episode_0236

It’s warm.

Just – crackling –

As I was sitting idly in front of the bonfire on the beach, I suddenly felt a warm feeling covering my shoulders, so I shivered and looked to the side.

Covering my shoulders was a blanket I brought from home. Of course, it was Hermel who took the carriage and covered it.

I smiled and looked at Hermel.

“Thank you.”

“Being thankful is something I should definitely do. You can’t just watch the person you like shivering because it’s cold.”

“There is nothing for granted when it comes to being considerate of someone. So thank you.”

“Hehe… . Charles’ words always warm my heart.”

The way he was smiling and talking was so cute, so I smiled and looked at Hermel.

Always a bright and strong person. An upright and warm person… . I think about this all the time, but this person is truly too much for me.

If it weren’t for Hermel, I would have spent my whole life wandering the world after falling off that cliff.

“It’s all cooked!”

“… … .”

… Otherwise, he would have thought he could die now and ended his life in a place where no one was around, or he would have met his end on that cliff.

I forced the corner of my mouth that was about to fall and called out to Hermel.

“Hermel.”

Hermel, who was munching on part of the leg of a giant squid that was much larger than his own face with his small mouth, looked in my direction at my call.

“Muum?”

What gave me the courage to face my sins squarely, what gave me the will to move on to the end of this life, what gave me a reason to live, and what gave me a place to return to.

There are countless more… . No, I looked at Hermel with gratitude for everything that has happened since I met you.

‘thank you. all of it.’

If I bring this up, it will definitely create an awkward atmosphere. Knowing that, I just smiled a little.

For a split second, I had mixed emotions. But since they were all unnecessary now, I quietly put them away and wiped Hermel’s mouth with the blanket I was covering.

“It was all on my mouth.”

Hermel smiled brightly instead of answering, perhaps because he was conscious of the food remaining in his mouth.

It warmed my heart to see that the smile had not changed at all from when I first saw it.

“Is it delicious?”

Nod. Hermel nodded, and I looked at Hermel for a moment and then hugged his legs.

happy. There really is nothing better.

“… Hehehe.”

I smiled and watched Hermel eat.

After watching Hermel eat for about 30 minutes, Hermel put down the squid legs and patted his stomach.

“Ugh… . I’m full.”

“Did you eat a lot?”

“Yes… . But there really is a lot left… .”

Of course, I couldn’t eat all the giant squid. Just one leg alone is enough to feed Hermel and I for a week, so what can we do?

“I can’t help it. But we can’t eat it all.”

“That’s right. Tsk… . It’s a waste, but there’s nothing we can do about it. by the way… .”

Hermel nodded, crossed his arms and looked at the remaining giant squid for a while.

The part that Hermel and I ate was one leg. And that was only a small part. The remaining parts after eating were the head and body, nine intact legs, and one leg with the end slightly cut off.

In fact, except for one leg being slightly cut off, it was no different from when it was first rescued.

“What about the rest?”

“Umm… . First, take some food with you while traveling, and throw the rest into the sea. If you leave it on the beach and it rots there… .”

“It would be bad to see it if it stays until the next time you come. huh. okay. Then leave it to me to throw it into the sea.”

I nodded and used the knowledge from my previous life to select an appropriate portion for Hermel and I to eat.

“I think this is enough.”

“How do you store it?”

“Just let it dry.”

“I see. It was good! Then now it’s my turn!”

As I was organizing the selected parts, Hermel jumped up from his seat and approached the remaining giant squid.

What are you trying to do? Except for the fact that one of his legs was half blown off, he was fine, so he must have weighed a lot… . No, wait a minute. When I think about it, it was Hermel who pulled that thing up from the sea.

When my thoughts reached that point, I looked at Hermel, thinking that he would drag the squid into the sea again, just like when he took it out.

Hermel looked around at the squid, nodded, went between the two longest legs, and placed the squid’s legs on both sides.

“Tskcha.”

“Uh… . Hermel. What are you trying to do?”

“Ah, I know it when I see it! And it’s dangerous, so stay back!”

After saying that, Hermel began to slowly spin in place.

… no way. Oh no way. As I stepped back with that thought in mind, Hermel’s rotational speed gradually increased, and the giant squid that was being dragged by the sand began to float little by little.

yet–

“Huh! Ahhh!!”

Tung――!!

As soon as Hermel let go, the giant squid flew into the sky with a heavy sound of hitting the air.

… It was not a joke or an empty remark, but Hermel picked up the giant squid and threw it toward the sea with a giant swing, and the speed was so great that it looked like the giant squid was really flying in the sky.

“――Ha.”

I thought I was confident that I wouldn’t be surprised no matter what I did, but there are still surprises left.

I laughed, looked up at the giant squid cutting through the sky with its long legs flailing, and touched my forehead.

“Phew… . I moved a little and started sweating.”

I shook my head and approached Hermel as he calmly wiped the sweat with his forearm after throwing away a giant squid that seemed to weigh hundreds of kilometers.

“Would you like me to make water for you?”

“Yes, thank you! I already felt a bit uneasy after going in and coming out of the sea.”

I nodded to those words, hung a blanket on a nearby rock, made water like I did in the forest, and sprayed it like a shower.

“I’m going to wash up with you too, is that okay?”

“If that’s the case, I’d rather ask you a favor from me.”

Seeing Hermel smiling and trying to take off his swimsuit, I gently held Hermel’s hand and shook my head.

“This will be a little later. Got it?”

“Chii… . I want to do it now… .”

He said while stroking the head of Hermel, who was poking out his mouth and pretending to pout.

“I’ll let you touch my breasts.”

“That’s what I promised when I said I was sorry for making fun of you earlier.”

“If you think about it that way, what difference does it make if you touch my chest almost every night?”

“Umm… . The difference between touching with permission and touching without permission… ?”

Hermel, who was tilting his head as he said that, laughed and shook his head, probably because he thought it was a nonsensical answer.

“Fuha! What do you think?”

“Okay, what do you think?”

After that, we talked about various things, washed away all the salt that was making our bodies uncomfortable, and then used magic to dry our bodies and hair.

“If this is the case, doesn’t that mean you don’t need a towel?”

“Huh? Right?”

When I tilted my head at the unexpected remark, Hermel, who was blinking at me, pointed to the blanket that had been placed on the rock for a while.

“Isn’t that a towel?”

“Ahaha, that’s a blanket. Not a towel.”

“Blanket? ah… . It was somehow bigger than a towel, so it was a blanket.”

surely. Since he didn’t say anything while taking it, it’s easy to mistake it for a towel. It was a bit small for a blanket.

“It’s quite small for a blanket. That’s because it’s still unfinished.”

“Incomplete… ? Could it be that you made it yourself!?”

“Yes. There wasn’t much to do while waiting for Hermel, and I couldn’t do nothing either, so I wanted to do something – so I started, and I ended up doing quite well, right?”

“Oh… !! I did not know! Did you make anything else besides that blanket!?”

“We make clothes, bed sheets… . I made it one way or another. I also made the shirt I usually wear myself.”

At my words, Hermel’s eyes sparkled and he repeatedly let out exclamations.

“Next time I get a chance, I’ll make you some new leather armor.”

“Do you know that leather is different too!?”

“A little bit? If I’m going to make something Hermel can wear, I’ll have to do some practice right now.”

I shrugged my shoulders and said, and Hermel smiled brightly.

“I like anything that Charles makes!”

“I’m happy to say that, but I don’t want to give away defective items. Now then, let’s go back to the carriage. I need to change my clothes and rest.”

“Yes!”

We returned to the carriage holding the hand of a brightly smiling Hermel and changed into extra clothes together.

Even though I stayed cool and didn’t sweat thanks to magic, I still feel a little uncomfortable wearing clothes I once wore in the middle of summer.

“Then I’ll go out for a moment, light a fire, and then come back.”

“Okay! Then I will prepare well.”

After changing my clothes, I lit a bonfire near the carriage, threw in some herbs with a scent that bugs don’t like, and then got back into the carriage.

After setting up a separate barrier around the area just in case, I looked around one last time, confirmed that the area was safe, and returned to the carriage.

The magic was still maintained inside the carriage, and it was comfortable, unlike the muggy outside.

“Tskcha… . Huh?”

As soon as I entered the carriage, what I saw was Hermel lying on the mat spread on the floor of the carriage, lifting the blanket he was covering.

“Now! Let them come in here!”

I laughed because it was cute to see him patting the seat next to him with his hand and talking.

“Yes, I will, princess.”

I smiled and lay down next to Hermel, and Hermel hugged me and covered me with a blanket.

“Hehe. Got it.”

“I got caught.”

Hermel smiled and hugged me, and naturally started touching my chest.

I wonder what makes this lump of fat so nice to touch… . If it weren’t for Hermel, I would never have let him touch it.

Hermel, who had been touching my chest for a while, gently buried his head in the crook of my neck and said.

“Charles.”

“Huh?”

Hermel, who was almost being hugged by me, looked up at me and said.

“Where shall we go next?”

“Well… .”

I trailed off, looking up at the ceiling of the carriage and blinking.

where should we go… . Where should I head… . Honestly, after everything was done, I thought it was a good thing.

No matter where I go or where I head, in the end, I wouldn’t have been able to exist as myself.

“… … .”

But not now. You can head anywhere. It’s okay to go far away. It’s okay to settle down somewhere.

If you are there

I lightly kissed Hermel’s forehead and smiled.

“Anywhere.”

Because my place is by your side.