TNZKMA 106

１０６

 

 

When I went to the garden to heat up the bath, Saine followed me. He then pumped up the water. I put firewood in the fire pit and lit it with the flint. While I used the tube to pump air into the fire, Saine filled the bathtub with water.

The sun was still high, and it was a little hot to be naked. I realized that clothes are important for protecting us from the sun. There’s less humidity here, so if we can just protect ourselves from the sun, the heat is lessened.

As I squatted down and panted, a shadow suddenly fell on me. I looked up, wondering what was going on, and Saine was standing there to provide shade.

 

[Thank you.]

 

I thanked him and stood up. The fire had gotten bigger, and I thought the water was ready. I was about to hold his hand and go into the bathhouse when suddenly I stopped.

 

[What’s wrong?]

 

I looked closely at Saine’s body. There were faint scratches on his arms, legs, and even his shoulders.

 

[Did you apply dour grass?]

[If it’s only this much, it’s fine to leave it alone.]

[That might be so but…… But I don’t want Saine’s body to be injured. The wounds will disappear if you put dour grass on it but the pain will also quickly disappear.]

 

The scar on his left arm is the biggest. I touch the scar, which has turned red. It’s a scar that wasn’t there before he went to work. A scar from this year’s guard season. Saine is strong and brave, but it reminds me that this is not a job you can finish unscathed.

 

[Don’t worry. Once a Dauntless, one doesn’t die that easily.]

 

His large hand strokes my head.

 

[Dour grass is versatile, but is it also effective against poison?]

 

Prompted by Saine, I entered the bathhouse. Since both of us were undressed, we passed through the small changing room and went to the bathroom.

 

[If it’s in a small amount. ]

[Small amount……?]

 

A sharp pain ran through my chest, as if an arrow had pierced it.

 

[Don’t make that face. After 10 years as a guard, I’ve developed a resistance to poison. I also know which monsters to avoid, so I’ll be fine.]

 

Saine’s slightly rough hand caresses my cheek.

 

[Is there no medicine that works against poison? Let’s have that.]

[All the poisons1 that monsters have are different, so there is no universal medicine that works against all poisons. It’s true that there are medicines that can deal with each one, but not all of them.]

[Can’t you have them all?]

 

When I asked him that, Saine laughed.

 

[I don’t know about the poison medicines the Priests make…… I’m sure there are 500 to 1,000 of them. I wouldn’t be able to keep all of it at home.]

[Do you think Olphynn can make a cure-all medicine?]

[It would be a great achievement if he could create one. I don’t think there is a poison medicine to begin with. That’s why a novice guard starts by building up a minimum of poison resistance.]

 

We give each other a quick wash and then soak in the bath. Saine said we’d do it again after dinner, so I’d just wash properly then. Well, it makes no difference if I fell asleep without it but I make sure to enter the bath in the morning.

I lean against Saine’s chest and play with his big hands. Saine is right-handed. It seems he can use a sword with his left hand too, but basically, he’s right-handed. I place my left hand over Saine’s right hand. We hold hands, putting my fingers between his. Saine’s hands are big, and our palms don’t fit together.

 

[How do you develop resistance? Did you also do it?]

[You prick yourself with a poisoned needle. First, in a spot far from the heart. Well, your toes. You prick your toes with the poisoned needle, and then you have to withstand the poison.]

 

I sat up and looked closely at Saine’s toes. There were no needle holes or signs of poison.

 

[I’m naturally resistant to poison. So it doesn’t leave any marks. If the guard is weak, he’ll change jobs after the first test.]

[Is poison resistance training hard for a normal guard?]

[Let me see…… Dole was bedridden for about 10 days. The first time was the hardest. The weakest type of poison was used but even so, it toppled him over. But he gradually got used to it and at the end, he could endure even poisons that could kill a normal man in one shot.]

 

Hearing about dying, my heart started pounding.  I turned my body and clung to  Saine.

 

[Saine, did you also collapse?]

[I didn’t have such an experience. Even at the most difficult process, my body only shivered. I got better after two days, though.]

[Are you also strong against poison?]

[I am.]

 

Saine nodded with a proud look on his face. I took a small breath.

 

[Saine… Stay safe, okay? I don’t want you to die before me.]

 

As I said this while trying to hold back the tears, Saine smiled and hugged me gently.

 

[I’ll die one day later than you.]

 

I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to keep on waiting for someone alone anymore. I cling tightly to that hard body. Just as Saine said, it would be nice to die while we’re holding each other like this.

 

It was getting too late to buy ingredients and cook at home, so we went to the market together. It was an early dinner.

The peak of the crowds was still a while away, so there was still some space in the market. But I walked holding hands with Saine.

Looking up, the sky was faintly red. The lanterns hanging in the shop windows were not yet lit. When I had just been reincarnated, I would have walked alone at this time of day.

But now, with Saine beside me, there’s no way I could walk without holding his hand. It’s been almost a year since I was reincarnated. I’m growing more and more fond of Saine.

 

The cate2 isn’t sold in the market. I wonder why when it’s so delicious? When I asked Saine, he said it’s because cate can’t be kept on the farm. Ras’s3 flight feathers are snapped so it can’t fly, and mute its voice so it doesn’t talk too much. That’s how they keep it, but the same can be done with the cate.

Cates don’t just run forward. You’d never guess it from its round body and thin legs, but cates have incredible jumping power.

The Daryss mansion where Olphynn lives is three stories tall. And it’s not like an ordinary three-story house, it’s school-class. The ceilings on the first floor are insanely high. So it’s three stories tall, but so high you have to look up. According to Saine, a cate can jump that high in one go.

If they break a cate’s legs to stop it from jumping, it’ll quickly become weak and die. Cates can’t survive without hopping around. That’s why they gave up on keeping them on farms.

 

They don’t have my favorite cate, but they do have my second favorite, the ras. Saine bought me a fried ras.

Of course we couldn’t be satisfied with just this so we went to Haruka’s place. We still have our spot there so we bought some grilled pork.

 

[You’re getting along as always.]

[Of course.]

 

Haruka clumsily puts the grilled meat onto plates while his husband stands next to him, swinging a huge iron pot with one hand.

 

[Uncle, did you lose weight again?]

 

When I asked, the man laughed without stopping his hand.

 

[Yeah. If you stop drinking, you’ll lose weight like crazy.]

 

I listened to his declaration that he would give up drinking with some skepticism. Both my mom and dad had said hundreds of times that they had quit drinking or smoking, but neither of them could quit. At their worst, they were still drinking or smoking the night they declared they were quitting.

Haruka’s husband, however, quit drinking altogether. He quit drinking, saying that he wouldn’t look good in a drunken state when searching for Haruka’s next husband, and six months have passed since then. His sober business is booming, and now Haruka is helping out. So there’s a better chance of meeting Haruka if I come here than if I go to the Men’s Club.

 

Haruka is clumsy, can’t cook, and it looks like even serving food on a plate is difficult. But he seemed to be having fun. He seemed to be having more fun than when he had no work and all he had to do was sit idly at home or chat at the Men’s Club.

The Uncle looked at Haruka with worried eyes as he stumbled around putting the roast pork we’d ordered onto plates. But he didn’t get angry or take it away. It was like watching a child who had just started to walk.

 

TN: 

1 – I know (poison – plants, venom – animals) but just let it slide.

2 –  cate – deer face, boar body (found in the forest)

3 – ras – chatty bird Olphynn