Chapter 20
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「Hey.」
「Yes, what is it?」
「No, I was just wondering what you’re doing.」
「We’re lying together.」
「But why?」
「You were on the verge of death.」
「Yeah, I get that, but…」
「You were on the verge of death.」
「Why are you saying the same thing twice? And come to think of it, I have a memory of hearing that same line before… Could this be déjà vu?」
「…」
「Why are you going quiet? It makes me seem like the bad guy, doesn’t it? What am I, the villain who silenced his savior?」
「We’re lying together.」
「Are you even listening to me?」
After that, we lay together a whole bunch.
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And so, my days with her passed by like this.
It took a little over two weeks for me to recover reasonably well.
Broken down, it took three days before I could hold a spoon, then another week before I could stand up, and then one more week before I could walk.
So naturally, I relied on her for all sorts of things.
Until I could hold a spoon, she had to bring it to my mouth for me. I ended up imposing on her for various things that are embarrassing to even mention.
As for the whole lying together incident, I later learned that it was in case my condition suddenly took a turn for the worse.
You know, humans are surprisingly resilient creatures.
No matter what kind of place we end up living in, given enough time, we’ll get used to it. And then gradually, we start to have some breathing room in our hearts.
When that happens, things that we were too preoccupied to even notice before suddenly start to grab our attention.
Please bear with me as I recount my days with her for a while.
○○○
As my physical strength recovered, I became able to converse with her.
And so, little by little, she and I began to have more exchanges.
「I only survived thanks to you. I’m truly grateful.」
I tell her, figuring that expressing my gratitude should be the first order of business now that I can talk.
「It’s no big deal,」
She replies, her expression unchanging as if it were nothing.
I swear I could see an actual halo behind her.
「It feels weird to keep calling each other ‘you’ forever, doesn’t it?」
I wanted to know the name of the girl who had taken such good care of me.
「My name is Yamada Ichiro. Please, call me Ichiro.」
She blinks two or three times, then lowers her gaze for a moment.
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking from her divinely beautiful expression, but in my mind I pondered things like 「I wonder how old she is? Younger than me, right?」 My heart also started beating faster, going thump thump thump, as I thought 「Her eyelashes are so long!!」
「…」
As she hesitated over something, I waited for her patiently.
The shoulders of her kimono were floating and fluttering about.
「My name is───」
「Your name is?」
I prompt her.
「Sena.」
She replies, as if biting back something.
「That’s right, my name is Sena.」
「Sena, huh. That’s a nice name. From now on, for a while───」
For a while?
There’s no reason for me, now recovered, to stay here.
If anything, I aspire to live a life of seclusion.
But she’s already living here, so what reason is there for me to remain by her side from now on?─── As I’m pondering this,
「I don’t mind.」
「Huh?」
「Ichiro can stay here for as long as he likes.」
As if she had seen right through me, she granted me permission.
「…Sorry. I’m in your debt.」
Is all I can muster in response, my heart full to bursting.
○○○
One day, I asked Sena about something that had been on my mind for a while.
「Hey, this little hut that we’re in, what’s the deal with it?」
「…?」
She tilts her head quizzically, not understanding.
「Ah, sorry. My bad. What I meant was, who built this hut?」
The rather shabby little hut where we spend our time together.
The lengths of the logs must not be very precise, because the roof is slanted. There are gaps here and there between the logs too.
You’d think the ventilation would be crazy, but that’s not the case at all. The wind doesn’t pass through at all, but it doesn’t get overly stuffy either. Life in this hut is the epitome of comfort.
So I was simply curious about what kind of skills it would take to build such a perplexing little hut.
「The person who built the hut…?」
「Yeah. A lot of things about it make me wonder. And not just the hut, but the futon I was using too.」
The futon, the tableware, the cups, and all the other daily necessities are the same as the hut – clumsily made. But despite that, they’re all pleasant to use, or strangely functional, to a bewildering degree.
Sena looks upward, as if emitting some sort of divine particles.
「I made the hut and the things in this house together with Sensei.」
「Sensei?」
「Yes, Sensei…」
From this exchange, I understood.
Sena has no intention of talking in detail about this 「Sensei」. But then again, I haven’t revealed anything about my own circumstances. We’re even.
Besides, if Sena were the type to pry persistently, I would have headed down the mountain as soon as I recovered.
Thinking about it that way, our current comfortable environment where we can relax around each other is probably only possible because we don’t pry unnecessarily into each other’s affairs.
「The house was made from the ‘Elder Demon Treants’ that were in the forest area down behind the mountain.」
「’Elder Demon Treant’? That’s quite an ominous-sounding name.」
「They’re just small fry.」
Small fry with a name like that exiiiiiist!?
「They were noisy, so Sensei and I did some major logging. It’s okay. Those things are pests that harm the environment just by existing.」
According to Sena, the ‘Elder Demon Treants’ apparently suck up the surrounding magical energy and nutrients from the ground at an alarming rate.
「By the way, those cups, bowls, and spoons are all made from ‘Elder Demon Treants’ too.」
Oh goodness, no more.
「Ichiro, you’ve already put those in your mouth many times.」
「Haha, what a funny joke.」 I force myself to accept.
「And that futon was made from ‘Anti-Gravity Silkworms’ thread.」
Eeek!? What are these ominous silkworms!?
Far from just being about ominous silkworms, she went on to tell more scary stories, starting with the tale of how she and this ‘Sensei’ person had thinned out these trees.
Sena’s appearance is so delicate and gentle that you’d think she couldn’t even kill a bug. But that was not the case at all!
When the conversation had died down, I flopped down on the futon, still far from fully recovered and tired out.
Rest in peace, whatchamacallit worms. Peace be with you.
「So, what are you doing?」
「Lying down together.」
「No, I mean───」
「We’re lying together.」
You don’t have to answer so abruptly. Geez.
And so another day passed.
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