207 – Where the young lady wants to travel

The young lady, who was holding a handful of blooming bubbles and blowing into them, was smiling.

“Hoo-hee-hee…”

Whether it was because the bath was relaxing her tense body or not, the young lady was laughing and showing no signs of wanting to get out of the tub.

“The bubbles are so fluffy…”

“Are you having fun?”

“Yup. I feel like I’ve gotten 10 years younger.”

As expected, the young lady loved taking baths.

After playing with the bubbles for a while, the young lady made two giant mountains out of them and looked at me.

Bubbly, fluffy mountains.

The young lady poked the bubbles with her finger and said,

“Ricardo, haven’t you seen something like this somewhere?”

“No, I haven’t.”

The young lady smiled slyly. I felt uneasy. The young lady’s works of art always went beyond my expectations.

The best example would be the Menbosha wearing a paper crane mask. The last time, she folded a rectangle and insisted it was a paper crane, so I figured there had to be some profound meaning behind this as well.

The young lady piled more bubbles on top of the bubbles, making them even bigger, all the while wearing a serious expression.

“Think carefully…”

“I don’t know what it is, no matter how much I look.”

“Fluffy and bubbly…”

“Yes.”

“And really big.”

Unable to find a clear answer to the young lady’s question, I leaned in closer to get a better look at her work of art.

It seems like it’d be squishy if you touch it.

‘What is it.’

The moment I was having a brief contemplation, my gaze drifted in an unfortunate direction. Should I call it instinct? My gaze turned to it like it was a magnet, even though I didn’t intend it.

The girl’s treasure pouch from which water droplets are dripping down. I quickly turned my head down with my face buried as the overly devout spectacle made me feel embarrassed.

‘Surely not…’

I shook my head as I looked at the girl who was making a serious expression. It didn’t seem like the work made with such a serious expression would be ‘that.’

‘…But other than that, I can’t think of anything else.’

I thought the girl’s work was too difficult for a commoner like me to understand.

The girl pouted her lips and spoke to me in a serious voice as I couldn’t figure it out.

“It’s shaped like a breast.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s incredibly soft and incredibly large.”

“Oh, come on…”

I splashed water hard on the girl’s face.

The girl made an expression as if the world was collapsing as she looked at the ruined work with small gestures and hugged her chest, speaking in a desperate voice.

“My breast!”

“What breast!”

“Eek! Licardo ruined my breast!”

“No…!”

Was it because this wicked, evil woman only learned the bad stuff, this girl was incredibly amazing when it came to making plots.

The young lady laughed brightly as she looked at my blushing face.

“Jeez! Why?!”

“Why did you make my breasts bigger than watermelons! And why did you make them so bouncy for no reason!”

“Heeheehee! It’s fun!”

As usual, the young lady’s energy level went up after taking a bath.

The young lady played with the bubbles for a while, creating various works of art. Then, she lost interest and flicked a yellow rubber ducky floating in the bathtub with her finger as she spoke to me.

“Listen, Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been thinking about where to go on our trip.”

“You’ve been thinking about it. I thought you’d say you’d go anywhere.”

“Hmph…”

The young lady squinted her eyes at me and pursed her lips. Then, she hung her head sullenly, giving me a depressed look as if she was trying to hide what she wanted to say.

I smiled slightly as I looked at her.

“So where were you thinking of going?”

“…That’s.”

“Yes.”

“Listen. That’s…”

The young lady was hesitant to speak.

I wondered if she had chosen a very expensive destination. She couldn’t keep her hands off the rubber ducky floating in the bathtub, and she kept glancing at me while hugging her legs.

I wondered what she was struggling to say.

Although I say that, if it’s a place that even Miss Gomtang, who is more observant than me, is worried about, then it must not be an easy place to travel to.

I squatted down next to the young lady and waited for her answer while observing her magnificent chest. I didn’t want to keep looking at her face because it would embarrass her. I wasn’t looking with any inappropriate intentions. I swear on my conscience.

-Jigsy…

“…”

“Ricardo, pervert.”

“…”

As expected, you can’t fool a wicked woman’s eyes.

The young lady sighed and carefully told me the story she had been thinking about. She wondered if I would be interested in going to a certain place with her.

“I’ve been thinking a lot. About where would be fun to go.”

“You’ve been working hard.”

“Yeah. If I asked Ricardo to choose, he would probably pick a place where dragons appear or a place inhabited by savages.”

“…Didn’t you like that? I was planning something like that.”

“Eeeek…”

The young lady tilted her head at her own words and muttered, “That might be fun too…”

I felt good in many ways because I seemed to understand the young lady’s tastes exactly, but I held back and focused on what she was saying.

Because she seemed serious.

“That’s why…”

The young lady glanced at me and squeezed the rubber duck floating on the bathtub.

-Kweeeek!

The rubber duck made a dying sound at the young lady’s gesture. I almost laughed at the clueless guy’s scream, but when I saw the young lady’s shyly troubled face, I felt like I could do it. If I laughed now, the young lady would probably throw the rubber duck at my face.

“Don’t say anything after hearing this.”

“Of course.”

“Really.”

“Yes..”

The young lady carefully opened her mouth and spoke.

“I mean…”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I’ve thought about it a lot. The ocean, the mountains, the valley…”

“You’re thinking of some very wholesome travel destinations. That’s unexpected.”

“Mm…”

“I was planning to invade the Dwarf Kingdom or the Elf Kingdom without permission.”

“Can you do that?”

“I’ll try if you ask me to.”

“Um… no. I’ll do it later.”

“Let me know when you think about it later.”

“Mm.”

The young lady shook her head and carefully opened her mouth.

“Seriously, don’t get mad after hearing this.”

“Yes.”

“Really, really… Ricardo told me to choose.”

“Yes.”

The young lady bowed her head deeply and spoke in a shy voice.

“I want to go to a very cold place.”

“Yes?”

“The North…”

“Oh…”

“I want to go to the North.”

The young lady’s words were more shocking than I had thought. The North at this time of year was not a place where people could live.

It was cold.

Monsters lurked.

There were pagans.

And.

“…”

It was also Yuria’s hometown.

I smiled wryly and shook the young lady’s wet hair.

“That’s perfect. The weather is about to get warmer, so it seems like a great place to travel.”

“Are you not angry?”

“Why would I be angry?”

“I chose a very cold place.”

“Why would I be angry when it’s where you want to go? It’s not like you asked to go somewhere strange.”

“…Still.”

“Honestly, I thought you’d say you wanted to go to the beach. You said you wanted to wear a bikini last time.”

The lady touched her stomach, hidden under suds, and shook her head. It didn’t seem like the right time yet.

“I’m going to lose weight before going to the beach.”

“You seem thin enough already.”

“Hehehe…”

It seemed that everyone, whether a villainess or a goddess, liked the topic of weight. I nodded at the decided destination and spoke in a cheerful voice.

I think we’ll still be able to save on accommodation.

“That’s perfect. The Desmunt family has a vacation home in the North. You don’t have to worry about money.”

“…”

The lady kept her mouth shut, unable to speak.

I smiled slightly and asked her,

“Is there not one?”

“…Father sold it because he said he had no money.”

Desmunt looked pitiful today.

*

A certain town in the North where a cold wind blew.

“…”

Yuri’s father, James, stretched, rubbing his stiff shoulders.

“I wonder if Yuri’s doing well.”

James’ worries were always directed towards his daughter, Yuriah. He was worried about his daughter who had left the north for the capital, and he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to live in a foreign land.

It was a common worry for a father.

It might be easier to live in than the cold north, but it wouldn’t be home. As a father with a daughter, James couldn’t easily let go of his worries, so he worried about Yuriah whenever he had time.

– Dad… Even if I’m not there, make sure to eat breakfast…

– Don’t cry, Yuriah. Dad’s doing well, so don’t worry and go have fun.

– And quit your job…

– I will.

James had broken his promise to his daughter and continued to work.

He was talking about the task of dealing with the monsters that had suddenly increased in number recently. Despite retiring from his job as an adventurer due to injury, he had started working again because of his small wish as a father to give his daughter, who was living in the academy, some pocket money.

James let out a chuckle as he looked at the wound from the monster’s bite.

“Yuriah would scold me if she saw this.”

At times like this, the father felt the empty space left by his daughter even more.

James had two jobs.

One job was as an adventurer.

His other job was his main occupation, which brought in less money than his side job, as an innkeeper.

The north was a region that attracted many tourists in the summer. The snow-capped mountains melted, creating beautiful scenery, and sometimes mirage-like images were drawn in the sky.

There were fewer guests in the spring, but in the summer, he was still able to make enough profit to send Yuriah a generous amount of pocket money. However, with the recent influx of monsters in the north, James’ income had been halved.

James sighed as he turned his aching shoulder.

“I guess there won’t be any guests for a while.”

James thought it was strange that anyone would come to the north for sightseeing during this time when monsters were pouring in.

I wouldn’t choose death to see a pretty view.

The bitter thought crossed James’ mind.

-Hoo-hee-hee…!

A wheelchair came rolling down quickly from the northern mountain range, making an odd laughing sound.

It was a chair.

Not a sled, but a chair.

James rubbed his eyes in disbelief and let out a dumbfounded sound. He had lived in the north for over 30 years and had never seen such a crazy person.

“…”

-Hoo-hee-hee!!! Eeeek! This is so fast!

A white-haired woman with her hair flying in the wind passed by James’ dumbfounded eyes. James couldn’t come to his senses as the woman passed by at a speed that was hard to follow with his eyes.

Then he saw a red-haired man following her at that speed and nodded calmly.

“I guess I should go home since I’m seeing strange things.”

James couldn’t understand it.

And he hoped those two weren’t his guests.