Chapter 65

Chapter 65. Please Do Not Lie (5)

I lowered my head.

And looked at the longsword.

Rather than a longsword, it was probably closer to a bastard sword.

The guard, hilt, and pommel were all ordinary enough, but the blade alone was unusually distinctive.

How should I put it? It resembled a woman’s body. The tip of the blade was broad, the middle narrowed again, and the lower part widened.

Mm, practical. Certainly, the part one struck with was the end of the sword, so more weight had been placed there to make it receive more force in a blow.

However, this impression of the sword ended briefly because of one bit of nonsense.

-The sky is especially blue today.

“Because it is autumn.”

-On days like this, one can see very far.

“Because the air becomes clear when it is cold.”

-If a fire broke out, it would be perfect for watching. Even from far away.

I placed the sword I was holding back on my knees.

A fire?

“What do you mean?”

-Oh, nothing much. I only mean it would be good weather for watching a fire. For example, if a fire broke out far to the east, toward the desert nation Serpiz, it would be visible even in the middle of the night.

A fire? No, putting that aside, why is this bastard dragging Serpiz into this?

My face hardened, and I narrowed my eyes.

“I hate it when people twist words around.”

-How stupid. Think a little. Do you carry that head around for decoration?

After those words, he closed his mouth.

Since he was not listening, I threw a few brief curses into the air, then tried to think about what he had said.

But it ended as only an attempt.

Rene came outside, looked around, and found me sitting back-to-back with him. She waved her hand and called me.

“Haaaan! Come here for a moment.”

“Yeees~ I am coming!”

I stood up, placed the longsword on the chair, and hurriedly ran to Rene.

Leaving the bowed armor basking in the warm afternoon sunlight behind me, I arrived in front of the entrance, and Rene gestured for me to come in.

When I followed her into the hall, there was a large wooden basket on the table, piled high with cloth and clothes.

Mm, I have a bad feeling about this.

“I almost forgot. The weather is nice today, so let us go do the laundry.”

“Can we not use the stored water?”

At my words, Rene made a somewhat troubled face.

“No. It has not rained enough lately. There is not much stored water left now. So we should use all of that as drinking water, and we have no choice but to do laundry by the river.”

Mm, it was true that we had had far too little rain this year.

Even during the summer rainy season, there had been so little rain that we had struggled with drinking water. There was no helping it.

Ugh, but why is there this much laundry?

I walked over to the laundry basket and picked up whatever my hand happened to touch.

Eek. Rene’s underwear.

I hurriedly shoved it deep into the pile of laundry, cleared my throat a little, and picked up the towel on top.

Like all laundry, it was rather dirty. It was stained here and there, and on top of that, it seemed to have a strange smell.

Ugh, what is this smell?

“That is the smell of your sweat. Ah? Do not pretend not to know. It is the towel you used before when making firewood, and it has been sitting in the laundry pile all this time. That is why.”

You are telling me this is truly the smell of sweat?

With a bitter face, I tossed it back on top and turned my head toward Rene.

“There is a lot of it. Can we finish by this evening?”

“Of course. This time, three people will be doing it. Right, Luna?”

Luna, who had been coming down from the second floor with several pieces of clothing held against her chest, nodded with an expressionless face.

Luna held out the clothes she had brought down to me.

I tilted my head, realized they were laundry, and quickly lifted them onto the basket.

But then.

“Were those your only clothes?”

Luna dusted off her hands, looked up at me, and said,

“Yes. These are all the clothes you bought for me at first. I do not have anything else.”

At Luna’s words, Rene and I looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

“We will have to go to the market again soon.”

I nodded at her words and looked at the small pieces of clothing on top of the basket.

About five outfits? Should I consider that quite little for a child?

Especially in Luna’s case, since her hobby was repotting plants and her specialty was mixing medicine, her clothes must get dirty often.

I glanced at Luna, who was looking at a dipper beside me, then pressed down firmly on the clothes with my hand and looked around.

At that, Rene smiled softly and handed me the washboard on the next table, the dipper Luna had been holding, and a pouch about the size of my fist.

I took them and roughly placed them on top of the laundry pile.

Then I picked up the wide tub leaning under the table, which was slightly smaller than the basket, and placed it upside down over the laundry-filled basket.

If the wind blew and the laundry flew away, that would be trouble.

“That is everything, so let us go. I already told Mr. Jimant earlier.”

I nodded at her words and walked outside.

I turned my gaze toward Luna, who was walking behind us.

At that, Luna quietly pushed aside a nearby branch, turned her gaze toward me, and said expressionlessly,

“What are you looking at?”

“No, nothing… just looking.”

I smiled softly and turned my head forward again.

Just now, I had truly experienced something peculiar.

---

I think I understand why Rene did not bring a weapon.

A short while earlier, we encountered a group of trolls.

Feeling alarmed, I shielded Rene and Luna behind me with my body, but Rene only showed a small smile.

Luna crossed her arms and looked at the group of trolls with an expressionless gaze. Then something interesting happened.

The group of trolls slowly turned their heads away from us and simply passed by on the path they had been walking.

I was rather surprised. Normally, I would have beaten them a few times and run away, or else killed them all.

When Rene was present, I had to run first no matter what. Since she was an elf, she disliked killing living things.

Hearing Rene’s voice, I turned my head and saw that she was smiling brightly as she looked down at Luna.

“Thanks to you, we do not have to run away. Thank you.”

At her words, Luna merely closed her eyes and shrugged slightly.

I turned my head away from them with a smile and looked ahead.

How long have we been walking? About an hour?

When I pushed aside the willow branches blocking the way, an enormous riverside soon spread out before my eyes.

The Great River.

It was a funny name, but also a name with its own meaning.

Though in front of us, it was only an ordinary river.

I carried the basket on my shoulder and went down toward a riverside where there were a suitable number of rocks and stones.

Luna, who followed Rene from behind, looked around and recited a brief impression.

“It is a river. Is this your laundry spot?”

At her words, Rene smiled slightly and lightly hopped across the rocks to approach me.

I found a suitable place for doing laundry, set down the basket I had been carrying on my shoulder, and said,

“Will this do?”

Standing in front of me, Rene looked around a little, then lowered her head with a soft smile.

“Yes, this should be fine. You wet the laundry and put it into the tub. I will do the washing.”

“Then what about me?”

Those were Luna’s words as she tapped her way over the small stones by the riverside like stepping-stones, unable to hop over the larger rocks because of her short legs.

After hearing her words, Rene turned her head and showed a faint smile.

“Luna, fill the tub with water. You can do that, right?”

Luna lowered the head she had raised to look up at Rene and stared at me with a flat expression.

I grinned, lifted the wide tub placed on top of the laundry, and set it beside her.

At that, Luna rolled up her sleeves.

Then she bent down, took off her black leather shoes, removed the coverings she had been wearing inside them, roughly stuffed them into the shoes, and neatly placed them on the stone beside her.

Then she rolled her pant legs up to her knees and held out her hand to me.

“Give me the dipper.”

“It will be cold.”

Holding the dipper in her hand, Luna glanced once at the tub she needed to fill with water, then dipped her feet into the water.

It was called a river, but because there had been no rain, it was almost at the level of a stream.

Still, since it was late autumn, the water must be very cold.

Luna looked for a moment at her face reflected in the water that rose to her knees, then immediately dipped the dipper into it, lifted it, and poured water into the tub as she said,

“What if I tried scooping water from the stone, lost my footing, and fell in? If one is going to work, one should do it properly.”

Mm, should I call that a rational elf’s way of thinking?

But I will do it the human way.

Whether I fall into the water or not, the odds are fifty-fifty.

With that, I shrugged and carried the laundry basket, searching for a deeper spot.

A short while later, I found a clear pool of water that came up to my waist, turned over the basket I was holding, and poured all the laundry into it.

After placing the basket somewhere it would not fall, I firmly braced my legs between the stones and rolled up my sleeves.

At that moment, Rene, who had been sitting cross-legged on a rock and watching Luna and me with an amused expression, smiled and muttered softly.

It was still loud enough to hear, even without ears as good as an elf’s.

So Luna and I briefly stopped what we were doing, and either smiled faintly or simply stared blankly.

Interpreted, her words meant this:

“Gariant yami nuriant elf. Brave human. Cowardly elf.”

Interesting words.

With a faint smile, I quickly pushed the clothes floating on the water and releasing small air bubbles down into the water.

Bubble, bubble~

Ugh! The water bubbles are splashing onto my face.

Ugh, cold!

I stirred the laundry I had pushed into the water several times, making it soak up enough water.

This should be enough, right?

Now I grabbed the clothes sinking slowly into the water one by one and lifted them out.

So, I lift it like this, grab the end, and run one hand from top to bottom to drain the water!

SPLAAASH~~

Then I roughly wring it out!

Rrrrip…

Huh?! Wait, control your strength. Control your strength.

Damn it. If I had gone a little further, I would have torn it.

I threw the pants I had nearly torn into the basket.

Then I scooped out all the laundry in the water and placed them into the basket using the same method.

“All done.”

But just in case I had missed something.

There had been times before when I lost clothing while doing laundry because it floated away.

And sure enough, I had missed one thing.

It was a pale green, somewhat small item caught on a stone protruding in the middle of the pool.

When I looked closer, this was… uh, underwear?

“Huh?”

Damn it, is it Rene’s?

In any case, I should retrieve it.

I rolled up the sleeve of my right arm a little higher, bent my waist as far as I could, and grabbed the stone in front of me with my left hand.

It was to stretch my arm out a little farther, but if I let go of this hand, my body would plunge into that cold water.

This was a mad act born from a little bravado and a “whatever happens, happens” sort of thinking.

But I would regret that later. For now, I put my arm into the water as far as I could to grab it.

Unfortunately, it seemed just a little short.

Damn it! My hand, my hand cannot reach.

Ugh.

“Han? What are you doing?”

At that instant, with my arm suddenly dropping lower, I barely grabbed the underwear and let out a sigh of relief.

However, that sigh came too soon.

Because in my left hand, which was falling first under the weight, I was holding the large rock that had been supporting my body weight until just a moment ago.

Like that, I ended up sharing a passionate kiss with Rene’s startled face reflected in the water.

SPLASH! Bubble, bubble~

“Pwaah!! Cough?! Cough, cough~”

Ugh, I think I swallowed some water. Ugh… water used to rinse laundry… There probably will not be any problem, but it still feels strange.

In any case, ooooh~ the sensation of a chill rising from the tips of my toes to my head is quite realistic.

I raised my head and looked up.

Rene had a bitter face.

She looked down at me like that and held out her hand. I grabbed her hand with a soft smile and climbed up.

“You should have been careful.”

Rene said that as she wiped my face with a handkerchief while I sat there dripping water.

I could not bring myself to say I had fallen because I had been trying to pick up her underwear. The underwear I had worked so hard to catch was quickly put into my pocket. If I were found out, I would be the only one hearing strange remarks in every possible way.

I only brushed my wet hair back and smiled foolishly.

At that moment, Luna tossed the dipper into the tub over there and approached us.

What will she say this time?

With that expectation, I smiled bitterly as I looked at Luna.

She crossed her arms, looked at me, and said this.

“I offer my respect to you, brave human.”

Ugh. I could not say anything. What brilliant eloquence.

Why are there only people so good with words around me?

At that moment, Rene, who had been wringing out the handkerchief she had used to wipe my face, looked rather worried and said,

“This will not do. Take off your clothes. I will dry them for you.”

“All of them?”

“Of course.”

I looked at her face for a moment, then turned my gaze toward Luna, who stood there with her arms crossed and stared blankly at me.

Oh, no. I cannot show my naked body to a woman other than Rene, even if she is young.

So I drew out a bit of negotiation.

“I will only take off my top.”

“No. Take everything off. If I ask the Sylphs, they will dry everything within thirty minutes.”

“There are too many eyes watching. Can you not dry me while I am still wearing them?”

At that, Rene narrowed her eyes slightly, turned her head, and looked around once.

First, Rene looked at Luna, then at the herd of deer drinking water upstream, and at the Huria women a little farther away, who were talking among themselves as they filled jars with water and carried them on their heads.

Then she turned her head again, saw a minotaur downstream crossing the streambank with loud thuds while carrying a large axe and a hunted deer, and turned back to me.

She narrowed her eyes even further and said,

“If it is because you are concerned about their eyes, then I cannot understand. Those Huria women came to draw water, so they will leave soon.

And what would the deer think after seeing a human body? Also, as for the minotaur walking down there, he is only passing by, so soon…”

“I am sorry to interrupt while you are speaking, but the Huria and the minotaur are already gone.”

At Luna’s leisurely words, I saw Rene smile.

She spoke firmly.

“Take them off. Do not catch a cold again and make my heart ache.”

At her words, I recalled the memory of suffering from a cold and body aches last winter.

Rene had gone through quite a lot while I recovered.

Elves rarely got sick, but I was different.

And even I never imagined I could catch a cold in this body.

It was a rather strange experience.

But even so, I do not want to.

Showing my naked body to someone else, that is.

So I prepared myself a little and decided to stubbornly argue. Whether it would work was doubtful, though.

I looked at Luna and said,

“If I take everything off, Luna will be troubled. Right?”

“No. Actually, I am looking forward to it a little. It is hard to see a man’s fully naked body. Elves, whether women or men, do not show their naked bodies to others. That is something shown only to family. For me, it would be a fine spectacle. Now, do not mind me and hurry up and take them off.”

At Luna’s words, my mouth fell open.

No. This absolutely cannot happen.

However, I did not surrender there and insisted to the end that I would not take off my pants.

A short while later, I was able to see Rene’s troubled face and Luna’s regretful face.

Rene quietly looked at me, let out a small sigh, shook her head slightly, and said,

“All right. Then take off only your top.”

I won.

Soaked in a slight sense of victory, I obediently removed my top.

Rene came closer, took the wet clothes, placed them into the laundry basket, and said,

“Step back. I will dry you now.”

“Hm?”

“Hey, are you all right?”

“Does this look all right to you?”

Sitting on a rock, I raised my blackened hand and held it before her eyes.

Luna crouched in front of me, looked at it, then grinned and placed the laundry into the water tub.

Then she looked at Rene’s back as Rene soaked the small pouch she had prepared earlier in water and rubbed it with her hands, and said,

“Foam tree leaves?”

“Ah, they are the best for removing stains.”

I said that while looking at my blackened chest and arms.

Oh dear, oh dear. Was she a little angry?

A moment earlier, Rene had summoned the wind spirit Sylph and the fire spirit Salamander at the same time. Then she made the Sylph blow wind.

The Salamander merely floated still in the air, but since its body gave off tremendous heat, the Sylph’s wind literally became a hot wind and rushed toward me.

It was not hot enough to make me scream, but the Sylph’s wind alone should have been enough to dry me.

Rene, to think you would vent your anger in this way.

And why all this soot too?

Mm, I am not especially angry, but this means I have to go home and bathe.

While I was rubbing my arms and chest, Rene walked over to me, roughly shaking the water from her wet hands, and smiled brightly.

“Oh my! Han, now that this has happened, you will have to go home and bathe, will you not?”

Elves were good at playing innocent too.

They usually did not do it, but they also enjoyed pranks.

Of course, by their standards.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at her just as Rene had done earlier.

“You did that on purpose, did you not?”