Rain,
a Cave, and the Truth 8
In
the morning, when I woke up, the bonfire was almost dying out. The branches I
had gathered were also completely gone.
「Good morning.」
「Good morning.」
Squirming
out from the blanket we were sharing, I pretended to fix my hair to hide my
embarrassment.
「Ashren-sama, how is the condition of your
leg?」
「Yeah, not bad.」
After
lightly rotating his ankle, Ashren-sama stood up cautiously and checked
the feeling in his right leg. As I crouched down and looked at the condition of
his ankle, it was considerably better than last night.
「There is some pain, but I can walk
on my own. This is a remarkably good poultice.」
Floating
a satisfied expression even in a situation like this is what makes him a
researcher. I, too, know that there is nothing more joyful than a successful
development.
「Right, as for the desiccant you
made, Layla... Oh, amazing! Not only is it thoroughly dry, but it also
smells good.」
However,
even so, I had to question whether putting his nose right up to his boots to
sniff them was appropriate. Precisely because he has such a beautiful face, I
want him to stop.
「As for yours, Layla...」
「You're not going to sniff my shoes
too, are you?」
「...O-Oh, of course not.」
He
totally intended to sniff them, I thought, leaning back as I swiftly retrieved my boots
back to me. I can somewhat understand the feeling as a researcher, but
absolutely not.
「Anyway, these two are a success,
aren't they.」
「Yeah, you are right.」
When
I narrowed my eyes as if to say 'Don't sniff them', Ashren-sama
awkwardly pulled his backpack closer and rummaged inside. What he took out was
the emergency ration of dried meat.
I
received the dried meat handed to me with a matter-of-fact "Here",
feeling a bit obliged. Since I was carrying the canteen on my shoulder, we had
drinking water. And then, I remembered.
「Ashren-sama, last night, when I went to
the back of the cave to draw water into the cloth canteen, there was a small
water source.」
「In the back here?」
「Yes. It seems to have been formed by
droplets falling from the ceiling, hollowing out the rock over many years.」
「Is it drinkable?」
「No, there was a stinging sensation
on my tongue, so it is better not to.」
The
wrinkles between his eyebrows were saying, Did you put it in your mouth
again? I decided to pretend not to notice that.
「May I go draw some of that water?
While I'm at it, I also want to scrape off a little of the cave wall and take
it back.」
「Understood. Let's go look together
after we eat this.」
Ashren-sama doesn't deny what I try to do,
nor does he get angry without listening. He absolutely asks for the reason and
respects my will.
Nodding
"Yes," I slightly warmed the dried meat I was handed over the
remaining embers of the bonfire and took a bite. The salty, chewy meat could by
no means be called delicious, but it seeped into my hungry body.
Once
we finished eating, we headed to the water source, and I drew water into the
cloth canteen. Ashren-sama scraped the rock with something like a
sharp-pointed hammer, wrapped it in a cloth, and put it in his backpack.
「It's a rare stratum. Do you
recognize it, Layla?」
「I apologize. I am not well-versed in
strata.」
「You don't have to apologize. If you
knew that many different things, it would put me in a tough position, after
all. Let's show it to an expert when we get back.」
「Do you know an expert?」
「If we go through my mother, we can
reach any kind of person. Just leave it to her.」
Just
who exactly is the Director? She easily pushed through the talk about
escorts. Also, I hear that the daycare center built in the castle was more the Director's
doing than the previous Marquis Naturi, who was the Prime Minister.
「Mark might be coming close with help, so
I will go take a look outside. You should change clothes in the meantime.」
「Thank you very much. If your leg
hurts, please do not push yourself. I will go check the place where we slid
down later.」
Ashren-sama waved his hand flutteringly
above his head as he walked away. It seemed to mean he was fine.
Returning
to the bonfire and picking up the clothes dried on the rock, they were slightly
damp but not unwearable. After quickly stripping and changing, I folded Ashren-sama's
clothes and raincoat, which were similarly dried on the rock, and packed them
into the backpack. Looking around to confirm we hadn't forgotten anything, I
properly extinguished the fire and then left the cave.
It
was too dark to see last night, but the path we had walked on was a narrow one
formed by chance halfway up the cliff, and looking down, a large river could be
seen at the bottom of the vertically dropping cliff.
If
I had seen this scenery, I wouldn't have been able to walk so calmly. Scolding
my trembling legs, I walked a little while keeping one hand on the cliff face
on the opposite side, and then Ashren-sama's figure came into view.
「Ash...」
「Mark, it's slippery there, so be
careful.」
Swallowing
the voice I was about to call out halfway, I looked up and saw Mark-sama's
figure descending while dangling a rope.
「Thank goodness, it seems you are
safe too, Layla.」
Noticing
me before Ashren-sama did, Mark-sama called out from above.
「Yes, I am so sorry. Thank you very
much.」
Taking
the backpack from my hands as I replied, Ashren-sama easily slung it
onto his back.
「I was planning to go back and get it
later; it must have been heavy.」
「No, it's fine. Even so, we were in
quite a terrifying place, weren't we. I am cowering all over again.」
「Agreed. Mark brought people
from the village. The plan is to have them pull us up.」
While
we were talking, Mark-sama descended all the way down to us. It seems he
came down using a rope attached to his waist as a lifeline.
Besides
that lifeline, two other ropes were dangling from above.
「Good morning. Did you sleep well
last night?」
While
greeting us with an almost out-of-place refreshing face, Mark-sama
quickly ran his eyes over my body to confirm I had no injuries. Seeing me
reflexively blush when he said "last night," Mark-sama's eyes
widened with an "Eh," and he looked at Ashren-sama.
「...Would it have been better if I
came later?」
「............」
「Hey, say something!!」
Ashren-sama nonchalantly received a rope
from Mark-sama and began wrapping it around his waist.
「U-Um. It's incredibly good timing!!
Err, I don't mean that in a deep way. Uh.」
I
tried to clear up the misunderstanding on behalf of Ashren-sama, who
neither denied nor affirmed it, but the following words wouldn't come out.
Although there was nothing like what Mark-sama was imagining, the reason
the words denying that nothing happened wouldn't come out was because the time
in that cave had become precious to me.
As
I was flustering about, Ashren-sama, half with an exasperated face,
lightly glared at Mark-sama.
「Don't make unwarranted suspicions.
It might be fine for me, but Layla is a young lady.」
「No, no, if that's the case, then you
should also deny the fake lover rumors.」
However, what came back was an accurate retort.
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