episode_0229

Perhaps because summer came and the length of the day increased, there were quite a lot of people walking around the village even though I visited quite late in the day.

No, it wasn’t that I was moving around a lot, but I was moving around a lot more than I thought and it was even messy. For some reason, it seems like there are more people than usual… .

As I blinked my eyes blankly and looked at the village beyond, Hermel, who was looking around, sighed with a surprised look on his face.

“Oh.”

“Huh? What did you find?”

“If you were looking for something, you found it. Look over there.”

When I turned my head to where Hermel’s finger was pointing, I saw a carriage I had never seen before.

No, that’s a carriage… . Should I say that? It was much larger and squarer than an ordinary carriage, and was covered with pure white cloth. Rather than a carriage for people to ride, it looked more like a cart for transporting something.

And the idea was exactly right. Except that what was inside was not ordinary luggage but an animal.

At that time, a man approached the luggage truck and tried to turn over the cloth covering the luggage.

――!!

Perhaps because he was conscious of the gaze, or because he felt he was being watched, a harsh sound like the wind blowing came out from inside the truck.

The man who was trying to turn over the baggage truck was startled by the sound and hurried away, and several people who saw the funny sight burst out laughing.

Rather than bursting into laughter, I couldn’t help but blink at the familiar crying sound.

“This crying sound… . It’s a griffon… ?”

“Yes, that’s right. I still remembered it.”

“Because it is harder to forget. … No, more than that. Why is the griffon being held there?”

“Ah, Charles might not know. It’s a traveling theater troupe. 3 years? ? Around that time, the story started going around and it looks like it ended up here.”

Traveling theater troupe… . Can I think of it as a circus troupe? That’s why it was so messy.

Maybe it was because I lived on the mountain for 10 years except for coming down to buy food, but I didn’t know that a traveling troupe existed.

I knew of its existence through knowledge from my past life, but this was my first time seeing it in person like this.

“Hmm… . I heard that the day I go is market day. It’s unexpected luck.”

“The day I go is market day… . It seems like it’s from a past life.”

“Yes, that’s right――”

I was trying to answer while smiling without thinking, but after thinking over the words that came out of Hermel’s mouth, I had no choice but to become as hard as stone.

I thought I had seen a lot. I thought I would have read all the information from the other episodes. but… . But did you really see it that far?

As I swallowed dry saliva and looked at Hermel, Hermel, who was looking at me, smiled and stroked my head.

“Don’t be so surprised. no… . no. I was very surprised when I first saw it, so it’s okay to be surprised to this extent.”

“Ah, that… .”

“Let’s talk about this later! Because I came out on a date!”

I came to my senses from that lively voice and nodded, smiling half a beat late.

okay. It’s already been a while since Hermel, who peeked into my memories, discovered the whole truth. If you hated me, you would have done so right away.

Although it was an awkward laugh mixed with random thoughts, the joy of being with Hermel was greater, so the awkward laugh quickly turned into a natural smile.

“Okay. It’s the best, so enjoy it.”

You can think about it later. Because now is not the time when you had to make plans and draw big pictures like you did back then.

I smiled and held Hermel’s hand.

“Where should we start from? From what I was talking about, it seemed like I had already seen that traveling theater troupe once.”

“Uh, you haven’t said a word yet. How did you know?”

“Well? I tried to explain it appropriately.”

When I answered with a chuckle, Hermel smiled awkwardly and scratched his cheek.

“As expected, it’s Charles. I know everything.”

“Nothing. Only about Hermel.”

I answered that and went into the village. As I passed the yawning vigilante at the village entrance and entered the village, the heat was stronger than it looked from outside.

The large number of people walking around played a part, but the biggest reason was that everyone walking around was very excited and intoxicated with the festival atmosphere.

It seemed even more so because some people were really drunk.

“Ugh… . I was expecting it to be hot, but it’s really steamy… .”

“Well, it can’t be helped. It’s summer. And no matter how sunset it is, of course it’s hot since you’re wearing leather armor.”

“That’s true, but it’s become a habit now and I feel so empty when I don’t wear it, hehe. Oh, isn’t it hot Charles?”

“I’m dressed lightly and I don’t get hot easily.”

I shrugged and lightly touched the leather armor Hermel was wearing. It was so hot that it seemed to be glowing under the light of the setting sun.

I can’t help it. I sighed softly and cast a spell on Hermel’s leather armor to make it cool.

“Oh.”

“Are you feeling cooler now?”

Hermel smiled brightly at my words and hugged me.

“Thank you!”

“Nothing to say.”

First of all, since it’s a long-lasting thing, it’s cold, so will you let it go?

* * *

As I walked along with Hermel’s guidance, I ended up on a street lined with street stalls.

Starting with the smell of grilling meat, the smell of roasting wheat, and even the sweet smell of roasting sugar.

Lined up street stalls, excited voices of people, and even the mixed smells of food.

He said with a chuckle as his five senses were strangely stimulated by nostalgia.

“Coming here reminds me of the old days.”

“Are you talking about the Spring Festival?”

It was a bit of an awkward past to just remember, but I nodded, not bothering to show it.

“… huh. That’s right.”

“Definitely. It was like this back then too.”

Hermel nodded and spoke, looked around, then smiled as if he had discovered something, and took my arm and led me.

I suddenly felt like asking where I was going, but I knew that Hermel wouldn’t take me to a strange place, so I just followed Hermel’s lead.

The place we arrived was in front of a street stall filled with the strong smell of sugar.

“This… .”

“I turned around because it smelled familiar, and it happened to be there.”

When I turned my head again while looking at Hermel smiling, I saw a street vendor with a sign that said ‘Sugar Cutting’.

“Surely you came all the way here after seeing this?”

“Hehe. huh. I also didn’t have time to enjoy or do anything like this because I was looking for Charles. So, as soon as I saw the most familiar thing, I came right away.”

As I was watching that, I smiled and lightly leaned my head on Hermel’s shoulder.

A sound was heard as the straw hat moved slightly.

“Are you going to shave this time too?”

“Hmm, I guess so. There are prizes and you can try something, but you know that it’s not my personality to skip it, right?”

Does that mean you don’t remember what happened last time?

I didn’t bother to say the words that came to mind. No, I didn’t say anything on purpose and just smiled.

“Okay, okay. Let’s do just one instead.”

“Because you don’t like sticky hands?”

“It feels good to be remembered.”

Hermel just smiled brightly at my words. Because I knew what that smile meant, I gave a small smile in return.

After finishing the story, Hermel immediately asked the store owner for a star. It was my first time seeing it in 10 years, but even after 10 years, it was still Dalgona.

As expected, that doesn’t change.

“Now, here――”

“Tskcha.”

As soon as the store owner handed him the star-shaped dalgona, Hermel swung the needle, and the dalgona the store owner was holding was cut into the star shape.

Not only the store owner but also I could not help but blink in surprise at the ridiculous technique.

I immediately laughed and shook my head.

“You’ve really become incredibly strong.”

“I didn’t spend 10 years in vain.”

Hermel laughed, showing his teeth at my words.

The store owner, who was staring blankly at the scene, looked back and forth between the star-shaped piece of sugar in his hand and at Hermel, and without even saying anything about foul play, he smiled and took out a fist-sized dalgona.

I guess you’re stupid enough to grab someone who showed such skill and say something. Well, I guess they are doing commerce because they have this level of insight.

“Hmm, wow, here is the product we give you as a reward.”

“Wow!”

Hermel smiled broadly, a fist-sized lump of sugar… . So, he took Dalgona and ran towards me.

Hermel, who was next to me, started chewing the dalgona, smiling brightly at how good it was. I think he ate half of it. The speed at which he chewed the dalgona chunk slowed down and his face soon became distorted.

“… Sweet.”

Hermel, who said that, seemed to be quite sweet, so he stuck out his tongue and trembled.

With the other hand I was playing with, I struck a barrier that prevented recognition heading in this direction, and grabbed Hermel by the collar, who was sticking out his tongue, and pulled him toward me.

When he pulled with a strong “hook,” Hermel lost the lump of sugar he was holding in his hand, but whatever. I wouldn’t be able to eat it anyway because it’s too sweet.

“Shar-eup――!?”

“Chung――Heeup――”

I mixed my tongue, which had become more sticky with the addition of sugar, and filled it with my saliva that remained in Hermel’s mouth, melting the pieces of sugar remaining in Hermel’s mouth and eating it.

Let’s take a moment to share a breath so hot that it can’t be compared to the midsummer night air. I slowly lowered my heels and let go of Hermel’s collar.

His lips parted with a sticky sound, and he opened his mouth, looking at Hermel’s face, which was pale red, perhaps because of the dim twilight or because his face was flushed.

“Definitely… . It’s very sweet.”

I smiled slightly, licking my lips where a subtle sweetness remained.