Episode 1-b. The One Who Follows the Anger.
The rattling cart is racing towards the principality.
Having reached a distance that would allow us to arrive in about a day or two, my worries tightened around the reins I was holding.
Leaving the familiar Empire and heading to a place where I know no one makes my head spin, as I can only hope to avoid detection.
And then.
“Asha.”
“…”
Once again, sitting in the cart’s cargo area, a shabby adventurer dragged herself close to the driver’s seat and called my name.
“Asha.”
“Haah… Why are you calling me?”
Eileen behind me started to look more apprehensive, her eyes gleaming even brighter than before.
“So, why are you going to the principality?”
“… Do you need to know?”
“Maybe I could help!”
“… You?”
She, who couldn’t do anything alone.
With no power or mana, I had no idea what kind of help she could offer.
It was merely a relationship that would end as soon as I brought her to the principality.
Thinking so, I turned my head slightly to glance at her, and as our eyes met, Eileen’s eyes began to fill with tears.
“T-that’s too much…!”
“The too much was your shameless words.”
And I wondered if the words about ‘too much’ were something I should say.
“… Well, even someone like me might still have some use or value…”
“There’s really nothing. If it doesn’t help, I won’t tell you why I’m going to the principality.”
However.
“That’s harsh… After all, we’ve formed a sticky bond here, so you could at least tell me that much…”
She seemed unable to comprehend my firm response, so I prodded her deeply in the heart.
“As someone who’s run away.”
“… Ugh!”
One wasn’t enough, so I pulled out something larger and jabbed it in.
“You were the one who ran away after being well-treated, you know.”
“Gah…! I-I’m sorry…!”
Feeling unsatisfied with just that kind, I also poked her with something strangely shaped and smelly.
“You’re just someone who wets yourself.”
“C-Come on! I didn’t need to hear that…!”
Trying to silence her loud mouth, I actually pressed my nose to something that doesn’t smell and jabbed it in once more.
“The stench of urine still lingers on my robe.”
“AAAH! Stop, stop…! I’m really sorry…!”
“If you know, maybe be quiet then. You’re noisy.”
In other words, she’s definitely someone who causes me to say bad things.
I need to drop her off in the principality to go our separate ways.
“My heart feels like it’s been pierced by a needle…”
“That small chest of yours wouldn’t make much of a difference even if it were pierced, so it’s fine.”
After all, even if a hole were to be made in a chest that hasn’t popped out, no one would notice as long as it was covered by clothing.
“Ugh… that’s too much…”
Finally, there was a thud as she collapsed.
So, I turned my head slightly to look at her and smirked.
Thanks to that, the continually repeating scenery of the forest wasn’t boring.
The silence filled only with the sound of the rattling cart wheels and the whispering wind felt just a bit, really just a bit better.
—
On a dark night.
The campfire crackled.
In a pot above it, a stew filled with meat was bubbling.
So then.
Previously, I had clearly sung for it to boil quicker while just staring intently at the stew.
“Asha, I’ve been thinking a lot.”
“That thinking is useless, so just eat the stew.”
“That’s harsh.”
I don’t know why now she’s propping up her chin with her hand and persistently talking to me.
Moreover, she’s saying things with a sloppy appearance while smiling broadly, not stopping her chatter.
“Are you perhaps looking for a man?”
“What a sudden thing to say. Don’t I look like a woman?”
“No, no. I mean, is the purpose of your journey perhaps to meet a man!”
“…”
Among the words, there were some quite on point, so I opened my eyes groggily and stared at her.
“Isn’t it true! That word ‘Ain’ you murmured that night! That’s a man’s name!”
Her face turned red as she inflated her own fantasies and spoke more.
“Be quiet, the stew is done cooking…”
“Now it makes sense! At first, I thought you were casting a spell, but when I think about it, the things you murmur sound incomprehensible!”
“Eileen.”
“Romantic… A pure love… A heart only for one man…!”
“Ah, seriously.”
And perhaps my face would blush at the embarrassing things she was saying.
However, her sparkling gaze didn’t seem to settle easily.
“Then I can definitely be of help!”
“… What on earth are you going to help with?”
With her shabby appearance, dirty face, and an unfortunate habit of needing to relieve herself once a day.
There’s not a single redeeming quality about her, yet she keeps speaking earnestly.
So I looked at her with a face full of disbelief, and Eileen boldly thrust her meager chest forward and declared.
“Fufu, I’m a love expert! In the Haven Kingdom, the men who liked me were all in one cart!”
“…”
“Really! I made many men cry!”
Yes.
She said that while thrusting out her meager chest.
However, that said.
“… If there’s a man who likes a meager chest, then he might turn out to be a criminal, so in that sense, I suppose you’ve escaped well from your hometown.”
“…”
As far as I know, there are definitely no men who like such meager chests.
“It was an interesting story. Please share something a bit more fascinating next time, and let’s eat the stew.”
“… Asha.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, but a woman’s worth isn’t all about her chest…?”
“Of course it’s not all, but I don’t think men will like small women.”
There can’t be a man who gets distracted by a small one when there’s a larger option available.
Moreover, even Eileen, who was saying this, was glancing at her own and staring at my chest intently.
“D-Don’t lie!”
“It’s possible for a man to like a woman with a small chest, but I said he wouldn’t like small women.”
That’s an immutable law.
Even if everything is vague, this is surely what was taught as an unchanging law.
“W-Who…!”
“… There was a librarian and researcher I got close to in my hometown who said that.”
A woman named Ildrin.
There was a perverted scholar who would regularly violate my body.
She was a very strange person, but fundamentally, she didn’t lie about what she said, so this too must be true.
“Well, someone small can definitely be charming, my mom said so…”
“Parents always say their ugly children are pretty. So they should say someone small can be charming too.”
“W-Who says that!”
“The librarian and researcher I got close to in my hometown said that.”
“…”
Eileen, who had been sitting on the stump, toppled over backward while holding onto her bowl.
I waved my hand, arranging soft leaves behind her so she wouldn’t get hurt.
“What a shame…”
“Just eat the stew and sleep.”
“Yes…”
The once vibrant Eileen fell silent and drooped, and this brought me a strange feeling.
So I was able to define another new emotion.
“Hm, so this feeling is gratification.”
“…”
I learned that such feelings arise when I torment her and treat her poorly.
“It feels quite nice.”
“Eh…”
I thought I could revel in this feeling for at least the remaining two days.
Treating others poorly and tormenting them isn’t a good deed, so it would be satisfying to do a lot of it before parting ways with her.
In a sense, it’s revenge for having run away.
In truth, I was someone with a very long memory.
So, well…
I had always thought of her as someone utterly useless.
Fortunately, there was at least one bit of usefulness.
As I thought this, I filled a bowl with steaming stew.
Of course, I also filled Eileen’s bowl that was sprawled out.
—
The sky is dark.
A slightly cool wind blows through the woods.
The sounds of horses nuzzling beside the cart can be heard.
In that scene.
The beautiful me and the shabby Eileen sat together, eating stew, and soon fell deeply asleep.
It was a calm and peaceful night.
