In exchange for lodging, Arisugawa helped with the fishing.
Soon, my feet were buried in lively fish. It was quite unpleasant and felt like the weight would sink me. Unconcerned, Remi’s younger brother kept pulling the bucket along.
“We caught quite a lot. Want to try diving too?”
“No, thank you. I’m not really good at swimming.”
As the sun set and a beautiful starry sky became visible, we finally returned to the village. I carried the fish home with him.
“Ah, welcome back. This should be enough. That’s right, Hiro’s friend is resting over there. You should wash your feet, you know, you might be disliked if you smell of fish.”
Remi said this with a smile, but I had been smelling of fish since I came to this village, so I had gotten used to it. Still, just in case, I washed my feet with water.
Though the huts were small, they lent me two, so I wouldn’t have to sleep outdoors. When I entered, everyone was already sound asleep. I sat down on the rug laid on the floor.
As I leaned back slowly and was about to close my eyelids, I suddenly remembered Karubene. She seemed to have become rather quiet since entering this deep forest. Even when something a little perverted happened, she was completely unresponsive. I hoped it was just fatigue.
I stood up, my body heavy, and peeked into the other hut. But Karubene was not there. I thought she might be with Veronica, but she was smoking tobacco near the window.
“Hey, do you know where Karubene is?”
“I don’t know. Maybe outside? Or in the other hut.”
Veronica told me this, so I went around to the back of the hut. There, I found Karubene squatting at the edge of the raft, staring intently at the water.
I thought about calling out to her, but something seemed wrong. Looking closely, the tips of her hands were trembling. She squeezed them tightly with her other hand as if to suppress them.
“Um… Karubene? Are you okay?”
When I softly called out to her, she suddenly turned to me with eyes that seemed to look at me like I was a suspicious person. Her usual cheerful expression was gone, and her eyes were wide and fearful, darting around as if she were afraid of something.
“Eh, ah… Yeah, I’m fine.”
Her reply was also somewhat absentminded. I didn’t think she was normal at all.
“You’re not fine, are you? Do you have a fever? If you’re sick, you should be resting.”
Perhaps she caught a cold from being in the water. Thinking this, I reached out to pull her hand, but she recoiled backward, as if pushing my hand away.
“I told you I’m fine! Don’t come near me!”
Karubene stumbled and ran off somewhere. I was afraid she might fall into the water if I left her like this. I had no choice but to follow her.
