Chapter 90: A Silly Isekai Protagonist

Benjamin reached the miniature island sooner than he expected, then settled his palm against the rough bark of the enormous cherry tree.

Ancient power thrummed deeply, but slowly and patiently, beneath his fingers.

“This… must be a really old tree,” he murmured to himself. “Are you sure it’s a cherry tree at all?”

He was grasping for distraction. He wanted to do anything to keep the memories from resurfacing.

In truth, this was only the second time he had seen those visions so clearly; the first had been the moment he died on Earth.

However, he did not want to dwell on them now.

He turned back toward the mouth of the lake.

But still nothing… The hollow space where the others stood remained blank, and he could not sense what Sakura and the rest were doing.

He pushed the unease aside and began the return journey; hopping, leaping, dashing from leaf to leaf with the same effortless silence as in the beginning.

When he reached the shore, he allowed form to return.

And air flowed around him again—not through his body—settling like a second skin.

Soon, weight returned gradually: first to his bones, then his muscles, then the soles of his feet as they met solid ground.

“Ahaha,” he laughed, his voice still ghostly with the afterimage of what he had released. “It turns out that I got it on my first try. It was quite hectic thou—”

He removed the blindfold, but his words died in his throat.

SHISHI-NO-SU LOVES YOU, BENJAMIN MARK!

THANK YOU FOR VISITING US!

The message was written in enormous characters across a long banner strung high above the gathered crowd.

The letters shimmered with dim enchantment; the foreign characters readable to him only because of his status as god-touched.

Benjamin’s, strangely calm, blue eyes dropped from the banner to the assembly of faces below.

Old beastkin with grey fur, walking sticks, and battle-scarred hides.

Young ones clutching lanterns, with their tails wagging furiously.

Warriors in their ceremonial armor.

Legends whose names were only heard in whispers around the kingdom, not out of hiding.

All of them were looking at him with big smiles.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN MARK-SAMA! WE LOVE YOU!”

The shout rolled across the shore like thunder.

Well, except for Sakura.

She only stood frozen, her pink hair whipping in the night breeze, and her amber eyes wide with disbelief.

“Eh?! Wh-Why did you say that?!” she yelled, turning sharply toward the crowd. “It wasn’t supposed to be that!”

“Huh?” A nearby tengu blinked, her feathers ruffling in confusion. Everyone else looked equally lost. “But… Usagi-chan said it was his birthday.”

Sakura whirled on the tiny bunny girl standing innocently at the edge of the group.

“You think this is funny, you damn rabbit?!”

“Ara~” Usagi stuck her tongue out playfully, ears flopping. “Maybe Usagi-chan must have mixed up the words!”

Sakura immediately spun back toward Benjamin, hands raised in apology.

“H-Haha, sorry about the misunderstanding, Benjamin,” she said, offering a jokey smile. “I know it’s not your birthday, but the entire kingdom wanted… to…just… Huh? Why are you crying?”

Before the crowd that filled the lake shore, Benjamin had broken down.

Silent initially, with just a tremor in his shoulders and a hitch in his breath.

But sooner, the tears began to pour down.

They flowed in steady streams down his cheeks, as his face contorted with raw, unmistakable pain. His lips trembled as his hands shook at his sides.

“Benjamin Mark-sama—Ben-sama—what’s wrong?!”

Sakura moved first, then the fox sisters, and then the bunnies.

They rushed forward in a wave, surrounding him, with their hands reaching out in worry.

When they reached him, he was already sinking to his knees, his voice muffled behind his palms.

“No… No, I’m not sad…” He was crying gentler now, with his words weak and breaking. “I’m just… too happy. I… do not deserve any of this… I’m trash! I’ve always been trash… I’m… just so happy right now, that’s all.”

The girls smiled through their own tears; some small ones, but others’ streaming freely.

They enveloped him in a tight, warm circle of arms and fur and gentle hands.

Sakura pressed her forehead to his, as Gin snuggled to bury her face in his shoulder.

Aoi and Midori held his hands, as the rest closed in, shielding him from the wind, from the world, and from everything except the overwhelming love pressing against him.

They wanted to smolder him with love.

And behind them, the beastkin erupted.

Roars, howls, sharp yips, deep rumbling cheers; every sound of joy their throats could make rolled across the lake in waves.

“You silly isekai protagonist,” Ren’s playful voice cut through the noise as he stepped closer, his arms folded, and his expression softer than usual. “You’re not trash at all; you are one hell of a good guy, and we just decided to recognize that.”

“Ren…” Benjamin looked up at him through blurry eyes. He wiped at his tears with the heel of his hand; Sakura gently helped too, brushing the rest away with her sleeve.

Then he laughed; that wet and broken, but somewhat beautiful sound.

“Right…? I’m a good guy, right?”

***

The night continued in merriment and laughter, grub, and cuddles.

Benjamin couldn’t stop blushing and laughing, his cheeks flushed from sake and sheer, overwhelming happiness.

Sakura never left his side even once; with her pink hair brushing his shoulder, and her hand always finding his.

And her laughter was sinister against his ear whenever someone tried to pull him away for another toast or dance.

“I know this is utterly ridiculous, but…” she whispered as they watched Midori—sake cup in one hand, and her tail rustling wildly—lead a group of festival dancers in an increasingly chaotic circle dance in the plaza below.

Lanterns swayed overhead, casting warm golden light across flushed faces and swaying tails. “Can you attempt to convince Elara to allow us to meet even if it’s once a decade? I’m willing to pay a high price for it.”

Benjamin laughed, low and warm, then squeezed her palms between his own.

“What am I, a high-class courtesan?” he teased, then softened up. “Elara is… she is at the same time a powerful queen and a cute, innocent girl. She l-l-loves me more than you think, so I doubt she’d restrict us so much… Though I bet she and the rest are really, really mad right now. So I’ve got to go tell them I’m okay… It’s been two weeks already since I last saw those bronze skins.”

Then Sakura raised her head and kissed him; slow, lingering, and tasting slightly of sweet rice wine. “Oh, I love you so much, Benjamin…”

“G-Geez, isn’t that the, like, fiftieth time you’re saying that?”

“I will say it a million times more, and it still wouldn’t be able to fully convey the fact that I love you so much.”

“Fine. Fine! Enough. You’re making me flustered!”

Then she rested her cheek against his shoulder as they continued watching the drunken Midori manifest her derangement:

Spinning, laughing too loudly, nearly toppling into a food stall before someone caught her elbow.

She seemed like the happiest person that night.

And it bothered Sakura a little.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep