Volume 1 Chapter 6 Tokura Village
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(…Hey, stupid Yuuta! Why are you kissing my mom?!)
(…T-Tomori? N-no, this is…)
Tomori turns away and walks off.
”Tomoriiiii!”
In that moment, I woke up. Haha, another dream. I thought as I looked around.
Huh, where am I? I should have been lying outside with Ms. Akari, badly hurt from a beast attack…
There’s a roof… and is that straw? It looks like I was sleeping in a pile of straw in some hut. Right! Where’s Ms. Akari?
I quickly looked around and… there she is! Thank goodness. She’s sleeping soundly, pressed against my lower body like a little kid… Wait, Ms. Akari, why are you n*ked? And then I realized I was also completely n*ked! Whoa, Ms. Akari, where are you clinging to me? Just as I was panicking, Ms. Akari finally opened her eyes.
”Oh, Yuuta. Good morning… wait, why are you n*ked? Your… thing is right next to my face… hehehe, I see. I must have died. So, God gave me one last memory with you…”
”N-no! This is just a coincidence or an accident… I have no idea what’s going on either! We were buried in snow, right? Where are we…?”
”…Oh, I’m n*ked too. I was supposed to be deep kissing you back then.”
”Uh, um, sorry. I didn’t mean to say I wanted to kiss you… how do I even apologize for this?”
”No need to panic. Let’s keep this a secret from Tomori. I might get in trouble too. But when I thought it was all over, I suddenly wanted to kiss you. But somehow, we’re alive… so can you please put that away?”
”Ah, I’m so sorry!”
I quickly covered my thing with both hands and hid deeper in the straw.
Having a n*ked Ms. Akari next to me made my heart race, but after taking a deep breath and calming down, I realized both of us were feeling better, and my shoulder wound was almost healed. It’s clear that being in this straw helped us, but who saved us?
The answer came soon.
”Tokuripeeni. Tatanoyore!”
A girl with brown bobbed hair, looking a bit over ten years old, approached us speaking words I didn’t understand.
”Tatsumari? Heneshitere?”
I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but I didn’t feel any bad vibes. It seemed like she was involved in helping us. She wore clothes that looked like a mix of Native American and Ainu patterns…
Wait, what? Animal ears? She had big triangular fox-like ears on her head. Is she even human?
”Setoharu. Imenji!”
Saying that, she turned around and went back the way she came. And she had a big, fluffy fox tail behind her.
Well, I had already seen elves and pig people, so seeing a beast person wasn’t that surprising.
After a while, she returned with a large beast man who looked like an adult. He pointed to himself and said “Barua.” So, this guy must be Barua. I pointed to myself and said “Yuuta,” and the girl pointed at me and said “Yuuta.” Looks like I got my name right. So, Ms. Akari and I managed to introduce ourselves. The girl’s name is “Puruun.” From bits of her words, it seemed like “Imenji” means something like “papa” or “father.” But besides our names, we couldn’t understand each other at all, and it was tough. Then, unexpectedly, a visitor came at night.
’Are you two a human couple?’
Suddenly, an image popped into my head. Damn, is that telepathy? An elf! Just as I was about to jump at him, Ms. Akari stopped me.
”Yuuta! No, no! It’s probably a different person. Calm down. We need to listen.”
When Ms. Akari told me to calm down and really look, I could see that the elf by the gate was totally different. This one was an older, gentle-looking elf.
”Um, excuse me. We really don’t understand what’s going on.”
’Hmm. You were badly hurt and had a high fever, so you were probably confused. Still, it’s impressive that you, a human, managed to take down 5 Werewolves.’
”Werewolves?”
’Yes. Recently, a pack of Werewolves has been causing trouble in this border area. The border guard took down the main group a few days ago, but a few stragglers escaped into the forest. They found you while chasing those stragglers from this village. I should have introduced myself earlier. I’m Goetec, a priest with the kingdom’s border guard.’
”Mr. Goetec. We have a lot of things we want to say and ask, so it might take a while. Can we have some time to talk?”
’Sure. I also have many questions for you. But it’s getting late, so come to the guard station tomorrow. I’ll have someone from this house guide you.’
With that, Goetec gave some instructions to Barua and left.
After that, Puruun brought us a simple soup made of beans and vegetables, along with the clothes and underwear we had been wearing. They were all washed. Finally, I could look Ms. Akari in the eye. But the bed was still just a straw mat. Well, we’re not exactly guests here.
When I tried to put on the clothes, Puruun stopped me and took Ms. Akari and me behind the hut. There was a girl there, about 5 years younger than Puruun, who was waiting with a tub of hot water.
”Melon!” Puruun pointed at her. Melon must be Puruun’s sister. She was eagerly gesturing for us to wash ourselves with a towel.
”Ah, yeah. We’re pretty bloody, huh?”
I realized, thanks to Ms. Akari’s words, that we both smelled terrible from being wrapped in the Werewolf skins last night. So, they wanted us to wash up.
When I tried to wipe myself, Puruun stopped me again. Then Puruun gestured for Melon to wash her back, and then Melon gestured for Puruun to wash her back.
It seemed like they were saying that Ms. Akari and I should wash each other, but Ms. Akari was turning bright red.
”Y-Yuuta… I guess we have to do this. Maybe it’s their custom. Plus, that priest said something about being mates, right? I think we might be misunderstood…”
Oh man, maybe we were found in the forest still kissing or something. But I decided to go along with it, and Ms. Akari and I washed each other. Puruun and Melon watched us and clapped happily, which really stuck in my mind.
* * *
The next day, breakfast was again the bean and vegetable soup, but honestly, I wished it had a bit more salt. Maybe the beastfolk have a milder taste than humans.
Last night, I got my clothes back, but we were still in summer clothes, and as soon as we stepped outside, we started shivering from the cold. Barua, seeing this, lent us each a big blanket that looked like a towel.
The border guard station wasn’t too far, but since we were leaving the village, Barua was armed with a greatsword. When we arrived at the station, Goetec looked busy, but he told us not to worry because he had time for us.
To sum it up, when Barua and the others went into the forest to chase the stragglers, they found the hunter’s cabin burned down. When they looked around, they saw me and Ms. Akari sleeping in the snow, apparently still kissing, and we were almost frozen to death.
There were 5 Werewolves lying around us, and since we were wearing their skins, they thought we had defeated them. But since we were badly hurt, they brought us back to the village, and Goetec healed us.
So, my shoulder wound must have mostly healed up too.
I explained everything that happened to us so far to Goatech but he said he had never heard of things like invading other worlds or gates. I thought maybe he was hiding something, but he didn’t seem suspicious, and I didn’t want to doubt someone who saved my life, so I dropped the topic.
He said he had been working in the outskirts for a long time, so even if the higher-ups in the central area were doing something, he wouldn’t know. He advised that if we really wanted to find out, we would have to go to the royal capital, but he also said it was impossible for us to go there right now.
The reason is that humans are very rare here. We’re not originally from this world; we just happened to cross over from another time and place. We don’t have any special abilities, so we’re at the very bottom of the social ladder.
Even the Barua family treats us like rare pets. Also, when it comes to communication, only a few elves, like Goetec, can talk telepathically with different species.
We need to learn the common language of this world first, or else people in the royal capital will be suspicious of us, and we might even get killed right away.
So, I asked Goatec if he could teach us some simple words, but he said he had to go back to the base of the border guard and was busy getting ready. Of course, he couldn’t take us with him, but before he left, he said this:
’If there are no monster attacks around here, the border guard won’t come back for about three years,’ he explained calmly, his gaze steady. ‘Until then, work with Barua and learn the language and about this world. When we meet again in three years, I’ll help you decide if you can go to the royal capital.’
He paused, then added with a faint smirk, ‘I’ll let Barua know about your situation. Just remember, even if there’s nothing wrong, people here don’t like the idea of you being with someone like your crush’s mom, so it’s better to act like you’re a couple. Good luck.’
With that, Goetec went back to his work.
”Ahahaha! A couple, huh… but you know what that means, right, Yuuta? Just for show, just for show. If we really were a couple, I wouldn’t be able to face Tomori…”
”I feel the same way. Three years, huh? Is that really the only way?”
”Yeah. But it’s true that if we go out without being able to communicate, we might freeze to death. We should first try to talk a bit with Barua and then figure things out.”
”Got it. I’ve made up my mind! Ms. Akari, please be my fake wife for the next 3 years!”
”Ehhh, fake wife? Y-yeah, I’ll do my best to act like a fake wife!”
”Pfft, hahaha!”
For no reason, we found it funny, and Ms. Akari and I started laughing loudly. Barua, who was watching us, looked really confused.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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