Chapter 9

Work gloves really are convenient.

If you wear them while working, you can prevent injuries, and your hands don’t get dirty. I’ve heard they’re called “army gloves” because they were adopted by the old Imperial Army. It’s just an abbreviation for “military gloves.”

I pulled a pair of work gloves from my Spatial Storage and gathered some branches. Since a bonfire won’t burn well directly on the snow, I chopped up some thick branches with my hand axe and saw, lining them up to create a bonfire base.

Then, I lit it with my handheld gas torch. This thing is excellent—even though it’s pocket-sized, it can put out a 1300°C flame. It’s also handy because you can use standard tabletop stove cartridges to refill the gas.

Before long, the branches caught fire, and the freezing cold began to soften. I like to think I’m used to the cold since I climb winter mountains back home, but I don’t think I can hold a candle to Clara-sama. She stands there in minus 8°C weather clad in cold plate armor with a perfectly calm expression. Knights really do have incredible mental fortitude.

Clara-sama probably won’t be back for a while. I guess I’ll hang the kettle on a long branch and get some water boiling. Better gather a few more branches, too. Keeping an eye on my surroundings, I busily set about collecting wood.

Clara stood on a slope overlooking a small clearing in the forest. There were no branches nearby to obstruct her shot. She had already spotted a herd of deer. Hustler was currently driving them toward her from upwind.

As an excellent hound, Hustler would surely flush the herd into this clearing. If she waited here downwind, the deer would inevitably pass through.

Only a few days remained in the Month of the Low Moon (December). The snow had come early this year, and the cold was severe. The chill seeping through her plate armor and into her body was extraordinary, and Clara couldn’t help but shiver.

She had been bracing herself while Kota was around to avoid showing such weakness, but now that she was alone, the tremors of cold finally came. Even so… Clara mused.

Kota was an attendant who exceeded her expectations. Though his culture was slightly different, he was educated and knew his manners. He possessed numerous convenient magic items, and she hadn’t expected him to be capable of using Spatial Storage or even Paralysis magic.

Above all, his attitude toward work was sincere. Kota had humbly claimed, “This is just how Japanese people are,” but Clara found that demeanor very likable. When Ria first taught her the summoning ritual, she had been half-skeptical, but she felt that contracting Kota was truly a stroke of good luck. She would have to offer a fresh prayer to the God of Space-Time.

She hadn’t used magic lately to conserve her mana, but the cold was reaching its limit. Deciding she would otherwise succumb to hypothermia, Clara cast a Physical Reinforcement spell on herself. This wouldn’t just improve her muscle strength and reflexes; it would also boost her metabolism and raise her body temperature. With this, she could wait for her prey here for another hour if necessary.

She had promised to return Kota to his original world the day after tomorrow. The mana required for the summons was about 40% of her total pool, so she had enough to spare, but she wanted to conserve as much as possible in case of an unforeseen emergency. However, since the contract stipulated he be returned once every six days, she could not break her word.

From the distance, she heard the faint sound of Hustler’s barking carried on the wind. It seemed he was doing his job well. She notched an arrow to her bow and quietly steadied her breathing.

Hustler’s voice grew louder and louder. An exhilaration for the hunt welled up from deep within her chest. Though it was an act of taking life, Clara loved this moment. Perhaps it was because Clara, who usually spent her days acting rationally, could give herself over to her biological instincts and sink into a sense of liberation.

She took aim at the stag leading the herd and drew her bow tight. She targeted the area around the heart, near the base of the front leg. Since she had just cast Physical Reinforcement, she was able to pull the heavy anti-monster bow with ease.

“Gyak!”

The deer, pierced by the arrow, ran for another dozen paces. Even as it stumbled, it continued to run out of a desperate craving for life. But Hustler did not allow the deer to escape.

“Woof! Woof!”

Leading Blitz toward the sound of Hustler’s voice, she found the deer collapsed, splattering fresh blood across the snow. Clara approached cautiously. A wounded wild animal is dangerous, even a herbivore like a deer. But the deer no longer had the strength to move its body.

“I’ll put you at ease now.”

Clara drew a dagger from her waist and slit the deer’s throat. This was partly out of Clara’s mercy, but also for the practical reason of bleeding the animal while the heart was still beating.

Once the bleeding was finished, she tied the prey to Blitz’s sled. She decided to have Kota handle the butchering. No doubt Kota would be waiting for her with a bonfire lit.

The Physical Reinforcement spell hadn’t worn off yet, but Clara wanted to get back to their camp quickly and warm herself.

“Welcome back!”

By the side of the brightly burning fire, Kota greeted her with a face like a large pet dog. Lately, Clara felt a sense of relief just by looking at his face.

“That’s a huge deer!”

Kota was staring at the stag she’d brought back with genuine admiration. Was this his first time seeing a deer? He was saying things like, “Whoa, they’re really this big in person.” Did he live somewhere where deer were rare?

“You must have been freezing. Please, come warm yourself by the fire.”

“Thank you.”

At Kota’s urging, she brought her gauntlets close to the flames. She had to be careful; if she got them too close, she’d risk a burn.

“I’ll bring you a drink right away. Would you like to take off your helm?”

“Yes.”

Clara placed herself in Kota’s hands without protest. Kota’s skill in handling armor had made leaps and bounds lately.

“Here you go.”

As Clara removed her helm, a drink with a refreshing aroma was thrust before her.

“It smells wonderful.”

It was sweet and fragrant. Lemon? No, it was slightly different.

“It’s yuzu, honey, and ginger mixed with hot water.”

“Yuzu?”

“Yes. It’s a type of citrus from my country.”

It was a mysterious scent. Was this the scent of another world? She blew on the liquid to cool it slightly and took a sip, her eyes widening in surprise.

“It’s delicious…”

“I’m glad you like it.”

The refreshing aroma, the sweetness of the honey, and the kick of the ginger matched perfectly. Thanks to the ginger, her body began to feel a little toasty from the inside out.

“But where did you get something as high-class as honey? I’m certain we didn’t have any at the manor.”

“I brought this with me from the other world.”

With that, Kota showed her the honey. It was contained in a strange vessel made of a flexible material that made a popping sound when squeezed. Everything Kota showed her was something she had never seen before.

“To think I’ve made you use something as precious as honey. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, this is imported honey, so it’s cheap. Please, don’t worry about it.”

Imported goods are cheap? She couldn’t wrap her head around that. Usually, the cost of transportation meant that goods from foreign lands were much more expensive.

“What do you plan to do after this?”

“Naturally, I intend to continue the hunt. This outing doubles as a marching drill, after all. What is it? Have you already grown weary of it?”

“No, it’s not that, but it looks like the weather is going to turn rough this afternoon.”

Clara looked up. The sky was a clear, wide expanse of blue. The temperature was low, but there wasn’t a single sign of the weather breaking. She didn’t think Kota was the type to lie, but it was hard to believe.

“It seems perfectly clear to me.”

“It does, but a low-pressure system is approaching from the west. It should start snowing this afternoon, and by evening, it’ll be a blizzard.”

“You can tell?”

“Yes. It’s one of my abilities.”

If he was that certain, it had to be true. A blizzard in the middle of the forest was something to be avoided at all costs.

“I understand. We’ll take a short break and then head back for the day.”

He really was something. To even be able to tell when the weather would change… If she took Kota to a battlefield, he might help her achieve unexpected military glory. Clara took another sip of the slightly cooled yuzu-honey water and let her thoughts wander.

Suddenly, a shiver ran through Clara’s body.

…This was bad. It was because she had been out in the cold for so long. Clara was suddenly struck by a powerful urge to urinate.

Had this been a battlefield, she might have steeled her resolve and simply let go inside her armor. But as much as they had begun to open up to each other, she couldn’t bear the thought of doing such a thing in front of Kota. Moreover, the ground was covered in a pristine blanket of white snow. The urine spilling from the joints of her armor would be incredibly conspicuous. She couldn’t allow Kota—someone she had to spend a significant amount of time with from now on—to see such a thing.

“Kota…”

“Yes? Is something wrong?”

“Help me out of this plate armor. I want to… relax for a bit.”

“Roger that.”

Thankfully, Kota didn’t question her at all and began to remove her armor. Plate armor takes time to put on, but taking it off takes less than half that. Thanks to his daily practice, Kota was now able to strip all the pieces off in just over five minutes.

However, to the current Clara, those five minutes felt like an eternal torment in hell. If Kota saw her in such a shameful state… I’ll have to kill Kota and then kill myself! Or perhaps, the only choice would be to take Kota as a groom into the Ansbach family…

The crisis of the bladder had completely derailed Clara’s thought process.

I’ve really gotten good at taking armor on and off. I don’t think it even took five minutes to get her out of it today. A new record!

“I’m going to look around for a bit. Kota, keep an eye on the fire.”

Clara-sama, now out of her armor, grabbed her sword and hurried off into the woods.

No way! Did she sense a monster?! Come to think of it, her expression was incredibly stern. I gripped my hand axe tight, bracing for an enemy raid.

But Blitz was just chewing on some tree bark, and Hustler was letting out a big yawn by the fire.

???

After a while, Clara-sama returned.

“Welcome back.”

“Yes…”

“Was there something out there?”

“No…”

So there wasn’t a monster. That was a relief. Once I felt relieved, I realized I had to go pee.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

I started toward the woods to relieve myself.

“Don’t go that way!”

“Huh? Why not?”

“There are… traces over there.”

“Traces? Ah! So there was evidence of a monster!”

“Th-That’s right! It’s dangerous, so you mustn’t go there.”

“I-I understand.”

I guess I’ll just hold it until we get back. We put out the fire and left the forest behind.