Chapter 3

Chapter 3. "A Lizard Man and a Glass of Beer."

Whenever I quietly stared at Rene's face, my mind drifted away before I even realized it.

Smiling faintly at Rene as she tilted her head, I took the hand she had placed on my forehead, kissed the back of it, and said,

"Ahh~ Whatever shall I do? Whenever I behold your beauty, my senses bid farewell to reality. This humble man is called Han Reed Kalmarion. Would you grant me the chance to hear the noble lady's name from her own lips?"

When I rose from my seat and bowed politely as I said that, Rene let out a soft laugh, withdrew her hand, closed her eyes, folded both hands before her chest, and said,

"My name is Rene Tarsis. Noble hero, would you grant me a favor?"

"Speak of it, and I shall do anything."

I answered with a warm smile, and Rene, barely suppressing her laughter, raised a hand and pointed at the large basket of laundry sitting on one of the tables.

"When the sun rises high in the sky, would you carry that to the nearby stream for me?"

"Of course I shall. Who could possibly refuse a request from so noble a lady? If you wished it, I could even carry you all the way back to bed."

At that, Rene smiled with a mischievous expression and folded her arms.

"Han, are you not being a bit much this early in the morning?"

"Hm? I meant half of that sincerely."

At that, she set down what she had been knitting and rose from her seat, then came over to me. Winding her arms around my neck, she pulled me into an embrace and whispered into my ear,

"…If only we did not have guests this morning, I really would have asked you to do that."

Ughhh...

Why did I suddenly hate those lizards over there so much?

When Rene saw my face slowly turning red, she giggled and slipped out of my arms. When I had first met her, I had never imagined I would one day hear words like that from her. Never even considered it.

And yet.

And yet.

Oh, good heavens.

I dare say that elven married life overflows with far more sweetness than an ordinary human marriage ever could.

Why, you ask?

Try living with one, and tell me I am wrong.

In any case, after teasingly touching my frozen face for a moment, Rene sat back down and picked up the knitting she had set aside, her hands moving once more.

If there was one thing I had learned from experiences like this, it was that whenever we started teasing each other, I was always the one who ended up losing.

Hmm.

That led to only one conclusion.

She was one step ahead of me.

A while later, noon came, and the Lizard Men who had been huddled together before the fireplace rose to their feet as though they had all agreed upon it in advance. Rene and I walked over to them, and the leader turned toward us and said,

"Tha, nk, you. Be, cau, se, of, you, we, can, mo, ve, a, gain."

"Is that so? That is a relief."

Rene answered with a gentle smile, and the leader turned and pointed at the flint resting on the mantel above the fireplace.

"But, I, am, cu, rious, a, bout, some, thing. Fi, re, co, mes, from, that, sto, ne. Ho, w, do, you, do, it? Tea, ch, me."

After hearing him out, Rene picked up the flint she had left on the mantel and held it out for them to see.

"This is called flint. If you strike it like this..."

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Holding a stone in each hand, she struck them together at an angle, and naturally enough, sparks flew.

The three Lizard Men watching it began staring with curious eyes.

These fellows were around one hundred eighty centimeters on average, about the same height as me.

The leader among them stood well over two meters, so standing beside them, Rene and I felt as though we were in the middle of a grove of trees.

They were looking down while Rene looked up as she explained.

After showing them several times and teaching them how to use the flint, Rene handed it over to the leader of the Lizard Men. He gripped it awkwardly with his four fingers and imitated what she had been doing.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Sparks flew.

At once, the two standing behind him brightened visibly. The leader, too, wore an expression of fascination as he kept striking it a few more times, then handed it to one of the others beside him and looked down at Rene as he said,

"When, we, make, fi, re, we, rub, wood, to, ge, ther. It, is, hard. When, you, make, fi, re, you, strike, sto, nes. It, is, ea, sy."

"And?"

Rene asked with a smile, and the leader pointed at the others behind him, who were now busy throwing sparks with the flint.

"Gi, ve, that, to, us. We, will, pay."

But Rene shook her head.

At once, the leader's face darkened slightly, then hardened again into something fierce. Just as he was about to say something, Rene spoke first.

"I cannot do that. It is only flint. How could I ask for payment for something like that? If you go into the forest, you can find as much of it as you like. So just take it."

She really was an elf.

When Rene said that, the Lizard Man looked at her silently, then asked,

"Ju, st, ta, ke, it?"

"Yes."

The leader of the Lizard Men shook his head.

"That, can, not, be. We, are, Li, zard, Men. We, do, not, o, we, de, bts, to, o, thers."

Then he rummaged through one of the large pouches hanging from his waist and pulled out a small pouch, which he held out to Rene. It was about the size of her fist and looked somewhat heavy.

Taking it, Rene tilted her head.

"What is this?"

"Shi, ning, sto, nes. Let, us, trade, them, for, that, sto, ne."

As she listened to him, Rene opened the pouch, then turned toward him and me with a slightly startled expression.

I stepped to her side.

"What is it?"

"Look at this."

She slipped her fingers into the pouch and pulled something out.

What she lifted between her fingers was none other than an uncut diamond.

It had not been polished, so dirt and bits of stone still clung to it here and there, and it was not much to look at, but I had never seen a rough gemstone before, so I could not help being surprised.

Rene was not especially fond of jewels, but even she looked at the quantity of stones with a trace of interest on her face.

No, to be precise, they were rough stones.

I took the pouch from her and poured its contents out onto a nearby table.

Clatterrr~

I could almost believe light itself had spilled out.

What poured from the pouch were rough gemstones—mostly diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and the like.

Rene and I stared at them for a moment with rather drained expressions, then turned back toward the Lizard Man leader.

He looked at the gemstones the way one would look at pebbles rolling around on the ground and said,

"They, look, ni, ce, but, they, are, use, less. If, that, is, a, ccep, ta, ble, let, us, trade, them, for, the, fire, sto, ne."

"All right. Let us do that."

Picking up a single red ruby from the table, Rene said,

"However, this is far too much. Take the rest back. This one will be enough."

Yes, it was a little regrettable, but we had jewels of our own.

But unlike us, the leader seemed to think rather differently. He looked at me and Rene in silence before saying,

"Did, you, not, sa, y, you, had, no, ne, ed, for, them? I, wi, ll, gi, ve, all, of, it. If, you, do, not, ne, ed, it, e, i, ther, then, throw, it, a, way. Then, I, wi, ll, con, si, der, the, trade, done."

With that, he turned his back.

The other two, who had been playing with the flint, turned as well and started following after their leader toward the door.

Then the leader, who had been walking in front, stopped for a moment, looked back over his shoulder, and said,

"The, drink, the, elf, wo, man, bro, ught, us, the, wa, rm, one, it, was, good."

Rene heard that and smiled softly. Then the fellow turned away and began walking out the door.

I turned back to the rough gemstones scattered all over the table and said,

"Hey, wait there a moment."

At once, I found myself under the heated gaze of both Rene and the Lizard Men, so I gave a slight cough and continued,

"I am not running this place to make money. So... is there anything else you want? I ought to return something equal to what I received."

Holding up the rough ruby Rene had lifted earlier, I went on. It was about the length of one joint of my little finger. At this rate, one could probably build an entire house with it.

Turning it over in my hand, I said,

"Well then, shall I start by fixing up your equipment a little?"

"Is, that, rea, lly, a, ll, ri, ght? I, ne, ver, tho, ught, tho, se, lit, tle, sto, nes, were, worth, this, mu, ch."

"It suits you. Ah, do not look at me like that. It is fine. You are not owing a debt. If I compare it to the value of those rough stones you gave me, this might actually be a little too little, but take it. Consider it something you purchased from me after paying the proper price."

At that, the leader looked down with a somewhat uneasy expression at the half plate covering his chest.

Mm.

He looked impressive.

Now that I had fitted them out, they looked far more natural wearing armor than humans ever did.

Each of them now wore a half plate on his chest, a new sword belt around his waist, and a new shortsword hanging from it.

Boots would not fit their legs, so their lower legs remained wrapped in leather just as before, and their arms were much the same.

I picked up a bag containing a bundle of chain links and several knives—the items they had liked most in the armory—and handed it to the leader.

"Do you not need anything else?"

"No, need. Axes, are, hea, vy. Lo, ngswords, are, too, lo, ng, hard, to, use. For, Li, zard, Men, shortswords, are, be, st."

As he said that, he shook the new shortsword hanging from his belt, and I gave him a grin.

Taking the bag from me, he passed it to the one beside him, then said,

"So, tho, se, use, less, sto, nes, were, so, me, thing, tre, men, dous, to, you, af, ter, all."

"Yeah."

When I nodded, he ran a hand once across the half plate covering his chest and said,

"They, may, be, use, ful, to, you. But, to, us, they, are, sti, ll, no, thing, mo, re, than, use, less, sto, nes. Still, si, nce, you, sa, y, this, is, pa, yment, for, tho, se, use, less, sto, nes, I, wi, ll, ac, cept, it, for, now."

Did he understand, or did he not?

Come on now.

Depending on how things had gone, I had even been considering wiping the lot of you out.

Still, well... it seemed all right.

Just then, I heard a strained groaning sound from farther away, so I turned my head.

A large beer barrel was wobbling its way toward the inn door.

"Rene?!"

"Do not just stand there shouting my name! Hurry up and take this already!"

I ran over at once and took the barrel from her. When I set it down on the ground, she rubbed her arms a little and said,

"If we are going to do this, we should do it properly. Here now, all of you. Take this as well. It still is not nearly enough for the value of those jewels, but..."

The Lizard Men, who had been watching us from a short distance away, slowly approached and asked,

"What, is, that?"

"The drink that warms the body, the one you had earlier."

Standing in front of the barrel, the Lizard Men looked silently from us to the cask, then back again.

Then the leader asked,

"Is, the, pa, yment, for, this, a, lso, tho, se, sto, nes, from, ear, lier?"

"Yes. Take it with peace of mind. The price has already been fully paid."

The leader tilted his head and said,

"What, exa, ctly, is, so, good, a, bout, shi, ning, sto, nes, li, ke, tho, se? I, can, not, un, der, stand, it."

At that, Rene smiled kindly and answered,

"The fact that you do not understand it is precisely what helps you. So do not trouble yourself trying to understand it. All right?"

"…All, ri, ght."

The leader said only that, then looked down at the large beer barrel on the ground. A moment later, he smiled—or something very like it—and hoisted it up.

"Elf, wo, man. Hu, man, man. To, day, we, re, turn, ca, rrying, ma, ny, thi, ngs, from, you. And, if, we, ne, ed, so, me, thing, a, gain, we, wi, ll, co, me, ba, ck. Is, that, a, ll, ri, ght?"

"Of course. Come whenever you like."

Rene answered with her usual gentle smile, and the Lizard Men, smiling as well—or seeming to, since with their mouths closed they always looked as though they were smiling—disappeared into the forest.

I walked up behind Rene as she stood there waving at the departing Lizard Men and asked in a low voice,

"Will it be all right?"

"Yes, it will be fine. They are the kind who stay outside the world of humans because they dislike humans, so the fact that rough gemstones are simply lying around in their cave is not likely to become known to the outside world. Which means the things we are worried about will not come to pass. It is all right. We only have to be careful ourselves."

"No, that is not what I meant. I meant whether they understood what those rough stones can be used for. You never know, do you? What do you think?"

"Ahh, that? Well... even if they did learn what use rough gemstones that are worthless to them could have, they are not the sort who would immediately take them and go looking for humans. They are people who know how to live on their own. That is why Lizard Men are not well known among humans. And as I said before, they dislike humans."

"They dislike humans? Then why is it that I..."

When I said that, Rene, who had been standing in front of me, smiled and spun around. Then she clasped her hands behind her back, bent at the waist, brought her face lightly against my chest, and drew in a deep breath.

Then she lifted her head, smiled softly, and said,

"It is because your body carries the scent of an elf, so they did not guard themselves against you.

Did you not know?"

I lifted my arm and sniffed at myself, but I could not smell anything in particular.

"What scent? I do not smell anything at all."

"Really?"

She raised both arms and gently wrapped them around my head, then pulled my face against her chest.

The moment that soft warmth enveloped me, my head spun, and my thoughts tangled into a hopeless mess. Then, from somewhere far beyond that fading reality, I heard her beautiful voice.

"Now then, Han. Tell me. Can you not sense your own scent on me? It is something like that."

Sense it?

Ahh, so that was what she meant?

"…Mmph mmph!"

"What was that?"

"…Mmph! Mmph!! (I cannot breathe!!)"