CH 66

T/N: Unfortunately, I’m sick right now so brace for more Lesbian Suffering without the future chapters that resolve it. It’s not COVID, I’m feeling much better by the time I’m editing this.

Also, yet more period talk.

For the time being, the catastrophe beneath me subsided in a few days, but it was not a fundamental solution. Sanitary products for people in this world are extremely inconvenient.

The first is the so-called tampon. It’s a method of inserting it directly, blocking the flow, and letting it seep into it. I can’t do this as I’m afraid for some reason… I can’t do it because I’m scared of sticking something in down there.

Next is the so-called napkin, but it’s also inconvenient and can’t be helped. Simply put, a belt is wrapped around the waist and a rolled cloth is passed through the crotch and affixed there. In other words, it’s like wearing a loincloth. This is very annoying and I can’t help but worry about it slipping. Moreover, it is not possible to replace it easily, so it will be like leaving it on all day.

The only other way is to let it soak into my clothes or sit on the toilet so that it doesn’t drip, or rather, the chamberpot… and try to squeeze it out all at once.

For me, all the hurdles are high and difficult. I wonder if there’s a simple and easy way even for me, a female beginner…

That’s why I came up with the idea of a napkin-type evolution. If it’s a napkin, I can still endure it. However, the current loincloth type is not very good because it is inconvenient and disgusting. So at least I want to develop a napkin that even I can endure.

For that, the first step is making underwear. Without underwear that can hold the napkin in place, the napkin type would not work. At first, I would have no choice but to hang it on my belt, but if I could get rubber, I would like to develop it into modern underwear that is fastened with rubber.

In neighboring countries, including the Kingdom of Ploiss, wool is the key material; cotton or silk fabrics are not impossible to acquire, but it’s totally dependent on imports, so they are extremely rare, expensive, and hard to get.

All right! Let’s start with cotton farming. If you can get cotton, it’s easy to make underwear. My apologies to wool underwear, but cotton underwear is not so different from modern Japanese underwear. Since it can’t be tightened with rubber, it may need to be hung from a belt or something, but it’s better than the rolled cloth loincloth I have now.

However, cotton can only be grown in warm regions. You will need more water. As for the water, the Dierbe River has an abundant amount of water, so if cotton is grown near the Dierbe River on the east side, it will be fine, but the temperature is the only thing that can’t be helped. Europe depends on cotton imports not only because of the cost but also because the environment is not suitable for cultivation.

If it’s too cold and unsuitable for cultivation, a vinyl greenhouse! I mean, there’s no vinyl here… in that case, it’s costly and I’m not sure about safety, but I have no choice but to build a glass-enclosed greenhouse. Of course, glass is also expensive, so it costs a lot.

But I know that already! I will definitely make sanitary products that satisfy me! If not… another catastrophe will occur…

First, let’s make a prototype of the product. I asked the Kruck Trading Firm to prepare cotton fabrics to make underwear and napkins. Then, in order to ensure a stable supply of cotton and reduce the price, we’ll start to grow cotton on our own.

In order to grow cotton, we need a greenhouse, so let’s build a glass production factory to make single sheets of transparent glass.

For now, I’m going to make a greenhouse by applying natural resin to the glass that is available even in the current situation and turning it into a laminated glass. You should be able to make cellulose from cotton as well as things like resin. I have to start researching that…

Research on glass manufacturing, resin from cotton, research cellulose refining methods, and once the greenhouse is completed, cotton cultivation will begin. The cotton seeds should be useful for cooking oil as well. In addition, the pomace can also be used as feed for ruminant livestock. It is supposed to be toxic to monogastric animals that do not chew the cud, but it can be used as fodder for cattle. The number of cows on the ranch has increased recently, so it’s just right.

I think I can make a bra out of cotton fabric. For now, let’s get the fabric from Kruck and then design the underwear.

Today I got to go to Mikoto’s place later than usual. I was knocked out by Father during the morning training and I lost consciousness for a while. By the time I realized it, a lot of time had passed and I couldn’t leave my paperwork alone, so I was pressed for time. And now I finally see Mikoto at the usual place.

“Floto! You’re late! You’re late… I thought you wouldn’t come…” Mikoto said.

Her appearance is clearly strange. She doesn’t get angry or yell. She’s making a lot of noise, but it’s not that she’s angry, it’s like she’s clinging to me and crying. No, is she actually crying? I just happened to be a little late today.

“Mikoto? Did something happen?” I asked.

“It was like you weren’t going to come anymore, Floto… uuu…” Mikoto sobbed.

I patted her back as she clung to me and sobbed, and while I asked her what was wrong, the answer didn’t change. There will be times when there are problems. There must be days when I can’t come and days when Mikoto can’t come.

But… if you think about it calmly… there was a day when I said I couldn’t come because I had something to do, but was there a day when Mikoto didn’t come? Mikoto comes here before me every day and leaves after me. And there was never a day when Mikoto told me she couldn’t come here.

“Oh! That’s right! Today, I brought that rice bran you’ve been asking about for a while, Floto,” Mikoto said. “I’ve asked how to plant it and manage it, too.”

“Huh? I see…” I said.

And suddenly she’s freaking out… Mikoto…?

“Moving on! Yesterday, there was a maid at my House, you know,” Mikoto said.

“Uh-huh…” I said.

As usual, we sit side by side and talk. But what? This dramatic mood shift… since when? Since when was it like this…?

“Geeze, Floto! Are you listening to me?” Mikoto yelled.

“I’m listening?” I said.

Mikoto puffed out her cheeks while hugging my arm and looking up at me with her head on my arm as if she was spoiled for hugging me. She’s cute. But this is…

“Me! Me, you know? Do you like me, Floto? Hey… what about you, Floto? Do you like me back?” Mikoto said.

“Uh… what do you mean…?” I asked.

She suddenly had a bewitching smile and rubbed her body against my arm.

“’What do you mean?’, I don’t care what you take it to mean, okay?” Mikoto said. “If you want to do something like that with other girls, Floto, you can, and if you want to be with just me, that’s fine. I just want to be by your side, Floto, I’m happy then.”

My reason wavers as Mikoto gets closer and closer to me as she says it.

If Mikoto herself wants it, then why don’t I just do yuri things to my heart’s content as I wish? I’ve always wanted to do it, but I couldn’t. Why should you hesitate when there is a pretty girl who accepts that in front of you?

“Mikoto… I…” I started.

Mikoto, whose cheeks are dyed red and with a slight smile on her face, gradually gets even closer to me…

Paa-ahn!

“Huh?! Floto!” Mikoto yelled. “What did you do? Aaah! Floto, your beautiful face is bright red!”

I slapped myself on the cheek. It was quite drastic…

It hurts a lot. But the pain makes my cloudy head clear up. Am I an idiot? This is not what I want… since when did I make Mikoto like this? I’m the cause of everything…

“Mikoto… listen carefully…” I said.

Once I grabbed Mikoto’s shoulders and made her let go, I looked straight into her eyes and talked to her.

“That’s neither love nor affection. Right now, Mikoto, you’re just dependent on me. I wonder why I didn’t notice until now… I’m sorry… I’m really sorry.”

“Floto?” Mikoto asked.

She tilted her head with a dumbfounded look on her face as if she didn’t understand what I was saying. Mikoto probably doesn’t have friends of the same age as her where she comes from. It’s because I still haven’t heard her say anything about other kids her age.

And the house servants and maids who come out from time to time don’t care about Mikoto at all. I feel uncomfortable when Mikoto talks about such people. It’s because Mikoto herself isn’t included in her stories. Mikoto’s stories are told only from the point of view of someone looking at them from afar. Mikoto is not a character in her stories.

Is Mikoto doing this on her own initiative, or are those around her avoiding Mikoto? I don’t know about that, but the only thing I do know is that Mikoto has no one but me, Floto, to talk to like this. That’s why Mikoto has become dependent on me.

I wondered where the bullish attitude from the beginning had gone. There were signs that when I started talking to her, so distraught and crying because I was a little late, then suddenly jumping back into a good mood as usual… how come I didn’t notice that? Why didn’t I notice that?

Mikoto’s mental state is clearly unstable. And she relies on me to stabilize that instability.

This is no good. We can’t stay like this… this is not good for Mikoto’s sake…

It wouldn’t be normal for a 13-year-old child to come to a place like this every day and be alone, even if there were villages and towns nearby. If it was just the first day, it would have been enough to just happen to be nearby. But it’s not normal to come like this every day.

“Mikoto… do you have any friends other than me?” I asked.

“Huh?!” Mikoto snapped. “I, I don’t care about that! More importantly, at my House this morning…”

“Mikoto! Answer me properly…” I said.

Mikoto tried to turn away, I stared into her eyes and spoke in a slightly forceful tone.

“There’s no way… I would ever need them!” Mikoto cried. “I don’t need them! All I need is you, Floto! No one else! I don’t need anyone else! Why don’t you understand? All I need is you, Floto!”

…………. This is… how far it’s come…

It seems that I have done something very cruel to Mikoto… I was just happy to hang out with a pretty girl here. But from Mikoto’s point of view, it wasn’t like that.

Perhaps she was alone in her hometown, no, judging from her reaction just now, she might have been bullied and intentionally left out of the group by those around her.

The servants and maids of her House probably don’t care much about Mikoto either. They just take care of her as their job. That’s why when Mikoto decided to exchange bento, no one taught her how to cook.

It may be the reason why I couldn’t immediately ask about how to grow rice and soybeans, how to make soy sauce, miso, and how to get rice bran, and how to manage them all. Mikoto wasn’t lazy. She didn’t have anyone who would listen to her and give that kind of explanation, so she could only listen to fragments over and over.

And seeing me here every day like this must make Mikoto even more isolated. She becomes immersed in playing with me and becomes increasingly estranged from other people and becomes even more isolated in her hometown. If I just keep playing around with Mikoto, Mikoto will be in big trouble in the future.

What will I do? What should I do? How can I make amends to Mikoto who has become like this?

Should I take responsibility for what happened and take care of her for the rest of my life? That’s so idiotic… it’s the worst thing you can do to force them to rely on one person and keep them on hand all the time. If that happens, Mikoto will become even more dependent on me and will not be able to interact properly with the people around her. Even if my desire to keep Mikoto nearby satisfies her, it only aggravates the symptoms, Mikoto will only become more and more troubled.

“… Mikoto, let’s stop seeing each other.”

“–! Wha-What are you talking about, Floto?” Mikoto asked.

She looks frightened. Like an abandoned puppy, like a child abandoned by its parents, it looks like she’s desperately clinging to me.

“Right now, you’ve become dependent on me, Mikoto,” I said. “If you keep living like this, you won’t be able to live a proper life. That’s why…”

“What’s wrong!? What’s wrong with that? Isn’t it fine? Why can’t I just stay with you all the time, Floto!?” Mikoto yelled. “I don’t have any problems with that! As long as you’re here, that’s fine! You can do what you want, Floto, so please let me always be by your side!”

Ah… it has gone this far. Have I made it go this far? I don’t think this can be fixed that easily. At the least, I can’t think of a gentler way.

“Mikoto! Five people… No, three is fine. Make three friends other than me who are the same age as you. Try playing with them and other people of the same age as you. Three friends. I won’t see you again until you can make three friends! Then it’ll be alright!”

“Ah! Wait! Wait, Floto! Floto~~~~!!” Mikoto squealed.

“Uu…” I sobbed.

I shake off Mikoto’s hand, turned on my heels, and ran through the forest. My eyes are blurry and I can’t see well. Still, it’s a road I’ve continued to travel until now. I kept running even though I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t stop crying when I heard Mikoto’s voice growing ever more distant.