Mabbo, Schwarz13, Yakult
Enjoy~
23. Megane-kun, Paying Respects
For the time being, I sat in front of the vice leader who"s still deep in confusion and corrected her 「No, I"m her real brother」 three times.
I was right.
Even in the villages, we are often told things like 「It"s hard to say you two are siblings despite your faces are similar to each other」, and I agree with them. And this was the moment where it"s proven that indeed was the case even when applied to the sophisticated common sense of the people in the big city. Well, I feel indifferent about it, though. Each person is different from one another, so even siblings or family members are unique from each other.
「…Aah, I sure was surprised. Each time Horun caused trouble, I always want to see what kind of parents did she come from or what kind of family she has, but to think… No, forgive my rudeness. 」
「Pay no heed to it. Even as her relative, I can totally relate to that.」
The vice-leader finally started to recognize me as that troublemaker"s little brother. Even when she spilled some rude remarks unintentionally, it was me who had to approve it this time.
「…If I may then, how are your parents like?」
If she even got curious about mine and that troublemaker"s parents, then she must"ve been causing so many problems.
In all honesty, I really don"t want to ask about her deeds.
…No choice but ask, huh? There really isn"t any other alternatives but to ask about her deeds in this circ.u.mstance, huh?
「I believe they"re normal. However, we came from a poor village, so I think they"re kind of letting her on the loose.」
Albat village is a poor village; while we don"t have trouble with food, if the harvest from the crops is diminished by natural disasters and the like, we"ll starve. We don"t have any specialty products, and our crops aren"t exactly the best. Tentatively, we could save a small number of crops every year, if there"s a shortage of ingredients we buy them in the town. With that as the measurement, we could ration out and survive on.
I didn"t pay attention to it before, but if I think it again, our village chief"s capability maybe isn"t that bad.
「I believe you have heard most of it from Lexton. It"s as what he said, by and large.」
Lexton is the village"s idiot number two, and he isn"t the type of person who tells a lie. He might deceive people, but I believe he won"t spew lies out of nowhere.
「Sigh… That being said, to think that this kind of person is that Horun"s actual blood-related biological brother from the same family tree… 」
I wonder how long you"re going to be surprised for. …Eh, that much? You"re surprised for that much?
「I"ve heard that she has a little brother.」
The unshaved beardy, who"s just a little bit calmer than the vice leader, opened his mouth.
「Lexton also said that Horun and her brother don"t resemble each other, but… how do I put it, I can feel something like cultured atmosphere from you. Are you two really from the same village… no, you two growing from the same household itself is an enigma of its own.」
I see. Cultured.
「I don"t know if I can consider myself educated or not, but as the disciple of the village"s hunter, Shishou has taught me many things. From simple alphabets, numbers, arithmetic, to general knowledge and the likes. If there are differences between me and my sister, it should be around that part.」
A hunter"s work is not limited to hunting preys alone. We distributed the spoils to those in need—While a barter system is applied in the village itself, we can use it for trade with the peddlers that visited.
It"s because you are not fit to be a hunter if you can"t read the alphabet, don"t understand numbers, and can"t do calculations, taught Shishou. You"ll be tricked, you won"t be able to make a fair transaction, you"ll be told to just count the losses, so I was taught by Shishou all the while hearing him spinning a yarn.
Thereby, I took the common sense… the small talk that Shishou told me with a grain of salt and ignored him.
Something like the girl he dated or how he met her wife, I can no longer count how much I heard those. I have had enough. In the first place, it"s hard to imagine that that man-bear was popular. Although, I think his wife knows how to choose a man. Shishou is someone respectable, and I respect him for it.
「A hunter, huh. Then, that means you"re using bows, right? …Indeed, I can somehow tell that from your armor. The way your physique is built is also different from normal people.」
Unshaved beardy is openly a.n.a.lyzing me.
…U~n.
I don"t want to talk much about myself, so I hope he"d stop observing me…
But, it"s not like I can escape.
I want to switch the topic from myself to Horun, but I can"t find the gap to do so.
「Bows, you said. …Come to think of it, there are rumors about a megane-wearing hunter going around lately, aren"t there?」
As I was dealing with the unshaved beardy, the vice-leader is regaining her composure. It"ll be hard to find a gap in the conversation if I"m facing with both of them. And Laila who poured tea then took a seat next to me doesn"t say anything and just becomes a room decor.
The talk is progressing towards a troublesome direction.
Furthermore, it"s going to a direction I don"t favor.
Come to think of it, Laila also contacted me because she heard about those rumors. It"s natural for adventurers to be sensitive to rumors about strong or skilled people. Even more so for a skilled adventurer team. If this continued, I"m going to be asked questions like what I can do and what I can"t do, they might even ask my hunting itinerary.
I don"t want to answer them, I don"t want to, but… I can"t dodge their questions forever.
I"m okay answering, but can I muddy up the answer vaguely? Can I lead them to that direction?
Now then, what do I do? Should I forcibly retreat first here?
As I was thinking along that line, a helping hand appeared.
「—Hooaa… aahm 」
From one of the private rooms upstairs, comes down a reddish-blonde woman with a big yawn on her. She"s dressed quite lightly. She seemed to have asleep until this late hour in the afternoon. Which reminds me, omitting Laila, I sensed three people inside the warehouse. So she"s the third presence. Although she looks nothing but sluggish, she still has the aura of the strong.
「—Hey~ Horun~. Let"s grab some meal~」
With a sleepy face, a drowsy voice, and a weird way of walking, she descended the stair.
She wears a tank top and… Oi. She only wears a piece of underwear below. She"s completely in her undergarment. Isn"t that just a pair of panties. …A blue and white striped pair? So undergarment in the big city is like that. It must be a design polished by the great city.
「Hold on! Hold on, Ain-san!」
Laila who sat next to me stood hurriedly then rushed over the woman who descended the stairs. She"s blocking her to prevent that woman from going forward any further.
「Oh, Laila"s here too, huh? Yosh, let"s grab a meal.」
「Before that, we have a guest! Wear some clothes!」
「Clothes? I properly wear… eh? Where are my shorts? Did it come off when I was asleep? …Oh well, that"s fine.」
「No that"s not! We have! A guest! A guest, I said!」
A woman who doesn"t mind being in underwears.
A sighing vice-leader.
An unshaved beardy who"s at wits" end.
And then, I"m here the guest to complete.
Probably Laila"s reaction is the most correct amongst us.
「But I"m famished… I have to eat something.」
「It"s okay if you don"t! Wear! Something!」
…………
—Is there another troublemaker in this team other than my sister?
I wanted to ask it straightly, but of course, I won"t.
Hey, Mabbo here.
So, exams week pa.s.sed. I thought the holiday would take 2 weeks, but I got it wrong and missed 3 days of cla.s.ses. And my attendance is already in danger even without that. With my phone basically being an overpriced brick, I have no means to contact my cla.s.smates. Let"s just completely omit the fact that I"m not that social to begin with, shall we?
On a completely unrelated note, it really is unrelated, I b.u.mped into Azur Lane! It"s a game about bonding with boats, marrying your shipfus, and decorating the perfect love nest for you and your floating harem! Just kidding, it"s all about farming if not more farming. Though, I like how it isn"t p2w. You earn your strength not with money but with diligence. The characters are diverse and fun to interact with. Not to mention, it really references to the actual history of naval a lot.
I won"t say you guys have to play it, I"m just telling you my self-justification reason. Oh, and I play it using an emulator if you ask.
Well then.