Chapter 14
I came to.
I must have dozed off in the bathtub.
When I opened my heavy eyelids, the inn room came into view.
“Ah.”
I was bewildered.
Because I was lying in bed.
I was even covered with a blanket.
I didn't have to ask who'd done it.
It must have been Mr. Ashtein.
He and I were the only ones staying in this room.
“……I caused Mr. Ashtein trouble.”
It felt like the debt I owed him had grown.
He'd been looking out for me in little ways. At this rate, when would I ever repay him?
I was just about to confess my guilt to the Goddess when—
“Guess you do know.”
I was startled.
At the voice that suddenly cut in, I straightened up.
Mr. Ashtein, who'd been leaning against the door, smiled and held out a bowl on a tray.
“Here.”
I took the bowl he offered without thinking.
It was a wooden bowl, warm to the touch.
Inside was piping-hot stew.
“W-what is this?”
“You must be starving. You went to sleep without eating anything yesterday.”
Mr. Ashtein had read my situation perfectly.
When I sat there looking dazed by his considerate gesture, he urged me on.
“It'll taste bad if it gets cold. The spoon's here, so take it.”
I picked up the spoon he held out.
When I spooned up some stew, its mild, salty flavor spread through my mouth.
He waited without saying a word until I finished eating.
This might sound strange, but I was embarrassed right now.
Should I say my chest felt ticklish? Or tight?
It was a feeling hard to describe.
One thing was certain: it was difficult to look at his face.
Strange, isn't it?
I'd been through so many far more humiliating experiences than this.
Why was I so restless?
“Is the food not to your liking? You look unhappy.”
His gruff voice held both consideration and concern.
I hurriedly shook my head, denying what Mr. Ashtein had said.
“……It was delicious. Really.”
“Good. Glad to hear it.”
That was the end of the conversation.
Normally, I could've just sat quietly, but today, for some reason, I found this silence especially hard to bear.
It was an ominous sign.
“M-Mr. Ashtein.”
“……?”
“G-good morning.”
He answered as if I'd said something out of the blue.
“It's lunchtime.”
Lunchtime.
Had it already become lunchtime?
I couldn't raise my face, embarrassed.
Mr. Ashtein watched me quietly, then gave a sly smile.
“More importantly, I didn't know the Saintess slept so much.”
“……Th-that's…”
Strangely, I seemed to sleep more whenever I was with Mr. Ashtein.
The physically exhausting things we did together probably played a part.
Still, I thought the biggest factor was that I was under less mental strain.
At the cult, I had to watch every little thing I said and did.
How a saintess should carry herself, how she should speak, how she should believe.
The cult couldn't tolerate a ‘me’ who wasn't a saintess.
By contrast, when I was with Mr. Ashtein, I could simply be ‘me.’
It was enough for me to be ‘me’ as Aria.
The Hero never scolded me for letting my guard down a little.
Maybe that's why I'd been sleeping so deeply lately.
It wasn't entirely a good thing.
I'd missed my morning prayers to the Goddess of Erotic Love several times.
My conscience pricked at the thought.
I'm sorry, Goddess.
As I remained silent, Mr. Ashtein spoke.
“Did you sleep well?”
If I had to say whether I'd slept well or poorly, I'd slept extremely well.
……But.
It suddenly occurred to me that I'd gotten in the way of Mr. Ashtein going out to hunt monsters.
If he hadn't waited for me, he would surely be slaughtering monsters at the foot of Mount Asendio by now.
The thought that I'd held him back made my heart ache.
“I overslept……”
“I didn't say that so I could hear you say ‘I'm sorry.’”
Mr. Ashtein cut off what I was about to say.
I stared at him with a puzzled look.
How did he know what I was going to say?
Had he learned to read minds?
“I know what you're going to say.”
Mr. Ashtein spoke as if my thoughts were simple, and I was starting to find him a little irritating.
I didn't think I needed to hear that from the man who'd kidnapped me, disregarding proper procedure just because it was quicker.
Perhaps he'd noticed my displeasure, because Mr. Ashtein reached out to pat my head.
I irritably tried to swat away his large hand.
Unfortunately, his hand was as persistent as a leech, and he managed to stroke my head back and forth.
It was terribly unpleasant to be treated like a child.
“Don't worry about useless things. I was planning to rest today.”
I smoothed my hair, which Mr. Ashtein had thoroughly mussed, and asked,
“Rest?”
“Normally, I'd keep hunting monsters, but……”
He pointed at my body with his index finger.
“You don't have any clothes to wear.”
I lowered my gaze to look at myself.
My ample breasts came into view.
I couldn't hide my stiff smile.
That's right.
I was naked.
I quickly pulled the blanket over myself.
“Ah, uh, oof.”
Blood rushed to my face.
There was no disgrace quite like this.
Mr. Ashtein tossed me some clothes and said,
“I figured it'd be better for you to put them on yourself than for me to dress you.”
He was absolutely right.
I quickly wriggled under the blanket and changed clothes.
He chuckled, apparently amused by the way I squirmed like a caterpillar.
“D-don't laugh. Do you enjoy looking at a lady's body? Y-you should've told me sooner!”
I raised my voice, unbecoming of a saintess.
Even so, he smiled kindly instead of scolding me.
“What can I do? You're funny when you're flustered.”
What a mean man.
I finished changing under the blanket and got out of bed.
A fluttery shirt, a flowing skirt.
These women's clothes sent my mood plummeting.
“I-It's not my vestments.”
“They were so dirty I washed them myself, but they haven't dried yet.”
Washed?
My vestments?
Did that mean Mr. Ashtein had handled my clothes……?
No, no.
What am I thinking?
Don't fantasize.
Stop.
……Stop.
“I-is that so?”
Creak, creak.
I was creaking like an old machine that hadn't been oiled properly.
He answered calmly.
“The clothes are damp and unpleasant to wear before they're dry, and it's chilly out.”
That was true.
I desperately pretended to accept this and started to nod, then stopped.
……Fine, the vestments, but what about my underwear?
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, my heart pounded like it was in free fall.
He looked at me meaningfully.
“Oh, the black frilly lace? Pretty mature taste……”
My mind went blank.
I threw a pillow.
I threw the blanket.
I couldn't throw the bed because I wasn't strong enough.
For now, I threw everything I could get my hands on.
To my frustration, he didn't let a single thing hit him.
I panted heavily.
“Hhk, huff, hah.”
“Hey, can't I even joke around?”
A joke?
Th-then that meant he'd left my underwear alone, right?
Just as I was starting to feel a little relieved—
“Well, I washed that too.”
I decided to muster every last bit of strength and throw the bed.
* * *
Aria said in a dry voice,
“I didn't buy it. It was a gift.”
Ashtein scratched his cheek and replied,
“I told you I don't care.”
“I didn't buy it.”
He looked at Aria as if she were someone who couldn't understand a word he said.
She kept repeating the same thing like an answering machine.
Her expression was rather gloomy, so she must have been quite embarrassed.
“I don't know how many times I've said it, but I don't care. Besides, I've seen it before, so….”
“I-I didn't buy it.”
Didn't she realize that insisting she was innocent only made her seem more suspicious?
In the end, Ashtein flicked Aria's white forehead.
“Ow.”
“Enough. Do you have any hobbies or anything?”
Aria, rubbing her reddened forehead, raised an eyebrow.
“Hobbies?”
“It's our first day off in a while. There must be something you like.”
Aria closed her mouth.
Since she had to live the life of a saintess, there was no way anything as ‘personal’ as a hobby would be allowed.
Even if it were allowed, there weren't any hobbies she could enjoy here in this medieval world.
After all, how could she play computer games in a world without electricity?
Ashtein seemed to interpret her silence in some way, and his expression grew serious for a moment.
“Don't tell me you don't have any hobbies?”
At least, since the kind of entertainment she wanted didn't exist in this world, it was fair to say she had none.
When Aria slowly nodded, he stroked his chin and furrowed his brow.
“Then is there anything else you want to do?”
Anything else she wanted to do.
Aria spoke softly.
“I want to lie here.”
“Is that really what you want to do?”
“Yes.”
She answered without the slightest hesitation.
Aria's belief was that when a rare break came along, you should rest to your heart's content.
The moment you started moving, it could no longer be considered pure rest.
Even when she'd been a man, she couldn't remember being particularly active.
For someone like Aria, spending the day lazing around in an inn room sounded incredibly appealing.
“……You really live a boring life.”
“That's not something I want to hear from the Hero, who spends every day hunting monsters.”
“Hunting monsters is pretty fun in its own way. It's rewarding, too.”
“I'm sure it is.”
At Aria's sarcastic retort, Ashtein scratched the back of his head and stood up.
His tall frame suddenly rising made him seem imposing.
“W-what is it?”
“I've got some things to buy, so I'm going out for a bit.”
“Things?”
“Spare weapons, a whetstone, that sort of thing. There's a ton to prepare if I'm going to hunt monsters.”
“……I see.”
Aria's shoulders drooped.
Ashtein seemed puzzled by her dejected appearance.
“Why the long face?”
“………I'll go with you.”
“Didn't you say you were going to rest?”
“It'd be strange if I didn't go while you were heading out, Mr. Ashtein.”
“It wouldn't be strange at all, so you don't have to come.”
“What?”
“You said you wanted to rest.”
Ashtein left without giving Aria a chance to argue, shutting the door behind him.
She stared blankly at the wooden door.
He really left?
Maybe the door would open and he'd come bursting back in, saying, ‘Actually, I was lying. Hurry up and come along.’
No matter how much time passed, Ashtein didn't return.
Aria was dumbfounded.
Could free time really come so ordinarily? Just like that?
Really?
Thump.
She lay down on the bed and looked at the ceiling.
Quiet and stillness settled over the room.
She felt an incredible peace in the silence.
Tick, tick.
Only the mechanical clock in the room ticked away.
How long had she been lying still?
She heard the door open.
The person who came in was Ashtein.
He looked exasperated.
“………You really haven't moved an inch.”
“Oh, you're back? You came back relatively early.”
He shoved the things he'd bought into a corner, then pointed toward the window and said,
“Early? The sun's already setting.”
The sun was setting?
Aria sat up and looked toward the window.
Just as he'd said, the sun that had been high in the sky was already sinking.
No wonder my throat felt parched; so much time had passed.
Ashtein asked, genuinely curious,
“You've been lying there all this time?”
“Yes. Time really flies.”
Perhaps unhappy with Aria's answer, Ashtein held something out to her.
It was a large loaf of bread.
“I brought something to eat, so have a meal first.”
“A meal? You went to the trouble because of me again……”
“Don't add a bunch of extra words. Just say thank you.”
“……Thank you.”
“Good. That's exactly right. Eat your bread.”
He forcibly pressed the bread to Aria's mouth.
It was savory and moist, as if it had just been steamed.
Aria gazed blankly at Ashtein even as she chewed the bread.
“……What are you looking at?”
After swallowing the bread she had been chewing, she spoke in a calm voice.
“You know, Mr. Ashtein, you're like my mother.”
“……What does that mean?”
“You're so kind.”
Ashtein snorted at Aria, who gave him an awkward, bashful smile.
“I am pretty kind. I wash you, do your laundry, feed you. I'm not a Hero anymore, I'm practically your maid……”
Ashtein couldn't finish his sentence.
Aria had silently swung a fist at him.
Of course, the Hero dodged it easily.
“Oh. You look like you've got a bit more energy now.”
“I-I am grateful! But c-cut it out with the teasing!”
Aria's lips trembled.
Right. Better to get angry than to keep looking gloomy.
That looked better on her.
Ashtein smiled at the thought.
And so the day drew to a close.
It was an ordinary day, as days tended to be.