Chapter 97: Yarismal Is Surprisingly Fragile
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97: Yarismal Is Surprisingly Fragile
Yarismal is…
Quite something, in many ways.
“You must eat it while it’s hot~.”
Sizzle.
Pig’s trotters braised in sauce.
A traditional dish of the Bierma tribe.
She was naturally burning herself because she was reaching directly into the pot with her bare hands to serve it into a bowl.
“Doesn’t your hand… hurt?”
“Huh? Oh my, look at me!”
Yarismal gasped as she looked at her hand, which was already swelling red and covered in sauce.
“To think the sauce meant for my lord is on my hand?!”
Then, she picked up a kitchen knife.
“This sauce is the secret of secrets, yet I’ve wasted it on my own hand instead of giving it to my lord! I have no need for a hand like this!”
“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!”
That’s way too extreme!
Startled, I rushed to stop her and grabbed some ice from the magitech refrigerator to apply a cold compress.
“I could have handled something like this with my divine power…”
“Don’t you think you treat your body too carelessly?”
“N-no! A body like this, which only causes my lord worry…!”
“Yarismal.”
“Yes! My lord!”
“I don’t like people who belittle themselves.”
“……”
I wasn’t sure if it would help, but I tied the ice pack to her hand while giving her a piece of my mind.
Perhaps because of what I said, Yarismal fell silent.
She looked dejected.
“I used to be like that too.”
“You did, my lord?”
“Of course.”
“But you are different from someone like me.”
What was she talking about?
Yarismal pulled her burned hand back and murmured bitterly.
“Since I was young, I’ve been teased for being tall and unwomanly. Honestly, it’s still the same now. You’re the only man who has ever been kind to me.”
“No, that’s…”
“That is why you are so precious to me. I’ve lived for nearly ten years looking only at you.”
“Uh…”
“At the church, and even at the Adventurer Guild headquarters, people act submissive to my face because of my height and strength, but behind my back, they constantly disparage me.”
“Excuse me?”
“Even in Lukart, the Crown Prince arrived and told me to leave, saying there was no more work for a rugged woman like me. I had missions from the guild headquarters, but I simply couldn’t bear the longing for you any longer, so I came here.”
“Hey now.”
“Of course, I knew that a woman like me receiving my lord’s love was more than I deserved. A hero who saved the world, the man who defeated the Four Heavenly Kings. How could someone like me dare to… for such a great person. But even so, I wanted to be greedy.”
“……”
“I’ve already seen the women you’ve taken in. Every single one of them is a beauty. They aren’t giants like me; they’re pretty, have great figures—womanly women…”
“Hey! Listen to me!”
“Eek?!”
I understood that she’d had a hard time in the past and that it was still ongoing, but it was impossible to have a conversation when she kept spiraling into self-deprecation. It was exhausting.
“I’m telling you that you’re a fine person, so why are you acting like this?”
“But everyone has always pointed fingers at me, calling me a giant until now…”
Suddenly, this became a moment of self-reflection for me.
This must have been how Rune and Narupa felt when I kept denying it whenever they told me I was a good person and should have confidence.
I mean, from my perspective, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her. In fact, I feel bad for her. But even when I try to encourage her, she shoots everything down negatively, which is just frustrating!
So this is why the emotionally starved Rune got angry, and why Narupa felt so troubled.
Of course, my feelings for Yarismal haven’t reached the level of romantic attraction yet, but I do feel pity for her.
“I was like that too.”
“You were, my lord? That can’t be. You’re…”
“In Lukart, I was treated as less than a man, just a fool who did nothing but work.”
“I am sorry. I should have caught those wretches back then and made them pay.”
“No, no, I’ll handle that myself, so it’s fine. If anything, you were the one who helped me.”
Since I felt pity, I found myself becoming more interested in her.
“I’m the one telling you this. You can believe me. No, please believe me.”
“My lord…”
“Or are you saying you can’t trust the word of the No. 1 National Merit Recipient?”
“Absolutely not!”
Yarismal jumped in denial.
She was so startled that she accidentally struck the wall, leaving a deep dent in it.
Sigh, my house.
“You don’t need to force yourself to look womanly. I want to get to know the woman named Yarismal, not see a version of Yarismal that’s forced and made up.”
When I asked if she understood what I meant, Yarismal nodded slowly.
Good, then.
“Put some clothes on first.”
Because of her bronze skin, I didn’t know where to look.
* * *
While Yarismal was changing, I cleaned up the mess in the house.
She insisted on doing it herself, but I adamantly refused because I felt like the house would only become more of a disaster zone.
By the time Yarismal had finished changing back into her nun’s habit, I had even fixed the door myself.
“This is delicious.”
The pig’s trotters braised in sauce were surprisingly tasty, despite their somewhat grotesque appearance.
It was a different kind of delicacy from Eris’s cooking, which was simple but had a deep flavor.
“I’m just embarrassed.”
“No self-deprecation allowed.”
“I really am just embarrassed. I’m always like this in front of my lord.”
Yarismal picked at her food with a blushing face.
Contrary to her tall stature, she looked more like a lady than ever in this moment.
“I’ll do the dishes!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
While I was at it, I brewed some tea that Eris had given me and sat back down across from her at the table.
How should I put it? It’s been a while since I’ve done something like this.
In Lukart, I spent many days eating alone, and since coming to Hus, I’d been too busy heading to bed the moment I locked eyes with my women. This felt very fresh.
“What should we talk about?”
“I wonder.”
“Let’s just talk about anything. Yarismal, are you planning to become a nun?”
“Ah, this.”
Among pastors, those who wish for complete devotion to God and receive an appointment become priests or nuns.
I asked because Yarismal was wearing a nun’s habit.
“Since no marriage proposals were ever going to come my way anyway, I’ve registered as an apprentice just to ward off men who try to poke around for fun.”
It seemed like she was about to dive into another gloomy story about herself, but I stayed quiet for now.
“And if my lord were to reject me, I was planning to become a nun for real.”
Oh boy.
The responsibility just got heavy.
She was saying that if I rejected her, she would give up on marriage and romance entirely.
“You don’t need to feel burdened. Love can’t be forced just because one person clings to it.”
“That… why do you like me? Why does it have to be me?”
When I asked cautiously, Yarismal answered in a small voice.
“I don’t know.”
“Huh?”
“I just like you. It started with that compliment when we were young, but I kept thinking about you. From when I was a little kid until now, when I’ve reached a position where I can throw punches at others without a second thought… every single day, even when training was so hard I wanted to give up, I found strength just by thinking of you.”
I could feel her sincerity.
I gently took her hand—the one that had been burned—and gazed at Yarismal.
As she tried to look away out of shyness, I spoke to her.
“Will you keep looking into my eyes?”
I looked into hers, and she looked into mine; we peered into each other’s pupils.
They were almond-colored eyes.
The whites were clear, without a single bloodshot vein.
As I stared for a long time, I noticed Yarismal’s gaze had gone completely soft.
“Um, Yarismal?”
“Ah.”
The apprentice nun’s face, which had lost focus as she stared blankly at me, turned redder by the second.
The ruthless figure she had shown at the border was nowhere to be found.
Her breathing slowed, then quickened, and after swallowing hard several times, Yarismal let out a single sentence without realizing it.
“You’re so handsome.”
Soon realizing what she had said, Yarismal covered her face with both hands.
“Even if I say something like that…”
“I liked it because I could tell you meant it.”
What is this? This warm feeling in my heart.
Yarismal, sitting demurely despite her tall height, looked cute to me.
They say it’s all over once you start finding the opposite sex cute.
I can’t remember if it was Rune or Narupa who said that.
Without thinking, I moved to sit next to Yarismal.
Our legs touched, and the point of contact grew increasingly hot.
Slide.
Yarismal carefully leaned her head on my shoulder.
The sound of her swallowing was incredibly loud, and perhaps because she realized it too, I felt as if her body temperature rose even higher.
I, in turn, wrapped my arm around Yarismal’s shoulder.
“I’m happy.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re looking at me as a woman.”
Her answer was tinged with past pain, so I pulled her closer.
I saw her moist eyes and full lips, and I hesitated.
Yarismal seemed to sense my hesitation and tried to pull back, which sparked a bit of stubbornness in me.
It wasn’t a full kiss, just a light pressing of lips.
I did it a few more times because it felt a bit short.
You know what?
I could have gone further.
But the breast I felt against my arm…
Her heartbeat was racing so violently.
Though I felt a lingering desire, it was a satisfying afterglow. I gave her one more light kiss and then prepared to leave.
“Will you come tomorrow as well?”
“If nothing comes up, I will.”
Before opening the door to leave, I said to Yarismal:
“Let’s talk more tomorrow. About how the world is moving, and what we’ll do from now on.”
In a way, I was giving her a sort of permission for our future relationship.
Yarismal smiled shyly.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Ah.
Damn, she’s cute.