It quite a long ch, but the dialogue in this ch quite interesting.
here we go ch 12.
12. For the time being, I could rest
The after match proceed as planned.
The other bases subjugated without delay. But, the number of bandits who fled can’t be confirmed.
Other than that, the bandits are dead in battle or captured.
The undead at Dokora’s base were neutralized by the clerics squad led by Maya who came as reinforcements.
Many were injured, but none of Lord Leanor’ Knights were dead.
Even though Lord Leanor have a lot desire in his career, it seems that his commanding ability is good. He commanded his subordinates to prioritize their own life.
It would be great if he don’t have prejudice against woman and could give some consideration to Illias.
We met Maya after she purified Dokora’s base, and we asked her to purified the place where we battled Dokora.
But it seems that the place was already okay. The mana from the Necromancy was scattered, so it will be no harm.
The remaining corpses were cleaned from the battlefield, and finally the battle is over.
The corpse of Dokora is carried and his head will be hanged and exposed to the citizen later.
On the way back, I looked at the hemp bag filled with the body of Dokora while riding in a carriage.
“…”
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
Illias, who is sitting on the other side of the corpse, asks.
“Not really.”
“Dokora knew the information about your world. Didn’t you want to know about it?”
“He was prepared to die there. That’s why he left his will. And, perhaps he didn’t have any more information… If you asked me whether I wanted to hear the story or not, I wanted to hear it. But, it can’t be helped.”
“It can’t be helped? Why you thought so?”
“I thought you wouldn’t kill Dokora on that spot, but you did it, right? He might running away or keep resisting, so I’m sure that’s the best choice.”
“He lost both his legs, there is no way for him to escape. If you just want to prevent him resistance, we just need to cut his remaining arm.”
“Well, That’s right. But I can’t blame you one sidely. I didn’t tell anyone about that last attack. Even if he escaped, there was a good chance of catching up with the Ragdo corps. But…”
“I’m sure that last attack is not that you didn’t trust us, it’s probably because you trusted his behavior more. And you choose the option with higher probability and executed it. I’m have some complaints, but it’s not that I don’t understand what you choose, so I can’t blamed you.”
“It’s the same for me, I can’t blame you too.”
“…”
Sigh leaks. That’s what it means to have a conversation like this.
“If you don’t mind, you could tell me why you killed him on that spot though. Maybe it will make you feel better.”
“Forgive me… It just that, I was scared.”
“Even though with that much gap in strength?”
“I’m not afraid with his strength. It’s your and his look.”
“…”
“No, it’s not fear… Perhaps, I was disgusted. Before the attack, I told you that you looked like a warped mirror, didn’t I?”
“Now that you mention it, you did said that.”
“Ever since we heard his information from Maya, Little by little, I felt like you were starting to have a similar presence as him.”
“It’s not uncommon to imitate someone behaviour when you think about them.”
“Still… When I was listening to the last conversation, your presence becoming like him even more…. As if you were going to become a person of the dark side like him. Even your appearance starting to looked same as him… When I saw that, I couldn’t help but to swing my sword.”
I can’t deny it. At that time, I feel like we could understood each other.
There was no disgust at all, and I even sympathy him.
We might have a good relationship. when, I heard such a word, I even felt a little glad.
Even though he is a villain who kills humans without thinking and humiliates their souls.
“Isn’t it fine? You couldn’t stand letting someone in front of you lose his way. Isn’t that admirable?”
“It is not! Swinging my sword to fight evil is okay, but to swing it because I feel disgust is just…!”
“It is admirable. Illias choose to take action. And you could reflect on it. It’s enough.”
“…”
“There are various people in the world, Even if someone are in the same position as you and have the same thoughts, there are people who choose to do nothing. Or, Someone who choose to look away from it. But, Illias, who choose to take action due to rejection, and feel responsible for it, is admirable.”
“Pfftt… Why are you phrasing it as if you’re talking to a kid?”
Illias’ expression becomes soft.
Along with that, we started to feel a bit relax.
“Well, I’m older than you.”
“…Huh!?”
Eh, do you see that face? Her face is very cute right now.
“Illias, how old are you?”
“I’m Eighteen, see? I’m older that you!”
“Nope, You’re younger.”
I tell Illias who is stiffed. And she become even more stiffed.
Maybe because this is a fantasy world, there are few that have Japanese face.
When I think this, I remembered a custom, That Japanese looked younger than their age in foreign country.
Someone who has a baby face, might mistaken as a child. Short and youthful, that’s my race characteristic.
Oh, did you think you were younger? Therefore, carrying me like things, and doing it calmly…. wait, I still wonder why she did that.
“Do, do you have elf lineage or something!?”
“Of course not! All of my ancestor are Human without a doubt!”
“No way… it’s must be a lie! You even put ‘-san’ when calling me, and certainly you look around sixteen… Please, Forgive me!”
[TN: In Japan, when you call stranger or someone that’s not so close with you, especially someone who look older, when calling them they usually put ‘-san’ behind their name]
“Oh come on. Just talk like usual. No need to be polite to me after all this time.”
“B,But…!”
“Okay, okay. I will just have to act according to my age, right? Is this enough Illias?”
[TN: in this conversation, Our MC say Illias without adding ‘-san’]
“Ye.. Yeah.”
“Well, maybe knights are unfamiliar with this because they usually put their title like Lord. In the world of the Earth, it is common for adults to add ‘-san’ when talking to each other. After you grow up, the difference in age doesn’t make much sense. It is taught as a minimum courtesy to respect the other person regardless of whether they are in a higher position or not.”
“Hmm, In her it’s like that too, but… to be called by someone younger with ‘-san’ is just…”
“Anyway, you can’t really tell the age of the other parties until you ask them. So, you should treat them equally.”
“Right. That’s right.”
Well, it’s the bad habit of someone lives in modern society, that it’s easy to forget about this when a position changes.
“What are you going to do from now on?”
Finally, Illias ask the thing that we should have discussed from the start.
Right now I was renting a bed in the barracks because I was a collaborator in the bandit subjugation, but I can’t say it will be like that forever.
“First, I want to get permission to stay in the country.”
“Hmm, I think that’s not a problem…”
“I see. Then, the first thing I need to do is to make sure my survival. Maybe I will search a bridge that big enough for me to sleep under it or a back alley, so I could protect myself from the wind and rain. Tell me if you know a good place for me.”
“Huh!? What!?”
“Next is language learning. I don’t know how long this Possession casted by Maya will last. It may be annoying to have Maya take care of me frequently, and in the end, I must learn to read and write letters and have general conversation, so it’s better to do it as early as possible. After that, I need some money, I need to search a place that don’t care about my origin and work there. When I have no problem for the basic means for survival anymore, I will do some shopping and get some new clothes. Then, get a new job that give me more wages. After the people start to get used with me, I will try to negotiate whether I can stay in some in stable or not…”
“Wait! Wait, Wait!… Please think from my side too! I can’t let the benefactor live that way in my country!”
“Such!… Do you want to expel me!? Please, even staying in prison is enough for me, I just don’t want sleep outdoors! Yeah, that’s right! Put me in prison!”
“That’s even impossible!”
Hmm, I don’t think prison life is bad.
It’s far better than a outdoors where the insects bite or the mountain where there’s beast aiming for my life.
Even if my daily activity time will be limited, but I can eat food for free.
Well, since it is covered by the tax of the people, so may be they can’t use it for something useless.
However, when thinking the difficulty of living in today’s society, it makes me longing for prison life.
Still, my life is in danger.
“What should I do to make you put me in prison?”
“Stop! Please stop it! I can’t do that!”
“Leave it to me!”
“What do you mean! and Why you so confident saying that!”
Maybe with my menacing look, it’s impossible to life safely in prison.
As expected, let’s seriously consider climbing life from the homeless life.
“Hmm… If you have no destination, come to my house.”
“Is it fine?”
“I moved out from my old house and moved to a small house, Still, it’s too wide for one people. So, there are extra rooms. If you can take care of yourself, I won’t complain.”
My brain still think that I’m in Japan, But when I think it calmly, this is a world with many unexplored land.
In here, even if you live alone, there may be a certain amount of space.
The problem is that men and women are under the same roof is just… Well, I shouldn’t worry about Illias making a move on me.
Eh, what about the possibility of me making a move on her? Well, I’ve no courage to crawl on a gorilla with superhuman strength at night.
If I try to do it, she might crush my head. This damn Gorilla. So scary.
“How much is the rent?”
“No need. Just don’t make a lot of noise and don’t forget to clean the room, then I won’t complain.”
“Yes!”
“Perhaps… You were aiming for me to make this proposal?”
“You bet! It’s just that I could save a lot of time, I just feel happy.”
“…Time?”
“Considering the process from living under the bridge to living in someone’s house, I think I saved a lot of time.”
“So, You really serious about doing that…”
In this way, a pitiful man who was safely sent to another world without any notice reached the point where he secured a house with a roof.
Although he helped defeat the bandits, there is almost no manual labor.
No, I walked quite a bit, but my muscles didn’t hurt. I wonder if my body adapted already.
After returning to the country, seems that I will be busy with post-processing.
Treatment of the injured, maintenance of equipment, confirmation of recovered metal items, and imprisonment of captured bandits.
Once that’s all done, a celebration party with the people, an award from the king, and arrangements for a dinner party after that.
Considering the adjustment of the schedule between the corps, a considerable amount of work is needed.
According to Illias, it is not a pain because it is an easy work.
Before moving on to those jobs, I will ask her to guide me home first.
It is a house located reasonably close to the market, and is two stories, so it’s more than big enough.
Well, it would be difficult to manage it alone… I’m curious how big the previous house was.
Kitchen, living room and bathroom are on the first floor. There are four rooms of the same size on the second floor.
“My room is the right front and the left front is a storeroom. You could use room on the far right for your room. You better to clean it first since it hasn’t been opened in a long time.”
“What about the far left?”
“It is made as a guest room, but I’ve never use that.”
“In other words, these two rooms never used at all.”
I open the scary room that will become my room.
A wooden desk and chair in the right corner of the room, a window in the center wall, and a simple bed in the left corner. And a cabinet that’s on my right side near the door.
As I thought, simple is the best.
I want to make a racks and a bookshelf to make the room better, but currently I am satisfied with this.
I hit the cushion placed on the bed while looking around.
A lot of dust dances in the air.
Then I open the window to swap dusty air and clean air.
“Alright, first I need to do some cleaning.”
“Use the tools in the storage room on the first floor. And if you need some water…”
I check where the tools are and see simple home equipments there.
Finally, I’m given a spare key for the house and a coin in a small bag.
“I’m going to leave for a while. If there is no unnecessary expense, that money should be enough for food expenses.”
“Starting from a Himo-life is…” [TN: In the source it’s ヒモ生活, in japan it’s mean a guy that got taken care by girl. So the girl do all the job, while the guy do nothing and just lazy around.]
“Himo?”
“Nothing. By the way, Thank you. I will work hard to return it as soon as possible.”
“There’s no need… Hmm, well, right. please do so.”
While nodding, Illias left home.
The new residents in her house rolled up his sleeves and started cleaning.
◇
Marito Tiez, the king of Tiez kingdom, breathes a relief after hearing the news of bandit subjugation.
Although there was a sudden undead attack, there was no death, it would be no exaggeration to say that it was a complete victory.
Lord Ragdo, who was nearby, also gazed at the content of the news and was pleased.
“Sir Ratzel seems to have done it well.”
“Sounds like that. When I heard that Lord Leanor be the one in command and he asked Sir Ratzel to be in the rear, I couldn’t stop sighing.”
Illias brilliantly captured Dokora, the leader of the bandit alliance.
That’s also after Lord Leanor who try to hunted and missed him.
“If she were aiming for the bandit leader from the beginning, I have no choice but to praise her for her wonderful skill. Leanor must be feel vexed right now.”
“Yeah, it looks like she met a good collaborator.”
“Hm? collaborator?”
“Yeah, with the help of a young man whose a bit weird, Sir Ratzel acted like a fish that got water.” [TN: Like a fish that got water or 水を得た魚のように in source, it an idiom in japan that mean, she got to be active in a place that suit her. I don’t know any nice Idiom to replace it, so I just translate it literally.]
“A person who can make use of her strength?… Interesting. I want to see him.”
“The ceremony to give a reward to Sir Ratzel, Tell the young man to be come too.”
“Yeah, but a long talk will be difficult. What about inviting him to a subsequent dinner party after the ceremony?”
“Of course I intend to do that.”
“Not only be able to hear the good news, but to have something looking forward too. It’s a long time since I feel the alcohol to be this delicious.”
“You’re still young, Please have it moderately.”
Marito thinks about a young man he hasn’t seen yet.
He’s the one that make the knights grabbed the tails of the aggressive bandits, and acted as a catalyst to their destruction.
What kind of man he is. What kind of conversation will we have. He want to met that young man faster.
Encounter is a stroke that colors and shapes one’s life.
What color will that person put in this life?
Holding the fun, Now he need to go back to work hard.
◇
“Alright.”
Finally, I’m done with cleaning.
I cleaned all the rooms on the second floor, except for Illias’ room. I even cleaned the entire first floor.
When I’m on my cleaning mission with unfamiliar cleaning tools, I remember how convenience it is cleaning using modern equipment, but fortunately I completed the mission in about five hours safely.
Yeah, I’m not bad at cleaning.
Although there is a rag, but the water must be replenished each time from a nearby well.
I was grateful there was a pump, but after wondering if I could use it in large quantities, I decided to wiping without using water first and then switching to wiping with water.
I remember when I was a student, after I sweep using a broom, I usually wiped with a rag.
Mop, I really want a mop… ugh, I’m gonna hurt my back.
In addition, there were weapons and armor in the storeroom, and I was worried about how to handle them.
I don’t know how maintain it, so I carry it carefully and put in on top the bed. Then clean the storeroom and put it back in place.
This is the hardest work. Why? The armor is damn heavy…
My stomach make some noises signaling hunger. Now, no matter what I eat, it will taste delicious.
However, I’m scared that I may look suspicious if I ask about where the restaurant is, when the sun goes down.
That’s why I decided to came to the church.
“Maya, are you here?”
“Oh, it’s you. Boy, you shouldn’t visit a woman at this late night.”
“Actually…..”
I explain to her how I decided to stay in Illias’ house, and I had been spending all my time cleaning, so I wouldn’t have time to check out the town and don’t know where to eat.
“That girl, huh. Nonchalantly sheltering a man…”
“Let’s think that part of her later, more importantly, do you know any place where you can eat delicious food?
“At this time, only tavern open. It’s too early for you boy.”
Then I told her my age, and she has the same reaction as Illias.
“By some chance, do I still have a chance to go to you?”
“I will put you in my candidate list for now. Anyway, could you tell me where is the tavern?”
“With your look, I’m sure you will have some trouble at first.”
That’s right. Illias and Maya might not be the only one that shocked after they know my age. Other people might too.
Seen from this world perspective, Japanese people look younger than their actual age.
“From how old is someone allowed to drink alcohol in this world?”
“From eighteen. Before the body get used to your own mana, if you drink alcohol, you may get sick.”
“In my world, especially my place, alcohol and cigarettes are allowed from 20 years old. At that age they will be seen as adult, and from that point on, everything you do will be self-responsibility.”
“So the different is 2 years…”
“But I’m in trouble if I can’t go to the tavern alone.”
“I’ll bring you there next time. Today, please eat here.”
“Thanks.”
I was able to have dinner safely.
Compared to what I ate in the barracks, Maya’s food was healthy. For me who like to eat meat, I’m a bit unsatisfied. Even so, it was carefully made, so the taste was so good.
“By the way, this Possession you casted on me…”
“startled, hmm?”
Hmm, what’s with that reaction, suspicious.
“What… was there any problem?”
“No, I want to know how long does it last?”
Yes, I am very grateful for this Possession. It let me to be able to communicate and read.
Unfortunately I can’t use it for writing.
Therefore, when I made the documents in the barracks, I asked Grandpa Kara to help me.
But I’m sure it won’t last forever. When it expires, communication is not possible again.
“It’s until the mana that put in it exhausted, roughly it will last for one week, so it’s about four days left. I’ll cast it again when it runs out.”
“I’m thankful for that. While I could read the letters because of it, I’m not in a rush but I want to study the language of this world.”
“Oh, I admire that way of thinking. If you want to learn letters, I’ll lend you some affordable books. I wonder if there is a need for parchment and a brush.”
“I’ll start practicing with sand. So there will be no additional cost.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
Classroom where the roof is the blue sky is really great.
“Right, let’s go back to the main topic, is there some problem with the Possession?”
“A, ahaha… What do you mean?”
“Hmm, this church have a priest who lie and hides the truth. I need to tell the other people about this.”
“Kidding, I’m kidding! Truth is, I didn’t use it after a long time, so it seems that I made some mistake.”
“Some mistake, huh? what is it?”
“That’s… I don’t know. It just, when I used that magic I feel like ‘Ah, it failed.’, I don’t know why! For the time being, you could make conversation… so, isn’t that enough?”
“It is not, definitely not.”
Behind the impression that it was convenient, I didn’t know that there was such a dangerous story!
If you don’t know, it’s even more a horrible story!
“Well, since you’re here, let’s find out now.”
“Could you know it right away?”
“It will take some time… At that time when I cast it, listening to your story was the priority, so it was my bad.”
Maya puts her hand on her forehead and closes her eyes.
The hands have a slight glow and the forehead becomes warm.
“Hmm, this part become like this… Oh… this part was a mess.”
Please don’t mutter something so scary, and find what’s wrong fast.
“I understand. As expected, it seems that there were side effects due to failure.”
“Could you fix it?”
“Hmm, your body is getting used to it, so there may be side effects again even if I fix it.”
“That’s… what kind of side effects?”
“I’m really sorry. it’s… more serious that I thought.”
I’m nervous. It’s not such a high-risk side effect that put my life on the line… right?
Well, even if I’ve gained more than half a year of study time, but it’s too expensive to pay it with my life.
“That’s your… your muscle pain will comes much later.”
“Pardon?…Once more time please?”
“Your muscle pain will comes much later than usual. Also, it seems to add a little bit of pain.”
What the hell. After I became twenty, I started to have muscle pain the day after I exercised, and recently the pain had come two days later… and now she said it will be beyond that!?
Well, when I went down from the mountain I walked quite far, then the next day I had no doubt that my sore muscles will come, but it was not, so I feel fortunate… but now you say that it’s actually postponed!? Even more, the pain will increase!? Please don’t increase the side effects more than this!
Ah! It hurt! Somehow my legs suddenly, no, my whole bofy is, is, is!?
“Oh, It seems the muscle pain that we talked about just came.”
“Ugh, it hurt!”
Wait a minute, I can’t even call this a joke!
Today I went to the mountain, I went to the forest this time, and after that for five hours I carried heavy things and did some cleaning!
“Ca, Can healing magic cure muscle pain?”
“Muscle pain is a healing symptoms after treatment. And It’s out of jurisdiction to alleviate the healing symptoms.”
“U, uugghhh!”
After that, I borrowed a cane from Maya and went home with my feet trembling like a newborn foal.
While clenching the pain from my whole body, I swore to master the language of this world as soon as possible.
Well he sure isn’t getting the heroic treatment he deserves lol