Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Wintering - 1
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I was worried about Elin, who must have been shaken by the chang-gwi incident, but with winter right at our doorstep, I couldn't just sit around idly. I left the child with the women at home and headed into the Dark Forest with Leon to gather firewood.
"Hey, Sian, do we really have to use Blackwood for firewood?"
"Of course. You know how incredible its heating power is."
Regular Blackwood holds a lot of moisture inside due to its sap, making it resistant to fire, but the scraps left behind after the White Giant Ants had their fill were completely dried out, with all the sap and water evaporated. Using those as firewood gave efficiency almost like coal.
"Plus, this Blackwood is lightweight, and you don't even need to chop it."
"I see..."
Leon nodded at my explanation, and together we gathered only the dried-out Blackwood from the White Giant Ants' nest.
"Hoo... This is tough."
"What do you mean 'tough'? We barely did anything."
"Ugh, not everyone has stamina overflowing like you."
Leon puffed out her cheeks and grumbled at my jab.
"This isn't about stamina. You just need to work on your form, Leon."
I picked up a few decent-looking logs and placed them on Leon's shoulder.
"Let's correct your posture while we're at it. Get into the stance I showed you."
"Like this?"
"Yeah. Straighten your back more, and push your hips back."
I adjusted Leon's posture by holding her thighs and waist. Suddenly, she flinched as if startled by something.
"W-what's that touching my butt?"
"My sword. And like this, lifting the weight keeps the strain off your back. That's why it hurt earlier—you were using your lower back."
"Oh, got it."
"And tense your glutes. That's where the biggest muscles are."
"D-do I have to while you're touching it?"
"Why not? We're both guys."
"R-right..."
For Leon, who didn't know how to use her body efficiently, I personally grabbed her butt and readjusted her hip usage.
Leon, with her naturally agile build, picked it up quickly, but I teased her on purpose by keeping my hands on her butt.
"Um, Sian?"
"Yeah, that's good. Pull your glutes in more—that's the proper form."
After watching Leon tremble and wrapping up the PT session, we gathered the Blackwood for firewood and headed home.
But as I watched Leon try to hurry ahead, a worry crept in.
'Now that I think about it, what's up with Leon?'
...
Leon had lately been feeling something off about Sian's increasingly friendly demeanor.
'He's getting too close, isn't he?'
Correcting her workout form, giving her massages afterward, playful roughhousing—whatever the excuse, he was touching her body more and more.
'He's just gotten closer to me, right?'
Leon knew that much. She'd observed men while living as one.
Men surprisingly enjoyed roughhousing with close friends, taking it as a sign of trust.
In that sense, as family who worked and hunted together, she and Sian had a special bond even among guys.
So Sian occasionally touching her body wasn't all that strange.
The problem was that Leon couldn't accept his intimate skinship naturally.
Because, well, Leon was a girl originally. Every time Sian touched her, her body twitched involuntarily.
"Leon, you okay? You look unwell."
"N-no, it's nothing... really."
And the bigger issue was that Leon was a woman, not a man—and Sian had no idea. She didn't know how to react to his occasional playful swats on her butt.
'Is this just normal affection between friends? But I'm a girl... Still, I can't tell Sian the truth.'
She was scared he'd be disappointed, just like her father had been. Terrified of that, Leon couldn't bring herself to confess.
Her father's disappointed gaze when she failed to complete her training still haunted her. Even after pouring blood and sweat into helping the family, she'd never gotten a single word of praise. That memory still tormented her.
"Leon?"
"Huh?"
"You feel feverish."
"No! I'm really fine."
"No, you're burning up."
Leon blushed even harder as Sian pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.
"You've got a cold. Here, give me the firewood you're carrying."
"No, I don't want to burden you."
Dried Blackwood was lighter than regular Blackwood, sure—but only compared to regular Blackwood. It weighed about the same as normal logs. Sian was already carrying five times what she could manage. Adding hers on top?
It wasn't just guilt; it was embarrassing. She couldn't even keep up with his work and was just getting in the way.
"Sigh... Leon, don't do this."
Leon's heart sank at Sian's sigh.
Was he disappointed in her?
Had she just gotten in his way by tagging along?
As dark thoughts flashed through Leon's mind, Sian took the firewood from her... and scooped her up in his arms.
"Sian?"
"If you're sick, rest."
"B-but I don't want to be a burden. Put me down!"
"What kind of family talks like that? We help each other when it's tough."
Leon squirmed in protest, but Sian ignored her and trudged silently through the Dark Forest.
"S-Sian, at least change how you're holding me!"
"Why?"
"It's... kind of embarrassing."
Sian was carrying her princess-style, like a knight with his lady. It was the dream scenario from romance novels that maidens fantasized about, but Leon's inferiority complex made her shy away.
"Fine."
Sian readily agreed to her request.
"S-Sian?!"
"What?"
And the new hold he switched to was beyond imagination.
He wedged her thighs between his forearm and gripped her head steady with his hand. From the receiving end, it was utterly humiliating—this was what Sian called the "fireman's carry."
Of course, Leon resisted, thrashing from the shame. But the hold was locked tight, making it futile and only heightening her embarrassment. If any family member saw this?
It might be the day Leon ended her life.
"Change it! Change the position!!!"
"Why? This is more comfortable for me."
At Sian's cheeky response, Leon realized he'd carry her all the way home like this if she didn't yield.
"Sorry! My bad!"
"You know what you did wrong?"
"I-I won't overdo it next time!"
"Hmm."
Sian whispered in her ear as he accepted her apology.
"Then next time you're tired, just rest instead of pushing yourself."
"O-okay..."
"And I'm not gonna be disappointed over something like that. We're family."
"Got it."
With that, Sian switched her back to the romance-novel princess carry.
"Hey Sian, aren't I heavy?"
"Not really."
"You're really strong, Sian."
"Nah, you're just weak."
"Everyone's weak compared to you..."
Leon's strength wasn't lacking.
For a woman, she was strong—stronger than the average village man, in fact. She hadn't earned second place in Captain Carlson's squad (behind the ex-swordsman himself) for nothing.
From childhood, she'd undergone brutal training under her father's orders to pull off her male disguise successfully. In a way, it was inevitable. While other boys played, she'd trained—how could she not be strong?
But against Sian, it was a different story.
Sian was someone who could go toe-to-toe with monsters in raw strength. Even a Rank-4 knight looked like a weakling next to him.
"Obviously, you shouldn't measure against me."
"Then who?"
"Dad."
"......"
Sian's adoptive father, Ian.
He might seem downgraded lately in comparison to Sian, but before Sian came along, he'd been the hunter protecting Lugeron Village from the Dark Forest.
Compared to him, Leon naturally fell into the "weak" category.
'Still, that's a relief.'
So strong and dense that he hadn't noticed Leon was a girl all this time.
She let out a quiet sigh of relief at that fact.
Then.
"Eek?!"
"What?"
"S-something poked my butt!"
"Oh, sorry. It's my sword, like earlier."
"Your sword?"
"Yeah. Want me to readjust?"
"N-no, this is fine."
"Okay."
She said it hastily, fearing he'd switch back to that weird carry.
But something felt off to Leon.
The tip pressing against her butt felt too blunt for a sword.
'Not a sword... more like a stick?'
Of course, the thought didn't linger. Sword or not, it didn't matter.
She just ignored how her body twitched every time that stick-like thing prodded her butt.
She chalked it up to the aftermath of feeling sick.
For the record, Leon was a virgin.
She'd lived as a man, but she didn't know much about men.
Her little sister Chloe probably knew more about guys than her big sister did.