41-Cleaning is fun too

I looked up at Krish-san while tightly gripping my pants. I thought I had a terribly sad expression. When I thanked the plants earlier, I felt so sad that my vision was blurry from tears and my nose was probably red too.

Krish-san looked at my face and then turned to face Felix-sama. Surely, he'd say, "I understand" and "take care," and return home.

If he really said that, then all I should do is bow deeply and say, "Thank you for your help," but I was not sure if I would even be able to say those words. They probably would get stuck in my throat.

Anyway, it's not like it would be the last time we would see each other. Before he left for his trip I would probably see him in town, and since Krish-san was so kind he would probably call out to me when he saw me.

But after all, when I thought about how I would no longer get hugged while sleeping at night and I wouldn't be embarrassed anymore when I saw Krish-san's smiling face in the morning, I felt extremely sad.

"About that, Felix-sama," Krish-san said.

I didn't want to hear the words he was going to say next. I wanted to cover my ears with my hands. But even if I did that, it wouldn't change anything and I didn't want to be seen as being weird and childish. I really wished time would just stop right now.

"Shinobu is still recovering, so I think I'll commute to work from here for a while."

"... eh?"

"Oh?" said Felix.

My jaw dropped like an idiot.

Huh, was I hallucinating? Did you just say that you were going to commute to work from here?

"Shinobu is still weak. It will be hard to restore the fields by himself, and he needs help to take care of the livestock."

"That's true. It would be wrong to stop helping your friend from a different world just because the search is over. Then, you will be exempt from working the night shift until Shinobu can live his daily life without difficulty. As for me, I have a few things I want to try out this time. I was thinking of postponing my next trip for a while. I was thinking about asking for Shinobu's cooperation too. In return, I hope you work Krish hard."

"Eh, eh, huh, really?"

Felix-sama nodded with his beautiful face. "Since you've come to this world, I've only made you many difficulties. I made you suffer because of the gate, and this time as well, you were made to suffer because of those heartless people. I'd like to apologize as a representative of this world. I am really sorry. However, most of the people of this world are not heartless. Most of them live a normal life. I hope you don't hate this world."

I was so grateful to Felix-sama that I bowed deeply. I forgot all the sadness I was feeling and thanked Felix-sama while pointlessly flapping around my arms. "There is no way I can hate you. After all, I know. I know how troubled Norn was when the gate vanished, I know how Nott and Marco support their mother, and I know how much everyone cares for children in this world. I was really happy to have Krish-san's help, and the young knights helped me out a lot too. So honestly, I'm the one who should be thanking them instead."

In my original world there were a lot of bad people. I thought no matter where you went, this wouldn't change. But I knew that not all people were like that, and I loved the people in this world who were working hard to live their best lives.

"Thank you for saying that. I appreciate that sentiment," Felix-sama said with a beautiful smile.

The knights looked bashful and kept elbowing each othe,r and Krish-san gave me a very kind smile and nod.

Thus, the series of disturbances that had begun on the stormy night came to an end, and the young knights put away the materials they had brought in during the morning and went home.

Since Krish-san would, for the time being, go to work from my house, he went to pick up his clothes and other essentials from the town. And then he would come back to my house after that.

I was sitting in the shade on the tatami chair that Krish-san put together for me and watched the giant weeds turn brown.

Pyonkichi was sitting on my lap and twitching his nose.

The weeds were rapidly decaying. The yellowing leaves had all turned brown by the time the sun was directly overhead, and the wind had torn the leaves to shred, sending them flying.

By the time the sun was setting, almost all the leaves had fallen off, making the scene look like a bamboo grove in Kyoto or Kamakura.

The surface of the stems also began to peel off. The wind blew those pieces around and some fell on Pyonkichi's back. When I picked it off with my fingers, they crumbled into dust.

At this pace, by tomorrow morning everything would have decayed and returned to the soil.

As I watched the weeds decay, I stroked Pyonkichi on my lap and Pochi sitting on my right side from time to time.

The weeds shortened their lives for me. If that weren't true, then they wouldn't be decaying so quickly like this.

I said thank you over and over again to the weeds. Felix-sama told me that plants and animals could understand your feelings, and that he could communicate with plants and animals. Even though I didn't have that ability, I wished that they could understand my words as well, so I put those feelings into my heart over and over again.

"Thanks to you, I'm feeling better. Thanks to you, Pochi's injury was cured right away and Pyonkichi wasn't eaten. Brian, Hanako, Hanayo, the sheep, and the chickens were all able to survive because of you. You are able to return to the earth. I'll wait for you to grow again. And when you do, I'll treat you to some more delicious water from my pond."

I wondered if they heard it. I hoped they heard it.

A strong wind blew, and the tip of a huge weed that had grown so long that it reached the second floor window of my house collapsed and flew away with the wind.

I said, "Thank you" and "I'll see you again" over and over again, and watched the giant weeds disappear until just before the sun went down.

"Were you watching from here the entire time?" Krish-san asked.

"Krish-san, welcome home!"

Krish-san arrived home when the sun was setting and everything was dyed bright red from the setting sun.

He said he would be back by nightfall, but I thought that maybe he wouldn't be able to return today so I was relieved to see him back home.

I thought he might not come home today because of something Felix-sama had said to Krish-san earlier today: "By the way, Annette was mad that she couldn't get in contact with you. Last time you came to make a report you just ignored Annette's call and went straight home didn't you? Annette complained to me and said, "Did you really give him my message?" It's really annoying, so make sure you go see her today."

"Understood." Back then, Krish-san's face looked like he really wanted to say, "That's too much trouble." At least, I was hoping he was thinking that.

There's no way that you would dislike it when your lover was calling for you.

Ah, maybe he's just trying to hide his embarrassment. One of my friends in high school used to do that when his girlfriend would come over to say hi to him. He would say, "What are you doing here," meanly, but would be grinning happily. Maybe Krish-san was the same and was hiding his embarrassment in front of the other young knights. He wanted to hide his excitement, so instead he was blunt.

Krish-san said, "Let's go home. Can you stand?"

"Yes."

Krish-san gave me a hand and helped me get up. His hand was really warm and kind.

As I grasped his hand I thought to myself, "How many times has he saved me, how many times has he wiped away my tears, how many times has he held my hand? His large calloused hands comfort me, but these hands do not belong to me. Krish-san belongs to his lover, Annette-sama. I know it's a little sad, but I can't be selfish. I won't steal this hand away from Annette-sama, actually I'm not able to do that anyway. I'll return him to Annette-sama, so just for a while let me borrow him for a little. It won't be too long. Starting tomorrow I plan on working hard in the fields so Krish-san can be free to leave my house quickly. But for now, for now I'll borrow him for a little bit."

Starting from tomorrow, Krish-san would return to his normal work. In the morning, I woke up and brought water to my family, then we made breakfast and ate together.

Krish-san was good at cooking and skillfully peeled potatoes.

As Krish-san was seasoning the soup he said, "You're still sick. You need to rest."

But I'd much rather be next to Krish-san than in my room, so I replied, "I'm feeling okay!!" as I energetically stirred the pot of soup.

"Well, I'm leaving for work then, but just because I'm not here don't overdo it. I have plenty of time to help you, so don't be impatient and work too quickly."

"Yeah, thanks. Krish-san, be careful too. Get home safely."

"I'll be back tonight."

"Yeah!"

After seeing Krish-san off to work on his beloved horse, I quickly rolled up my sleeves.

First of all, cleaning. When Krish-san returned home I wanted him to feel comfortable and relaxed.

I swept with a broom, cleaned with a damp cloth, and hung the cushions that Krish had brought in to dry in the sun. I might dry the futon as well.

A fluffy futon that smelled like the sun felt good, didn't it?

After hanging out the futon in the upstairs window, I did the laundry.

Krish-san said that he would wash it himself when he got home and that I could just leave it as it was, but it wasn't that different for one or two people.

If I was going to wash clothes, I thought it's better to wash them in the breeze under the sun than to wash them at night and hang them inside the house.

As I was cheerfully doing the laundry, I was a little embarrassed to find Krish-san's underwear.

"I didn't look, I didn't look. I didn't see Krish-san's underwear."

I felt like I shouldn't look at it too much, so I scrubbed it with my eyes shut and turned my face away when I dried it.

It's fun to clean the house that Krish-san was returning to.

When I was on my own, I tended to cut corners, thinking, "Well, that's about it," but as I imagined Krish relaxing when he returned home, I get fired up.

"What should I make for dinner?"

I had plenty of ingredients that Krish-san had prepared for me.

I thought I'd take the time to make a stew. How about a stew with a lot of meat in it?

With boiled vegetables and bread. Did Krish-san drink alcohol?

I didn't drink alcohol, and we didn't have any, but I'd ask Genette to buy some for me next time.

I was a little tired after working so much in the morning. I promised Krish-san that I wouldn't overdo it, so I thought I'd take a little nap this afternoon and then get back to work in the fields.

"Pochi, come take a nap with me."

"Wow, it's really hot," I said, waking up from my nap with Pochi in the shade due to the temperature.

Before I knew it, my family had gathered around me, and I was being fluffed up by Pyonkichi and the rams, whose fur had started to grow a bit.

I was all sweaty, but it was such a blessing to spend time with everyone.

I was so glad I didn't lose anyone. Thank you so much weeds.

Translator: FrankenWife