The Traveling Hero Won’t Let the Innkeeper’s Son Escape

"Ruth, if you don't wake up, you'll be late for college."

"Yes."

Ruth tried to get out of bed scratching his head as he heard his mother's voice coming from downstairs.

Hmm?

The moment I turned my body's center of gravity diagonally, I felt uncomfortable under my hips.

I don't like the feeling of a TV remote or a mobile gaming console falling under my body while I'm asleep and falling asleep.

Ruth, who turned blue, rushed to touch a foreign body in his waist.

(Is that it?... nothing?)

When I touched it, there was nothing under my body.On the contrary, the discomfort disappeared sometime.

"Ruth!?"

"Ah, yes!"

Ruth hurried down the stairs with a change of clothes in response to her angry mother's voice.I quickly forgot about the discomfort.

I'm coming.

Ruth leaves the house earlier than her mother, who goes to the coffee shop part.When I walked out the gate onto the road, I casually looked back at my parents' house.

A second-hand property that has been built for about 40 years.The four-storey LDK floor plan is not particularly unusual.Since my brother got married and left his parents' house, the house has become more widely felt, but still Ruth's parents' house is just a house.

"I should have put this plaque horizontally."

I felt something uncomfortable with the lettering "brow" written on the vertical placard in Katakana, but I don't know clearly.

"Ah, good morning, Brother Ruth!"

"Oh, good morning."

Turning from behind, a cute boy, dressed like a girl in a nice elementary school uniform, stood hand in hand with his father.

……

For a moment, I felt something uncomfortable, but a boy, Ed, ran over and looked down with a smile.

Oniichan's starting school now?

Yes, Ed, too?

"Yeah."

Good morning, Mr. Ruth.

Ed's father asks, a man with rough hair who can't see him.

"Good morning, Mr. Remias."

The neighbor's parents and child interacted with Ruth after Ed got lost.Face to face like this not only greets, but also takes Ed home when his father Remias is busy.Ed honestly admires Ruth, so he seems to have a younger brother, and honestly doesn't feel bad.

Well, let's go to the station together!

Fine.

Ruth goes to the station in a frequent conversation with elementary school boy Ed and his father Remias.

A familiar residential view that has been around for some time since the early morning.The neighborhood's wives stand up, students rush to school, and people like company employees come to work sleepy.

".... nh"

I tilt my neck when I see such a sight.I'm tired of seeing it, but for some reason I can't wipe out the discomfort.

Break up with Ed and the others at the terminal in front of the station and head to the incoming train home.Thanks to a small station, or when I entered an empty home, there was a glimpse.

"Ah, good morning, Ruth!"

"Kia!? Are you okay at this hour? High school? It's far away."

"It's okay. I told my friends I was going to sleep."

"... wouldn't that be okay?"

It was a high school boy named Kia who rushed to Ruth.I look smart, but there is a strange place that is missing, and I found that I was half crying because I didn't have enough money at the after-payment ramen shop before, and I lent him the money.Since then, I have somehow come to see each other a lot.I didn't expect the money I borrowed to come back, but apparently it seems like a good little boy, and since then I've been given more thanksgiving gifts than the money, so I'm rather sorry.

"Kia, if you don't go to class besides physical education, you won't go to college?"

"... well, I'm calculating my credits properly."

I sharpened my mouth a little and looked awkward.

"What subjects are you bad at?"

"Mathematics... Mandarin, English... chemistry, history... and then..."

"Almost..."

Because it is Kia who attends a high school where ordinary people like Ruth cannot attend, it is possible to enter the university in an escalator way (or other way), but if you do not study for a while, you will be in trouble in the future.Ruth invited Kia to the library on the weekend to get off at the station where he wanted to go, in return for a lot of presents.

When I went to college, spent a particularly unpredictable time with my friends Daniel and the others who were taking the same class, and tried to finish the last lecture and go home, I met a student.

Ah, Yuan.

"Ruth, he's calling.Do you have time? "

Yuan, a graduate student of the same university, is a man with a slightly inaccessible atmosphere.Before, Ruth showed me the way and finally bought me lunch.At that time, it seems that I mistook Ruth for a high school student who came to visit the university, but since touching his unexpected kindness, there has been some interaction.He was completely different from what he looked like.

When Yuan and I went to the lab together, a man familiar with it recently waved his hand with his mouth full of manju.

"Oh, Ruth, I've got a nice souvenir for you."

"Dr. Silas."

This is Cyrus, a professor at Euan's lab.Cyrus has a good reputation as a student for his carefree personality, contrary to his huge appearance.Loose, who I was supposed to meet with Yuan like this, bought me a souvenir on his way home from the academy.For Ruth, the relationship between not taking classes and not just being a professor turns him into an uncle he knows.

Incidentally, we don't know in detail what Silas and Yuan are working on.

"Ruth, go see him on the way home. He's got business."

"Okay."

Euan dropped him off with those words and Ruth entered the stylish building in front of the station.Unlike the local station, there were many people around the station with a gorgeous atmosphere.

Walking through a crowded building and reaching the shop on the second floor of the destination, I heard a voice that felt low and too light.

"Ruth, I've been waiting for you."

Karen, a friend of Euan's, rushed in like a woman.He looks tall and stylish, but when I forgive him, he talks like this in a feminine atmosphere.It is strange because it suits me unexpectedly.

Karen is a friend of Yuan's from the same age who works in an outdoor shop.She likes fashion and feels comfortable, so she is also a popular shopkeeper for women.

Yes, I'll give you this ~

"Oh, thank you. I'm always sorry."

Karen says her clothes rotate fast and the closet explodes quickly because of her fashion preferences.It was just a waste to throw it away, so it seemed to have been given to Yuan, but Ruth came out in trouble because her clothes didn't suit her hobbies.Sometimes I can't wear it because of my physical condition, but I don't have a strong attachment to fashion, so since I was introduced to Yuan, Ruth has often been given clothes.

Incidentally, Karen doesn't just work in fashion stores, she works in outdoor shops because she likes clothes but also collects camping equipment.

(I'm sorry I got so good clothes)

Karen says she's sorry for handing over the old clothes, but as for Ruth, I'm grateful for the new fashionable clothes.Students have no money.

"Yes, there's a lovely new cafe on the fifth floor of this building. Will you come with me next time?"

"Ah, yes, of course."

Ruth is returning the favor, and Karen decides to give it to a place that is difficult for her to go alone.Said it was a place where Ruth's appearance was fine.

"The matcha cream from the café there seems delicious."

"Oh, Mr. Maxim. Hello. It's as fast as ever."

Hello, Mr. Maxim.

Ruth and I came into a conversation with Maxim, a salesman at a company that distributes goods to an outdoor shop where Karen works.

Contrary to his serious appearance, the colorful man looked gorgeous like a resident of another world apart from Ruth, but he kind of got along while talking through Karen.

I sometimes get invited to tea because I'm looking for outdoor products that students like.But sometimes people don't know where the truth is.But Karen was also a good person, so don't worry, she was like a friend.

Ruth goes home after breaking up with Karen and Maxim.

It's been a long day.I can spare time because I don't have a part-time job today.I plan to continue yesterday's game as it is.

(Today was another day that didn't seem to change ~)

Wake up in the morning, go to college, take classes, socialize with friends, go home and play games and sleep.It's not such a rough day.

"... hmm?"

But why? I've been feeling uncomfortable since I woke up in the morning.As usual, you forget something important, like something is wrong.

(Maybe it's because I had a weird dream....)

The dream I remember when I woke up this morning, which was not very waking, I don't feel like it was hanging around all day and casting a shadow on Ruth's heart.

Ruth headed to the station blurry and arrived at his return home.When I stood at my usual place and waited for the train, I felt surprised.

(Nh... who is it?)

Looking for the Lord of gaze, I noticed a young man sitting on the bench of the opposite home.I've never seen a young man before.

Is it as old as Ruth?I don't know the color and appearance of my hair because I wear my hat deeply, but it is thin and looks like a woman.However, it is more likely for men to choose from clothing and the way they sit with their legs open.

(Eh... what?)

The gaze from the back of the hat was sharp, leaving an unexpectedly slaughtered atmosphere.

He doesn't turn a blind eye even if he has eyes with Ruth.

Normally, it would be awkward if I didn't know him, but I've been staring at him.I just wanted you to look at yourself.

--Foeon

The vehicle crossed in front of me with a big siren.

I didn't hear the announcement, but it looks like the train was just coming.

Ruth rushes into the desired vehicle.

(... you're a strange person...)

Fearful gaze. I've never been stared at like that in my everyday life.It wasn't on Ruth's side of the laid-back life.

(... you're not here anymore, right?)

Looking at something scary, Ruth looked at the window of the home on the other side to see the young man - he was there.

Loose, who had just entered the vehicle, was staring in the same position.Even though Ruth noticed his gaze again, it stayed the same.In that line of sight, I felt the fear that my present existence would sway.

Once the train started moving, his gaze would no longer reach him, but it was certain that something like a thorn remained in Ruth's heart.

"... I wonder what it was... because I didn't know him..."

Even when I came home, the youth remained in my heart.I can't even focus on the games I was concerned about.In the end, I decided to go to bed early, even though I remembered the feeling of being soft.

The next morning, Ruth got up with the sound of the birds.

It was different from yesterday, and I kind of felt good when I woke up.He went straight to the living room and called out to his mother, who was already moving.

"-Mom, how many bundles of firewood do you need today? What about the water?"

"... firewood, water?"

Looking at Ruth's voice, her mother had a puzzled look on her face.

Mother, who looks much younger than Ruth, leans her neck suspiciously.

"Firewood, pumping water... is it unusual for Ruth to wake up a long time ago, and you feel like you're coming to camp?"

"Eh... ah"

That's what my mother said, and Ruth understood that she said something very strange.

"Bundle of firewood" for "pumping water".No matter how far away it is from the city center, there are convenience stores and large supermarkets nearby.