Chapter 36
Waiting for
the Rain
Translator : PolterGlast
"El and Elma,
they sound kind of alike, huh?" she said, moving her fingertip between
herself and me, and grinned.
The rain was gradually
getting heavier. My hood had completely come off, and I was soaking wet, but I belatedly
put my raincoat back on. Looking at them, they were wearing strange clothes.
No, not particularly unusual clothes, but they looked like they were used to
traveling, yet they seemed completely unprepared for getting wet. As the rain
worsened, I hurriedly invited them into my house. They were undoubtedly my
saviors, and I couldn't bear the thought of just saying goodbye just like that.
It had been a long
time since anyone had been in my house, and I felt a little uneasy. While
fidgeting, I regretted not cleaning more, but it was too late now.
El and the others
seemed troubled, saying they didn't mind, but I insisted on offering them as
much hospitality as I could. I lit the hearth to dry their completely soaked
clothes and offered them both clothes.
Oh, I should get them
something to drink. Turning my back, I looked at El and the others again, and
they seemed completely dry. "Huh?" I tilted my head. I thought I
heard El quietly say, "Thanks, Ichi," but when she met my eyes, she blinked
her big eyes and smiled as if to cover it up.
The clothes I had
given them were also strangely not wet. But we talked a little, listening to
the pitter-patter of the rain outside. El and the others were travelers, just
as she had said at the beginning. It was the first time I had ever seen someone
from another country. So, sometimes our words didn't quite match up, but I told
them about this country as much as I could.
In Cloudy Country,
where El and the others were born, the sky was always cloudy, but in this
country called Leyshan, it rained all day long. The sound of rain pouring down
like someone had overturned a bucket was very comforting. That's because
monsters didn't appear when it rained. Rain was blessed water that the gods
gave us.
That was one of the
benefits of knowing the existence of gods.
***
"Hmm... In Cloudy
Country, monsters don't appear near water, but in Leyshan, monsters don't
appear while it's raining, huh."
So, it's dangerous
when the rain stops, huh? El muttered something so obvious while holding the
teacup in both hands and slowly sipping the tea. Then, "Ouch, hot!"
she stuck out her tongue and blew on it frantically. Lotus-san next to her
glanced at El, but watched her slowly drink her tea and then drank his own with
one hand.
It made me realize
again that even things that are obvious to me are not the same common sense in
different countries. For me, going out when it wasn't raining was unthinkable.
Of course, I couldn't say that with confidence since I had almost died earlier
because I had done just that.
"Yeah, so I'm a
little worried now. The raindrop sound makes me feel safe."
"It's raining
now, but it's more of a drizzle, isn't it?"
"But the smell of
the water is calming," El said, her lips softening.
--In Cloudy Country,
it doesn't rain.
Instead, the sky is
always cloudy, and everyone travels in search of water sources. Water is like a
forgotten gift from the gods, so animals and monsters don't fight over it, just
like in our country, Leyshan. The difference is that in Leyshan, water in the
form of rain is constantly falling. So there's no danger from monsters, but
sometimes the rain stops. That's when it's very dangerous.
When I asked El her
age, she said she was ten, and Lotus-san was twenty. When I called her El-san,
she told me just El was fine, so I took her up on it. There was only a
three-year difference, but since she was younger, it was easier for me to call
her that.
I was surprised that
they were both a little younger than I had imagined, but their relationship was
honestly hard to understand. They didn't look enough alike to be siblings, and
when I asked about their purpose in coming all the way to Leyshan from Cloudy
Country, they said they didn't really have a specific goal.
I thought they were
strange people. It was the first time someone from another country had come to
such a remote village, but maybe I was just thinking that on my own.
"Ouch, hot!"
While I was thinking,
El stuck out her pink tongue with tears in her eyes again. I intended to make
it warm because I thought she might feel cold, but maybe I made it too hot.
Just as I was about to say something, Lotus-san quietly muttered, "El,
drink it calmly." I thought to myself again that their relationship was
strange.
Lotus-san looked like
El's guardian in a way, but also not. They couldn't be parent and child, and
they didn't look much like siblings, so it just felt different. I have an older
brother, so this was just a gut feeling.
But it felt impolite
to directly ask about my questions, so I swallowed my words. I slowly drank the
tea I had poured for myself and, sitting around the hearth, I looked intently
at El again. Somehow, so very.
--She's a cute girl, I
thought.
It wasn't about her
expressions or gestures, but just her overall appearance was simply perfect. In
Leyshan, the sun rarely came out, so there weren't many tanned people. Even I,
according to my brother, had fair skin. But El's skin was even whiter, yet not
unhealthy, and strangely radiant.
Her clothes were dirty
in places from traveling. Yet her golden hair, a little shorter than her waist,
was smooth and silky, and her large eyes had incredibly long eyelashes. Looking
at her small face and slender fingers, I somehow got a sudden feeling that she
would definitely become an incredible beauty in the future.
Lotus-san, for his
part, had messy hair and a seemingly scary face, but he had a straight nose and
was handsome. The two of them looked nothing alike, but if we were just talking
about strangeness, they were very similar.
Thinking of El as if
she were a doll, I secretly but intently stared at her, and she sniffled her
slightly red nose and gave a wry smile.
"It's warm now,
thank you."
"Eh, ah, you're
welcome..."
Seeing my reaction, El
grinned. Her face and words felt a little mismatched. "I was wondering if
it was too hot, sorry," I said. "No, no, it's just that I'm not
drinking it right, sorry, you were trying to warm me up, weren't you?" That
was true, but being told that directly made me feel a little embarrassed.
Lotus-san also quietly bowed his head to me.
It had been a long
time since I had properly talked to someone, and I didn't know what to say
either, so I gripped my teacup tightly as if to hide the feeling that I
couldn't quite tell if it was ticklish or embarrassing.
"Ah, um, the
rain! You should stay here until it gets worse!"
Living in this
country, you could feel the changes in the sky with your skin. You couldn't
survive otherwise. It would probably take a few more days for the rain to get
heavy. Until then, it would be safer to at least stay in the village. Small
rivers had been created around the village, so even if the rain weakened a
little, it would be safer than being in the forest.
Even though I had said
something obvious, El blinked in surprise and confusion. Lotus-san kept his
brow furrowed, and since his expression didn't change much, I never really knew
what he was thinking in the first place.
"Until the rain
gets worse? Not just waiting for it to stop...?"
"Amayadori?"
(Rain shelter?)
El said something I
didn't understand. It was a word I had never heard before.
When she said,
"Aren't we supposed to wait for the rain to stop?" I replied,
"We'd be in trouble if it stopped, wouldn't we?" and she nodded in
understanding.
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