Lit by the stars and moon, Myuri’s unclad body looked like it had been sculpted from silver and ice. She was looking up at him with an adorable smile.
“Brother, who do you think will win?”
Absolutely unfettered innocence.
Before long, a corner of the island collapsed, and both bears fell into the water.
In the morning, after removing all the water from the bath, the day was spent rebuilding the center island that the bear fight had destroyed. This involved carefully piling up rocks each roughly the size of a small dog. It was simple and backbreaking work. Col’s spine ached and his arms were throbbing. But luckily, the center island was sturdier than he had assumed, and it was not completely broken. Now that he thought about it, Holo occasionally assumed her giant wolf form and slept there as well. And when they removed all the water, they found the remains of several fish that Myuri had dropped in the bath the day before, so it was a good opportunity to clean.
Even so, he still knit his eyebrows and let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry that it’s always like this…Col.”
As though sensing his displeasure, Lawrence, stacking stones with a pale face, spoke weakly.
Though he seemed hungover, the bathhouse master was someone with a strong sense of responsibility, so he would not leave the cleanup for his daughter’s misconduct to another alone.
“I don’t think Myuri means any harm, but…I don’t think she knows when to stop…”
“N-no, it’s not…”
Placing another stone on the pile, Col cut himself short and offered a feeble laugh.
“Well…I suppose…just a little…”
His hand lifted another heavy rock into place with a clack, and he was suddenly reminded of his own anxiety.
“But, I swear, where on earth has she run off to on her own?”
Lawrence, who saw the terrible state of the baths in the morning, was merciless in admonishing her for once, but it must have fallen on deaf—or wolf—ears. The girl was nowhere to be found.
Even if she were around, her small arms would find it tough to lift many of those stones, so it would have only created unnecessary trouble. That being said, showing sincerity was important. If she simply sat at the side and reflected on her actions quietly, that would have been enough whether she helped or not.
“If she only behaved a little better, then there would be no cuter daughter…”
Lawrence sounded exactly like an overly fond parent, but it was true that if Myuri behaved, there was no one more adorable. She smiled a lot, was always cheerful, and was constantly full of energy, though she also had some thoughtful parts. She may have been a prankster, but she was not naturally malicious.
She did not have to be wise and crafty like her mother, Holo, but if only she could be slightly more obedient. As the pair ruminated over the thought while collecting the stones scattered about the bath floor, they could hear Holo’s distant voice.
“Dear.”
Though it was not loud by any means, her voice sounded like it had been carried in on the wind. There was a certain softness to Holo’s tone when she called Lawrence “dear,” and that might have been why.
Col looked up, and Holo was standing on the path to the bathhouse. An apron she did not often wear was tied around her waist, and her arms up to her elbows were completely white. It seemed she was trying to make the raisin bread.
“Come take a look at the fire on the stove. I do not know how strong it must be.”
“Ah…Miss Hanna isn’t back yet?”
“’Tis a good season. Well, perhaps ’tis well she stretches her wings once in a while.”
Hanna, like Holo, was not human and was the embodiment of a bird or something of the sort. She was a talented woman who worked harder than anyone else in the kitchen, but things like this did happen sometimes.
“But the fire, dear.”
“Ah, um.”
Lawrence glanced at Col.
“Please, go ahead.”
He did not smile at them because they were his employers. It was simply that he was happy watching the village’s most renowned couple of lovebirds.
“Sorry. I’ll be right back.”
“I have some prepared for you, too, little Col. Look forward to it for me.”
Holo spoke and turned on her heel, and Lawrence followed.
Col saw them off as Holo slowly leaned her face in toward Lawrence, and he scratched the tip of her nose.
Holo’s tail, which was exposed since there were no guests around, swished about happily.
His strain from stacking stones softened as he watched them go together.
He recentered himself and started piling stones one by one, when a chill suddenly shot down his spine.
Or perhaps, it was a premonition.
“Broootheeer!”
He heard Myuri’s voice, who was liable to kick everything about with a smile, and he felt his gut tense up. Even Myuri was so busy in the summer, and especially in the winter, that she did not have any free time to be mischievous, but when there was a moment of respite, like during the current season, someone had to deal with all her energy.
Col placed another stone on the pile, sighed, and as he was about to turn around, a great shock hit his lower back.
“Guh?!”
“Brother!”
His chest thudded against the pile of rocks, but Myuri pulled his arm back with a cackle.
“Hey, hey, Brother! Listen, listen!”
“…”
Coughing, he turned toward her only to see mud plastered on her cheeks, spiderwebs in her hair, and she must have been attacked by swarms of horseflies as her bare arms were covered in bug bites.
There was no chance for him to ask where she had been and what she had done, since Myuri, like a little puppy chasing after a thrown ball, excitedly popped out her wolf ears and tail that she typically kept hidden as she continued to rattle on.
“So! I found something really cool in the forest! You’ll be so surprised, Brother! So, like, let me take you into the forest, and we’ll get your—”
She only got that far.
Col understood now that, like a bath, there was only so much he could hold in.
“Um…ah, Bro…ther?”
Even Myuri noticed his expression. Her ears lowered, and her tail drooped lifelessly. Lawrence could never bring himself to really get angry at her because she was his adorable daughter, but Col was different. Though they were not related by blood, he still thought of her as his cute little sister, so he had to be strict with her.
“Myuri.”
When he said her name, she recoiled.
And yet, though there was a troubled expression on her face, she still hesitantly opened her mouth.
“S…so, yeah? I’ll…take you to the forest, okay?”
He felt a sort of slight respect for how she was still trying to get him to play with her, but this time she had crossed the line.
He looked fixedly and quietly at her, then spoke.
“That’s enough.”
Myuri was not a little kid, and she was naturally a smart girl. She knew exactly what his curt words meant.
She froze, like she had been struck in the heart with a cursed arrow, and stared up at him in a daze.
“I have work to do.”
He was happy that she looked up to him like an older brother, but he could not always treat her like a small child.
He needed to admonish her as the closest thing she had to an actual older brother.
“I need to lift more stones, so please move.”
He spoke with even less emotion, crouched down, and raised another piece. It was a part of the island that broke because she convinced two bears to fight. Even if she could not lift a stone, he would still forgive her if she felt responsibility for what happened the night before and sat quietly to the side.
But after Lawrence scolded her, she had run off and been gone all day. It seemed she had decided to spend time in
idle amusement in the forest after seeing and listening to him.
Her mother Holo occasionally spent a fair amount of time wandering outside, but she was old enough to know self-control. Someone had to teach this young, energetic silver wolf discretion.
“…”
“…”
She did not speak, and as she stared at his work, it did not seem she would move, either. She was used to being reprimanded or chided, and there were even some times when she was actually happy to be scolded. However, she was not used to someone pushing her away so coolly, and her mood would quickly sour if the only responses she received were inattentive grunts.
Of course, if she showed that she was willing to apologize and reflect on her actions, then everything would end quickly, and in reality, Col was not angry but rather a little sad. Myuri did not mind at all that someone else had to clean up after her, and she left the work behind while she went somewhere to play. He did not want Myuri to be a girl like that.
Whenever he placed another stone on the pile and the now-familiar clack resounded, Myuri shrunk even smaller. He did not even have to look at her to know that she was about to cry.
She gripped her hands in front of her and let go and repeated this for a while, simply standing there. When Lawrence scolded her, she would look upset, but that was all an act. But at the moment, there was no need for Myuri to pretend.
After placing an especially large stone on top with a thud, Col sighed.
“If you are not planning to help, then go back to your room.”
He wanted her to reflect on her actions.
Myuri tensed her body so much that the tips of hair atop her flattened ears seemed to quiver, but she finally nodded. Or perhaps she just barely managed to hold back tears and had been hunched over.
Either way, she hung her head, looking like the light inside her had been snuffed out as she took one, then two steps back.
She waited for a moment, probably expecting him to say something kind to her. But he only ignored her and continued stacking rocks, so she gave up, turned her back, and pattered off.
Col watched Myuri’s back recede as she left the waterless bath and headed toward her room, and she looked like she was constantly wiping her face. Seeing that made his heart ache, but it was necessary for her to grow.
Then during lunch, if he asked if she thought about what she did, she would probably be her normal, bright self again.
He continued stacking stones as he mused about all this, and when the sun rose to the highest point in the sky, the main part of his work had mostly been completed. All that was left was to have someone from the village who was well-known for being an expert at arranging stonework to place wedged wood between the pieces to make sure everything stayed in place. It was not enough to simply pile stones one on top of the other—much like experience and human relationships.
Col stretched out his back, flexed his arms, and breathed a heavy sigh. He was thirsty and hungry.
Holo should have gotten around to baking the raisin bread by then, and he would love to have it with a bit of mead. If Holo, who loved to drink, saw him indulge in having sweets with sweets, she would probably be exasperated.
But he suddenly wondered if there was any more mead left in storage. The main ingredient for mead was honey, an incredible sweetener on its own as well as a preservative, so it was certainly not cheap. Additionally, mead was too sweet for the regular drinkers in the village, so its production was often low priority.
As he walked, he thought of what to do in order to secure himself some honey, which was starting to appear in shops during this season when new greenery appeared. Just then, Holo appeared from the main building.
“Oh, your stomach is quite on time.”
It seemed she had been about to call him in for lunch.
“I could tell from where the sun is in the sky.”
Col pointed to the heavens, and after Holo stared up at the sky in a childlike manner, she faced him again and nodded.
“You have always been the logical sort, little Col.”
“Please stop calling me ‘little.’”
He protested with a wry smile, and Holo waved her tail, which was a size bigger than Myuri’s.
“No matter how much time passes, you are all the same as children.”
There was not much he could say about that to the wisewolf Holo, who would live on for hundreds of years.
“Why do you insist that you are not children, then quarrel so?”
Her riddle-like way of speaking was due to her typical playfulness, but the topic made Col pay closer attention.
“Quarrel?”
He asked for clarification, and she crossed her arms in disappointment.
“My charming little daughter has been crying. If you were not as good as one of my own, little Col, then I would bite your head off.”
She was looking hard at him with the same eyes and face as Myuri, but the air about her was different.
Perhaps she had not come to call him in for lunch but instead to discuss this.
“Er, but, well…”
He wanted to say, I would not make Myuri cry for no reason, but Holo stopped him with an irritated smile and a mischievous poke to the chest.
“I know the situation. Bears that Myuri stirred up broke the island in the bath, and while you were fixing it, the girl left to run about in the mountains. Well, it is quite right that even my mild and fair dear would grow angry.”
If she knew that much, then why did she sound like she was on Myuri’s side?
Holo was the strictest with Myuri in the bathhouse, and she was not a soft touch. The only person that Myuri obeyed absolutely was her mother. The problem was that the most authoritative figure in the household almost never put in a word to her. Perhaps that was a wolf’s way of raising children, but it was sometimes irritating.
And so it was odd that Holo would be taking Myuri’s side, and Col could only stand there, confused.
“Hmm. Well, if you do not understand, then I must continue calling you ‘little.’”
He was like a chick with a piece of eggshell still stuck to his bottom.
The wisewolf narrowed her eyes in affection.
“Myuri is most certainly a tomboy, but she is no fool.”
“That’s…right.”
“And she adores you.”
Holo chuckled in a teasing manner, but Col never once doubted that Myuri was attached to him.
“Of course, I feel the same about her as well. She is very important to me. Which is why I want her to know composure and discretion.”
“Hmph.”
Holo’s expression fell at that. She removed the finger from his chest only to poke him again with a bit more force.
“Both males in this family cloud their vision obsessing over things that do not matter.”
Before he could ask what that meant, Holo turned on her heel and began walking back toward the bathhouse.
“M-Miss Holo?”
“Myuri cried herself hoarse, and now she sleeps from exhaustion. I shall be holding on to your raisin bread until you two make up.”
Then she returned inside the bathhouse.
Col stood rooted to the spot, now alone.
Make up?
But there was nothing to reconcile. What happened between him and Myuri was not a quarrel. That was something he did because he wanted her to know what was right. There was no part that involved her.
He had been so confident, but he lost his footing listening to Holo and seeing how she acted.
Perhaps if all he wanted to do was teach her what was right, then he should have told her calmly in an easy-to-understand way. He had not needed to choose the method that would hurt her the most.
So then, why did he act like that?
He slowly dusted off his memory, and there he found a simple sentiment.
He only wanted her to apologize. It was not about what was right, nor did he want her to promise that she would never pull any more
pranks—he only wanted her to say, “Sorry.”
Then, even if she had gone to spend time in the forest, he would not have minded so much. Her small arms would not have been much help in stacking stones, and having her sit to the side with a blue expression would have accomplished nothing but troubling him.
And more than anything, it was because he wanted her to always be smiling.
“…Aghh, I get it…”
He recalled how he felt then and placed his hand on his forehead in exasperation.
That was because he had tried to hurt Myuri on purpose.
Myuri was precious to him, and he was always thinking about her. He was irritated with himself that he treated her so poorly despite that. This was not about what was right under the teachings of God or anything else.
When he realized this, it was most certainly a quarrel.
However, it was fact that Myuri had gone out to play without a single word of apology, and the whole beginning of this affair was surely her fault alone. He felt like the scales did not quite balance out. It was odd that Holo would take Myuri’s side the way she did. That was to say nothing of how she told him that she was withholding his share of raisin bread, as though both parties were to blame. Wondering if maybe he should show how he could act like an adult, he considered that it was likely Holo was actually treating him, Myuri, and even Lawrence the same as children.
Standing in the middle of the path, he tilted his head in puzzlement.
Something was odd.
What was he missing…? As he contemplated this, he could hear footsteps echo from the front entrance to the bathhouse. It was not likely a guest during this time of year, so it was probably someone from the village.
But this visitor did not knock on the door, and he could tell by the sound that they changed direction. The footfalls approached Col, and slipping easily through the space between the trees planted for privacy was a familiar face.
“Wah!”
The intruder jumped and let out a cry. He had probably not expected anyone.
“Hello, Kalm.”
It was a boy from a nearby bathhouse who was the same age as Myuri and her playmate.
He must have come looking for her to join a game, but he was rather heavily armed. He carried a long stick and what seemed like a big folded linen sack was bound to his shoulder. Even stranger was the bundle of conifer branches, still with plenty of needles attached, that he held at his side.
Spring Log II Page 7
