Chapter 1, Episode 7: Rest

 

Imperial Year 1023, May 7th.

Normally, they would already have entered the small country of Baum by now.

However, Hiro was with them, and they were encountering more groups of ogles than they had antic.i.p.ated.

Due to unforeseen circ.u.mstances, they were delayed significantly, and so they set up camp as the sun set.

The tent in which the princess slept was noticeably larger than the others. The other tents were gathered around hers, like a small village.

Many fires were lit in the vicinity. There were groups of 4 heavy infantrymen securing the area in all directions so that they would be able to deal with monsters no matter where they came from.

 

You could see Hiro’s white breath in the cold as he gazed up at the night sky.

Liz comes out from the tent behind him.

 

「What’s wrong? We have to get up early tomorrow, too. You need to sleep… Are you perhaps hungry?」

 

Hiro shakes his head side to side.

 

「No, I was looking at the stars.」

 

Though, he had another reason as well…

 

「Do you like stars, Hiro?」

「That’s not it. But I’ve never seen them from so close before, so I was thinking it was

interesting.」

「I see.」

 

She stands close enough to hear his breathing.

Hiro looked up at the sky once again in order to hide his embarra.s.sment and shaking.

Maybe it was because they were near the peak, but the air was crisp and clean, and the stars were sparkling in the night sky.

It was an overwhelming brilliance that almost seemed to be within arm’s reach.

Though their breaths were dyed white, strangely enough, they didn’t feel the cold.

 

「I heard this from my mother a long time ago.」

 

Liz’s sweet, clear, transparent voice felt nice on the ears.

 

「When people die, they become spirits, and the souls which become spirits turn into stars, and together with the spirit king, they continue to watch over the world. Whenever you’re scared, whenever you’re sad, whenever you’re lonely, look up at the sky. If you do, you’ll know that you’re not alone.」

「That’s nice.」

「It’s a lullaby any citizen of the Empire knows.」

 

Liz’s white teeth peek out from her lips as she laughs sheepishly.

Then, Liz grasped Hiro’s left hand tightly.

 

「Now, let’s go back to the tent and go to sleep before you catch a cold.」

 

Hiro was dragged away before he even had time to be embarra.s.sed.

 

「W-Wait! Wait! We can’t!」

「Why not?」

「Wh-What do you mean why not…? A grown man and woman can’t sleep together in the same tent… 」

 

Yes, that was the reason he was outside.

After they finished pitching the tent, Liz uttered these words: 「You sleep here too, Hiro.」

After coming to the conclusion that he wanted to avoid that, he came up with the plan to kill time outside and wait until she fell asleep first.

But it seems that ended in vain.

 

「Cerberus is here, too.」

「Well, he is, but…」

 

Cerberus is already asleep in the tent.

 

「Come on, get in, get in!」

 

She pushed Hiro from behind, and he stumbled inside.

There is a lantern hanging from the top of the tent with a candle burning in it.

It’s enough to see everything inside, so it isn’t completely dark, but it was just the right amount of illumination to set a romantic mood to get the heart pounding.

An extremely thick blanket is lain on the ground to prevent the pebbles from hurting them.

Cerberus was camped out in the middle, and a bedcover-like blanket was prepared to his left.

 

「It would’ve been nice if we could’ve taken a bath… Sorry if I reek of sweat.」

「You know, I can’t sleep with you after all.」

「Eh, do I stink that much…?」

 

Sniff, sniff. Liz takes a whiff of her body odor with her finely shaped nose.

-That’s not it… Actually, I’m the one who reeks of sweat.

 

「You can’t really smell anything on yourself, huh? So let’s not worry about it and just go to sleep.」

「No, I’ll just sleep somewhere else… I really can’t sleep with-」

「Stop complaining already! I told you we have to get up early tomorrow, too!」

「Gah!」

 

Hiro felt an intense shock to his back and let out a gasp.

In an instant, his vision when black. When he opened his eyes, he was on his side.

He can see Liz’s face in his peripheral.

Though, there was no need for him to check with his eyes because he could feel her warmth all over his body.

 

「Cerberus doesn’t like me holding him when he sleeps.」

 

-Can you not use me for a subst.i.tute for something like that?

 

「Ahh… I feel like I can fall asleep right away today…」

 

On the other hand, Hiro couldn’t sleep because his heart was pounding so hard.

 

「Zzz-… Mm…」

「… She falls asleep really quickly.」

 

-Okay, what do I do now…?

It would been nice if he could hurry and count some sheep, but all he sees are demons.

He gets the feeling he’ll get evil thoughts if he looks to his side, even though he’s already in a dangerous predicament.

Hiro took on demon after demon as he fell into darkness…

 

Nothing feels longer than the time you’re awake.

Nothing feels shorter than the time you’re asleep.

Even when everyone was awake and putting away their tents, one man was still sleeping.

 

It was Hiro.

 

「Cerberus. Don’t you think he’s sleeping really soundly?」

『Woof.』

「I feel bad, but I have to wake him up.」

『Woof.』

 

Though his eyelids were heavy, Hiro’s consciousness was drawn out from the darkness after hearing that exchange.

As if to say he wanted to enjoy the warmth and happiness a bit longer, he pulled the blanket over his head.

As he did-,

 

「Guooooohh!」

 

Hiro’s eyes popped out as a shock spread from his stomach to his entire body.

 

「Oh…? That’s not the reaction I was expecting.」

 

He rolls over as he holds back the pain from his stomach. He wants to hide his pain, but his body won’t move.

Hiro could do nothing but gasp for breath, as if he were a fish that had washed ash.o.r.e.

 

「Hehe. Ahahah. Hahahahaha.」

 

Her laughters sounded like a quivering bell. Hiro looked towards her tear-filled eyes.

 

「H-Hiro… what’s with that look? What are you doing making me laugh first thing in the

morning?」

 

Liz held her stomach and looked like she was enjoying herself.

 

「Th-That’s my line… What are you doing?」

 

She was straddled over Hiro’s stomach.

It was where he was throbbing with pain.

It’s pretty much a given that she’s the cause of that pain.

He wanted to ask her why she was so violent.

 

「W-Well, I wanted to wake you up.」

「No, but still, there’s a gentler way of waking some-」

 

Hiro was unable to finish his sentence.

This was because there was an ogre standing at the entrance of the tent.

 

「… K-Kid. What are you doing…?」

 

It was Tris, with his muscular body built like a bear.

 

「N-No, you’ve got it all wrong!」

 

Though the situation looked fishy, the truth is that it was nothing s.e.xual.

Liz looked at Hiro, puzzled.

 

「What does he have wrong?」

「Can you just stay quiet?! You’re going to complicate things!」

 

This was a matter in which Hiro’s life was on the line.

Tris approached closer as he stomped his feet like a bear.

 

「To think that you were a beast with such a face… Princess, please get away from him. I must cut this one to pieces.」

 

The blade which came out smoothly from his waist gave off a dull light.

Unable to read the atmosphere, Liz tilted her head to the side.

 

「I don’t really understand what’s going on… but are we ready to depart?」

「… Well, we are, but…」

「Then let’s leave as soon as we eat breakfast.」

 

The weight above Hiro disappeared, and Liz stood up.

 

「Hiro, we have bread and soup for breakfast. Can you eat?」

「Ah, yeah… I’m fine.」

「Then let’s eat up and enter Baum! You too, Tris! Don’t just stand there in a daze, go eat your breakfast!」

「B-But, grr- Boy, I’ll let this pa.s.s for the Princess’s sake…」

 

Tris completely released his tension, dropped his shoulders, and left the tent.

As Hiro stroked his chest, Liz carried over his breakfast, which he began to eat.

He took a sip of his soup and bit into a slightly hard piece of bread. The soup had chicken meat and was well seasoned with salt.

Cerberus sat right in front of him as if he wanted some.

Then, as he turned away, Liz was there changing.

 

「Huh? You’re cha- whoa!」

 

He spit up his breakfast all over Cerberus’s face, but that was the least of his worries.

 

「Wha, cough, what, cough cough, what are… you doing?!」

「What do you mean? I’m changing.」

「Why are you changing?!」

「I can’t take a bath, but I want to change my underwear at least.」

「Well, that’s true, but I’m in here.」

「Is there a problem?」

 

Liz tilted her head and looked at him, puzzled.

Considering the incident last night as well, rather than saying she’s unfamiliar, it would be more accurate to say that she’s completely lacking in knowledge in that department.

Maybe she can’t help it because she’s an Imperial princess.

But that’s really dangerous.

-For my life, mainly…

I’m sure Tris would kill me if he saw this situation.

 

「Listen closely to what I’m about to say.」

「Can it wait until I change?」

「W-Wait, wait! Just hold on a second!」

「Come on, what is it?!」

「I’ll turn around, so can you change during that time?」

「I don’t really mind… But why?」

「There isn’t any deep meaning to it. I’m going to turn around! Okay?!」

「… I don’t really understand, but okay.」

 

After Hiro turned around, the tent was overrun with the sound of cloth rubbing.

It was as if the sounds were reverberating like a water drop falling into a pool of water.

Each second felt extremely long, and Hiro just waited quietly as the torturous time pa.s.sed by.

 

「I’m done.」

「Phew…」

 

He suddenly started sweating profusely. He felt fatigued, as if he had been running for a long period of time.

Liz, who was oblivious to the atmosphere around Hiro, began to eat her breakfast right in front of him.

 

「… Anyway, I should eat, too.」

 

Though Hiro thought he would finally be able to eat some food, Cerberus had already eaten everything without leaving a single sc.r.a.p.