Translator: mii
Editors: sleepchaser, con
Sig made a puzzled expression, and I realized that I had stared at him for too long.
I hurried to smooth it over, a smile blooming on my face. “By the way, what"s the age that someone becomes recognized as an adult?"
“Thirty years old.”
“Eh…”
That"s quite late. Maybe the average life expectancy was longer in Sig"s world?
When I asked him about that, I learned most of the people there had a life expectancy of 130 years. It was just as I had expected.
If I converted his age of forty-five into the average eighty year life expectancy from my world, he should be… around twenty-seven years old, right? Now that I had thought about it, he wasn"t that much older than me. I could accept his youthful appearance.
"You"re twenty- five, right, Minoru?”
"Yes. Where I come from, you are considered an adult at twenty years old."
“I see… So you"re legally an adult, huh?" Sig said, stroking my head. He didn"t seem to be aware that he was treating me like a child.
“There are also some people who work, get married, and have kids when they"re sixteen years old, so being an adult at twenty is just the custom.” I kicked my feet, making a splash.
“Marriage… I see.”
Noticing a strange pause in Sig"s speech, I looked up. From what I could see of his profile, he seemed deep in thought. Was there something wrong with our conversation? I lifted my feet from the spring without a sound, heart pounding at the awkward atmosphere.
Sig suddenly moved in front of me and took both of my hands. “Minoru, I want to entrust you with my name. My real name,” he said. His purple eyes pierced straight into me, his expression serious.
My eyes went wide at his unexpected words, and feeling awkward, I tilted my head. "Real… name?"
“‘Sig" is an abbreviation.”
In other words, it was like a nickname. That meant his “real name” was his formal name, right?
I blinked, and blinked again, silent. Sig gripped my hands as if panicking. It was a little painful.
“I should have done this earlier… Can I entrust it to you?”
"Entrusting" his name… Did he mean I had to remember it? What a unique way of phrasing it.
“Ah, sure. What is your real name?”
At my nod, Sig"s eyes sparkled the same way they had when I had talked about the bridge before. He let out a slow breath.
“It"s Sigmund.”
Such a long name. Is that why he went by ‘Sig"? He had a cool name.
“It"s amazing," I said, letting him know my thoughts. As soon as I had done so, Sig"s purple eyes narrowed into the softest smile he"d ever shown me. “Thank you. Please take care of me from now on as well, Minoru.”
I didn"t really understand what was happening, but he looked like he was in a good mood… Well, wasn"t it fine?
We got out of the water and had our lunch at the sh.o.r.e. Today"s meal consisted of various rice b.a.l.l.s, chicken cutlet sandwiches, candied lemon slices, and the strawberries we had harvested yesterday There was also a bottle of lemon water.
“It"s been a long time since I"ve had peaceful days like this," said Sig as I handed him a cup of lemon water. His long, golden lashes glittered in the sunlight. “All that I want is here. I"m surprised how fulfilling this world is.” His gaze shifted from the green of the forest to the waterfall, over the organised lunch boxes, and finally met with mine.
It seemed that the hero who had saved his world liked this tiny world.
"I"m surprised you"re not greedier."
“I can be more greedy if you want me to be.”
“I think it"s okay if you are. This place is basically a garden made custom for you."
We laughed at almost the same time.
Later that night, I opened my notebook as usual, recording my income and expenses alone in the small living room. Meanwhile, Sig was in the bathroom.
After returning from the spring, we had planted parsley for the second time as we weeded the field. When I let one of the chickens try some, it seemed quite fond of the parsley. By the way, they still hadn"t laid any eggs. The instruction manual that came with the chickens said to check the chickens on the seventh day. Because that was when you could tell if they"d lay eggs.
I thought I"d cleared a fair bit of weeds from the field to date. I finally received the t.i.tle "Weed PhD" for my "Environment" stat yesterday. At the same time, a book materialized in my hands, which had the same mechanic as the recipes.
The t.i.tle was "Living with Gra.s.s." It almost felt like the book was mocking me for being a "herbivorous" man.
Even so, it was worrying that I was earning less PT from the "Horticulture" and "Cooking" categories compared to "Environment" and "Care." This week, let"s put more effort into increasing my environment level.
I could manage somehow with horticulture, but in the end cooking was still a problem…
As I took notes about my future plans, my smartphone rang
Not the sound of a notification, but an actual incoming call.
“Yes, this is Ashiya!” I said, jumping to answer it after a moment of confusion.
"Hey, Minoru. I"m sorry I"ve ignored you for a while."
It was the message from G.o.d I had been waiting for.
The names of the chickens: Mustard, Millet, Paprika, Lemon, and Baked Potato