all the way to the Elf Kingdom must had exhausted my body, since I was able to fall asleep relatively easily.

“So. Liam-san, what are your plans for today?”

“Today… Well, just like what I mentioned during our trip here, I want to have a short magic lesson there. There’s a place where you can do that. I plan on going there today.”

“Understood! I will accompany you!”

“Thank you, Lydia-san!”

After that, we both got ready for the day and left the inn. We then began walking toward the training place.

“Liam-san, where exactly is this place where you can have a short magic lesson?”

“They said the place is located in the middle of the Elf Kingdom. If I remember correctly, it’s called Magistus or something.”

I said to Lydia-san, who seemed to be thinking for a moment before responding back to me.

“Magistus… That should be the place where the giant tree is. The roots of the giant tree are said to be stretching to all the plants in the Elf Kingdom. The central city of the Elf Kingdom, huh… We’re on the outskirt of the Elf Kingdom, getting to the central city in one day would normally be a little difficult, but since this is the Elf Kingdom we’re talking about, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Yes.”

The Elf Kingdom was known for its advanced magic technology. It seemed they had teleportation circles that made traveling between various cities possible. Therefore, no matter how far it was, we should be able to reach our destination without much difficulty. 

And so, after 10 minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the teleportation circle to reach the Central City Magistus. We were about to get teleported there immediately, but…

“What do you mean we can’t use the teleportation service?!”

“That’s… Although the cause is unclear, but highly suspect it’s due to insufficient magic power in the teleportation circle. Only someone with a high amount of high quality magic power such as the tribe chief or an S-rank mage can provide the necessary magic energy to get the teleportation circle working again. We have requested a powerful mage to resolve this issue, so could you please wait for a little longer??!”

“I can’t wait! I have an important business I need to attend to!”

“I understand, but…”

It seemed the teleportation circle we were going to use couldn’t be operated yet due to insufficient magic power. The elf woman was explaining the cause to an angry-looking elf man with glasses. The elf man looked very upset. 

“It’s really ungraceful to scream so loud like that when this problem is beyond anyone’s help. Perhaps I should calm that elf man myself…”

Lydia-san said while glaring at the elf man. Panicking, I quickly tried to calm Lydia-san down. 

“We-Well, it’s true that yelling is not going to help, but I guess the man is just upset because of the bad timing. Let’s try to look for a peaceful solution to this problem!”

“As expected of the magnanimous Liam-san. If you say so, then I will also try to resolve this peacefully!”

Lydia-san gave me a beaming smile as she said that. It was good that Lydia-sam had calmed down, but we really needed to resolve the problem with the teleportation circle as soon as possible. I approached the elf woman who was still apologizing to the angry elf man. 

“Umm… Excuse me, may I have a bit of your moment?”

The glasses wearing elf man turned to look at me. He was glaring at me, like he was about to direct his anger toward me, but his face suddenly turned pale. His gaping mouth remained still, the words didn’t escape his mouth yet. I wasn’t sure why he suddenly act like that, but since the elf woman nodded in response to my question, I continued on.

“How do we provide the teleportation circle with magic energy?”

“Well, you can just simply channel your magic power toward this teleportation circle. But I have to remind you, the teleportation circle will only work if it’s infused with high quality magic power, that’s why we’re still─”

But before the elf woman could finish her sentence, Lydia-san took a step forward. She placed herself between the elf woman and me before she turned to look at me. 

“Rest assured. This gentleman here not only possesses the high quality magic power you need, but he actually possesses the finest quality magic power you could ever hope for! I, Lydia Astoria, a knight from the esteemed Astoria family and also an S-rank adventurer, guarantee that! I assure you, this issue will be resolved in an instant!”

WHAT?!

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