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[AI CENSORSHIP BLOCKED THIS CHUNK - RAW ENGLISH RETAINED]

“Come again soon. I’ll welcome gatherings like today at any time,” Dryas said with a pleasant expression as she saw Rio and the others off.

“Yes, we’ll bring lots of snacks again.” Rio bowed with a gentle smile.

“I’m counting on you to bring more manju. Ah, and please teach Orphia and the others how to make it as well, for when you’ve left on your journey.” It seemed like Dryas had completely fallen for the charms of the manju.

“Sure thing,” Rio agreed cheerfully, making Sara and the others laugh happily in anticipation.

“All right — take care, then. Did you make sure you didn’t forget anything?” Dryas asked.

“Yes,” Rio and the others nodded in unison. Or so they thought —

“Ah, I forgot to invite Arslan to come along, too!” Vera said.

“Ahaha... Come to think of it, you said you’d bring him along before you came to our house. I thought he was busy since he didn’t show up...” Latifa said with a strained smile.

“Ack! I-I got so excited that I forgot. I have to hurry back and apologize!” Vera said with a regretful look.

After that, they all visited Arslan’s house and went through quite a bit to cheer him up from his grumpy mood.

◇◇◇

After that, days in the village passed by in a flash.

Every day was filled with laughter: Rio participated in the tea parties hosted by Orphia, sparred with Sara, Uzuma and the other village warriors, drank with Alma and Dominic, played with Latifa, Vera, Arslan, and the other village kids, and taught the village ladies how to cook the recipes from Yagumo.

Furthermore, while Rio was fully enjoying his life in the village, construction of his house was progressing smoothly under Dominic’s leadership. On a day two weeks after he had returned to the village, Rio paid a visit to the construction site, where huge numbers of dwarves were busily laboring away. When Dominic spotted Rio, he paused in his supervising and approached Rio with a grin.

“Yo, Rio. You’re here.”

“Good day, Dominic. I’m sorry for leaving everything to you...” Rio bowed his head in gratitude.

“Don’t worry about it — I was the one who wanted to build it. You’re not staying in the village for long, so spend as much time with Alma and the others as you can,” Dominic said, smacking Rio’s arm heartily.

“Truly, thank you very much. Speaking of which, the house is looking far more extravagant than I imagined,” Rio said with a faintly apologetic smile, looking around at the construction scene before him, where a huge rock stood that completely occupied the plot, which easily surpassed 200 square meters.

“Hahaha, I know, right?” Dominic agreed with a lively laugh.

“I heard you were processing natural rock to make the house, but are you hollowing it out?”

“Yeah, with spirit arts. It’s pretty big — we’ve extended part of it with space spirit arts, and we’ll make a second floor, too, so there’ll be lots of rooms.”

Rio’s smile twitched at the unexpectedly large scale. “Ahaha... That’s too much for one person to live alone.”

“Well, you’ll have a household yourself one day, so I figured I’d make it big enough for that. Although, it wouldn’t be enough if you were to take several wives and have children like me...” Dominic said while nodding.

The spirit folk village allowed one husband to take many wives, or even the opposite; Dominic himself had four wives. Because of that experience, Dominic would recommend polygamy to Rio at every possible chance.

“No, well, you never know what the future holds, or something, ahaha...” Rio personally had no intention of becoming a polygamist — he didn’t even have any desire for marriage — so he could only offer a reserved response with a forced smile.

W-Well, I guess it’ll be easier to live in, so it shouldn’t be a problem... I think. While the size is a little unexpected, it seems like it’s being built exactly as I requested, so I guess they can do what they want,Rio thought in resignation.

The conditions Rio had requested beforehand were for it to blend smoothly with the environment when camping, and that the house was sturdy enough to prevent outside intruders from breaking in. By making the house from a boulder, both of those requests were fulfilled perfectly. With this, he would be able to set a base for his activities outside of the cities when he moved through Strahl.

And so, the two of them continued talking, until —

“Hey, Head Elder Dominic! Do you have a moment?” one of the dwarves on location called.

“Oh, it looks like I’m being summoned. Well, just leave the construction to me, and look forward to its completion. I’ll call you immediately when it’s done. We can raise a glass in celebration!” Dominic said with a smile, before leaving Rio behind to head for the work site.

“...Looks like I owe the villagers again,” Rio muttered, troubled, as he watched the dwarves happily working away.

◇◇◇

Less than a month later, Rio’s house made of rock was complete.

The appearance of the home was truly rustic — in fact, apart from the entrance and several small ventilation windows, it looked just like a regular old boulder.

However, in complete contrast to the exterior, the interior was a wide and comfortable living space with custom-made furniture and all kinds of sorcery woven into its luxurious facilities. It went without saying that a wild housewarming party was held upon its completion, filled with singing and drinks. Furthermore, when Rio immediately moved in upon its completion to test the facilities, it was decided that — naturally — Latifa would live with him too.

After a while, Vera and Arslan also came to sleep over, then Sara and the others were invited partly as their guardians. And so, their lively days continued.

Thus, as winter approached, the new year arrived — year 1000 of the Holy Era. On a day when Rio’s departure for the Strahl region was steadily approaching and he was in the bathtub of his stone house...

The interior of the spacious bathing area was purposefully carved into bare stone, making a rocky bath that allowed for an experience similar to an outdoor hot spring. Rio washed his hair, face and body, before finally sinking into the water.

“...Hah.”

With a sigh, his fatigue from the day melted away.

Tomorrow’s the day, finally,he thought, gazing up at the rock ceiling that was intentionally left bare.

It was so comfortable, he almost wanted to extend his stay, but he didn’t want to pamper himself here.

He couldn’t afford to stand still.

There was no doubt that unwanted memories from his past would resurface once he returned to Strahl; it was possible he couldn’t remain the same person he had been until now.

Even so, he chose to move forward — that was what he had decided when he left the Yagumo region. That was why he had to move forward... Even if he reached the point of no return.

With a deep breath, Rio reaffirmed his resolve.

“Onii-chan, may I come in?” a cute voice said from the doorway to the bathroom.

“Yeah... Huh?”

Rio nodded reflexively, before he realized something was strange, and looked up at the source of the voice. Latifa, who had been sticking her head out of the changing room area, heard Rio’s reply and stepped into the bathroom hesitantly, clad in nothing but a single bath towel.

“Ehehe.” Latifa grinned shyly.

“...” Unable to close his open mouth, Rio simply stared at her in shock.

Her pale orange hair was tied back to reveal her nape, the towel emphasizing her small and modest chest. Her waist and hips were slender, yet well-balanced, and her legs were lean and white — despite being only thirteen, Latifa was already starting to show her womanly charms.

“O-Onii-chan, it’s embarrassing when you stare at me like that,” Latifa said, fidgeting. With that, Rio snapped back to his senses.

“S-Sorry. Wait, why are you here?!” Rio asked while averting his gaze from Latifa’s body in a panic.

“Umm. I wanted to wash Onii-chan’s back. May I?” Latifa smiled with a bashful yet pleased grin, noticing that Rio was seeing her as a member of the opposite sex and not just a little sister.

“No, of course not. You need to leave immediately,” Rio said with a high-pitched voice.

“I-It’s okay. I-I’m wearing a bath towel, so don’t worry. Not to mention the fact that you’ll be leaving the village tomorrow. So, let me have this just for today?”

“N-No, but...”

“Just for today, please!” Latifa hung onto him insistently when he expressed his reluctance. Since she was leaning into the bathtub from outside of it, the placement of her chest was rather precarious, making Rio beside himself with worry.

“N-No means no. Come on, put on your clothes or you’ll catch a cold. Okay?” Rio replied with his eyes averted, unable to find a good way to reject her.

“Hmph, then I’ll just get into the bath with Onii-chan like this. You sure?” Latifa puffed up her cheeks cutely, resisting to the bitter end.

Now that she had gathered up enough courage to come this far, she wasn’t going to back down without a fight. Despite her face being flushed with embarrassment, she tried to remove her bath towel with a trembling hand.

“A-All right! All right, I got it! Calm down, Latifa. You can wash me,” Rio said in a panic as he caught a glimpse of Latifa’s naked body from the corner of his eye. Latifa’s expression lit up; she was beaming.

“R-Really?!”

“...Yeah, just for today,” Rio gave in, nodding.

“Yup! Okay, come over here!” Latifa said, immediately hurrying toward the washing area.

“All right, I’m getting out now.”

“Okay.”

Rio checked that Latifa had looked away, before standing up from the bathtub and swiftly wrapping a towel around his waist. He then walked over to her and sat down on the bath stool in front of her.

“Ehehe.” Latifa’s cheeks warmed happily.

I mean... It’s just a back wash...Rio smiled in amusement.

“Okay, I’m gonna wash you now. Erm, let me know if I miss any spots.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Latifa sabunu havluya sürterek köpürttü, ardından Rio'nun sırtını beceriksizce yıkamaya girişti. Tam işin ortasındayken gerginleşmiş gibiydi, az önceki cesaretine rağmen çekingen hareket ediyordu. Sessizce elleriyle ovuştururken, yavaş yavaş sakin bir ruh haline büründü.

Bu sırada Rio hâlâ şaşkınlığını korusa da, sakinliğini büyük ölçüde geri kazanmıştı. Sohbet başlatacak kelimeler bulamıyordu ama Latifa'nın elinden gelenin en iyisini yapmaya çalışırken hissettiği dokunuşlara mutlu bir şekilde gülümsedi.

"Latifa, yeterli. Teşekkür ederim," diye mırıldandı Rio bir süre sonra, sesi yumuşaktı.

"T-Tamam. O zaman suyu dökeyim."

Latifa, sıcak su sağlayan yuvarlak taş esere dokundu ve Rio'nun sırtına dökmek için bir küveti suyla doldurdu. Bunu birkaç kez tekrarladıktan sonra —

"...Abiciğimin sırtı gerçekten de çok büyükmüş," diye mırıldandı sessizce.

"Gerçekten mi?"

"Evet... Bir dahaki sefere buluştuğumuzda daha da büyümüş olur mu acaba?"

"Kim bilir? Yakında uzamam durur herhalde ama — dur, L-Latifa?!"

Rio zoraki bir gülümsemeyle yanıt verirken, aniden sırtında yumuşak bir his duydu. İrkilmişti.

Latifa aniden Rio'ya arkadan sarılmış, o farkına bile varmadan yanaklarını birbirine sürtünecek kadar yaklaşmıştı.

"...Neyin var böyle aniden?" diye sordu Rio, huzursuzluğunu gizleyerek. Latifa'nın vücut ısısını havlusunun üzerinden hissedebiliyordu; tenlerinin doğrudan temas ettiği yerler cayır cayır yanıyordu.

"Hey, Abiciğim... Bu sefer köye geri geleceksin, değil mi?" diye sordu Latifa endişeyle.

"...Latifa?" diye seslendi Rio, onu kontrol etmek istercesine.

"Geri geleceksin, değil mi?" Latifa aynı soruyu ısrarla tekrarladı.