Chapter 33
In Tiria’s memories, Elric had a round face and eyes that sparkled with a mischievous glint.
His brown hair was soft and fluffy, and his clothes were made of fabric so fine that anyone could tell at a glance how supple it was.
That was the kind of boy he was—and he was also the first peer Tiria had ever met.
「Where are you from? I’ve never seen your face before.」
The question, filled with curiosity, was a strange kindness Tiria had never experienced.
Even though it was annoying how he had just disparaged her appearance without a care, she couldn’t help the instinctive affinity she felt toward the first boy her age she’d ever encountered.
「……Over there.」
Tiria pointed toward the Wibin family mansion beyond the hill.
At that, Elric spoke.
「Ah, the parasites’ den!」
She couldn’t help but flinch.
The words that came out of his mouth were vulgarities she had been educated never to use.
「Para……」
「My dad said so. He said parasites who eat away at the fief live there.」
His bright, innocent laughter followed.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know what those words meant. Furthermore, to say such insults to someone who had just come from that mansion…
She only found out later that he was a troublemaker who threw around such profanities without a second thought, but to the Tiria of that time, everything about him was a shock.
「Well, whatever. That’s enough of that, just follow me.」
「Huh……?」
「The medic got scolded by his mom today so he can’t come out. You be the medic instead.」
Snap!
Elric snatched Tiria’s hand.
Tiria forgot all about having to go ask for help and allowed herself to be dragged along by him.
Of course, it wasn’t easy. Her calves, which had been struck the day before, were so painful that she walked with a limp, and her swollen face throbbed even when the wind brushed against it.
Elric seemed to realize this late as he pouted his lips.
「What, are your legs hurt? You should have said something.」
「This is……」
「Come here.」
What he did next was bewildering.
「Heave-ho!」
Elric swept Tiria up and lifted her right off the ground.
At the time, Elric was six and Tiria was eight.
Since they were children who hadn’t reached puberty, it was natural for Tiria to be much larger than Elric, yet Elric lifted her with ease.
It was in that moment.
「You weren’t a medic, you were a wounded soldier!」
Elric laughed brightly.
The boy’s face, laughing with the sun at his back, was full of confidence.
The wind was cool, and though the boy’s embrace was small, it was overflowing with a sense of security.
It was the first time.
The experience of someone holding her tight.
The moment she encountered another person’s warmth was a shock that deserved to be called a wonder, and because of that, Tiria had a reaction she herself couldn’t understand.
「Sniff……」
Tears welled up, and she began to cry.
「What the, you’re ugly and a crybaby too.」
「Uuu……」
「Don’t cry. They say if you cry, you’ll grow a thick forest of hair on your butt.」
「Hee…… I’m sorr……」
「Geez, who told you to apologize? Forget it.」
Elric patted Tiria on the back.
On that day, Tiria realized something.
Crying was not something one had to apologize for.
「Uuuu……」
In the arms of the giggling boy, Tiria experienced comfort for the first time in her life.
Perhaps that was why she still couldn’t forget that moment.
「This is the girl who’s gonna be the medic today!」
The place Elric led her to was a small vacant lot at the edge of the village.
Tiria’s face filled with surprise as she realized there were so many children her age in Wibin.
Of course, they weren’t like Elric.
Some children were grimy, some wore clothes that her trained eye saw as nothing more than rags, and some had unwashed hair.
She didn’t particularly feel any repulsion toward them, but it was a moment where she clearly realized that Elric was an outlier in this group.
「Hey! Ugly!」
Elric called out to Tiria.
In that moment, a sudden wave of shame washed over her.
「……I’m not.」
「You are too! Your face is all puffy and ugly. Aldio said so! He said pretty people have really slender faces!」
Insulting someone as ugly in front of others was a vulgar thing to do.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to deny Elric’s words because, even by Tiria’s own estimation, her face was very ugly right now.
A reddish tint hung over her bruised, blue skin.
Her eyes grew watery again.
Elric let out a sigh.
「Sigh, she’s crying again.」
「The Boss made a girl cry!」
「As expected of the Boss! He’s the textbook definition of a bad boy!」
The children cheered.
Elric shrugged his shoulders, then approached Tiria and dabbed away her tears with a handkerchief.
「Don’t cry. Do you really want a hairy butt?」
「Hic……」
「I told you to stop crying. Here, blow!」
Honk!
Tiria blew her nose into the handkerchief.
Elric tossed the handkerchief onto the ground.
「Anyway, get along with these guys. If they get hurt, you’re the one who treats them, okay?」
He made her cry, then made her laugh, and he was incredibly selfish on top of it.
And yet, strangely, she didn’t hate it.
Recalling how Elric had laughed while carrying her, Tiria gave a shy nod.
For Tiria, that was the day she learned what play was.
No, to be precise, it was the day she realized what real play was.
Until then, the “play” Tiria knew was just education disguised as games.
Things like composing poems by combining words or polishing teacups.
Thus, it was all new.
「Medic! Treat the wound!」
Elric sat down in front of Tiria, wearing a red cape and holding a small wooden sword that fit his size.
He had just been rolling around on the ground fighting with the others using wooden swords before coming over.
Tiria, who had been watching the whole time, stared at him blankly.
「Here! You have to treat this part!」
Elric rolled up his sleeve.
In that moment, Tiria couldn’t help but be horrified.
「It’s dirty……」
「Stupid! Wounds are supposed to be dirty!」
Elric giggled and thrust his mud-smeared arm toward Tiria.
Tiria pulled her head back in revulsion.
Elric spoke.
「Here! You wipe it with this rag.」
Wiping it with that grimy rag would only make it dirtier.
Even as she thought this, Tiria took the rag and wiped Elric’s arm.
As expected, his arm didn’t get clean.
The mud just disappeared.
Will I get scolded?
Anxiety surged within her.
But,
「Good job, Medic!」
As if that were enough, Elric laughed with a satisfied, 「Mm! Mm!」
Immediately after.
「Excellent!」
Pat. Elric stroked Tiria’s hair.
Tiria’s eyes went wide like a rabbit’s.
「Whenever I get hurt, you just have to treat me like this! Got it?」
Even though it was a simple word of praise, it pierced deep into her heart.
Perhaps she had been starving for another’s validation.
In the life she had lived, praise only came after countless physical punishments had preceded it.
‘Play.’
So this is what play is.
Tiria realized.
That in play, there is no punishment.
It was a day that felt like falling into a dreamland.
And like all dreams, the moment to wake up eventually arrived.
「Boss! See you tomorrow!」
「Bye, ugly Medic!」
It was the hour of the sunset.
The sky was stained red, and the air grew a bit cooler.
The children, the culprits of the commotion, scattered one by one, and a silence began to settle over the lot.
「You’re going too, right?」
Elric asked.
But Tiria couldn’t answer easily.
How could she? She had snuck out without telling her parents and skipped her lessons all day.
That wasn’t all.
Since she had been punished the day before and hadn’t apologized properly, she might be beaten even more severely today than yesterday.
Suddenly, Tiria was gripped by fear.
—Why! Why do you not understand our hearts!
The moment she remembered those giant hands filling her vision, her body began to tremble.
Her mind went blank, and thin breaths started leaking from between her teeth.
「What is it? What’s wrong with you?」
Elric frowned as he examined Tiria.
Tiria shrank back.
「……It’s nothing.」
「What do you mean it’s nothing? Come here.」
Elric grabbed Tiria’s hand firmly and leaned in, inspecting every corner of her face.
Tiria lowered her head deeply.
At the end of his scrutiny, Elric shouted, 「Ah!」
「I get it!」
「……」
「You don’t want to go home!」
Snap! Tiria’s head shot up.
It was amazing.
Tiria was utterly shocked that Elric could see right through her heart without her saying a single word.
Whether he knew her feelings or not, Elric grinned and said.
「Then let’s play more!」
「Boss?」
「Are you running away from home today too?」
「Yeah! You guys want to run away too?」
The two remaining children, Lytton and Bart, shook their heads vigorously.
Elric pouted.
「What, you cowards. Let’s go, Ugly.」
Tiria couldn’t gather her wits.
That was how reckless Elric was.
Yet, amidst it all, what welled up inside her was a mix of nervousness and relief.
Running away from home… does that mean not going back?
Does that mean I won’t get scolded today?
Feeling her fear receding, Tiria asked, worried about Elric.
「Is it okay……?」
「What, running away?」
Perhaps, as she reflects on it now.
「It’s fine. My dad doesn’t care about me anyway.」
The emotion she felt in that moment was a sense of kinship.
The Lady Waited in the Wheat Field (Serial)
