Episode 29 – Alone in a cabin in the pouring rain

Heavy rains continued for several days without stopping. People in the royal palace are busy dealing with the situation, and the whole country is in an uproar.

Mandane also went directly to the site and managed to keep the fields from being washed away, but humans are helpless before the overwhelming power of Mother Nature.

Since the royal palace and residential areas are on higher ground, there is little risk of flooding, but the problem is the fields in the lowlands.

Mandane ordered the three of us to stay inside the palace because it was too dangerous, so here we are, me, Sera, and Sophia, standing on the balcony, watching the rain pouring down in torrents.

“I’m still worried about Mandane,. I think I’ll go to the fields.”
“…… Mandane told me not to come, but if Eric wants to go, he can ……”
“I’ll follow Eric-sama too!”

It’s a pain to stay in the room all the time for a few days. Above all, I’m worried about the people of the Kingdom of Ernia. It would be dangerous to proceed with the work in such heavy rain without the Shine Stone. At night, there would be no light, and above all, the water would take away the body’s heat, putting them at risk of hypothermia.

For now, let’s see what’s going on over there. With that in mind, I turned on my heel and opened my mouth.

“What if I told you to wait inside because it’s dangerous out there?”
“It’s dangerous, that’s why I’m going with Erik.”
“I’m with you too!”
“Haha …… I’m so lucky to have two people who are so devoted to me.”
“fufu.”
“Hehe”
“Let’s go.”

And so we headed off to the fields. We stopped at a horse-drawn carriage to make sure we had a shinestone, and then ran to the place where Mandane was.

Our clothes were already soaked, but that didn’t slow us down.

I am not sure how far we have run, but I see many people in front of us, looking down in grief. We are standing in front of the bridge that connects the highlands to the lowlands, but we are unable to enter the lowlands where the fields are.

No wonder. There is a huge amount of water flowing under the bridge, and it is threatening to take the entire bridge with it at any moment.

At the forefront of the water was a woman with long, familiar orange hair and in a dress that allowed her to move easily. And then there was Raquel.

“Mandane! Raquel chan!”
“Eh, Eric! Why is everyone …… too?”

Mandane is surprised to see us, while the people around us are in despair.

“We came here because we worried about you, Mandane.”
“……”
“More importantly, raquel chan! If you stay here, you might get blown up, so let’s go someplace safer! And Mandane!”

I said, extending my hand toward Raquel,

I reached for Raquel, and she jumped away from my hand.

“Raquel chan!”
“I knew it was my fault. ……”
“Eh?”
“Because I lied to …… Mandane-sama, Gaia-sama, the god of the earth, got angry and made it rain heavily …… on this land.”
“What did you say ……”
“It is all my fault! This happened because I did not deliver the word of Gaia-sama! So I have no choice but to sacrifice myself …… to appease His wrath, I must die.”
“Raquel chan?!”
“Raquel!?”

With that, Raquel stepped onto the bridge. She did not turn around when Mandane and I called her name, startled by her sudden behavior.

Raquel is very important to Mandane.

I found my feet moving and my eyes following Raquel’s back.

“Eric! What! Wait!”

Me and Raquel are crossing a bridge that is on the verge of collapse. Mandane follows us.

“Eric sama!”
“Eric! What are you up to?”
“Mandane sama!”
“It’s not safe, Mandane sama! Get back here!”
“Raquel! Get back here, quickly!”
“Raquel chan!”

Behind me I hear Sera and Sophia calling me, the people of the Kingdom of Ernia calling Mandane, and Isaac and his wife calling Raquel.

But they and their wives cannot approach the bridge.

Because,

the bridge is beginning to collapse.

It was fortunate, I should say, that the bridge collapsed when Raquel, I, and Mandane reached the lowland where the field was located.

I turned around for a moment. Countless people were staring at us in amazement.

　
We had to protect Raquel for now, I thought, shaking my head. With that in mind, I shook my head and looked forward.

Naturally, Mandane and I joined forces to search for Raquel.

“Raquel chan!? where?”
“Raquel chan! Let’s eat a delicious meal together again!”

However, no matter how hard we looked, Raquel did not appear. We had not brought an umbrella or rain gear, so Mandane and I were soaking wet. Mandane was wearing a dress made of white fabric that allowed her skin to show through, but we didn’t have time to worry about that right now.

“Raquel chan!”
“Come here!”

I shouted aloud until the sun was setting and my throat was snatched, but Raquel did not come out. There are no shinstones here, so at night, we can’t see anything. So Mandane and I found a worn-out hut and decided to go in there and take shelter from the rain.

“…..”
“….”

A space where silence flows. All I could hear was the sound of rain hitting the roof and the dirt. I peeked at Mandane, trying not to be obvious. Mandane is sitting next to me, sitting on the floor, looking down. Her orange hair was soaking wet and dripping with water. Her clothes were all wet, revealing the pink underwear that covered her large breasts and her ivory-colored skin. Her thighs were also soaked with water drops from her hair.

Sophia told me that the finances of the Kingdom of Ernia were in a very tight state, and that there was no more money to buy wheat seeds.

In other words, Mandane was on the verge of losing everything.

I let out a small sigh, and then sat down and pressed closer to Mandane.

“Eric! W-What is it?”
“I have something for you, Mandane.”
“?”

Mandane tilts his head with a melancholy expression on his face. I looked at her beautiful face, took out a shine stone from my inside pocket, and gave it a shock. It soon turned into a luminous object emitting bright light and warm heat.

“T-This is …….”
“It’s a Shine Stone. It’s a high-grade, high-grade product, so I think it will last for a few days. I’m giving it to Mandane.”
“…….”

Mandane rolled his eyes and took the Shine Stone from me.

“I haven’t seen this in …… how many years?”
“…. sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I was cross with the Kingdom of Ernia because I was angry that I couldn’t have the beautiful Mandane for myself.”
“….. it is I who am to blame. If I had been your slave and defiled at that time, the people might have been able to live through such a great flood without any problems. ……”

W-What are you saying?

“That’s not true!”
“!”
“I’m sorry …… for yelling out loud,…… but Mandane is fine as it is. I want a Mandane who is kind to everyone, who is magnificent, and who will say NO to my tyranny. …… I don’t want Mandane to be a slave who has no free will and is only at my mercy. …… I want to see a happy Mandane.”
“Eric ……”

　
I put my hands around Mandane’s waist and attached her more to my body.

“I told you not to touch ……..”
“I’m sorry. But when I saw Mandane’s sad face, I couldn’t stay ……”

We remained attached to each other for about five minutes. Strangely enough, Mandane’s body gradually became hotter and hotter.

I am not sure if this was due to the Shine Stone or some other cause, but Mandane’s body was much warmer than when we first touched.

The tension between us had dissipated.

So I tell Mandane what we are going to do.

“I’m going to look for Raquel.”

I whispered in her ear, and then stood up.

“….. Raquel-chan and Eric have nothing to do with each other, so why do you, the next king of the Ilas Kingdom, go to such lengths!”

Why do I go to such lengths? The answer is quite simple.

“Raquel is very important to Mandane. That’s why she is important to me, too. That’s all.”
“!”

Mandane was at a loss for words. Then, with a look of realization, she nodded her head, stood up and said

“I’ll follow you, too!”
“That’s reassuring.”
“I am the next queen of this kingdom, you know! I will find you, Raquel, I promise!”
“That’s why you’re Mandane-chan!”
“Don’t call me “chan”!”
“Y-Yes, ……”

So, relying on the light of the Shine Stone, we set out in the pouring rain to find Raquel.

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