The next day, Sakuya has work to do in the village, so we’re left to relax and sightsee.
It’s not like the men do nothing but fight either, they also work.
There’s a calm air about, and just walking around feels nice.
“Ah, gramps!”
Snow points to Mister Giarth, who is poking his face from the ground again.
There’s a sharp green light, and he disappears into the earth again.
“Arata, was that…”
“Don’t worry don’t worry.”
Reina is also not hung up on what happened yesterday, and treats it as something unavoidable.
That said, it’s not like we’ve completely forgotten it. There’s still some subtle but noticeable distance between us.
Then I remember what Wil said.
No matter what she looks like, Luna is still Luna.
Those words caused a rustling in my heart, because of how serious she sounded.
Luna herself is chasing Mister Giarth with Snow.
To be more precise, they’re seeing who can stop on his face first.
It’s like whac-a-mole.
“Aren’t great spirits important beings… Should we let them do that?”
“They’re having fun, so I guess there’s no harm.”
If he had a problem with that, he wouldn’t keep showing his face like that.
Mister Giarth probably feels like he’s jumping ahead of Mister Guen, because he gets to play with Snow.
People in the alfar village would probably turn pale if they saw this, but the great spirit himself should decide what he wants.
“Ah, Arata. I think Sakuya has something she wants to talk about.”
“Talk about?”
“Yes. I asked her what it was, but she said she wants to speak to you directly.”
“Yes, sure. Sakuya’s been helping us a lot, so I’ll do what I can.”
As we walk through the village, we eventually see Gyes hard at work farming.
It’s actually kind of surreal to see a rugged guy like him all scrunched up doing minute work.
“Hey, Gyes!”
“Hn? Hey, big bro!”
When he notices me, he walks through the field with heavy steps to come closer.
There’s another demon god who turns this way, Roman, but he keeps working.
“You’re doing a good job out here.”
“Hahaha! I’m not soft enough to get tired just doing this.”
He says ‘just doing this’, but the field he’s working on looks pretty big. And if it’s just him and Roman managing it, it must be a lot of work.
Speaking of which, is it really okay for Gyes to come over here and leave Roman working alone?
“Roman’s out there by himself though.”
“Yes! I just got to the end anyway, so it’s time for a break! That guy’s too serious, but he’ll take a break too when he feels like it.”
“I see… Ah!”
Then I notice that Snow got in the field.
Reina takes care of the vegetables close to our house, but it’s Snow’s first time seeing such a big field, and she’s looking around like it’s strange.
It would be fine if she was a normal kid, but she’s an ice great spirit.
If she uses just a bit of her power, she might end up ruining the vegetables they’re working hard to grow.
“I’m going after her.”
“Luna too.”
“Yes, thanks you two.”
Reina and Luna also go into the field, after Snow decided to run around on it.
I guess Roman also figured he can’t just ignore her either, and he’s walking over to her too.
“Sorry, I think we caused some trouble.”
“Hey, demon gods aren’t so intolerant that we’re gonna be mad over what a kid does.”
He says with a smile, and sure enough, after Roman reaches snow, it looks like he’s just teaching her something.
Reina and Luna also start explaining when they get to her. I guess they’re going to show her what farming is.
“Roman kind of feels like everyone’s big brother here, uh?”
“Yes. He’s weak, but he’s got a nice core to him. Everyone can count on him.”
And as we watch everyone having fun, Gyes suddenly turns serious.
“I actually want to run something by you.”
“Hn? That’s rare,”
Both demon gods and ancient dragons take pride in their strength, so they tend to want to settle things on their own.
Graham and Gyes are even more prone to that, so I’ve never heard either ask for advice.
“…It’s about Sakuya. Apparently there’s a guy she likes.”
“Eh…”
Yesterday, I thought he had no idea, but apparently that’s not the case.
That said, it’s kind of weird for me to know, so I pretend I don’t.
“Sakuya is my little sister, but I’ve raised her since she was a baby, so she’s kind of like a daughter too.”
“Yes…”
“I want her to marry a guy that will make her happy.”
Gyes is young, but he comes off like an experienced old man when he’s serious.
That’s just how much he cares about Sakuya.
“Demon god women are happy when they marry a strong man. That’s why I’d like her to marry a man that’s stronger than me, but…”
Gyes looks up at the sky, where a pair of birds are flying together, and look like they’re pampering each other.
“There’s no guy like that here in this village.”
“Well, I guess so.”
And it’s not just because he’s the only one who inherited the name of his ancestor either. He was already the strongest of the young demon gods before that, and fought ancient dragons.
That means that his wish that his sister marry someone stronger isn’t going to come true.
That said, for a Japanese guy like me, it’d be fine if she just chose someone she likes.
And since she actually does like someone, he should just be happy about…
“But! Someone stronger has appeared!”
“Hn?”
“And apparently he’s the guy she likes too!”
“Eh?”
“Yes. I’m just gonna say it, she has feelings for you!”
“…”
That’s so sudden, that I freeze for a moment and don’t know how to respond.
We just met yesterday, so that can’t be right. But apparently Gyes is convinced of it.
“You know, we just met yesterday.”
“Yes! But I’ve been telling her about your awesomeness all this time. It makes sense that she felt your strength when she got to meet you face to face!”
“…I don’t think that makes any sense actually.”
And he sure is being direct.
I’m baffled, but he just keeps going like he’s speaking facts.
And then he gets off-track and starts talking about how awesome I am, and how his sister would birth good kids.
“So Gyes… What is it that you want to talk about exactly?”
“Oh! That’s right! Well, I guess you already figured it out after I said this much.”
He says with a happy grin, but my attention goes to the red-haired girl slowly approaching behind him.
Gyes is too into what he’s saying to notice, but… I look at her and shake my head.
Gyes is the one saying this stuff, not me.
“My sister is more important to me than my life, so I’d definitely want her to marry you…”
“Sounds like you’re having an interesting conversation.”
“Big bro, let’s talk more about this back at the house, just between us men.”
“Too late for that.”
Says Reina.
She knows I’m not the one Sakuya likes, and makes sure to hammer that in.
Gyes starts asking who it could be if not me, and that he won’t accept anyone who’s not stronger than him. But Reina is on Sakuya’s side, and completely rejects it.
She says if he really cares about her, he needs to trust her.
“U-uuu…! Even if it’s you saying it big sis, I can’t back down from that!”
“Ah, wait!”
Gyes can’t handle what Reina said, and takes off running as Reina yells.
She can’t catch up to the strongest guy in this village when he’s running like that, and eventually he’s out of our sights.
Well, I understand what Reina said, but…
I guess for Gyes, the idea of just some guy taking the sister he raised is making him unable to look at it with a cool head.
“Daddy! Potato!”
I didn’t see it happen, but both Snow’s face and kimono are covered in mud, as she proudly shows me what looks like a sweet potato.
At first I’m worried, but then I remember that Sakuya said it would be all right if the kimono got dirty, so I guess it’s fine.
“That’s great.”
“Hehehe! Snow got it with Luna!”
I pat Snow’s head, and start thinking that I might start sounding like Gyes if someone talked to me about this girl getting married one day.
“I won’t accept Snow’s marriage to anyone who isn’t stronger than me.”
“Arata, what are you talking about? Snow isn’t getting married.”
“…I see.”
I feel like making Reina play the straight man, but one man’s fault is another’s lesson.
“Snow’s staying with daddy and mommy forever!”
“Yes. Always together.”
“Yay!”
She really looks like her mother when I see her like this. Then I turn to Luna…
“There!”
“Uooh! That’s great Luna!”
She pulls a really big potato from the ground, and Roman is impressed.
The three of us laugh, and feel that this sort of daily life is nice too.
◇ ◇ ◇
At night, Gyes goes down to alcohol again, and Sakuya comes to me to talk.
“Actually… It’s Graham the ancient dragon who…”
To be honest, I didn’t need her to tell me that, I already figured it out, but what to do about it…
I’ll leave it to Reina, and just try to support her. After all, I feel like I get how Gyes feels too…
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