The Hero and the Saintess (2)
I came to my senses. I must have dozed off in the bathtub. When I lifted my heavy eyelids, the familiar sight of the inn room greeted me.
“Ah.”
I was bewildered. After all, I was lying in bed—with a blanket pulled over me, no less. There was no need to ask whose doing it was. It had to be Ashtain. He and I were the only ones staying in this room, after all.
“……I seem to have caused trouble for Ashtain again.”
It felt like the debt in my heart was only growing. He was always looking out for me in ways both obvious and subtle. At this rate, when would I ever be able to repay him? Feeling guilty, I was about to offer a confession to the Goddess when—
“I see you do know.”
I jumped in surprise. At the sudden voice cutting in, I straightened my back. Ashtain, who had been leaning against the door, smiled faintly and held out a tray with a bowl on it.
“Here.”
I took the bowl he offered in a daze. It was a wooden bowl radiating gentle warmth. Inside was a steaming stew.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Your stomach was probably stuck to your back, right? You didn’t eat anything yesterday before passing out.”
Ashtain had read my situation perfectly. As I sat there dazed by his thoughtful consideration, he urged me on.
“It’ll taste bad if it gets cold. The spoon’s here, so take it.”
I took the spoon he held out. Scooping up some stew, a clean, savory flavor spread through my mouth. He waited silently until I finished my meal without saying a word.
It might sound strange, but right now, I felt embarrassed. My chest felt ticklish—or should I say stuffy? It was an emotion hard to put into words. One thing was certain: it was difficult to look him in the face.
Strange, isn’t it? I’ve endured far more humiliating experiences than this. So why am I so fidgety?
“Does the food not suit your taste? You don’t look too happy.”
His blunt tone carried consideration and worry. I quickly shook my head to deny it.
“……It was delicious. Really.”
“Good. That’s a relief.”
With that, the conversation came to a halt. Normally I would have stayed quiet, but today I found this silence particularly hard to bear. It was an odd sign.
“Uh, Ashtain.”
“……?”
“G-good morning.”
He responded as if I’d said something completely out of left field.
“It’s lunchtime?”
Lunchtime. Had it already become lunchtime? I was so embarrassed I couldn’t lift my face. Ashtain, who had been quietly watching me, broke into a sly smile.
“More importantly, I didn’t know the Saintess was such a heavy sleeper.”
“……Th-that’s because…”
Strangely, whenever I’m with Ashtain, I tend to sleep a lot. Part of it is probably because being with him is physically demanding. But I think the biggest factor is that I experience less mental fatigue. When I was in the cult, I had to be mindful of every little word and action—the proper demeanor of a Saintess, the proper speech of a Saintess, the proper faith of a Saintess. The cult wouldn’t tolerate anything that wasn’t the Saintess.
In contrast, when I’m by Ashtain’s side, I can just be me. Being Aria was enough. He never scolded me severely for showing a more relaxed side. That’s why lately I’ve been able to fall into deep sleep.
But it wasn’t entirely a good thing. I’d missed several morning prayers that should have been offered to the Goddess of Lust. The guilt pricked at my conscience. I’m sorry, Goddess.
As I remained silent, Ashtain spoke.
“Did you sleep well?”
If I had to say whether I slept well or not, I’d say I slept very well. …But.
Suddenly I realized that while Ashtain was supposed to go hunt monsters, I had gotten in his way. If he hadn’t waited for me, he would probably be slaughtering monsters at the foot of the Ascendio Mountains by now. The fact that I’d held him back pained my heart.
“Because I slept in late……”
“I didn’t say that to hear you apologize.”
Ashtain cut off what I was about to say. I stared at him with a strange look. How did he know what I was going to say? Had he learned mind reading or something?
“It’s obvious what you’d say.”
The way he said it—as if my thoughts were simple—made me feel a bit annoyed. After all, this was the man who had ignored all proper procedures and kidnapped me just because he was faster. He wasn’t in any position to talk.
Perhaps sensing my discontent, Ashtain reached out to stroke my head. I tried to irritably swat away his large hand. Unfortunately, his persistent grip, like a leech, managed to stroke my head back and forth anyway. Being treated like a child was extremely unpleasant.
“Don’t worry about useless things. I was planning to rest today anyway.”
While fixing my disheveled hair thanks to Ashtain, I asked,
“Rest?”
“Normally I’d continue hunting monsters, but……”
He pointed at my body with his index finger.
“You don’t have any clothes to wear.”
I looked down at myself. My voluptuous breasts were in plain view. I couldn’t hide my stiff smile. That’s right. I was completely naked. I quickly pulled the blanket over myself.
“Ah, uh, um.”
Blood rushed to my face. There was no greater embarrassment than this. Ashtain tossed me some clothes as he spoke.
“It seemed better for you to dress yourself rather than me doing it for you.”
A hundred times correct. I nimbly slipped under the blanket and wriggled around to change. He chuckled, apparently finding my caterpillar-like squirming amusing.
“D-don’t laugh. Is it fun looking at a lady’s body? Y-you should have told me sooner!”
I raised my voice in a way unbefitting of a Saintess. Nevertheless, he didn’t scold me and simply smiled kindly.
“What can I do when your flustered face is so funny?”
What a terrible personality. I finished changing under the blanket and got up from the bed. The fluttering shirt and light skirt plunged my mood into the abyss.
“Th-this isn’t the holy garment.”
“That thing was really dirty, so I washed it myself, but it’s not dry yet.”
He washed it? The holy garment? That meant Ashtain had been roughly handling my clothes……?
No, no. What was I thinking? Don’t fantasize. Stop. …Stop.
“I-is that so?”
Creak. I sounded like an old machine that hadn’t been oiled properly. He answered nonchalantly.
“Wearing damp clothes would feel bad, and the weather’s chilly too.”
That was true. I desperately tried to nod in understanding but stopped.
……The holy garment was one thing, but what about the underwear?
Once that thought crossed my mind, my heart pounded like it was in freefall. Thump. Thump.
He looked at me with meaningful eyes.
“Ah, the black frilled lace? It was surprisingly mature taste……”
My mind went blank. I threw the pillow. I threw the blanket. The bed was too heavy to throw. I hurled everything I could get my hands on.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get hit by a single thing.
I breathed heavily.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
“Hey, can’t I even make a joke?”
A joke? So that meant he really had left the underwear alone? Just as my heart was about to ease—
“Well, I did wash that too.”
I resolved to throw the bed with all the strength I had.
Aria said in a dry voice, “It wasn’t something I bought. It was a gift.”
Ashtain scratched his cheek as he replied, “I told you I don’t mind.”
“It wasn’t something I bought.”
He looked at Aria as if she were someone with whom words wouldn’t work. Like an answering machine, she kept repeating the same thing. Her expression was quite dark; she must have been incredibly embarrassed.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but I really don’t mind. And I’ve seen it before anyway……”
“It w-wasn’t something I bought.”
Didn’t she know that claiming innocence so vehemently only made one more suspicious? In the end, Ashtain flicked her white forehead.
“Ouch.”
“Enough of that. Do you have any hobbies or anything?”
Aria, rubbing her reddened forehead, raised an eyebrow. “Hobbies?”
“It’s a rare day off, so you must have something you like to do.”
Aria closed her mouth. For her, who had to live as the Saintess, something as ‘personal’ as a hobby would never be tolerated. Even if it were, there weren’t any hobbies she could enjoy in this medieval world. After all, in a world without electricity, how could she play computer games?
Ashtain’s expression grew serious for a moment as he interpreted her silence.
“Don’t tell me you have no hobbies?”
At least in this world, there were no entertainments she desired, so it was correct to say she had none. When Aria slowly nodded, he stroked his chin, furrowing his brow.
“Then is there anything else you want to do?”
Anything else she wanted to do. Aria spoke softly. “I want to lie down here.”
“Is that really what you want to do?”
“Yes.”
She answered without a moment’s hesitation. Aria’s philosophy was that when a long-awaited rest came, one should rest deeply. The moment you moved your body, it could no longer be considered pure rest.
Even when she was a man, she didn’t have many memories of being particularly active. For someone like her, spending the day lounging around in the inn room seemed incredibly appealing.
“……You really live a boring life.”
“That’s not something I want to hear from the Hero who does nothing but hunt monsters every single day.”
“Hunting monsters is fun in its own way. It gives a sense of accomplishment too.”
“As if.”
At Aria’s sarcastic remark, Ashtain scratched the back of his head and stood up. When the tall man suddenly rose, it naturally created a sense of intimidation.
“Wh-what is it?”
“I have some supplies to buy, so I’ll step out for a bit.”
“Supplies?”
“Spare weapons, whetstones, that sort of thing. There’s a mountain of preparations needed to hunt monsters.”
“……I see.”
Aria’s shoulders drooped. Ashtain found her dejected appearance puzzling.
“Why the long face?”
“………Let’s go together.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to rest?”
“It would be strange if you went out and I didn’t follow.”
“It’s not strange at all, so you don’t have to come.”
“Huh?”
“You said you wanted to rest.”
Without giving Aria a chance to argue, Ashtain closed the door and left. She stared blankly at the wooden door.
Did he really leave? She wondered if the door would open and he’d burst in saying, ‘Actually, it was a lie. Hurry and follow me.’ No matter how much time passed, Ashtain didn’t return. Aria was dumbfounded.
So this was how free time came—so ordinarily? Really?
Thump. She lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. A sense of tranquility and silence flowed through the room. In this silence, she felt an immense peace.
Tick, tock. Only the mechanical clock in the room made any sound as it moved.
How long had she been lying still? The sound of the door opening could be heard. The person who entered was Ashtain. He had a fed-up look on his face.
“………You really didn’t move an inch.”
“Ah, you’re back? You came back relatively early, didn’t you?”
He shoved the things he’d bought into a corner and pointed at the window.
“Early? The sun’s already setting.”
The sun was setting? Aria sat up and looked out the window. Just as he said, the sun that had been high in the sky was now sinking low. No wonder her throat felt dry—so much time had passed.
Ashtain asked, genuinely curious. “You’ve been like that the whole time?”
“Yes. Time really flies.”
Apparently displeased with Aria’s answer, Ashtain handed her something. It was a large loaf of bread.
“I brought some food, so eat first.”
“Food? You’re going through trouble for me again……”
“Just say thank you without adding any unnecessary comments.”
“……Thank you.”
“Good. Very well done. Eat the bread.”
It was bread being forcefully shoved into Aria’s mouth. It was fragrant and moist, as if freshly steamed. Even as she chewed the bread, Aria stared blankly at Ashtain.
“……What are you looking at?”
After swallowing the bread she’d been munching, she spoke in a calm tone. “You know, Ashtain, you seem like my mother.”
“……What are you talking about?”
“You’re so caring.”
As Aria smiled bashfully, Ashtain snorted.
“I am pretty caring, I guess. I wash your body, wash your clothes, feed you—at this point, I’m less a Hero and more like a maid……”
Ashtain couldn’t finish his sentence. Aria had silently swung her fist. Of course, the Hero easily dodged it.
“Oh. You seem more energetic now?”
“Th-thankfulness is one thing! B-but stop teasing me!”
Aria’s lips trembled. Yes, rather than having a gloomy face, it was better for her to get angry. It was much more pleasant to look at. Ashtain thought this as he laughed.
And so the day came to an end. As usual, it was an ordinary day.