28-Baths, demons, and sometimes horse riding lights




 
 The wheat harvest has begun and the people are in full swing. They are busy harvesting the wheat and other crops, and the whole family is happily engaged in harvesting. A percentage of the harvest is paid to us as tax, but the people are smiling. I heard that this time we had a good harvest and the villagers could afford it.

 Even if it's not a good harvest, we have enough food in our home to last us for emergencies. If there is a bad harvest, we can ration this and get by if we can grow the crop again.


 Everyone is busy with the harvest right now, but I hear they're having a harvest festival in five days.

 This is a festival held every year when the harvest has settled down. From that day, all the villagers seem to gather to celebrate for three days. This year the number of immigrants has increased, so the village is more lively than ever.

 There will also be a reversi and chess tournaments, and I've been invited to join in.

 The Bartolo family has been busy cooking for the villagers, and Bartolo's maids have been helping him cook for them as well. It must be hard to cook for hundreds of people.

 This time, guests from outside will be coming, so they can't serve half-done dishes.

 Bartolo seems to be in trouble.

 While thinking about it, I'm still lounging in my room. If you use fire magic to float a fire, the room will warm up on its own.
 When the room gets warm, I'll indeed put it out.

 However, I don't know if my body is accustomed to summer or if it's just a coincidence that today is more of an autumn day than a winter day, but it's a bit chilly for me.

 So I'm wearing two pairs of long pants today. They'll work. Just the right amount.

Al-. It's time for sword training.

 As I was laying in my room, my sister, Elinora, came into the room. No knocking, of course. It's a standard thing that the hero does to the heroine in manga, but we don't have a heroine.

'Ehh. It's cold today, so I'll pass.''

No. You'll never get better at it if you don't do it right.

'Are you ready for the Harvest Festival? Are you ready to welcome our guests?

Of course it's okay. Even if you're not okay, we'll practice on our own.

Yeah.

 I show my displeasure to sister Elinora by squinting my face as hard as I can.

'Stop that pissed off face right now or I'll make you correct it by force, okay?

I'll get dressed and come to you in a minute!

 I salute, conscious of my dignified face.

 Even if it's only my face is low in rank, if they correct me....................Huh? Does that make me good-looking? No, no, no! That's not true. My face will probably just swell up. Alfried, don't take this the wrong way.

'Hurry up, will you? I'm going with Silvio first.

 I take off one pair of long pants and change into long pants that are easy to move around in and get dirty. It's chilly today, but I'm not sure I'll be able to handle this.


 The air was a little chilly as I stepped out into the courtyard. The leaves that had fallen from the trees were rustling and dancing like bubbles in the wind.

 Their lonely appearance seemed to indicate the end of summer.

'Aloo. What are you zoned out on, it's a little chilly today, so I'm going to be very careful with my moves.

Yes, sir.

 Sister Elinora called me over to the place where she wields her wooden sword. To my surprise, Sister Elinora and Brother Silvio were wearing short sleeves and short pants. That's insane........

 Is that it? It's that thing where boys in elementary school wear short sleeves and short pants, even in the middle of winter.

 It's not cold? When they say, 'I'm not cold!' he looks happy. And is it that thing where you're trying to be strong and get attention and be popular with everyone?

'Aside from sister Elinora, isn't brother Silvio cold?'

What do you mean, I'm not?

You'll be fine.

 Brother Silvio replies with a refreshing smile as he stretches. I ignore sister Elinora's words. I felt like I'd be in the dock if I answered. I'm so smart now.

''Hey? What does that mean?

 Don't give me that line. It's very Yanderean.

"You ready to go? Let's run around the compound for a bit.

'Yes! Father Nord!

 Father Nord! You've come to a really good place. You're looking dazzling today, Nord.

"Al's looking unusually well, isn't he? Let's run while you're strong.

Hey,

'Sister Elinora. You'd be quicker to ask Al with your sword.

That's true.

 How dare you, Silvio! I was so astonished that I called out to her.

 I ran around the mansion, hoping desperately that sister Elinora would forget about it.



 Once my body was warmed up, I went into my usual bare swing.

 It's only been about five months since I first swung the wooden sword, but lately I feel like the sound of it slicing through the air has gotten a little better. But, according to my dad Nord, I'm still swinging with my arms. It's hard to move your body.

 Next to me, Brother Silvio is swinging with precise and clean movements. He has more strength in his body than I do, and it sounds good. I'm sure Brother Silvio is thinking about something typical of him. I've heard about it from Father Nord often.

 In the back of the room, Elinora sister is wielding a wooden sword. It's not as fast or sharp as I had hoped.

 Then, as if she read my thoughts in my gaze, she makes a miffed face and then turns her serious gaze to the leaves floating in front of her.

'Ha.'

 I let out a short voice, and at the same time, I swing my wooden sword down.

 .........hmm? What did you do to him?

 Then, the leaf that would have hit him would have a line both horizontally and vertically and diagonally, and it would fly in eight halves at a halt.

 Huh! Why has he been slashed four times when he's only swung once? Surely there's only one sound to swing down.

 I don't know.

 Seeing my surprise, Elinora-sister decides to make a scowl as if to say, "What about you, Elinora-sister?

 Erinora is a horrible girl....

 From now on, you're saying that if you piss him off while holding a wooden sword, that technique will be activated and he'll slash four times?

'Elinora. Now you're just pretending, okay? Besides, I told you not to use that technique for fun, didn't I?

I'm sorry.

Next time, you'll be punished.

 There's something honest about sister Elinora. You say that the way of martial arts makes even demons mature. Feeling deeply moved, I wave my wooden sword.

'Let's focus a little more on Al, shall we?'

I'm sorry.

 I think there are a lot of espers in this village.


 After finishing my bare hands, I start to strike. Today, I managed to avoid the pair of Elinora sister and Nord dad, and my opponent is Silvio brother.

 I have to return the provisional that you said something unnecessary earlier.

''....Al. Striking isn't something you should do to look so wicked, you know?

Yeah? Then I'll attack you first.

 I let out a short breath and close the gap between me and brother Silvio. Then, using the kata I've learned from my Nordic father so far, I unleash a series of attacks. A basic technique that allows you to use the same momentum to strike even if it is avoided or prevented.

'You've learned to do it too, haven't you, Al?

Brother Silvio is as good a preventive as ever, isn't he?

'It's an essential skill to have a meeting with sister Elinora...'

Yeah.

'Dad, it's great that Al is attacking sister Elinora,'

 I guess people can be strong if they want to survive. I have a feeling I won't be able to beat Sister Elinora satisfactorily without using magic. I think I'll give it a try next time.

You're really good at it. ─ You're really good at it, that's what I'm referring to.

Ha-ha, you'd better ask your father, huh?

Oh, no. It's a straightforward discussion.

 I'll keep it in moderation, because if I talk too much, Nord Dad will get angry with me.

 As usual, Brother Silvio is very good at getting himself together. As expected of Silvio Barrier.

''Well Al, I can hear you?

 From our place, the sound of wooden swords hitting each other, the sound of slicing air, and the sound of soil scraping as it moves, continues intermittently.

 From a distance, I feel like I'm clearly hearing the sound of a wooden sword breaking.

 Squeaking isn't the sound of a wooden sword, is it? If you look closely, you'll see that both of them have magic power through their wooden swords.

 Elinora sister has the attribute of fire, but magic is not her strong suit. Is the limit of releasing three fireballs to the extent that they work on a wind wolf or a goblin? Even if I teach her that magic power increases by using it up from a young age, she doesn't do it every day. I wonder if they do it without my knowledge.

 My Nord Dad has the attribute of wind, but I've never seen him use magic. How does he use it? I still do wear magic, though.

 I'm not sure I want to be involved in that bout.

I'm not going to be able to get it right. We're going to take a turn for the worse.

Okay.

 We continued to practice at the edge to avoid getting caught up in those two.


 After the practice was over and we were sweating, we threw water magic into the mansion's bathhouse and used fire magic to apply hot water.

 This can be done by Elinora sister using fire magic and Erna mother using water magic to boil water. However, it's my job every day that I can use both and I'm not bothered by it.

 Besides, I don't trust sister Elinora's fire magic. There was a time last winter when Elinora sister boiled water. I didn't trust her for some reason, so I put some ice in the water and it melted.

 Juh! Crunch! It was quite hot. Thanks to that, I had to cool down the water by myself, and then I had to boil the water again. I had to catch a cold because I was naked during that time.


 To get back at me, I once reported to Elinora sister that I was ready to take a bath, and she asked me to come in.

 A bath is a bath, but it's a water bath.

 As I was giggling and walking up the stairs, I immediately heard a cute scream.

 It wasn't long before sister Elinora was laughing at me, and she immediately attacked me, relying on my laughter. She was clad in a single piece of cloth. It was the first time I'd ever felt horrible about a woman's skin.

 Well, I'm used to seeing sister Elinora in light clothing, so I don't think anything of it. She usually takes off her clothes when I'm around, and she comes into my room in her underwear and asks me to lend her some clothes.

 Of course, the clothes were never returned and they belonged to my sister Elinora. I saw her wearing my clothes quite a bit, so she must have liked them quite a bit.

 Well, let's put on brother Silvio today. And he said something unnecessary.

 With that in mind, I head to the bathhouse.

 I turn on the water, scrub it off with a cloth and soap just to be sure, and then apply the water.

 Hmm, Brother Silvio seems to be very cautious, so I think I'll make a big ice cube and melt it all at once over the fire, letting the smoke come out like steam.

 It's like a common cooking show where they use dry ice to create steam.

 If I do it close enough, I'll get burned myself, so I set up an ice cube bigger than I am, and then I activate fire magic from a distance to melt it.

 Then all at once, steam came out. According to the close proximity, there was hot air, and it felt like warm water had entered the room.

 I'm ready. All that's left to do is put him in.

 I looked for Brother Silvio and found him in the hallway on the first floor.

"Brother Silvio. The first bath is available!

 With a smile, I suggest that we take a bath in the Arctic Ocean.

"Yeah, thanks again. I'll be in in a minute.

 I smile and go back to my room. Probably must have gone to get a change of clothes.

 By the way, I didn't tell a lie. No one said the water was boiling. I just said it was the best bath.

 Come on, come into the Arctic Ocean!

 I follow Brother Silvio upstairs. When I look into my room, I see Brother Silvio drinking and taking out clothes from a shelf.

 I wait in my room, looking forward to what's about to happen.

''Hmmmmm... I'm looking forward to it...''

'Hiyaaaaah!

Huh?

Hey! I thought it was hot water because it looked like steam!

 Even without listening carefully, I can hear your sister's angry voice all the way to my room.

 Why not! I don't know if you're done rehearsing or not, but you usually grab a change of clothes before you take a bath!

 Sister Elinora is coming up the stairs with a flurry of steps.

 That step would surely be the rest of my life, but I would be skipping two steps.

 I peeked down the hallway through the door of the room and saw a demon clad in a piece of cloth.

 The moment our eyes met, a shiver went down my spine. It's as if my heart has been directly grabbed by hand, a tightening sensation.

 I took a water bath, why is my whole body red.

 Sister Elinora glares at me with a sharp look that reminds me of rage and starts to run.

 I try my best to close the door, scolding my trembling body with fear.

 Shit! Why is my body shaking at this point! Maybe it's the sweaty hands, or maybe it's the sweaty hands slipping off the doorknob, but it's too late to open the door.

 Hiiiiii! You can't invite a demon in!

"Shut the door and I win. Shut the door, I win. "Shut the door and I win. "Shut the door and I win.


 Self-suggesting, I calmly close the door. I can't hear the demon's footsteps anymore. There's not even a second to spare. Every minute is precious!

 Close it. Close it now! My door.
 Okay! Close....

If I close the door, I win...

If I strangle Al, I win, right?

 It never closed, and the demon's foot was stuck in it.

 I think I saw something called a runner for the first time that day.