Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are Are So Dangerous! [BL]-Chapter 109: Unspoken Bonds

"For now, let’s keep this on your forehead for a while. Does it hurt?" Ragar asked with concern.

"Hmm... it still stings, and it hasn’t gone away," Rocco replied with a little bit angry tone.

"Just a sting? There’s no bleeding, but how does the area feel otherwise?"

"It’s fine. I’m okay," Rocco assured him.

The lingering sting from the bump was the only issue; everything else seemed fine.

As Rocco nodded his head confidently, Ragar exhaled in relief, visibly reassured.

"...Georgio didn’t come back yesterday either, did he?" Rocco asked suddenly, his voice softer than usual.

Ragar paused briefly before nodding his head in confirmation, his expression unreadable.

Rocco’s eyes narrowed slightly.

So, Georgio still hadn’t returned.

"...I’m worried," Rocco murmured, his voice tinged with sadness.

It had been two weeks since Georgio disappeared.

As the days stretched on with no sign of his trusted attendant, Rocco’s shoulders slumped, his heart heavy with concern for his missing companion.

...

"R-Ro... R-Rocco,"

The stammer was so calm and measured—without any obvious signs like blushing or a trembling voice—that at first, it sounded like his father was simply humming cheerfully.

Rocco had been gazing out of the dimly lit attic window, lost in thought, when his father’s voice broke the silence from behind him.

How had he known to find him here?

Rocco wondered briefly, but the answer came quickly.

For the past two weeks, Rocco had spent his days in the attic while staring out the window, waiting for Georgio to return.

His whereabouts were likely no secret to anyone in the household.

Rocco stepped away from the window while clutching his Mr. Bunny tightly.

He hurried over to his father, tilting his head in curiosity.

"Is something wrong, Father?"

His wide and innocent eyes blinked up at his father, who cleared his throat with a low cough.

Rocco noticed his father glance toward Strasbourg who is standing just behind him.

With a single look, his father seemed to communicate something unspoken.

Strasbourg nodded his head silently and gestured for Ragar, who had been standing watch behind Rocco, to leave the room.

Although Ragar glanced back, clearly confused and concerned, he obeyed the order.

His worried gaze lingered on Rocco until the very last moment, but Rocco offered him a soft, reassuring smile and waved goodbye.

If his father had gone so far as to clear the room, it must have been something important.

Kneeling to Rocco’s level, his father softened his expression, meeting his gaze with a gentle smile.

His usual cold and commanding tone—the one he used with his subordinates—was vanish.

Instead, his voice was warm, soothing, and so tender that it almost tickled to listen to.

"...Rocco. You haven’t seemed yourself lately. Is it because of your missing attendant?"

Rocco’s father was, of course, aware of Georgio’s disappearance.

After a brief hesitation, Rocco nodded his head silently.

The weight of Georgio’s circumstances pressed on his thoughts, and he bit his lip.

Seeing this, his father lowered his gaze briefly, as if thinking something.

When he looked up again, he gently clasped Rocco’s hands, the ones clutching his beloved Mr. Bunny, and spoke in a quiet, almost hesitant tone.

"We’ve been investigating the matter of Georgio the Hyena within the Di Malvento family for some time now."

"...I see."

Rocco had anticipated this response.

It was only natural.

In order to accept someone as a confidant—a member of the family—meant the Di Malvento family would thoroughly investigate their background and circumstances.

And for someone like Georgio the Hyena, whose past was as shadowy and fraught as his, such scrutiny was inevitable.

Did this mean his father was about to tell him to forget Georgio entirely?

That Georgio, who is now gone, was no longer their concern?

From the standpoint of the Di Malvento family, there was little reason to take the risk of harboring someone as dangerous as Georgio.

With his unpredictable nature, Georgio was seen by many people in the underworld as someone who could turn on them at any moment.

Surely, as both a father and the head of the Di Malvento family, his father would prefer to distance himself from someone like Georgio the Hyena.

Rocco waited nervously, his body trembling slightly.

Whether or not his father noticed, he reached out and cupped Rocco’s cheek gently, his voice soft and calm.

"If the information we’ve uncovered is accurate, his circumstances are extremely complicated. Intervening could mean making an enemy with the Assassin Guild at worst."

The Assassin Guild.

Hearing those words from his father’s lips drew a dry, hollow laugh from Rocco.

So, they had uncovered that much already.

Of course, the Di Malvento family was nothing if not thorough.

Delving into the affairs of the Assassin Guild would have been no small feat, yet they had done it.

If they had probed that deeply into Georgio’s connections, it seemed increasingly likely that his father would demand he let Georgio go.

Rocco shrank further into himself, the weight of dread growing heavier.

However, then his father said something entirely unexpected.

"Rocco... do you want to save him?"

Rocco opened his eyes in surprise.

He had braced himself for words like, "Forget about Georgio." Or, "Act as though he never existed."

Something final.

Something cold.

However, this... this was not what he had expected at all.

Rocco was so surprised that he let out a clueless, "Huh?" in a tone that sounded embarrassingly dumbfounded.

As he stood there with his mouth agape and a vacant expression, his father looked down at him with an amused, slightly exasperated smile.

Gently patting Rocco’s head, he asked with playful mischief, "What’s this? Did you think I’d tell you to give up?"

Rocco flailed, shaking his head quickly, his brows knitting in confusion.

"But... but why? There’s no benefit in it for you, Father."

His father had no reason to gain anything from this.

Even if Georgio somehow ended up aligning with the Di Malvento family, the risks far outweighed the benefits.