There's indeed a pun towards the end that mentions "arubaito" (ie "temporal work"), which I had to turn into "ally"... oh well, I tried.
Enjoy!
A beautiful woman, who was collapsed in the middle of the desert. Her age seemed to be about the same as mine, or perhaps a bit younger, but if she was an elf or half-elf, she could be older than my parents, or even my grandparents. What was her name? Where did she come from? Why was she wearing a nun's outfit? Why was she empty-handed? Why were her ears pointed? Why did she have hair the color of cherry blossoms? Why was she so beautiful? Why ddi she have such fair and delicate skin? Why did she have such large, beautiful breasts...?
"Achoo!"
When my thoughts were beginning to drift in a strange direction, I sneezed. The desert showed a completely opposite face with the fall of night. The dry, parched air and ground couldn't hold the heat. It cooled down rapidly.
"Ah, oh no!"
I suddenly remembered something important and rushed into the tent. The woman lying there was wearing nothing but her panties and the cloak I'd given her!
"Uh…!"
As expected, she was distorting her beautiful face in discomfort, her lips trembling.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!!"
I quickly pulled a shirt out of my bag. I thought about dressing her in her original clothes, but it seemed difficult to put her in a long-sleeved, long-skirted one-piece dress, so I decided to dress her in my own shirt, which buttoned up in the front.
"There we go…"
I lifted her up, making her lean against my chest.
"I'm sorry…!"
I apologized for a different reason than earlier and shifted the cloak that was hanging over her breasts down to her stomach. Over her shoulder, her bare breasts were visible. They really are big. And beautiful! While suppressing the urge to touch them with my hands or mouth, I put her arms through the sleeves of my shirt, being careful not to get her long pink hair caught between the shirt and her back, and pulled the collar up near the back of her head. But it was not over yet.
"There we go… And… there we go…"
I continued to support her as I fastened the buttons on the shirt I had put on her from the bottom up. The buttons around her belly weren't too problematic, but as expected, the higher the button, the harder it was to fasten. Naturally, the button at her sternum was very hard to see, and the captivating weight of her in my hands was the biggest distraction from my task. When it came to the button at the level of her underarms, I couldn't fasten it at all! And it was a man’s shirt too, just how big was she?! I could have forced it, but then she would have had trouble breathing, so I decided to stop there.
"I'm going to lay you down, okay?"
For the moment, I spoke to her and laid her down again. Then, I fetched a blanket from my bag. First, I covered her midriff with the cloak as I did before, then I draped the blanket over her from her feet, moving upwards. The moment the blanket was about to cover her shoulders—
*Bam!*
"Wha!"
Suddenly, she extended her arms, wrapped them around my back, and pulled me to her side. It was an unexpected move, and her strength was astonishing. Where in these slender arms did such power come from?
"Wha... What... What??"
I was in a minor panic. A sweet fragrance tickled my nostrils.
"Hey, you? Ma'am? Are you... awake?"
I tried speaking to her, even using words I didn't like. There was no response. But then,
"...Sorry...!"
"Eh...?"
It was clear she was saying something. I concentrated, straining my ears.
"I'm sorry...! I'm sorry...! Please, forgive me...!"
(She’s apologizing...?)
She was still unconscious. But the words spilling from her beautiful lips were unmistakably apologies to someone.
Somehow, I managed to turn my face towards hers, right next to mine as it was. Her forehead was creased intensely, and large tears trickling from her tightly closed eyes wetted my cheek.
"..."
With the hand I could move, I gently wiped her tears. Then, I placed that hand on her cherry-colored hair.
"It's okay. You're okay... Nobody's angry with you anymore...!"
While stroking her from the crown of her head to the back a few times, such words naturally escaped my lips. She probably was a person facing an unimaginable burden. I just wished for her to sleep peacefully, at least for now. That's where the words came from.
"......"
Her sobbing stopped, but she didn't let go of me.
"All right, then..."
While she clung to me, I used my feet and hands to pull the blanket over us, somehow covering both our bodies. The softness and resilience of a woman's body that pressed against mine should have stirred my sexual urges under normal circumstances, but now, it instead invoked a great sense of peace and lured me into sudden sleep. I was just tired, actually. The fire outside would soon die out on its own. I couldn't hold on any longer. I was sleepy. I couldn't resist the warmth, softness, and sweet fragrance tickling my nostrils. I would think about the rest the next day.
Good night.
"Kyaaaaaaaaa‼"
"Whoa‼"
A shrill scream right beside my ear mercilessly roused me from my pleasant slumber. Reacting on instinct, I jolted up, backing away towards the tent wall. The feeling of the thick fabric against my back reminded me that I was in a tent. And right before me was a beautiful woman, teary-eyed and glaring at me while clutching the blanket that was raised to her chest. Ah, right, I had taken her in yesterday. My mind started to clear gradually. The beauty before me spoke while trembling her lips.
"...Who are you...? Don't tell me, did you...⁉"
"Woah, hold on, hold on! You've got the wrong idea‼"
I fervently shook both hands in front of my chest and shuffled towards the tent entrance using my hips and the soles of my feet. Opening the entrance, the scenery of the dimly lit desert morning unfolded before us, with the chilly air seeping in.
"Look, this is a desert, a desert! You were collapsed here‼"
"The desert...? I collapsed...?"
She muttered to herself, her gaze shifting between the scenery beyond the tent's entrance and my face.
"Yep. You seemed to be suffering from heatstroke and were dressed inappropriately for the heat, so... as bad as I felt about it, I did take your clothes off. I wasn't sure if you were injured under your clothes."
I pointed to her nun's robe and thin shirt folded in the corner of the tent. After glancing at her clothes, she fixed her gaze back on me.
"And... I did touch your body, but that was because I had no choice but to wipe you down and cool you off... Also, you seemed unable to drink water or take medicine by yourself, so... I, um, fed you mouth-to-mouth. Also, the desert nights get really cold, and I don't have another tent, so I had you to sleep next to me. I understand that you might have been surprised or uncomfortable, but I absolutely did not do what you might think I did..."
"I'm sorry‼"
"Eh⁉"
Without waiting for me to finish speaking, she interrupted with a loud apology and bowed her head. Caught off guard, I listened to her continue.
"You... You saved me... And yet I misunderstood and was disrespectful to someone who saved my life... I'm truly sorry...!"
Her large eyes, which until a moment ago had been filled with suspicion, contempt, and loathing towards me, were now filled with regret for her own actions. The large tears falling from them rolled down her cheeks and wetted the blanket she was clutching tightly to her chest.
"No, it's fine. It's completely fine. Anyone would be surprised if they woke up with a stranger sleeping next to them. That's normal. So, please, don't worry about it...!"
Feeling a tight sensation in my chest and a prickling sensation on my cheeks, I comforted her. Handing her a dry towel and trying to change the subject, I introduced myself.
"Ah, by the way, my name is Kazuo."
"M… Mister… Kazuo?"
She repeated my name, a single tear still at the corner of her eye.
"Yep. I came from Hinomoto, but I guess it's a difficult pronunciation for people here."
"No, it's not... Mister Kazuo. From Hinomoto, Mister Kazuo..."
She repeated my name again and again as if looking off into the distance. Had she been to Hinomoto before? I wanted to ask about that too, so I posed another question to her.
"Ah, um, can I, can I ask for your name?"
"Ah, yes, sorry. I am, Al... um, eh, eh, eh, eh...what⁉"
In the middle of introducing herself, she suddenly widened her already large eyes and clutched her head with both hands. You could see confusion and perplexity racing across her beautiful face. Her entire body was trembling slightly. It reminded me of some scenes from fictional stories I read as a child. I asked her.
"Um... what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"I... I... I can't remember anything‼"
Oh, no. I never thought I would really encounter a person with amnesia. And in a foreign country far away from my hometown to boot...‼
"Haaah... ahhh...!"
The woman who had started her self-introduction with "Al" (I guessed her actual name was longer?) continued to let out voiceless cries with her head in her hands. Her body was trembling slightly. I had to calm her down first.
"Um, for now... can I call you 'Miss Al'?"
"Eh, ah, yes..."
Having received approval for the nickname, I decided to continue the conversation.
"Miss Al, aren't you hungry?"
"H-Hungry...?"
She looked at me with a puzzled face, so I went on.
"Yeah. For now, let's eat something to calm down. If you're hungry, you’ll only think of bad stuff, right?"
"…Yes, okay..."
After some contemplation, Miss Al accepted my suggestion. After all, she had not had anything but water and pills for more than half a day, since I met her.
"Then, I'll go make something, so wait a bit. You can lie down if you want."
I left the tent, started a fire, and began making the same soup as yesterday. Traveler's meals were often the same for all three meals. The only difference? I was making twice as much as usual.
"It's ready~"
Once it was done, I went into the tent with the pot and spoon. Miss Al did not seem to have lied down. She remained in the same posture as before, then she turned to me with a worried face. She must have been thinking about her situation all the while. I put the pot aside for a moment and explained to her.
"See, I'm traveling alone, so I don't use dishes. I always eat directly from this pot."
"Okay..."
"And this is, well, for two people, but feel free to eat as much as you like."
"Okay..."
"So, it's hard to eat while I'm watching, right? I'll be outside the tent, so call me when you're done eating."
"Ah, yes. Thank you..."
Listening to Miss Al's gratitude behind me, I went out of the tent for a moment and sat by the fire.
(…Man, her crying face is so cute...! And her voice...‼)
I was moved by such inappropriate things. I knew about her beautiful features from yesterday, but her sullen look and words of apology made me want to protect her, and also made me want to tease her a little. But I wouldn't. And her voice! It was like a sweet kitten's, yet I could also feel the purity of a bell like the ones we used at local festivals, back at Hinomoto.
("Miss Al," huh...)
Inside my heart, I whispered her "temporary name". Anyway, I was relieved that she didn’t end up treating me like a rapist. It was a bit of a close call, though… Still, memory loss, wow! I wondered if there was any connection to her apologizing in her sleep last night.
(Hmm... wait, what?)
Come to think of it, I feel like I recognized her face. And I didn’t mean she was someone I had met personally. It was like I had seen someone who looked like her recently, a fairly famous person. Who was that? I couldn't remember. She was so beautiful, maybe she was a singer or a performer...
"Um, excuse me..."
While I was pondering, Al tentatively poked her head out of the tent.
"Thank you for the meal. It was delicious..."
"Oh, good."
I accepted the pot that Al offered. Judging by its weight, it seemed like she'd eaten almost half of it. I inspected the contents of the pot.
"Huh?"
It was oddly... red. I took another closer look. It was carrots! Al had been selectively eating the soup, picking out just the carrots.
"You... don't like carrots?"
I decided to ask her.
"Yes, I'm sorry. You went through all the trouble of making it..."
"No, it's okay."
I alternated between looking at her face and the contents of the pot. The soup and meat must have absorbed the taste of the carrots, so it’s not like she couldn’t eat them; she just refused to eat them outright. She ate almost all the other vegetables in the soup and left exactly half of the meat and soup.
(She's so meticulous!)
"Pfft...!"
The thought made me burst into laughter.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, sorry, don't worry about it! You should lie down again."
"Okay..."
Al obediently went back inside the tent. I started to wolf down the leftover carrot-filled soup. Eating with the same spoon was essentially an "indirect kiss", but we've already kissed multiple times. It was not a big deal now... Or was it?
(…)
After finishing eating, I peered inside the tent. Al was lying down again, softly snoring. Having her hunger satisfied must have made her feel at ease and sleepy. As I watched her sleeping face, I found myself thinking about her again. She probably wasn’t lying when she said she couldn't remember anything but her name. Even if she was, the part about her having a heat stroke was real. It would be best not to move her today. Fortunately, we still had plenty of water, and there was a water source not too far from there: the campsite we originally planned to stay at. But I was not strong enough to trek across the rugged desert dragging a sled with her on it, especially when she hadn't fully regained her strength. It was cool now in the early morning, but it would heat up soon. No matter how I looked at it, we were stuck here for the day.
(Let's talk when she wakes up...)
When she woke up, I decided I’d propose something I thought of while having breakfast. I crawled into the tent, hugged my knees in a corner, and fell asleep right there. I suppose I was so tired, I felt sleepy as soon as I was full.
"...Mister Kazuo...?"
I jolted upright from the nap I had dozed off into, surprised by the rare instance of having a girl call my name during my usual solo travels.
"Hm, ah, yes, Miss Al...!"
"I'm sorry. I've taken up most of the tent, haven't I..."
"Ah, no, it's fine. I was just lost in thought and fell asleep... Nevermind that, have you remembered anything?"
I asked her while gesturing with my hand in front of my face, to convey that there was no need for her to apologize. But just as I suspected, she hadn't remembered anything. Where she had come from, what she was doing before, why she was wearing a nun's habit, why she was in the desert. Perhaps she had been under significant physical and mental strain even before entering the desert, having lost all her belongings by then. Without knowing who she herself was, let alone her point in being there, she had simply been trudging through the desert. That’s what I could make out from her situation.
"So, um, Miss Al."
I decided to suggest the idea I had thought of earlier when the conversation had settled.
"Do you want to become my business ally?"
Oh no, I wasn't mocking her name.
"Eh, your business ally?"
She made a puzzled face.
"Yeah, as my assistant."
"Assistant...?"
I continued to explain while she looked on in confusion.
"You see, I'm a traveling merchant. And right now, I'm on my way back to my town, but I'm thinking of doing some business in a few other towns on the way."
"Ah, business..."
"Yeah, and I'd like you to help me with that. Specifically, I'd like you to carry the merchandise I can't carry, or help with exchanges of goods and money with customers."
Miss Al remained silent, staring at me. I continued speaking.
"Oh, and I won't make you do everything, of course. I'll pay for all the necessary expenses like food on the way and accommodation in the towns. On top of that, I'll pay you a salary when we reach my town."
"..."
Miss Al continued to stare at me in silence. I decided to emphasize what she could take home from this.
"You see, if I may, you don't have a single coin on you, do you? You have no belongings, and you don't know where any towns are, right? And most importantly, you have no memory, right? So, I think it would be better for you to travel with me. I'm a traveling merchant, so I know where the towns are. It's better to aim for a town rather than wander around an unknown land, right? And in those towns, you'll get to talk to various people. Maybe you'll hear something related to your memory, or you might even meet someone who knows you. If that happens, you can just stop working with me."
I took a breath and conveyed what I considered to be the most important point.
"Of course, if you feel uncomfortable being with me or think you don't need me anymore, you can tell me anytime. I'll pay you up to that point properly. I've never had a helper before, so honestly, I might not be very good at managing. But, honestly, I just can't leave you alone anymore. I want to help you as much as I can."
I even questioned myself: what could a man who embodies the word "powerless", who was struggling with his own issues, do? But I had met her in this foreign land, in this vast desert. She had nothing but a fragment of what seemed to be her name. Of course, it would be a lie to say that I was not interested in her beauty or her glamorous body. But well, even if it was just for self-satisfaction, it was no lie that after having gotten involved with her, I did want to help her as much as possible.
"...I understand."
Miss Al, who had been staring straight at me, muttered this without breaking her gaze. Then, for some reason, she folded her legs, which she had stretched out under the blanket, keeping her calves tightly against the back of her thighs and sat with her buttocks on her heels.
(Eh, is she sitting in “seiza”, as people in my hometown do?)
Then, with her hands folded over her knees, she leaned forward and said,
"I may be inexperienced, but please take care of me."
(Eh...⁉)
I was stunned for a while. It was true that her deep cleavage, which unavoidably jumped into my field of view as she bent forward, had caught my eye, but more than that, this was...! Miss Al turned a puzzled face toward me, who was not replying.
"Um, did I... say something disrespectful...?"
"Ah, no, it's fine. You didn't do anything wrong. It's okay. T-Thank you for being so polite. I also look forward to working with you, yes."
In a hurry, I also sat in seiza on the spot, and leaned forward with my hands on the ground.
(Could it be that she's been to Hinomoto before? And that line just now, it was more like a blushing bride’s...!)
Did a fragment of memory, or rather, a piece of knowledge, make her act this way? In any case, I ended up taking this beautiful woman with cherry-blossom colored hair as my travel companion until I reached my town. - I had no idea at this point that she would become my "lifelong companion" in the not-too-distant future.
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