Chapter 182 – Stopped Footsteps.

As she wiped the dishes piled up beyond the number of customers who had come to lunch, she could see that Nausicaa hadn’t asked for help for nothing. It seemed like this would be similar to the amount of plates eaten by the vassals of small estates at one meal. She could do it alone if she wanted to, but it was sure to be very difficult and time consuming.

“Thanks to you, I’m alive. Sister!”

After washing her last plate, Nausicaa spoke to Helena about her.

“I’m glad it was helpful.”
“Ayy, if it wasn’t for Helena, she’d be tight until dinner.”

She laughed, saying that she could rest a lot.

“Do you usually do this much alone?”
“If so, she would have collapsed earlier? She used to have someone to help with serving and chores.”

If so, perhaps noticing Helena wondering why she was working alone now, Nausicaa lowered her voice as if telling her secret story.

“That’s it. All of a sudden, he quit two weeks ago.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yes! He was a person who worked for quite a long time. How difficult it was for the number of workers to suddenly decrease.”

Nausicaa grumbled and wiped her hands on her towel and held out her towel to her as well.

“But when I saw it a few days ago, they said they were getting married! I didn’t know that I could have met eyes with a customer here! I thought it was strange, but some people can’t even dream of being in a relationship!”

Helena wondered if she might have asked the wrong question on a sensitive subject, but fortunately she didn’t. As she was wiping her hands, feeling relieved, her words continued.

“Anyway, I tried to save people after that, but I couldn’t find them. There weren’t many people who applied.”

Nausicaa puffed out her cheeks and glanced at Krikaliev with her anguished face.

“Did you kick out the person you saved like that?”

Despite complaining like that, she didn’t seem to have any complaints about his behavior. Was that so?

“What kind of person is Mr. Krikaliev?”

Helena was asking about him.

“Um, Mr. Yoff?”

If it was Nausicaa, she thought she would know about him. Then she made a complicated expression that made it impossible to talk about it, and she seemed to suddenly realize.

“Sir, are you really interested?! To that man?!”

For some reason, she had a strange misunderstanding.

“No! My sister is much more wasteful! She is so strong that she knows how to hunt, but what a hassle she is! She can’t cook! She’s sure to have a hard time getting married, right?”

Nausicaa did not notice that she was flustered, but her voice was very loud. She saw Krikaliev, who was making her pot, tip over on the table.

“I have no interest in that in the first place.”
“Oh.”

She realizes that she has been mistaken, and she is surprised. He’s just a guy living his own life. Said Helena, handing her towel back to her.

“And it’s better to say it quietly so that the person in question can’t hear you.”
“Yeah? What does that mean…”

Behind Nausicaa was Krikaliev, who approached silently. When she realized it later, she laughed awkwardly.

“Ah, ahaha. Mister. You know it’s all a joke, right?”
“Draw it? Then I’ll make a joke too.”
“Uh, what?”
“Are your balls made of rubber!!”
“Wow!!”

When Helena was with them, all her worries seemed distant. It was a peaceful afternoon.

“Okay, my cheeks.”

As Nausicaa rubbed her reddened cheeks, Krikaliev opened her mouth.

“Why are you so interested in your customers?”
“That’s what I’m going to say. Who is particularly kind to Helena and the baby rabbit?”

Rather, it was something she was curious about. Having lived here with him for quite some time, she had seen him bring people along, but he was seldom more kind than necessary. Above all, Nausicaa knew what he was doing, so it was more surprising to see him being kind. He checked on Helena, who was now sitting at the table with Belka and drinking tea.

“Wasn’t it you who said that Cattsie’s aren’t kicking out for reasons they really don’t understand?”

In fact, there were also some people who would tell the truth and quarrel with Nausicaa, so it was a time when Krikaliev became especially sensitive when he brought a new guest. There is no guarantee that there will be no criminals among them. However, it was the rule between the two of them to maintain a reasonable distance that was neither too hostile nor too favorable. There were occasions when they became close friends, but that was Nausicaa’s story, not Krikaliev’s.

“I wonder if someone from a foreign country was kicked out by the Cattsy for a few days.
“Then there is no problem?”

It was rare to ask about him because of the circumstances of those who came with him, but the fact that this guest came from beyond the cloud region was especially interesting to Nausicaa, who had a hobby of hearing stories from other places.

“Oh my God. But don’t get too close.”
“Why!”

She asked with displeasure, but she said that Krikaliev also had his own reasons.

“I don’t think those girls will stay here long.”
“Ooh, that’s a bit unfortunate.”
“Why do you want to be friends with those girls so much?”
“Huh? Need a different reason?”

When he asked as he watched Nausicaa’s wings droop, he shook her head as she blinked at her and looked at her strangely.

“Yeah, you were a guy who got along well with Dinga, who passed by.”
“You’re cute!”

By the way, the Dinga he knew was never a creature worthy of being called cute.

“Who is that girl?”
“Pretty!”
“Who is that little girl?”
“Cute!”

Finally Krikaliev raised his hands. It was difficult for him to understand her feelings.

“How are you going to live without me later?”
“I’m going to live well! I saved a lot of money and I have a lot of friends!”
“Ugh. You do it yourself.”
“Then you’re allowed!”

At the same time, I blamed myself and ran to the place where Helena and Belka were, but stopped until I heard a squeaking sound.

“Come to think of it, mister. It’s been a while since I finished work early. Can’t we close the restaurant? Let’s go hang out together!”

At the same time, as if asking for a favor, holding her hand and looking at him made her look sad.

“Don’t you just want to play?”
“Ehehe.”
“I see. It’s not like we’re ruined if we don’t do it for a day.”

Upon hearing his words, Nausicaa immediately ran to Helena and Belka.

“Who wants to go out with me!”
“Yes?”
“?”

As Helena and Belka were puzzled by her sudden words, Krikaliev approached and slapped Nausicaa on the back.

“You pushed too hard. This gas is out!”
“Kyaaak! It hurts!”

He spoke instead while Nausicaa groaned to relieve the pain in his back.

“It’s because he wants to get close with the girls. I wonder if he’d like to introduce you to what kind of town Parz is.”

Helena realized that he had only thought of curing Usher, but that she hadn’t thought of looking back at Parz. Although she flirted with Jude, she didn’t even care about Parz as she was never good with him. Once upon a time, there was no shortage of money for them. She had brought a lot of medicine in case it would be expensive, and with Krikaliev’s help, it had tripled. All I had to do was wait for Usher to wake up.

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

Helena looked at Belka while worrying about their appearance.

“Yeah, fine.”

As the girl also accepted it positively, Nausicaa seemed to have forgotten her pain before she knew it, and her eyes twinkled and her wings flapped.

“Wow! Really?! Then I’ll prepare and leave quickly!”

Helena’s wry smile spilled out from her back as she ran to her room. Even though she doesn’t look like a big age difference with her, seeing her like a bright girl made her wonder.

“He’s a lively kid.”
“I’m too full of energy to get rid of it. I don’t know when I’ll hear it.”

Krikaliev sighed as she sat with them. Now that she was looking at it, Helena couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer. She was two people of different races, but no matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem to be in a normal relationship.

“How are you two?”
“Huh? What are you doing? With that guy?”

He touched Helena’s chin as if pondering her question.

“Enemy?”

She said something completely different from what she had thought, but she thought that what followed was a playful comment she usually made with his words.

“Otherwise, I’d just be an adopted daughter.”
“Ready! Let’s get out quickly!”

Just then Nausicaa came out of her room and they left the inn together. Krikaliev locked the door with a thick chain and padlock and changed the sign to Closed.

“Hee hee, where does my little rabbit want to go? Isn’t there a lot of strange things since he came to another country?”
“I don’t know about that.”

Meanwhile Nausicaa was hugging her Belka from behind her. As she buried her face in her own hair and rubbed her face, her girl blushed and only wiggled her hands.

“Then I’ll introduce you! Uncle and unnie follow me quickly!”

As she was walking with Krikaliev following her leading Nausicaa, leading her girl, Helena, noticing that she was subtly widening her distance, noticed her winking and blinking one eye when she looked at her Nausicaa. He sighed.

“You are completely misunderstood.”

It must be because she washed her dishes earlier and asked about Krikaliev.

“Can there be anything more to see? There won’t be much difference from what I saw inside anyway. If there’s any, it’s just that she lost a bit later.”

It was as he said. Nausicaa’s heart was grateful, but to be honest, she didn’t see anything special about her. Most of the games and food she saw in the interior of Parzu, and there were many things to see when there was a festival. She didn’t enjoy it, but she still felt like revisiting something she knew, so she didn’t seem that new.

“Still, it’s the first time I’ve seen her smile properly.”

It was hard for Helena to see Belka smile, perhaps because she met Usher after he collapsed. She even laughed when she was with Donar or Sif. If even the smile you make to hide your sadness can be called laughter. So, this was the first proper smile of a girl Helena had ever seen. For now, I was satisfied with just that. She hadn’t even dreamed that before long she would be looking up at Nausicaa, precariously standing at the edge of a cliff.

“Ah! What! Today was the day of the flight competition!”

These were the words she shouted when she found something on her bulletin board as she passed by. It turned out that she had forgotten that the match day she had applied for was today, but she had been busy with work.

“Do you really have to jump from such a high place?”

She looked dangerous, but considering she was a harpy, she wasn’t strange. She had the same harpies beside her, spreading her wings as wide as they could, preparing to fly. Even so, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had to jump from such a high place.

“Because the safety device is also certain. And that’s a tradition of harpies, so what can I do?”

It is said that the Cattsy also acknowledge their tradition and approve of every match. Because of this, Helena realized something strange about her. I don’t know if it’s because she hasn’t paid attention to her until now because of Jude.

“Why are the harpies in Parz? Wasn’t their homeland surely a holy land?”

No matter how many humans and beastmen gathered in Parz, the harpies had their own home. When Lantua belonged to this place, it was the harpies who governed and ruled the Holy Land. It would have been understandable if some had left the Holy Land and became independent, but there were too many harpies standing on the cliff or looking around.

“Huh? When did you talk about the enemy… No, it’s been over 100 years since Lantua was cut off by the Clouds.”

And the stories I heard were amazing.

“Has it been almost 20 years since the Harpies were kicked out of the Holy Land and have been sitting here?”