Chapter 1 (1/2)
“The heck are you? A peeper?”
“Would it be possible for you to spare me a cup of water?”
This conversation that was obviously mismatched at a glance, was the meeting between the j.a.panese company employee, Tamano Izumi, and the one who would later be known as the Sacred Kingdom of Yohk’Zai’s strongest and greatest king, Huuron.
Baths are good.
Baths are soothing.
No matter how tired she was when she come back from work, once she got in the bath, half of it was forgotten.
Neither the nitpicking of her boss, nor the pressure of a crowded train could match the powers of baths.
Aahh, baths really are sublime.
Even though her room was messy enough that she couldn’t even find a place to tread, she never failed to clean the bath.
Today as well, the bath was polished to a sparkle, and filled with hot water and a refres.h.i.+ng aromatic bath essence, Izumi was enjoying herself in the tub.
The feeling of the p.r.i.c.kling heat that her skin was gradually acclimating to was enjoyable enough that she couldn’t bear it.
In other words, it was worth it that she had come home with her face buried in the scarf in the terribly cold weather.
With her favourite tankoubon in one hand, she carried a slice of mikan to her mouth.
The juice in her mouth was an exquisite balance of tang and sweetness, and it was the moment when she swallowed it down seed and all that it happened.
-garari-
Just as she was wondering what the sound was, a hot wind blew in with a roar.
Caught by the wind, the pages of the book she was holding flipped about.
Aah-, even though I still have no idea what page I was on…!
The fact that she was still thinking about such carefree things might have been a form of escapism.
However, when she turned her head to see what the cause was, Izumi who always thought only of books, the bold and by no means sensitive Izumi, glanced towards the cause―――――towards the bathroom window in the northern side of the room.
There was a person who was wrapped from head to toe in a navy blue cloth, with only the exception of his eyes.
A MUMMY!? …or so Izumi initially thought, but around those slightly slanted eyes was youthful skin, and more important than anything, the colour of the cloth was blue.
While gazing at this intruder dumbfoundedly, the eyes gazed back with a sharp light.
First those eyes stared right at Izumi’s face, then they slowly moved downwards, stopped again by her chest, then once again headed further down… When they reached her feet, the intruder tilted his head, before returning his gaze to her face, meeting her eyes.
At this point, Izumi finally remembered. She remembered that she was in the bath, and that she was fully naked.
“The heck are you? A peeper?”
“Would it be possible for you to spare me a cup of water?”
“Water?”
“Yeah. I haven’t had a drink the whole day. It’d really help if you could spare me a cup.”
The man looked at the hot water that filled the bathtub, and gulped.
Of course, Izumi was sitting in that bathtub, and so whether that gulp was from seeing her naked body, or whether it really was because of the water, was something Izumi couldn’t tell.
But well, even if the man really did just want the water, asking for a drink from water that somebody else has just bathed might make him a pervert after all.
Was she supposed to scream “KYAAA” or “MOLESTER!” in this situation?
The man’s face was covered, but had it not been an oft-used blue cloth, and instead a stocking or a balaclava or perhaps a full-face helmet, then Izumi would probably have screamed without a doubt.
However, the unique atmosphere that the man had held her back.
“Umm, water, right?”
Having said that though, she couldn’t give him water that she’d bathed in.
Izumi picked up the cup that she used for brus.h.i.+ng her teeth while in the bath, and filled it with water after turning the tap on.
The cold water flowed into the cup and filled it.
Around the time that the cup was filled to the rim, she turned around.
The man’s gaze was aimed at Izumi’s b.u.t.t.
Maybe I really should scream.
After clearing her throat with an ‘ahem’, the man raised his face as he suddenly realised what he was doing. When Izumi’s half-open eyes met his gaze with disdain, the man quickly lowered his eyes.
While using her book to discreetly s.h.i.+eld her chest, Izumi got up.
“Here you go.”
“Sorry for this.”
As expected, with the exception of his fingertips, the man’s hand was covered in that blue cloth.
No, it wasn’t only his fingertips. His shoulders and hips were wrapped in a large navy cloth as well.
Right, it was like he was somebody travelling in the desert with a camel.
Izumi who was often gazing at the man’s outfit noticed that her cheek was being stroked by a hot and dry wind, and turned her eyes to what was behind the man.
“What the heck?”
Izumi widened her eyes and took in the scenery that spread out behind the man.
It was not a desert. Though it wasn’t a desert, you could tell that the land was dry from a glance, and that this desolate land continued into the distance.
Spa.r.s.e gra.s.s, and a glazing sun. There wasn’t a single tree, nor any buildings. In this great expanse with nothing to block your view, the distant horizon was visible.
“Ummm?”
The man had drunk the water in one gulp with just the cloth around his mouth lowered and a line of water running down his lip. Izumi timidly called out to him.
“…What is it?”
The man gave a forceful wipe of his mouth.
“Where, are you?”
“Zaharya. Is there a problem?”
The man tilted his head in confusion, and held out the cup straightforwardly.
“You saved me. …I’m sorry to ask this, but may I have another cup?”
“Hahh. Sure.”
When she did as she was asked and filled the cup with water, the man once again drained it in a gulp. He seemed to drink it as though it were delicious wine from the heavens, and Izumi felt that he really hadn’t had any water the whole day.
“Um, and so, what are you doing in that Zaharya place?”
“I was stranded here.”
“I see…”