35-Meeting with a bodiless head

After Krish-san helped me change clothes, he picked me up and carried me in one arm. Yes, it was the same hip carry that was usually used with children.

We went down the stairs just like that. But wow, what a high line of sight. I could almost reach the ceiling.

When I stretched my hand up, I ended up getting a warning from Krish-san: "It's dangerous so don't let go of me."

"Okaaay." I'm very sorry.

But, somehow I felt really safe right now.

It was like, everything will be fine as long as Krish-san was here.

Krish-san descended the stairs with a light gait and opened the front door. Beyond it were my family, all lined up.

"Waah, everyone looks so lively. It feels like a long time since I've last seen them."

It had actually only been a day, but I just felt really nostalgic.

When I reached out my hands to my family and they bustled closer, Krish-san sat down on his heels and set me on his lap.

Brian who'd gotten whipped, the sheep who'd gotten their butts kicked, the chickens who'd gotten their legs tied up—everyone was moving energetically. Even Pochi was wagging his tail furiously.

Perhaps he was intrigued by the smell of the ointment, but he repeatedly sniffed at me, and his breath tickled.

Suddenly, I heard a clack. I looked for the source of the noise and saw a knight wearing the same armor as Krish-san repairing the barn door.

I said, "You guys are even restoring the barn? Now I feel bad."

"We just took the opportunity. Shinobu, I apologize for asking after the fact, but we'd like your approval to continue examining the plant that you mentioned during this incident. It seems that this 'aloe' medicinal plant might be a new species.

"In exchange, we'd like to help with getting your farm back in shape."

"Of course it's okay, but won't it be hard on you guys? Those grass are huge, you know?"

Those gigantified grass surrounded everything around my house, turning it into a forest.

For the farm field to be turned back to its original state, you'd need to cut them down with an ax and dig up their roots.

"It's perfect strength training for the new recruits. If it's fine with you, then we'll be starting proper operations tomorrow."

"Okay, then please."

Just as promised, as soon as I'd finished greeting my family, I was returned to my room. I'd wanted to look at the state of my farm more, but I was told I couldn't today.

Since he'd promised to take me outside again tomorrow, did that mean that he'd stay with me tomorrow, too?

"Shinobu, there's something I want to ask you. It's about that group of five burglars who attacked you."

I flinched, body stiffening. Memories of being hit countless times and having a knife waved at me washed over me. I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my hands into fists.

Krish-san laid his large hands on top of mine. "Don't worry. Every single one of them has been captured."

"Eh, really?"

I'd been wondering about what had happened to those men. Where had they disappeared to, just leaving the animals that they were going to steal and even Pyonkichi right there?

Krish-san was here now, but it wasn't like he could stay here forever. What if those men someday came back for Brian and the others? The thought scared me greatly.

"It's just that the place where we found them..." Krish-san paused.

"Where did you catch them?"

"Here."

"Huh?"

Did that mean that they'd been hiding nearby? Had they hurriedly hidden away when they noticed Krish-san and the other knights coming?

Didn't that mean that I'd actually been in quite the danger? I might have unknowingly passed right by where they were hiding.

If I had stumbled into their hiding place, I might have become their hostage or even gotten killed in revenge for causing their failure.

"We found one of them with only his head sticking above the ground. When we dug him up, we found that he was wrapped in grassroots from his feet all the way to his mouth.

"After searching the vicinity, we found the rest of the men in the same condition."

I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as I imagined the scene. "W-were they dead?"

"No, they're all alive. I told you, we caught them."

The knight who'd first found them must have been so surprised. After all, it would have looked like a man's head was growing out of the ground. If it had been me, I would have been so frightened my knees would've given out.

I thought that the grass had just grown bigger, but maybe they'd also become dangerous.

Earlier when I was outside, I'd seen several knights walking amongst the grass. If the grass was dangerous, then this wasn't the time to be repairing the field. We had to evacuate everyone.

"Krish-san, tell the other knights to evacuate; it's dangerous."

"It's alright. We brought a sample of the grass to Firks-sama to check. He didn't see any indication that it had become a plant that attacks humans. More likely, he said, they had responded to your feelings of wanting to protect your family.

"He said that the sample was sending out feelings of gratitude towards you. You watered them sometimes, didn't you?"

That was true; I did sometimes water them on especially hot days because I felt bad about them not being able to hide under a shade somewhere.

I see, so they protected Pyonkichi.

"Um, Krish-san, about the field. Please let me decline your offer to dispose of the giant grass. I really appreciate it, but those grass protected Pyonkichi. I don't want them to be pulled out."

'You can't repay kindness with ingratitude'—that was also one of the things grandpa used to say all the time. I still had to supply Couge with vegetables, so I would have to do something about the farm field eventually, but for now, at least until I can move around, I'd like for things to be left like this.

"If that's what you want."

"Yes."

For some reason, perhaps because I went outside, or maybe because I heard about a lot of things all at once, but I was tired. My stamina might really have gone down.

Krish-san and the doctor were both right.

"Are you sleepy?" Krish-san asked.

"Yeah......" I rubbed my eyes.

Krish-san pulled the blanket up for me. "I'll wake you at noon so you can drink your medicine. But you should rest for now."

Medicine, huh... That had been so bitter...

If I had to drink that medicine, maybe it would be better for me to just stay asleep. It would be great if I could just sleep for about a month and then wake up fully healed.

Unfortunately, my wish didn't come true, and Krish-san woke me up at noon. After I drank the vegetable soup that Krish-san made, I was firmly restrained and made to drink that bitter medicine.

"Krish-san, I'm never getting injured again."

"You do that."

Urgh, it was so bitter... What an ordeal...

All I'd been worrying about was the bitter medicine, but the true ordeal happened later that night. You could even say it was my penance.

I was told that in addition to applying the ointment in the morning, I had to have it reapplied before I went to bed.

But first, I had to wipe down my body. My clothes were quickly whipped off me, and now, Krish-san was wiping me down with a towel.

Recalling the reaction that I had this morning, I'd balked, but Krish-san was merciless.

I'd been worried about what I'd do if I reacted again, but being rubbed down with a towel turned surprisingly okay.

It had felt good to be cleaned with a towel that had been dipped in hot water.

I'd thought then that I'd be able to stay relaxed when it was time for the ointment, but of course, my back proved me wrong.

"Th-that tickles...!!"

"Hey, stop moving."

I wiggled away from Krish-san's hands, but he slapped my back to stop me. He did it lightly so it didn't hurt at all, but if he was going to hit me at all then I wish he'd hit me with all his might so that it would chase away the arousal that was simmering inside my body.

Ahhh, but I guess that was impossible. If Krish-san were to hit me with all his might, then my back would be flattened into a pancake.

I groaned.

Krish-san made a mystified expression. "Does it really tickle that much? You might have thin skin then."

I felt a little bad since he was putting on the ointment so seriously.

It was really strange. I'd never felt anything like this before. I didn't really want to think about it, but maybe I was sexually frustrated.

I was a healthy adult male, after all, so I have touched myself. But I hadn't done it much ever since I came here.

I was always tired after working on the farm so I would fall asleep at night immediately. More importantly, I didn't have any materials.

In my original world, I had pretty simple things like pictures of cute girls wearing swimsuits, but this world didn't even have photos itself. If I had known, I would have brought some things over.

"Alright, it's done," Krish-san announced. "Stay still until the medicine dries. In the meantime, I'll be wiping myself down too."

Thank goodness, it was finally over.

Fortunately, I'd passed this ordeal without getting found out. I sank into the bed, exhausted.

He didn't notice, right? It was fine, right?

Right now, my body was in a worse situation than this morning. If Krish-san weren't here, I would've taken care of it without hesitation, but I couldn't exactly tell him, 'I need to touch myself, so could you leave the room?'

But this was still manageable. If I just left it alone, it'll go away by itself. Probably.

Right, I should think of something scary or gross. What should I think about... Maybe that colorful caterpillar? Or the Ravi ears that I saw in that food stall. Or......

I continued thinking of gross things one after another. Then I remembered what Krish-san said earlier about a man's head growing out of the ground and shuddered. The arousal went away all in one swoop.

Scary. That image had an instantaneous effect, but it was too scary. I shouldn't have thought about it.

I turned towards Krish-san in a bid to save myself and caught sight of him half-naked.

His back muscles moved as he wiped himself with the towel. Perhaps it was because of the glow of the candle, but the shadow he made looked beautiful.

Krish-san's body was full of scars. There were scars even on his arms and back. That showed just how much danger there was in his line of work.

He'd probably been attacked by beasts before or fought with bandits. Maybe he'd gotten caught in tree branches as he hiked up a mountain, or was hit by falling rocks... With my poor imagination, I could only come up with such scenarios, but he'd probably gotten into more dangerous situations.

I wondered when Firks-sama would be leaving on his next trip. And as his knight, Krish-san would surely go with him.

I didn't want Krish-san to be hurt. No matter how trained he was, there was no guarantee that he would return home safe and uninjured.

"What's the matter?"

I'd been staring for too long and Krish-san had noticed my gaze.

"Krish-san, you sure have a lot of scars."

"Hm? Ahh, well, I'm a knight after all. But I'm still one of the lucky ones. I have a fellow knight who has a scar from his shoulder to his stomach from when he was attacked by a beast. That guy brags about it, saying it's his medal."

Amongst the knights, receiving wounds from danger were normal things, and after a while they even became things to brag about. But I didn't like it. I didn't want Krish-san to be injured.

I wiggled closer towards Krish-san who had sat down beside me.

Krish-san will be leaving on a journey again in the future. And there wasn't anything I could do but pray for his safe return.

How did the families of people who worked as porters overcome their anxiety? Or did they just feel this way the whole time as they waited for months for them to come home, without having any way to contact them?

"Are you cold?"

Noticing that I had curled up, Krish-san straightened out the blankets. It wasn't only because of the cooling ointment that I felt cold. The knowledge that the day when I would be separated from Krish-san would definitely come was making my heart feel cold.

I feigned sleep and snuggled closer to Krish-san. Please forgive me for acting spoiled like this while you're by my side.

When I remembered the rumors of impending marriage those townspeople spoke of, I felt even more reluctant to be parted.

There might never come another time where I could stay with him like this.