Chapter 268 – For You.

After leaving the old man’s house, they first returned to Thaddeo’s house. I wanted to leave right away, but it was because I had something I left behind like a bag.

“Euuuuu000uuuuu possible can’t possible!” “I’m bored! I’m bored! I’m bored!”
“Okay! Okay, don’t cling to me!”

Usher stopped her, blushing at Erica begging her to cling to herself and play with her. I don’t know if I just begged her, but the problem was that her soft touch was crushed as she was being held behind her back.

“Oh, mister, when will that end?”
“I just need to connect the lines in order, but there are a lot of numbers, so it will take a while.”

I asked Krikaliev how long it would take to repair the self-supporting power generator, but I didn’t get any good news. Usher simply had to pack his bag, but that made him angry and he had to accept all of Erica’s childishness.

“Wu-nya, then can we play for a bit?”
“Okay, you really are.”

Even at a time like this, Usher was troubled by her talking about playing.

“Oh hey, draw it. Staying here is crazy. Take some of you out and play.”

Krikaliev said she was bored too, shaking her head as if the girl’s voice was annoying.

“But that’s a bit.”

It bothered me to leave him alone, working to help him, no matter how much he had nothing to do.

“Hi, take care of your business while you have time to care about others.”
“Oops! That’s not to say there’s nothing to hit.”

However, Krikaliev, who knows how else to know, hits him hard and looks at the self-supporting power generator again.

“Just because you’re watching what I’m doing here doesn’t mean your efficiency will improve.”
“That’s true.”
“So come play with me. If you don’t play at this time, when are you going to play again?”

At his words not to go far, Usher eventually had to go out with Erica.

Hehe♪”

What was so delightful about Erica was that she cradled her lily of the valley in her arms and hummed as she ran from place to place snooping as she roamed the streets.

“Erika, it’s dangerous. Be careful.”
“But opportunities like this are few and far between.

It was the words of a greedy girl that Usher worried about and writhed at the merriment and precarious figure dancing like an acrobat, fluttering her long sleeves among the people walking in the sunset like butterfly wings. She wished she had paid more attention to the task of rescuing Belka, but Usher sighed and adjusted her bag. Erica’s music box was also in his bag, so the sound of metal clanking was a little louder.

“Don’t fall too far.”
“Ehihehe, it’s okay if you’re friendly.”

I hate the girl who smiles bashfully as if she doesn’t know anything, but I can’t help but follow her with anxiety. What crossed the edge of his field of vision was the figure of Thaddeo following them late. He was following on the grounds that he could be dangerous with Usher and Erica just in case.

“…”

What are you thinking? Usher didn’t know what expression his face was making in the shadows cast by the sunset, like the others walking down the street, but he knew he was depressed. That was when he turned his head away because he didn’t want to bother.

“What!? What, what?”

Usher backed away, startled by the grayness of the girl who suddenly came right in front of him.

“Doesn’t Usher like you?”
“Nothing…”

Usher averted his gaze at the girl’s appearance, as if he had noticed his feelings. In fact, what Thaddeo was displeased with was because of his actions that delayed going to rescue Belka. Still, it was quite embarrassing to reveal that he hated anyone. Besides, he’s the one who helped Erica, so wouldn’t she be disappointed? Because he was worried, Usher was dragged away by the force that suddenly pulled him. Because of her look at her in amazement.

“Aha ♪ Then let’s play together!”

The girl was laughing mischievously. Thaddeo somehow didn’t seem to be following them, so Usher and Erica quickly overtook him with a little running.

“Whoah. It seems like there’s a lot to run with Usher.”
“Um, can I do this?”
“Huh? What?”

Usher asked if it was really okay, but Erica didn’t seem to know what he was worried about.

“That’s it. No, that’s it.”

Usher tried to say something, but he didn’t know what to say, so he decided to hold back. Also, when she walked around the village as the girl led her, she was still full of unfamiliar things everywhere, so I thought I could understand why she kept wanting to go play. Maybe because the houses here looked similar to the outside, yet different, to the point that I wondered if the houses here also had the look of the Tsushima era, befitting the name of the holy land. But above all, there was something foreign.

“Why is the sunset always setting here?”

This village was always trapped in the setting sun from morning to evening when the sun went down. As if time had stopped. It was the time when I muttered a question about a scene I hadn’t gotten used to, no matter how many times I’d seen it.

“Huh, if it’s like that, I think someone said this a long time ago.”

The unexpected answer came from the girl.

“They say the sunset brings back memories.”
“Calling memories?”

Usher thought that was a strange statement. A sunset is a sunset, what kind of memories are they calling?

“Hee hee, isn’t it strange? But if that’s really true, wouldn’t this place be trapped in memories?”

Again, he couldn’t understand her words. As I was wandering around thinking it was just a silly story, there was a place that stood out. It seemed to be selling women’s clothing, mainly skirts and simple accessories.

“Ugh, what happened to me?”

Usher often hung out with not only Belka, but Mediah and Lyudmilla, so that kind of place stood out. In particular, Medea subtly poked him in the side and hinted that it would be a good gift for Belka. But that wasn’t the problem.

“Uh, Erika. Are you still not wearing your underwear?”
“Aha ♪ Do you want to see it?”
“Ugh, not like that!”

At Erica’s playful whisper, Usher hurriedly shook her head and said,

“If possible, I want to give it as a gift.”

I knew that places like that deal in underwear too. I didn’t wear anything downstairs, but I’ll need it when I go upstairs.

“To?”

He didn’t even think to make fun of himself, and he led her as he was, wanting every chance to see her hardened girl.

“Anybody home?”

It was quiet inside the store where Erica and I entered. It was strange that even the owner wouldn’t answer no matter how many guests there were, but the reason soon became clear.

“He’s sleeping.”

The woman who seemed to be the owner of her shop had fallen asleep on her counter with her arms as a pillow, as if she had no intention of receiving customers. She wondered if she would be okay as it was, but thinking that it would be better, she took Erica around the store and soon found black underwear that seemed to fit her. But she didn’t dare to take a closer look, so she quickly checked her price and held it out to Erica.

“Now, this.”
“Oooh? This.”
“Try it on quickly. If it doesn’t fit, tell me.”

Usher pushed her up and into the curtains set to one side of her. After waiting for some time, a girl’s voice is heard.

“Hey? I’m all dressed up.”
“Isn’t it small or big?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Then hurry up and get dressed.”

Fortunately, I could see Erica stepping out from behind the curtain, as if the size was right. She couldn’t tell if she was wearing underwear from the outside, but since the hanger on which her underwear hung was empty, she must have been wearing it. He slipped 3 silver coins into the price written on the inside of the sleeping owner’s arm, and left the store with Erica.

“Ha, I barely got out.”

Only then could Usher feel relieved, as if letting out the breath she had been holding back. No matter how much she wanted to buy Erica’s things, she couldn’t always get used to being in a place like that. Even with Belka, Mediah, and Lyudmila, he had memories of being busy breaking into a cold sweat when he went to a place like that. Then the thought came to Erica again.

“Where are you uncomfortable?”

I heard it because it was necessary, but he just wanted to get out as soon as possible, so he just picked the one that looked right. I had unintentionally heard that she was very uncomfortable if her underwear didn’t fit well, so when I asked her, Erica shook her head excitedly.

“It’s not like that.”
“But not?”

When I looked at her, wondering if there was another problem with her, her girl avoided her gaze, covering her face with the hem of her sleeve.

“Ooh, Usher is bold.”

Erica’s murmur made Usher feel a bit unjust. Isn’t she more daring if she’s daring to go without underwear? I was walking down the street with a girl who had somehow calmed down since then. Suddenly she stopped and looked at one place.

“Usher? What are you doing over there?”

She hears her words and she wants something, so as she approaches, a savory smell hits the tip of her nose. It was familiar to Usher too.

“It looks like a place that sells bread.”

It was the smell of cooking flour.

“So you call something that smells like bread.”

Erica nodded her head at his words and looked at the loaves of bread arranged beyond her slanted window. Usher watched her and asked.

“Do you want to eat that?”
“But it’s expensive.”
“If bread is expensive, how expensive is it… Kek!?”

He thought it was bread, but the price tag underneath it showed a higher price than he thought.

“A piece of bread costs 1 iron coin?”

All other breads were of normal price, but one bread was exceptionally expensive. Although it looked like a cookie or something, it was baked in a light brown color and looked appetizing. However, compared to the cookies of the past, it was true that the price was affordable, and Erica couldn’t take her eyes off the bread, so Usher opened his wallet at some point.

“Can I really eat this?”
“You bought it to eat.”

Her girl looked at him and her bread in her own hands, then carefully divided it in half with her hand.

“Here!”
“Wait, I bought this for you to eat. Whoops?!”
“Hee hee, now, ah~”

Usher tried to say something, but his mouth was blocked by the bread. Erica had no choice but to push half of the bread straight at him, but she felt an unexpected taste on the inside of what she thought was just bread. It wasn’t sweet, but when I took my lips apart, it felt light and moist.

“It must have been expensive because of the cream.”
“Cream?”

Seeing the girl tilt her head, Usher nodded. If it was cream, I could understand why it was expensive. She rather thought it was cheap because it didn’t contain sugar, so she saw the cream on the half of Erica’s halved bread and stuck out her little tongue and licked it. She was just about to say that wouldn’t it be nice to eat her whole?

“Ooooo!”

When she saw the girl stamping her feet and smiling, she decided to leave it alone. She just tugged at his sleeve before long.

“Usher, the cream is all gone.”
“That’s because I only eat cream.”

Usher couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Erica holding the empty bread with all the cream gone. Seeing her wringing out the bread with the cream missing, she held out the bread she had given her, feeling proud of not leaving it.

“Here, eat this.”
“Ooh, but this.”
“I was originally going to give it all to you.”
“Oooh, but, aww.”

Erica seemed hesitant at the thought that he had already given it to him, but when he shook the bread in front of her nose, Erica seemed unable to overcome her temptation, took the bread he offered, and began licking the cream from the inside. A good trick is to eat bread while holding a bunch of lily of the valley flowers in your arms.

“Whoa.”
“Now, are you going to eat this later?”

Then Usher wiped the remaining cream off the bridge of her nose with his hand when the girl looked satisfied after eating all the bread, whether or not he knew that the bridge of her nose was also smeared with cream.

“Yes, yes.”

Seeing Erica shyly hiding her face in the hem of her sleeve and avoiding her gaze, she was about to go back, thinking that she would be satisfied now.

“Ah?”

At that moment, something white all over her approached without a sound and snatched her away. In the place of the girl who disappeared in an instant, she said that Erica was there, only a bunch of lily of the valley falling powerlessly down after losing her owner.

‘Secure the target’