Chapter 73 – Episode 73. It’s Been a While Since We’ve Washed, Obviously…
Late hours after the meal is over.
After Celica, who was left alone with Heira, introduced the mansion roughly, she introduced the last empty room.
A room for Heira to use while staying here.
“Is Jim all here? I carry a lot less than I thought. There are only two kinds of clothes.”
“Clothes can be solved with laundry if you find a river…”
“… Aha, somehow I think I know. If you work as an adventurer, you often end up on the street, so if you have a lot of luggage, there are a lot of inconveniences.”
In fact, didn’t she walk around sweaty for three days and nights without cleaning her armor properly?
No matter how important food, clothing, and shelter are, the longer an adventurer’s life is, the more he has no choice but to keep in mind homelessness.
That’s why the convenient life like now will be accepted as a grateful ending to some people, and a burdensome and unfamiliar task to others.
“Still, I think it would be better to wear something comfortable when sleeping… Well, I’ll bring the one I was wearing for now. Wait a minute.”
Yes, the favor Celica gave her was a very burdensome thing to Heira.
She had never in her life ever been treated with the kind of favor she is now. No, there might have been, but seeing that she didn’t come to mind right away, she didn’t seem to be that memorable.
And maybe that’s why. The kindness she shows at this moment touches me even more deeply.
“Hmm, I expected it, but it’s a bit baggy.”
“… Loose.”
Heira looked down at the nightgown she was wearing and began to gently wiggle her free sleeves.
The sleeves of the clothes are literally loose.
Seeing that, Celica opened her eyes and burst into laughter.
“If you can afford it later, Heira, you might as well go buy her share of pajamas.”
“Are you going to buy it?”
“I will be staying here from now on. Of course, you may not wear it later, but wouldn’t it be nice to keep it as a souvenir?”
“Commemoration…”
“Yes, it is a celebration. Relationships are precious.”
Celica smiled and lowered her waist to meet Heira and her at eye level.
What was painted on her face would be called her favour.
“Hey, do you think so too?”
As Heira, her senses are more sensitive than others, it was immediately apparent that her feelings towards herself were very transparent.
Yes, this human woman knows that she is willing to accept herself.
“… Huh.”
And Heira had been looking for someone like this all along.
Even if she can’t come close herself, she will stand by the person who approaches her if she wants it.
She didn’t know anything, and she thought that was the only way she could melt into this world.
“I also think it’s good to have a long relationship.”
The beginning was made possible by the man I met earlier, but I fully sympathize with the fact that the relationship that has been connected since then is precious.
At the thought of not knowing how long it would last, she could feel her heart breaking.
“Heira?”
“…”
Did he unconsciously reveal his true feelings?
As she lowered her head, Celica put her hand on Heira’s shoulder with a wry smile on her face.
“Heira, if you don’t mind, can I comb her hair?”
“… Hair?”
“Yes, will you be okay?”
A proud smile.
Facing him, Heira quietly nodded her head, sat in front of the mirror placed in her room, and left Celica with her hair.
Swoop, Swoop. Brushing gently. The reason why the flow is so flexible is probably not just because it hasn’t been long since I’ve washed it.
“Heira has very nice skin and hair. Is it because you are still young?”
“… Maybe.”
Heira did not deny her words.
In reality, she has lived for over 100 years, but even that is a very small amount of time compared to elves.
More than anything else, Heira is only half a year old since she started adapting to human society. Even if she lived fewer years than she did, the person who combed her hair would be more perfect as a human being.
“Whoa, this is the first time I’ve ever combed someone younger than me like this. Would it have felt like this if she had a sister?”
“… Younger sister?”
“Yes, everyone around me is older than me, so it wasn’t easy to feel this way. So… Ah! At this point, would you like to call me sister?”
In Celica’s eyes reflected in the mirror, the anticipation gradually grew younger.
Heira, who met her bright eyes, pondered, and then quietly opened her mouth and said.
“Serica.”
Her name.
“Serica sister.”
And, without hesitation, exactly what she wanted.
“… Whoops.”
Are you satisfied with that title?
Soon, Celica smiled and finished styling Heira’s hair.
“Yes, it’s Celica’s sister Heira ~ Ah, since I’ve been called her older sister, can I call you Heira comfortably from now on?”
“… Huh. Are you okay.”
“Yeah~ Thank you Heira~ Let’s work together so that we can get along well in the future.”
The warmth felt from a kind and sensitive hand.
Heira felt a warm feeling from him that she had never felt before.
To the point where I wondered if the family I had only heard about, if there was a mother, this would be how it felt.
‘Not my sister… Mom?’
She thought about that for a moment, but then Heira lowered her head slightly, as if denying the idea inside her.
Yes, because she had no memory of being a mother to herself in the first place.
Didn’t she grow up after being taken into the hands of a bloodless person when she had a self?
All I know about him is from overhearing what others are saying.
Therefore, it would not be possible to categorically say that what I am feeling right now is maternal love, or the sentiment that my children feel toward the person taking care of them.
‘Still, it’s not bad.’
Even so, I want this moment to continue.
It took a while for a faint smile to be drawn on his lips at such warmth.
“Come to think of it, I’ve been curious since the first time I saw it.”
As her hair was in the finishing stages, Celica asked Heira in a low voice.
“Why did Heira follow Dave?”
“… Dave?”
“Yeah, Dave said he spoke to me because he was the best shooter at the archery range.
If so, is it a reasonable question?
Hey didn’t find her words too strange.
“Somehow, I thought it would be nice to be with this person.”
Without knowing how the current answer will be viewed by the other person.
“… Okay?”
Yeah, Heira didn’t know.
Why did the hand stroking my hair stop at this moment?
“Serica, sister?”
“…”
Without saying anything Celica continues to take care of her hair.
At that time, Heira couldn’t tell what expression she was making because her head was lowered.
It’s just that I’m a little concerned about the sudden lack of talk.
‘… Something, a conversation.’
Yes, the surest means of interacting with people is, after all, conversation.
“Sister, what do you think of Dave?”
When Heira remembered that point, she opened her mouth to speak, and Celica began to move her hand again.
“… What kind of person does Heira think she is?”
A low voice leaked out immediately after.
The atmosphere strangely changed, but Heira decided not to care for the moment. Whatever it is, it’s important that her mouth is open.
“Continue, a good person to be with.”
“… I think so too.”
Her answer is a little late, but it’s clearly her own words. Heira, who felt that her consensus was formed from that, asked her again.
“And Celica-nee too?”
“Yeah, that’s because Dave is much more trustworthy than me.”
Sweep, Sweep Sweeping begins to gradually gain strength in hand gestures.
“He helps himself by saying he doesn’t have the ability, but he knows a lot of things that he can’t fight. When we first met, we went to the dungeon together, but you’re good at finding traps that I can’t even see, right?”
The moment her well-groomed hair slipped out of the grain one by one with the power of her grasp.
Heira noticed this and reflexively tried to lift her head, but her hand stroking her hair reflexively generated as much force as Heira used to resist her.
“A lot happened after I broke up with Dave.”
In that state, Celica continued her words.
Unlike before, it is kind, but with a lot of meaning in it.
“I always thought of Dave whenever I went through quests and fell into the traps created by the orcs and struggled. Even when I ate food supplied by the military, it tasted worse than what Dave made, and I always wondered what it would be like if Dave was by my side even when other men were harassing me.”
“… Sister.”
“Yeah, because it was so hard. So maybe I’d feel a little better if Dave was by my side… But I hope Dave doesn’t follow me to the limbs. The place I’m going to is still, and will always be, a dangerous place. It would be embarrassing to take Dave to a place like that and turn him into a piece of meat with his flesh and bones crushed like those people.”
“Serica, sister?”
“So I kept thinking of Dave while I was out on set. Even though his body and mind have turned into rags, Dave will still wait for me where I return. Because Dave will accept me no matter what I go through or who he becomes. Now I can’t imagine life without Dave…”
“Sister, I am sick.”
The sound of words that continued without even breathing properly. Heira, who always carefully listens to and interprets people’s words, couldn’t even properly understand the meaning.
No, the hand that was stroking her hair before that was putting more effort into it. To the point where all the hair that I’ve been tidying up is messed up.
“… Sorry. I made some mistakes.”
Celica apologizes for that, relaxes the hand that was stroking her hair, and puts her hair back together.
Heira’s head was lifted when the power to press her head weakened to some extent.
“By the way, hey. Can I ask you one question?”
Yes, it wasn’t until that time that Heira met Celica’s face.
A soft smile still painted on his lips.
His gaze was directed at himself reflected in the mirror, but it felt a bit out of focus.
As if staring at herself in her mirror, but putting her attention somewhere other than herself.
“…You ask, what?”
When I asked again, not knowing what that meant, Celica immediately took her eyes away from the mirror and looked down at Heira.
Draw the smile on her lips even more clearly.
She aims the pupil, which is narrowing with him, at herself.
“It’s been a while since we’ve washed, obviously…”
