“Sorry to surprise you.”
“It’s alright… Why are you here, Celestial-sama?”
“Just call me Shigeto. Celestial-sama sounds a bit embarrassing.”
“Shigeto-san, then.”
“No need for honorifics either. I was just taking a stroll around here.”
“A stroll?”
“Yeah. It’s been a while since I came to this town, but I hadn’t paid much attention to it. Had some time on my hands.”
A stroll… It seemed like a habit not common for someone barely scraping by. The kid listened to my story with a curious expression.
“Is this your house?”
“Yeah… it is.”
“Wow. Such a spacious house. Was it originally a restaurant or something? Your grandfather…”
“Yeah. He used to run a restaurant and inn… it’s…”
“No need for ‘it’s’… Right, a restaurant and inn, huh?… You live here alone?”
“Yeah…”
The boy almost said “it’s” but swallowed his words. Yeah, kids are straightforward.
“What were you doing on the roof? Fixing a leak?”
“When it rains, water drips in… there’s holes.”
“I see… Would you mind if I take a look?”
“Huh? But…”
“Well, I’m not very knowledgeable about buildings, but… where does the water leak from?”
“Over here.”
Entering inside, it was clear that it wasn’t in a condition fit for living. Yet, amidst the signs of life here and there, I followed the kid, feeling a bit gloomy. The boy headed straight for the stairs and ascended to the second floor.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Vito.”
“I see. Nice to meet you, Vito.”
“Nice to… meet you, Shigeto.”
Ascending to the second floor, a corridor stretched out left and right, with about five rooms lined up. Though all the doors seemed unhinged and broken, it certainly looked like an inn.
Looking up where we were led, there was no ceiling. It was like a log house with wooden beams forming the roof.
There were buckets placed here and there, probably to catch the leaks. The windows were open, and peering out, I saw a ladder right in front. He must have climbed to the roof from here earlier.
…But it seemed impossible.
It’s too risky to try some acrobatic stunt like descending from the second-floor roof. Just imagining it made me break out in a cold sweat.
“What’s the roof like?”
“It’s curled up… probably from there.”
“I see…”
“I’m just not good with heights… Seems like I can’t climb up from here.”
“Heights?”
“Yeah. I feel bad for not being able to help after offering. I just thought I could check out the attic or wherever the leaks might be coming from…”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Earlier, with the wooden boards…?”
“Yeah.”
Somehow, I felt like even if we put boards and hammered nails, it wouldn’t work. I had memories of struggling to fix leaks back at home.
“Does Vito live here alone?”
“Yeah, on the first floor.”
“Aren’t you lonely?”
“…I don’t know.”
“I see… Well… let me try consulting with some people from the state army.”
“The state army?”
“Yeah, you know, there might be people like blacksmiths or those with various technical skills there. Even the dorm we live in, or the mess hall, seem to have been recently fixed up nicely.”
“But I don’t have money…”
“Hmm…”
Money, huh… Money… I’m not officially enlisted in the federal army yet, so I don’t have a salary. I manage somehow since everything at the military mess is free…
For now, I promised to think of something and parted ways with Vito.
“…Still, should I take a bath…”
Unable to do anything, I reluctantly left. Though I felt a tug at the back of my mind, I decided to freshen up in the bath and head back to the dorm.
Returning to the dorm, three people were chatting in the lounge. Seeing me fresh out of the bath, Kimishima grumbled.
“If you were going to take a bath, you should have invited us.”
“I came back and nobody was here… Yeah, sorry about that.”
“It’s fine.”
“Where were you, Kimishima?”
“I went out with Mera-chan for her meal, the two of us.”
“I see… There are monsters outside, so be careful.”
“Yes. But it’s safe around here. Sensei, what about your meal?”
“I was planning to have it after you all came back.”
“Hehehe. Well then, let’s go.”
And the four of us headed to the dining hall together. Quite belatedly, I realized the dining hall was adjacent to the dormitory. Perhaps due to the timing of our meals overlapping, the dining hall was quite crowded and noisy.
“Is there a place for four of us to sit?”
“Um, ah, over there… Maybe it’s better to avoid it.”
Nishina found a table, where Yazzak, Paldomihov, and Sid were sitting and eating together. Apparently, the other state soldiers were reluctant to sit at the same table, so there was room at the large table.
But perhaps with the earlier incident with Sid still fresh in their minds, they looked at me with a questioning expression.
“Well then, how about you guys go take a bath first?”
“That sounds good.”
As I was about to give up and leave the dining hall, I suddenly locked eyes with Yazzak. I gave a slight nod before attempting to leave the dining hall… And then…
“Shigeto-san! Over here!”
Yazzak-san stood up and waved his hand towards us. Paldomihov and Sid, who were facing away, also turned towards us.
“Ugh…”
“Hey! Sakuragi!”
While muttering a word of warning to Sakura, I glanced at Kimishima’s face. She looked a bit troubled and whispered, “Well, can’t be helped,” in a low voice. Yeah, nothing can be done about it.
We squeezed through the crowded table and headed towards Yazzak-san’s table. Paldomihov also stood up to greet us, and Sid hurriedly followed suit.
“Um… Is it alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. Please, we were just chatting anyway.”
“Hahaha…”
What could they have been talking about? With a sense of unease lingering, we decided to use the table and headed to the counter to get our food.
Today… Was it grilled meat? Perhaps steak. I felt a bit happy about that. We lined up with the others to get some vegetables and other dishes, and they were all put on a large plate.
“Less veggies for me!”
“There you go again!”
“Yeah, Miki-chan, you should eat a bit more veggies~”
“Yeah, you heard what Senpai said.”
“Mmm~”
Judging from the exchange at the counter, it seemed they didn’t really mind us joining their table. Once we got our food, we headed back to the table. Holding the plates… I hesitated about where to sit.
On one side of the table, Yazzak-san sat, opposite him was Paldomihov, and Sid was next to him. Yazzak-san welcomed me to sit next to him, so the problem lay with sitting next to Sid. Kimishima naturally came to sit next to me. Glancing briefly at Nishina, he nodded and smoothly took the seat next to Sid. And next to him, Sakuragi sat.
“Thanks for your hard work today!”
As we sat down, Yazzak-san happily addressed us. Sid seemed quieter than I expected.
“Today’s meat seems to be Dirty Boar that you guys brought back the other day.”
“Oh, it might be the first time we’re eating meat we caught ourselves.”
“Dirty Boar is popular, so whenever we catch some, it always ends up in the mess hall.”
“I see. That’s a bit of a relief.”
Yeah, even though it was the students who took it down, I helped with gutting it, so it was fine. Somehow, I felt a little pleased about experiencing something that wasn’t typical in Japan.
