Chapter 7 …
Prune
About half a year had passed since we started living in Barua’s family’s village.
I think I’ve managed to learn a fair number of everyday greetings and various nouns. However, when it comes to actual conversations requiring intent and meaning, I can only understand simple words and basic sentence structures. I still have a long way to go.
Since the time we arrived in the village, the weather had gradually grown colder day by day. At its peak, there was about two meters of snowfall even inside the village, but recently it has started to feel like spring—snow is melting, and I can clearly see the trees beginning to sprout.
Honestly, there’s no doubt that being saved at that exact timing was nothing short of divine luck (tenyu).
If it had just been me and Hoshi Akari-san, we would never have survived that winter. Well… even now, we are still basically being treated like pets sleeping on straw bedding in the barn.
My main job these days is plowing the fields. As the snow melts, the people of Tokura Village all begin preparing their farmland at once. Hoshi-san mainly helps with housework at Barua’s home.
It seems Prune and Melon don’t have a mother, though I can’t really understand the situation due to the language barrier. While I was thinking about this, on a warm sunny afternoon, I went out with Barua, Prune, and Melon—and we arrived somewhere that looked like a cemetery.
In front of a small stone mound, Prune and Melon placed flowers and silently prayed. This must be their mother’s grave.
“So this world has things like equinox visits too,” Hoshi-san said.
Looking closely, people were coming and going throughout the cemetery, offering flowers. Maybe this was some kind of seasonal memorial period like the equinox back in Japan.
Prune and Melon were not exactly treating Hoshi-san as a substitute mother, but they were very attached to her. Melon sometimes sneaks into our straw bedding at night and sleeps with Hoshi-san.
Of course, if I ever touched Melon, Barua would not stay silent, so I had to be extremely careful and move away when that happened.
That night, Prune and Melon both came into our straw bedding together.
Well, I guess I’ll give up my “fake wife” for today and leave the barn.
It was already quite warm even at night, so I wouldn’t freeze to death sleeping anywhere. Still, it felt a bit too early to sleep, so I began practicing swings with the wooden sword I had made recently.
I hadn’t properly done kendo training since arriving here, so my skills had clearly declined. If I’m going to head to the royal capital someday and fight my way in, I need to get stronger.
Just then, Barua came out of the house and said:
“Yuta. Hunt. Come?”
“Hunt? Sounds interesting. What do we catch?”
“Bird, rabbit, raccoon…”
“But I only have this wooden sword.”
“Drive. Hit. OK!”
We somehow managed to understand each other.
Two days later, I went hunting with Barua and several other village men.
“Village outside. Magical beasts. Dangerous. Alone. No good.”
So that’s why everyone was wearing large swords and weapons in addition to hunting tools. That also explained why they had stopped the children from following us.
In the forest, the beastmen had far keener senses than I did. Almost instantly, they found animal trails and set traps.
“Here. Wait. We drive.”
I was ordered by Barua to wait near a small cliff. They intended to drive animals toward me.
Soon after, something came rushing at incredible speed.
I sharpened my focus and raised my wooden sword.
A large black mass burst out of the bushes, slowing down at the cliff edge. In that instant, I struck its head—or what seemed to be its head—with the wooden sword.
“Pkiiiii——”
The black mass collapsed violently.
The villagers immediately jumped on it and finished it off. It was a wild boar.
“Yuta. Good. Great,” Barua praised me.
“Yuta. War Wolf. Did it. True.”
So they hadn’t believed me until now? Still, it felt good to be acknowledged.
A young man named Okia, who seemed to be a leader among them, lent me his sword. He told me to try swinging it.
It was completely different from a Japanese katana, so I couldn’t move very gracefully, but they applauded me anyway, so I must have at least looked decent.
He then said to Barua:
“Barua. Yuta, entrust.”
And just like that, I gained a sword master.
That night, the village held a celebration for the successful hunt. There was some kind of fruit alcohol, like wine. Since I was underage, I declined, but Hoshi Akari-san was already drinking heavily, flushing red as she vented her frustrations.
“Yuu-kuuun… amazing… they say you took down the boar in one hit… thanks to you we finally had meat again… maybe it’s the first time since that War Wolf incident…”
She seemed quite drunk, but I decided to leave her alone so she could enjoy herself.
Then Prune came up to me and said:
“Yuta. Sword. Learn? I. Want to learn.”
“Eh? I need Barua’s permission for that.”
“Imenji. No. OK. Not say.”
“If that’s the case, I can’t.”
“Yuta. Teach. Secret.”
“Eh? No way, absolutely not. If you get hurt…”
Prune didn’t understand my last words, but her gaze was serious.
“Why. Learn. Sword?”
“Secret. I. Magical beast. Want defeat.”
There must be a reason, but she didn’t seem like she would back down.
After thinking for a moment, I said:
“I’ll teach you. But you must follow instructions. Absolutely.”
“Thank you!”
Prune suddenly hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek.
Wait—Barua isn’t looking, right?!
Ah, he had gone to the village chief’s place.
“Aaaah, officer! There’s a child predator here!”
“H-hey, Yuta! While you have a fake wife like me, you’re seducing such a cute girl!”
Hoshi-san was completely drunk.
But she was the one who called herself a “fake wife”…
I ended up carrying the drunken Hoshi-san back to the barn straw bedding. Melon brought water, but I somehow managed to tell her that Hoshi-san couldn’t sleep here tonight and sent her back.
“Yuta… I’m lonely… I want to see Akari…”
She must have been letting out the feelings she usually kept buried.
I gently patted her head.
“Hehe… Yuta is kind… I should pat you too…”
Suddenly, she pushed me down.
“Fufu… Yuta…”
She began touching me through my pants.
“Wait, Hoshi-san! That’s not my head!”
“Don’t worry—fake wives don’t count for kisses!”
Then she buried her face near my lower body.
“Stop—Hoshi-san, that’s not a face—!”
Struggling, I somehow got her to fall asleep.
Phew… that was close. But part of me felt a little disappointed.
She is a very attractive woman, but she is also the mother of Akari, and will eventually become my mother-in-law… I kept reminding myself of that.
To cool my overheated mind, I went outside.
◇◇◇
The next morning, I went to Okia’s house at sunrise for sword training.
It had been a long time since I did morning practice, and I was actually excited.
Hoshi-san was still sleeping off her hangover, so I left without telling her. As expected, when I returned, she was panicking in front of the barn.
“Ah—Yuu-kun… I thought you got fed up with me… I don’t really remember, but did I do something wrong… my head hurts…”
“No, I just didn’t expect you to wake up so early. From today I’ll be doing morning sword training at Okia-san’s place. You just passed out drunk. You should let off stress sometimes.”
“Uu… Yuu-kun is so kind… I definitely did something…”
After breakfast, I went to work in the fields as usual. Hoshi-san was doing laundry with Melon, but she looked badly hungover.
That night, it was time for my promise with Prune.
“Prune. First. No sword. Body training.”
“Eh! I want sword!”
“No. Sword needs body. Basics important. My orders absolute.”
“Okay…”
I demonstrated squats.
“Today, ten. Tomorrow, +1. Day after, +1. After three months, 100. Then sword.”
I wasn’t sure if she understood, but I was aiming for gradual conditioning to avoid injury.
“Ten… nine… ten. Done. Want more training.”
“No.”
“Cheh!”
Even Hoshi-san and Melon looked disappointed.
Melon started copying the squats, so I quickly stopped her.
“Melon. No. Children, no.”
At the same time, Prune stopped her too.
Even at only ten reps, she understood how hard it was.
And so, my sword training with Prune began.
