DLBF Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – Awkward Situation

Chapter 3, Part 1.1

Novel Title: ルーデンドルフ公と森の獣 (Duke Ludendorff and the Beast of the Forest)

Author：かわい有美子 (Kawai Yumiko)

Illustrator: 周防佑未 (Suoh Yuumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 藤森賢士 (Kenji Fujimori -MC), ユリアン ルーデンドルフ (Julian Ludendorff -ML)

*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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The next morning, when Fujimori woke up, Julian was already out of bed.

This time, Fujimori woke up a bit earlier than usual.

He could hear the sound of running water from the bathroom—Julian must have been taking a shower.

A single strand of Julian’s fine, slightly long golden hair was tangled in the pillow. Fujimori picked it up with a curious feeling.

It was the same hair he had touched last night. While Julian’s ears had transformed into something resembling those of a beast—perhaps a dog or a wolf—the hair was the same as what he had felt then.

“Was it a dream?” He muttered. But the sensation of the pinky promise still lingered in his hand.

The sharp, pointed claw, the tough, hardened skin, and the large fingers covered in short, dense fur—those hands were far too different from a human’s to be anything else.

It wasn’t frightening. But it was puzzling. And the true nature of it remained unknown.

How should he put it, it all felt so unrealistic… In fact, it would be easier if it were all just a dream… or if it were some kind of elaborate joke played in disguise. But probably, it wasn’t.

Then what kind of attitude should he show…? As he pondered this with a groggy head, the sound of water stopped.

Not long after, Julian, wrapped in a bathrobe, emerged from the bathroom.

Fujimori found himself facing Julian without any preparation and froze for a moment.

“…Good morning.”

Julian seemed to have frozen as well. He hadn’t expected Fujimori to already be awake. His face, without any preparation, showed his surprise with his eyes wide-open.

“Good morning…” Julian responded with that much and showed a troubled expression.

He looked as usual this morning. But his stubble stood out.

Up until now, when they met face-to-face in the morning, Fujimori hadn’t noticed it. But it seemed to grow faster than usual. Could it have something to do with last night’s events?

At this rate, it looked like he hadn’t shaved in about a week. It wasn’t unsightly, perhaps due to his terrifyingly handsome face and the fact that his beard was in the colour of a soft golden-brown.

Rather, it gave off a somewhat wild impression, which wasn’t bad in its own way. However, it seemed difficult to maintain this state constantly.

But unlike at the beginning, the image of a bearded man or a bear-like man no longer sits well with him.

“That beard looks good on you.”

For now, Fujimori tried to smile.

Julian seemed to attempt a smile as well. But it didn’t quite take shape, and he lowered his gaze with a vague expression.

“Thank you.”

A polite response was all that came back.

“Um… after breakfast, can we talk a bit? …I’m not sure if I can explain it well, though…” His way of speaking turned far too formal for lovers. 

That might be natural. But it felt somewhat lonely.

“Sure…”

Fujimori picked up the pyjamas he had discarded last night and put them on.

Then, when he walked over to Julian, who hadn’t moved from where he had come out of the bathroom, he reached out for his hand.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Making an effort to sound cheerful, the man with a somewhat subdued demeanour only smiled and nodded.

***

After finishing a breakfast that wasn’t as lively as the day before, Julian suggested having some fruit tea on the terrace on the second floor.

Fujimori was puzzled at the mention of fruit tea. But what was prepared was a glass pot filled with plenty of fruits like oranges, grapes, and apples. Tea was poured over them, and the fruits’ sweetness and aroma were gently brought out by warming the pot with an oil lamp from below.

Seeing that, Fujimori thought the conversation might take a while.

“Were you surprised last night?”

Julian, sitting in a wicker chair under the shade of a parasol, asked without immediately pouring the warmed tea into the nearby cup.

“Um, a little?”

There were many things Fujimori wanted to ask. But he hesitated to dive straight into what had happened, so he responded vaguely.

“In the Ludendorff family, beings like me sometimes were born.”

“Beings like you…?”

“Do you believe in the existence of ‘werewolves’?”

“Sorry, what?”

At first, Fujimori didn’t quite catch the word Julian used. So he asked him to repeat it.

When Julian pronounced “Werwolf” again, Fujimori recalled the werewolf legend that Julian had talked about before.

However, understanding the word and grasping its meaning in the context of the conversation were two different things. Fujimori felt confused as he tried to comprehend what Julian meant by “werewolf.”

“Um… you mentioned earlier that people thought it was caused by ergotism or rabies…”

“Those are the diseases that were believed to cause the condition in people who were considered werewolves.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right…”

Women were hunted as witches, and men as werewolves—this was the story of those who were persecuted as heretics.

But that was about religious outsiders being purged, or property being seized, or cases of mass hysteria. It wasn’t a pleasant story to hear. But in a way, it was a part of the dark history of humanity.

However, last night, Julian had indeed transformed into a beastly figure with ears and a tail.

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*Translator’s Note: Through reading, I somehow found that Fujimori-san is the type of character that kinda resigned to his fate. He’s also a total pushover. It kinda annoys me. But you know, there are lots of people with this character in Japan. So, in a way, it’s kinda realistic. Hmm… I don’t know how to feel about that though. -K

Next update: 2024.11.22

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