ISTHR 154

１５４

My butt stings, and I still feel like Saine is inside me. Yet, here I am again at the Guards Guild, being dragged along by him.

My whole body aches, creaks, and refuses to move, so I cling to the first-floor table. Climbing stairs? Not happening. I didn’t even walk here—Saine carried me.

I’m being treated like a parcel, is there really a need to bring me along Moreover, he’d just go somewhere immediately. It somehow pissed me off, so I pounded the table with my fists while my head was still on it.

[What are you doing?]

Hm? When looked up in wonder, Dole was there.

[I’m feeling irritated about why I need to be brought here.]

[Hmm~.]

Dole smiled in amusement and sat in front of me.

[And, where’s Saine?]

[I dunno. After dropping me off here, he went off somewhere.]

[I see~. Where did he go? Did he mention anything?]

[Nothing. Oh, but unlike usual, he had 2 swords on him.]

[Oh, then he must have went to sharpen his swords.]

[Sharpen?]

I raise my body a little. Very carefully, so that I don’t touch the affected parts. My as*hole feels really weird so I wish I have a cusion or a zabuton*. I’m sure they can make one like a futon, I’ll have to ask the grannies. My ass hurts from doing it too much with my husband, so please tell me how to make a zabuton… I need to give them a reason other than this.

[A sword gets chipped and dull if you keep using it, so you have to get it sharpened by a craftsman. At the start and end of the bodyguarding season, people usually get their swords sharpened or reforged. Saine must have already had his sword sharpened, but he’s being extra careful. I see, he’s planning to carry two swords. Maybe I should get mine sharpened again too…]

[If that was the case then I wish he said something. I want my knife sharpened too.]

[Saine can handle something like that.]

[Why? Saine is a guard, not a craftsman, isn’t he?]

When I laugh, it reverberates to my ass.

[A decent guard takes care of their own weapons. But he can’t compete with a professional, so he pays someone to sharpen them before and after work. But we can do our own kitchen knives, right?”

[I see… but it’s kind of hard to ask him to do it now.]

[Why?]

[Because I’m fighting with Saine.]

I turn my head to the side proudly.

[Ohh~…… What happened?]

Dole’s eyes are sparkling a little. What the heck? It’s like he;s happy that we are fighting.

[Nothing.]

[Nothing happened, and yet you’re like this?]

[Yeah. Because Saine won’t say anything to me.]

[Hm? What do you want him to say?]

[What, you ask…]

I fell silent. The curiosity I had felt earlier had subsided, and Dole’s eyes were now looking at me with concern. As if watching over me, my thoughts suddenly fell into place.

[Like if he…… likes me…… or something.]

Even though I had endured the embarrassment and confided my troubles to him, Dole laughed in an exasperated manner.

[Well, of course he won’t say that.]

[Why!? As expected, does he…… not like me after all?]

My chest suddenly hurt and I almost started crying. But this was the guild, so I held it in and looked down.

[Where are you looking at?]

[The floor.]

Dole burst out laughing.

[Nonono, I don’t mean right now. Always. You should always watch Saine closely.]

[I always do that, though?]

[No, you’re not. After all, it’s quite obvious with the way he looks at you and how he acts towards you.]

[How so?]

[Hmm~, you’re just a kid, huh. Reincarnators may look like children but they are adults inside, so we’re rest assured but…… You’re a kid both physically and mentally, after all.]

I pouted and looked up at Dole. Did he just tell me something incredibly rude just now? Rather, I think Dole has been treating me too much like a child recently. Even though he’s still a virgin. But he’s scary so I won’t say that. I know how conscious the people here are about it. But he’s annoying so  will keep on repeating it inside my head. Cherry-chan, Cherry-chan, Cherry-chan*…… (TN: MC’s basically calling Dole a Little Virgin)

[Saine cares a lot about you.  He’s even brought you to the guild now.]

[What does that mean?]

Cherry-chan’s eyes smile gently.

[The monsters have disappeared, and they probably won’t come again for a while. It seems that the black guy has accomplished his goal, and the town is now protected by a barrier set up by priests other than Olphynn, making it much safer than before. So, it’s safer than before the attack.]

I think the Priests’ eyes, or rather, their expressions, have changed. They look a bit more determined.

[But Saine is probably worried. He wants you to always be by his side in case you get kidnapped.]

[Who’s going to touch2 me?]

[Not “touch”, “kidnap”.]

[Get kidnapped…… You mean an abduction? Me?  What would they get from kidnapping someone like me? There’s nothing to be gained from it.]

I laughed, then suddenly realized something.

[Oh, I see…… I’m Saine’s Reincarnator so if I did something then it would become Saine’s fault. I see…… so they’re planning to kidnap me and make me do something bad.]

Dammit, that’s low. abductor.

[Hmm, it’s quite amusing though. If it was my Reincarnator then it will not be a laughing matter.]

[What’s wrong, Dole?]

[Oh, well. Just remember that he cares about you a lot.]

I didn’t really understand, but I nodded anyway.

Because I’m an idiot, there are many things I don’t understand, but I shouldn’t make an effort to find out. Before I can understand, the person who kept asking me questions would get mad. So I just pretend to understand and nod at appropriate points.

But I guess the people here are pretty sharp. Saine and Dole can see through this perfunctory side of me. Dole’s eyes were saying, you’re pretending to understand when you don’t.

[Also, you can’t make him say that word.]

[By words, do you mean “like”?]

[That’s right. We never say that word. Not just the word, we never say it in situations where the other person can understand them and have a certain meaning.]

I tilted my head at the assertion.

[We? It’s not that Saine refuses to say it because he does not like me but because everybody in this world doesn’t say it?]

[I don’t know about other places, but at least no one in this town would ever say anything.]

[Why?]

In the upper grades of elementary school, boys react to dirty words. We used to use those words jokingly, but when the teacher found out, they got mad. But you know, I don’t think the word “like” is dirty or anything.

[You see…… That is a cursed word.]

Dole leaned in closer and whispered. It was too serious to laugh off, so I nodded.

[By curse……Do you mean from the priests?]

[No, it’s not from them. It’s from Chinbou-sama.]

[You’re talking about that when you say Chinbou-sama, right? The one lying around in the vacant lot, that stick……]

A mere stick can curse?

[That’s right. Even speaking that word is forbidden; it’s a horrible curse word.]

Dole  spread his arms and laughed. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or making fun of me.

[Once he says it, what will happen?]

[It will droop.]

Dole’s finger points downwards.

[You mean…… the dick?]

[That’s right. It will remain flaccid for the rest of your life and will never grow hard again.]

That must be something that the people here are really scared of. After all, they can’t even masturbate until they undergo the ritual and drink the red wine. Even Saine had a huge struggle to get an erection, so if they were told it would be permanently flaccid, they probably wouldn’t even want to try it.

[I…… I’ve been beating myself up for a long time because of something like this?]

I feel like crying. I feel so stupid, running around in circles all by myself.

[Oh, but even if you don’t say it, isn’t it fine to nod? When I asked him, Saine didn’t even nod.]

[Of course he won’t, nodding means affirmation, right? That’s considered the same as saying it. That’s dangerous, you know? There were people who got caught up in that kind of questioning and wilted. Even though they had a Reincarnator……]

Dole looks into the distance. Is he telling the truth? When Dole says it, there is a sense of fallacy.

[By the way, what about “I love you”?]

[That’s the most dangerous thing we can say. If we say it, the thing between our legs will disappear.]

[… Disappear…]

He smiles, then suddenly stops.

[Huh? But the ras was shouting it in the forest previously. What’s that about?]

[It’s famous among the guards. It’s the story of the lumberjack who couldn’t tell anyone so he screamed his love alone in the forest, then got attacked by a monster and had his crotch ripped apart.]

I instinctively grabbed my crotch tightly.

TN:

Zabuton= a flat floor cushion for sitting or kneeling on.

(TN: Dole used “攫われる (sarawareru)- to kidnap” and MC misheard it as “触られる (sawarareru) – to touch/feel”.