“If even Rit missed her aim on the first throw, then this distance should be fine.”
“But if someone with a strength enhancing skill just lets it fly, it might go through the board behind the target,” Rit said, looking closely at the fifth shuriken.
This was the main street of the northern district. There were homes on the other side of the stalls.
Habotan had set up a big board to keep the shuriken from flying into the houses, but depending on the strength of someone’s blessing, there was the chance it would still go through.
“Hmm, but what should we do, then?”
“Just leave it to your old pal Rit!”
Rit hit the bull’s-eye with her last shuriken, then formed a seal with both hands.
“Spirit of earth, raise thy body and form a shield! Earth Wall!”
“Ohhh!”
A thick wall of earth formed behind the board.
“That should be fine now, right?”
“Thank you so much!”
And with that, Habotan’s stall was complete.
Only Ruti’s was left, but…
“There’s a problem with ventilating the smoke.”
“Hmm, but we rented a proper stall.”
Ruti and Tisse were looking at the cloud of smoke trapped by the ceiling of their stall.
“I thought they’d be better off borrowing a kitchenette if they were going to cook, but it looks like that was a mistake.”
I squinted at the smoke, which was dense enough that even I was having trouble seeing clearly. There was a single hole in the ceiling for ventilation, but it seemed poorly designed.
“If it’s like this…,” Ruti said, spreading her arms wide. Her expression became serious. “Hero blessing, release.”
A tremendous pressure swelled from Ruti’s body, and she started spinning her arms.
“Martial Art: Slow Life Great Whirlwind!”
“Wha?!”
She stirred up a powerful wind, dispersing the smoke trapped by the ceiling.
However, buffeted by the explosive wind, Rit and I staggered, Frank was blown over, and Tisse and Mister Crawly Wawly hastily caught the shuriken that came flying out of the target.
Ruti stopped the wind and turned to me with a satisfied look.
“You’re banned from doing that again!”
“Aww,” Ruti said, dejected.
“It’d be better to use charcoal instead.”
“You think so?” Tisse asked, handing Habotan the shuriken.
Tisse and Mister Crawly Wawly had caught all of them safely. I’d expect nothing less of the two of them.
“The smoke is a problem with the stall itself. The better stalls were probably already taken by the time you rented this one out.”
“I think so, too. We paid full price for it, though…!”
Tisse’s eyes were burning with anger. Someone was going to be getting an earful once the festival was over.
“That means it’ll be difficult to do something with the stall to fix the smoke. Even if it’s more expensive, switching to charcoal, which has hardly any smoke, is probably the most realistic solution.”
“I see… That seems to be the only choice.” Tisse nodded. “Ms. Ruti, I am going to go and buy charcoal.”
“Oh, in that case, I’ll come, too,” said Rit.
“You will?” I asked.
“Loggervia’s known for its supply of high-quality timber. I wouldn’t be overstating things to say I’m pretty much an expert on charcoal!” she said confidently. “So I’ll be back in a bit, Red.”
“Okay. Be careful out there.”
Rit, Tisse, and Mister Crawly Wawly went off to get the charcoal.
With the work done for the time being, I took a seat at the stall.
Habotan and Frank sat down next to me, while Ruti stood in front of her stand with her head cocked, seemingly concerned about the angle of the sign.
Haha, it looks like she’s enjoying the preparations.
“How about you, Habotan? Having fun getting ready for the festival?”
“Yes, sir! Working together with one’s comrades, thinking about how to delight customers… It is fun to ponder all of these things!”
“I’m glad. Is Torahime not coming?”
“Lady Torahime indicated that she would come during the festival, and that we would walk around together once things settled down here!”
Habotan’s eyes shone with excitement. They were the adorable eyes of a child looking forward to playing with their mother.
“It looks like things have been rough for you, too, Red,” remarked Frank. “Now that people know who you are, aren’t you afraid your whole quiet life here is going to get messed up?”
He probably was actually a bit concerned…so I guess that smirk was just a habit of his when he was in his human form?
“If it was going to turn out like this, wouldn’t it have been better just to drive off the volunteer soldiers before they got back to Zoltan?”
“You really are a demon.”
Even if he could live among people, Frank’s sense of right and wrong was still different from theirs. Still, we could find things we could compromise on and get along from a reasonable distance. It’s not like our two races had to hold hands and love each other.
However, I do hope that once Habotan leaves and reclaims her throne, our countries can at least remain on speaking terms.
“Oh yeah, I guess you’ve both experienced having your identity uncovered by us.”
“Yes! It was a big surprise!” replied Habotan cheerfully, but Frank shuddered.
“I didn’t think I’d make it out alive when you found me in the woods.”
“It was very difficult to continue lying to all of you after you saved us, so the relief outweighed the shock,” Habotan said.
“I thought I’d be killed if the Hero found me out, so I’ve been sleeping like a baby the past few days.”
“You always slept that soundly, Sir Frank!”
“I did?!”
We all laughed.
True, I was also feeling a bit anxious about what might happen now, but it also felt like something I’d been holding in had finally been set free.
Maybe it would go as well as things were going for Habotan and Frank now. I would do my best to make that happen.
Or so I thought.
“I’ve wanted to ask this for a while now, but…”
Before I knew it, Ruti was standing in front of me, looking at the smiling Frank.
“Who’s that next to Habotan?”
Frank’s expression froze.
“Red, don’t tell me you…?”
“Ah, right, I never explained things to Ruti.”
“Gyaaaaaah?!?!?!”
Frank screamed and fell out of his chair.
“Please, I’m not an evil demon…”
“That’s what they all say.”
“True,” I chimed in.
“Eeep!”
Frank clutched his head and trembled.
It didn’t look like he was going to be able to say anything, so Habotan and I explained things to Ruti instead.
“I see.”
Ruti looked down at Frank, who was prostrate in front of her.
“Would you like me to lick your shoes?”
“…Is that a hostile action?”
“I-it’s just a joke.”
Ruti furrowed her brow.
Yeah, she really wouldn’t want to have her shoes licked.
“I don’t really get it, but I’m not the Hero anymore. If you’re Habotan’s friend, then that makes you a friend of a friend of mine.”
“O-okay.”
“So I won’t hurt you. You can relax.”
“Th-thank goodness…!”
Frank let out a huge sigh of relief.
I bet he’d sleep soundly tonight.
That night, at Red & Rit’s Apothecary.
With the setup for the festival complete, everyone returned to their own homes.
We were planning to eat all sorts of things at the festival tomorrow, so dinner tonight was just a simple soup and bread.
And now Rit and I were in the bath.
““Ahhh.””
The bathtub Gonz made for us is really great.
Even after a year, the contentment I feel at getting into the bath still hasn’t faded in the slightest.
I’m starting to think a good bath is the key to a nice, quiet life.
“Nervous?” Rit asked.
Her fingers touched my chest, and her body leaned against mine.
“Yeah. If I’m being honest, I am nervous.”
I hugged Rit’s body. Feeling her warmth seemed to ease my anxieties.
“I think I’m nervous, too, which is why I want to stay like this.”
Rit hugged me back.
The strength I could feel in her arms wrapped around my back was so precious to me.
“Fighting the demon lord’s army is becoming just a memory now.”
“Mmm. Even with how awful the fighting was, it feels like the pain is fading.”
People’s brains were incredible things. Memories might remain, but details fade with time.
I wanted the soldiers who’d returned home to be able to experience the same thing.
“Let’s worry about tomorrow when it comes.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to give up this moment of bliss right now. This is our quiet life.”
I kissed Rit’s neck and slipped deeper into the bath.
We had a wonderful night.
Tomorrow was the Harvest Festival…a day for making fall memories.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login