Chapter 29 ….
The world shook.
No—more precisely, the bed was shaking.
And it wasn’t just the bed. The furniture, the miscellaneous items—this entire house was trembling as if it were about to collapse.
What is this?
I jolted awake and sprang out of bed, rushing to open the door. The moment I did, my forehead slammed into something solid.
Letting out a yelp as I staggered back, two large hands shot out and grabbed my shoulders.
“Muriel!”
It was Lysian’s voice. What I had run into was none other than his chest.
What kind of chest muscles are those…?
Rubbing my throbbing forehead, I looked up. Lysian’s face was swallowed by the darkness, hard to make out.
“Muriel, are you okay?”
“Is this… an earthquake?”
We fired questions at each other at the same time. When I answered that I was fine, Lysian let out a quiet sigh and spoke.
“It is an earthquake. Just in case, it’d be better to go outside.”
“Yeah… What about Ninabel?”
“Master! I’m right here!”
The moment I called her name, the rice-cake-like water droplet flew over and began circling me excitedly.
A spirit capable of levitation wasn’t affected much even when the ground shook.
The instant I realized that, a good idea flashed through my mind.
I can leave patrol duty to this little one!
I grabbed the top of Water-Drop Rice Cake’s head and gave an order.
“Nini, go take a look around nearby. See if there’s anyone suspicious, or if the monsters are acting strange. You can do it, right? I’m counting on you.”
“…!”
At the words I’m counting on you, Ninabel’s bead-like eyes sparkled as she hopped into the air.
“Yes, Master! Leave it to me!”
She flew off into the distance through the kitchen chimney. She was a simple creature—give her praise, and she’d happily obey.
“Let’s evacuate too, quickly.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Lysian wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me outside. I first went to the shed and brought the rabbit out with me.
Then, together with Lysian, I crouched down in the middle of the wide front yard. The rabbit, apparently unafraid, calmly loafed on my lap.
The rabbit was more composed than I was. Stroking its back, I muttered to myself,
“Why an earthquake all of a sudden? The house better not collapse…”
“It won’t collapse, don’t worry. And even if it does… we can always rebuild.”
“Right….”
There was no way the system would make me homeless. Thinking that, I tried to calm myself down.
“A dungeon might have appeared somewhere not far from here. The earthquake could be a side effect of that.”
Lysian said this while keeping his eyes fixed on me. I replied while glancing toward the vegetable garden.
“If a dungeon appears in the Winterberg territory… Raul would probably be happy. It’d be a hassle, sure, but once a dungeon hub city forms, the economy picks up.”
At the mention of that name, I felt Lysian hesitate slightly.
A moment later, it seemed like he shifted position, and then suddenly, two strong arms reached out from behind me.
Startled, I turned around. Golden eyes met mine instantly. Lysian had moved behind me and pulled me into his arms.
He wrapped both arms around my shoulders, his legs positioned on either side of me. I was completely trapped, with no way out.
Flustered, I worked my mouth uselessly.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Shall we stay like this for a bit? Until the earthquake stops.”
“Why…?!”
“Because this way, Muriel is safer?”
“No, you really don’t have to go that far—”
As I stammered, he tightened his hold. I flinched and shrank back.
His breath brushed against the exposed skin of my shoulder. The ticklish sensation made me purse my lips and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Hey… I don’t think this is appropriate….”
“Why not? Just think of me as a blanket.”
“…….”
It was true that his arms felt warm like a blanket, but they were terrible for my heart. I was anxious he might hear how violently it was pounding.
Maybe because my mind was a little hazy, I blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Your… body temperature’s really high.”
“It’s about one degree higher than the average person’s.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s just my constitution.”
When I stared at him with wide eyes, Lysian smiled softly. Pale moonlight spilled over his face.
Higher body temperature than normal… Is he a beastman, maybe? If Lysian were a beastman…
If I had to bet, he’d be a fox beastman. His fur would probably be platinum, just like his hair.
I suddenly imagined pale cream-colored ears twitching atop his head and a fluffy tail swaying behind him, and a laugh slipped out of me.
When I laughed out of nowhere, Lysian looked puzzled. I said it outright.
“You look like a fox. Your face, and the way you act.”
He looked a bit dumbfounded, but soon nodded as if conceding the point. Then he shot back, unwilling to lose.
“And you look like a hamster, Muriel.”
“What…?!”
I gaped at him in disbelief.
Me? A hamster? In what way?
Hamster and fox… a hamster’s just one bite!
For some reason, it felt unfair. Was even the animal I resembled the weakest one?
“…If I’m a hamster, at least I’d be good at running away.”
When I muttered that in resignation, Lysian burst out laughing. The ticklish sound brushed over my heart like a feather.
What kind of voice is that….
Following the train of thought in my head, I suddenly tossed out a random question.
“You’re popular, aren’t you?”
He was clearly the type people lined up to like—handsome face, outstanding ability, and even a pleasant voice.
With a faint smile, instead of answering directly, he asked me back,
“What do you think?”
I answered honestly.
“…I think you are.”
“Ha ha.”
After a light laugh, he continued.
“Being popular isn’t necessarily a good thing. Even if you receive attention from many people, what’s the point if you can’t obtain the heart of the one person you truly want?”
I thought about it quietly, then nodded.
“That’s true.”
“I’d much rather have the one person who’s unique to me like me, than be popular with many.”
“That kind of person….”
I almost asked if there was such a person, but stopped myself. No matter what answer came back, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Perhaps sensing my hesitation, Lysian smoothly changed the subject.
“Looks like the earthquake’s stopped.”
“Ah… yeah, it has.”
Just as he said, the shaking had ceased, so there was no reason to stay like this anymore. I tapped his arm a few times with my palm, asking him to let go.
Lysian withdrew without making things difficult, though he looked vaguely regretful.
When I looked up at the sky, the sun was just about to rise. The vast heavens and the drifting white clouds were slowly being dyed a soft orange.
Thankfully, the house is fine. And a dungeon didn’t appear in the front yard, either.
It might have been just an ordinary earthquake, or perhaps a dungeon had really emerged somewhere nearby.
“Master~! Cute little Nini is back~!!”
At impeccable timing, Ninabel returned as well. Spinning around me, the spirit reported in a chatty voice.
“I couldn’t find anything suspicious in the forest or on the road near the farm! And I didn’t see any buildings that looked like a dungeon either!”
“I see. Good work.”
“Ehehe.”
When I praised her and patted her head, the water-droplet rice cake shuddered and laughed in a way that looked downright creepy.
Seeing that, Lysian sharply curled one corner of his mouth upward, grabbed Ninabel without hesitation, and tossed her into the vegetable garden.
After that, since nothing else happened, the earthquake seemed to pass as nothing more than a minor incident.
However, four days later, an unexpected guest came to the farm.
It was Allen—the adventurer we had saved.
“G-Good heavens… How could this…?”
Staring at the vegetable garden full of thriving crops, he muttered in disbelief.
I was just as flustered when I saw him. How on earth had he found this place?
Well… our farm isn’t exactly hidden away. I knew a day like this would come eventually…
Still, I never imagined it would be someone we’d crossed paths with just a few days ago.
