Chapter 118: Honorifics

For a brief moment, Xi Yue wondered whether she had accidentally disturbed his rest after all.

Kyle was sitting comfortably in his rocking chair, his eyes open now, and a small smile appeared on his face when he noticed her hesitation.

’Come on in, Yue’er. You have no idea how badly I need someone to talk to right now.’

He welcomed her inwardly, almost tempted to thank the heavens for sending her at precisely the right moment.

He had been dying of boredom.

Since moving into the guesthouse, his days had consisted of sitting around, watching the scenery, thinking about utterly useless things, and waiting for his wounds to heal. He had even resorted to counting imaginary sheep while rocking in his chair, occasionally pretending to meditate just to give himself something to do.

Who would have thought that surviving in a fantastical world would be so dreadfully boring?

He had imagined all sorts of exciting adventures when he first arrived, but reality had been considerably less glamorous. First, a giant wolf had nearly eaten him alive. Then, after being rescued, he had been forced to spend his time recovering like some elderly man who had nothing better to do.

At this point, even a casual conversation sounded like the greatest entertainment imaginable.

"Evening, Benefactor. I arrived to check on your wounds and monitor your recovery."

Xi Yue greeted him respectfully, her posture straight and her manner as graceful as ever. Her voice carried the same politeness he had come to expect from her.

Although they were roughly the same age, she treated him with considerable respect because of his strength and the deed he had accomplished for the village. To her, he was not merely a young man who had wandered into their lives. He was the person who had slain the Bloodfang Wolf that had terrorized their home for years.

Kyle, however, was beginning to find that reverence rather tiresome.

"Please, Lady Xi, don’t embarrass me by using such honorifics when talking to me."

He spoke politely, offering her a slightly awkward smile.

Truthfully, he didn’t dislike being respected. In fact, a part of him rather enjoyed the feeling. Being treated like a hero certainly had its advantages, and he wasn’t arrogant enough to pretend otherwise.

Nevertheless, there was a limit to how much of it he could tolerate.

Every time someone called him Benefactor, he felt as though they were placing another brick in an invisible wall between them. It made ordinary conversation unnecessarily difficult, as if he were some distinguished elder who had spent decades cultivating his strength instead of a young man who had nearly become dinner for a particularly vicious wolf.

And if that wall continued to grow, it would be even harder for him to become closer to Xi Yue.

That was something he definitely wanted to avoid.

He had no intention of spending his entire stay in this world being addressed like some untouchable hero. If he wanted people to feel comfortable around him, he needed to start somewhere.

And Xi Yue seemed like a good place to start.

"It feels too awkward to be addressed with such honorifics by someone around my own age," he added respectfully.

Xi Yue blinked, seemingly caught off guard by his request.

"Please, Benefactor, what you have done for this village is simply beyond words. The respect I and everyone in this village are giving you cannot possibly convey what you have done for us. What you have done for this village simply cannot be expressed in words."

As expected, she offered precisely the explanation he had anticipated.

Kyle resisted the urge to sigh.

’Of course. All this benefactor bullshit again. I did that shit to save my own ass, Yue’er! I don’t care about the village or its people. All I cared about at that moment was making sure I survived!’

He wasn’t particularly proud of the thought, but it was the truth.

He hadn’t entered the forest intending to become a hero. He hadn’t risked his life to save innocent villagers, nor had he deliberately hunted down the Bloodfang Wolf to bring peace to their community.

He had simply wanted to stay alive.

Unfortunately, his desperate struggle for survival had somehow turned him into a celebrated figure.

Well, he wasn’t complaining about the comfortable accommodation or the hospitality he had received. Those were certainly welcome benefits. But the constant formalities were becoming a nuisance.

And arguing about them would accomplish absolutely nothing.

’I need to approach this differently.’

Kyle considered his options for a moment before deciding on a simpler solution.

"I understand. But if you consider me your benefactor, then please drop such honorifics when we’re alone, at least for the time being. It would make me feel much better."

Instead of trying to convince her that he didn’t deserve so much respect, he decided to ask her for a favor.

After all, if she insisted on treating him as someone who had done her a great service, surely she could grant him this small request.

"I would highly appreciate it if you simply called me Kyle instead of using honorifics when addressing me in private," he added.

He deliberately emphasized the word private. He wasn’t asking her to disregard the village’s customs or suddenly treat him casually in front of everyone. He merely wanted their conversations to feel a little more natural when they were alone.

That seemed like a reasonable compromise.

Xi Yue fell silent.

For a moment, she appeared to be weighing his words carefully. Her gaze drifted downwards as she considered whether such familiarity would be appropriate. Although Kyle had explicitly given her permission, she still seemed hesitant to abandon the respectful manner in which she had addressed him from the beginning.

Kyle waited patiently, resisting the temptation to rush her.

’Come on, it’s not that difficult. I’m not asking you to rob the village treasury.’

Finally, she raised her eyes towards him.

"...Is it alright if I call you without any honorifics?" she asked cautiously.

"Of course it is."

Kyle immediately nodded, pleased that she was at least considering it.

"Also, have you forgotten what you’ve done for me? You yourself saved me from the jaws of death, Xi Yue."

As he spoke, he deliberately used her full name without attaching any title to it.

It was a small gesture, but he hoped she would understand his intention. He wanted to make it clear that he didn’t consider himself superior to her simply because the villagers had begun treating him like a hero.

Besides, there was no reason for her to keep placing him on a pedestal when she had played such an important role in saving his life.

Without her intervention, he might never have made it out of that forest alive.

And frankly, being eaten by a giant wolf was not how he wanted his first adventure in another world to end.

"If it really comes to honorifics, I should be the one using them in that case," he added.

Kyle leaned back slightly in his rocking chair, careful not to put unnecessary pressure on his recovering wounds. Even this simple movement reminded him that his body was nowhere near fully healed.

He couldn’t afford to forget that, no matter how comfortable their conversation became.

Nevertheless, he looked at Xi Yue with a relaxed expression, hoping his words would finally put her at ease.

He had no desire to spend their time together navigating a maze of formalities. If they were going to talk, he wanted them to talk naturally.

For now, that was enough.