Chapter 130 – In the Rain.
Sif quietly opened her eyes to the sound of rain hitting the window. As she struggled to lift her body, which felt heavier than usual, she realized that the seat next to her was empty.
“Donar?”
Is it because it has become a routine to wake up when he wakes up and start the day? As I was perplexed by his invisible appearance, I heard a clear and lithe voice.
“I went to train Usher.”
Her voice came from where her red hair hung down, Belka, looking at her. Even in her dimly lit room, in her hazy weather, her girlish gold was undimmed, watching her.
“Then even if you woke me up…”
“Today is my day off, so I thought it was better to get a good night’s sleep.”
Belka’s words made Sif realize that they were on vacation. Then he didn’t have to get up at dawn with Donnar. Still, he must have woken up early because he needed Usher to train, but he probably didn’t wake her up for fear she would be tired.
“Donard too.”
The feeling of waking up together and meeting each other is good, but her husband is still slow to notice in this way. Then he ran into the girl’s golden light, tilting her head as he looked at her. He was so inexpressive that it was hard to know what he was thinking, but he had been around for a while and he could sense her questioning.
“Are you curious about anything?”
“Do you feel bad for Donard’s consideration for Sif?”
Scared to do that, Belka’s question came back.
“I don’t feel bad, but it’s still a pity. Is it because I have a desire to always have that person by my side when I wake up?”
“Greed?”
“How about Belka? Usher is always by my side when I wake up.”
Belka said she seemed to be thinking slightly, as if muttering with her faintly flushed face.
“Good.”
“That’s it.”
“That’s it.”
Sif laughed at her and got down from her bed. She would have been busy preparing the food since she was up early as this time she was in charge of her duties. She was unfamiliar with the sudden leisure. It’s her long-awaited day off, and she thought about asking to go out, but she gave up because there were still rumors that the culprit in the disappearance case had not been caught. Then she had a good idea in the golden light of the girl she encountered again.
“Wouldn’t you like to drink some tea?”
Since the men still had work to do and it was just the girls, it wouldn’t hurt to talk briefly. The Caitsy boy Donar brought along seems to be sleeping too. Belka did not reject her offer. When they headed to the kitchen, they caught a glimpse of the kitchen people busy making food for the banquet. Normally, she would have been in between me too.
“Looking at it like this, you look really busy. I’m sorry.”
Still, it was a legitimate vacation, so she decided not to mind. Right now, things to do with the girl come first.
“Now, are you ready?”
“Yes, I washed my hands.”
Originally, Sif would have made simple refreshments to drink with her tea, but since she lived with Belka, she has come to teach her simple dishes when she has such leisure. Sheif wasn’t very good at cooking because she only read books, but as she helped cook at the top, she got used to it. The food she was making now was a simple cookie. It’s a snack that would have been out of the question originally, but given the amount of money they make, this kind of luxury isn’t impossible if you take a little off the accumulating living expenses.
“I never thought sugar would become so readily available.”
Considering the work he does, it seems like a fair price, but Sif sighed, thinking of Donard, who could be mobilized even while on vacation. The duty of a knight was much heavier than he thought.
“Like this?”
“Yes, but with a little more force.”
She remembered the first time she taught cooking, seeing a girl who followed her instructions. It was a nostalgic feeling. Belka did as well as she did when she gave her demonstration, but in many ways she noticed awkwardness. She was like, when she first cooked, she only read and followed books. Didn’t she look like that herself? As far as you can guess. She had to teach her how to hold her hand and give it strength as well as her girl’s way of accidentally cutting her own hand.
“Oops!”
“It’s not good to give too much force. In moderation.”
Seeing the girl cut her dough with too much force and throw it away, she started making it together. Sif often confuses Belka’s age with her mature appearance, but she reminds her in this way that she is still young after all. Still, there was nothing wrong with the method itself, so the cookie was completed properly. With refreshments and boiled water, they returned to their rooms. When I checked to see if the boy was awake, I heard that he was snoring softly, so it seems that he has not woken up yet.
“Does Belka have any other hobbies?”
“Hobbies?”
Sif asked as they sat facing each other and started a small tea party. Thinking that she probably doesn’t have any hobbies, she gave an example just in case.
“Are you reading a book?”
“Mea and Ryuda often read it. We read it together.”
I thought I was lucky that it wasn’t.
“It’s a book. What kind of books do you usually read?”
“…? A book is a book.”
“There are different kinds of books, right? Like novels and magic books.”
Belka finally seemed to understand what she was saying and looked at her holding her book somewhere. It was a very thick and heavy book.
“Are you thinking about economics?”
“Yeah, I see Lyuda reading often. I borrowed it.”
“Anything but this?”
The next thing the girl brought was a book titled About Monsters. How to say It was different from what Sif expected. Should I say realistic or desolate? I’m not saying it’s bad, but do girls these days like things like this? No, from what I’ve heard from the maids I’ve become friends with while working here, I’ve heard that romance novels are popular.
“Ah! Come to think of it!”
“?”
She suddenly remembered the book she had received from Charlotte among the people she became close with here, found it, and handed it to Belka.
“Would you like to read this too?”
It’s a book that he gave me because he said he read it all and memorized the contents, but he didn’t have time to look at it, so he left it unread. According to Charlotte, who gave her the book, it seems that it is a novel about a romance between a woman from the lower classes and a knight. If that’s the case, she wondered if she didn’t need to read it separately, but she tried to invite the girl just in case.
“Now?”
“Read it and tell me how it felt.”
Belka seemed curious as to why Sif was doing this, but then she opened the book she handed her and started reading, and her silence filled the room. Sif sniffed the scent of her tea and watched the girl reading her book with her chin resting on her chin. The room where Belka was quietly reading a book, with only the sound of knocking on the window being heard from the rain that had started pouring down a few days ago, seemed like a different world, isolated from anywhere else. Could the atmosphere in the room change like this just with the presence of one girl?
As if immersed in a book, the slightly stagnant and deepened golden light moved quietly and read the book. I sometimes wondered where those eyes were looking as I was watching them sway with unknown emotions. It seems that she was watching the girl without realizing that time was passing by. Sif came to her senses only after the girl closed the book.
“Did you read everything?”
Belka nods her head as she asks.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know much about this.”
“Still, did you feel anything?”
At her words, the girl silently looked at the book and raised her head.
“Love can be a means only for oneself, not for the other person.”
“Yes…?”
Sif was at a loss for words at the answer he couldn’t have imagined.
“I don’t think a novel is a good fit for me.”
“Why?”
“Emotions are so intense. It’s hard to understand even mine, but a book that contains someone else’s feelings is too much.”
Belka then returned her book to her. Sif somehow seemed to be saddened by the girl, so she couldn’t talk about the novel anymore. Reluctantly, she put the book down and focused on her refreshment.
“Do we really have to train even on a rainy day?”
“Monsters don’t attack on rainy days, so you should get used to it.”
Around the time they were holding a small tea party. Usher was in the middle of training even in the rain. Previously, she seemed to rest on rainy days, but after she had a real fight, she started to train even on rainy days.
“Then can’t we take off this training suit and train? It’s incredibly heavy.”
Because of this, the training suit he was wearing now felt incredibly heavy as it soaked up a lot of rainwater.
“Then there’s no point in training on a rainy day. I don’t know, but you’ll wear plate armor like me later.”
“Stop it. Then, let’s get rid of this smell.”
I don’t know if it’s a day or two, but because of the rain that has been falling for several days, I’m wearing a training suit that I don’t have to dry even for a day.
“It’s just that much of a smell. I’ll die if I can’t take off my armor for a few weeks.”
He didn’t know anything else, but he knew this one thing well. At least he has no intention of making himself take off this training suit.
“My body is too heavy today.”
Following Donnar’s instructions, we ran through the gymnasium in the rain. As he raced along the path, which had been left out of his grass for a long time as a training ground, Usher felt his body getting heavier and heavier. He didn’t even know it was because it had been raining lately. But he couldn’t suddenly be so helpless. Usher saw Rogi running ahead of him and he gnashed his teeth. He had to work even harder for Belka.
But today, no matter how hard he gritted his teeth and ran, the distance grew wider and Usher could hardly keep up with Rogi. It was Donar who first felt strange about Usher’s appearance.
“That guy can’t use his strength today. Is he not feeling well?”
Even if you are not used to the rainy environment, it was too slow. It didn’t seem like he was trying to show off, but it was clear that Usher was having a hard time training. Even though he usually trains more than this. Donnar stopped him.
“Ugh, why is that?”
“Didn’t you tell me if you’re not feeling well? Let’s finish training today.”
“But.”
Usher couldn’t relax at his words. Because he had to become stronger as soon as possible. He couldn’t stop training just because he wasn’t feeling well.
“But, whatever, you’re not in any condition to train right now.”
“…Just let it spin one more turn.”
“This is true.”
Donnar sighed. I know you’re impatient, but isn’t he supposed to rest when he’s sick? At times like this, you have to say it’s right and take a break, but you’re determined to train even if you die. I thought it was too effective to train with Rogi to raise awareness and competition. Even now, Rogi was running around just fine in the same environment as Usher. He regretted that if he had known it would be like this, he would have taught it more slowly and not overexcited.
“Don’t be stubborn and take a break. You can’t overcome illness with grit. If you do that, you’ll only damage your body. It’s hard to get your body back that way.”
“…”
“If your body is damaged, the aftereffects are serious. All the efforts you’ve made so far may be completely meaningless. Let’s just go and rest.”
“All right.”
Seeing Usher barely accepting the persuasion, Donnar said to Shalby, who came out to look after Rogi.
“He’s not very well, so I’ll take him in first.”
“It looked strange just by looking at it. Then go inside carefully.”
Clack clack. Cheolpong Cheolpung. On the way back to the room, the water from the rain and the wet shoes left footprints soaked in rainwater in the damp hallway. Usher thought blankly. Why am I so weak? If it was a cold caused by rain, it would be even more unfair. He and Rogi obviously trained in the same environment and conditions, but Rogi, who was in the rain together, was fine, but he was in pain and groaning like this. It made me run even harder.
My head was dizzy. It seems like the world is spinning around and making fun of him. Does this feel like going crazy? After staggering, seeing the floor approaching more and more, Usher realized that he had fallen down belatedly. He had to move his body, but he didn’t move. Even though his whole body was hot and painful, all he could feel was anger at himself.
