episode_0238

Rattling――Rattling――

“It hurts… .”

what… . When did I fall asleep… ? And what is this fishy smell… .

I opened my eyes to the pain that struck my back and the back of my head several times and the fishy smell that tormented my sense of smell, and what caught my eye was a string crossing the ceiling of the carriage and a squid hanging from that string.

… calamari?

“ugh… !”

I was about to get up out of my seat, wondering if there was a squid caught in it, but I had to lie down again due to the throbbing pain rising from my lower back.

Why is my body like this… .

‘Ughhh… ! Hermael――! I no longer… !!’

As the memories of last night flashed before my eyes, I covered my face with both hands and sighed.

Did you really do it until you lost your mind? . In the end, I can’t even say that this is my karma… .

“… … .”

Still, since he doesn’t feel uncomfortable, it looks like he changed his clothes and cleaned his body.

I laughed and shook my head and stretched. I stretched out my body, shivering from the painful yet cool feeling.

“Ugh… . Paha… .”

“Did you sleep well?”

The tent on the coach side was slowly lifted, and Hermel peeked out his face.

Seeing how shiny my face was after doing that last night, I felt grumpy, so I sighed and smoothed my back.

“Phew… . My back hurts too much to say I slept well.”

While saying that, I glanced at Hermel, and the corners of Hermel’s eyes and mouth were drooping.

“Waist… . It hurts a lot… ?”

I blinked at the sight of him feeling more sorry than I thought, then immediately got up from my seat, went to Hermel’s side, and hugged him.

“It’s okay. It’s just a little stiff.”

“Are you really okay? You’re not overdoing it… ?”

Hermel, who was held by me, looked up at me while saying that, and I stroked Hermel’s head.

“Really… . Why are you being so upset? I’m fine.”

“But… . Charles is weak right now, and I am too strong… . I was wondering if maybe I was too excited and miscontrolled my strength… .”

Ah, but you still have the awareness that you are strong.

As I thought about that and blinked for a moment, it occurred to me that it would certainly be surprising from Hermel’s perspective.

“I’m sorry. My thoughts were too short. I won’t play pranks like this next time.”

“Yes… .”

I hugged Hermel, who nodded, and kissed Hermel’s forehead, then relaxed my arms and looked forward.

What was visible was not the sea, but an open plain and a road crossing the plain. I tilted my head at the sight of the road I couldn’t remember.

“But where are we going?”

“I don’t know? For now, I’m just following the road.”

I blinked when I heard that we had set off without a plan or a destination. I looked at Hermel for a moment and then crossed my arms.

It’s not something to get angry about. It’s not like you’re driving a carriage up a mountain with no roads, and you’re not throwing the carriage into the sea, so why would you be angry?

However, there is one question that arises. Hermel, who had been so looking forward to going to the sea with me, turned his carriage around just one day after arriving at the sea.

“Hmm… .”

Why did the carriage suddenly turn around?

‘I’m sick of it. Let’s go back now.’

No, it doesn’t feel that way. Hermel is a persevering person who, once something has been decided, will continue until he is satisfied, unless something goes wrong.

I went on a trip I was so looking forward to, but I’m not the type of person to change my mind and turn my back after saying I was sick of it after just one day.

‘It’s different from the sea I thought of. ‘Let’s go somewhere else.’

No, this is not it either. Hermel is surprisingly simple, so he doesn’t care about such things. Even if I’m a little disappointed at first, I’m the type of person who enjoys it by thinking, ‘Well, the sea is the sea.’

Then why did the carriage suddenly turn around? After blinking at Hermel, I decided to just ask him directly.

Because there is nothing more foolish than worrying about what it means when you have a person in front of you who can give you an answer.

“Why did you turn the carriage around? You were really looking forward to playing in the sea. It’s okay for me, but is it okay for Hermel not to play anymore?”

“Umm… . That’s it… .”

Hermel, who was scratching his cheek at my words, sighed deeply.

“Just… . Because I don’t feel well… .”

“I see.”

I nodded and sat down next to Hermel. Hermel was staring at me with his eyes wide open, perhaps because he found my reaction unexpected.

“Why are you so surprised? I didn’t say anything strange.”

“Uh… . Aren’t you angry?”

I couldn’t help but question those words.

“Why am I angry?”

“Huh?”

“Hermel didn’t break the carriage, nor did he drag me to a harsh place… . You didn’t move the carriage without any reason. I have no reason to be angry.”

“But, it’s true that you moved the carriage without saying anything to Charles.”

“As I said before, there is a reason why the carriage was moved. Well, if you moved the carriage without any reason, I might nag you, but it’s not something that would make me angry.”

After saying that, I leaned my head on Hermel’s shoulder and smiled mischievously.

“But why do you keep asking me why I’m not so angry? Does Hermel want me to be angry?”

“No! Umm… . It’s just that Charles doesn’t get too angry… . I was wondering if I was holding it all down inside… . Or not.”

“Thank you for caring so much.”

When I said this with a grin, Hermel pouted his mouth and looked the other way, as if he was embarrassed.

Seeing Hermel like that, I chuckled, stretched, and said.

“Ugh~ Paha… . I just don’t get angry because it’s literally nothing to be angry about. So you don’t have to worry too much.”

“Hehe. Yes!”

Only then did Hermel smile brightly, and I took my head off his shoulder and smiled while stroking his head.

Now Hermel, who was driving the carriage with a smile on his face, suddenly looked ahead and muttered.

“Anyway… . What will happen if you go down this path?”

“Well. Since we’re following the road, maybe we’ll come across a city?”

“Um… . Is the city like that? Should I turn the carriage?”

Seeing Hermel glancing at me as if he was worried about me, I smiled slightly and shook my head.

“It’s okay. Even if I enter the city, no one will recognize me.”

“But the city is the place where information flows the fastest as it also has an adventurer guild. If someone who knows what Charles looks like shows up… .”

Certainly, Hermel’s concerns were valid. I too suffered from such worries for a while after I settled in that village.

But fortunately or unfortunately, the witch of the abyss――that is to say, information about Charlotte La Rochelle was not widely spread.

To be exact, the name itself has been spread through rumors, but its detailed appearance and such are not known. At best, the fact that her hair is red and that she is a woman. That was it.

“Don’t worry. Fortunately, there isn’t much information about witches.”

“Umm… . surely. All there was to say was that she was a woman with red hair… .”

“So it will be okay.”

There are many people in the world with red hair. Of course, there aren’t many people with as vivid a red color as me, but red hair definitely exists.

So just because I have red hair, it will never be discovered that I am Charlotte. I can assure you.

“Um… . Well, if Charles is like that, then so be it!”

As I smiled at Hermel, who was smiling brightly and speaking, Hermel slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.

“And, even if something happens, I just have to protect Charles.”

My heart pounded at the sight of Hermel speaking while holding hands.

really. Lately, whenever I stand in front of Hermel, I feel like a woman. Of course, the body is that of a woman… . I just feel like my mind has become a woman.

… It’s more troublesome because I don’t feel like it’s bad.

I felt heat rising to my face and said as I washed my face dry.

“Hmm. Because you can’t be sure that a city will appear. Let’s go first.”

“Ah, my ears turned red. Are you feeling embarrassed now? Right?”

“… I’m going to go in and lie down because my back hurts, so wake me up if you’re hungry or see anything.”

I kept my calmness as much as possible and smiled, then got up from the coach seat and entered the luggage compartment.

“Phew… .”

After cooling my face with the cold air inside the luggage compartment, I blew out the fishy smell lingering in the luggage compartment and lay down again.

As I was staring blankly at the tent in the luggage compartment, I suddenly remembered the thoughts I had last night and stroked my lower abdomen.

“… … .”

I don’t regret anything I did to get here. That’s what I was thinking… .

Only one. Something I regret happened.

‘The uterus… . Maybe I should have left it behind… .’

I sighed internally and pressed my hand against my lower abdomen, but I couldn’t feel anything because the place where my uterus should be was empty.

There was pressure, but my stomach didn’t hurt or anything. Since there was no uterus, there was nothing special about it other than the lower abdomen going in as much pressure was applied.

‘You’re greedy.’

Once I got my hands on one, I started to look at the others as well. I even wanted it even more because I knew it was something I could never have.

The future I erased with my own hands. Now, I smiled bitterly as I recalled the irreversible past.

“Charle, are you hungry?”

“Uh, huh?”

When I woke up in surprise at the sound of Hermel’s voice coming from the coach seat, Hermel, who had lifted the tent and looked at me, blinked.

“I was touching my stomach, so I asked just in case… . Is something wrong? Are you sick, not hungry?”

Seeing Hermel narrowing his eyebrows as if he was worried about me, I smiled slightly and continued talking.

“I’m hungry because I’m having trouble sleeping. Let’s eat something.”

Even though I thought it was such an awkward turn of phrase, Hermel didn’t question it and just smiled brightly and answered.

“Good! The squid is drying, so I’ll stop the wagon for a moment and go catch something!”

The moment I saw Hermel smiling brightly, I felt the worries that had been convoluted in my head disappear as if they had been washed away.

okay. Someday there will be a way. Someday, a new path will open.

I smiled thinking that.