CH 51

「 It’s my turn. 」

「 Thank you very much. I have prepared tea, so please do help yourself to it. 」

I checked the stars to check whether I woke up at the right time for my shift.

The starry sky is different from Japan’s, but there is a star in the north celestial pole and it remains stationary. It is brighter than the one in my memory, but there are stars called ‘time stars’ beside it. Just as the name implies, you can tell the general time based on the position of these time stars when you look up at the night sky.

「 I won’t go back to sleep after, so you can use my blanket. 」

「 That is very tempting, however, I cannot disregard Ash-sama. 」

Butler politely refused, then he pulled the hood over his face and lied down under that tree that was a little further from the bonfire. He might be the guy most unsuitable for camping. Ah, but he does seem to suit the night?

Some of the guys lied down while wrapping their coats around them tightly, while some removed their coats and used that as a blanket. There were also some who liked to curl like a ball.

I poured some of the tea that Butler prepared into a cup and warmed myself with it. The night was still very cold, even if it was not as cold as winter.

Back on the island, I would gaze at the stars while anxiety seeped through me, so I couldn’t help but roll around, but now, I even had the leeway to remember the stars. I might have noticed that this was not Japan if I had been calm, because even though it was cold, Cassiopeia and Orion were nowhere to be found.

The stars are beautiful, be it on the island, or now.

I gazed at the night sky while listening to everyone’s breathing as they slept and the occasional crackling of the fire.

Az flew to me, then he tried to slip into my fingers that were holding the cup. He finally stopped when it looked like I was gripping him, probably satisfied in this position.

I heard that sparrows and other birds that were sensitive to cold loved being clutched once they became familiar with the person. But for spirits to be sensitive to cold — oh, depending on the type, I guess. Riche and other ice spirits are probably not bothered by it. Ah, but he had been lying on his back before the fireplace right. What?

Well, he’s cute, so it doesn’t really matter. I stopped thinking about it deeply, then switched the cup to my other hand. Butler’s spirit was fluttering around in the bowers. It might be sneakily spying on me, I guess. I put down my cup then poured water in a dish. It’s water from my house, but maybe the blessing dissipates if it’s inside the canteen? When I placed the dish on a spot a bit further away, the spirit bathed, so it’s probably okay.

「 Morning, I’m switching with you. 」

「 Morning, here, some snacks. 」

I had a lot of time on my hands, so I started sorting out the names of the spirits*, and now it’s time to switch shifts, huh. Time really flies when you’re doing something, I guess.

「Thank you. Not only for the snacks. I’ve been in your care for a lot of things already. 」

「 Don’t worry about it, I’m just free. 」

「 I received a lot. 」

「 I got the potion fee back, plus I just made that stuff as part of my hobby… 」

She had a strong sense of duty, since she repaid me for the potion after the issue with the scammer inn was solved.

By the way, Ash’s face is steadily becoming more terrifying, but what’s the reason? She’s not angry most of the time, so unless there’s a prelude or something, like when she saw something cute, or when she ate something delicious, then I can’t guess the reason.

She still hasn’t touched the Florentine biscuits I gave her, right? It’s a snack baked from crispy sable dough with caramel-dipped sliced almonds, but it keeps well, so I thought it was great. I brought this and dried squids as snacks.

「 Jean is a great guy, so I know you’ll be happy. 」

「 Thanks? 」

「 Mm. Those confessions were just lumped with pranks. 」

Eh, so this is a continuation of our earlier convo during dinner? Don’t tell me, you’re comforting me? But a lot of time has already passed, though.

「Well, I’ve also had some good encounters and met a lot of great guys since then, so I’m currently trying to improve my mistrust of people. 」

The 【 Cut Ties 】 skill also contributed a lot to my peace of mind.

「 Mm, really. I’ll be happy if your encounter with me is part of that. 」

「 Of course, you’re right on the mark. Alright, I’ll go now. 」

I’m a bit embarrassed, so I retreat. Ash is taciturn, but she is honestly frank.

「 Take care. 」

That’s what she said, but I was going home to take a stroll, though.

「 You too. 」

I also called out to her. I watched Az as he flew towards Ash and perched on her shoulder, then I entered the forest. Since when did I think that moonlight was bright enough for me?

And so, I went home and endured the urge to grab and eat some white rice. I came here to walk Riche and for toilet breaks, plus, I already decided that I wouldn’t bring something new from here.

If I didn’t draw the line, then I wouldn’t know when to be content, plus, there wouldn’t be an end to choosing stuff. I’d also feel guilty since I was supposed to be in the same situation as the others.

「 Riche, let’s go. 」

He probably sensed that I was here. He came rushing towards me from the bedroom, and I called out to him as I went outside.

I had been walking through the forest since yesterday, but this place was familiar, so it made me at ease. Riche came bounding and he overtook me, then he stopped to sniff the ground. He ran again when I caught up to him. He then stopped again, probably because he saw something, and we repeated this for a while.

Riche is adorable. Yup, it’s fine even if he does have some kind of weird fetish.

————-

E/N: *We believe this is talking about Jean sorting through the re-named spirits(like Olive that he uses to help him control the other spirits) and the generic named spirits(like green 1, green 2, etc). Although it only implied he had a notebook for the original naming session, he might also be adding/sorting through the names he’s added since to that implied notebook.