11-Holding hands

"So, where do you want to go?" Krish-san asked.

"Um, there's a restaurant near the market to the north. It's run by someone named Couge. Do you know it?"

"No."

Well, of course. Even I didn't know the name of the cafe near my house in my previous world.

"Ummm, it's a restaurant that changes the menu every week."

"Oh, I know about it. It's been a topic of discussion among the knights. I've never eaten there, but I've heard that it puts out original recipes, the vegetables are delicious and the sauces are unique."

Couge's restaurant was being praised. I felt as proud as if I were the one receiving the praise.

Because I knew that Couge's been working very hard.

It was the butter I'd brought that had first enticed customers to come. But if the restaurant only had that novelty, people would have gotten tired of it fast.

Even in my previous world, there were a lot of food that had explosive popularity at first, but then soon disappeared.

Couge's restaurant had been a sad establishment, enough to have a cuckoo singing. Its popularity now was the result of Couge's hard work. He'd kept on practicing his cooking even as he got burns all over his hands.

"I hope you eat there too, Krish-san. Couge's food is really delicious. It's enough to have your cheeks falling off."

"If I eat it, my cheeks will fall off? What a dangerous food."

The reason we could speak while we walked, was that Krish-san was keeping pace with me and walking slowly.

At first I had to give my all just to keep up with him. But he immediately noticed me wheezing and slowed down his pace.

Krish-san was really a gentleman. He was surely very popular with the girls.

"It's not dangerous. It's an expression from my world. It means that it's so delicious, you'd keep stuffing your mouth so much that your cheeks will feel heavy."

"If it's that delicious, then I'll definitely try it."

As we talked, we came up to a wide road with a lot of people passing by. Remembering how I was squished earlier, I hesitated.

I really thought I was going to be squeezed to death earlier.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Let's go."

"Krish-san, can we go by another road? Before I got here I thought I was going to be squished to death by the crowd. So I'd like to use another road, one with no people on it."

"An empty road, huh. There is one, but we'd have to detour a lot."

Couge and Norn were probably looking for me. I couldn't let them wait for me that long.

So I'd just have to suck it up?

"Here." Krish-san held out his hand, palm up.

He had already taken my bag of rice earlier, and my hands were empty.

So, what did he want from me? Then I remembered the candy I had in my pocket and took it out and put it in his hand.

I'd gotten so much candy ever since I came to this world, so I always kept one in my pocket.

"Not that." Krish-san unwrapped the candy and pushed it into my mouth. He then took my hand and started walking.

I see, so he wanted to take my hand.

Krish-san was fully covered in armor; the only skin I could see was on his hand. Well, of course. If he wore metal gloves, the sword might slip from his hands.

His hand was bigger than Couge's or Norn's, and his palm was hard and full of calluses. It was obviously the hand of a working man. It was really cool.

The armor-wearing Krish-san really stood out. People moved out of his way, so I was able to walk without obstruction.

But having my hand held as I walk, people would probably see me as...

"Hello, knight-san. A lost child? You'll have a hard time finding his parents in this crowd."

I knew it. I was seen as a lost child.

In my previous world, it was probably like seeing a policeman walking with a ten-year old child in hand.

I might as well wear a sign around my neck with the words 'I'm a lost child' written on it, that was how easily I was being seen as a lost child.

"Hahahah! Hey, Shinobu, did you get lost?!"

"!!"

This man, he was a regular at Couge's restaurant!!

The people in town were slowly starting to learn about me and my being an otherworlder. Especially with the customers of Couge's restaurant. I'd gotten to know a lot of them.

And of course, they knew of my real age.

Even though I kept telling them that I was an adult, now I was seen under the care of a knight. My face felt hot. Ugghh, how embarrassing.

Krish-san told the man, "Please don't tease him too much."

When I lowered my head in embarrassment, Krish-san stuck up for me. Even he was probably unwilling to be seen walking while holding hands with an adult man, no matter that I looked like a child.

"Oh, my bad. You're not lost, you're on a date," the man said.

"?!?!"

This time I was so shocked, I couldn't say anything. Krish-san and I, on a date?! We were both men!!

"Hahaha! Get along well, okay?"

Uncle regular customer left with a wide smile on his face.

Left alone, I felt uncomfortable and didn't know what to do.

Please don't get Krish-san involved in your jokes just to tease me!!

"I'm so sorry, Krish-san. That uncle's really bad at jokes, huh. Two men out on a date, that's just impossible."

"Ahh, that's right. In Shinobu's world, same sex relationships aren't typical. But you shouldn't say such negative things in public. These kinds of things are normal here. If a same sex couple overheard you, they might try to start something."

Oh that's right, I heard about this from Norn. In this world, you could marry someone regardless of gender or age.

I accepted Norn and Couge's relationship easily, but when it concerned me, it felt weird and I accidentally blurted out that it was impossible.

Maybe those two drunk old men I saw laughing with their arms around each other, or the two women who were having fun while shopping, were in fact, lovers.

If they'd heard what I said, they'd probably get up in my face and ask what was wrong with me.

"I'm sorry. I'll be careful."

Krish-san patted me on the shoulder as if to say 'don't worry about it'. Then he took my hand and started walking again.

It seemed that if I wanted to continue living here, I still had a ton of things I needed to learn and get used to.

We walked on together, Krish-san protecting me all the while. Finally, we arrived at a familiar street. I was so relieved. I could probably go home from here, but the ever-serious Krish-san seemed to want to escort me all the way to Couge's restaurant.

"Shinobu, is it that store?"

I looked towards where Krish-san was pointing. There, in front of the restaurant, was Norn with his arms crossed and pacing restlessly back and forth.

"Norn!!" I waved my hand as I called out in a loud voice.

Norn whipped his head up. He rushed forward as soon as he saw me. "Shinobu!! Geez, where did you go? Don't just disappear on your own!!"

He hugged me tightly. The strength of his embrace told me that he'd been incredibly worried about me. I felt really sorry.

"I'm sorry, Norn. Where's Couge?"

"He went to look for you. He said he'd be back in half an hour, so he'll be back soon."

At times like this, it was really inconvenient not having any way to contact each other. Maybe I was still influenced by my previous world, but I sometimes wished we had smartphones. This was something I had to get used to, too.

"I'm really sorry. If I hadn't met Krish-san, it would've probably taken me longer to come back."

"'Krish-san'? .........You're Firks-sama's knight."

Norn stepped away from me, and performed a perfectly angled bow. He held the position for a long moment, head down. "I cannot thank you enough for taking care of Shinobu. He'd disappeared the moment I took my eyes off of him. He's still unfamiliar with the town, and this world. I was worried that something had happened to him. It was very lucky for him to have come under your protection, Krish-sama. Thank you very much."

"No, I'm glad it didn't turn into a big deal. But I didn't know you knew Shinobu. Well, since I've escorted him safely, I'll be going back to my job."

Krish-san turned around and started walking away.

I still hadn't thanked him, so I hurriedly went after him. "Thank you, Krish-san!!"

"Don't get lost again," Krish-san turned his head to answer.

The sunlight reflected on his armored back, making him glow blindingly bright.

He was like a hero out of a shounen manga.

I've never seen Krish-san's face, but his aura brimmed with so much manliness. I kinda wanted to worship him.

Norn said, "I'm really glad you're alright, Shinobu. There were a lot of people who'd been drinking the whole time at the eating contest, so I was really worried about you."

"Yeah, sorry for making you worry. Couge even went looking for me. I'll have to apologize to him too when he gets back."

After apologizing for the second time, Norn finally let out a smile and nodded.

I was really lucky to have people who worried so much about me. My parents had never seriously worried about me like this. I felt a little ticklish.

"That's right, I wanted to ask you something, Norn. I heard that Firks-sama is 'a person I should be grateful to', but what does he do?"

"You know Firks-sama?"

I told him about the other day when Firks-sama's procession went by my house. Of course, I didn't mention that I was mistaken for a child.

"I see. Firks-sama is a member of the family tasked to safeguard the trees that have an important role for this world. And amongst his family, he has the highest status and holds a special ability. He's been traveling all over the world for something, and just came back to town a few days ago."

"The trees that have an important role, are those the ones by the town entrance on the other side of town? The ones with yellowing leaves?"

"Shinobu, you got that far?"

Looks like I shocked Norn. Well, I was too concerned with not being crushed to death when I was being pushed forward by that sea of people so I didn't notice. But when I was being escorted back by Krish-san, I found out that I'd gone quite a bit of distance. We'd walked for a long time before we got here.

"Yep. I tried to catch up to you guys, but I couldn't move where I wanted in that crowd of people. Before I knew it, I was near the entrance on the other side of town."

"Next time you get lost, don't move and just wait for Couge or me to come get you, okay?"

He's making it sound like I'm a child in kindergarten. It was embarrassing, but Norn looked so serious that I had no choice but to nod obediently.

"So anyway, Norn. What's that 'important role' that you mentioned the trees have?"

"It's..."

"Norn!! Is it true you've found Shinobu?!"

From far away, I could hear Couge's voice. Though he'd still been a ways away, it didn't take long until he was close and hugged me tightly, just like Norn did earlier.

He was drenched in sweat, heart beating thunderously.

I realized once again that these two were really worried about me. Now that we'd reunited, I felt so relieved I could feel my eyes growing wet.

"He was taken in by a knight," Norn replied.

"Yeah, I hurried back when I heard about it from a regular. I'm really glad you're alright. There was a lot of drunken brawling, so I was worried you'd gotten involved in one."

"I'm sorry," I said.

He finally calmed down, and the three of us shared smiles.

I was really glad to have come to this world and met Norn and Couge.

Norn suggested, "Maybe we should tie a string around Shinobu the next time we walk somewhere crowded. That way you won't get lost, right?"

"Eehh?!"

Couge agreed. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I should go find a string that won't break easily."

Wait, wait! I won't go off on my own anymore, okay? So don't do that!

If you do, I'd completely look like a puppy out on a walk!!

I had no idea that the people around us felt like they were watching a child and his parents reuniting when they saw us.

When Couge and Norn heard about it from the regular customers the next day, they burst out into laughter.

How mean. What did they mean by 'parents and their child', the three of us were the same age!!