Tap, patter,
"Uh, huh......?"
The sound of something tapping against my body, and the chill wrapping around me, made my tightly shut eyes open. What? I’m alive? What a surprise.
With that pointless thought, my barely functioning brain unconsciously looked up at the sky.
........It was raining. It was pouring hard, soaking and striking my body until I’d naturally woken up.
"Damn it... I heard Britain’s weather was awful, but.....!"
Groaning, I pushed myself up and got out of the rain.
The place where I had collapsed was....... some back alley. A spot hidden between buildings.
Luckily, there was a gap where I could shelter from the rain, so I slipped inside.
......Still, I had definitely been swept up by the Mors and all that, so I had no idea how I ended up here, but at least I could feel pain, which meant this probably wasn’t the afterlife.
I thought I was dead, but I’m alive. I should probably thank God.
"Hiss.... though this stings a little...."
Now that I’d recovered some of my senses, I checked my body first.
At least I’d gotten lucky and nothing like an arm or leg was broken. The [Mana Mystic Code] I’d firmly strapped on was still attached too, thankfully, but my hat had been blown away in all that chaos. Well, a hat was fine to lose.
But maybe because I’d been swept along by the Mors and pressed against the iron plate, I’d gotten burned mostly around my back. Fortunately, it didn’t seem all that severe, but it still stung a little....
......My whole body is now smeared with Mors bodily fluids. Damn it all.
".....Let’s deal with this first."
If I got caught looking like this, I’d obviously have to give up pretending to be a fairy. And if I went out onto the street or road like this, the soldiers would just lop my head off on the spot.
Black, sticky liquid clung to my clothes and body alike, dripping and squelching unpleasantly and making everything even more disgusting.
Fortunately, it was raining heavily right now.
If I stepped outside and soaked myself, I should be able to wash it off.
"Ah.... cold, but refreshing...."
I spread my arms wide and drenched my whole body in rainwater to wash away the fluids.
I took off my clothes and did the same to the inside of them. There was no one around to see me anyway, so it should be fine.
The burned areas still stung, but with this cold water as first aid, it at least felt like I’d be okay for now.
So what do I do now.... Hiss... I should probably reunite with the lady first, but does that mean I need to head for Cambridge, our original destination? Or should I trust the lady’s prophecy and just wait here like a missing child?
No, wait—what if she doesn’t even know I’m alive? Then I should probably go to Oxford, where we started and where we were headed, and look for the lady there..... Damn it... what am I supposed to do.....
Splaaash!
"......Huh?"
"........Ah?"
What was that. Something just hit me.
Something watery suddenly splattered across my face and body. It didn’t seem to smell bad, at least.
And then there was another voice. A flustered voice that wasn’t mine. A female voic......
"........."
"........"
.....I opened my eyes and looked straight ahead.
The back door of the building was open, and through it a red-haired fairy seemed to have just dumped something from a bucket outside, then frozen while looking at me.
And I was currently washing myself while half-naked.
....So what am I supposed to say in this situation?
"........."
"........"
" "I’m sorry!!" "
Without either of us waiting for the other, Capris and the red-haired fairy bowed our heads at the same time.
Both of us were utterly flustered, and after our minds had rolled the words around and around, the next thing that came out was,
"Um... even though I look like this right now, I’m not a pervert. No, seriously, I needed to wash my body first, but there didn’t seem to be any fairies passing by, so I ended up doing this... I’m really sorry."
"N-no... I didn’t know that, and I went to dump the rainwater leaking into the house, so I thought no one was here and just soaked you like that... I’m sorry. But, um... do you have somewhere to stay?"
"No, I got separated from my group, so I don’t even have a place to stay.... I’ve also run out of money because of it, so I guess I need to find some way to get by doing odd jobs or something... haha,"
"T-then would you like to come to our house? It might be a little uncomfortable for an upper fairy, but it is cozy enough as long as the rain isn’t leaking in."
......What was this, why was she being so kind to me?
In my experience, the only fairies who treated me this well were the blacksmiths who had gone wide-eyed and were desperate to cut off my legs.
Even Capris wasn’t the kind of friend who would hand over his liver and gallbladder this easily, was he?
".....Haha, if it’s not too much trouble, then I’d be grateful. I’m lucky, aren’t I."
Well, whatever. I’d decide after seeing the place. For now, that fairy seemed to be low-ranking, and among the lower ranks she didn’t look especially physically strong like those blacksmith types, so if it came to it, I could probably subdue her instead.
And I needed a place to stay right now anyway.
"Yes, then please come in. The house is a bit much, but you should still be able to sleep comfortably."
"Thank you. Then....."
For now, I wrung out the water from my clothes and followed her inside.
.....It really was a cramped house. It was so small that two or three people inside would fill it to the brim, rain leaked through the ceiling, and they were catching it in buckets.
On top of that, the place seemed to be in rough shape. The clothes hanging on the wall were all worn out, the body I caught a glimpse of was covered in scars, and I couldn’t see anything like medicine either.
"Ah, that side is a little dirty, so please come this way. This side is at least a bit warmer since it’s near the chimney and the window. Of course, I do have a place to sleep too."
"Ah, yes. Thank you. By the way, where exactly is this...?"
"Hm? Ah, this is Darlington. Darlington, ruled by Lord Grimalkin. It’s a bit countryside-like, though... haha,"
Darlington, huh.... Thankfully, it wasn’t far from Cambridge. At this distance, I could probably get there in a day or two on foot.
Then..... for now, let’s trust the lady and wait. If she still hasn’t shown up after about ten days, then I’ll head to Cambridge.
Thinking that, I lay down where the fairy had guided me and spent the night. Fortunately, nothing happened while I slept, but......
Honestly, this house needed reinforcement in all sorts of ways, if only out of gratitude for giving me a place to stay.
The sound of rain constantly falling, the cold wind sneaking through the cracks, the cracked walls, and so on. It was a precarious, nerve-wracking situation. More than anything, it was bad for my mental health.
So tomorrow morning, after getting the owner’s permission, I’d fix the roof first, one way or another.....
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