episode_0123

“Oof-cha! Huff- huff-.”

Fosao brought over a ladder.

The chimney cleaning work had started in the morning.

His heavy body awkwardly climbed the ladder. That alone took quite a long time.

He barely managed to balance himself and succeeded in putting the rod into the chimney, but.

Scrape! Scrape!

No matter how much he poked, only a little ash fell, and it didn’t clear cleanly.

Even after working for half a day, there was no progress at all.

If the skilled Tia had done it, the work would have finished quickly, but her body was still weak, so she couldn’t help.

Fosao was too fat and slow for hard work.

“Whew- Ah, what should I do?”

There was no solution.

Originally, he had planned to call a technician for the cleaning.

But since Tia was wanted as a murderer in Tailden, calling someone became difficult.

In the end, Fosao had to handle it himself.

“Huff- huff-.”

He poked the rod again.

Fosao’s clothes were drenched in sweat.

His back and chest had turned black, exuding a sour sweat smell.

“J-just a little more…”

It was the moment he stretched his arm out and inserted the rod.

Clatter!

The ladder wobbled.

“N-no?!!!”

With an unsightly shriek, Fosao grabbed onto the chimney.

“Uncle?”

Hearing the scream, Tia came down from the second floor.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing much. H-heeheehee…”

Fosao tried to laugh it off as if nothing was wrong, but he couldn’t fool the sharp-witted Tia.

The moment she saw his trembling legs on the ladder, her expression showed she realized Fosao was struggling.

Tia, who had been quietly watching from below, spoke.

“Uncle.”

“Hm?”

“That… do you have to fix it?”

“If I can’t light this fireplace, I… I’ll be too cold to s-sleep…”

“…You can just sleep on the second floor like yesterday.”

“Is that so?”

Tia pointed outside.

“Let’s just… go for a walk.”

“A walk?”

“Yes. The weather is nice, isn’t it?”

The weather was indeed good.

A day with bright sunshine and impeccably clear air.

It was as if there was no need to struggle so much to clear the chimney.

As if enjoying this pleasant weather was more important, Tia simply smiled.

Clank. Clank.

Fosao climbed down the ladder.

“S-so… shall we go?”

Even though he offered his hand, completely drenched in sweat, Tia held it without hesitation.

“Yes.”

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.

The two began to stroll through the garden.

One lap. Two laps.

Slowly, but keeping pace. They leisurely walked through the general store’s garden, which was small yet felt spacious.

What were they talking about? They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Chatting softly, then giggling together, the two looked… like a father and daughter.

At the same time, they also looked like a couple enjoying perfectly peaceful days.

After their walk, the two entered the kitchen together.

“I’ll help.”

Tia demonstrated her cooking to Fosao.

Fosao, who had lived alone his whole life and never tasted delicious cooking, simply stared in awe.

A woman’s skilled touch was something a man couldn’t easily imitate.

Her eyelids gently closing as she sprinkled a handful of spices.

Her chest swaying slightly each time she sliced the meat.

The outline of her slender waist tightly held by the apron.

Her hips revealed each time she bent down to check the strength of the fire.

Even the gesture of pushing her hair behind her ear as she tasted the seasoning.

Every action was as elegant as a dance, overflowing with grace.

It was the same meat stew as yesterday, but a much more delicious aroma filled the kitchen than before.

Tia ladled the broth onto a plate and offered it to Fosao.

“How is it?”

“D-delicious!”

“Mmm-.”

Tia tasted the broth and tilted her head.

“Hm- no. The seasoning needs to be a bit stronger. Here, I’ve added more salt. How is it?”

“D-delicious…!”

“What? Is ‘delicious’ all you can say, Uncle?”

“Uh-huh! I-I told you before, everything Tia makes is delicious!”

“…Hehe. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The two shared the plate, where their lips had touched, several times.

After tasting until the seasoning was right, they set up a simple meal and ate together.

After the meal, Tia began to clean.

She said she suddenly felt energetic and wanted to move her body a lot when she felt like this.

Swish-swish-.

She wiped the display shelves with a duster.

She swept all the fallen hair out the door.

Thanks to Tia’s thorough efforts, the cleaning finished early.

Now only one place awaited cleaning.

“…”

With a hardened face, Tia opened the door.

Creak-.

A space connecting from the kitchen to the storage room, adjacent to the bathroom that faced the first-floor fireplace.

This was… the very place where Tia had treated me.

Originally, various medicinal herbs, books, glass bottles, and distillers should have been scattered around in disarray.

Since burying me in the mountains, Tia had never entered this place again.

But surprisingly, the room was neatly cleaned.

Without a doubt, Fosao had cleaned it.

Just then, Fosao walked past Tia from behind.

“Oh, oh. You d-don’t have to do that place.”

“Did… Uncle clean here?”

“Uh, uh-huh. Why… w-wouldn’t I?”

“…”

Her distant gaze fell upon the empty bed.

“…No. Thank you.”

Tia said quietly.

“I… I would never have been able to clean this place my whole life.”

“Tia…”

A large hand gently grasped her small shoulder.

Was it because she was drawn to the warmth touching her body? Tia placed her hand over Fosao’s hand.

Regardless, she must have felt the warmth.

It must have been much warmer than touching my pale, lifeless body, which was neither dead nor alive.

Missing the touch of the living, Tia continued to caress Fosao’s wrinkled, hairy, rough hand.

Fosao pushed the door.

“L-let’s go back.”

Thud.

The bed disappeared from Tia’s sight.

* * *

It was bath time.

Gurgle.

Tia sat in the warm bathtub, washing away the old sweat and dust.

“Haaah…”

Steam, mixed with a sigh, billowed up.

As Tia was leisurely bathing, a strange object suddenly caught her eye.

Snatch.

She reached out and picked up the object.

It was similar in shape to a comb, but it had a blade at the end.

It was a razor.

Its sharpness seemed capable of easily cutting skin.

“…”

Tia gazed blankly at the razor.

What on earth was she thinking?

The blade glinted in her red eyes.

She brought her finger to the blade.

Slice.

It was just a slight brush, but a stinging pain was followed by drops of blood falling.

Bright red liquid dispersed into the clear bathwater.

She should let go if it hurts.

She must know that playing with a sharp blade like that is dangerous.

With an expressionless face, Tia did not let go of the razor.

That’s when it happened.

“Hmm~♩ Hm-hm~♬”

Suddenly, Fosao’s humming was heard from outside the bathroom.

“…!”

Tia’s gaze returned.

The girl, having come to her senses, quickly put the razor down.

“Haaah… haaah…”

Her constricted breath released, and her wet chest rose and fell rapidly.

Splash!

As if to wash away any lingering distracting thoughts, Tia scooped up water with both hands and washed her face.

Under the dripping streams of water. Her own face, distorted by the water’s surface, was reflected.

“…”

It was unclear if this bright red water was a reflection of Tia’s hair color or the blood seeping from her finger wound.

Splash!

Tia rose from the red bathtub.

“Because it’s a promise…”

Muttering that to herself, Tia dried her body with a towel.

Her wet feet left transparent footprints as she went up to the second-floor bedroom.

Creak-.

When she opened the bedroom door, she saw Fosao sitting in front of the fireplace.

“Oh, oh… Tia, you’re here? How’s the fire? Is it w-warm?”

“Yes. It’s good.”

“Then, s-shall we sleep now?”

“Yes…”

Rustle-.

As if they had made a promise, the two got into the bed and sleeping bag.

Fosao looked at the ceiling and said.

“In the end, we c-couldn’t clear the chimney…”

“That’s right.”

“If we can’t clear it tomorrow either, we’ll have to s-sleep together like this. Is Tia o-okay with that?”

“I’m okay.”

“Then, ah, we can just keep s-sleeping together from now on, right?”

“…”

There was no reply.

Fosao asked again, facing Tia’s back as she lay turned away.

“Tia?”

“Uncle.”

Suddenly, a languid voice replied.

“Uncle… you won’t leave me alone, will you?”

“…Huh.”

At the sudden question, Fosao made a flustered sound.

But soon he spoke in a serious voice.

“O-of course. I, I don’t make jokes like that. No matter where Tia is, I’ll s-stay with you.”

“Mom’s dying wish, ‘Live on’… Uncle, you have to keep it for your whole life.”

“…Mm-hmm.”

“Don’t die. Because I’ll be alive too… So…”

Tia took a shallow breath, then exhaled.

“Let’s… live together.”

Let’s live together.

I didn’t know.

What that meant.

Was it a promise between a middle-aged man and a girl, both abandoned by everyone, to somehow ignite their will to live together in this harsh world?

Or was it a suggestion to begin cohabiting in this general store, as one man and one woman?

…No, perhaps it meant both.

It seemed Fosao also didn’t fully grasp the meaning of her words.

His wide eyes rolled as if he was replaying what he had just heard, trying to process it.

But there was no need for a precise understanding.

Because what Tia wanted right now wasn’t such an ambiguous interpretation.

“Uncle… can I ask a favor?”

“…Mm-hmm.”

She asked in a whispering voice.

“Please give me a massage. Warmly…”

Silence fell.

Until now, Tia had never asked for a massage.

When she injured her leg in Charlak, it was an unavoidable request, and it didn’t feel like this.

The phrase ‘warmly’ for a massage somehow…

It sounded like both a request for her body to be touched and permission to lay hands on her.

Shhhk-.

In the dark bedroom, a dark shadow slowly rose.

And it walked heavily towards Tia’s back.

“A-alright…”

Rustle-.

A large hand rested on Tia’s shoulder.

Her face was buried in the pillow, but her small cheeks and ears could be seen gradually turning red.

Fosao put on a sly smile, then.

He leaned into Tia’s ear and asked.

“C-can I lie next to you?”

“…”

Her body, tired from the bath, and eyelids, intoxicated by the gentle warmth, parted slightly.

Tia clenched her hands tightly.

Until now, there had only been one type of massage Fosao gave while lying next to Tia.

Even though she knew what that meant.

Nod.

Seeing the girl’s shy nod, Fosao swallowed hard.

Slide-.

A hand slowly slid under her white shirt.

It was a hand she had long resisted since the last night in Deseo.

At that time, it was granted once out of concern for Fosao, who had never touched a woman, and out of gratitude for his help in saving Dienbus.

Now, Tia herself wanted it.

That touch which would caress her chest and share warmth.

The warmth of another man, who would fill this empty and hollow heart again.

And she wished for it to become a reason to live.

In Fosao’s hand, which had slipped under her shirt, her small breast was softly grasped.

There was no resistance. Tia silently accepted every single one of his gestures.

“…Haaah. Haah.”

Short breaths escaped her.

Tia allowed her beautiful and noble body… to this old and fat man.

She breathed out as he touched her breasts as he pleased.

“Huff-! Huff-!”

Fosao took off Tia’s shirt.

Her bare chest, unclad, was completely revealed.

Thud.

And he grabbed the girl’s shoulders, making her turn to face him.

Their eyes met.

In the suffocating silence, Fosao grasped the edge of the blanket.

Slide-.

The blanket slipped limply downwards.

The girl’s upper body, without a single piece of fabric, completely nude.

In the faint light of the fireplace, the curve of her waist glowed beautifully with a golden hue.

Fosao panted roughly.

“Whew… whew…!”

He slowly brought his face to Tia’s chest.

And he bit the shyly protruding nipple in the middle of her breast with his lips.

Tia, pinned beneath his large body, moaned.

“Hnnngh…!”

The pig’s lips, which had devoured everything, began to suck greedily at her breast.

As if savoring every soft sensation. He wrapped his tongue around Tia’s full breast like a snake’s tongue.

Each time, the small girl writhed in the pig’s large embrace.

“Ahhn…!”

Tia’s breast was drenched with Fosao’s sticky saliva.

In the light of the fireplace, her wet breast glittered like a star.

“Haaak. Haaah…!”

Each time her nipple was bitten by his teeth, she made a painful, agonized sound.

Tia only gripped Fosao’s shoulders tightly; she did not push him away.

…I could understand why.

Because I was feeling it too.

This was Tia’s memory that I was observing.

This sensation of maddening emptiness and pain gradually being filled…

It wasn’t mine from the beginning; it was Tia’s.

As her skin touched Fosao’s.

Each time his thick tongue licked the sensitive part of her breast.

This feeling of heat gradually rising from her lower abdomen.

Ah.

Tia knew what Fosao wanted.

“Haaah… haaak…”

Even though he was performing an act entirely unrelated to a massage, solely to satisfy his own desires.

Nonetheless, Tia closed her eyes and silently accepted it.

Even if it was a repulsive desire.

She had resolved to accept it all… if it meant having a reason to live with Fosao.

“Ahhn-! Haaah…!”

“Huff- huff-. How is it, Tia? Do you l-like it?”

Tia’s red hair was soaked with sweat, clinging to her forehead.

She said in a dazed voice.

“I like it…”

“Sh-should I do more…?”

“…”

Tia gently cupped Fosao’s chubby cheek.

Devotion.

If a person could be expressed in one word.

Tia was devotion itself.

She was a devoted woman who would give anything, solely for my sake.

And I was a fool who didn’t know the value of that excessive devotion even when I received it.

…Because.

“Yes… Please do… as Uncle wishes…”

Only when I saw Tia, who had decided to devote herself to another man, not me.

Only then could I finally realize its true worth.