My head hurts. At the same time, it floats way above the clouds. I feel bad, but I also feel good. I wish I could say it's not because of Ken's praise, but that would be a lie.

I would be happier about it if it weren't for his selfish reasons. Using the hero-system to craft is somewhat tricky as there are several steps needed even to know where to start. [Check-up] gives me more details of what is wrong, in Rine-chan's case, it's a hormone thing. [Nutrition Counseling] gave me an idea how to regulate it, [Herbal Lore] told me what kind of herbs have the necessary agent to counter Rine-chan's imbalance, while I had to use all what my tutor, Pavi'yorn, taught me about processing herbs to find the right way to compound the medicine.

A lot of trial and error, most of it back when I had only the [Healer]-class to rely on, instead of the superior [Herbalist].

Until now, I wasn't even sure it works. Actually, [Check-up] tells me that it's still not all well, Rine-chan will start to get a stomach ache if she takes the medicine regularly, so I still need to refine this.

To be honest, it'd be much better if Rine-chan just starts to learn how to get a grip on her mood swings, but it's too much to ask for. For now, a regulated intake of the medicine will at least relieve the rest of us for some time.

The real scary part is how easy it is to control a body via medicine. Back at home, I saw some TV-reports and visited some sites with my smartphone which explained how hormones have a great effect on people, but I still believed that the mind rules over the body.

I'm not sure anymore, as I just adjusted Rine-chan's mind by drugging her body. Well, the pill also works with hormones, after all...

Will I be able to control my own mind as well at some point?

“*sigh*”

“Is something wrong?” Arako's left ear rises as she musters me from the side.

“Plenty. This place makes me all gloomy.” While Ken is the one who irritates me the most right now, I won't discuss it with Arako when he can listen in with his good hearing.

I need a skill which makes it impossible to listen in on my conversations... maybe the [Conversation]-ability has one, but only my [Priest]-class can use it. Right now, [Herbalist]'s [Spirit Magic] is more important, it may be only superficial protection against the mind influencing powers of the trees here, but it's the only one I have.

“I have an idea, how I can lift your mood. Please, give me your hand.”

I have a bad feeling about it. Arako doesn't sound any different, and her face is the same as always, but the way how her ears are moving... “Are you planning to put itching powder on my hand?”

“Oh, you already knew this method?”

“Are you serious? The itching would drive me crazy!”

“You would also stop being gloomy.”

Actually, I'm not gloomy at all anymore. This bad joke pushed my gloominess aside for disbelief and irritation: “This only exchanges one problem with another.”

“Sometimes you're hard to please, Momo.” Is she offended? While I can read some of Arako's expressions, others are just perplexing, like the way her lips just twisted. Is this a smile or is she sore?

“You're confused, right?”

“...what?”

“I tried to read your face. The way your eyebrows move, this is confusion, right?”

“Are you playing with me?”

“I'm also trying to learn to read human faces better.”

“So you're playing with me! Ken! Stop smirking!” Embarrassing! I feel my cheeks redden. Arako tricked me and Ken has heard the whole conversation! I want to disappear, this has to be because I'm on my period! Usually, I'm more on guard!

I want to snap at both of them, I want to say something, but right now, I'm not in the condition to say something that's not just mean. I could take this embarrassment if it'd be just Arako, she's a friend, nothing to be ashamed of forever, but Ken also knows!

This may be my pride as a woman, but I don't want Ken to see me on this side of the joke.

You gain 1 WP. Your husband and sister-wife deepened their bond by holding hands. Be sure to get your turn as well.

Please no!

“Kenta-kun, I'll take Katarine-san.”

“Take good care of her.”

“Yay, Kenta's worried about me.”

“You have a big 'victim' tattooed on your forehead.”

“I have?” Rine-chan feels her forehead.

“Figuratively. Just go to Ara-san... Actually, Ara-san, Kyou-san, come here. We'll make the hand-holding with both of you.”

Don't you care about my feelings at all!? Holding your hand right now is the worst thing, my head is still filled with shame, you insensitive moron!

No, I'm the idiot! Why do I even expect Ken to have any form of delicacy in the first place?

Too much, my head is about to burst! It hurts, it's full of feelings, I need a break!

“Kyou, is everything alright?” Rine-chan is the only one, who cares. “Do you need a break?”

No, I can see Ken snorting already. If I ask for another break, he will start looking down on me again. More than usual... I mean, I've finally got some ground, was able to make Ken praise me for the first time, so-

I MAKE NO SENSE AT ALL!

I just want to go to sleep. Dangerous, it's dangerous. I need to calm down. It's just... yes, it's just Ken. No reason to get that excited. Looking into his face calms me down because I can still see traces of the boy I knew back in Japan.

He may have grown a bit, but he's still an untrusty idiot who's full of himself. Just what's wrong with me?

“Why are you looking at me like I've waltz myself on the dirt, trying to make a mud angel?”

“No reason.” I just take his stupid hand and get over it. It feels like always, no, it's giving me solace, no, it's like a poisonous snake. So many contradictions.

In the end, all four of us are holding hands, Arako and me with Ken, Rine-chan with Arako. This surely feels a bit odd, especially given where we are right now.

There is an eerie silence here. Of course, bugs are buzzing through the mist, a constant croaking can be heard, and sometimes the water ripples when a fish or amphibian is jumping out of the dark water. Still, all four of us are quiet, giving it this vibe of danger.

Ken's looking about everywhere, I look at his stats, he spends his SP and MP freely. Don't do that, you'll be exhausted!

“Everyone, I have an idea,” Rine-chan's voice cheerily just interrupts this tense moment. “Let's sing.”

I feel a tug at my hand, as Ken is about to make a facepalm, but after realizing that it's occupied, he just rolls his eyes. “Serious? Again? I mean, serious!?”

“Of course! I'm all about singing right now, thanks to Ara's training, and I don't know any songs of your world.”

Obviously, 'Saa, Ike Ninninger' is the first song that comes into my mind. Though I wouldn't even dare to sing it with Ken present. Or ever in any form of public.

Still, how did Rine-chan come to this idea?

"Music? Sounds interesting." I don't know if this is typical for Arako or not. "Who begins?"

"...please don't sing." Ken is of course against the idea.

For me, I'm a bit torn. In Japan, my friends and I often visited karaoke bars, therefore I'm not opposed in general. It's just that the idea of singing here in the swamp is strange.

"Girls, do I have to explain it again? We're in the midst of a dangerous swamp with a ton of things which wants to kill us here, the fucking trees are out there to get us, and you think of singing!?"

"But Kenta, trees don't have ears. Also, whatever is here to get us, don't need to rely on their hearing to find us, right? They have their spirit senses for this, the monsters we met before were more about laying traps anyways. Besides, I remember that your [Pitch]-skill makes it possible for you to hear everything no matter how many other noises are around, right? So no problem!”

Ken's mouth is agape. He's thoroughly overwhelmed by Rine-chan's arguments, which even make sense. Of course, he's in disbelieve. I am as well, I know that Rine-chan is smarter than she thinks she is, but this is a bit unexpected.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I'll begin!” The princess answers the question of the alfr. “Maybe you know this already, it's 'Miller's Journey!'” Rine-chan clears her throat.

“In the mill, there was alone

the miller and his grinding stone.

He was tired of its song,

packed his stuff and said: So long!”

Something strange is happening here. While listening to Rine-chan's beautiful singing voice, I have different lines in my head:

“The Miller was in the mill alone,

always listening to the grinding of the gears.

'It's boring!' he says

So he takes his backpack and leaves.”

While the first one is marvelous, the second one is a horrendous crime against music itself. The whole rhythm and melody are wrong; nothing is at sync.

I begin to concentrate on the harmonious version of the song. I'm almost capable of ignoring the other version, which pops into my head. Still, this is unpleasant.

Looking at Ken, I'm sure he has a similar experience, Arako is calm, though her ears are lowering, so she may be proud or maybe excited. She must have known...

I remember how Arako always says how the translation function of the hero-system can make some things messy. Music is one of them.

Rine-chan's song ends, it's an easy one for children. Still, she had much fun singing, it's impossible not to notice.

“It's my turn,” Arako claims, while she clears her throat. “Alfr music is a bit different, so excuse me.” Without even waiting for an answer, she starts. I don't know what it is, but she starts.

Dissonance. I can only hear about half of the sounds she produces, but every note brings more headache. On the other hand, Ken yells while jerking his muscles: “STOP! STOP IT!”

Alfar and Ken have a much better hearing than ordinary humans. Therefore, Arako might hit notes in a pitch I can't hear anymore, while Ken can hear every single one of them.

I guess that's the reason why Arako was looking forward to sing a song. I use my free hand to reach over Ken and pull her ear: “Ouch!” These are much more sensitive than human ears, so I put some vigor into my pull. I have no nerve to endure this kind of torture. “I was at the best part.”

“You're just trying to trick us with this music. I still remember how you sang in the rain with us.” It was when we left Aroahenn and it started to rain for the first time in this rainy season.

“...I was careless.”

Too bad, Arako might have a bit of a hoarse singing voice, but I liked the song from the other day.

―○●○―

“They do have nerves. They're singing!”

“Zhey do watt!?” Kruan and his eight companions are walking through the marshes, guided by their alfr companion. These humans take the swamp very lightly, on the other side, Kruan and the other ss'rak can also slack off a bit, as long as they have their alfr.

Most dangers of the swamps are nothing to an alfr, it seems. “We clos?”

“'Close.'”

“Rr?”

“The word is 'close.' Not 'clos.'”

“Arr we close?”

“Now you're messing up your 'are.' Well, maybe I should just focus on the nouns for starters. Means: 'Arr abut zree maooafs clos enoff?'”

Kruan is a very patient ss'rak. Which means that this kind of disrespect only makes him swash his tail towards the alfr, instead of his claws and teeth.

Too bad that the meat-skin nimbly evades: “That was close, you almost broke your tail! Watch out!”

“I apologize,” this was not honorable, “we cloze to boy, lost nerf.”

“Don't worry.” The alfr throws a mudball right into the ss'rak face. “This is how my people forgive.”

Kruan has never met another alfr before. Still, the more time he spends with this one, the more he concludes that they're a species worth hating.

“Back to topic, I'm not sure... do you even use the looaf-system?” Kruan shakes his head, he can only imagine that it's a sort of distance. “OK, it's simple. This is about a looaf.” He spreads his arm a bit. “If you have eight looaf, you have a kuooaf. Twenty-one kuooaf are a pooaf. Five pooaf are a fyooaf, and seven fyooaf are one maooaf. It's simple, right?”

It doesn't make any sense at all and is much more complicated than it needs to be.

“Well, you don't, I guess... Let's say, that's unlikely to get to them before sundown, especially for you. I mean, if it were me, I could definitely catch up to them, but the boy is your date, and I really would like not to meet Ara'ainn, y'know?”

“Whazz up wiz her and yuu?”

The alfr is flicking his ear, as he ponders about this question. “Complicated and personal. By the way, how did you convinced wannabe-boss to let you go?”

Kruan remains quiet. The leader of their whole clutch here doesn't know how Kruan pursues this particular prey. Kenta. An unusual name, so it was likely that he was the same one as the one Kruan knows. The ss'rak is concerned whether he would be allowed to hunt him, so he did something dishonorable and didn't even ask the one above him for permission.

“Well, suit yourself. It's also complicated and personal, I guess? ...still, I'm curious, what exactly did you do to please wannabe-boss? I mean, did you help him shed his skin? Did you tell him the best place to take a sunbath? No, don't tell me... did you praise him, telling him how honored he is?”

“Zhu haff no idea of honor.” The ambivalent sense of honor other species feels is making Kruan sick in his stomach. Honor is earned, not given. Even if someone treats you like dirt, you still can have your honor.

“Nah, just kidding. Don't like that guy much. He always tells me to be more, urks... respectful! I mean, thinking he's all that great and such, what a phony. I liked Taraan more, he was a fine guy.”

“It'z dizreshpectfool to speek of ze dead.” The memory alone shall be enough for them.

“That's why nobody wants to be friends with your kind.” From all sides, the alfr is hissed at, as all of Kruan's warriors are feeling offended. “Hey, I'm only speaking the truth.”

Kruan is only assured that the only people who can possibly like alfar are other alfar.

―○●○―

It's nighttime, Kyou-san and I are having our night watch. I rest my head on her lap, as we couldn't farm this WP otherwise, while Ara-san lies next to me, fast asleep. She will take over with Rine later, but for now, both of them can rest, while I feel sleepy already, despite just starting the shift.

Kyou-san looks very unnerved, as she looks everywhere, she sure is cautious about the trees, she glances outside the half-open tent into the mist. The sound of croaking toads and buzzing insects fills the air, I sure can be glad that Ara-san's [Bug Repellent] works even if she's sleeping.

Rine doesn't need it, sometimes I can hear her sword swinging through the air, as she kills an insect trying to bite her. Of course, doing this doesn't really wake her up, at best some half-asleep mumbling, she's just that much of a murder-machine.

I want to sleep, too. This day was hectic, I mean, I'm used to days this tiring at this point, but I guess using all of my skills so often drains me more than I might admit. It's the swamp's fault, I may be overly cautious and skeptical all the time, but now I'm at 150%.

“Ken?”

Oh, Kyou-san wants to talk? “Yeah?”

“...nevermind.”

“...” This annoys me, so I look up to her, trying to ignore her ample breasts and concentrating on her face. She rubs her nose-bridge. Well, if something annoys her, I'm the wrong conversation partner. For cases like this, I'll gladly refer to Rine. Well, I can ask her about a different matter. “How about the shampoo?”

“Huh?”

“The shampoo. You wanted to create shampoo, right? Not just that hair soap.” In this world, there is no shampoo, only some sort of soap which cleans the hair, but it still doesn't feel as clean as back when in Japan.

“...shut up.”

“Still no progress, huh?”

“Why do you even speak about it?” She's pissed. Well, nothing new. “Do you want to rub it into my face, do you like reminding me of what I can't do?”

What you can't do. I can tell you a thing or two about it. “Phew... calm down. I'm just curious.”

“...jerk!”

I'm too tired to argue right now, so instead, I turn my head to the fire, focusing on the sounds around us. So I just shut up and go back to thinking.

Not Kyou-san though. “Hey, say something.”

“...why?”

“...” A small pause, then the answer. “Because.”

“...what kind of reasoning is this!?”

“Shut up!”

“I can either say something or shut up, don't be so-” At this moment I remember that Kyou-san has her period, so I may be insensitive here. A passing thought, interrupted by a WP-message.

You gain 1 WP. Resting your head on the lap of your beloved wife gives you the energy to continue with the arduous night watch.

No, it doesn't. “Let's just switch, OK. Too tired.”

“Fine.” Oh, that low voice is a hidden threat, but Kyou-san lies down on the pelts that we use as a sleeping place, while I switch to sit on my knees so she can rest her head on my lap. Then she asks: “How far are you with Rine's book?”

“Urgh.” Rine lent me her favorite book, a story about Miriam Leise and her husband. I'm still stuck in the same passage as before when Fabian found an assassin which tries to murder Miriam. “Shut up.” She knows that I haven't touched the book in days.

“Read it to me.”

“Hah?”

“I need something to relax and you need to practice reading.” Of course I can read, I just have some trouble deciphering this world's alphabet.

“What about monsters? Reading and night watch doesn't mesh.” I may be able to read with [Darkvision] during the night, but it's a matter of attention.

“Use [Pitch] to filter out sounds.” I so shouldn't have explained how it works. Now all the girls take it as granted. “Also, I think that you also need to relax.”

“I can relax when I sleep.”

“Do you?” She's right, when I sleep, I use the [Dormurnal]-skill, which keeps a part of my consciousness vigilant while I'm sleeping. “Thought so.”

Seriously, reading this book would still not be relaxing. I have to remember each letter of the alphabet, arrange them in my head to get the word translated, then read it. It's taxing, though it may become better with practice, but so far it's the opposite of relaxing. The book's content also doesn't help.

“Come on, Ken.”

Most of night watch is just being awake in case something happens and to tend the fire, staying vigilant for several hours is just plain impossible by human standards, especially seeing how tired I'm currently.

Hey, Kyou-san. Why do you grab the book from your backpack, which is connected to an [Inventory]-space all four of us share? I hate it when someone touches my stuff! You also don't need to push the book onto me!

With Kyou-san acting like that, I'm about to throw the book just into the next bog, but imagining how much Rine would fuss about it later, understandably, makes me take it, though my first impulse is still to dismiss Kyou-san's request straightforwardly.

However, there is another thought. “If I read that book to you, what will you do for me?”

“...” Kyou-san looks into my eyes with a blank look. I got her! “So it's not enough that I cook for you?”

“I'll keep on scouting.”

“Not in this swamp.”

“Because of the danger.”

“I still have cooked today for you!”

“I come up with the battle-strategies!”

“I was almost eaten alive today!”

“This isn't my fault!”

“Just do me a favor for once!”

“Why!?”

“...”

“...”

A stare-down between her and me, which feels kinda strange, as she rests her head on my lap, but I still don't budge here. The only thing that breaks this silence are the sounds of the swamps and Rine's insect-killing sleep-slashes.

Hey, why is Kyou-san raising her hands? Not knowing what she's about to do, I put the book aside and grab her wrists, as her hands are about to touch my face. “What?”

“...” Her dark eyes are looking at my face. This time they're telling me nothing, she just looks at my face, which is lighted by our small campfire a small distance away. “You may develop a pimple on your chin.”

“So what?” Of course I'll have some zits now and then.

“Just saying.”

“...” This is so strangely pointless. So why was I annoyed at her again? Ah, the book. Now that I think about it, it's a stupid reason to fight. Thinking of it, most times we fight it's for petty reasons retrospectively.

“I still have some creams against pimples..” Ah, she's a [Herbalist] after all, she even made medicine to regulate Rine's period, so it stands to reason that she also takes care of her own zits...

Ah, dammit. This alone feels enough to give in to her request regarding the book. As I'm unwilling to start that topic again, I let her hands go and just fetch the book and open it at the mark, reading it slowly. “Fabian was afraid, but not about himself, he-” For a second, I look away from the pages just to see Kyou-san smiling. A smile I've never seen before.

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