MaruMA:Hajimari:Adalbert

Hajimari no Tabi Special Short Story: Adalbert Ending

Text: Tomo Takabayashi
Illustration: Temari Matsumoto

It suddenly started raining.

Yuuri, who rather than riding a horse looked like he was clinging onto it, in order to avoid an even more dangerous situation that the one he was currently in, went into a cave on a hill. He saw a horse tied to a tree at the entrance of the cave. It seems like someone else was in there.

He also left his horse at the entrance and slowly went into the cave. The more he walked, the darker it got. It was impossible to know how much more he'd have to walk until he reached the end of the cave.

That's why when someone spoke all of a sudden, he was so surprised, he jumped a little.

"Who is there!? Is it a friend or foe?"

The voice echoed and turned into a strange sound in the cave. It sounded as if a king was coming out from a swamp after 400 years. Which meant that Yuuri's own voice would also sound strange.

That's why he spoke using a kind tone so that the other person that was there wouldn't get scared.

“While I was playing with Ao ...uh... my horse, she suddenly started running and that's how I got here. I'm not a suspicious person, I'm just trying to stay dry. Even if the person who's in this cave is a goat, I'm not a wolf."

"No one's afraid of you. For starters, goats and wolves don't speak like people do."

What Yuuri got as a reply was not a kawaii (cute) answer at all.

As one would imagine, when two people can't see each other in the dark, they can't let their guards down. At the same time, the person who was already in the cave, did share an important piece of information.

“Don’t move recklessly, at your feet there's a very dangerous moss. If you step on it, it'll be bad."

"W-what will happen!? Will it explode?"

"No, spores will come out, and they're really stinky ones."

So stinky that they could kill you. It's scary just trying to imagine what sort of smell that could be.

Yuuri extended his arm, and realized that there was a wall right next to him. He took a deep breath and moved towards the wall. For now, he hadn't been exposed to the stinky smell attack.

"I entered this place without knowing about it and stepped on 2 or 3 of them."

"Y-you stepped on them?"

"Yeah... my eyes were in terrible pain. That's why I can't move an inch until it gets brighter in here. Well, I was just waiting here for the rain to pass without panicking. It won't take long for it to stop."

“Waiting for the rain to pass? This is the worst! Good grief! I'm far away from the castle, and now I'm hungry..."

The stranger that was in the cave used a scary tone while talking like a good person:

"Are you hungry?"

"Just a little. But it's not that bad that I can't put up with it. It's not a big deal."

"Say something. Speak. Say "AAAA""

"Why?"

"Just do it"

"Ahh... aah!"

Here you go, he said as he pushed something light and small against his knees.

Yuuri CAUGHT it quickly and as he did, the smell of butter and milk filled the air. Judging by the way it felt to the touch and the powder it left on his fingers, he figured it was a cookie, despite having a rather odd shape. When he took a bite, it dissolved in his mouth and the sweet taste spread all over his tongue.

"Hey, is this handmade? Ah, but thinking about it, when you're tired and someone gives you something sweet, it doesn't matter who made it or how well it was made, you'll always think it's Ah! So tasty! Awesome! Ah! and feel invigorated. "

Maybe it was because the cookie left a strong impression in him or because it boosted up his energy, but the atmosphere in the cave felt cozier, less hostile.

"It's not something I bought at a store. It's something I made from scratch."

"Awesome! It's like a top-shelf masterpiece."

"You think it's awesome? It must be because I'm always travelling from place to place, eating famous sweets from those places, and then I want to eat them again. If I manage to find the ingredients, I can't help but working really hard until I get it right; I'll borrow the kitchens of bars or the ones of the inns where I stopped for the night. Well, I guess you could say it's one of my hobbies."

"Huuuh!? How kakko ii (cool), I've heard every now and then that some men like to cook, but it's strange to know one that can even bake COOKIES."

"You think so? You think it's kakko ii (cool)? Well, then c'mon, eat. Eat more. There are some that have chopped fruits in them, others are covered with green and coral colored sugar. When the rain passes and it gets brighter, I'll show them to you. And after I show them, I'll make you eat them."

"You even have such detailed confections that you sound like a CHARISMATIC housewife. I hope the rain ends soon.... "

The other person asked in a sad tone.

"Don't you like the rain?"

"Rain, huh? Rain...uh... I don't like rain. But that doesn't mean I hate it either."

"What a vague answer..."

"When I was a kid, I thought rain was awful, but..."

The person who was in the cave before Yuuri didn't know this, but Yuuri is currently the king of a country. If there's not enough rain, it will be bad for the harvests, and if it rains too much the sprouts will die and the farmers won't be able to make a living. So, he can't just say whether he likes it or not so simply. Which means that his answer is bound to be ambiguous.

"If it rains you can't play outside, or practice, and depending on the STADIUM, sometimes games have to be postponed. And that's why rain became something I disliked. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but maybe it was when I entered junior-high? That's when I realized that rain was indeed important."

Yuuri covered his knees with both arms, and placed his chin on them while arching his body into a ball.

"Well, in life you also need rainy days to rest. The days when you make a mistake in your practice game, or when you lose a game in such a mortifying way that you can't sleep well, on those days a single night of rest doesn't help you recover at all. And if that happens, then on the next day you'll also perform poorly. It is for those occasions that rainy days exist. On those days, rain is a blessing. You get a rainy day, an extra day to rest and then you can start all over again."

"What do you mean? That if it rains, you'll forget the difficult things that happened to you? "

"That's not what I mean. Rainy days are not that convenient, but...."

He turned his face to a side, and looked outside through the opening of the cave. The world had a dark gray color. It looked as if it was only a crack in the walls, like a white line far away. People in their houses are spending idle time, loitering around and sitting down while holding their knees; as they think about how many times per year they could use a gray rainy day.

"..... If a person goes through a sad experience, they need a break in order to pick themselves up again."

"I see."

That's when their conversation stopped, but they didn't mind the silence as they could use a break.

In the end, it stopped raining. The sunlight finally reached the droplets on the grass, and the whole hill was dyed of a bright green color. Afterwards, the inside of the cave also became brighter. The two people in it started walking out while avoiding the dangerous moss.

But the friendly atmosphere they were enjoying only lasted until they got outside and were able to see each other's faces.

"American Football Macho!?"

"Ah! I thought you were saying inexperienced things, and it turns out it was you!"

As soon as Yuuri realized that the other person in the cave was Adalbert, he backed down slowly. That's because running into that man always turned into a bad experience. That's how things had been ever since they first met. But even if he knew it was pointless to lose his cool, he was nervous.

"W-why are you here?"

"I told you already, didn't I? I live travelling from town to town. By chance, I was passing by this place. It's not like I was purposely chasing after y.... huh?"

As soon as he heard a distant sound approaching, Adalbert stopped talking.

"It seems that someone's coming to get you."

"Coming to get me? Ah, it must be Conrad."

Lord Weller and his majesty's retainers were looking for Yuuri who had disappeared all of a sudden. Adalbert quickly got a hold of Yuuri. He might have thought that if they reached that place, a fight would take place.

"Hurry up and get on your horse! Shit, what tha hell are you doing, you incompetent kid."

"A-a person from another world called me an incompetent kid."

"If that person sees that I was with you, we'll have a problem."

Adalbert used his powerful muscles to pick Yuuri up. Once he was on the back of his beloved jet black horse, he said to him "It's not like I came here to hurt you" and patted his thigh.

He undid the reins that Yuuri had tied to the tree with one clean stroke. While Yuuri was still surprised by the turn of events, his horse started running away, but perhaps because he thought of something he changed his course and went back to the starting point.

"Adal...."

"Sure"

He took something from his pocket and pushed it against Yuuri's chest. The smell of butter and milk went all the way into his nose but before he could thank him, Adalbert had disappeared like the wind.

He opened the wrapping and took a bite of the pink color coated cookie. It dissolved in his mouth and the sweet flavor spread over his tongue.

Maybe it was because of the smell or the flavor of such cookie, that when Lord Weller and the rest of the search party arrived, Yuuri had already decided what his next order would be. They had to go looking for Adalbert, because he had to meet with him again as soon as possible, no matter what.

"..... I didn't get to say 'Thanks for this meal' to him."

The king was unexpectedly strict in following etiquette.

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