Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Return
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- You bastard, come here and explain yourself.
Some warning-like message scribbled beneath what looked like graffiti painted in black.
Deia had sent a letter saying to check it out, and when I did, it was just a single line like a threat.
“What is it? Did you do something wrong?”
Pindenai, sitting next to me, turned her head slightly to glance at the letter's contents and asked curiously.
It was pointless to scold her for peeking at someone else's letter—she had crossed that line so many times it was invisible.
“Hmm.”
To be honest, if I had even a hunch, I could brush it off, but I had no idea why Deia would send something like this.
It was oddly inexplicable, but in any case, I had planned to return to Northsweden right before the semester started anyway.
“Probably nothing important.”
If it were truly urgent, she wouldn't have sent a letter like this.
Deia got in bad moods all the time, so it wasn't a big deal. Darius might have done something stupid.
“Ow, it itches.”
“…….”
In the jostling carriage, Pindenai fiddled with the bandages wrapped around her body, her face twisted in discomfort.
She grumbled that her back itched, but she couldn't just unwrap the bandages.
She was still recovering from the injuries she sustained in the battle with Dina.
“It itches like hell. Master, scratch my back.”
Pindenai thrust her back toward me. Irritation surged across her face muscles, but Iluania was driving the carriage, so I couldn't pass it off.
“Owen, you do it.”
“Yes, sir!”
Owen, who had been silently pressing the keys on the melodica I bought him, approached.
“Don't touch me.”
Pindenai immediately growled and glared at him. Owen flinched in shock and trembled, pleading with me to save him.
“What the hell are you doing.”
I snapped at her for suddenly turning on Owen, but Pindenai crossed her arms without even looking my way.
“I haven't lived my life casually enough to let some kid I've just met scratch my back.”
“…….”
“Ah, forget it. Don't scratch if you don't want to.”
Pindenai twisted away and pulled out a cigarette from her bosom. She didn't light it, just held it in her mouth, but I could tell she was on edge for no reason.
“Sigh, turn around.”
I gestured for Owen to sit back down, then told Pindenai, who promptly turned.
Now I was stuck scratching Pindenai's back against my will. I held the book in one hand and reached toward her back with the other.
She flipped up her top.
“Scratching over clothes just makes it itch more.”
Pindenai had pulled off the upper part of her clothes. I couldn't see her front since her back was to me, but it was plenty provocative.
“You as a woman... never mind.”
What was the point of expecting anything from Pindenai.
She wasn't a woman—she was a beast.
Her small, pale back was covered in countless scars.
Suddenly, I understood why she didn't want to show her back to that boy.
“East, east.”
I moved my hand according to her directions. The more I did it, the worse my mood got, but anyway.
“A bit more east.”
“......That's your armpit. My hand will reach there.”
“Really? Too lazy to move.”
Pindenai replied indifferently, then said that was enough and put her clothes back on. Owen, his face flushed, kept stealing glances at us—it must have been quite stimulating for a pubescent boy.
Pindenai and I showed no reaction whatsoever.
“N-Northsweden's my first time. I heard there's tons of snow.”
Perhaps to hide his flushed face, Owen brought up a random topic.
I replied with a wry smile.
“You probably won't see snow at this time of year.”
This summer had been brutal, so the snow in Northsweden must have melted away.
The peak of the North Wedden Mountains might still have some, though. That place was managed by the Mountain Lord, not just natural climate.
“I see.”
To the dejected Owen, I continued comfortingly.
“We've still got time anyway. Stick with me, and you'll come along next winter too. Then you can see the Northsweden snow festival.”
“Snow festival! I've never heard of that!”
“Yeah, I'll ask you to perform then.”
“Yes! I'll practice hard!”
Owen clenched his fists tight and dove back into practicing on the melodica.
He was small for his age, so it felt like I was traveling with a child.
“You're awfully nice to him?”
Pindenai sidled up and leaned her shoulder against mine. Our physical contact had been increasing subtly like this, but I ignored it and answered.
“Then act according to your position.”
“Can you handle it?”
I pondered her question for a moment.
If Pindenai acted like a proper maid, tending to me and watching her manners?
“......Disgusting.”
My honest answer left her staring blankly before she burst out laughing.
“Right? Right! Ah, it's been ages since I laughed. You drop these gems sometimes, Master.”
Pindenai cackled with laughter, clearly in a better mood, and glanced at Owen.
“Hey, kid. Play something. Something upbeat.”
“C-Can I?”
“Yeah, I'm in a good mood.”
Pindenai, who had previously banned Owen's playing outright, now gave permission.
The boy quickly attached the hose to the melodica and put it in his mouth.
A lively tune fitting for the road trip played for a while.
* * *
Late at night when we arrived in Northsweden, the carriage stopped midway while crossing the city streets that were still awake like it was a festival.
Iluania needed rest, Pindenai was injured, and Owen was too young for an unfamiliar road.
By process of elimination, I had been holding the reins, and that was the problem.
The streets felt strangely unfamiliar with countless street stalls lining them.
And there, with a mouthful of Northsweden skewers, was Aria Rias.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Her cheeks bulged as she widened her eyes and tried to say something, but the food in her mouth garbled her words.
Some might call it cute, but my expression twisted.
Neigh!
I pulled the reins to stop the carriage. Pindenai called from inside asking if we'd arrived, but I hurriedly jumped down and approached Aria.
“Gulp! P-Professor?”
Aria swallowed the food in her mouth hastily, looking flustered. She seemed to sense my expression wasn't normal.
“What the hell have you been up to.”
Her instincts were spot on. I was wrapped in intense displeasure.
“Uh, um. Y-Yeah? I-I trained to get stronger. There are still a lot of techniques I can't use with my current body......”
“Not that. Something else. Your body is filled with unusual energy right now.”
Aria's eyes drooped. Caught red-handed, she poked at the end of her skewer with her finger.
“U-Um...... P-Professor, I prepared a gift for you.”
“A gift?”
“I'll give it to you later! You'll definitely like it!”
With that, she turned tail and flapped away in escape. True to her regressor nature, she was faster than the carriage.
If she bumped into someone like that, they'd end up with shattered bones in the hospital.
“What? What's going on?”
Pindenai stuck her upper body out the carriage window and asked. I said it was nothing, but voices from the stalls recognized her.
“Boss?”
“It's the boss! The boss is here!”
“Wow! Long time no see, boss!”
Scrap Merchants members swarmed Pindenai. Wondering what they were up to, I saw they had set up stalls running simple food stands or doing odd jobs.
“These idiots.”
Pindenai reached out and ruffled their hair playfully in response.
“Boss! Try my chicken skewers! I found my true calling!”
“Pair it with our stall's beer—it's even better!”
“Got it, you morons.”
In the end, Pindenai was dragged out of the carriage by her members. I couldn't leave the carriage blocking the road, so I planned to move it to the mansion first.
“You're finally here!”
A sharp voice pierced the noisy night.
Even in midsummer, Northsweden's early morning chill was brutal compared to other places, so the woman in a black robe with hood up made sense.
“Deia.”
It hadn't been that long since we'd last seen each other, but she felt surprisingly welcoming. Was it because of our family bond?
Seeing Deia and Darius stirred something in me I'd never felt but longed for—a warmth touching my heart.
I suppressed the rising emotions and was about to ask where Darius was.
She bit her lip hard.
Arms crossed as if holding something back, she beckoned me.
“Come here.”
It was the posture of a scolding teacher, so I wondered why. Thinking back, the letter had a scolding tone too, though I'd brushed it off lightly.
‘She said to come explain.’
Iluania emerged from the carriage and took the reins in my place.
“I'll take the carriage to the mansion.”
“Please. Owen's asleep, so tell them to prepare a room.”
Pindenai was already laughing and catching up with her Scrap Merchants crew.
Aria had fled far out of sight.
Left alone with Deia in the night market street. Before I could speak, she approached, grabbed my clothes, and yanked.
“When the hell will you brothers stop worrying me.”
Grumbling about her headache, I couldn't hold back and rebuked Deia.
“Don't compare me to Darius.”
Even for her, that crossed the line.