Chapter 81

As I was about to leave! —— The brave voice of my sister Elinora faintly echoed from downstairs, waking me up.

I sat up on the bed, stretched thoroughly, and then pushed open the wooden window.

As expected, Elinora was there, her chestnut ponytail swaying.

The ponytail, which moved smoothly, was tied with the hair tie I had given her as a souvenir yesterday.

It was a white ribbon with red polka dots.

I had been afraid she would say something like, "I don't need such a thing," but it seemed she quite liked it, and took most of the things I bought.

Among them, the leftovers were probably the things I bought that didn't suit her.

The fact that the things I thought would be good were left behind made me realize how difficult women's fashion can be.

Nevertheless, seeing Elinora wearing it right away made me happy.

I watched her disappear with satisfaction and got ready for the morning.

Usually, I would go straight to the dining room, but today I decided to change into my outdoor clothes to go to Thor's house.

As I was changing into a green shirt and brown pants, which were relatively easy to move in, I heard a voice from the hallway.

"Whoa! What's that you're wearing?"

"Hehehe, it's a pin I bought in the capital. Doesn't it suit me?"

"Eh? It doesn't suit you at all. Your forehead is showing, and you look three times as silly as usual."

"That's mean, Mel! To say the same thing as Alfrid! Nord and Elna said it was cute and smiled at me!"

"…They were laughing at you. Try getting closer to Elna and see if she's laughing or praising you."

"Why can't you praise me honestly! That's not true!"

"Then, let's go to Elna."

"Sure, I don't mind."

Mel walked with a sigh, while Mina walked with her chest puffed out, as if to say she was angry.

I left my room and slowly followed behind them.

"…Today's breakfast will be noisy, I guess."

When I entered the dining room a little later than Mina and the others, Sara, who was serving the plates, greeted me.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Sara."

Sara immediately started serving the plates efficiently.

In contrast, the other person was—

"Elna? Why aren't you looking at me today?"

She was trying to confirm the truth of what Mel had said earlier.

"It's not true. You're just imagining it."

"No! Since I came in, Elna hasn't looked at me once!"

Mina leaned in, but Elna's mother was holding a teacup with a cool smile.

But I could tell. Elna's mother was smiling.

Because her face was slightly tense, and the corners of her mouth were twitching slightly.

She was tilting the teacup to hide it.

"Oh, Al, you're up. Good morning."

"Good morning, Elna's mother."

She was clearly trying to change the subject.

"Don't change the subject!"

"Didn't you say you were going to Thor's house today? Are you going to bring a gift?"

Mina, trying to bring the conversation back, but Elna's mother ignored it and expanded the topic.

"Yeah, that's right. I'll go after breakfast."

"Speaking of gifts, Elinora looked quite happy wearing the hair tie this morning. She woke up early and seemed to be quite indecisive."

Elna's mother sipped her tea with a soft smile.

If I had woken up early, I could have seen that rare scene.

"Speaking of gifts, you mean the pin I'm wearing, Elna!"

"Sure, sure, your forehead is showing, and you look three times as silly as usual, Mina."

Because Mina was so noisy in the morning, I bluntly said it.

At that moment, Elna's mother started coughing, as if she had choked on her tea.

She was coughing as if in pain, but her shoulders were clearly shaking.

"Elna, here's a towel!"

"Thank you, Mina—ahem!"

When Elna's mother took the towel from Mina, she must have seen her face directly and started laughing again.

"Ohhh! Alfrid and Elna are so mean!"

Mina stormed out of the dining room.

In the end, only Baltor didn't laugh at Mina.

Silvio's brother smiled wryly, and Nord's father, who was taking a break in his study, apparently choked and laughed.

◆

After the noisy breakfast, I headed to Thor's house with a homemade lunch by Baltor and a goblin sword wrapped in cloth.

I walked towards the village, crunching the earth under my feet. Basking in the warm spring sunlight, I took a deep breath.

The scent of deep green and earth filled my nostrils, like I had just eaten mint. Listening to the chirping of birds, I walked along the path.

As I approached the village, I saw fields and villagers tilling the soil with hoes. Roland, the old man, was wiping his sweat and swinging his hoe.

Since he was quite far away, I decided not to greet him this time.

I hope the wheat sprouts soon.

When I reached Thor's house, a cottage with a reddish roof, I heard the sound of chopping wood nearby.

Curious, I walked in the direction of the sound.

There, I saw Thor chopping wood with an axe.

When Thor noticed me, he greeted me with an unusually happy expression.

"Oh! Al! I've been waiting for you!"

"Can I just drop off the gift and leave?"

His smile was too good, giving me a bad feeling.

"Don't be so stiff. Just help a bit. You just need to stack the wood."

Thor, holding the axe in one hand, put his arm around my shoulder.

This guy is deliberately trying to hit me with the axe.

This is clearly a threat. Who knows what he might do.

"Well, if that's all. I won't swing the axe, okay?"

"Sure!"

Threatened by Thor, I found a suitable rock and reluctantly sat down.

I grabbed the unsplit wood stacked near the stump and placed it on top.

"Here we go!"

Thor swung the axe and embedded it halfway into the wood.

Then, he lifted the axe with the wood still on the blade and brought it down.

The wood split with a dry sound.

"Why don't you split it in one go?"

"This way is easier. Besides, swinging it with all your might is dangerous."

Following Thor's command to "stand back a bit," I moved away from the spot.

Thor placed the wood on the stump, raised the axe, and brought it down.

The wood split with a dry sound and scattered.

If I had been sitting nearby, the scattered wood would have hit me.

Thor pulled the axe out of the stump and said, "See?"

"Indeed, it's dangerous."

After that, Thor and I chatted a bit while splitting the wood.

"You don't even know how to split wood? Have you never done it before?"

"No, I haven't. I'm a noble, so I let Baltor do it."

"You should do a little work. Wood is used every day, so preparing it is a lot of work."

"True. But we bought the latest fire magic device, so we probably won't need wood anymore."

"What!?"

"Watch out! There's still a chance!"

What a guy. He swung the axe at me while I was still placing the wood.

Unbelievable.

"What did you just say!?"

"Hey, you almost cut off my important right arm. Don't say such things. We bought a fire magic device, so we don't need wood. The fuel is magic power."

"Wow! That's unfair! Give it to me!"

"No way. Here, take this."

I dodged Thor, who lunged at me, and pointed to the sword I had placed nearby.

"What's this? A stick?"

Since it was wrapped in cloth, Thor didn't recognize it.

So, I picked it up and unwrapped the cloth.

The moment the silver blade was revealed, Thor exclaimed, "Oh!"

"Here, it's a sword."

A goblin's sword, but still.

When I completely unwrapped it and handed it to Thor, he looked at it happily.

He traced the blade with his fingers, turned it over, and held it up to the sunlight, getting excited.

I had polished it to a shine the day before. It was already in good condition, so there shouldn't be any problems.

"It's a real sword! Not a wooden sword!"

The sword is goblin-sized, so Thor can hold it with one hand. Of course, his body is also well-trained from chopping wood.

To me, it felt a bit heavy.

"I thought you'd bring some toy, but I didn't expect a sword. Thanks!"

Thor thanked me with a big smile.

Seeing that smile, I felt a bit guilty.

If it breaks, I'll give him a better one or have Logan make one for him.

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