Tensei Shite Inaka de Slowlife wo Okuritai

Chapter 81: Souvenir for Torr

「I’m going!」 I woke up hearing Eleonora-neesan’s gallant and faint voice coming from downstairs.

I raised my upper body that was on the bed, and after stretching to the utmost, I pushed open the wooden window.

And as expected, it was Eleonora-neesan with her reddish brown ponytail swaying.

Swaying quietly on her hair, is the scrunchie that I gave her yesterday as a souvenir.

It was made of white fabric with red polka dots on it.

I was kinda afraid that she would say something like 「I don’t need such things」, but the person herself received most of the things that I bought and she looked like she was quite pleased with it.

The remaining souvenirs are those things that I bought and don't suit Eleonora-neesan, I guess.

I think women’s fashion is complicated, since there are still some souvenirs that I thought to be pretty good.

In any case, I’m also as happy as Eleonora-neesan who put it on immediately.

I watched as Eleonora-neesan disappear into the distance with satisfaction, then I got dressed for the morning.

Usually I head towards the dining room as it is, but I’m going to go to Torr’s house today so I decided to change into clothes for going outside.

As I change into a green shirt, brown pants and a relatively easy-to-move clothes, I hear a voice coming from the hallway.

「Uwaa!　What are you doing?」

「Heheheー, it’s a pin I bought at the royal capital. It looks good on me right?」

「Ehー?　It doesn’t suit you. Your forehead is in plain sight and you look three times as silly as usual.」

「Mel-san you’re so mean!　You said the same thing as Alfried-sama!　Nord-sama and Elna-sama are praising me you know, saying that it’s cute while smiling!?」

「……isn’t that you being laughed at?　Why don’t you try to get your face closer to Elna-sama. That way, you can tell by yourself whether you’re being praised or laughed at. 」

「Why can’t you just praise me obediently! There’s no way that’s going to be true!」

「Then, let’s go see Elna-sama.」

「Sure, I don’t mind.」

Mina walked with her chest puffed up as if she was angry, while Mel walked as if she was saying 「Good grief」.

I came out of my room, and slowly walked behind the two of them.

「……I guess breakfast will be noisy todayー」

Sara - who was carrying the plates - greeted me when I entered the dining room a bit later than Mina and Mel.

「Good morning」

「Morning Sara」

After she greeted me, Sara quickly carried the plates away.

Compared to her, the other person is,

「Elna-sama?　Why didn’t you look at me today?」

Trying to confirm the truth of what Mel said to her before.

「That’s not true. It’s just your imagination.」

「No!　Ever since I entered this room, Elna-sama never once did you look at my face!」

Mina brought her face closer, but Elna-kaasan just held her teacup with a composed smile on her face.

But, I know the truth. That Elna-kaasan is actually laughing.

As for how did I know, that’s because her face is a little stiff from her usual gentle smile. And the corner of her mouth is raised a little and it’s also twitching *pikupiku*.

And the teacup is tilted in such a way as if to hide it.

「Ara Al, you’re up already. Morning.」

「Morning Elna-kaasan」

It’s obvious that she is trying to change the subject.

「Please don’t change the subject!」

「You said that you’re going to Torr-kun’s house right. Is it to give him his souvenir?」

Mina became angry and tried to make the conversation go back to the previous one, but Elna-kaasan ignored her and opened up a conversation with me.

「Un, that’s right. I’ll go after having breakfast.」

「Oh. Speaking of souvenirs, Eleonora looks extremely happy when she wears the scrunchie. She woke up early in the morning and look quite pleased by the scrunchie.」

「Fufufu」Elna-kaasan said that with a gentle smile on her face while sipping on her tea.

If I woke up earlier, then I might be able to see such a rare spectacle huh.

「Speaking of souvenirs, look at the pin I’m wearing! Elna-sama!　」

「Yes yes, your forehead is in plain sight and you looks three times as silly as usual Mina.」

Because Mina has been too noisy since the morning, I decisively said it.

And at that moment, maybe Elna-kaasan’s throat was blocked by her tea or something, she started to have a coughing fit.

She appears to be coughing painfully, but her shoulders are clearly shaking.

「Elna-sama, here’s a towel!」

「Thank you Mina――pfft!」

Elna-kaasan finally bursts out laughing when she receives the towel presented by Mina and sees her face completely.

「Uwaaaaaaaa!　Alfried-sama and Elna-sama are also meaaann!」

Mina rushed out of the dining room forcefully.

In the end, the one who saw Mina and didn’t laugh is only Bartolo.

Sylvio-niisan gave a wry smile, while Nord-tousan also burst out laughing as he got careless in his office.

◆

After the noisy breakfast ended, I head towards Torr’s house with Bartolo’s handmade bento and the goblins’s sword wrapped in a cloth

Heading toward the village while stepping on the soil with a crunching sound *jarijari*. I took a deep breath while basking in the warm spring sunlight.

The smell of soil and the greeneries shot through my nose. It feels like eating mint. I proceed along the road while listening to the sounds of birds chirping.

Before long, when I get closer to the village, the field enters my view, and I can see the villagers swinging their hoes to plow the field. When I look closely, I can see Roland-ossan wiping his sweat and swinging his hoe.

Since we’re quite far from each other, I’m gonna pass without calling him this time.

I wonder if the wheat sprout will grow quickly this year…?

When I’m heading towards Torr’s house - a house with a reddish roof - I hear the sounds of something like a firewood being chopped from nearby.

I got quite curious, so I walked in the direction of the sounds.

Immediately after, I see Torr’s figure raising an axe to chop a firewood.

When Torr noticed me, he came and greeted me with an excessively happy look.

「Ooh! It’s Al!　I’ve been waiting for you!」

「Can I just give you your souvenir and go home?」

I got a bad feeling seeing his pleasant smile.

「Don’t give me the cold-shoulder now. Just help me a little. All you need to do is to place the wood.」

Holding the axe in one hand, Torr put his other arm on my shoulder.

This guy, he hit my body with that axe on purpose.

Without a doubt, this it’s a threat. And it’s this guy anyway, so I wouldn’t know what he would do.

「Oh well, if it’s only that. I’m not the who who swung the axe right?」

「Ou!」

Lightly threatened by Torr, I found a big, suitable stone and sat down reluctantly.

Then I took a firewood log from the stack near the stump and placed it on the stump.

「Heave-ho!」

Torr struck the log with his axe, and it hit the center of the log.

And then, he lifted the axe - with the blade still stuck in the middle of the log - and swung it down.

With a dry sound *karan*, the log was split in two.

「You’re not splitting it in one go?」

「It’s easier to split it this way. And it’s dangerous to use all of your strength to split it.」

「Move back a little」, I moved from that place following Torr’s direction.

Placing a firewood log on top of the stump, Torr raised the axe and struck the log just like that.

The log was split and flew with a dry sound *karan*.

If I was still sitting near that place, the flying firewood would have hit me then.

Torr pulled out the blade of the axe that was stuck on the stump and said 「See?」

「Certainly, it’s dangerous.」

After that, Torr and I had a little talk as the two of us kept chopping firewood.

「You don’t know the know-how of splitting firewood, have you ever split firewood before?」

「Nope. I’m a noble you see. Bartolo is the one who did it for me.」

「Work a little will ya. Firewood are used everyday but it’s hard to prepare it right?」

「I guess. But, we bought the latest fire magic tool, so we will not use anymore firewooー」

「Haaa!?」

「That’s dangerous! My hand is still there!」

What a guy. Even though I was still in the middle of placing the firewood on the stump, he still swung his axe down.

He did something unbelievable.

「Rather than that, what did you just say!?」

「Oi, even though you almost cut my important right arm, you’re saying that? I said we bought a fire magic tool, so we don’t need firewood anymore. The fuel is one’s magic power…」

「Haaa!?　That’s cheating!?　Give me that!」

「No way. The one for you is this one. This.」

I brushed off Torr’s attempt at grabbing at me, and pointed at the sword placed beside me.

「What’s this?　A stick?」

It looks like Torr doesn’t recognize it because it’s wrapped in a cloth.

Because of that, I picked it up and unwrapped it with a rustle *shurushuru*.

The moment the silver blade of the sword was revealed, Torr raised his voice in excitement 「Oohh!」 , it looks like he guessed it already.

「Look, it’s a sword. 」

Though, it’s a goblin sword.

I took the cloth away and when I handed it over to Torr, he looked at it happily.

Tracing the sword blade with his finger, turning it the other way, and cheerfully holding it up to the sunlight.

I polished it till it sparkles *pikapika* yesterday. It was in a fair condition originally, so there shouldn't be a problem.

「It’s a real sword! Not a wooden one!」

Because the sword is goblin-sized, it’s possible for someone like Torr to hold it in one hand. Well, it might also because Torr’s body is already trained by the firewood-splitting.

It’s a little heavy for me.

「I thought that you would give me a toy or something since it’s Al, but I didn’t expect you to give me a sword. Thank you! 」

Torr came to me and thanked me with a smile.

It makes me feel a little bit guilty if you tell me that with that kind of smile.

If it’s broken later, I’ll give him a better one, or I’ll have Logan make it for me.