episode_0042

Chii’s eyes widened as she asked, “Unnie, do you like Ritsu Oppa?”

“Hmm-. Let me ask first. What do you think of Pashu, Chii?”

“I like Pashu.”

“Me too. I like Ritsu so much. I like him so much that- we even promised to be together forever.”

“Wow…… I wish that for myself too-.”

Chii smiled, as if imagining something happy.

“Unnie, where are you from?”

“It’s a place called Breezedon, a mountain village like this one.”

“Breezedon? Where is it?”

“Have you ever heard of Teyldun?”

“No.”

“Then it’ll be a bit hard to explain. To put it simply, it’s a place far, far away- to the west.”

Chii turned her head in the direction indicated.

“It’s there if you go west?”

“You have to go quite a bit. About 10 days of continuous walking without rest?”

“Oh……”

Chii’s eyes sparkled.

However, she soon bowed her head deeply and submerged herself in the hot spring water.

“Chii… has never been outside.”

“Since it’s dangerous, it must be difficult.”

“Pashu hates me going outside.”

“Really?”

“He keeps telling me to just do chores at home.”

“Hmm…”

If Ritsu had said something like that to me, we would have fought big time.

Well…… of course, Ritsu would never say anything I dislike!

By the way, telling a girl to learn housework was, logically, not problematic at all.

It’s extremely common for women to take care of household matters and for men to handle outside affairs.

I’m just an unusual case.

As for ‘housework,’ it was just endless repetition of dull and boring tasks, so there wasn’t much more to learn anyway.

“Chii, do you want to go outside?”

“Yes. I’m curious about what’s outside. So I snuck out without Pashu knowing, and then I met Unnie.”

“Hehe. You’re quite something-. That must be tough.”

“It is tough.”

“Even so, thanks to meeting Chii, I was able to come to this village- so Chii helped Unnie, didn’t you? So brave, so brave.”

I stroked Chii’s head.

I felt like I understood that feeling so well.

That desire to run out because of intense curiosity about the outside.

Because when I was little, I felt the same way.

If I pestered Ritsu to go out and play, he would sigh but eventually listen to me.

Although it was on the condition of not crossing ‘the line,’ just wandering around together was enjoyable enough.

But Pashu doesn’t seem as gentle as Ritsu.

Even when I first encountered him, there was a feeling he was overprotective of Chii.

“That Pashu. I’ll have to give him a piece of my mind later.”

“No, Unnie… Pashu is kind. He treats Chii well. And he’s dignified. So-.”

“I know. I’m not scolding him- I just want to have a little chat. I won’t mention Chii’s story.”

“Really?”

“Of course! This is a secret conversation about our ‘women’s troubles.’ It’s a secret from men.”

“……Mm! Hehe.”

Chii nodded, beaming with a smile.

It was about time to finish bathing and return.

It was when I was wading against the hot spring water to pick up my clothes.

Rustle-.

Suddenly, a sound came from the bushes.

Was it an animal passing by? …I thought, but.

It wasn’t an animal.

“Hoo-. Hoo-.”

Unpleasant breathing sounds could be heard from beyond the bushes.

And I saw a man approaching this way.

That’s……?

Fosao…?!

“Kyaaak-!!”

As I hastily tried to cover myself, I tripped.

Plop!

Simultaneously, as I slipped into the hot spring.

“Nuaaaa-!!”

Mister Fosao also shrieked and fell backward.

“Ti, Tia…? Why is Tia…!”

“……”

I fumbled for the ground.

As soon as my hand grasped a stone, I threw it with all my might in that direction.

Swish-!

“Huk!”

It missed by a regrettable margin.

‘That guy,’ seeing death brush right past him, shrieked and scrambled to his feet.

“Nuaaaa-!!”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Wa-wait-! Wait… it’s not like that! Waaah-!!”

I picked up another stone and threw it.

Thwack!

“Squeal-!”

It was a direct hit to his back. But that pig, his skin must be surprisingly tough.

He managed to run away without falling.

I was about to rush out of the hot spring and chase after the pervert who was fleeing.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, my thigh throbbed.

It seemed my recent slip wasn’t good.

In the end, I had no choice but to give up the chase.

Chii asked,

“Unnie… are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine now. But I have to kill that pig bastard. Ow, ow, ow….”

“Why did you throw stones at Mister?”

“Because he obviously came to peep on us!”

“Peep on us?”

“Yes! He snuck in while we were bathing!”

The girl blinked.

“Anyone can come in here.”

“Uh- that may be so, but we were here first, weren’t we?”

“Doesn’t matter if it’s a woman or a man. It’s fine. Mister can come in too.”

“……What?”

Could it be… that it’s not a problem for a man to enter while women are bathing?

For a moment, I didn’t understand.

But thinking about it carefully, it somehow seemed plausible.

Because this is a truly small village.

Everyone knows each other so well that they just feel like family.

So the villagers didn’t seem to make such distinctions.

“Ugh…. Alright. Let’s get out for now.”

I exited the bath and asked the villagers.

Indeed, they said it was fine that Mister Fosao was simply allowed into the hot spring.

They even asked what the problem was.

Ugh. So Mister Fosao had unintentionally been misunderstood.

Seeing his reaction, it did seem like he was truly wronged…….

Haa.

Even so, I can’t forgive him.

No, I don’t want to forgive him.

Those dark eyes that scanned my body up and down.

I recall his flustered expression, and at the same time, the slight upward curve of his lips.

…Tch. I really should have killed him then.

Chii introduced the place where I would stay.

“Tia Unnie! This is our house!”

It was Chii’s house.

Chii’s parents were young.

They felt about the same age as my aunts.

But they were stoic and very shy around strangers, so I couldn’t converse with them.

The room I would stay in was in the most secluded corner of the house.

Its size was just right for three people to lie down.

It felt a little cramped, but I was satisfied since I had my own space.

Chii quickly arranged the bedding for me.

“Good night, Unnie.”

“Thank you, Chii. See you tomorrow.”

“Mm!”

I lay down comfortably.

Haa.

After huddling on the dirt floor until now, lying on a soft mat felt so good.

The blanket was warm, and perhaps because I had just bathed, I felt like I would fall asleep quickly.

Let’s see.

It feels like it’s been a long time since I slept alone…….

Swish-.

I took off all my clothes.

I neatly folded them, placed them above my head, and got into bed.

“Hehe-. This feels good-.”

I felt free.

The quality of sleep was definitely different when sleeping with clothes on compared to sleeping naked.

It was like, well, knights couldn’t sleep wearing their armor.

For me, ‘clothes’ themselves felt that way.

Recently, my body had been so exhausted that I slept without having time to care about such things.

When I woke up, I felt a buildup of fatigue in my body.

In other words, sleeping with clothes on was nothing more than a nap for me.

“Time to sleep……”

I closed my eyes, joyful that I could finally get a proper night’s sleep after a long time.

Creak-.

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

“Hoo- hoo-. It’s so re, refreshing after a bath-.”

Goosebumps appeared on my skin.

I opened my eyes again.

Mister Fosao was standing at the doorway.

“……”

“……Uh, uh…? Tia?”

I tried to grab the Rose Shabel next to me.

But I fumbled in the air.

Ah, right. I had that taken away.

Then what should I use to punish that Mister so it’s known I did a good job?

“Hee-ik-!”

Perhaps he felt my murderous intent, the pig’s face turned pale with fear.

“Ah, before… sorry!”

The Mister prostrated his large body and began begging profusely.

“I really di… didn’t know! They told me to go up and wash, so I just went up…”

“Are you ready to die?”

“Hee-ik! N-no…! It’s true…! P-please believe me!”

“Haa-.”

I pulled the blanket up to my chin.

“It’s fine. I heard it was a misunderstanding.”

“Uh… uh-huh……”

“But why are you trying to come into ‘my room’?”

“Tia’s room…?”

Mister Fosao looked around, seemingly flustered.

And pointed to his feet.

“Th-this is what they told me was my room?”

“Huh?”

From what I heard, it seemed the Charrak residents had given Mister Fosao and me the exact same instructions to use ‘this room.’

Since they didn’t separate us… that meant, in short, that we were to share the room.

I couldn’t understand it.

Was the village situation so poor that there was only one room for guests?

Or did that Mister, who seemed perfectly suited for a pigsty, think it was alright to sleep with a girl like me?

I was angry, but I couldn’t say anything to the villagers.

After all, I was in a position where I should be grateful they accepted a stranger.

……Is there no other way?

“Hmph-. Alright. I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Y-your gaze is too scary… Tia……”

In the end, Mister Fosao and I ended up lying down side-by-side.

I didn’t want to put my clothes back on, so I decided to just sleep as I was.

Instead, I made sure the Mister stayed as far in the corner as possible, keeping his distance.

And I warned him that if he didn’t want to be the main course at tomorrow’s Charrak pork party, he was to absolutely not look this way and only stare at the wall.

I was annoyed, but not particularly worried.

Because if he even dared to lay a hand on my body, I would immediately punish him.

“……”

Still, thinking there was a man right behind my back… sleep wouldn’t come easily.

What’s more, that Mister, his snoring is too loud.

Will I even be able to sleep properly?

I sighed.

I glanced back at the Mister.

He was dutifully looking at the wall, just as I’d told him.

“……Asleep?”

“Huh? Oh, no… not yet……”

“You know what happens if you snore loudly again, right?”

“Nuaaa- I, I know! I’ll sleep with my shirt over my face….”

Mister Fosao took off his upper garment and covered his face with it.

It felt much better without his unpleasant breathing sounds.

Both of us had bathed, so there was no smell.

But looking closely, there was a large bruise on the Mister’s back.

It was a mark from being hit by the stone I threw.

I felt a little sorry… but since I let him off for seeing me naked, let’s call it even.

While idly looking at the Mister’s back, a thought suddenly struck me and I asked,

“What did you talk about with the Village Chief?”

“Ah… nothing much. They said we can stay in the village for two days. And they’ll teach us the way to De, Deseo.”

“Really?!”

“But… they said they can’t give us a map… so tomorrow I, I have to meet the Village Chief again and memorize the route.”

“I’ll go! I’m good at memorizing!”

“I know. Tia is so, so smart… Hehe. But… the Village Chief told me, me alone, to come… so I think I have to go.”

“……?”

Was it because I showed up wielding ominous weapons?

Somehow, I felt like the Charrak Village Chief didn’t approve of me.

That’s unfair! Shouldn’t he be more wary of *that* Mister instead?

He’s a disgusting, fat, secretly perverted bastard.

I really didn’t trust him, but if I meddled unnecessarily, things could get worse.

For now, I had no choice but to trust him with it.

“Then make sure to memorize the route properly.”

“Mm…. Ah, alright.”

A moment later, the Mister began to snore.

Even with his shirt pulled over his face, he was just as loud.

Since the distance was so close, it was practically meaningless.

I wanted to get up and kick him hard.

But my body and mind were both so tired that I just covered my ears and slept.