episode_0005

“No-! The Big House!”

Tia’s house was in the shade of the forest below the hill, where a stream flowed.

That house was called ‘The Big House’.

Simply because it was the largest among the houses in this village.

Unfortunately, no one lived there.

It was said to be where Tia once lived with her parents.

Until her father went missing, and her mother passed away from illness.

Afterward, Tia ended up living with Aunt Sherry, and I heard the Big House was simply left abandoned…

“It’s clean?”

When I actually came, it looked surprisingly intact.

Someone had managed it recently, removing all the vines that had covered the roof, and the collapsed fence had been newly set up.

Tia stood before a wooden door with ‘Anshier’ written on it.

Tia Anshier.

This was Tia’s real name.

In the past, this house must have been called ‘The Anshier Residence’.

Clink clink-.

Tia began fiddling with something in front of the door.

It was the wooden door’s ‘code’.

Uniquely, the door had grooves carved in the shape of a plow, and it opened by moving the wooden pieces inserted into them to match certain conditions.

Naturally, only Tia knew the code.

Clunk. Creak-.

As the door opened, sunlight streamed into the dark interior.

Honestly, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

The Big House, which was no different from an abandoned ruin, was very neatly organized, and it was even decorated cozily, giving a sense of lived-in warmth.

There was a small bed, a shirt and belted shorts hanging on the wall, and a flower vase placed by the window.

Finally, there was melted candle wax stuck to the chair, and an open *World Adventure Log*.

It was then I realized.

The only person in our village with such a tidy room… was Tia.

“Did you… make this your home?”

Tia puffed out her chest as if boasting.

“Yep!”

“Why? You have Aunt Sherry’s house.”

“I can’t just keep imposing forever. I’ve been slowly renovating this place to make it my own home from now on.”

To personally renovate this old house, where she lived with her parents, in order to live here.

It was amazing. And at the same time, incredibly admirable.

“That must’ve taken a long time.”

“And I got a bit hurt doing it-.”

I wondered why she kept getting more scars and bringing bandages; I thought it was for training, but was it because she was fixing up this house?

For a girl to do work that would normally require several men.

How arduous must that effort and hardship have been?

“Ritsu. Come here.”

Passing through the room, we went towards the back door.

A wide yard with neatly leveled ground appeared.

I thought she might make a vegetable garden here, but there was nothing like that, just a large log stuck upright in the center.

Ah, this… that’s it.

Tia drew her short sword and handed it to me.

“Hold it.”

“Do I have a veto?”

“No.”

“Just as I thought.”

“You’ve been holed up in the pharmacy lately. You need to move your body a bit to stay healthy.”

An incomprehensible situation: being dragged to a childhood friend’s house in the middle of work to be nagged…

I felt like I could fully understand how Mister Marvin felt when Aunt Olivia nagged him.

“Let’s see…”

I’d held it before, but this short sword is quite heavy.

Was the sword’s name ‘Rose Saber’?

It was said to be a memento from Tia’s mother, who was an adventurer… Perhaps because it was for a woman with small hands, the hilt was short, and the blade felt thinner than those of mercenaries.

Nevertheless, it definitely had sharpness and weight, so its power as a weapon seemed sufficient.

“Now, hold your stance like this.”

Tia said it was a basic stance, holding the sword horizontally above her head.

I tried to follow along, but she seemed dissatisfied with something, continuously correcting my posture.

Why am I doing this in broad daylight?

I wasn’t learning swordsmanship; I was just playing with Tia.

Thinking that made me feel a bit more at ease.

It was when I was absentmindedly waving the sword, just doing as I was told.

“No! No!”

Tia rushed behind me and wrapped her arms around me as if embracing me.

“You need to put your strength into it firmly like this! Otherwise, you’ll get hurt!”

Ah, Miss Tia.

Thank you very much for kindly guiding me to correct my poor posture.

Squeeze.

The… strange sensation touching my back is, well, a little distracting…

“Ritsu. Are you listening to me?”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

“Like this. Naturally thrusting…”

Squeeze.

A sudden thought came to mind.

Tia has grown too, hasn’t she?

Not as ample as my aunts, but these small, soft weights, clearly asserting their presence and pressing against my shoulder.

What should I call it?

The contrast between the hard sword hilt in my hand and the soft sensation pressing against my arm… created an indescribably pleasant yet uncomfortable feeling.

“Haaht!”

Strength flowed into me without my knowing.

Whoosh-!

A sharp sound tearing through the air.

At the same time, Tia’s warm breath touched my neck.

A faint, sweet apple scent wafted.

It’s hot. Insanely hot.

It felt like the hot sun was burning my back.

Was it because I was swinging the heavy sword, or because heated blood was coursing through my entire body?

No. Focus.

I need to clear my mind.

I firmly gripped my wrist and swung the sword forcefully.

Swish-!

A magnificent arc was created.

Tia cried out in an excited voice.

“Wow-! See! You can do it! That last one was quite decent!”

“Phew-.”

“Alright. Next is…”

“Ah, stop. Let’s stop. I’m tired.”

“Eh-? Already? Ritsu, you need to know how to protect yourself! I’ll teach you!”

“It’s fine. I can protect myself just fine.”

I quickly pulled away and slumped onto the backyard steps.

My heart was beating too fast; I needed to calm down.

I had gripped the sword so tightly that my fingers felt numb.

My back was damp. It felt like I’d just sweat out a year’s worth of built-up perspiration.

Tia opened her leather canteen, took a few gulps, then wiped her mouth.

“Want some?”

“Yeah.”

I took the canteen and immediately chugged it.

It was cold water freshly drawn from the stream.

As I guzzled it down, my excited chest gradually settled.

As I closed the stopper and was about to hand it back, my eyes met Tia’s.

She was staring intently at me.

“…Why?”

“Huh? Oh, no. Nothing.”

Tia scratched her cheek.

That was definitely a ‘not nothing’ action.

Well, I’ll be. How long have I known you not to realize that?

Hmm. I was bored anyway, so why not have some fun?

“Tia. The baptism ceremony is this winter.”

“Mm.”

“As you know, for the commemorative ritual, we drink alcohol and dance with a partner, right?”

“…Mm.”

“Who are you going with?”

Tia’s eyes wavered slightly.

Interesting.

If she asked me the same question, my answer was already decided.

Isn’t it obvious? No matter how I think about it, you’re the only suitable partner for me.

Conversely, from Tia’s perspective, there would only be me.

It was a mischievous question, asking an already determined answer.

Still, there was no better way to tease her.

Indeed, the surprise attack landed perfectly.

Tia laughed awkwardly, scratching her cheek again.

“Well, that’s obvious…”

Just as I was anticipating what she would say.

“Figured. I wondered where you went, but you were here.”

Suddenly, a deep voice cut in from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Ruyef slowly walking from inside the house.

“Ruyef?”

Why is that guy…

…here?

“How did you know about this place…”

“What. Am I not supposed to know?”

Ruyef sighed as if annoyed and swept back his blond hair.

“I put in half of this house’s fence, and I made most of the furniture, so I’d be an idiot not to know this place.”

What is he talking about?

Hadn’t Tia renovated this house by herself?

Does that mean Ruyef helped her?

…It probably does.

Ruyef had walked straight here as if he was already familiar with the house.

Tia crossed her arms in displeasure.

“Still, don’t just walk into my house without permission.”

“Then at least answer if I call, you fool. I’ve been wandering around all day looking for you!”

“Looking for me? Why? What’s the matter?”

“He said it’s alright to go now.”

“……!”

Tia was so surprised that she opened her eyes wide and clenched her fists.

It was the first time I’d seen her so excited.

“Really? Village Head-nim? This quickly?”

“Yeah. Hurry and get ready to go. We’re already late.”

Suddenly, the two of them had some sort of conversation, and Tia, with a very excited expression, rushed back into the house.

“…What is this?”

I couldn’t possibly understand what they were talking about.

Tia and Ruyef began moving busily, as if they had made some sort of promise to each other.

Swish- thud.

Tia incredibly quickly buckled her belt and strapped on her short sword. She also tightly cinched her climbing robe and boots.

Now that I looked, Ruyef also seemed to have roughly finished his preparations.

“Wait a minute. What are you two doing?”

“Hey. Tia, didn’t you tell Ritsu?”

“Ah! Sorry, Ritsu!”

She wore a genuinely apologetic expression.

“Something urgent came up; we have to go somewhere now.”

“Where?”

“Behemoth.”

“Behemoth?”

That was the name of a waterfall far to the north, past the mountain peaks.

I had known the name for a long time, but I had never been there.

Because Behemoth is outside the ‘line’.

But they’re going there?

We haven’t been baptized yet, so we’re not supposed to cross the line.

Tia nudged Ruyef with her elbow.

“I talked to Village Head-nim today, and it seems he gave us permission to go. And he said if we’re going, we should go with this guy…”

“Oh… really?”

“Mm.”

A suffocatingly awkward silence hung in the air.

It made sense for Ruyef to go, since he knew the outside paths well and had better stamina than the elders, but…

Even though I understood it intellectually, I felt extremely uneasy.

Up until now, whenever we went anywhere, we moved separately, alone, in pairs, or all together.

But Tia and Ruyef going somewhere by themselves?

That had never happened before.

Ruyef asked curtly.

“The bandages?”

“Ah, here.”

Tia took a bandage from her pocket and handed it to Ruyef.

That was… the bandage I gave her earlier today.

So, that’s why she asked for two; one was for him.

“No time for this. Let’s go quickly.”

Ruyef suddenly grabbed Tia’s arm and yanked her outside.

“Ugh! W-wait! Hey! Don’t pull!”

“You said let’s go, you fool. We’re already late, what time do we have to dawdle?”

“Ah, I get it-! I get it-!”

The voices of the two grew fainter.

The wide-open door was pushed by the wind and slid shut.

Thud.

“……”

What is this?

He gave permission for Tia to go beyond the line?

Why did the uncommunicative Village Head-nim, who had never once allowed anyone outside the village, suddenly have such a change of heart?

Taking a deep breath and thinking calmly, I seemed to understand why.

The person who proposed opening the village… was me.

Village Head-nim merely trusted and followed my opinion. He did nothing wrong.

And as expected, Tia was extremely happy.

She had shown a very bright smile at the thought of being able to go beyond the line.

I’m satisfied with that.

“…But.”

But… why do I feel so stifled, as if something is blocking my chest?