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In her previous life she had been an indoor type and had never been a “mountain girl,” but from occasional news reports of stranded hikers miraculously surviving, she knew the iron rule: if lost, do not move from the spot.
Well, this was not exactly being lost.
In particular, there was water here, and strawberries that could serve as food.
She was certain Mina would find them, but it was not as though their location could be pinpointed by GPS. All the more reason not to leave a place where they could endure even a prolonged wait.
Being by a river would also make them easier to find.

For the time being, Ekaterina and Flora approached the riverbank.

Unlike the area near the waterfall where they had been earlier, the bank here was rocky. The river appeared to be four or five meters wide. The far side formed what looked like a deep pool, while the near side was shallow. Sunlight poured into the crystal-clear water; not only the fish drifting in the shallows but even their shadows on the riverbed were plainly visible.

“It is beautiful.”
“Indeed.”

Given the situation, they might sound a bit too carefree, but panicking would accomplish nothing. Rather, she ought to remain calm and enjoy the time spent here as much as possible.
In that case… she wanted to try something she could only do now, when no one was watching.

“Lady Flora, you may think it improper, but… ever since I saw this beautiful stream, there is something I have wished to try.”
“What might that be?”
“I would like to dip my feet into the water.”

It was water, after all. She wanted to play in it.
Swimming or splashing one another was out of the question, but at least dipping her feet—
As a duke’s daughter, even that was normally impossible.

Ekaterina found herself staring off into the distance for a moment.
Whatever she read in that expression, Flora immediately nodded firmly.

They removed their shoes and then their stockings.
Stockings existed in this world as well. Not pantyhose, but the type fastened with garters. As a result, putting them on and taking them off tended to create a somewhat risqué tableau.
Still, no one was there to see.

She had learned after coming to this world that garters were originally a men’s garment. Come to think of it, in medieval Europe in her previous life, it was men who wore tight-fitting hose. She recalled portraits of men in pumpkin-like breeches and close-fitting tights.
Fashion history seemed similar here; among the ancestral portraits in the Jurnova gallery, there had been forebears dressed in such attire.

Though called stockings, those of this world were not as thin as in her previous life, nor as elastic. However, the ones used by Duke’s daughter Ekaterina were of a quality quite close to what she remembered. Moreover, they were durable and rarely ran—though extremely expensive.

They were said to be made by a monster dwelling in another country. It supposedly spun its own thread and knitted with it. In some video game from her previous life, there had been a monster called Arachne, like a spider with a woman’s upper body—perhaps something similar. “A monster that knits stockings” sounded faintly amusing, but in this world even monsters apparently earned an honest living.

Flora was wearing the same type now. Along with dresses tailored to her, such accessories had been provided. If she were told the price, she would likely refuse to use them, so they had been given without comment.

In any case, after performing the decidedly unordinary act of lifting her skirt to her thighs under the sunlight and unfastening her stockings from the garters, Ekaterina became barefoot and gathered up her skirt, dashing into the shallows.
She let out a small cry. Cold!
Flora followed, splashing into the shallow water and raising an equally delighted voice.
Their laughter rang out over the sparkling, sunlit surface.

“There are so many tiny fish!”
“Oh! Something moved! My, is that a crab? Or perhaps a shrimp?”

Ekaterina stared intently at what might have been a crayfish. In an emergency, it might serve as food.
Ah, but wouldn’t I need to cook it over fire to avoid parasites?
Sensing danger, the shrimp, or maybe crayfish, quickly darted beneath a rock.

After playing to their hearts’ content, the two decided to rest on a large rock along the bank. When seated, the rock was just high enough that only their toes touched the water. Warmed by the sun, it felt pleasant against bodies cooled by the river.
The hems of their skirts were quite damp, so they spread them out as much as possible over the rock to dry. Doing so left most of their calves exposed in a manner that might have been considered improper, but with no one present, they did not mind. Their dazzlingly pale legs bared, the girls relaxed.

“I almost feel grateful to the little fairies. If we had not been suddenly moved, we could never have frolicked like this.”

When Ekaterina said so, Flora’s face lit with a happy smile.

“Thank goodness. When you are in the territory, Lady Ekaterina, you seem even more mature than at the academy, striving always to conduct yourself as befits the mistress of the ducal house… That is admirable, but though we are the same age, seeing you spend summer vacation only fulfilling duties makes me worry.”

The gentle words moved Ekaterina deeply. What a good girl.

“Thank you. Compared to my brother or Lord Mikhail, I have accomplished nothing of note.”

Indeed! She was still far from achieving her goal of breaking her overworked final-boss brother’s overwork-to-death flag. If anything, she must strive harder.
As she thought this, Flora regarded her with a gentle, resigned look.

“Lady Ekaterina, you truly do not understand yourself, do you?”

Hm?
Onii-sama had said something similar once. When had that been?

As Ekaterina frowned in thought, Flora laughed and rose.

“I shall fetch our shoes.”

.

About to call out for her to be careful, Ekaterina’s gaze suddenly caught on something across the river. Something had glinted.

Golden.
A massive golden horn resembling that of a water buffalo from her previous life.
Its body, covered in coarse black hair, was like a buffalo made even more ferocious.
That was—

—the Golden-Horned Great Horned Auroch.

The gigantic magical beast stood on the opposite bank, staring straight at Ekaterina.