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A crystal-clear stream flows through rolling hills, forests, and small meadows. While I couldn’t see it from here, deep within the woods were springs and marshy lakes inhabited by water spirits, and on their banks, a village of several dozens of people. This was all part of the Brandmüller estate’s backyard (incidentally, since the entire area was initially state property, the village and its people could be considered squatters. However, considering they had aboriginal rights to settle in undeveloped lands, Miss Christy negotiated with the village representatives and settled on a policy of coexistence).

In this vast, almost ridiculously extensive backyard — technically a private property extending from the backyard — there was the sound of wooden swords clashing.

“It seems Bruno is putting in the effort.”
“Seems like it. Ashimi probably regrets underestimating Bruno earlier; he’s taking him seriously now.”
“That’s a given. Senior never misses a day of training at the training center and by himself!”

As they watched Bruno and Ashimi face off at a distance, Eren, Pryui, and Lynn took turns expressing their thoughts. The tense standoff was eventually broken by Bruno’s fierce overhead strike.

“Take that!”
“Hah! A savage with nothing but brute strength!”
“Says the bigot who’s always aiming for a counterattack!”

They were both holding wooden swords. Each time their swords crossed, a loud crack was heard.

“I know it’s a bit late, but why the mock battle between the three of you…?”

Hearing the unintentional comment slipping out from under the hood I put on to avoid the direct sunlight, Luke, with a wooden sword in hand waiting for his turn, chuckled.

However, when he spotted my furrowed brows, Luke spoke up hesitantly. “Yeah, well…we happened to run into each other in town, and after introducing ourselves, somehow it just came to this…umm, so, we decided that we might as well do it fairly in front of you.”

I see, I don’t understand.

“So basically three foolish men are fighting over their pride. As their prize…I mean, as their mutual friend, you should watch over them. Might as well kiss the winner.”
“NOO!!”

Eren immediately vetoed Pryui’s thoughtless suggestion. Her agreement was further emphasized by Vier and Lana nodding in unison.

“…? I mean, a kiss on the cheek is not a big deal.”

It’s a bit uncomfortable as a former Japanese person, but kissing and hugging is a common form of endearment in this world. Just like my manner of conduct and speech. Unless I especially dislike the other party, it just feels natural for this body to perform such gestures like I was conditioned to do so.

In fact, I regularly exchange goodnight kisses with Vier when sharing a room, for instance. …Well, in this case, I’m unsure if the other person would appreciate it.

““EH?! —argh!””

Then, right as the swords they violently swung were about to cross, Ashimi and Bruno both lost balance out of nowhere, and their swords landed on Ashimi’s upper arm and Bruno’s chest simultaneously.

“Did they…knock each other out?”
“Seems like it…”

Right when they were reaching the climax of the battle, Ashimi and Bruno lost their focus. I craned my neck in confusion, whilst Pryui heaved a sigh.

“…they should earn sympathy for that one.”
““No, they should not.””

Pryui lamented, but Eren and Lynn were having none of it.

“For the time being, I should heal them. —「I am the cure to your ail」”

Fortunately, both of them had only suffered minor bruises, so I used “Heal” on the spot to treat their injuries. Even though they both protested quite a bit, we concluded the matches in a round-robin style. In the end, it was “Ashimi > Luke,” “Luke > Bruno,” and “Bruno = Ashimi.”

In terms of how it actually went: Ashimi was at the mercy of Luke’s speed (even I was surprised by how fast he was) but he could easily see through Luke’s habit of consecutive left and right attacks, giving him just enough leverage to deliver counterattacks. Bruno attempted to imitate Ashimi in his fight against Luke, but Luke outsmarted him and stole the victory.

Based on the results, there was almost no difference in overall ability among them, no one had an overwhelming victory either, hence there was no winner decided. That also meant that there was no kissing the winner.

As soon as I made that statement, for a moment, the three of them almost looked disappointed and relieved at the same time, but maybe I’m just imagining it…? Did I just give them some hope? Hmm~ Making the call sure is hard.

♢♦♢♦♢

“I ran the bath. All of you must have worked up a sweat. Please, go in. We’ll wash your clothes in the meantime.”

Jill’s cheerful offer was quite appreciated, especially given that they had been running around in the heat and were drenched in sweat. However, when she said “all of you,” it made the three men furrow their brows as they exchanged glances.

“Our bath here is spacious. It can accommodate six adults with plenty of extra room. You wouldn’t be so crass as to reject Lady Jill’s kind offer and enter the mansion with your body reeking of sweat…are you?”

Faced with Eren’s intimidating threat…ahem, reassurance that she spoke with a smile, the three men quickly headed for the bath with Lana leading the way.

♢♦♢♦♢

He scooped water from the bathtub with a wooden bucket and poured it over his head, drenching himself. Then, he lathered the soap that had been provided and roughly scrubbed his head. While observing Luke’s surprisingly boisterous actions and his reasonably well-toned physique, Bruno washed himself using a rice bran bag, methodically scrubbing his body and rinsing with water, repeating the process several times.

By the way, Ashimi had a dreamy expression on his face. He was luxuriating in the large bathtub, stretching his limbs, humming a tune. Elves, in general, didn’t have the habit of bathing in hot water, as they usually took baths in the open. The reason Ashimi had taken so well to bathing was that, upon his first visit to this mansion, Jill had recommended it. He reluctantly tried it and became completely hooked. Since then, whenever he came to this place, he would take a bath, enjoy a cold ale, savor the vegetarian dishes made by Jill as snacks, and then return home. It had become a sort of habit.

“I haven’t seen that before. What is it?”

As he wiped his hair thoroughly with a towel, Luke pointed at Bruno’s rice bran bag and asked.

“It’s a bag filled with rice bran. Soap is a luxury item for us, so we use this instead. This is common in our village—well, it’s Jill who first thought of it.”
“Huh. Can I try it for a second?”
“Go ahead. It’s just a substitute though, so it’s not as good as soap.”
“I’m curious to try it, and the fact that Jill thought of it is intriguing.”

With a lighthearted smile, Luke started to rub the rice bran bag against his forearm.

“Hm, hm, I see. It has a unique sliminess to it. Still, Jill sure achieved a lot.”
“Yeah, she’s amazing. She proposed creating a communal bath in the village, strengthened the protective barrier around the village, and even came up with fertilizers to increase crop yields.”

Bruno stood proudly next to Luke who was using the rice bran bag to cleanse himself with an appreciative expression.

“—just so you know, she’s been telling me all about it since we’ve been exchanging letters all the time. I’m just moved to see it in person.”
“Hah. Well, just so you know, I saw her face-to-face back in the village.”

With a triumphant look on his face, Bruno, after rinsing himself with water scooped from the bathtub, headed towards the bath with a purposeful stride. Seeing the refreshing determination of his same-aged companion, Luke couldn’t help but smile inwardly. He had no intention of yielding in this friendly rivalry, so he dropped a statement that could allude to something more.

“You see the ring Jill always wears on her right hand? That’s something I gave to her.”
“…wh-, what?!”

Bruno changed his posture as he waded through the hot water in the bathtub, his mouth agape. Ashimi wiped the droplets off his face in exasperation.

“Keep it down in the bath, you twerps. And you, don’t be so smug just because you lured her with riches. …Hah, even a bean aristocrat is nothing more than a bean.”
“Shut it. This is between men. You outsider, stay out of it!”
“Excuse me, but you do realize that Jill is also an aristocrat, yes?”

In response to the two’s rebuttal, Ashimi chuckled, looking as if he was ahead of the game.

“Hah. Just so you know, Jill is basically a step-sibling to us elves. She is family. Besides, you heard her yourself when she said she’d prepare the tofu-based vegetarian meal. Clearly, she’s thinking of me.”

Ashimi deliberately emphasized the word ‘Family,’ leaving the other two dismayed for a second. However, when they saw Ashimi make an entranced face as he commented, “I admit, her tofu cooking is delicious,” they both immediately understood;

‘…Yeah, she’s got him by the stomach.’

Author’s Note:
Half the reason Jill cooks vegetarian dishes is for herself. (Also, the water is soft in this world, though slightly harder than in Japan, so the tofu here also has a harder consistency)

Translator’s Note:
The hardness of water has something to do with the quantity of calcium and magnesium in water. The manga Misoshiru de Kanpai! can explain it better than I ever do, but basically, less mineral = softer water = softer tofu. This is the reason why there’s no “authentic” Japanese food outside of Japan; the very water they use is different.