TNZKMA 109

１０９

 

 

[Allec is scary……]

[His looks are deceiving but, that guy is a bit…… you know……]

 

Haruka had a wry smile on his face. Thinking about it, Haruka and Allec have been together for 10 years. For many years after their reincarnation, it had only been the two of them in the men’s club, and Haruka had been putting up with Allec’s thing that whole time.

 

[Haruka…… It must have been tough.]

 

Haruka’s eyes welled up with tears and he quickly looked away.

 

[I understand that you want to confirm your husband’s feelings, but you shouldn’t force him. It’s strictly forbidden to give orders or force people here.]

[Yeah. I’ve been reincarnated for a year now, too. I totally understand that sort of thing.]

 

All of us are lone wolves at heart. We’re not the kind of people who will endure anything to get something done. We’ll endure what we decide to do, but we won’t do anything if someone tells us to.

 

[My third husband always leaves his clothes lying around. So I only asked him to put them in a basket, and I got slammed.]

 

Saying this, Haruka hit the invisible opponent with his open hand.

 

[Saine used to say it in the beginning too. He told me to not tell him what to do.]

[It’s okay now, right? Your husband is pretty lenient with you. I’m always impressed that even among the men here there is someone who is so lenient with his Reincarnator.]

 

Even the grannies in the Reincarnators Association said the same. They knew that Saine is kind, but they said that he’s surprisingly kinder compared to the other husbands.

 

[How about you, Haruka? Uncle’s not hitting you anymore, is he?]

[You’re right……]

 

Haruka laughed lightly after saying that in a murmur-like manner.

 

[He’s originally a kind person when he’s not drinking. So now he’s a kind person every day.]

[Do you think he’s stopped trying to sell you?]

[I wonder. He says he’s looking for my husband with a sober mind, so I don’t think his feelings have changed.]

 

Haruka smiled with a slightly sad look on his face.

 

[But that guy was bragging to everyone that he got me for 1,000 ales. But when he sells me, he’s asking even more than that, right? People don’t know what his true intentions are, and they don’t believe him. So they think he’s planning to make a profit by selling the Reincarnator he got for 1,000 ales at a high price.]

[Haruka, do you like your husband?]

[…….Hmm. I think so. But this matter, only my husband can decide.]

[I think you should tell him if you like him. If you do, he might change his mind.]

[But, since we can’t bear children…… As expected, I think that man wants to have children. Every time he sees a child in the market, his eyes get stuck there…… Don’t you think he has gotten better looking after quitting alcohol?]

 

Haruka chuckled and whispered, as if he was telling a secret.

 

[He’s lost weight and his face has gotten firmer. And he’s saved up a lot of money. Business is booming and he’s stopped spending so much, so he’ll soon have a million ales. Then… he’ll be able to undergo the ceremony.]

 

Haruka looked down and laughed, but her voice sounded like she was about to cry.

What will he do with his Reincarnator, and whether he will take the Ceremony. Only the husband can decide. Even if Haruka refuses and protests, he’s helpless once his husband has made a decision. I also know that well. During the time when I thought that Saine was going to sell me, I gave up and steeled myself. 

Haruka looked at me with eyes that seem close to tears and laughed. I also laughed with the same expression.

 

I understood Haruka’s feelings all too well. But I couldn’t say anything. I don’t think Haruka was waiting for me to say anything, either.

I can’t tell anyone that it’s okay or that there’s nothing to worry about, and I don’t want to be told that. There’s no way it’s okay to be sold by the husband I’d started to love, and there’s no way I wouldn’t be worried when I have no idea what kind of person my next husband would be.

So we couldn’t say anything, and just laughed it off. Trying not to look at feelings of worry or anxiety, we just laughed it off.

 

[I will ask him to at least make it so I can stay in the Eastern Section.]

 

Haruka said cheerfully, trying to let go of the stress.

 

[Yeah. We can meet as long as you’re in the Eastern Section. You see, Saine stopped me. He said that I mustn’t get out of the Eastern Section.]

[Even your husband says that. But I can understand why he’s worried. No matter which district you go to, it’s far from the Eastern-East district where you live. And you seem like you’d be easily fooled.]

[That’s rude~. I’m not that gullible.]

[Hmm, but I’m worried. You know the dark side of people better than most people, but when someone is kind to you, you go along with them… don’t you remember? When you were in second or third grade, you almost followed this old man who offered you candy.]

 

Did something like that happen? I tilt my head in trying to remember and Haruka continued.

 

[I happened to see you two walking together and chased after you. Then I brought you back. Then, about a week later, the man was arrested, right? By the police.]

[Haruka, how do you know that?]

[It was in the newspaper.]

[Were you reading the newspaper in second grade?]

 

Haruka looked at me with a strange expression as I laughed.

 

[Of course? I would look up difficult characters in a dictionary. It became quite a big news story. It must have been quite unusual in that rural area. He would bring boys over and play pranks on them.]

 

I listened to the end, but I couldn’t remember anything. Or rather, I was surprised that Haruka was reading the newspaper when he was in the second grade of elementary school. I only lived until I was 15, but I never read a newspaper until the end of my life. We didn’t have one at home, and newspapers were only something I heard about through rumors.

 

[I can’t remember, but it’s okay. I’m 16 now. I’m an adult. There’s no way I’d be lured in by a single candy.]

[You could probably be lured in by a shrimp, right?]

 

Hearing that made me choke up.

I’ve been constantly overwhelmed by the magic of shrimp lately, and shrimp is the topic of conversation. I’ve even asked Haruka, who goes to the market every day from early in the morning, to buy some for me if they’re on sale.

 

[E…… Even shrimps won’t lure me!]

 

I declared, clenching my hands tightly, but Haruka still looked disbelieving.

 

TN: Yeah, that reply doesn’t sound convincing either.