Rest

When we stepped out of the Adventurers' Guild, it was already very dark outside.

The sky should still have been bright, yet the town was strangely dim.

It took me a few seconds to realize it was because the town sat inside a crater. With the walls so high, they cast a shadow around sunset.

It would probably be pitch-black soon.

"At any rate, let's find somewhere to rest first."

Over the past two months, I had barely slept through a single full night.

Even without a mirror, I knew my current condition couldn't possibly be called good.

For the body of a ten-year-old child, this kind of burden was still far too heavy.

Eris and Aisha nodded without arguing.

Using the money we got from selling the monster materials, we found a fairly luxurious inn.

I was simply too tired, and I didn't want to skimp on my time to rest.

After eating at the inn, we returned to our room.

The room at this inn came equipped with a bathroom, which meant we could take a bath.

"Eris, take Aisha and wash up first."

"Okay! Aisha, come with me!"

"Okay."

Aisha obediently followed Eris into the bathroom.

While the girls were bathing, I thought about what we should do next...

At any rate, we had reached a town now, which could be called a major step toward getting home.

But this city didn't have a port. Next, should we head straight south until we reached Wind Port, then take a ship from there to Tezan Port...

The distance to Wind Port wasn't the issue... It would probably take another year to walk there.

Although the road ahead wasn't the northeastern part of the Demon Continent, and the magical beasts wouldn't be that dangerous, so it would be a little easier, but... could Aisha really endure a journey of around a year?

Maybe I should buy a horse, or some kind of transportation unique to the Demon Continent...

And once we got to Wind Port, the voyage would be extremely long, so the problem now was money.

"Money, huh..."

Honestly, I didn't know exactly how much we would need, but the more the better, right?

For an initial goal, maybe thirty gold coins?

While I was still thinking, Eris finished her bath.

She had only a thin bathrobe draped over her. Should I say that was just what you'd expect from a luxury inn? They even had something like that.

Though I really wanted to open my eyes wide and burn Eris's figure into my memory, I was still too tired and not all that interested.

"Rudeus, it's your turn!"

"I know... Mm... Where's Aisha?"

"She said she wanted to scrub your back! She's waiting inside!"

I tugged the corners of my mouth into a smile.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you want to scrub my back?"

After a brief silence, Eris's cheeks flushed bright red and she tried to throw a punch at me, but after hesitating again and again, she lowered her head instead.

She really was cute.

"Enough joking around. I'm going to bathe."

"Hmph!"

Ignoring Eris, whose ears had gone red all the way to the tips, I walked into the bathroom.

When I opened the bathroom door, steam curled through the air.

"This way, dear guest~"

Aisha was completely naked as she made a welcoming gesture.

I smiled and rubbed her head with my hand.

"Brother, what are you doing? I just got clean."

"All right, I'll rinse off first."

"I'll help you, Brother!"

I sat on the small stool and enjoyed Aisha's full-service treatment.

This felt amazing...

If it had been me in my previous life, I definitely wouldn't have felt emotional over a nice bath...

Would Paul and the others be all right...? That pillar of light had clearly reached the village...

No... I should think positively. The three of us hadn't been hurt... Maybe Paul and the others had been teleported too?

Yeah, that was right...

"Brother, thank you for all your hard work."

Aisha's gentle voice came from behind me.

"Hm? Why are you suddenly worried about your brother?"

"I've always been worried about you, okay...? You barely slept these past two months, right? Your dark circles are really bad. Sister Eris and I both wanted to stand watch for you, but you never agreed, and you even lied to us, saying you'd set up magic traps and then go to sleep."

"I didn't lie to you. And look, we made it safely to a town, didn't we? We can get some proper rest for a while now. And you—why is a kid thinking so much?"

I tapped Aisha on the forehead with my finger.

"I'm already four! And Brother... you're only ten too, so stop always acting like an adult!"

Wasn't four still plenty young enough to be a kid?

I didn't say that out loud. Instead, I smiled and said, "I'm your brother, and I'm also Eris's teacher. Protecting you is my responsibility."

Aisha stayed silent and continued scrubbing my back.

Finally, Aisha lifted a bucket of water with great effort and poured it down over my head.

"All done!"

"Thanks, Aisha. That felt great."

"Right? Take baths with your little sister more often from now on, okay~?"

It was as if that conversation had never happened. Aisha turned back into a cheerful child again.

When we returned to the room, I used wind magic to blow warm air, drying both Aisha's and Eris's hair before drying my own too.

As for our clothes, I had just washed and dried those as well.

In any case, time to sleep.

I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, it was dusk again.

Looks like I'd slept through the entire day...

I had just sat up when I realized Eris and Aisha were both lying in my blankets.

What was this...? There were two other beds right there.

But looking at their adorable sleeping faces, I didn't wake them.

These past two months had been exhausting for them too...

I lay back down as well, closed my eyes, and prepared to get a little more sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, the sky was completely dark.

Sensing movement in my arms, I woke up too.

The one squirming in my embrace was Eris.

"You're awake? How did you sleep?"

"Ugh... P-pretty... pretty well..."

"That's good."

Eris's face was red, and her voice had grown much quieter.

Looks like she was embarrassed that I'd caught her crawling into my bed.

In any case, after that little exchange, Aisha got up too.

The three of us went downstairs and had dinner at the inn.

"Rudeus! This is so good!"

"Brother, this is really good too!"

Looks like the money had been well spent.

After dinner, we left the inn and wandered around for a while.

Out on the street, all kinds of races were hawking their wares, and there were even brothels.

"Eris, we'll start taking jobs tomorrow. I'm planning to earn thirty gold coins before we leave this town."

Getting to Zant Port and taking a ship to the Shirone Continent would probably cost around six or seven gold coins per person?

I didn't know the going rates over there, but getting there only to find out we didn't have enough money wasn't my style.

"Great! Great! We're finally starting adventurer work!"

Eris was extremely excited.

"What about me, Big Brother?"

"You stay put in the inn. I checked—this inn doesn't let strangers in if they haven't paid, so it's fairly safe."

"Oh..."

"Be good. I'll find a way to finish this within a month or two."

I reached out and rubbed Aisha's head.

After that, we wandered the streets and tried all kinds of snacks around town.

We came to a clothing shop, where I bought Eris a hooded outfit and Aisha one as well. They weren't too expensive.

At that inn, I only paid for one week's room fee. After all, we had to save money after this.

In a week, we would have to move to an ordinary inn, but if Eris and I managed to earn more money than expected, we could keep staying there until we had saved enough.

"Rudeus, does it look good?"

"Big Brother! What do you think?"

The two of them put on the hooded clothes I'd bought and showed off in front of me.

I smiled.

"They look great. You're both very cute."

"Is... is that so..."

Eris lowered the brim of her hood with a red face.

She really was easy to embarrass.

"Big Brother, you sure know how to make girls happy!"

"What, do you have a problem with that?"

I rubbed Aisha's head with my hand.

"Big Brother is a big meanie!"

Aisha shouted and hid behind Eris.

After messing around with them for a while, we returned to the inn together.