kscans

Chapter 81 - The Rose Garden and the Lap Pillow

I was in some noble's garden. As I gazed at the roses visible beyond an old gate, the master of the house invited me in. He was an elderly man. The space was small, but countless pale yellow roses were in full bloom, shining as if they were glowing in the sunlight. The garden was immaculately tended; the master must have raised these roses with great care. The season was heading toward the height of summer. It seemed past the time for roses to bloom, but I wondered how he had managed it. In the center of the garden stood a white table and chairs, where Aira and I were now sitting. The master who had invited us in didn't say much. He simply brought us tea and sweets, gave me a look that said, 'Get along with her,' and left. Aira seemed unfazed, but I'd felt flustered walking through the town hand-in-hand with her, drawing stares from everyone. To be honest, this was a relief. What's more, the tea was fragrant and deeply flavorful. It wasn't straight tea; some kind of flavoring must have been mixed in. The sweets, at first glance, looked like simple slices of bread cut to a moderate thickness. But when I tasted it, the texture was moist, and the fragrance of the mixed-in nuts blended exquisitely with the sweetness of the dried fruit. The flavor spreading through my mouth... was it cinnamon?

"This is amazing. Do you know the name of this sweet?"

"Stollen,"

Aira replied. So this was Stollen, one of the four legendary sweets whose names I knew but had no idea what they actually were. I wanted more to take as a souvenir, but of course, I couldn't be so shameless as to ask. As I was thinking this, Aira wrapped a slice of Stollen in a piece of paper and hid it away.

"A souvenir for Cecily?"

Aira nodded.

"That's not fair. You'd get mad if I did the same thing and said it was for Famu and the others, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I'd be angry. You're on a date with me."

It was decided that we would leave the town of Nieren the next morning. When I proposed that Fang and Doris join the caravan, it turned out the Mateo Trading Company was short-staffed, so they were added to the roster to fill the gap. The recent battle had left vacancies at the branch in this town, requiring a few guards to stay behind. For the duration of the journey, the two of them would be members of Altair. Altair was the adventurer party led by Avea, but in reality, it was a collection of adventurers hired by the Mateo Trading Company. Since we had a day to spare, as per the ladies' agreement, I was to spend the day alone with Aira. And so, here we were, surrounded by roses, enjoying a moment of elegance.

"Aira, what do you plan to do once you're freed from slavery in Fuhrt?"

I worried she might say she was going back to Reed. I wanted her to continue adventuring with us. I was anxious.

"Mash, you've never mistaken me for Myra. Why is that?"

Aira didn't answer my question, blatantly changing the subject.

"Come to think of it, you did try to trick me once. But I'm not fooled by something as simple as the position of a mole. I can tell you two apart just by looking. You're completely different."

There's no way I'd mistake the shape and size of their breasts. I had blurted that out in the heat of the moment back then, but I'd keep my mouth shut this time.

"Myra and I were often mistaken for each other. It still happens. The reason you don't is because you like my big sister, isn't it?"

Aira sometimes referred to Myra as 'big sister'. Usually, she made a conscious effort to just call her Myra.

"It's not just your sister. It's you, too,"

I made sure to add.

"And yet you seem to have a hard time talking to me,"

she said, pouting.

"I honestly don't know what you're thinking. Are you having fun with me? You like women, don't you?"

"That's not it. I just like Cecily. My preference has nothing to do with gender,"

she replied.

"So Cecily is still number one. Am I number two?"

"You're about twenty-seventh. One below the priest from yesterday."

"Ouch, that actually hurts. And stop using such realistic-sounding numbers. At least put me in the top five!"

I couldn't say it out loud, but I really, really hoped my current rank was higher than Reed's. Please.

"I'm grateful to you, Mash. That day, Cecily and I were able to confirm our feelings for the first time... But since then, it feels like we've grown distant again."

Was she looking for relationship advice? But I didn't know the first thing about love between two women. Besides, for Cecily, women were off the table as romantic partners. She sighed and looked up at the sky. A clear, midsummer blue stretched out above us. We were sitting in a nicely shaded spot, and the dry air and westerly breeze carried away the heat, so it didn't feel too hot.

"...It was better like this. I wish I could've stayed a slave,"

she muttered.

"You're the one who told me to free you."

"Because you're going to die soon."

"..."

She had a way of saying the hardest things so casually. I wanted her to know that I was hurt. But I still had nearly ten years, at least.

"Mash, use the Slave Mark to order Cecily to stay by your side. If you do, I'll stay by your side too."

"No way. Besides, isn't it her side you want to be on?"

"Yes. But as long as I'm by your side, I'll still have a chance."

"...And what exactly does that mean?"

"Mash, try using the Slave Mark to give me an order,"

Aira said, suggesting something completely out of the blue.

"Why? No."

"You don't know how to use the Slave Mark. Even if you don't intend to use it, you should try it once to see how it works."

It was true that slaves were commonly used in combat. It would be better to understand its properties and functions.

"You have a point, but... are you sure? The only commands I can think of are lewd ones."

"Make it the lewdest one. Something irreversible would be good,"

Aira said with a nod.

"Alright then. Just for a little bit. Get over your fear of insects."

For a moment, her face went completely blank as she stared at me.

"Pfft, what was that?"

Aira snorted. Then, unable to hold it in any longer, she clutched her stomach and started laughing.

"...Is it that funny?"

"Heehee, ahahaha! It's just, you had such a serious look on your face when you said it... ah, it hurts, ahaha!"

Had any woman ever laughed so hard while talking to me before? I felt a mix of complicated emotions. Seeing my expression, Aira stopped laughing.

"Why are you making a face like that?"

"Well, I've never met anyone who would laugh that hard talking to me. It feels like I've made a friend."

And I never thought Aira would laugh like that, either.

"...You idiot. So, what's the real command?"

I didn't actually have anything I wanted to order her to do, but one thing did come to mind.

"It was when we first met. I was injured from a goblin attack. You treated my wounds, but there was something else I wanted you to do more."

"Something you wanted more than treatment? What was it?"

"A lap pillow."

Even when I was training with Avea, how many times had I wished I could rest on her lap while gazing at Mizuki's panty shots?

Hearing my words, she stood up, walked over to the grass, and sat down with her legs tucked to one side.

"Here you go."

She patted her thighs.

I was drawn to her as if by a magnet, approaching and lying down with her thighs as my pillow. They were soft, and her body heat was warm. And her large breasts served as a sunshade. Her hand stroked my head.

"Mash, I'm fine staying as a slave. I'm with you, too. Fight until the very end."

A single butterfly, drawn by the scent of the roses, fluttered by. Seeking a place to rest, it landed gently on Aira's shoulder.

We had stayed for quite a while. When I offered my thanks, the owner told us we were welcome to enjoy ourselves inside as well. I felt a bit hesitant about that and declined, at which point he plucked a rose for Aira's hair. He even gave us some Stollen as a souvenir. It was apparently a thank you for saving the town. I placed the rose in her hair. It looked beautiful against her black locks.

"The Stollen is for you and me, Mash. Only when you're with me, as a special treat, you can give some to Cecily."

I was being warned by Myra's sister. Was she telling me not to make any moves behind her back?

We started walking through the town again, hand in hand. For some reason, we headed east. It was an old town, after all. I saw townspeople making repairs from the monster attack, but I also saw many places that looked like they had been broken long before the raid. The roads, for example. They were paved with stone, but the tracks from wagon wheels were carved deep into them. It felt less populated than Richel. The market had few shops and even fewer customers. But that might have been the effect of the monster attack. I hoped it would one day regain its liveliness. As I was thinking about this, we ran into Hyakka and Chihiro.

"Well now, ain't this a rare pair?"

"You think so? We're always together,"

I said, glancing at Aira. She kept a prim expression on her face.

"We just saw Fang and Doris. We asked 'em about Izaak."

"You did?"

Hyakka nodded in response. So they had been gathering information on the mage who ran off with the mirror.

"Seems Izaak was part of the guild in a town to the east. We're headin' to that town."

"Fuhrt?"

Hyakka shook her head.

"Fuhrt's south of here. You guys are takin' the river to Miglutt, right? We're goin' overland."

"Isn't there a town in a state of war that way? Is that the one?"

"Nah, that's not it. The town where Izaak lived is much closer than that."

I nodded at Hyakka, but without knowing the geography, I couldn't get a sense of the location or distance. So, we would head south, then go down the river from Fuhrt to the east, and then turn north to reach Miglutt. Hyakka and the nomads would travel straight east to Miglutt. Along that route were the town where Izaak lived and the town at war. Unlike our caravan, the nomads traveling with her had no goods to be stolen and were a combat-ready group. They probably had little risk of being attacked even if they took the land route.

"Changin' the subject, but is Mizuki's last name Yamase, by any chance?"

"You know her?"

Hyakka nodded.

"Probably. For one year in elementary school, I lived out east 'cause of my parents' situation. My accent was weird back then, and things got a little... complicated."

People from Kansai are from Kansai no matter where they go.

"Did Mizuki bully you or something?"

The image of Mizuki bullying Hyakka made me chuckle a little.

"You know that's not how it was. Yamase-san helped me out. She was in a different class, but she came and talked to me a whole bunch. I thought she looked familiar, but now I remember. So Mizuki is Yamase-san."

Hyakka seemed to come to a personal understanding, using a strange turn of phrase.

"Well, she's the type of person who would jump in to help if she saw a schoolmate being groped on the train."

She's a paragon of justice, or maybe just reckless. Still, to think the two of them had a connection like that. It's a small world. Mizuki hadn't said anything about Hyakka, so she probably didn't remember. I'd have to check with her later.

"After that, I asked everyone at school about her, and it turned out she was super famous. She was popular with the boys in other grades, too."

After saying that, Hyakka's expression clouded over.

"The Yamase-san from elementary school was intense, but she was more..."

She trailed off.

"What is it?"

"Ah, never mind. I'm probably just imaginin' things. She's your partner, so you should really look after Yamase-san properly, y'know."

I was about to reply when Aira squeezed the hand she was holding. It seemed like she was getting jealous. That was unexpected.

"Ah, right. Didn't mean to interrupt your date,"

Hyakka said, noticing Aira's reaction and cutting the conversation short.

"Just one last thing. Doris was Izaak's slave. You might wanna be careful."