Kanna no Kanna

Chapter 3 : It’s not like I like to pimp; so I joined a mountain search

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//TN : Friday night might have had an effect on quality. please comment if typos//

Chapter 3 : It’s not like I like to pimp; so I joined a mountain search

「Kuoooooh！　Cooooooold！」

The chill air strikes my skin as my eyebrows keep twitching while being frozen and the worse of all is this strong gust of wind that lowers the temperature of my body.

「………… Are you ok？」

「I can’t possibly be ok, but I’ll be ok！　I feel cold enough as if I’m dying; but I’ll be ok！」

「You are rather increasing my anxiety with such lines」

「It’s ok to just keep walking forward! I can still handle it even if we increase the pace more than this！」

After spurting that lively statement; I further dive my feet on the snowy fields as a show of my intention.

「………… It doesn’t look like you have that much leeway; why would you go that far?」

「Towards someone who is my benefactor, covered my lodging and is first and foremost of a lady— while that girl is working outside in this weather; I can’t possibly law down comfortably at home！ I have no plans of becoming a financially dependant pimp!」

「Pimp？」

「Is a known term for a guy that gets sustained by a girl without working himself.」

Greetings, this is Kamishiro Kanna.

Presently; I’m enjoying mountain climbing through a frozen slope. That exact mountain range that was previously easily skipped from travelling thanks to the corteous services of dragonic airlines.

I’m aware that I’m again skipping a lot of important details; but please let me of again by giving out the sequential order for the course of events yet again.

After pa.s.sing the mountain range and decending through it’s feet; we encountered absolutely no accidents and we safely got into the neighboring village without any unusual events. The village on itself was quite peaceful, there it wasn’t any difference from how I imagined any countrisde village back in my world.

The absolute first thing we did was heading towards the inn and having Real book a room, after that she recommended me to enjoy the warmth of a bath. It was the turn for that inexperienced elemental magic increased the temperature of the water; and even the short interval needed for water to boil felt excruciatingly long for the I who was in a completely frozen state. Soon I felt honestly bad for being cared for time after time; but please let me get away with it now since the desire for a bath was simply winning me over — is what I thought as I was diving into the steamy water. I have to say that this is the first time in my life that I ever felt so good when entering the bath; that sensation of having the very core of my soul being surronded by warmth was so incredible that before realizing it I was spilling tears already. Ermn? Am I fragile to the point that I can be broken to tears easily?

I made sure that I was refreshed after a short dive in the bath and then I returned to the room… It looks like the structure of this inn is that all of the guest rooms are located in the second floor; while the first one has a large dining room which gives the impression of being quite satisfying for the palate of the local residents.

But; right now you can’t see the image of several customers enjoy the meal in their seats, but rather the sight of a bunch of serious villagers surrounding Real’s table with an atmosphere which is far from relaxed.

I was unsure of adding my presence to that place or not, but once somebody noticed that I was in this floor; their hand stretched and I was dragged towards the place where Real was.

「Oh, Kanna. Was the bath enjoyable？」

「The absolute best。………… Er, what sort of circ.u.mstance is this?」

Originally it was the smiling Real who recommended me to enter the bath first, but as expected even I can read the sort of weird air that this place is enshrouded in right now.

「Apparently, it seems that there is a girl who entered the mountain around noon and hasn’t returned yet」

「For mountain; you mean that exceedingly large one？」

Speaking of mountains, there is no other mountain in the vicinity that goes over the clouds like that one; why is that?

「That girl mother apparently caught a cold recently; and is well known that among the gra.s.s in that mountain there are medicinal herbs. Is easy to see that the girl’s purpose was collecting those」

「Such a thoughtful daughter has to be a good kid…………」

At the moment that bit was mentioned; I remembered the current time. A single glance outside the windows reafirms that we are already completely unto the night.

「Oi, is totally past the time the sun sets by now！」

「Exactly. It’s night-time already; and the weather becomes rather harsh in that mountain by nightfall– which is why everyone in the village is absolutely clear that they need to return home before the day ends. A girl who absolutely know this and climbed the mountain hasn’t returned by now has surely encountered some sort of mishap」

「Then; doesn’t that mean that we can’t idle around in this place? We should head out right now.」

「I know that much, but…. That mountain also has dangerous magical beasts; the fact that they have a nocturnal nature is one of the things that makes the mountain safer during the day」

「…………Oioi, that’s serious stuff」

Magical beastーー what some would spell as monster and is the quintessential example number three of the world in a fantasy genre. If it’s as their definition states; they are dangerous animal, flora and fauna that have this wonderful healthy habit of attacking people.

「Entering the mountain at night would be suicidal for villagers who have no strength to fight」

Hearing the conversation up to this point makes it obvious the villagers can’t possibly head out on themselves; bur rather they want to request the task to this Real present here.

「Bottom line is, these people are requesting you to find that daughter….」

「Precisely. And what do you think about it？」

「Hmn？ Let’s hurry up and save her」

Ara? I’m looked at as if I said something strange.

「…………Did you not listen to what these people said？」

「The outline it’s about how we should hurry so the girl won’t be eaten by some monster; right？ That’s exactly why we should head out to help as soon as possible. Ah right– friendly neighbors of this village; would you mind lending some clothes strong against cold? Please at least offer that level of cooperation」

「No, I’m talking about the bit where beast will come attacking」

「That’s why I’m saying that I heard it. In a place where gruesome sights are common, we have a rarity for the season: today’s special consist of delicious village girl （In a cooking ingredients sense）」

「So it really is; that you are planning on tagging along….」

「You have been strange for awhile. （Like our setting points out） Mercernary girl Real has been requested by this people to search for that girl and you took on the job; right? 」

「Certainly that’s how it went！　The actual issue is that I am going alone！」

「What a foolish thing to say. It’s settled in stone that I’ll be tagging along as well」

「I really did not want you to say that. The people of this village don’t have any relation with you, right？」

「That’s no different for you; yet you are br.i.m.m.i.n.g with motivation of helping out, right?」

「That’s due to my personal motivations. Well, I really can’t neglect the intention of my travelling companion; that’s why please listen…………」

「Details might as well not matter in this situation！ There are things that I also can do and there is also the motivation to do such when it counts！ There is no spare time to hesitate！ Since this goes according to Real’s will; I’m just going to accompany you to the extent of the power I have！」

And that’s how we returned to the beginning.

「Is way too unlucky that a snow storm began the moment we started to climb！」

「It’s like, we should be worrying that we are not the cause for this weather」

There are things that after once said as joke; they may eventually change to truths. Please remember this for later.

「Or rather, why are you dressed so lightly in this storm！？」

「Because I used magic that makes me resistant to cold, this much is enough」

Right now I’m wearing quite the fluffy jacket to ward off that cold; while Real is wearing her usual light armor with a sole simple cloack added in.

「Just how convenient is that magic, oi」

「My speciality only lies in this type of spells. As my elemental attribute magic is not that wonderful; for battle this is the one guy I can rely on」

She says that while emphasizing the large sword at her back.

Certainly, she was quite amazing. At the time we had to force a way out of the castle; it didn’t matter how many guards or knights came swarming… They were all blown away with a single attack from that great sword and without any single exception. There it were plenty of guys with full body armor and / or heavy equipment in those ranks…. That amount of battle power on a single person wouldn’t mean that she is good enough to be selectable in those games that are placed in the sengoku era?

「More than that Kanna; is the part where the herbs grow still further ahead？」

「Just some steps away」

With a map in my hands; I check the shape of my surroundings and compare it with what was written to a.s.sest the current location. There is a large bag on my back; which is meant to be used to keep that child from the cold.

When the village girl set out during the day; apparently she was dressed lightly. Even if she happens to be unharmed; the intense cold of this snowstorm is more than enough to make a person not being able to move.

If that happens to be the current situation; Real on her own would have needed to carry the bag in her shoulder and in the case of beasts showing up she would have needed to fight the monsters with that handicap—- which is the reason of why I was so adamant about following her. In a dual sense you can say that I’m here for the luggage.

「Really, to volunteer for luggage duty. Quite the evident reason」

「And it’s because Real understood that such a thing was necessary; that you let me tag along, right？」

Initially, she had the idea of relying in one of the villagers; but after considering it calmly a little I became the obvious choice. Compared to them; she made the judgement that I’ll drag her feet much less.

「You are also quite softhearted; to go this far for a girl you don’t know」

「I’m not entirely moving out of good will. There is a profit factor added in」

「Truly. When you began the talk of how much the pay was going to be; the faces of the villagers turned delicate」

Handling so coldly people that we are not acquainted with; even if they ask for a refund later we can’t be held punishable. In any event— with one night stay and several days worth on food; is only that much what we requested as the completion fee.

「Seriously. Should I put it that you might be someone of high prudence? You are really a man who is hard to judge」

「Was that praise just now?」

「I wonder?」

As we were brooding over such conversation in this cold, we steadely approached the specified location which is towards the place where the medicinal herbs grow. This is the same place that the girl was aiming at and thus there it might be some sort of trail.

Close to 30 minutes after we started or climbing through the mountain and while it’s fully dark; we safely reached our destination. Even when burried in he snowstorm, the thick herbs are in abundance…. Now we need to check the surrounding terrain and sort the information we got from the villagers.

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