Chapter 137 – In the Rain.
Helena walked in the rain and saw her Belka walking beside her. Even though they were using umbrellas, the rain was still strong and bit by bit, the girl’s clothes were getting wet little by little, and the raindrops that couldn’t be stopped trickled down on her sunset-colored hair. Her original Helena didn’t intend to take her to her herbalist. She was a chore that didn’t have to be, and she didn’t mind asking the herbalist to get her herbs. But it was this morning.
“Excuse me.”
What Belka said while holding Helena by the hem of her dress while she was doing her job.
“Is there a problem?”
Surprised that the normally quiet girl had spoken to her first, Helena bent down and met her gaze with Belka. The girl was taken aback and licked her lips, clutching one of her papers with both of her hands. What do you think about for so long with that little head? Belka hesitated for a long time after talking to Helena, but she waited until her girl opened her mouth.
“Look at this.”
When Belka finally opened her mouth, she held out to Helena the paper she had been holding tightly in her hand all this time.
“This?”
“Have you ever seen a plant like this?”
On the paper, there was a drawing of a plant she had never seen before. The thin stem is full of sharp thorns, and it looks strange with many thin flowers blooming between the long, long stems and thorns that are tangled like a bush. I had thought of all the plants of Lantua, but none of them had a foreign appearance like the one in this picture. Helena asked the girl back, thinking she was just in case.
“Are they herbs?”
“Yes, my name is Amarat.”
Even its name was an unfamiliar plant.
“Can you tell me the detailed characteristics? From medicinal properties to habitats.”
“Maybe it’s a cure for Usher’s disease.”
The girl lowered her head, unable to make eye contact with her. Certainly, if that statement was true, it was the perfect herb. However, if there was a plant that could be used as a treatment so conveniently, Helena would have used it long ago.
“I know. I know what kind of herb it is, but I don’t know where it grows or if it’s really a plant here.”
While the girl desperately searched for the herb in the picture, she was crying because she didn’t know what to do. Helena thought she was poisonous for that longing. When people are desperate, they do all sorts of nonsensical methods or things that are questionable whether or not they are effective. So she was a picture she could pass off as an imaginary herb, drawn by her imagination in her earnest heart.
“…Would you like to search together?”
At Helena’s words, her Belka raised her head and looked at her. It was only for a moment that she was surprised by the golden color of her tears.
“Huh.”
Helena thought that the smiling girl was burdensome. The reason she agreed to find the herb with her was not a reason to laugh so much. After all, a desperate person will try to do something in the end no matter what he says. It was just that she was trying to act together so that the girl wouldn’t do anything dangerous. Helena endured the stabbing pain in her chest and together she went to the herbalist’s shop to find her herbs.
“Ah.”
“The road is slippery, so be careful.”
Helena helped keep her from falling by supporting her Belcar with her hand when it almost fell in the rain. Then she realized that Helena had not let go of the umbrella she was holding in her hand even while the girl was falling, but she did not express herself. Although she did, her clothes got wet from the water running down the floor.
“Thank you.”
“It’s no big deal.”
She accepted Belka’s gratitude calmly and tried to walk down the street again, but she suddenly noticed that the girl she was supporting trembled in her legs. The girl seemed to be trying to hide, but she couldn’t escape Helena’s eyes. She was walking through the stairs leading to the side of the slope, so she wouldn’t fall easily compared to the slope, but the small waterfall and current created by the rainwater was too strong for the little girl to handle. Seeing that, Helena picked up Belka, and her surprised golden eyes looked at Helena.
“Alone by myself.”
“Are your legs shaking?”
The girl said with a sullen face, as if she could walk on her own, but she shut her mouth at Helena’s words.
“But isn’t it hard?”
“It’s not hard. So, I hope the young lady is holding only herbs.”
Helena wasn’t really struggling. On the contrary, I was surprised at how light the girl was. Although she was wet and damp from the rain, that’s all. Rather, her study items and display case, which she often carries around, felt heavier. Silently, she hurried her way to her castle with Belka in her arms.
“I’m sorry. Because I followed you.”
Helena, staring at her girl’s downcast figure, stretched out her hand, which had been supporting her back for a moment, and grabbed her cheek. It seemed like it would melt if I gave her strength, so she couldn’t help but pull it carefully.
“Ooh?”
Belka seemed embarrassed by her behavior, but she showed no sign of resistance.
“This is nothing to be sorry for. It is a natural right of the young lady.”
“…I don’t have the qualifications to be called that.”
Come to think of it, did I mention that Belka and Usher were the children Donar took in? Before she left for this estate, she remembered what her knight, Shalvi, had said. Even though they were in the carriage, Helena could clearly hear the words he shouted angrily. Because it was such a loud voice. And there was this girl too. It was a girl who reminded me of her the more I looked at it.
“That qualification was already given to you from the moment Donar and Sif decided to take you.”
It was their heart and their decision. It wasn’t something anyone could talk about.
“So, you can enjoy that qualification a little more confidently. And.”
“Oh no!?”
Helena tapped the girl lightly on the forehead. Even though the blow wasn’t so forceful, her red forehead was stepped on her eyes, but she decided to be more severe.
“Please treat yourself a little more. Umbrellas are readily available, but the lady is not.”
“…Thank you.”
Only then did Belka lean her fragile body against her, as if she would fly away if she blew her hook. Again, Helena couldn’t ignore her earnestness.
“Turn it off. I’m tired to death.”
Donnar sighed as he relaxed his sore shoulders and neck without even moving his body vigorously.
“Puhaha, it’s worth it, aren’t we originally specializing in using our bodies?”
It was Ur who spoke to him. We came to Lantua together, but because we had our own work and circumstances, we almost didn’t have time to see each other, so we were more than happy to see each other.
“I was nervous because the lord called me. I couldn’t imagine that you were the lord.”
“Hey, I thought I’d keep holding weapons and fighting monsters until I grew old, too.”
Donnar smiled at his words and agreed.
“Why don’t we hold a grand opening ceremony later? Shouldn’t we get to know the villagers at least? To surprise our friends a little.”
“That’s right, but the weather is the weather.”
As Ur said, it was right for a lord to show his face in front of people and hold an inauguration ceremony, but it was unreasonable to hold such a grand event during the rainy season.
“I see. But did you simply call to see me?”
“There’s that, but you’ve been in this town longer than me, haven’t you?”
“Oh, do you want to get some information about the town?”
“Yes.”
Since I’m close with him, it was also something I could ask for without hesitation. You can tell from the report, but it was Donard’s long experience that only people who work directly in the field know things.
“Gee, it’s such a peaceful town, so there’s nothing special about it.”
“That would be nice.”
If there is nothing special, his work will be reduced. But it couldn’t be.
“Ah, by the way, there are green dwarves.”
“Have you got any problems?”
He remembered the green dwarfs he had rescued and brought here before.
“I manage to be self-sufficient by making the cathedral my accommodation and making the nearby land farmland.”
“Are you still not self-reliant?”
“How easy would that be?”
Donar understood Ur and scratched his head. It’s been a year since I brought them here, but it seems that he still can’t get along with the villagers. I knew that there was a deep gap between the green dwarfs and the gray dwarves in Lantua, so I knew it couldn’t be helped, but it was a bittersweet story.
“I already have a headache.”
He, who became the owner of this land, had no choice but to solve the problem, so he was already at a loss. Then Ur pretended to whisper, as if more serious problems remained.
“It’s the most troublesome of all.”
“What else do you have?”
The thought of wanting to see it was for a moment.
“I can’t stand it.”
“Huh?”
When he looked at me as if he was ridiculous, he said, stamping on the ground with his sloppy feet as if he was unfair.
“No! Think about it! I’m in the prime of my life, but there are girls everywhere! My skin color is a bit like that. There are a lot of cute and pretty kids!”
All the green dwarfs they saved were women. Well, it was unavoidable given the monster’s physiology. Soon Donnar realized.
“…Come to think of it, you said you were using that cathedral alone, right?”
“Don’t even talk! Do you know how much it bothers me that everyone except me is a girl!?”
Ur patted my chest and complained of injustice. There must have been a lot of things piled up, so I shot a horse, and the horse said this. I thought it was a towel in the bathroom and tried to use it, but it turned out that someone had washed and dried underwear. When I go out to work, there are dwarves who say they are farming, but their clothes are wet with sweat. Inside the cathedral, there are many women walking around naked.
“It’s fortunate that I have my own room. It’s nice to feel at home and be comfortable, but I’m a man too!”
It was a hell like heaven. It was exactly the same for Ur, who lived among sweaty men as a knight. It’s good, but the pain that is hard to say has been vividly conveyed. It’s probably more painful because I can’t act recklessly.
“If I just masturbated, I’d be able to endure it. I can’t do it properly because the kids outside are paying attention…!”
“Yayaya! Stop!”
Donar stopped Ur from talking too much. No matter how close you are, don’t you need to know each other? But thanks to that, the burden of work has been reduced, so I should be grateful.
“You mean there’s nothing special about that?”
“That’s right. The village chief, Mr. Pyalyar, knows better about the mines and special products than I do.”
“Is that right?”
Ur’s words reminded Donar of a letter he had received shortly after he became the lord. It was an invitation from Pyalyar, the village chief. It was only about saying that a grand inauguration ceremony could not be held due to the rainy season, but instead, how about having a simple party at his mansion to commemorate his inauguration as a lord? He also said that he would tell him what he knew, so he half guessed that Pyalyar, who had managed this village instead of the lord, was talking about business.
After sending Ur away, he took out an invitation from Pyalyar. Since Usher was suffering from an unknown illness, he had no intention of participating in a party, but since he was related to the lord’s work, he could not help it. Because it was the village chief, Pyalyar, who calculated the amount of special products and sent tribute to the main territory on behalf of the absent lord. He made friends with him, so there was nothing wrong with it. The party is going to be held tomorrow, so you can prepare by then.
“Are you back now?”
He came out to get some fresh air and walked down her hallway. He ran into Helena, who had gone out to get her herbs, and spoke to her, and she twitched her eyebrows.
“Lord, you need to use a more dignified tone.”
“Even if you say that, I can’t get used to it.”
“It doesn’t matter whether you adapt or not, you have to do it.”
“Ah, I know. I know. It’s work anyway. What about Belka? I heard you went out together?”
When Helena started to nag her, Donnar chuckled and turned her away.
“I brought you to your room.”
“How did you feel?”
“…Still anxious.”
“Shit, I can’t help it.”
They quietly looked out the window. The rain still didn’t want to stop.
