episode_0002

It was a quiet night.

Owls dozed, bobbing their heads, amidst the chirping of crickets.

A night of unsurpassed peace in our village.

It was time for everyone to return home, lay their tired bodies in bed, and fall asleep.

Normally, I would have been yawning too.

But now, I wasn’t sleepy at all.

My eyes were wide awake, as if I had just woken up from a very long sleep.

Swish—.

I drew the curtains at the window, lit a small candle, and placed it in the corner of the room.

This was to prevent light from leaking outside.

And from now on, I had to walk very carefully so that no sound would leak out either.

I untied the bundle I had secretly stashed away.

Snacks bought from the lower village spilled out.

I had bought them myself, but I truly bought a lot.

It was while I was arranging the snacks one by one on the table.

Knock knock.

A very small knock was heard from the back door.

At the same time, my heart fluttered slightly.

I carefully approached the door and asked in a hushed voice.

“Who is it?”

“…Hehe.”

The ‘someone’ outside the door burst into laughter and couldn’t reveal their identity.

As soon as I heard that innocent sound, I desperately covered my mouth, feeling like I would burst into laughter too.

I barely managed to swallow my laughter and opened the back door.

Creak—.

As the cool night air flowed in beneath my feet.

A girl stood bathed in brilliant moonlight.

She was dressed in a thin shirt, having secretly come all this way to meet me.

“Ritsu…!”

Tia swayed her red hair and tiptoed in.

And very carefully, she closed the back door and whispered.

“Aunt Sherry was especially sensitive today… I was late because I had to come out carefully.”

“It’s alright. As long as you weren’t caught. Come on in.”

“Ugh, it’s cold!”

She hugged her arms and shivered, like a wet rabbit shaking off water.

Autumn was approaching soon.

Of course her body would be cold, having run through the night air in such light clothing.

I handed her a blanket along with some pre-boiled water.

Tia pulled the blanket over her head and squatted in front of the boiling kettle.

As warmth slowly spread, she hugged her knees tightly, her expression relaxed.

“…Hehe. It’s warm.”

“I’ll bring the snacks, so warm yourself up.”

“Okay.”

Before starting the snack party, I took out the pre-cut cake and snacks.

I also took out the milk that had been kept cold in the shed and mixed in pickled strawberries.

When I entered the room, carrying plates and cups in both hands, Tia was lying down, looking as if she had been swallowed by a blanket monster.

“Are you dead?”

“I’m alive—.”

“Get up. Let’s eat snacks.”

“Ugh— I just want to stay like this a little longer.”

She hugged the blanket tightly and rolled around on the floor.

“Hehe. You smell like Ritsu.”

“What?! Smell?”

I immediately tried to snatch the blanket, but Tia dodged me, giggling.

This kid is surprisingly fast.

Tch. I have a man’s pride. I can never lose.

I gritted my teeth and quickly grabbed the fluttering edge of the blanket.

“Got you—!”

I tried to pull with force, but then.

“Huh?”

The blanket unravelled with a whoosh.

And in that instant, I lost my balance and ended up falling forward.

Thud!

“Ah…”

When I opened my eyes, what a sight this was.

This is unfair. It looked as if I had pounced on Tia!

…And there was only one blanket between us.

Our faces were strangely close.

Tia, who was beneath me, also seemed a little startled, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

“…”

Awkward silence hung in the air.

When I came to my senses, I found myself hastily backing away and making excuses without realizing it.

“Th-that is, you should have given it back when I asked for it! You said it smelled.”

Whoosh!

The blanket was thrown over my shoulders.

Tia giggled and snuggled closer to me.

“I didn’t say the smell was bad?”

“Then what?”

“Hmm— how should I put it. It’s like a comforting smell— That’s why I said I liked it.”

Saying that, she flashed a mischievous smile again.

“If I didn’t like it, would I have kept the blanket on?”

“…Oh.”

“Ah! This is Angel Castella!”

She turned her gaze to the snacks, snatched a piece of bread, and let out a happy moan.

“Mmm— it’s delicious. Walnuts are just crunchy in my mouth!”

“Don’t eat so fast. You’ll get indigestion.”

We lay side by side on the floor, sharing the blanket, and picked up snacks one by one to eat.

It was delicious.

There were familiar ones and new ones.

The familiar tastes brought back memories, while the new ones gave a thrill like an adventure.

As we passed the time with idle chatter, before long, even the plentiful snacks began to dwindle.

Our stomachs were full and it was hard to eat more, but Tia kept rummaging through the crumbs.

She seemed to be looking for something.

Unfortunately, it was time to deliver some sad news.

“Sorry, Tia. The ginger biscuits were all sold out.”

“What—?”

“You might not believe it, but Aunt Lily said so. It seems to be popular in Taildon these days.”

“Really? Everyone said they were awful and hated them when I shared them.”

“I know, right?”

“Hmm—. Well, who cares! It’s good news! Let’s think of it as the kids finally realizing the strange taste of ginger biscuits—! Having more ginger biscuit allies is good, no matter what—.”

Is it good…?

Actually, I wasn’t particularly fond of ginger biscuits.

How should I put it, I didn’t really like the unique scent of ginger.

I think I also know why children dislike those biscuits.

The betrayal when a biscuit looks like a delicious cookie but then tastes pungent and bitter the moment you bite into it.

What else could it be?

Still, since Tia liked them, I always ate them with her, and though I didn’t enjoy them, I had gotten somewhat used to them by now….

Thinking about it, I’m curious.

Out of all those numerous sweet snacks, why did this kid particularly come to like such a ‘weird’ snack?

“Tia. Why do you like ginger biscuits?”

“Huh? Hmm—.”

Tia crunched on a butter cookie and thought for a moment.

“Because it’s delicious? We’ve been eating them together since way back.”

“You were the first one to discover them. I didn’t even know such snacks existed in the world.”

“I don’t really know—. I just like ginger biscuits. How should I put it… when I chew them, the bitter taste spreads and my body gets a chill—.”

“You get chills? Isn’t that bad?”

“No! I get chills for a moment, but then my body quickly warms up… and that feels good.”

Indeed, ginger is quite effective at warming the body.

Around late autumn, even the elders brew ginger tea to drink.

The point is that it’s strange to enjoy ginger regardless of the season, but…

Well, it seems Tia’s palate is a bit different from mine.

“And I brought this.”

I took out the gift bundle I had hidden under the bed.

As soon as she saw its thick size, Tia seemed to realize what it was.

“Is it a book?”

“Yes. The one you ordered.”

“Wow—!”

Tia immediately unwrapped it.

Tearing off the thin parchment paper wrapping, inside was a thick book bound in leather.

Thud.

It was truly a beautiful size.

Would the Grand Library of Deseo have many books like this? I couldn’t even dare to imagine, but it was clear that this book didn’t belong in a humble place like a mountain valley.

Tia slowly traced the book’s cover with sparkling eyes.

Uniquely, this book had no author listed.

That was natural. Because it was the ‘World Adventure Log’.

Fantastic and beautiful stories, compiled into a book, encompassing the adventures of travelers who journeyed around the entire world.

It was also a book where the spirit of people who lived such lives continued: a child who grew up reading this book would become another adventurer, travel the world, and then their stories would be added back into the World Adventure Log.

Tia hugged the book tightly.

“I… I really, really wanted this.”

Those words were a pure, unadulterated truth.

Tia’s parents were adventurers.

They said they were quite recognized adventurers, despite their brief activities.

Perhaps their stories were also included in this book.

I thought, perhaps Tia had ordered this book to find the face of her father, whom she could no longer remember, and the stories of her mother, who passed away when she was young.

“Thank you, Ritsu.”

“…”

I hadn’t bought the book, nor had I really helped her.

I had merely brought it from Taildon.

Of course, I did have a slight ulterior motive of wanting to hear such praise.

But when she said ‘thank you’ to me with that face, eyes glistening… what on earth should I reply?

It was when my tongue was momentarily stiff.

Rustle—. Rustle. Rustle—.

I heard someone walking outside.

Irregular footsteps. It was undoubtedly Mister Marvin, who had drunk a lot and come out on patrol.

I immediately extinguished the candle and whispered.

“Hide…!”

Tia hurriedly burrowed into the blanket.

I also hid my body in the shadows and looked towards the window.

Beneath the swaying lantern light.

Rustle—. Rustle.

Mister Marvin’s shadow passed in front of the curtains.

Rustle.

But then, as if he heard something, his footsteps stopped.

Did he hear us? Did he notice? What excuse should I make?

No matter how close we were as best friends, if we were caught secretly together at night, it would cause a huge uproar.

For a brief moment, as all sorts of thoughts raced through my mind, I held my breath.

“Buuurp!”

Mister Marvin let out a mighty dragon’s roar [a very loud burp] and staggered away again.

Only when the irregular footsteps faded from hearing.

“Haa…”

Could I finally sigh in relief.

After double-checking that he was truly gone, I picked up the candle to relight it.

Somehow, my lower abdomen felt warm.

A peculiar sensation of warm air regularly seeping between my shirt.

My face flushed red at the pleasant ticklish feeling.

Tia was hidden in the blanket, tightly clinging to my leg.

She didn’t know the situation outside, so she had stayed like that.

Had she always been this small?

Having always seen her energetic, seeing her shoulders hunched up like a baby bird felt somewhat amusing.

I wished I could stay like this a little longer.

Tia was the first to ask in a small voice.

“Is he gone?”

“He’s gone.”

She threw off the blanket and let out a small sigh.

And then, as if nothing had happened, her eyes sparkled again.

“Let’s read the book!”

Of course, that’s just like her.

It seemed I wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.