Vol 2 Chapter 8 (1/2)
Chapter 8: Number, 8, Stalemate – translated by Doza
Four people and a pet walked back along the path they had just taken. The first thing one would see would definitely be a translucent, giant yellow ent.i.ty – OhmyG.o.d had swelled to five times its regular size as herbs had been fully packed into its body, and the person now carrying OhmyG.o.d was not Silvie, but Halfleaf.
As they still had to save Halfleaf’s younger brother, Silvie and the three of them had to return to that small town. Under Silvie’s insistence, Cale finally agreed to go back with them, though he walked on the outermost edge of the group, the furthest from Carol. If Silvie had not continuously pulled on his sleeve, he would probably have disappeared while they were walking.
However, because Silvie was busy holding onto Cale, the task of carrying OhmyG.o.d had been pa.s.sed to Halfleaf.
Faced with the responsibility for the giant golden slime, perhaps to repay the kindness of having been saved, Halfleaf didn’t say a single word and took the strange creature that would normally cause people to strategically retreat.
Naturally after accepting OhmyG.o.d, who was five times its normal size, he could not continue to leap around in the treetops and had to come down and obediently walk with the others.
When it was nearly evening, Carol stopped and asked the others, “Hurry on through the night or rest?”
“I wish to bathe.”
Everyone stared at Halfleaf. Mystified, the latter asked, “May I ask, what the matter is?”
In disbelief, Cale asked, “Aren’t you in a hurry to save your younger brother? Yet you still wish to bathe?”
“Even if in a hurry, one must still bathe. Bathing is something that must be done every day. How can you skip it?” Halfleaf couldn’t understand. “And my younger brother is waiting for me to save him; he wouldn’t run off.”
Is that so? The corner of Cale’s mouth twitched slightly. Isn’t he afraid that his younger brother will be ruthlessly killed or lose a leg?
Carol laughed lightly. “The elves’ definition of ‘hurry’ is different from humans’. About five times slower.”
Upon hearing Carol’s voice, Cale’s expression immediately fell. At that moment, Silvie hastily said, “Alright alright! Bathing is also good. Then, let’s all bathe together!”
The hurrying people, bewildered, stopped to set up camp for the sake of bathing. To travelers who readily wouldn’t bathe for several days, it was truly a very strange reason to stop.
However, as this reason was given by Halfleaf, who was in the most hurry to get back, no one seemed to feel the need to refuse.
After lighting the campfire, Carol sat by it to watch the soup and salted meat, then randomly pinched OhmyG.o.d who was in her hand. The other three walked to the side of the lake and removed their clothes, preparing to bathe. In actuality, Cale had to be pulled over by Silvie, as he had just bathed two days ago!
Afterward when he saw Carol sitting by the campfire, he decided to simply follow Silvie and Halfleaf.
In a few moments, the three of them were naked, jumping into the lake, and scrubbing and was.h.i.+ng themselves. Silvie and Halfleaf scrubbed themselves very seriously, but Cale was extremely lazy. He casually splashed himself with water and considered the task done. It was only due to Carol sitting by the campfire that he didn’t want to head back right away, so he simply soaked in the lake.
“Why is Carol sitting by the campfire?” Halfleaf frowned. “Isn’t Carol bathing with us? It’s too grimy to not bathe. And after hurrying and sweating so much, not bathing would make you stink!”
Silvie laughed. “How can Carol bathe together with us?!”
Cale snorted coldly, “That’s right! How can a person like that be willing to stand stark naked in front of others? Even while sleeping, someone like that probably doesn’t even take off the falchion behind his back!”
Silvie was stunned and hurried to defend her. “Carol actually does remove all weapons while sleeping! In fact, until now, I’ve never seen Carol use the falchion to hack at anyone. It’s only used to cut meat! Since we’ve met, Carol has always used fists to hit people and has never even touched a weapon yet, even though I actually really want to see the falchion in action!”
Cale was suddenly a bit curious and asked, “…How long have you been traveling together?”
Silvie counted. “A month, more or less.”
“How did the two of you end up traveling together?” Cale simply didn’t think that Carol needed Silvie as a companion.
“Carol was my teacher’s past companion and wasn’t easy for me to find. We visited Teacher, and subsequently we adventured together.”
So that’s how it is, he is helping to look after his past companion’s student? It certainly looks like that sort of relations.h.i.+p between Carol and Silvie. Cale’s puzzlement was finally solved.
At that moment, Halfleaf asked suspiciously, “Why is Carol staring at us?”
“Maybe lost in thought?”
As Silvie spoke, he sank down into the water, with only his head exposed above the water’s surface. He had abruptly remembered that Carol was female.