Chapter 13 – The Hero and the Saint (1)
Arya and Astein walked around Mount Ascendio for nearly half a day.
Einstein, who went about wiping out all the monsters he encountered, was more like a ‘butcher’ than a ‘hero’.
Young, old, or physically handicapped, he killed monsters regardless of age.
Arya sensed a clear hatred in his actions.
Watching him act as if he would dry the seed of the monster, she was locked in her doubts.
Why do you even do that?
A sense of duty as a warrior?
From what I’ve seen, Einstein was by no means obsessed with the duty of a warrior.
Because of this, Arya would occasionally ask him her private questions whenever she had time.
“Astein-san, why do you catch monsters?”
While wiping the monster’s blood off his sword, he made an expression that he had never heard such an absurd question.
Astein was about to shoot him at something, so he said in a flustered tone, as if he had an idea of what to do.
“Because someone has to do it.”
Something someone has to do
It was a confident statement.
“It’s okay if it’s not you, right?”
Arya’s persistent question made Einstein’s eyebrows twitch.
“… Are you listening now?”
“If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to.”
Aria speaks as if it is enough even if you listen, it is enough even if you do not listen.
However, she was curious about the circumstances of this eccentric hero.
“I hate to answer.”
Unfortunately, Einstein had no intention of confiding his circumstances to others.
“… That’s too bad.”
Arya was disappointed with the savage reply.
Still, it’s not that I don’t understand.
She also has a story she can’t tell him.
As the sun went down and the shadows began to stretch like candy, Einstein spoke out about descending.
Arya, exhausted from the hard forced march, immediately agreed.
When they arrived at the village, the two of them were all covered in blood.
Even though Einstein is like that, why does Arya look like that?
She is the one who has been carried on the back by the bloody warrior.
It was inevitable that there would be blood on her.
The villagers hated seeing the bloody hero and saint, but they did not show any hostility.
This was purely because of the castle Arya was wearing.
There was no way that a nun of sexual love could have committed any transgression.
What is the story?
At least the villagers seem to think so.
It was a passage that showed how high the status of eroticism was in this kingdom.
Einstein burst out in low admiration.
“If you go around like this, nine times out of ten you’ll be damned. Is it thanks to you? It’s nice to have less time wasted.”
Arya replied pressing her eyelids as if she was in trouble.
“… Mr. Astein needs to be slightly mindful of his eyes. Before I came to the village, I invited you to at least wash your body by the nearby river.”
Einstein was fed up.
“Let’s wash by the river in this weather? Is it getting close to night there?”
“Even if your body is a bit tired, you won’t get strange looks.”
Just like now.
Arya was displeased with the various gazes confined to her.
She hadn’t been the type of person who liked to be in the spotlight before, but after being possessed by her, she hated getting attention even more.
“You seem to care a lot about other people’s eyes?”
“… No matter how you look at it, you are a saint.”
Einstein looked down at Arya and said as he removed the dried blood scab from her head.
“Actually, it’s okay to wash yourself in cold water.”
The hero’s tone seemed insignificant.
Arya was annoyed.
“If it was okay, it would have been nice to have washed in the river.”
He pressed the cheeks of her muttering aria.
It was a soft cheek that stretched like a steamed bun.
“Ugh?”
She hurriedly resisted the surprise attack, but in the first place, they were two different people in their weight class.
Her resistance collapsed powerlessly.
Einstein said while pressing the saintess’ cheek.
“But it is. If you go to an inn anyway, warm water is prepared, but why do you need to wash yourself in cold water? Can you see their eyes? Why should I care about them?”
Arya had Einstein’s words come in and out of one of her ears.
The situation I was in now was embarrassing.
Hey, what kind of skinship is this?
She looked up at him, twiddling her own cheek with her own.
It was a playful face.
“Hey, let this go. What do you think of my cheeks?”
“Um, dough? It seems like that.”
“Ha, don’t!”
“Yes. Let go, let go.”
He let go of her cheek more coolly than he thought.
Her left and right cheeks tingled as if she had been pinched quite hard.
“Oooh, that hurts.”
Arya rubbed her own face with her hands.
Einstein watched the action with a smile and said.
“Washing in cold water is fine with me. But what about you?”
“Yes?”
“What do you mean you’re weak? Washing one’s body in an ice-cold river in this weather? When tomorrow comes, your body will be boiling and you might be sniffing. Is it okay?”
Arya stared at Astein with her mouth open.
… Were you worried about me?
Those words, which she didn’t say outright, lingered in her heart.
“Well, that’s my business…”
“There is nothing more foolish than not being able to take care of one’s own rice bowl while noticing others. It’s an experience, so listen to it, Palpun.”
Einstein’s big hand gently stroked Arya’s small head.
She lowered her head and bit her lip.
In a different way than before, her face heated up.
How long has it been since you received an ordinary favor?
Warmth seeped into her frozen chest.
However, it was rather painful because it was the warmth I hadn’t felt in such a long time.
Arya took a deep breath and pulled back behind her.
“I-I also have enough social experience, right?”
“But why do you look so stupid?”
“… It’s noisy.”
Weird.
It’s definitely cold weather.
Why is it so hot
Arya shook her head.
Seeing Aria suddenly calmed down, Astein hurried her steps even though he had doubts.
“Let’s stop arguing and go to the inn. Aren’t you cold?”
“… I’m going, I’m going.”
The two arrived at the inn.
Washing was first before eating.
Arriving at the room on the second floor they had reserved, they looked at each other as if they had made an appointment.
Who washed first
It is a serious matter in its own way in the current situation.
“Astein, wash first…”
As Arya, I was planning to wash for a long time, so I was thinking of giving it up to Einstein.
… I did.
“You go in first.”
Astein chinned Arya with her arms crossed.
It was a strong attitude that he would not allow a counterargument.
“Mr. Einstein is in a more miserable condition than I am.”
She somehow squeezed through her gaps, and she was the one who tried to say that she would wash up later…
“Wash it when you have time to care about others.”
She was Aria, who had been pushed into the bathroom by him.
Then a voice came from beyond the door.
“There are people behind you, so wash up quickly and come out.”
“Eh, if you’re going to do this, wouldn’t it be better for me to wash up later?”
“Stop whining.”
Shut up and wash up
Because such a nuance had been transmitted, she had no choice but to give up.
“… Mr. Einstein, you are coercive.”
“You talk a lot.”
As always, it was an insensitive tone.
But why?
To get relief from those words.
Arya took off her robe and underwear in her bathroom, folded them up and placed them in her corner.
She looked up and saw water in a large wooden barrel.
The white steam rising up seemed warm just by looking at it.
I fetched water with a gourd near her and splashed it on her body, melting her dried skin into the hot water.
The more the blood was washed away, the thicker the smell of blood spread.
Her head was dizzy at the thick scent of blood that stung the mucous membranes of her nose.
‘Did Mr. Einstein keep fighting like this?’
Einstein.
Even if he was packaged as a warrior, his essence was a fighter.
A man who fights against monsters and kills them.
There must have been a lot of hard work, and there must have been despairing things.
Still, he was strong.
Like a giant tree that is thousands of years old.
Like a mountain that won’t disappear.
All in all, it was him.
I want to be a strong person.
‘It’s amazing, to the extent that it can’t be compared to anything like me.’
He gave up after less than a year, and he was very different from the one he gave up on.
Maybe that’s why his sometimes careless behavior is dazzling?
As I thought about Einstein, it was Aria who had wiped all the blood off her body before I knew it.
After washing her body, she went to her bathroom door and knocked.
“Mr. Einstein?”
“What?”
The answer was quick.
Arya hesitated, then summoned some courage to ask.
“… Is it okay if I soak in that bathtub?”
“What do you ask? You just have to go in.”
“This is water that Mr. Einstein also needs to use. Mm, of course I washed it clean too.”
Arya was embarrassed and stuttered her words.
He sneered and replied sternly.
“Do as you please. From now on, don’t ask about trivial things like this.”
“Thank you.”
“They say thank you for everything.”
Without his permission, Arya immersed herself in a large wooden barrel.
Her warmth enveloped her body.
It was a pleasant feeling as if the fatigue of a rough day had been completely erased.
“Haaaaa.”
A long sigh of joy ensued.
Her rigid body began to relax languidly.
There is one aria here, but there was an overlooked fact.
The fatigue accumulated in her body was greater than expected.
A few minutes later, it was Aria who fell asleep from the wooden barrel.
* * *
No matter how much time passed, there was no sign of Arya coming out.
Are you self-harming?
She is a saint with a mental illness.
Quaang.
I sighed as I looked at the broken bathroom door again.
What else will the courier say?
“Arya, I didn’t tell you not to wash too long…”
I stopped talking.
“… Rather, this is fortunate.”
Arya was found lying limp in a wooden barrel.
No visible wounds were seen.
She seemed to be sleeping.
“You’re annoying people.”
Thinking she might try to hurt herself again, she sent it to her bathroom first.
She was afraid that if she was in a situation where she was waiting outside her, she would not be able to harm herself like a woman who cares about others.
She never expected that she would be sleeping so peacefully.
“I am not a babysitter.”
I simply washed her hands in her blood, then took her out of her barrel.
It was so light that I doubted if I was eating properly.
After carefully wiping Aria’s body with a dry towel hanging in her bathroom, she threw it on her bed.
It was intended to wake her up, and although it had been thrown wildly, only thin breathing was heard.
I don’t know who will carry it.
“Does this woman have no caution?”
Anyway, I’m a man too.
Or is it good anyway?
Looking at Aria, who was soundly asleep, reminded her of her brightly smiling older sister.
Looking at it this way, it’s very similar.
What would it be like if the deceased sister came back alive and grew up normal?
It’s a trivial feeling.
No matter what happens, the dead don’t come back.
I entered the bathroom with a bitter smile.
