Gentle Hydrangea ⑤・A Happy Morning Scene.
Tap, tap-tap-tap-tap~♪
There’s a sound.
Tap, tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap~♪
A light rhythm. I like this sound.
A fragrant smell wafts from somewhere.
“…Ngh… Nnngh…”
“Na!”
Dagaa cried out. He tapped my forehead, peshi peshi. It’s subtly annoying.
He probably wants me to wake up.
“Na!”
But the brand-new white sheets and feather duvet of the new bed—not straw—are just too comfortable.
Ah, alright, alright. I’ll get up. So stop hitting me like that.
Besides, you’re starting to enjoy hitting me, aren’t you?
“Na?”
Tap, tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap~♪
There’s that sound again. It’s a tapping sound. No, a cutting sound.
A kitchen knife? I see. I see.
“…Nnngh… Hmm…?”
As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw two rear ends right in front of me.
Two plump, rounded female behinds were lined up side-by-side.
“?????”
One, I understand. That’s Mineha-san.
As always, it looks large and soft, swaying innocently.
It’s so alluring, you wouldn’t think it belonged to a 10-year-old girl.
It’s the behind of a grown woman.
What’s more, she’s wearing trousers this morning. Her shape is unbelievably distinct.
It’s a magnificent view I’m used to, yet one I could gaze at forever.
But today, there was another one. Lined up next to Mineha-san’s.
This one wore a white skirt. And there was something extending from that skirt.
A long and short white cat tail swayed gently, fuwari fuwan.
I knew immediately. It was Ms. Pachira. A true tail-behind.
“…G-good morning…”
“Morning.”
“Awake, are you?”
When I mumbled a greeting, the two turned around.
Mineha-san and Ms. Pachira.
What miracle brought such rare examples of ‘beautiful’ and ‘cute’ into this small room?
“Ms. Pachira…?”
“Mm. Borrowing your kitchen, I am.”
“Ah, yes. Please, go ahead.”
“Although, I am merely Mineha’s assistant.”
“You’re quite skillful, you know.”
“Hoh. Then perhaps I shall learn. I am starting to enjoy this myself.”
“Are you learning from Lupinus?”
“Her cooking is certainly delicious, but it is not the taste of the common folk. I prefer this sort of thing. Potatoes, especially, remind me of my homeland.”
“What kind of food did you have in your homeland, Pachira?”
“Let me see. My homeland was a cold place. What I remember is warm potato soup. Fried pies, perhaps. The filling was a thick soup of vegetables and bacon. We ate it with hard bread. As for unusual things, there was a dish where we’d put lots of eggs, tomatoes, and large chunks of meat into a big pot and stew it. We’d add special spices, stir, add more, and repeat the stirring. Until the meat dissolved into the soup.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
“Exhausting, isn’t it?”
Ms. Pachira laughed at our comments.
Then, we ate the breakfast they had prepared.
Today’s menu consisted of two types of fried bread beans, black and white. Fried eggs and thick-cut bacon.
Tomato and onion soup. Pickles. Salty scrambled eggs.
“Ah, these fried bread beans.”
“Surprised you, didn’t I?”
“To think of stuffing them with cucumber and meatballs.”
It’s delicious, like a slightly unusual meat bun.
Well then, Ms. Pachira and the others are continuing their request today.
Incidentally, the reason Ms. Pachira was here so early was that she forgot to tell me about the change in meeting place.
Apparently, she arrived about an hour ago.
“What’s the monster everyone is chasing?”
“A Chimera Variant.”
“Is that…”
Ms. Pachira nodded at my wide-eyed expression.
A Chimera Variant. The monster from the dungeon where Ms. Pachira and her party were once defeated.
I defeated it and saved them with the Elixir I had just found when they were on the verge of death.
You could say that was the beginning of everything.
“…Are you going to be okay?”
“Mm. We know the cause of our defeat. It was the [ Evil Eye ].”
“?”
“It’s a vision-type Relic. It affects the target just by looking at them.”
Mineha-san answered.
She hadn’t shrunk down; she remained large, sitting on the edge of the bed eating.
Thanks to that, my bed is packed.
“The Chimera Variant’s [ Evil Eye ] stops the target’s movement for just a few seconds…”
“That’s the worst.”
Just a few seconds. But still, a few seconds. Being forcibly stopped is fatal.
It wouldn’t be surprising to lose if you fought it without knowing, but… why did I manage to win?
I think I was looked at quite a bit, but I don’t remember clearly.
“But do not worry. We have countermeasures prepared.”
“I don’t like it, but we consulted that lewd Hayarn and had her make enough anti-[ Evil Eye ] glasses for everyone. They’re Legacy items that break after four uses, though.”
“You had something like that?”
“As expected, Legendary was impossible due to material constraints.”
“Preventing it that much is enough.”
“Indeed.”
“…Huh, speaking of which, where’s Hayyarn?”
I noticed her absence. The two looked at the bronze pot under the kitchen counter.
There again? Truly, the line between genius and idiot is paper-thin.
“Speaking of Hayyarn,”
“What is it?”
“The public order has been deteriorating because this place became the venue for the First Class gathering.”
“That’s true.”
“Um, what do you mean?”
“I didn’t tell you, did I? On our way back yesterday, we were attacked by some men.”
“Huh? Um, Mineha-san and ‘Torquetum’? Eh, attacked!?”
“Indeed. Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“I was shocked. Since we knew, we deliberately lured them into an unpopular area, and they suddenly jumped us. They had less sense than monsters.”
“So, what did you do?”
“We dealt with the ones we had to, but we captured the rest and handed them over to the guards. We heard then that a large number of outsiders have come in, and incidents like this, theft, and various other things are happening frequently. We weren’t the only ones attacked. There have been victims too.”
“…Victims too.”
“It seems they found them before they were carried away, preventing the worst outcome for now. Thanks to that, the guards are short-staffed and resorting to requesting Seekers for escort and patrol duties.”
“Still, attacking just like that…”
Are they a new breed of suicide volunteers?
“Even so, Hydrangea has relatively good public order. It’s common in other places. Of course, it’s a crime, but whether it’s actually policed as a crime can be difficult.”
“The village we stayed at during an escort request was terrible, something about a custom of night crawling.”
“There were places where nobles were pulling strings behind the scenes. Master wiped them out, though.”
“Wow… Women can’t live normally in places like that, can they?”
How does that even work?
“I think there are ordinary women who become victims while living normally, but mostly they target Seekers. Seekers operate under strong self-responsibility and sometimes lose their lives in dungeons, so that can be exploited.”
“That’s the premise, after all. Search parties are rare.”
“In the end, you just have to get stronger.”
“It comes down to that.”
“…”
Hearing this somehow feels unreasonable.
As a man myself, I feel somehow responsible, making me feel uncomfortable.
“Wof, what are you doing today?”
“Eh? Ah, um, I have archery practice.”
“Archery, you say?”
“I’m learning from Juicy-san right now.”
Bringing this up right after that conversation makes me feel guilty about ‘Stance Layering’.
I was looking forward to it, but I made a promise, and Juicy-san is looking forward to it too.
So I’m definitely going.
“Ah, Juicy does indeed handle a bow.”
“Surprisingly orthodox, unlike Bid.”
“No, Bid-san is orthodox too…”
“He’s been obsessed with swords lately. Thanks to a certain someone.”
Ms. Pachira looked at me with a sarcastic tone.
“Hahaha…”
“Well. It’s not a bad thing, rather it’s a good thing. You see, after the party disbanded, he fell into quite a slump. For a time, he was considering quitting being a Seeker and returning to the countryside.”
“Is that so?”
“Thanks to you, it seems unlikely he’ll quit being a Seeker for now.”
Ms. Pachira smiled faintly.
“I’m glad.”
“…A party disbanding, huh. It can hit hard. Sometimes for decades.”
Did something come to mind? Mineha-san suddenly spoke up.
“Did something happen?”
“It certainly wasn’t about you.”
“—It’s about Master, but she’s been solo ever since her husband died.”
“Is that the one who teamed up with the Witch?”
Ax-san’s father. He passed away?
“Yes, when my mother, my father, the Witch, Master, Master’s husband, and one other person were teamed up. The party name was ‘White Daphne’, I believe.”
“What a spectacular lineup.”
“A legendary party that advanced with unstoppable momentum. However, during a high-difficulty dungeon investigation, Master’s husband died in an unfortunate accident, and they disbanded. Since then, Master hasn’t formed a party. She only works as support or solo. She said she couldn’t team up anymore.”
“It can’t be helped.”
“Master is an Elf, but she probably won’t ever marry again for the rest of her life.”
“…For a thousand years, huh?”
Ms. Pachira groaned.
The average lifespan of an Elf is said to be 1000 years.
Mineha-san gave a wry smile.
“Probably. My mother is the same.”
“That’s love.”
“…Come to think of it, I’ve never heard about Ax-san’s father.”
“He passed away shortly after Ax was born. His master was still reeling from the shock and said she hadn’t told him much about his father. Plus, since they had a falling out, there wasn’t much opportunity to talk about it. I think things might be different now, but his master hasn’t contacted him at all.”
“Honestly,” Mineha-san sighed.
“Ax-san said the same thing. That no matter how many letters he sends, he never gets a reply.”
“That is worrisome, indeed.”
“The worst… you think?”
“—Knowing his master, I think she’s fine in that regard. If she had died, we would have received an obituary by now.”
True.
Maybe I should casually ask the Witch about it.
“That story weighs heavily on me too. If either Lupinus or Liv were to pass away and ‘Torquetum’ disbanded, I doubt I would ever form another party.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t know about Lupinus and Liv, but that’s how it is for me.”
“Those guys are surely the same.”
“What are you talking about?”
“?”
“‘Fang of Thunder.’ Ax’s party.”
Ms. Pachira and I understood.
After breakfast, we started getting ready.
“Ah, Wof. On your way back, pick up the usual meat.”
“Assorted Meat is fine?”
“Yes, and Bacon too. We used up the last of it today.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“Let’s see— Cucumbers. Onions. Potatoes. Cabbage. Green onions. We still have bread beans, so, right. Get extra onions and cucumbers, especially. Hey, we still have breadcrumbs and flour, right?”
“We do.”
“Then that’s all I need.”
“Understood.”
A rapid-fire series of instructions.
It seemed like she’d thought of something for tonight’s dinner or tomorrow’s breakfast.
Mineha-san seems to have awakened to cooking, even going so far as to buy recipes.
Not only that, but lately, she’s started proactively doing the housework that she used to leave entirely to me.
She’s really grown. That’s a good thing.
“Right. That reminds me, the dried meat. The new-”
“I want some!”
“Definitely!”
They cut me off eagerly. Hahaha… I made a lot, so I’ll give them a generous amount.
Ah, salt. I need to start buying it by the jar soon.
By the way, I’m forgetting something.
Come to think of it, Dagaa. He’s unusually quiet. Oh, he fell asleep after finishing his meal.
Well, he’ll probably go over to Mineha-san’s place again today.
Ah, right, I remember now. The Hayyarn! I hurriedly took it out of the jar.
On the way back from archery practice, feeling somewhat satisfied.
Just as I decided to head to the butcher shop first, someone suddenly called out to me.
“Um, excuse me. Have you seen a dog around here?”
A husky voice spoke hesitantly, looking up at me from slightly below.
It was a female Elf with tanned skin and long blue hair tied into a single ponytail.
She wore something like a blue military uniform and carried a sword at her side. Her light green eyes wavered anxiously.
Her blue hair was more vibrant than mine. There was a certain trained, clear beauty about her.
“A dog? What kind of features does it have?”
Looking for a dog, huh? Hydrangea’s public safety is relatively good these days, anyway.
But there are just as many stray dogs and cats as in other cities.
Sometimes there are requests to find lost dogs or cats, but it’s never easy.
“Yes. It’s a very large dog with blue fur, and it carries a greatsword on its back.”
“Th-That’s certainly an unforgettable feature.”
It seemed like it would be found quickly.