Ch 2: Shared Bed
"I sincerely apologize for the delay! I am truly sorry! I look forward to your continued support! Excuse me!" With that, I bowed to the store owner and left the dry goods store.
Up until just a moment ago, I had been in the dry goods store in the town of Nicod, which is located not far from the desert. However, I was not there as a "customer". There was word that a type of seaweed harvested from the southern seashore beyond the desert was gaining attention due to its excellent quality for making broth and various health benefits. A few weeks ago, when I visited Nicod, the store owner asked me to procure this seaweed. These kinds of jobs are valuable sources of income for a "traveling merchant" like me.
And sure enough, I successfully acquired the seaweed. I pride myself on giving careful consideration and purchasing particularly good quality products. However, when I arrived today to deliver it, the store owner who had previously been so polite and gentle, suddenly declared that the delivery deadline had been "roughly by yesterday".
Calling it a "breach of contract", the owner tried to buy it for half the agreed price. I insisted on the scarcity and quality of the seaweed, and the difficulty in obtaining it, and managed to get him to pay 80% of the agreed price. Still, it was quite a struggle. I frequently find myself being taken advantage of due to my "short career as a merchant", my lack of "backing", and being a "foreigner". However, I can't just agree and comply with everything. I have a life to live too!
According to the schedule, I should have arrived here the day before yesterday or yesterday. The reason I couldn't was that I had stayed in the desert for two more days than planned.
—"You should have just left that woman behind! Are you an idiot or what?!"
Whether it was "me" or "them", I could hear the voice berating me inside my head.
"Shut up, be quiet!" I inadvertently shouted out loud.
"What!?" A large, sinister-looking man stood before me, looking down at me.
"Oh, no, I was just talking to myself. I apologize. Excuse me!" I dashed off. I have confidence in my speed during times like these.
As I ran, my mind kept pondering over it. It wasn't her fault. The decision to help her, to stay in the desert for a while, to adjust my pace to her less than healthy condition, all of it was my choice. In any case, to prevent more misunderstandings, from then on, no matter how kind the person seemed, I had to make sure to procure a written agreement, not just a verbal promise...
While I was contemplating this, I arrived at the town square. She was sitting on the edge of the central fountain. I had asked her to wait for me here. The woman in a nun's outfit was staring at something. Following her gaze, I saw two little girls, about five and three years old, playing. I wondered if the we're sisters. The expression on Miss Al's face as she watched the two was very gentle and serene. You might even say it was "affectionate".
(Does she like children…?)
I thought so as I approached her. Before I could call her out, Miss Al noticed me and said with a bright smile:
"Oh, Mister Kazuo…!"
(...!)
I managed to hold back a rush of feelings in my chest and cheeks and responded to her.
"Yeah, sorry for making you wait, Miss Al."
Her gentle smile didn’t leave her lips as she listened to me. She slowly shook her head from side to side, saying 'You've done well.' This smile swept away that unpleasant exchange from the dried goods store instantly, and then some!
'Shall we get going then?'
'Yes!'
With a lively reply, Miss Al got up. But right after that, she exclaims, 'Oh!' and her gaze fixes in one direction.
'What's wrong?'
I asked as I turned my head in the same direction. There, I saw the little girl of about three years old from earlier, lying flat on the ground. She must have fallen over.
'Uuuu... bwaaaaaaaah!'
Her intense crying reached where Al and I were standing.
'!'
Without a word, Al started to run. However, her long-skirted nun's habit and high-heeled boots seemed unsuitable for an instant sprint. Panicked, I chased after her, intending to overtake her.
The moment I try to pass Miss Al, her figure, which had caught the corner of my eye, suddenly disappeared. Right after that, I heard a dry sound. When I looked towards the sound, she had also fallen over.
'Uuugh...'
With a light sniveling, she lifted her face. This town was indeed paved with cobblestones, but the grooves between them weren’t particularly deep or wide. Was she really this clumsy?
In that situation, I hesitated for a moment whether to help the grown woman in front of me or go help the little girl a bit further ahead.
However, my hesitation proved meaningless. A girl of about five years old rushed over from in front of the little girl.
'You need to be careful, you know?'
'Uuu... Sis...!'
Their conversation could be heard all the way to where I was helping Miss Al up. So they were indeed sisters. After the older sister brushed off the dirt from her little sister's clothes and made sure she wasn't hurt, she said:
'I'm sorry. It's my fault for not holding your hand properly.'
while offering her left hand to the little girl, who was still crying from earlier. She grasped it with her right hand.
'Ah...!'
Miss Al raised her voice slightly at the sight of that.
When the older sister said:
'Let's go home quickly. Mom said tonight's dinner is your favorite stew.'
The younger sister replied with:
'Really?! Yay!!'
All signs of tears from just a moment ago were gone, and the little girl's face lit up. The sisters, still hand in hand, started to head home.
(Well, that's a relief.)
Thinking that, I turned to my companion.
'Are you okay, Miss Al?'
'......'
Al silently continued to stare at the backs of the sisters.
'Miss Al?'
There was no response even when I called out to her. She kept staring at the sisters, who were gradually getting further away, with an intense look on her face.
'Miss Al!'
Did she hit her head or something when she fell? I called out a bit louder.
'Ah, oh, sorry, Kazuo...!'
Miss Al suddenly seemed to snap out of it and apologized to me.
'No, it’s fine, but is something wrong about those kids?'
Could they be relatives or something? That’s why I asked her.
'N-No, I'm sorry, it's nothing. Let's go...!'
Miss Al brushed off the dirt from her clothes and started walking towards the church we agreed on. The building was large enough to be seen from here, so even a first-time visitor would notice it immediately.
'Uh, okay...'
Even as she said: "Let's go," she still frequently glanced in the direction the sisters had walked. (Could it be that she has a younger sister...?)
For some reason, the idea that she could be a younger sister instead didn’t cross my mind.
"Yes, I understand. Thank you for your assistance," we bowed to the priest.
We were now in the church. After we finished our business at the dry goods store, we had planned to come here first. If Miss Al was a nun from that church, it would be great. And even if she wasn't, news like "a nun from some church has gone missing" might have spread through the church's network.
However, neither possibility turned out to be true. We were told that there were several churches that lent habits to female travelers or women under special circumstances to help them. Also, about a year ago, a nun from a major city had reportedly gone to another country with a foreign guest. Most likely, it was a missionary activity, but in any case, we couldn't rely on such vague stories as "it seems she went."
We even asked if there were any who performed ascetic practices like willingly entering the desert in a habit clearly unsuited for desert conditions. As expected, no one did such a thing. It seemed likely that she had already lost her sanity before entering the desert.
And so, we left the church.
We were at the shopping street to buy clothes for Miss Al and the tools necessary for traveling. In the desert, Miss Al had been wearing my clothes, but as soon as we got out, she was back in her original habit. It wouldn't be appropriate to keep her in men's clothes all the time. Similarly, making her continue the journey in her habit was out of the question. Since she didn’t seem to be a professional nun, there should be no problem in changing her clothes. Besides, the habit would draw too much attention.
First, we stopped at a clothing store to buy women's traveling clothes. We chose standard ones made mainly of breathable, stretchy fabric, reinforced with leather here and there. Miss Al picked out what seemed good and went to the fitting room at the back of the store.
"....."
What was that strange tension? I felt bad about it, but I couldn't help but strain my ears to hear the rustling of clothing and the small breaths from the fitting room.
"Mister Kazuo..."
The curtain opened slightly, and Miss Al, revealing a little of her face, called my name.
"Whoa, I'm sorry!"
Even though I hadn't done anything wrong(?), I ended up apologizing loudly. She looked at me with a puzzled face for a moment, then said,
"Um, sorry, could you please bring me a size larger...?"
She asked apologetically. Ah, that was right. Miss Al was large. She had an hourglass figure...!
We also bought another set of the same clothes for changing, flat-bottomed boots, a cloak, a turban, and underwear. It went without saying that choosing underwear was a bit of a struggle. At another shop, we bought two deep dishes, one spoon, and one water bottle.
We were at a diner. After we finished shopping, we headed to the inn to drop off our luggage. As soon as we arrived in town, we had reserved a room and had our previously carried luggage stored there. After also storing the stuff we just bought, we decided to have dinner.
"Thank you, Mister Kazuo. For buying clothes and various other things for me...," Miss Al said, bowing her head as the waitress left to convey our orders to the kitchen. I decided to pretend not to have seen her stumble just after leaving the clothes store, when she said, "These clothes are so light and easy to move in!".
"No, it's okay. This is the necessary expense we initially agreed on. And from tomorrow, I'll be counting on you," I responded. From tomorrow, we would be setting up a store in the marketplace. The main items we were selling were the aforementioned seaweed and other goods we'd bought in the south.
"Yes, I'll do my best!" She replied energetically with a bright smile, and then continued, "Come to think of it, this is the first time we're eating face-to-face like this, isn't it?"
Ah, she was right. Up until now, we'd always shared a pot of food; I would first let her eat, and then eat the remaining half myself. Even when Miss Al insisted that I eat first, I always encouraged her to eat first instead. While she was eating, I'd casually look around at the scenery, since it'd be awkward for her to be watched while eating. When it was my turn to eat, she'd do the same. For us, mealtime had been a somewhat uncomfortable occasion.
"But from now on, we can eat together on our journey!" She cheerfully pointed out. The two sets of tableware we bought today were for that purpose.
We then had a casual conversation while waiting for our food to arrive. But Miss Al, who had no memory to begin with, had no "topics for small talk," so most of the conversation was about my hometown, Hinomoto. And my own memories of my hometown were not all pleasant, either. If they were, I wouldn't have left in the first place. So, I could only tell her innocuous and somewhat condensed stories. However, she was a patient listener. Sometimes her big eyes sparkled with interest, and at other times, she listened with a gentle smile.
(Talking with a girl is...fun!)
I was reminded of a feeling I had forgotten for a while. But I wondered if it was more about talking with "this person" rather than with "a girl".
While we were chatting, our food arrived. The fragrant aroma tickled my nostrils, making my mouth water. It had been a few days since we last had a meal that wasn't "dried meat and vegetable soup."
"Ah, this looks delicious! Today, let's eat to our heart's content and then sleep in a soft, warm bed! Now, let's eat!"
I picked up my spoon.
"Let's dig in—... huh? Miss Al, what's wrong?"
I noticed that she seemed to have frozen. Her gaze was fixed on the food that had just been brought out. We had ordered the "Daily Recommendation" because it was affordable.
"Ah—!"
I realized why as I looked again at the meal. As I moved my plate closer to hers, I made a suggestion.
"Do you want to give me your carrots?"
Without uttering a word, Miss Al gave a slight nod and swiftly transferred the carrots from her plate to mine. A mountain of carrots appeared on my plate.
"Take something in exchange. You'll be hungry later," I told her. She gave it a brief thought and took just a single small potato.
After dinner, when we returned to the inn, we were met with a minor incident. "Huh? What is going on?"
"Yes, sorry about that. We have had many single travelers arrive," explained the innkeeper.
"Okay, but we arrived first and reserved rooms and even prepaid for them, didn't we?"
"Yes, well, that's correct..." When we first arrived in town, we stopped by this inn. After crossing the desert, I returned the sled and rented a new cart. There were cart rental businesses in almost all towns, so you could return them anywhere. We secured two single rooms at the inn and left our cart and luggage there (of course!). However, now the innkeeper was asking us to give up our rooms to accommodate the sudden influx of single travelers.
"Of course, we absolutely do not want to just kick you out. After returning half of the prepaid fees immediately, would it be possible for you two to move to a double room? We’ll also provide a free breakfast and laundry service..."
They promised to return our laundry cleaned and dried the next day for free. That is indeed helpful, and breakfast is also free. But a double room... While I was contemplating, the innkeeper said, "Aren't you two a married couple? In that case, a double room shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Wha--⁉ Huh..."
"Understood. We'll take that room." As I was about to let out a bewildered yell, Miss Al quickly responded with a firm tone.
"Oh, thank you very much! I will bring you the key to the room right away!" With an exaggerated bow, the innkeeper disappeared behind the counter.
"Miss Al!" I was about to ask if she understood what was going on, but she responded with a calm face.
"Why not? We get half the money back, free breakfast and laundry service, it's all good, isn't it?"
"Sorry to keep you waiting~." The innkeeper returned with a laid-back voice, carrying half of the money we had paid and keys to the double room and the laundry box. At this point, we had no other option but to stay in that room. There would probably be two beds, so it should be fine.
As I received the keys, I asked the innkeeper not to include carrots in tomorrow's breakfast. Then, Miss Al and I went upstairs.
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