The Elf Is a Freeloader - Chapter 12

「……………………………………」

「……………………………………」

Currently, the living room of the Akatsuka house is encompassed by an extremely awkward silence.

✧

After Eru noisily rushed out of the dressing room mid-panic.
The 「Something」 that clung onto Yasutaka’s face chased after Eru who rushed out of the dressing room, bouncing and jiggling on his way out.

It was evident that 「Something」 was from Eru’s world and came here together with her. It seems to be a creature that moves autonomously, but at any rate, it came from a fantasy world. What kind of absurd existence it is, is unknown.

There was a concern where, at worst, it would affect the ecosystem of this world.

Yasutaka hurriedly tried to chase after that 「Something」 but he remembered he was naked, so he hastily wore clothes and left the bathroom.

By the time Yasutaka reached the hallway, 「Something」 could no longer be found.

Nevertheless, Yasutaka had a hunch that 「Something」 was chasing after Eru, so he decided to go to Eru first.

He knew from the sound of footsteps that she went up to the second floor. That would mean that she’s probably in her own room.

Immediately after such an incident, it would be lie if he wasn’t particularly reluctant in meeting Eru but even so, there was no way he could leave that 「Something」 alone.

Moreover, there was a possibility that Eru knows something.

While thinking so, Yasutaka went upstairs. Still being vigilant since that 「Something」 might be around, he arrived in front of Eru’s room.

「…………Eru…… you there? It’s me…… Can I have a minute……?」

「Ya…… Yasutaka……san……?」

After calling out while knocking, a muffled voice could be heard from somewhere on the other side of the door.

「There are some…… u, umm, things that happened that I want to ask about so can we talk about…… it? Y, you don’t have to mind about that thing a while ago……」

The moment Yasutaka mentioned 「that thing a while ago」, there was signs of movement and a small shriek from the other side of the door.
It would seem that Eru recalled the scene from not long ago. Yasutaka understood that too, making it awkward.

「Th, then, I’ll be waiting in the living room…… Could you come over once you’ve calmed down……?」

「Ye, yesh!! I, I will be there in a s-soon, so p-please wait for a little while……!!」

While still sensing that there was some movement inside the room, Yasutaka temporarily returned to the living room.

There, he waited for her for a little while. Although Eru’s face was bright red, she nervously entered the living room.

And so, the scene leads back to the beginning.

✧

Frankly, Eru was wondering why she acted that way.

Eru and Yasutaka sat facing each other at the dining table.
Eru who couldn’t look at Yasutaka who was directly in front of her, was desperately thinking about the cause.

Eru is an adventurer. She’s been on adventures in a party of two male and two female members repeatedly til now.

Although it was a party consisting of men and women, there was no romance between the members, no physical connections. Naturally, they had feelings of camaraderie and solidarity as companions, and had trust.

When repeatedly going on adventuring with comrades like that, there are instances where they had to camp out or stay in a single large room in the inn together.

At those times, there are instances where a companion is seen naked.
When camping or staying in the same large room, everyone changes clothes in front of their companions. In the first place, when camping, going alone to change clothes in private is nothing but dangerous.

Naturally, Eru has seen her male companions change in front of her, and everyone would occasionally bathe together in the river.

Of course, it wasn’t that she liked exposing her skin, it was just something that every adventurer had to do.

In other words, Eru is used to seeing men naked.
And yet, when she saw Yasutaka naked, her mind went blank.

She didn’t know what she should do, so the result was her screaming and escaping.

She had an idea of what was stuck on Yasutaka’s face, it was by no means dangerous.
If it were a dangerous thing, she was sure she would surely have moved to protect Yasutaka.
She was confident that she could judge to that extent.

Then, why did I instinctively run away?

And so, Eru’s thoughts kept circling round, over and over again.

At that time, she did not realize.
The reason she panicked was not because 「She saw a man naked」 but rather 「She saw Yasutaka naked」

It would be a bit longer before she realizes this.

✧

Just how long were they going to stay silent?

I have snap out of it and talk about something, thought Yasutaka, he then looked at Eru.

Finally, he noticed that there was something transparent and jiggling on top of her shoulder. It seems that because it was transparent and colorless, he didn’t notice it until now.

He unintentionally stared at Eru’s shoulder fixedly.

There’s no doubt about it. That was the 「Something」 that was stuck on my face at that time.

Observing carefully, it’s approximately the size of a clenched fist. It’s a bit squashed teardrop shaped.

It’s something that even Yasutaka who has no interest in fantasy or games, knows ーー having often seen it on TV commercials ーー it would be easier to imagine if he said it’s like the sticky blue clump that’s a standard monster in the beginning of a certain famous RPG[1]. The difference of the 「Something」 that’s here is that, it doesn’t have the molding of the eyes and mouth of that standard monster.

「H, hey, Eru? That thing on your shoulder…… what the heck is that?」

When Yasutaka pointed at 「Something」, it quivered in response.

「Eh? H, huh? Piicho-kun, since when have you been on my shoulder?」

「Pi. Piicho……kun……?」

When Eru held out her hand to her shoulder, the strange life-form called Piicho-kun hopped onto her hand.

「Yes. This child is the water spirit I am contracted with, Piicho-kun.」

「Water…… spirit……? I, it’s a living thing……?」

「Hmm…… strictly speaking, it is not a living thing. A clump of water that has its own will…… might be the most correct representation for it?」

The world Eru was originally in was overflowing with the power of the spirits that were everywhere.

Aside from the four famous spirits ー Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind, there are spirits such as those of trees and shrubs, Light, and Dark, the power of all spirits reach everywhere.
Utilizing the power of such spirits, spirit users like Eru are able to use spirit magic.

However, spirit power is not completely ubiquitous. For example, at the bottom of the sea, the power of water spirits are strong, while fire and wind’s would be nearly incomparable. Inside a cave, the power of earth and darkness are strong, while wind would amount to nearly nothing. In the desert, the power of fire and wind would be strong, while water and earth would be near unattainable, and so on and so forth.
In places where a specific spirit’s power is weak, that spirit’s power can’t be borrowed for spirit magic.

For that reason, spirit users make a contract with specific spirits, and carry those spirits around with them. In doing so, even in places where that contracted spirit’s power is weak, spirit magic can be used.

Eru’s contracted spirit is a water spirit. But then, with Eru’s capabilities right now, she can only make a contract with one spirit at best.

When spirits that usually don’t have a body make a contract with a spirit user, they collect their element and form a temporary body.

Currently, even Eru’s water spirit named Piicho-kun uses a temporary body made of collected water.

「In comparison to mine, this world has very little spirit power which is why Piicho-kun is very weak…… And so, I placed him and some clean water into the water sack so he could recover his power.」

Recently, during daytime, she would replace the water in the water sack while Yasutaka is at school, and it seems that she had forgotten it at the wash basin today.

「T, then, that’s a water spirit……right? It looks weak though, is it alright now?」

「Yes!! He has gotten a bit smaller but he looks alright. Still, since the water from the *faucet[2]* was quite pure, I thought he would recover faster but……」

Puzzled, Eru tilted her head.

Although the water that came from the faucet may look pure, there are various things like chlorine for disinfection added into it. Of course, the amount used is harmless to the body, but that may not be true for a water spirit.

While Yasutaka thought of such a vague matter, Eru started talking about fantasy stuff again.

「With this, even in this world, it may be limited to water but I can use magic!!」

「Ma, magic……?」

「Yes!! No matter what, I am a spirit user…… and a water user at that!!」

Proudly declaring so, Eru placed a glass of water from the faucet onto the table.

「Please observe. Ready? Piicho-kun!」

In response to Eru’s will, the water spirit jiggled and shook on her shoulder.

The water in the glass started getting excited and floated gently in midair. Then it swayed like a bubble underwater and slowly changed while circling around Yasutaka and Eru.
The clump of water divided into a number of water droplets, drifting through the living room. The water spectacle conducted by Eru was simply magical.

Yasutaka was fascinated and unintentionally let out a “Hooo~”

Before long, the water gathered into one again and plopped back into the glass.

「Fuuu. As I thought, magic power is lowered here. I used more magic power than I thought I would.」

This was something she had previously anticipated. In this world, there is hardly any mana which is the source of magic. For that reason, the water spirit’s power was dampened, so Eru’s magic was also largely weakened.

However, Yasutaka barely heard what Eru said.

What a fantastic sight that was just now. It was etched into his mind.

Countless droplets sparkled under the fluorescent lights. Those droplets colored the girl manipulating them, making her exceedingly radiant and dazzling.

Yasutaka was stupefied until Eru who was feeling wary shook his shoulder.

✧

While Hagino Takashi was doing his daily routine of reading reading fantasy genre web novels, he suddenly heard his little sister’s voice from the outside his room.

「Oooy, Aniki. Otousan[3] was calling for you? He said to come to his study.」

「Oou. I’ll be there soon.」

He confirmed the time on the clock, it was past midnight. He took a bath shortly after having dinner then studied for the mid-term exams and finished at around 10 pm.
After that, like always, he went to his computer, connected to the net, and read the fantasy novels that he loves for over two hours.

When he left his room, he saw his little sister who was about to enter her own room.

「You gonna sleep soon?」

「Un. Going to sleep. Good night.」

After exchanging greetings and seeing his sister off to her room, he headed for his father’s study.

His father has strangely busy with work these days, aside from his usual work, he has meetings here and there, has consultations, and only comes home when the date has changed.

「It seems Oyaji came home a bit earlier today.」

It was past midnight when Takashi was called which meant that he was home before midnight.

Takashi and his father’sーー No, the relationship of everyone in the family is good. Although he has light squabbles and unending quarrels with his older and younger sister, Takashi considers his family as precious.

He who was thinking of his father’s health was happy that his father who was always busy came home a bit early.

Takashi’s lineage was quite remarkable. It was a lineage of a noble family that continued since the olden days of Nisshin City, and they were well-known for being wealthy.

After walking the long hallways for a while, he arrived at his father’s study.

He lightly knocked on the stately door of the study, and before long, his father’s voice could be heard from inside.

「Takashi? Come in.」

In response to his father’s voice, Takashi opened the door of the study.

Large bookshelves were set up left and right in his father’s study. The contents of the bookshelves are absolutely unorganized, there were work related technical books and, for some reason, there were some manga mixed in.

When Takashi entered the room, his father had his back turned and was on the desk in the study, tapping away at his computer.

「Welcome home, Tousan. Also, did you need something?」

「Ahh. It’s about the coins you entrusted to me before.」

His father looked back over his shoulder then spread out several familiar coins onto the desk.

They were the coins from another world that Yasutaka ーー more precisely, Eru through Yasutaka ーー requested to have his father appraise the value of.

「Oh? By any chance, do you know it’s value?」

Even if just a bit, in his heart, Takashi hoped that for Eru’s sake, it was worth a large sum.

「No. If I had to say, the result is that I don’t know it’s value. However…… these coins. These are essentially items that don’t exist in this world…… isn’t that so, Takashi?」

The father turned his chair, facing his son.

The father’s gaze on his son was not a warm gaze for family, but rather, a sharp gaze suited for a business rival.

Hagino Kouichi, the current mayor of Nisshin City, pointed such a gaze at his son.