Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Miss Yuuri’s Brilliant Flag Evasion

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

The morning after crying and clinging to my Master’s chest.

I always wake up earlier than my Master. I have to draw the water and water the fields after all.

Last night, after getting tired and crying myself to sleep, I woke up on my Master’s chest.

We only have one blanket, so I guess there was no choice.

Also, the room across from us is the refrigeration room, so this room is cold.

Even if we warmed up the room with a [Heat Ball] spell, it would remain the same.

When I think about the events of last night, my face turns bright red.

Even so, after blowing up their home, to think there really was someone who said “Oh well” and let me off the hook—

My Master is… This guy is really…

“… He really is like a Hero.”

He’s the one who saved me from that hell.

The one who rushes to my rescue when I’m in danger.

The one who gently wraps me up when I fail.

“If I wasn’t a boy before, then this is where I would fall in love with him.”

While entrusting my face to my Master’s chest, while he’s still lost in sleep I stroke his hair.

The false beard around his mouth was out of place, so I try peeling it off.

As usual he has an amazing baby face.

“Is this guy really human? There’s no way he’s actually an elf or something—right?”

I don’t know if there are elves and such in this world yet though.

With a fling I toss away the beard I pulled off, and stroke his face to check on the stubble. It’s barely growing.

I try poking at his cheeks, but he doesn’t seem to be waking up.

While playing with my Master, I start to feel a chill. So I get back under the blanket, and place my face back into my Master’s chest.

“I-it’s because I’m cold, alright? Master has a high body temperature after all…”

An excuse escapes from my mouth, directed at nobody in particular, and I place my hand to my Master’s chest.

And then, sometime while my hand was stuck to his chest, I begin gazing at his face…

… Huh? Isn’t his face a bit close?

No, It’s too close! What the hell am I trying to do?!

Blood is rushing to my head, and my heart is beating fiercely. I’m sure I caught a cold. Otherwise…

My reasoning and my actions are diverging, and I don’t know what I’m doing anymore—no, I know, but I can’t stop. I can’t stop?!

From my hand I can feel my Master’s heartbeat.

My other hand moves up to his cheek.

His face is already close enough that I can feel his breath.

“Fuaa…”

A shuddering breath leaks out.

My lips tremble, and with a gulp I swallow my saliva…

Foomp

And with that I felt something warm and hard around my inner thigh area.

It’s a sensation that I’m familiar with from the past. I know what it is without looking. The thing that’s still healthy at that age.

The thing that tortured me three years ago.

The thing that I had three and a half years ago, which gets very hard, particularly in the morning.

“… Fu”

That feeling probably triggered it. I regained control of myself.

Now, while I can!

“FUNYAAAaaaaa!!!”

Bomf

Along with my scream, I raised my knee… and delivered it to my Master’s vital area.

“Good morning, Master. N-now then, I’m going to go wash my face.”

I raise my voice to my fainting Master, who is bent over at a 90 degree angle, and tepidly leave the room.

From behind me I hear my Master’s voice say, “It’s hard being a man…”

Yep, it really is. In multiple meanings.

If it was me, and someone blew up my house, then woke me up by giving me a (critical) knee kick, I would never forgive them.

Even if it was a young person like me… No, for that very reason, after being aroused, then abused, knocked down, and being given such a hard time, being young makes no difference.

When I think about that, my Master really does have a big heart.

“… Fufu, ehehe”

Being the apprentice of a master like that made me just a little bit proud, and happy, and… a smile involuntarily rose to my face.

~~~*~

(Haster’s Perspective)

Like a deer bounding away, Yuuri leaves the room.

Her good mood was apparent from a glance.

If her mood can be lifted by taking a single hit, then I suppose feeling some pain was worth it?

“It’s hard being a man…”

Even so, wake-up hits hurt. Since it was the frail Yuuri, it wasn’t a huge problem though.

I was really surprised yesterday.

After finishing my rescue work in the village, I returned to find the cottage blown away.

When I looked for Yuuri I found her unconscious, in sticky clothes, and buried in the snow.

It seemed that her burns had healed, but… No matter how adaptable she is, there are limits.

Carrying Yuuri, who was on the verge of death, I rushed to the unharmed basement.

Down the stairs, I brought a blanket into the room, and warmed her body. I also placed a [Heat Ball].

Thanks to that, her life wasn’t taken away.

~~~*~

After finally being released from my agony, I get myself up.

Yuuri seems to be struggling with something on the staircase. As usual it’s not clear what she’s doing.

Towards her presence I smile, and in contrast I remember the devastation from last night.

“Even if I told you not to die… that shouldn’t mean it’s OK to get close to that point, you know?”

There’s an upper limit to what a person’s spirit can take.

No matter how many gifts you bring up, at some point that limit will be met.

By dying repeatedly, that spirit will be worn down.

A worn out spirit will eventually lead to a broken heart.

However, if Yuuri can’t be broken… then what will happen?

If they can’t be broken—then they’ll go mad.

The direction their heart goes in.

The preferences of their spirit.

“Even going mad while keeping your awareness… is possible for a human, you know.”

Though I know she can’t hear me, I still speak out.

She said she was overrun for half a year. Normally that should mean it was too late.

How robust of a spirit did she have?

How much optimism and goodness did she have?

It probably involves the latter. Yuuri’s heart is actually rather fragile. About the same as her body.

However, the healing rate of that heart is faster than anyone in this world.

With a natural good will.

That’s why she was safe. No, she came back.

“You’re not the only one who distrusts people. I also…”

I’ll say this myself, but I possess two gifts, one is Magic Tool Prodigy.

To obtain that talent, more than just one or two countries maneuvered in secret.

Secluding myself in the middle of this mountain was done for a good reason.

At this point I freely stop by the village, but in the past it wasn’t like that; I was cautious to avoid raising suspicion.

Before Yuuri came here, I still hadn’t stopped being so cautious. I didn’t even show my face.

“And now it’s come to this point. I really was saved. I was healed.”

That bottomless good will and friendliness.

Even though I’m cautious, I don’t doubt those words.

After an encounter like that and even living with a stranger, she shows a lack of caution.

She seems to be trying to get her act together, however, she has the innocence of a child.

“Master, we’ve got a problem!”

And so I hugged Yuuri, who came back.

~~~*~

(Yuuri’s point of view)

I climb the stairs and try to open the flip-up door, but… It won’t move?!

It doesn’t seem to be because of how weak I am. Somehow it looks like it’s buried under a pile of snow.

“Does this mean… We’re buried alive?”

What comes to mind are thoughts of starvation, suffocation, freezing to death…

I’ll be fine, but my Master is in danger.

I lightly apply [body strengthening] and try pushing, but the door doesn’t even budge. It must be piled up quite a bit.

I run back at full speed and report the situation to my Master.

“Master, we’ve got a problem!”

Going in with my momentum, I ended up being hugged tightly.

… My momentum just stuck me to him. Really. There was no intimacy there.

“It looks like the door is buried, and we can’t get out.”

“That is a problem.”

“What’s that carefree attitude about! At this rate you’ll starve to death you know?”

“Even though there’s a refrigerator over there?”

“… Ah.”

Now that he mentions it, the room across from us was a refrigerator. We have more than a full keratos worth of meat in there.

Since they’re about 5 meters tall, that’s bigger than an elephant would have been.

We also have some frozen vegetables saved. We bought a large amount of them to prepare for winter.

For water, we have a hand pump installed that we use for cleaning, and we also have a drain… huh, wouldn’t we normally be fine?

Even with the cold, since we’re magicians, if we use [heat ball], then I guess we could stay warm?

“No no, what about air?! Suffocation is still a possibility.”

“That’s true… Alright, Yuuri. How about destroying the door and melting the snow?”

“Is destroying it OK?”

“You ask that at this point?”

Everything above was blown away.

Coming to the bottom of the stairs, my Master says—

“Well then, we’ll do something instead of training today. Destroy the door, and dig an air hole in its place.”

“Yessir, I’ll do my best!”

What an excellent magician needs is not strong magic power, nor a variety of spells.

It’s the right spell for the situation.

If I pile a bunch of power into the roof here and completely destroy it, then we’ll become homeless in this midwinter snowfall.

First is the door. Since this is the basement, fire would be dangerous.

Since I don’t have my Master’s control over magic power, if I break it with wind, then there’s no telling where the debris will fly.

… hmph?

“‘Strike, o spear of the earth!’”

I slowly and deliberately form a [dirt spear] to break through the door, and destroy it.

With a rumble rumble the door falls apart, and on the other side was the expected pile of snow. Now all that’s left is melting this.

“‘O scorching light, gather together and become a spear to shoot down my foes!’”

By combining the [heat ball] and [light] spells together, I create the [heat ray] spell.

At the end of my extended palm, a [heat ball] gathers, and 3 balls of light swirl in a circular pattern.

A huge amount of radiating heat wraps up the surroundings—

… eh, doesn’t this seem a bit strong? Well, whatever.

“He-HEY—!”

“FIRE!!”

BWOOM!

The light made a spiraling vortex, and the charged light bullet evaporated the snow with tremendous momentum before flying off into the sky.

I was trying to imitate a certain robot’s helix particle gun, but… It succeeded beyond my expectations.

The roof… very cleanly disappeared.

The blown away roof was blocked up by my Master’s [clay wall].

Then I was lectured for another three hours.