9. My Sweet Home
“How is it, Yume?” Master asked.
“Yeah, yeah! It feels super great!”
“O-Oh, yeah?”
“Fwahhh... It’s all meltin’ away...”
“I-It’s just right, huh?”
“Sure is... Nnnngh... This’s unbelievable. Funyuhhhh...”
“I... I see.”
“Hawfuhhh...”
It felt so good, she didn’t know what was happening anymore.
The water temperature was perfect.
There was a bath in the hunters’ guild. It was designed so that you poured water into a stone basin, then lit a fire and heated it. Yume had helped draw the water, of course, but Master was the one who’d heated it up. In fact, he was outside the bath now, adjusting the level of the fire.
“Sorry, Master. Yume got in first... Normally, she feels like, normally, it should’ve been you who took the first bath. Bein’ the Master and all.”
“Y-You dummy,” Master said. “It’s fine. I’m not that big on baths and stuff like that, anyway. I just want to get clean and be done with it. But you, well, you’re, uh... a woman, after all.”
“Master, you’re nice,” Yume beamed.
“N-No, I’m not. No one’s ever told me that before.”
“That’s a mystery, then. Master, you’re so nice.”
“I-It’s not like I’d do this for just anyone...”
“Nuoh? Master, did you just say somethin’?”
“I did not! You’re hearing things.”
“Oh!” Yume closed her eyes. She relaxed. “Masterrrr?”
“Wh-What?”
“Yume, she...”
“Y-Yeah?”
“...she’s gettin’ sleepy.”
“Whoooa, y-you’re going to sleep?! Y-You’ll drown, you know?!”
“If it looks like Yume’s drownin’, Master, save her, would you?”
“I-I’ll save you! No, don’t make me save you, okay?!”
“Why not?”
“I-If I have to save you, that means I’d have to go in there, and if I do, you’re in the bath, so, uh, I’ll see you like that, and that’s really not good. I mean, I’m your father, no, that’s not it... H-Hey?! Yume?! You’re awake, right?!”
“Mewww. Yume’s awake.”
“...Y-You are? Good. How’s the water? It’s not lukewarm, right?”
“It may’ve gotten a teeeeny bit hotter.”
“You sure you haven’t been in there too long? Maybe it’s time you got out.”
“No way.”
“You’ll boil your brains!”
“But still!”
“What?”
“Once Yume gets out of the bath, it’s over, right?”
“Wh-What is?”
“Her basic training with Master.”
“What’s the problem with that?” he retorted. “It’s finally coming to an end!”
“Weren’t you enjoyin’ it, Master?”
“Um... er... enjoying it? Not me. This isn’t the time for fun and games. I’m your father, you know.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, Yume had fun. Oh, and though she’s not sure what it means, Yume’s becomin’ a volunteer soldier after this, right? A trainee.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Yume wonders a little—just a little, mind—what’s gonna happen to her.”
“Well, it’s not strange for you to feel uneasy.”
“Not uneasy, exactly.”
“You’re not worried?” Master asked. “I was pretty worried. It was a long time ago, so I don’t fully remember, but I think I was.”
“Hmm. Which could it be? Yume, she doesn’t really know if she’s uneasy or not.”
“That’s so like you,” Master sighed.
“Oh, yeah? It’s like Yume?”
“That’s just what I think. We’ve been together seven days. I know you a little, at least.”
“Master, you’re tryin’ to understand Yume?”
“A-A little, okay? A little. Just a little...”
“Y’know, that makes Yume kinda happy. Yume, she can’t put things into words that well, though. She doesn’t remember anythin’ from before, after all. But still, she was with you, doin’ basic trainin’, right? So, she’s not sure what to say.”
Yume pursed her lips. It was frustrating, not being able to put it into words. She wished a more suitable word would float up into her mind.
“Yume,” Master put in.
“Huhwah? Whaaat, Master?”
“Come back anytime.”
“Nuh...?”
“If anything happens. You’re welcome to come back any time. I’m your father, after all. So, basically... you can think of me as a father figure. I’ll be here for you.”
“Ahhhhhh.”
“...What?”
“Yume just got it. That’s what it is. Master’s Yume’s home.”
“Home...” he said softly.
“Is that wrong?”
“...No. If that’s how you feel, that’s fine. I’m like a house to you. If so, come back if you’re in trouble.”
“Yep. Yume’ll do that.”
“Also, so long as they have a mountain or forest, a hunter can survive.”
“Yep, yep!” Yume said. “The White God Elhit-chan is there. And the animals. And lots of trees and grass. Oh, and Master, too!”
“...Yeah.”
“Master?”
“Hm?”
“Yume, she’s gonna become a great hunter.”
“You’re a bit hopeless with the bow, though.” Master sounded like he was smiling just a little. “But knowing you, you can do it. You’ll be a good hunter.”
“Hee hee!” Yume giggled. “Master, Yume loves you.”
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