Chapter 14 – The Hero and the Saint (2)
I came to my senses.
I fell asleep in the bathtub.
I lifted my heavy eyelids and saw the scenery of the inn room.
“Ah.”
It was embarrassing.
Because I was lying in bed.
It even covers the duvet.
I don’t even have to tell you who is doing it.
It must be Mr. Einstein.
Because only me and him are staying in this room.
“… You’ve caused trouble to Mr. Einstein.”
It feels like the debt is growing in my heart.
He is a person who takes care of my convenience without knowing it.
It was the moment when I felt guilty and wanted to confess to the Goddess.
“Look, I know.”
It surprised me.
I straightened my back at the sudden voice that came through.
Mr. Einstein, who was leaning against the door, smiled and handed over a bowl on a tray.
“Receive.”
I accidentally accepted the bowl he gave me.
It is a wooden bowl that gives you a subtle warmth.
Inside was hot stew.
“This is it?”
“Is the belly skin attached to your back? Because I didn’t eat anything yesterday.”
This is Mr. Einstein, who took great notice of my situation.
As I stood with a bewildered face at the caring consideration, he agitated.
“It doesn’t taste good when cold. The spoon is here, so take it.”
I grabbed the spoon he held out.
When I ate the stew with a spoon, the light and salty flavor spread in my mouth.
He waited without saying anything until I finished eating.
It may sound strange to say this, but now I was ashamed.
Should I say that my heart is tickling, or should I say that it is stuffy?
It is a feeling that is difficult to describe.
I’m sure it’s hard to look at his face.
Weird, right?
I’ve been through a lot of embarrassing experiences that can’t be compared to this.
Why am I so restless?
“Doesn’t the food suit your taste? You don’t look good.”
His blunt voice conveys concern and concern.
I hurriedly shook my head and denied Mr. Einstein’s words.
“… It was delicious, great.”
“Yes. I’m glad.”
After that, the conversation was cut off.
I should have stayed still as usual, but it was difficult for me to endure this silence today.
That’s a strange sign.
“Ah, Mr. Einstein.”
“… ?”
“Okay, good morning.”
He replied as if he was talking nonsense.
“Is it lunch?”
Lunch.
Has it already become lunchtime?
I couldn’t lift my face in embarrassment.
Mr. Einstein, who was watching me quietly, gave me a smirk.
“More than that, I didn’t know that the saintess slept this much.”
“… That, that.”
Oddly enough, I tend to fall asleep a lot when I’m with Mr. Einstein.
The physical hardship of acting with him must also play a part.
Still, I think the biggest factor is the lack of mental fatigue.
When I was in the church, I had to pay attention to even the smallest words and actions.
The attitude of a saint, the tone of a saint, and the faith of a saint.
Because it is a church that cannot tolerate ‘me’ who is not a saint.
But on the other hand, when I was by Mr. Einstein’s side, I just needed to be ‘me’.
‘I’ as an aria was enough.
The warrior didn’t criticize me much because I showed a little looseness.
Maybe that’s why I was able to find myself sleeping very deeply these days.
It wasn’t such a good thing.
Because I missed several morning prayers to the goddess of sexual love.
That fact pricks her conscience.
I’m sorry, Goddess.
As I was silent, Mr. Einstein spoke.
“Did you sleep well?”
If I had to ask if I slept well or not, I tend to sleep very well.
… But.
Suddenly, Mr. Einstein is going to hunt monsters, and I realize that I interfered.
If you hadn’t waited for me, you would have been slaughtering monsters at the foot of Mount Ascendio by now.
The fact that I caught this person’s ankle hurts my heart.
“I slept late…”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound the same.”
This is Mr. Einstein who blocks my words in advance.
I stared at him with strange eyes.
How do you know what I’m going to say?
Have you ever learned mind reading?
“It’s obvious what you’re saying.”
Mr. Einstein, who speaks as if my thinking is simple, is going to feel a little hateful.
Just because it’s fast, I don’t think it’s something you hear from you, who ignored formal procedures and kidnapped me.
As if he noticed my dissatisfaction, Mr. Einstein tries to stroke my hair.
I impatiently tried to shove his oversized hand away.
Unfortunately, the tenacious hand, like a leech, strokes my hair back and forth.
I feel very uncomfortable because I felt like I was being treated like a child.
“Don’t worry unnecessarily. Because I was going to rest today.”
Thanks to Mr. Einstein, I asked while stroking my disheveled hair.
“Are you taking a break?”
“Originally, I would have kept catching monsters, but…”
He pointed at me with his index finger.
“You have no clothes to wear.”
I looked down and looked at my body.
I saw a coveted breast.
I couldn’t hide my firm smile.
That’s right.
I was myself.
I quickly pulled the duvet over.
“Ah, uh, ooh.”
Blood rushed to my face.
There is no such thing as ugliness.
Mr. Einstein said as he threw away his clothes.
“I thought it would be better for you to wear your own clothes than for me to put them on.”
It’s a hundred words of wisdom.
I promptly got under the futon and squirmed and changed my clothes.
He chuckles, as if seeing me wriggling like a looper is funny.
“Ooh, don’t laugh. Do you enjoy looking at your daughter’s body? Joe, I wish I could have told you sooner!”
I raised my voice uncharacteristically for a saint.
Even so, he smiles kindly without scolding.
“What should I do if you find it funny when you’re flustered?”
Bad character.
I got up from bed after changing into the futon.
Fluffy shirts, sky-high skirts.
These women’s clothes are taking my mood down the abyss.
“Sir, it’s not sincerity.”
“It was very dirty, so I washed it myself, but it wasn’t dry yet.”
Sucked?
Sincere?
That means Mr. Einstein messed with my clothes… ?
No no.
What are you thinking?
Don’t be delusional.
Stop.
… Stop.
“Is that so?”
I’m going to go to the middle of the day.
I have mine that creaks like an under-oiled old machine.
He answers calmly.
“It’s damp to wear less dry clothes, so you feel bad, and the weather is chilly, right?”
That’s right.
I tried desperately to nod my head in a feigned understanding before stopping.
… Sincerity aside, what about underwear?
As I thought about it, my heart thumped like my heart was in free fall.
He looked at me with meaningful eyes.
“Oh, black frill lace? I was quite an adult…”
His hair is bleached.
I threw a pillow.
I threw the duvet.
The bed was not strong enough to throw.
I threw everything I could get my hands on.
Sadly, he didn’t even take a single hit.
I breathed heavily.
“Hehhh, whoh, whoh.”
“Hey, I can’t even joke.”
Joke?
So, does that mean you left your underwear behind?
It was a moment when my heart was about to unwind a little.
“Well, that sucked, too.”
I decided to throw the bed with all my might.
* * *
Arya said in a dry voice.
“I didn’t buy it. It was a gift.”
Einstein scratched his cheek and replied.
“You said you didn’t care.”
“I didn’t buy it.”
He looked at Arya like a person who couldn’t understand her.
Like her answering machine, she repeats the same words over and over again.
His expression was quite dark, but he must have been quite shy.
“I don’t know how many times I say it, but you say you don’t care? And I’ve seen it before…”
“I-I didn’t buy it.”
Do you not know that if you insist on your innocence like that, you will be more suspicious?
In the end, Einstein fed Arya’s white forehead with chestnuts.
“Aww.”
“Okay, do you have any hobbies?”
Arya raised her eyebrows as she stroked her swollen red forehead.
“A hobby?”
“It’s a day off for a long time, but there won’t be anything you like.”
Arya shuts her mouth.
To her who had to lead her saintly life, something as ‘personal’ as her hobbies could not be tolerated.
Even if it was acceptable, it was not a hobby that could be enjoyed here in the Middle Ages.
After all, how could you play computer games in a world without electricity?
Einstein’s expression suddenly became serious, wondering how he accepted this silence.
“Don’t you have any hobbies?”
At least the entertainment she wanted in this world did not exist, so it was correct to assume that there was none.
Arya nodded her head slowly, and he stroked his chin and wrinkled her face.
“Then what would you like to do differently?”
I want to do it differently.
Arya said softly.
“I want to lie down here.”
“Is that really what you want to do?”
“Yes.”
She answered without the slightest hesitation.
Arya’s theory was that you should take a good rest during the long-awaited break.
The moment she moved her body, it was already pure relaxation, so I couldn’t see it.
Even when she was a man, she is the one who doesn’t remember being particularly active.
Being that kind of Aria, spending the day lounging around in her inn room was very attractive.
“… You really live a boring life.”
“That’s something I don’t want to hear from a hero who only catches monsters on a fictitious day.”
“It’s fun to catch monsters, and I feel rewarded.”
“I’d rather be.”
At Aria’s selfishness, Einstein scratched the back of her head and stood up.
A sense of intimidation naturally formed when the tall man suddenly stood up.
“What, what is it?”
“I’m going out for a while because I have things to buy.”
“Items?”
“Extra weapons, whetstones, etc. There is a mountain of things to prepare to catch monsters.”
“… You see.”
Arya drooped her shoulders.
Einstein was puzzled by her appearance, as if he had lost his energy.
“Why is it dead?”
“… Let’s go together.”
“Didn’t you say you were taking a break?”
“It’s weird when Mr. Einstein is moving and I’m missing.”
“It’s not weird at all, so you don’t have to follow me.”
“Yes?”
“He said he wanted to rest.”
It was Einstein who closed the door and left without giving Arya room to refute.
She blankly looked at her panel.
Did you really go?
In fact, the door opened and I said, ‘Actually, it was a lie. Hurry up and follow me.’ Wouldn’t he rush in?
No matter how much time passed, Einstein never came.
Arya was dumbfounded.
Was free time such an ordinary thing?
Really?
Dump.
She lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling.
Silence and desolation passed.
In this silence she felt a great peace.
Tick tock, tock.
Only the mechanical clock in the room moved with a sound.
How quiet were you?
I heard the door open.
The person who came in was Einstein.
He had a tired face.
“… He’s really not even moving.”
“Oh, are you here? Are you here relatively early?”
He put the things he had bought into a corner and pointed to the window.
“It’s early, the sun is going down.”
Is the sun setting?
Arya stood up and looked at the window.
As he said, the sun floating in the middle of the sky was going down before he knew it.
Somehow, my throat was sore, it must have been because a lot of time had passed.
Einstein asked as if he was genuinely curious.
“Have you been doing that all along?”
“Yes, the time flies very well.”
As if Arya’s answer was dissatisfied, Einstein handed over something.
It was a big loaf.
“I brought something to eat, so let’s eat first.”
“A meal? You worked hard because of me…”
“You don’t have to go out of your way to say thank you.”
“… Thank you.”
“Yeah, very good. Eat the bread.”
It was the bread forced into Arya’s mouth.
It’s savory yet moist, like it’s just been steamed.
Arya stared blankly at Einstein while chewing on bread.
“… What you looking at?”
After swallowing the whole loaf of bread that munched in her mouth, she said in a calm tone.
“Yes, Mr. Einstein is like my mother.”
“… What are you talking about?”
“You say you are considerate.”
Arya laughed bashfully as if embarrassed, and Einstein snorted.
“I’m not a little proud. Wipe your body, wash your clothes, feed you, this isn’t a hero, it’s like a housemaid…”
Einstein couldn’t finish her.
Arya had swung her fist without her words.
Of course, he was a hero who easily dodged it.
“Five. Do you feel a little more energetic now?”
“Oh, thank you, thank you! No, stop teasing me!”
Arya’s lips trembled.
Yes, rather be angry than to remain with a gloomy face.
Because it looks better that way.
Einstein laughed at the thought.
The day passed like that.
It was an ordinary day, as usual.
