Chapter 9 - Overnight Companion (2)

"... Why are you giving me these?"

"Do I need a reason to help?"

Saying something I didn't mean made my tongue feel as though it were sprouting thorns, but I had no choice. This approach would work better on her type.

I wanted this elf to be my overnight companion. Putting it that way made me sound like scum, but it wouldn't be a bad deal for her, either.

She was injured, sleep-deprived, and pretty to boot. Any way you looked at it, her situation was several times worse than mine. She knew that, too, which must have been why she'd pulled that shit just now. Honestly, even I was amazed by the sheer determination to live she'd shown.

"As I said, treat your wound first. We can talk afterward."

"But..."

"I'll stand guard."

I turned my back to cut off further discussion. Soon, I heard chewing. She seemed to be chewing the herbs to make them easier to apply to her wound.

"... I'm done."

Already? She was surprisingly good with her hands. Turning around, I saw a neatly secured bandage through the tear in her clothes. She also seemed a little less wary as she looked at me. First, we'd introduce ourselves, then slowly close the distance.

"I am Bjorn, son of Jandel."

"... Erwin."

"I don't know what you've misunderstood. But whatever you're imagining won't happen."

"What? Oh, yes..."

She tried to hide it, but the fear in her eyes remained. I'd thought doing this much would start clearing up that misunderstanding. What the hell was wrong? In the end, I asked her outright.

"Why are you so afraid of me?"

"... Barbarians and elves are enemies, aren't they?"

"Enemies?"

"I-I'm sorry. That's not what I meant... I don't want to fight you, Mister."

My question seemed to snap her back to her senses, and she started groveling again. I'd only asked because I genuinely wanted to know... Elves and barbarians were enemies? That was news to me. They'd definitely gotten along fairly well in the game. What had happened?

All I had to do was fix her with an intense stare, and the information I wanted came pouring out.

"... Th-the war ended ten years ago, didn't it? I-I don't hold any grudges over it! Really."

Ten years ago, huh... I didn't know what had happened, but from what she said, they sounded more like bitter rivals than outright enemies. Hmm. Had she grown up hearing bad things about us? Was that why she was so afraid?

This had become a real headache. What now? Should I look for someone else? But then the herbs and bandages I'd already given her would feel like a waste... Fine. I might as well try.

"I hold no grudges, either."

"Y-you don't!"

"No. Which brings me to my point, Erwin. Would you be my overnight companion?"

"... Your overnight companion?"

"I'm tired. You must be, too. Grudges or not, why don't we cooperate, just for today?"

"Hmm..."

Her eyes suddenly sharpened. Honestly, it was hard to believe this was the same girl. I gave her time without rushing her. After thinking so hard that her brow furrowed, Erwin offered a condition instead of agreeing.

"I thought barbarians valued their honor as warriors. Can you swear on yours that you won't hurt me first?"

"An oath."

"O-of course, I'll promise on my clan's name, too. I will never be the first to harm you, Mister."

In Korean terms, she wanted us to seal a pinky promise by touching our thumbs to our tongues and our little fingers to our foreheads. Of course, I could do that all day. There was just one thing we needed to clear up first.

"It's Bjorn, son of Jandel. Not Mister."

Never mind me. Our Bjorn was only twenty, damn it.

* * *

The deal was sealed. We hadn't stamped our thumbprints on anything, but we'd done the local cultural equivalent. In the process, I learned the young elf's full name: Erwin Fornacci de Tersia. She was twenty, the same age as Bjorn.

Whew. Thank goodness I wasn't the real Bjorn. I was sure the real Bjorn would agree. It was one thing for me, but for her to... I'd leave it unsaid.

"Then how should we decide who goes first?"

"I'll sleep first. That should put you at ease, too."

"It's not really that, but if that's what you'd like, I suppose there's nothing I can do..."

In short, she'd wanted exactly that but hadn't dared ask.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Yes."

Whew. Thank goodness that worked. I'd have despaired if she'd suggested rock-paper-scissors. My eyes had been drifting shut for a while now. Please, I just wanted to sleep already. Was getting a little peaceful sleep really this hard?

"Oh! How will I tell the time?"

Tsk, tsk. This was the trouble with beginners. I took the watch out of my backpack and handed it to Erwin.

"It's expensive. Don't break it."

"All right..."

It wasn't just talk, either. Seeing her handle it like a sacred treasure put me considerably at ease.

"I'll be careful with it. Get some sleep."

As Mister had done, I used the backpack as a pillow, covered myself with the blanket, and curled up. And then...

SNOOOORE!

I dropped off as though I'd passed out.

"Mister!"

... It's Bjorn, I told you.

"Mister, wake up. Your time's up."

Forcing my drooping eyes open, I sat up. I couldn't believe it. Two hours had already passed?

"Here, take the watch."

Checking the time, I saw that two hours really had passed. Come to think of it, I hadn't even managed to properly fake my snoring to test her. I'd meant to keep it up for ten minutes before sleeping, just in case...

Holy shit. Was this the combined power of a backpack and blanket? It was frightening. If Mister had lent me these, I definitely wouldn't have dodged his ambush. I'd have been sleeping like a fucking baby, oblivious to the world.

In a way, was that karma? ... With that in mind, I'd lend them to her, too.

"Sleep under this. You can use this as a pillow, too, if you want."

"What? But..."

She demurred, but I could see the corners of her mouth rising. I decided to pretend I hadn't noticed.

"Well, then, thank you. I'll make good use of them..."

Without even waiting for me to offer again, Erwin crawled under the blanket and curled up like a cat. Soon, her breathing grew steady. Well now, wasn't she sleeping soundly in front of a strange man? Still, she must have been exhausted. It seemed she'd had a day every bit as rough as mine.

"Whew..."

Leaning my back against the wall, I opened the watch out of habit.

[22 : 50]

It felt like five days had passed, yet there was still over an hour left in day two. I wanted to get back to the city already. Though, honestly, calling it "going back" was a little ridiculous... Once I got back, I was going to spend days doing nothing but sleeping.

'... If I'm thinking like this, I really must be in better shape now.'

I put the watch away and let myself sink into thought. Maybe it was because I'd finally found a little peace, but all sorts of thoughts kept coming to mind. What had happened to the real-world me? Had I been reported missing? Surely not yet. Someone would have had to come looking first. Even work wouldn't take it seriously for a few days.

"Heh."

There was a reason I hadn't thought about this even once until now. It would only make me sad. If I let myself think there was nothing good waiting for me back home, it would break my resolve.

In more ways than one, it was better not to think about it. Even if that was nothing but self-deception, I was fairly good at convincing myself.

"..."

I deliberately steered my thoughts elsewhere. Right. I'd review the past two days instead. Completing the coming-of-age ceremony, entering the Labyrinth, fighting goblins, fighting Mister...

I could give myself some credit for doing well so far, couldn't I? It had been so hard I could have died. There was nobody else to praise me, so couldn't I at least do it myself?

CLICK.

Deciding to save the self-congratulation for after I returned to the city, I opened the watch. Before I knew it, my turn was over.

"Erwin, wake up."

"Five more minutes..."

What do you mean, five more minutes? Get up already.

"Ugh..."

When I shook her shoulder with my rough barbarian hand, Erwin sat up, rubbing her eyes. This looked risky. Now I understood why Mister hadn't trusted me back then.

"Don't think you can doze off just because nothing's happened so far."

"Okay..."

I was a little uneasy, but I lay back down anyway. Because I'd lent her the blanket and backpack, they were still warm when I settled in again. There was something ironic about it. How long had it been since I'd felt the warmth of another person? It felt incredibly unfamiliar. Maybe more so than anything I'd experienced over the past two days.

SNOOOORE!

With a little more energy this time, I started fake-snoring to test her. Honestly, it was less about testing her intentions than checking that she was doing her job without dozing off. ... She didn't seem to be falling asleep. I cracked my eyes open and gave Erwin a quick look, then put my worries aside and went back to sleep.

And then, how much time passed?

SMACK.

Sensing movement, I abruptly sat up.

"Eek!"

For some reason, I was gripping Erwin's pale wrist. From the circumstances, it seemed she'd been reaching toward me...

"What are you doing?"

"I, y-you seemed to be having a n-nightmare. You kept sweating..."

Judging by the handkerchief in her hand, it didn't seem to be an excuse. Well, if she'd been holding a weapon, I'd have struck her with my shield without asking why in the first place.

"I-I'm sorry."

Having grasped the situation, I loosened my grip. Erwin rubbed the spot I'd grabbed, her face pained. An angry red mark had already appeared.

I didn't bother apologizing. It would only have been empty words anyway.

"How much time has passed?"

"... There are about ten minutes until we switch."

"I see. Then let's switch now."

"But..."

"Going back to sleep now would only make me more tired."

At my words, Erwin lay down with an apologetic look. She tossed and turned a little, then spoke.

"Mister."

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I was wondering about something."

"Ask."

Erwin hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

"... Who exactly is this 'Mister'?"

What? Was she playing word games?

"You kept apologizing to him in your sleep... Oh, I'm sorry. That was out of line, wasn't it? You don't have to answer. I'll go to sleep now."

Before I could answer, Erwin finished her little monologue and pulled the blanket over her head. Apparently, now that she'd realized I wasn't so frightening, this young lady's curiosity was beginning to stir.

"Nnngh."

I thought it over as I did a few simple stretches. I couldn't remember a thing, but from what she'd said, it sounded like I really had been having a nightmare... Suddenly, I was a little curious. Who exactly was this Mister whose forgiveness I'd supposedly begged for?

Two candidates came to mind. The nameless man who'd been beheaded at the coming-of-age ceremony, and Mister Hans, who'd taught me what it meant to be human.

... But on second thought, either one would be strange. I'd never done anything to either of them that warranted an apology. I soon reached a conclusion. Whatever I'd dreamed, it was just a meaningless fucking dream.

* * *

[04 : 30]

Day three had begun. There were about ten minutes left until I had to wake Erwin. Watching her sleep curled up with the blanket tucked between her legs, I considered asking for a second date. In other words, whether I should ask her to become my teammate.

Of course, teaming up had the drawback of having to split the loot. Even if goblins started appearing in groups of three or four on day three, having Erwin join me would clearly reduce my earnings.

It had nothing to do with how strong she was. Well, with an elf's racial attributes, she'd certainly pull her weight... But how should I put it? I already had more than enough firepower. Even without Erwin, I could easily take down three or four goblins by myself. That wasn't arrogance. After several real battles in this body, it was my honest assessment.

And I needed to collect as many magic crystals as possible, if only to cover living expenses in the city and the taxes I'd eventually owe.

"Whew..."

A safe place to sleep, or more magic crystals? I was still mulling it over, trying to make the most rational choice, when it happened.

THUD.

I heard an explorer approaching from the passage to my left. It had happened several times during my watch, so I wasn't particularly tense. Most people simply gave us a quick look and passed by.

However...

TAP.

This pair of explorers, a tubby one and a scrawny one, took one look at us and stopped in their tracks. Then they whispered to each other.

"Isn't that the elf?"

"Looks like it. The bow matches."

After the two finished their whispered deliberations, Tubby spoke for them.

"Barbarian, what's your relationship with that elf?"

"As you can see, we're overnight companions."

"A barbarian and an elf as overnight companions. Now there's something you don't see every day. So, how long is left?"

"I have no reason to answer you."

Tubby didn't press me further. He merely grinned and left, taking Scrawny with him.

"I see. Let's go."

"Huh? Oh, uh..."

Before long, I could no longer sense the pair nearby. But I couldn't relax. Who the hell were those bastards? This felt as ominous as when the chieftain had shouted right in my face.

I edged sideways and tapped the sleeping Erwin on the shoulder.

"Ugh..."

Hey, how can you sleep at a time like this? Wake up already. Because I think we're fucked.