29.Confused Heart

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“……Why are you even here?”

Under a blue sky in a town bustling with reconstruction work, my voice came out harsh in contrast. I’m sure if I were to look in a mirror right now, I’d see my gaze just as cold.

“Uh… I don’t know what might happen when you’re alone, so I’m just concerned.”

“I’m even more concerned if you keep following me around.”

“Guh?!”

I couldn’t help but feel awkward around those two, so I ran out into town aimlessly, but for some reason, Reiji-san was right behind me. As much as I wanted to hurry up to distance myself from him, our difference in leg stride was so great that he was able to keep up with me just by walking at a leisurely pace, which was really irritating.

“I said I’m sorry! I didn’t know things would go that badly…”

“Badly, you say…?”

When I thought back to that time, my face was burning with embarrassment, and tears spilled from my eyes. Reiji-san grew flustered at such a sight, but I couldn’t stop the wave of emotions that is surging through me.

“Do you have any idea how humiliated I felt?! The two of you… kept on violating my body over and over, no matter how much I told you to STOP!!”

“Heyheyhey, could you not word it like that, people are going to get the wrong idea!”

I shouted in anger, as my uncontrolled emotions ran wild. Every time I looked at Reiji-san’s face, I was reminded of that embarrassing experience when I exposed myself so foolishly, and I lashed out at him.

…Truth be told, I believed that Reiji-san wasn’t entirely at fault.

I was the one who asked him to examine the pattern on my back in the first place, and I didn’t expect things to turn out that way either.

As much as I wanted to blame him for what happened, I couldn’t forgive myself for making such a blunder in front of him and then behaving in a not-so-pretty way afterward…

And yet… I was still so embarrassed that I could neither look him in the eye nor let bygones be bygones…

Thus, an entire day had passed without me being able to do anything meaningful.

…What about Saul-niisama? I don’t know, how about him grow a pair and take responsibility?

“By the way, it seems a peddler has arrived in town.”

“Yeah, no wonder the kids are so excited.”

As I wandered around aimlessly, trying to lift my sinking spirit, I overheard a conversation among the townspeople.

“A peddler, huh. Not a bad idea to pay him a visit, don’t you think? We might be able to plan our next destination.”

Apparently Reiji-san had also heard about it… This could be a chance for us to make up.

“…Um, Reiji-san.”

Ugh, I must be looking like a sulking child right now. I really hated it.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“I want to see what kind of goods a peddler sells, you know…”

For some reason, I couldn’t finish the rest of my sentence, as the words died in my throat… but if I couldn’t be honest with myself here and keep running away, an opportunity like this might not come again.

I squeezed my eyes shut, took a few deep breaths, corrected my trembling voice and told him with all my might.

“…If you agree to go with me, I’ll forgive you for what happened.”

“Excuse me?!”

Did I make a mistake again?

I tilted my head at Reiji-san, who suddenly became flustered.

While Reiji-san seemed to be occupied with something over there, I was engrossed with the knick-knacks in front of me. It was no longer common in my original world to see so many of the various goods that were spread out by the peddler, spread out all over the town square. The small items, each of which seemed to be handmade and slightly different from each other, were pleasing to the eye, and there were several materials that I had never seen before.

I used to not be so interested in these accessories, but now I enjoyed just looking at them. Come to think of it, my taste buds seemed to be changing as well. Compared to my old self, I was more of a sweet tooth, while at the same time my spice tolerance had dropped… I got a little anxious and secretly pinched my belly area lightly. Yeah, I wasn’t getting puffy or anything… probably.    

It happened when I picked up one of the merchandise.

I casually picked up a brooch in the shape of a dark-blue flower with a faint iridescent glow. It looked very beautiful, but the moment I touched it, I felt something tugging at my heartstrings.

“…Huh?”

My field of view tilted, and the world seemed to be turning… No, it’s me who’s going to be…

“Watch out!”

The next moment I felt a quick and light shock, and someone held me up.

I blinked my eyes at the blue sky that suddenly spread out in front of me and Reiji-san’s worried face looking down at me.

…What just happened?

“Are you feeling unwell? You just collapsed all of a sudden.”

“I… collapsed?”

When I came back to my senses, my small figure was held up in Reiji-san’s embrace.

I could feel my heart thumping a little… that’s weird, isn’t it?

“Yes, you did. Again, are you feeling unwell?”

Reiji-san looked at me in concern, apparently unaware of my new weird emotions. What a relief… Wait, why was I relieved?

“Well, not really… Ah.”

“What happened?!”

“My legs… they aren’t moving. The enhancement magic wore off… I think.”

Yes, the reason why I collapsed was because my legs were unable to support my weight when the enhancement magic suddenly wore off.

“I see, so it’s no big deal. It’s rare that you misread the effect duration, though.”

That couldn’t be. The magic was supposed to last for three hours. It was not possible for it to wear off after only a few dozen minutes of running out of the room.

“…Anyway, I’m going to recast the spell. ‘Physical Enhance’.”

The elementary level magic took little time to chant, and my body was momentarily enveloped in the familiar faint magical light… or not.

I didn’t feel anything at all.

“Huh…? ‘Physical Enhance’… ‘Physical Enhance’!”

No matter how many times I tried, there was no response. Oh, no.

That enhancement magic was the only way I could be able to live a normal life in this world. What am I supposed to do now?

Blood drained from my face, and a feeling of panic slowly eroded my chest.

As I impatiently recited the magic over and over, an apologetic voice called out to me from behind.

“Dear customer… I think you’re unable to use magic because of that brooch you’re holding.”

“You mean this?”

I was still holding on to the brooch from earlier. I returned it to the peddler and tried casting the spell again, this time without any problems.

“I’m sorry if I inconvenienced you.”

“Don’t worry, miss, I’m glad that you weren’t hurt. It’s my fault too for not explaining it sooner. It’s not often that I found someone relying on magic for everyday life this far from the cities…”

As it turned out, the brooch was made from a material that could nullify magic of its surroundings to some extent. It was newly discovered in recent years near a village not far from here, on the road leading to the city. Especially in this northern continent, which had a large concentration of magic users and magic tools, it was said that a license issued by the government was required for handling more than a certain amount of this material, as it might be used for criminal purposes. That’s what the peddler explained to us.

Recently, however, research was being conducted on its use as a material for magical tools after processing, and there was a booming demand for it in places where it could be mined. Because of its brittleness, it didn’t seem to be used to create restraints or something like that, which is a relief for a moment, but…

“Reiji-san, there was no such thing back in the game, right?”

“Maybe Miriam knows a thing or two about it, but as far as I know, that material is unheard of.”

“…I have a bad feeling about this.”

All too conveniently, a recently discovered material appeared in front of us, one that did not seem to exist at the time of the game. Such a material seemed to be used in everyday products without question… I couldn’t say for sure what it is, but I couldn’t help but feel something fishy about it.

“My apologies, dear customers, but this is getting too much for my unmarried heart to bear… Could you continue somewhere else?”

“Yes?”

“Hmm?”

I looked around when the peddler said something unexpected.

…Why were we getting so much attention?

The crowd was happily whispering to each other, and I could hear some of the women squealing… Ah.

“S-s-s-s-sorry, I didn’t mean it, Reiji-san!”

“N-n-no, it’s my fault too!”

I was still held in Reiji-san’s arms.

I immediately got off from his arms and sat down on the ground, and Reiji-san quickly moved away from me.

All I could do was pinch the edges of my hood down to shut out my burning hot face from the eyes of those around me.

My heart was threatening to jump out of my chest… I think I might have gone somewhat crazy after all…

I hope it’s not a bad disease.