Chapter 61: The Rabbit Of Revelry III & IV

<The Rabbit Of Revelry III>

The green medicated bath water seeped in my wounds, which hurt a little.

In the bathhouse on the 2nd floor, I sorted out various things in my head as I soaked in lukewarm bathwater.

The future, our adventures from now on. I can’t risk the lives of people while my purpose remains uncertain. The pretext of needing to make a living is also weak.

Adventuring is not all there is to life.

Exploring the dungeon is not the only way to make a living.

If Lemuria doesn’t allow it, there’s also the option of going to another land.

I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to scrape by day to day if I take my wife and sister along with me, but I’ll do anything for their sake. I have that much pride as a man.

I can also arrange a sea voyage to the left continent if I used my connections with the fishmen and the merchant companies. There is also the option of living there peacefully.

For argument's sake, if I were to continue exploring the Odoriji spire here in Lemuria, there’s one thing that I definitely have to ascertain. It’s something that I had said nothing about in consideration of her. I had made up my mind because of what happened this time.

I’ll make things clear.

It’ll be the worst case scenario if that doesn’t work.

「What are you going to do if it’s the worst case scenario, you idiot?」

I’ll decide only after hearing her answer.

「Onii-chan, is it alright if I come in?」

「Huh?」

It was my sister's voice. The partition was rolled up, and then I heard the patter of feet.

A completely naked person sank into the bathtub.

「Ehehe」

「Hey, you……」

The bathtub was spacious for one, but it was cramped for two. Ea's hand brushed by my sensitive place. I had experienced her sitting on my lap several times, but skin-to-skin contact like this was a first.

My sister with her hair up was novel and also cute.

No, it’s different. Well, it's not different, but that's not what I should be thinking about at the moment.

「Ea, what are――」

Oh, I said.

My words were caught in my throat. My sister was trembling.

「Is it because of what happened earlier?」

「Yeah, a bit」

I had messed up. I had only been thinking of myself.

When Ea was at a loss over what she should do, she became awkward.

「Listen」

I took her hand and put her ear to my chest. I had experienced calming someone down in this way in the past. I couldn’t remember who I did it to though.

「The sound of heartbeats has a calming effect on people, I think」

「Onii-chan, your heartbeat is fast, isn’t it?」

That's because I'm tangled up with my sister in the nude. If anything, I’m right now trying desperately to not let my blood flow downwards.

「How is it?」

「Be quiet. I can’t hear」

I shut up.

We were lying flat and our legs were entwined. I hesitated for a moment, but upon seeing her trembling shoulders, I hugged her close. I pressed my cheek to Ea’s head. For some reason, my sister's body was hotter than the bath water.

If I were to express my current state of mind in one word, it’s Nirvana.

In my infinitely serene heart, there’s not even a shred of indecency. In other words, I’ve done nothing illegal. I’m hugging my sister in the nude, but if I’m touching her with a Buddha-like heart, it’s not a bad deed. Also, she’s the sister of my wife from a pretend marriage, but there’s no problem. If anything, it’s precisely because she’s my sister-in-law that there’s no problem.

None!

Yup, I’m probably going to get drop-kicked by Buddhists and beaten black and blue by non-religious people.

And so, I counted the stains on the ceiling as I suffered in mental agony[1].

To use the words of a great physicist,

When you put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, it seems like an hour, but when you’re in an embrace with your naked sister, an hour seems like a minute.

Before I realized, the bathwater had cooled down completely.

I pulled the cord next to the bathtub and hot water was added from the pipe at my feet. The bathwater that overflowed would flow into the sewerage system through the grates laid out under the bathtub.

「Hey, Onii-chan. Look」

Ea changed her position. With one hand on my shoulder and her other hand placed on the bathtub, she showed me her lower abdomen. Maybe she hadn’t tied it properly, but her hair came undone and fell over her chest.

I immediately averted my eyes and looked at it out of the corner of my eye.

「The scar can hardly be seen anymore」

「Oh, that’s great」

My sister had a scar there from a surgery to extract a bullet. The post-surgery treatment had also gone well, and only a faint thin line remained now.

「Fufu~」

Ea reached out and hugged me from the front. She circled her hands around my neck and rested her chin on my shoulder. She held me even tighter.

I felt hard protrusions on my chest.

I wasn’t going to settle down like this.

If I held my peace, it felt like somewhere else would stop holding its peace, so I spoke.

「Hey, Ea, have you become afraid of exploring the dungeon?」

「Hmm, not really. Before coming here from the Heures Forest, I hunted for a living. Pigs were the main quarry. The ones in the easternmost forest of the right continent are strong, gluttonous, ferocious and big. I think that they’re the wild breed of dungeon pigs. It was commonplace for people to die during hunts, but………………giving my all to protect someone and having that person die is something that I saw for the first time today. In an illusion though」

My sister’s body was still trembling a little. I stroked her back with both hands.

「Ever since I became an adventurer, I’ve constantly been protected by someone. It might be a little humbling. After all, when I went hunting with everyone, I was never protected」

「Well, these things happen. But I’ve been protected by you too. Everyone in the party as well. If it wasn’t for you detecting the enemies, we might have been annihilated by an enemy’s surprise attack」

「Yeah, that’s true. Yup, I see. In other words, adventuring means continuing to take such risks until someone’s death causes the party to stop working, right?」

「………That's right」

From time to time, adventurers talk about their dreams feverishly, but…… In short, this is the kind of job it is.

Always risking their lives, fighting and exploring.

It’s the kind of job that cannot be done without talking about dreams and romance. For those without dreams, it’s nothing but a grueling job at best.

「You know, I went weak in the knees and became paralyzed not when everyone was dying, but when Onii-chan died. To be honest, nothing mattered to me anymore. ………I don't know what kind of adventures we’ll have from now on, but Onii-chan, you must never die. If you die………………you understand, right?」

Frank, clear green eyes looked into mine.

Our foreheads touched.

Her breath tickled me. I felt the heat from her lips even without touching them.

「I'm fully aware」

「That’s not good enough. Say it properly」

「I won't die. To be precise, I may die from illness or due to my lifespan, but as a Hemu, I’ll do my best to have a long life」

「Well, I’ll settle for that, I guess」

My nose was licked.

「By the way, Onii-chan」

My sister took hold of me with a puzzled look.

「What’s this?」

<The Rabbit Of Revelry IV>

After being refreshed in the bathhouse, my party gathered at the bar run by the country.

When Ea and me arrived, Rana, Shuna, and Lys were already eating and drinking. It was a little after noon, but the tables were about 80% full. Among the customers were the parties that had been in the dungeon earlier.

On the wide round table, there was food that had been ordered randomly and a line of empty alcohol bottles.

「Shuna, these are?」

I took a seat and pointed to the alcohol bottles. He turned his eyes towards Rana. She was currently drinking directly from the bottle. As if she was drinking water, she was drinking at three times her usual speed.

She has even been called the incarnation of alcohol, but still, is she alright?

Ea started eating the dishes laid out on the table. I also took a bite of the thick bacon that I had become used to. After that, the sour beans too.

Everything tastes good when hungry.

But it’s different from usual.

Everyone was eating and drinking in silence. Moreover, they were, by and large, gobbling down their food quickly. The other parties, or perhaps I should say, the parties that had just gone through the same experience were in a similar state.

From a seat behind me, I heard the sound of a woman crying.

The voice of a man comforting her.

The sound of her wailing hysterically.

The food suddenly tasted bad. With horrible timing, more food came. With a pale face, and purely because I felt that it would be a waste otherwise, I finished my Carbonara.

I took no notice of its taste at all.

I bolted down my tea.

「Now」

The number of empty alcohol bottles had become amazing. Rana and Lys were expressionless, and my sister was her usual self. Shuna looked a little pale.

The fact that I felt that it was grueling was probably proof that I wasn’t cut out to be a leader.

It was precisely in times like this that I wished from the bottom of my heart that Zenobia and Irvin were here.

「Lys, is Bel listening right now?」

「………」

I glared at her when she didn’t respond.

「She’s listening」

「As the leader, there’s something that I want to ask everyone here」

Everyone in the party looked at me.

「From now on, do you guys intend to protect everyone in the party? And, for the sake of protecting everyone, can you choose death? Can you leave someone to their death in order to protect? As a means to keep as many people in the party alive as possible, can you forsake someone?」

There was one beat of silence.

Shuna was the first to answer.

「Of course. I can swear it on my teacher’s sword」

Ea was next.

「Of course」

After her,

「Leave it to me, Onii-san. I’ll definitely make Lys obey too」

Bel replied.

「I also――」

Rana answered, but I cut her off and asked.

「Rana, there’s something in particular that I want to ask you」

「Huh?」

Perhaps she was surprised at the change in topic, but she had a puzzled look.

「I believe that talking about this is difficult. But I’ve made up my mind because of what happened this time. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you, and everyone here in the party also feels the same. That’s why――」

I thought back on the words of that idiot, sexual offender, prince.

“How much further can the woman who burnt her own people to death fall?”

「I want you to talk about the incident where you burnt your own forest down and killed your own people」

The look in Rana's eyes changed. For a moment, I had the feeling that I was looking at a different person.

I spoke to Shuna and Bel, who were baffled.

「A year ago, a war broke out between Lemuria and the Heures Forest, between Hemus and elves. This is what caused the sisters to be reduced to being adventurers. In this conflict, there’s not one side that’s completely in the wrong」

Putting both sides of the story together, the cause was the differences in the units of measurement used in the purchase and sale of land.

However, there were all sorts of confusing information, such as the documents were forged to begin with, or that the elves only intended to steal the money, or that the Hemus were going to seize the land. The things that were said also differed by race.

Anyone and everyone wants to believe that they are the ones who are right.

It’s hard to live with admitting that you’re foolish.

The land that was burned down by Rana is currently being used by Lemuria as farmland. No, to be precise, it’s used by the serfs of Elysium, which is a nation that’s allied with Lemuria. Not all of the food that’s produced there goes to Lemuria. Much of it is sent to Elysium.

This is what bothers me.

Personally, I want to believe that she was used by others.

If she says so, I’ll believe her until the day I die.

「At the end of the war, Rana burned part of the Heures Forest down, embroiling her people in the fire. She was resented because of that. I'm sorry. I had kept it a secret at my own discretion」

When we were forming the party, I should have said this at the start.

But can something like this be said at the start? Am I supposed to say, “Hello, this is my wife. She’s an elf who burned down her own home along with her people.” or something? It’s no joke.

Besides, this information is something that I heard second-hand.

It's not accurate.

It had gone through the filter known as other people’s intentions. I’ll probably uncover some things if I questioned the parties involved, but the time to do that is when I’ve given up on returning.

「Rana, I know it’s difficult. But if we neglect this problem and proceed onward, it’ll definitely result in discord. It’ll become a fatal wound for the party. In your time of need, the hands and feet of those protecting you will falter」

Rana got up from her seat.

I grabbed her hand as she tried to run away.

「I want to hear it from your mouth. What you think is the truth and the reason. Everyone here won’t do anything to betray you」

「Let go of me. That’s not something for the likes of adventurers to meddle with. Overstepping is the very thing that will put your lives in danger」

「I’ll accept anything you say no matter how absurd it is. I’ll make everyone here accept it too」

「tsk………」

My heart ached at the look of sorrow on her face.

「Between you telling us about it now, and me investigating and telling everyone about it, the trust you merit is different」

That’s a threat.

To her, and to me, who hadn’t tried to confront this until now.

This isn’t a wound that can be healed just by leaving it alone. It’ll definitely have to be treated sooner or later. If we were to continue adventuring, if we were to explore the dungeon, then it needed to be done as soon as possible.

Rana seemed to hesitate, but……

……she shook my hand off and left the bar.

「Onee-chan!」

Ea chased after her.

「Sorry」

I apologized to Shuna and Bel, who had remained. Both of them looked like they were troubled over what they should do.

I had failed.

With the hand that had been shaken off, I covered my own face.

[1] There’s two parts to this as both “counted the stains on the ceiling” and “mental agony” have other meanings. Firstly, “counted the stains on the ceiling” is actually also a proverb meaning “doing something fruitless/pointless”. Secondly “mental agony” can also mean “horny”. In other words, that line could also mean, “I wasted my time away feeling horny”. Which is, of course, the joke. Nuff said.

The words of Einstein(sorta) from chp 26 have come back in a new form. lol I really like these random references back to the modern world.

Well, Ea’s steamy scene this time. What she had in her hand and what happened between the chapters is totally up to your imagination. (^ -) Though I should mention that the puzzled look at the end could also be a look of amazement, but I’m choosing to believe that Ea is naive about this kind of thing. But, just like the above, it’s probably another wink and nudge moment by the author.

If you think back about it, Rana was the biggest trope so far. The female character who marries the MC within 2 weeks of him coming to the alternate world and is lovey-dovey with him? Author is deliberately playing on the fact that we might have become desensitized to this kind of thing after reading all the typical novels, but that's obviously not normal. So, are we going to find out the truth behind the war and Rana’s involvement in it? Well, as with all things in a dungeon crawler, to get what you want…… Stay tuned!