Ch-7 Plum

About six months have passed since we started living in Barua's village.

I think I've memorized a lot of everyday greetings and various nouns. However, when it comes to conversation, I can only understand simple words and sentences, so I still have a long way to go.

Since I arrived in the village, it has been getting colder every day. At its peak, there was about two meters of snow in the village.

Recently, however, the weather has become noticeably spring-like, the snow is melting, and you can see the trees beginning to sprout.

Frankly, I can only think that it was a godsend that we were saved at that time. There's no way Hoshi and I could have survived this winter on our own.

Well, we're still living in the barn, sleeping on a bed of straw like pets.

My main job these days is plowing the fields. The people of Tokura Village wait for the snow to melt and then start preparing the fields all at once.

Hoshi mainly helps the Barua family with their chores.

Apparently, Plum and Melon don't have a mother, but I don't really understand the reason, since I can't speak fluently with them.

One beautiful, warm afternoon, I went out with Barua, Plum and Melon and we ended up at what appeared to be a cemetery.

Plum and Melon placed bouquets of flowers in front of a small stone wall and said a silent prayer. It seemed to be their mother's grave.

"So there are times like this in this world," Hoshi said. Indeed, if you looked closely, you could see other people here and there in the cemetery, also laying flowers. Was this a day of remembrance?

Plum and Melon aren't exactly like their mother, but they are very attached to Hoshi. Sometimes Melon sneaks into our straw bed in the middle of the night to sleep next to her.

Of course, I'm careful not to touch Melon in any way, because Barua wouldn't let that happen. On nights like this, I would change my sleeping position to avoid any misunderstandings.

But on the night we visited the grave, Plum and Melon climbed into the straw bed together.

Since I had no choice, I gave up my place and left the barn.

It was already quite warm at night, and you wouldn't freeze to death if you slept outside.

However, I thought it was a little early to sleep, so I started practicing with a wooden sword I had made a few days ago.

It had been a while since I practiced kendo, and my skills had definitely deteriorated since I arrived here. If I wanted to be prepared for a possible trip to the royal capital, I had to stay sharp.

As I swung the sword, Barua came out of the house and said:

"Yuta. Hunt. Together. Go?"

"Hunting? Sounds fun. What will we catch?"

"Birds, rabbits, raccoons..."

"But this is a wooden sword."

"Push it in. Hit it. It'll be fine!"

Somehow this logic made sense.

------------

Two Days Later

I went hunting with Barua and a few other men from the village.

"Village. Outside. Demons. Danger. Alone. Not good."

I see. That's why everyone was carrying big swords and other weapons in addition to their hunting gear. It also explained why they scolded the children for wanting to follow.

It seemed dangerous, which is why I had asked Hoshi to stay at home, but...

For starters, the village beastmen seem to have a much better sense of smell than I do.

When we entered the forest, they quickly found animal tracks - tracks that small animals seemed to frequent - and set traps there.

"Here. Wait here. We'll go after them," Barua instructed, leaving me near a small cliff. It seemed as if they were driving an animal towards me.

After a while, I heard something charging through the underbrush with great force. Sharpening my senses, I gripped my wooden sword tightly, ready for whatever came.

Suddenly, a large black mass burst out of the bushes and stopped abruptly near the cliff. Without hesitation, I swung my wooden sword at what I thought was its head.

"Screech!"

The creature stumbled and collapsed in place. The nearby villagers immediately rushed in and finished it off. It turned out to be a wild boar.

"Yuta, well done. That's amazing," Barua said, clearly impressed.

"Yuta. Werwolf. You did it. Really."

What, did he not believe me before? Well, it didn't matter now. It felt good to be acknowledged.

One of the villagers, a young man named Okia who seemed to be the leader of the group, handed me his sword and told me to try swinging it.

The handling of a Japanese sword and a Western-style sword is completely different, so I struggled to swing it properly.

But the villagers clapped and cheered, so I must have done well enough.

Then Okia said to Barua, "Barua. Yuta, leave it to me."

And just like that, I gained a sword master.

---

The hunt that day was a resounding success, and the entire village came out to celebrate. Although I couldn't identify all the ingredients, the villagers served a fruit-based liquor that resembled wine.

Since I was underage, I refrained from drinking, but Hoshi had no such reservations. She drank quite a bit and turned bright red, as if to release her daily frustrations.

"Yu-kun, you're amazing. You killed that boar with one blow! Thanks to you, I got to eat meat for the first time in ages. Maybe not since we ate that werewolf," she said with a tipsy grin.

Although her words were a bit scattered, she seemed to be enjoying herself, so I left her alone.

At some point, Plum approached me.

"Yuta, do you want to learn the sword? I want to learn," she said.

"Huh? Well, I'll have to ask Barua if it's okay."

"Imenji. No. It's okay. I won't say anything."

"In that case, no."

"Yuta. I'll tell you. My. Secret."

"Eh? Ah... that's impossible. If I hurt someone..."

Plum didn't seem to understand the last part of my words, but her look was determined.

"Why do you want to learn the sword?" I asked.

"A secret. I. A monster. I want to defeat it," she replied firmly.

She must have her reasons, but I couldn't guess what they might be. She didn't seem to be backing down, so after some thought, I said:

"I will teach you. Fine. But you have to follow my orders. Absolutely."

"Thank you!" Plum said, hugging me tightly and planting a kiss on my cheek.

Wait-what? Did Barua see that? Oh no, where is he?

Hoshi, who had clearly been watching, chimed in with a teasing tone.

"Ah, Officer, there's a little girl enemy here!"

"Hey, Yuuta! Even though you have me as your fake wife, you still managed to charm such a cute girl. What the...?"

It seemed that Hoshi was completely drunk by this time. With no other choice, I hoisted her over my shoulders and carried her back to the barn.

Melon brought some water, but I managed to explain that Hoshi wasn't feeling well and convinced her to go back to her house for the night.

"Yuta... I'm lonely. I want to fuck you," Hoshi murmured, clearly intoxicated.

Her usual filters seemed to be gone and her true thoughts spilled out.

I sighed and stroked her head. "Good girl, good girl," I said, hoping to calm her down.

"Hehe, Yuta is so nice. I have to be a good girl for you sometimes, too," she said with a giggle. Then, out of nowhere, she pushed me down.

Wow - you reek of alcohol!

"Fufu, Yuta. Good boy, good boy," she murmured, her face flushed and her eyes hazy.

As she said that, for some reason, Hoshi started stroking my penis through my pants.

"No, wait, Hoshi-san. That's not the point!" I exclaimed.

"No, it's a head, but it's not the head!"

"It's okay. Even if I am a fake wife, kissing here doesn't count!"

But as she spoke, Hoshi buried her face in my crotch.

"No, Hoshi-san. That's no place for your face," I protested.

"No, even kissing the face is not okay."

And while I was struggling with the situation, Hoshi-san suddenly stopped moving. She seemed to have fallen asleep.

Phew, that was close. But if I'm honest, I was also a little disappointed.

Hoshi is undeniably a very attractive woman, but I kept reminding myself that she's Akari's mother and that she'll probably become my mother-in-law in the future.

With that thought in mind, I stepped out of the barn to give my overly excited adult self some time to calm down.

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The next morning, I went to Okia's house at sunrise to start my sword training.

It had been a while since I had done morning training, so I was really excited.

Hoshi was still fast asleep and reeked of alcohol, so I left her in the barn without explaining where I was going.

Sure enough, when I returned from training, she was lying groggy in front of the barn.

"Ah, Yuu-kun... I got pretty drunk last night, and I feel like I was teased. I don't remember much, but I wonder if I did something wrong... Ugh, I have such a headache."

"Well, I didn't expect you to wake up so early," I replied. "I've decided to start morning sword practice at Okia's house today. Hoshi-san, you just got drunk and fell asleep. It's okay to let yourself go once in a while."

"Ugh, Yuu-kun is so nice... I guess I did do something naughty after all," she mumbled.

After breakfast, I went to work in the fields as usual. Hoshi-san did the laundry with Melon, but she clearly had a bad hangover and wasn't moving with much energy.

When the day ended and night fell, it was time for Prune's secret training session. Since Plum and Melon always came to the barn, Barua would never have guessed that Plum was practicing swordfighting behind it.

"Plum. No sword at first. You need to build up your stamina," I explained.

"Eh! But I want to swing the sword," she protested.

"No. Swordsmanship requires physical strength. The basics are important. My orders are absolute."

"Understood..." she mumbled reluctantly.

To start strengthening her core, I showed her the squat position.

"Today, do ten. Tomorrow, add one more. The day after that, add another one. In three months, you'll have successfully swung the sword a hundred times."

I hoped this plan would be effective. By gradually increasing the number of squats each day, she'd slowly build up her strength without overexerting herself.

At her age, it's easy to push too hard and risk injury if left unsupervised.

Since I wasn't familiar with Prune's physical limits, I decided to start small and progress gradually.

"...Eight, nine...ten. Done. I want to train more," she explained.

"No," I said firmly.

"Tch!"

Hoshi-san and Melon watched nearby. They seemed disappointed that the workout was over so quickly. Melon even started imitating the squats, but I quickly stopped her.

"Melon, no. Kids, no," I warned.

Plum immediately stopped Melon, realizing how challenging even ten squats were.

And so began my and Plum's sword training.