Ch.11Roommate (2)

“Ash…?”

Silvia dropped the three rabbits she was holding onto the ground with a thud.

Then she immediately turned and ran toward the cabin.

He was gone.

No, had he ever been there in the first place?

Had she, after suffering from the pain of loneliness for so long, pitifully lost her mind?

Silvia kicked the door open so violently it nearly broke.

The edge of the door bounced back with such force that it left a large dent in the wall before trembling.

Then the hinge, unable to withstand the impact, snapped with a sound and the door fell to the floor.

Silvia, paying no attention to this, stepped over the fallen door and entered the cabin.

Only the silence of the empty space, devoid of any human presence, greeted her.

“… Am I going crazy?”

The table, spotlessly clean without a speck of dust.

The dishes, all washed and looking like new.

Belongings or clothes—Ash, having been shipwrecked, didn’t have much to begin with.

“…”

There was no trace of Ash anywhere in the cabin.

As if he had never existed at all.

Silvia staggered, feeling strength drain from her body.

She leaned her back against the doorframe where the door had been and slid down to the floor.

After staring blankly for a while, she laughed hollowly.

“Ha, haha… I should have thought logically.”

Who would come to a forest like this in the first place?

Shipwrecked? And then walked all the way here? Does that make any sense?

The memory was too vivid to be a mere misunderstanding.

Is my mind completely broken?

Perhaps these cursed eyes are showing me hallucinations as a new way to torment me.

Silvia chuckled bitterly.

Ash.

Even my imagination is lacking.

Perhaps his name itself was a hint.

He disappeared like ashes, just as his name suggested.

Suddenly, her eyes fell on the bed where Ash had been lying.

Originally, it was a padded stand meant for placing swords or armor.

She had buried her armor in the cemetery, unable to bear the sight of it after being condemned by the villagers in her dreams every night, and had wrapped her sword in black cloth and stuffed it under the bed.

Since then, she had been using it as a sort of sofa, and after Ash arrived, she had given it to him to use as a bed.

She knew well from having lain on it herself a few times.

Since it wasn’t originally made as a bed, lying on it for too long would make one’s back ache.

“About 20 days… Ha, that’s impossible.”

No matter how kind Ash was, sleeping in such a place for days would have been unbearable for his back.

The more she thought about it, the stronger her suspicion grew that Ash was just a hallucination created by her pitiful brain.

Without realizing it, Silvia crawled toward the bed.

On top of it lay a neatly folded blanket.

It had originally been a tablecloth, but she had given it to him because there was nothing else suitable to use as a blanket.

Ha, a tablecloth as a blanket.

This isn’t some children’s game of house.

“So in the end, I was just a crazy woman playing house by myself… Crazy bitch.”

Silvia slowly picked up the blanket and held it to her face.

Surely the blanket would smell of nothing but musty dust.

*Sniff, sniff*

“…Ash?”

Silvia’s eyes widened gradually.

Amidst the fluffy scent of sunshine emanating from the thin blanket on the makeshift bed by the window, Ash’s smell was distinctly embedded.

Silvia clutched the blanket tightly and buried her nose in it frantically.

“Ash’s scent…”

It was definitely the smell of Ash as she remembered it.

What does this mean? Does Ash really exist?

Or had she simply mistaken the smell of this tablecloth for Ash’s scent?

In her confusion, Silvia suddenly remembered the three rabbits she had dropped at the cemetery.

She had clearly seen it at the moment she dropped the rabbits.

Laila’s grave, which hadn’t been there before.

If that exists, doesn’t it mean Ash exists too?

Ah…

Ah, I see.

Silvia felt she understood what she had been misunderstanding.

That night, Ash had indeed come to her cabin with his injured body.

Only, he hadn’t survived.

Of course, those were injuries that no ordinary person could have endured.

Goodness, how could she have made such a huge mistake?

It wasn’t Laila who died, but Ash.

Going mad with loneliness, she had been so desperate not to lose the first person she’d met in ages that she’d been seeing impossible hallucinations all this time.

“…Crazy bitch.”

Silvia buried her nose in the blanket and inhaled.

She breathed in deeply and persistently, as if trying to capture and hide the faint remaining scent of Ash deep within her body.

“Haaah… Ash… Ash.”

“…Miss Silvia?”

“…!”

Startled by the man’s voice coming from the doorway, Silvia whipped her head around.

Ash was standing at the door, holding a basket full of various herbs, looking at her.

…

Idiot.

How flustered was I?

Of course he had just stepped out for a moment.

There’s no way twenty days of memories could all be hallucinations.

If I had just stayed calm, I would have known that, but why did I act so foolishly…

Silvia, reproaching herself for losing her composure and going into a frenzy just moments ago, buried her face in the blanket she was holding and sighed.

Her sigh was heavy with relief.

And along with that relief, another emotion quietly calmed her heart.

Ash was looking at her without saying a word.

“…”

“…”

But why was Ash making that expression?

Ash was blushing and averting his eyes, wearing a strange expression that mixed embarrassment, shyness, and bewilderment.

He seemed to be trying hard not to make eye contact.

Silvia finally examined what she had been doing.

And slowly realized.

That she had been holding his blanket, burying her nose in it, calling his name, and smelling it.

“…”

“Ah, no, um… please continue.”

“Ah, no, wait, this is a misunderstanding.”

Silvia’s face turned as red as her eyes.

*

Last night, as I ate bland potatoes with Miss Silvia, I was confident that I could make much tastier dishes.

Even if she was a hero, it’s only natural that there would be something she couldn’t do.

If there had been delicious food, her lonely days might have been a little easier to bear.

So, serving her delicious food seemed like the best way I could repay her.

I confidently said I would cook, but when I actually looked around the kitchen, I realized it was no simple task.

“…There are no seasonings at all.”

There was a reason for the bland taste.

Her cabin had absolutely nothing that could be used as seasoning or spices.

Well, thinking about it, it made sense.

No merchant would come to a forest like this, and even if one did, she wouldn’t meet with them, so salt, pepper, and the like were out of the question.

Moreover, since she didn’t raise any animals, butter or cheese made from animal milk were also unobtainable.

“Ah, this is really a problem…”

Maybe she was actually a good cook but simply couldn’t get the right ingredients?

Was I being presumptuous?

Such anxiety began to creep into my mind.

I lightly slapped my cheeks with both hands to forcibly dispel the uneasiness.

“No, if I search the forest, there should at least be herbs. Miss Silvia probably just lacked the knowledge to find them.”

Eating any random weed could be dangerous.

But wait, doesn’t she know a lot about medicinal herbs?

I slapped my cheeks once more.

“Let’s not think such ominous thoughts.”

I grabbed a basket to collect herbs that could be used for cooking, or mushrooms to accompany the food, and left the cabin.

The dense forest surrounding this ruin like a veil.

I was a bit afraid, having heard there were many wild animals, but I was sure there would be something edible.

With that in mind, I wandered through the forest, being careful not to go too far to avoid any mishaps.

Wild ferns, wild strawberries, mugwort, shiitake and porcini mushrooms, and various other edible fungi. And many more.

The forest was filled with more food than I had expected.

Seeing no signs of harvesting, it seemed Miss Silvia indeed didn’t know how to identify these things.

I couldn’t find anything to provide salt, but I collected wild leeks to add spiciness and various other herbs. I slowly straightened my back, patting my waist, and looked up at the sky.

Seeing the sun directly overhead, it seemed to be noon.

“I gathered this much in just an hour.”

Looking at the basket full of vegetables, a satisfied smile involuntarily spread across my face.

With this much, I could make a delicious hot pot.

I slowly stretched my back to relieve my stiff body.

If I collect too much, it might be difficult to find more next time.

After memorizing the places I had gathered from, I picked up the basket and headed back to the cabin.

As I approached the cabin, something felt strange.

Well, first of all, the missing door was extremely odd.

Had a bear entered while I was away?

I cautiously approached the cabin.

As I got closer, I could clearly sense someone’s presence inside.

…What if it really is a bear?

Tensely, I peeked through the doorless entrance, carefully looking inside.

And what I saw was…

“Haaah… Ash… Ash.”

Miss Silvia repeatedly calling my name, burying her nose in my blanket, and deeply inhaling its scent.

“…Miss Silvia?”

“…!”

I felt like I had seen something I shouldn’t have.

Neither Miss Silvia nor I could say anything.

She buried her face in the blanket and let out a long sigh.

Huh, what? She’s continuing even though I’m watching?

…Um, well,

I guess she’s more bold than she appears.

In this situation, I should probably give her some space.

I slowly backed away, saying:

“Ah, no, um… please continue.”

“Ah, no, wait, this is a misunderstanding.”

She blushed and reached out toward me, coming closer.

I put down the basket on the ground and ran away.

It was the first time I had run since severely injuring my leg in the carriage accident.