Chapter 2: Is the Kind Female Knight... Armed?

And so, with the female knight now at my side, I continued on toward the village.

"I truly must apologize! Calling a gentleman—and a full-grown man at that—a lady!"

"It's fine, really! Don't worry about it."

Ever since that moment, the female knight had been fidgeting and apologizing to me over and over. Her anxiousness, if anything, was making me anxious in turn.

"Ah, my name is Valerie! I am the wandering knight Valerie Gius!"

She introduced herself in a voice bursting with energy. I nearly got swept away by sheer force of it. Honestly, it was a bit much.

"Ah, and I'm—"

Wait. Would it really be okay to use my original name? It wasn't just foreign—it was straight-up from another world...

"I forgot my name!"

"Wha—?!"

Valerie froze solid on the spot. Then she immediately began flailing her arms about, more frazzled than ever.

"Th-that can't be! Do not tell me you've lost your memories?!"

"Y-yeah!"

I didn't actually know. No, if anything, maybe I'd judged this well. After all, I knew absolutely nothing about this world anyway!

Having committed such an enormous blunder, I had somehow gotten strangely fired up. In stark contrast, the female knight was stomping her feet in a full-blown panic.

"So that's why you were alone out on the plain... Ah, worry not!"

Before long, Valerie seemed to remember something and calmed down, then piped up again in her cheerful voice.

"The only village nearby is Sontar Village, the one we're heading to now! You are surely a resident of that village, so we can learn your name and address through the Magic Crystal Ball kept there!"

What a convenient system! Of course, that convenient system would contain neither my name nor anything else about me...

But I couldn't say that to someone throwing herself into helping me with this much passion just to put me at ease. Above all, I'd already gone and lied about having amnesia...

"I'm in your care."

I tilted my head up and said it with a smile to the woman a full head taller than me. My cute voice still hadn't gotten any easier to accept.

Hearing my words, Valerie clenched her fist. That fist trembled, just slightly.

"Snrk..."

"What's wrong?"

"Forgive me. The truth is, I became a wandering knight in order to train myself by helping others. So the thought that I might be able to help you made me... overjoyed."

It was a chivalric spirit so righteous and upright you could call her a textbook traditionalist. Maybe it's a common character type in fiction, but seeing it firsthand, right in front of me, filled me with genuine awe.

"I-I'm sorry! You must be exhausted, and here I am babbling about my own happiness! My manners were sorely lacking!"

"N-no, not at all! You're the one helping me. I have no complaints at all, so please don't worry."

Trying to calm the apologizing Valerie, I waved both hands in refusal. After a few more rounds of apologies, Valerie finally relented and stopped.

And so, the air between us grown a touch awkward, we walked on toward the village without another word.

But there was something that had been nagging at me for a while now...

This person...

Is she armed?

"This is outrageous!"

"We've got orders from above too. Nothing I can do about it."

Valerie was having a brief war of words with the guard posted at the village entrance. Sontar Village was surrounded by sturdy stone walls solid enough to call it a small city—no doubt the other entrances were in the same state.

Now, what were they talking about again? I'd been lost in my own thoughts and hadn't followed the conversation.

"The village is in an uproar over the appearance of a special-class wanted criminal. If people start moving in and out freely in this situation, it'll be a serious problem."

Ah, so that was it.

Apparently a dangerous wanted criminal had turned up in this village. It had developed into something like a small city compared to the other villages nearby, and its foot traffic had grown—but as a consequence, dangerous characters occasionally drifted in like this.

The man arguing with Valerie was, he said, a member of the lord's forces dispatched to catch that very criminal.

Valerie laid out my circumstances in every way she could, but she couldn't budge the lord's soldier's stern attitude.

Of course... since those "circumstances" were all lies, it would've been a problem even if she had gotten through.

In the end, Valerie and I had no choice but to give up on entering the village and retreat.

"I'm sorry... I couldn't be of any help."

"It's not your fault, Valerie."

As we walked with the village at our backs, the realization that we now had nowhere to go struck us both at the same moment, and we came to a standstill.

"What do we do now?"

Valerie considered my question for a moment, then pointed at a small forest near the village.

"We shall camp here until the lockdown is lifted. With the trees, we can build a perfectly comfortable temporary shelter. We can forage for food as well."

"I see."

"Do not worry! Camping is my specialty! Best of all, that forest is a safe one, with hardly any monsters!"

I had only meant to give an offhand response to something I'd never actually done before, but it seemed she'd taken it as me worrying.

Even as we walked toward the forest, she kept trying to reassure me, chattering about the camping gear in her backpack and the food she'd brought along.

But that wasn't the problem right now...

My passive... if it was still constantly active at this very moment, then being alone together with a futanari might be dangerous.

That's why it had been on my mind this whole time...

This person... Valerie... is she armed?

Honestly, I like an upright, honest female knight. If there's a beauty under that helmet, nothing could be better.

But... but if she's armed...! Snrk...!

I swallowed back tears deep inside my heart.

And so, hauling around worries I couldn't voice, we arrived at the forest's edge. We went in only as deep as the shallow undergrowth, picked a suitable spot, built a campfire, and set up camp.

We strung rope between the trees and hung cloth to make a place to sleep, and by the time dinner prep was finished and we sat down, the sunset had begun to stain the sky.

I sat in front of the campfire, gazing blankly at the flames. Feeling the day come to an end somehow made everything feel less real—almost as if this were all a dream.

Reincarnated in another world... turned into a femboy... my passive skill...

No! Stop worrying about useless things! Just don't do anything! I'm a man!

"Now, time to prepare dinner! To keep this from getting dirty, we do it like so."

Saying that, Valerie removed her helmet. From within came her hair, pulled back tight. That slightly dark-reddish hair looked like it would reach past her shoulders if let loose. And then she turned around, revealing her face...

Slightly sharp eyes, but large and sparkling, with shortish brows above them that gave her gaze an energetic liveliness. Small lips framed by cheeks, set off by a slightly short chin, were curled into a confident smile at me.

Beautiful. A strong impression paired with a kind expression. Yes, she was definitely a beauty. The kind of beauty every harem needs! But...!

But...!

I trembled inwardly with anxiety. The appearance of my exact type only made me more uneasy.

Perhaps because of that anxiety, my gaze drifted not toward the face I wanted to admire, but toward that direction still veiled in mystery.

"Helmet's off, so now let's make the stew!"

Fortunately, Valerie hadn't noticed my stare. She took a pot out of her bag and set it over the fire, pouring in all the water from her canteen, and began pulling ingredients from her pack.

"Dried meat! Normally I just tear into it as-is, but simmered in broth it softens up nicely and is much easier to eat. See how hard it is normally!"

Valerie demonstrated by knocking the strips of dried meat against each other with a hard clack, then dropped them into the pot. What...? Is that a metaphor?

"Look at this! This carrot is still perfectly fresh! It'll do nicely for padding out the stew."

Saying so, Valerie held up a long, thick carrot and began peeling it with smooth, practiced strokes of a small knife. What...? Is that some kind of foreshadowing?

My anxiety swelling by the minute, I could no longer bear to watch my own wandering eyes.

I want to go home...

"Here, receive it!"

Before long the stew, filled with all manner of ingredients, was complete, and Valerie ladled it into a small wooden bowl and handed it to me.

"Ah, thank you."

I carefully reached out to take the bowl. The moment my hand touched Valerie's, she looked at me and smiled.

Meeting my eyes with those sparkling topaz ones, she said:

"Looks delicious."

Don't say lines like that while looking at me.

Before I knew whether it even went in my mouth or my nose, I'd finished the entire stew and cleaned up—and somewhere along the way, dark night had fallen.

I laid myself down on the hammock to sleep.

"Um..."

"Y-yes?!"

Valerie's cautious call from the opposite hammock, across the campfire, startled me into answering far too loudly. Is she coming over?!

"Everything will be all right."

"...What?"

"You've had a grim look on your face ever since we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left the village. Especially at dinner... Of course, losing your memories must be frightening. But once the lockdown is lifted, everything will work out. I will take responsibility and see you through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it! I have no right to claim I understand what you're going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through, but please, believe in me!"

The canopy sagged low, hiding her face from view—but her fist, thrust vigorously into the air, I could see perfectly.

And I was stunned by her words. She had been watching my expression the entire time, worrying about me. She thought I was anxious over my lost memories...

And here I'd been suspecting this wonderful person for hours...

"You'll feel better after a good sleep. Rest well."

Valerie offered the greeting in a gentle voice, and then fell silent.

Unable to properly return even a single word, I surrendered myself to that quiet.

Thank you, Valerie. Tomorrow, I'll thank you properly.

Thanks to her, I set aside all my anxiety and worry, if only for a while, and slipped gently into sleep.

Some time had passed, perhaps. Maybe it was the unfamiliar bed, but my eyes fluttered open.

Without thinking, I looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠toward where Valerie should have been—and the canopy of her hammock was not sagging low.

"Huh?"

I wondered if the dimmed campfire was playing tricks on me, but looking again, she still wasn't there.

Where did she go?

Uneasy at being alone, I climbed down and scanned my surroundings. Before long, I sensed movement a short distance off, toward the trees.

I couldn't quite work up the courage to approach, but I knew I had to check. Keeping my distance, I circled around and peered at the space behind that tree.

"Haah... haah..."

Valerie's voice came faintly through the dark, and at last, the figure making that noise revealed itself to my eyes through the undergrowth and the trees.

It was...

Valerie, touching something towering and unmistakable between her own legs.

I want to go home...