Thank you to all Patrons!
Aiji S., Alexander P., Bakadeathly, BigZak, Brben, Chocolat, Corey, Dragoncamper, Deso, Daniel B., David G., DKLA, Jakers, Jason, Jaycob T., John V., Kaichu, Kiriaky, Luther S., Maverun, Max, Myla, Ograf, Omniamore, Otto E., Scott M., Shaun, ShadeRitten, SK, Soomin B., Taiyou D., Tenkkun, Tim N., TsuTsu, Tuan N., Urko M. M., Will B., William H., YMK, and Z!
Previous Chapter - TOC - Next Chapter
Pressed Flower
I finished sorting the documents in the afternoon. I go out to the courtyard with a book under my arm as usual. It is brighter here compared to my own room. Although I don’t feel like reading a book that much. As expected, after nearly 3 years of being here, I have already read them all. Even this 『History of War of the Dark Ages』, this is the fourth time I’ve read through it. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
Just as I was walking around aimlessly, thinking of where to sit, a dangerous scene caught my eye.
「……ait, wait! Wait!」
It’s the sawmill. Dona was raising a hammer with both of her hands and was about to slam it down onto a piece of wood at her feet. You don’t have to hold it up high to drive a nail in properly.
「……Noor?」
She stopped what she was doing when I called out to her.
「That’s not how you use a hammer. What are you doing?」
「I’m making that. I can’t drive it inside」
She pointed at the piece of wood at her feet when I asked. Apparently, she was trying to hammer a nail. But.....I see, no wonder it won’t go in.
「Did you ask if you can use it here?」
「Myluc-san said, it’s fine」
「I see……」
Looks like he made a foolish judgment of allowing her to use it, which is unusual for him.
Using it means doing woodworking tasks with a hammer and nails. Of course, Dona would not misuse the tools. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
But, I wonder if she has experience doing that before? This is a result based on his common sense that there will be no danger.
「Who taught you how to use it?」
「……eh?」
I knew it.
If that were not the case, no one would do something like that. Instead of using nails, try using a wooden screw into a wooden board. Also, the hammer size is too big. Dona will probably be unable to handle it with this weight.
「Let’s change the tools for a bit」
I took all the tools from her and ran to the storehouse. I take out some spare wood pieces, a coping saw, a small hammer, a wooden hammer, and also some thin nails.
「Try using this now」
「Un!」
She happily accepted them.
「What are you going to make?」
「Umm....that!」
What she was pointing at, were flowers of various colors.....dried flowers. She wants to put the pressed flowers into a wooden frame?
Looking closely, those flowers, those are the flowers I brought her when I turned into a bird.
「……did you keep it?」
「Un! I put them in water last year, but they wilted…..so Tamaria told me about this」
So that’s why.
Once they start to wilt, it is difficult to make a good pressed flower. It might be a shame to do it, but it is best to do this when the flowers are still fresh.
Fortunately, the flowers I picked up were small-sized flowers. So, it should have been simple to dry them. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「But, I don’t think you can see the pressed flowers with just a wooden frame」
「That is, this!」
What do you know, she had a small pane of glass.
「Eh? Where did you get this from?」
「They sold this in town!」
Surprisingly, there is actually a fair amount of glass in this world. And they have already existed for quite a long time. I was surprised to know that there was none in Linga village. This is a fact I came to know after I’d been living here for a while.
This is also that person.....something Gissian Cheerem made during the time when he was living in Hanfan’s urban area. It is also said that he was the one who invented paper. He defeated the Demon King and brought about technological innovation, I wonder what kind of person he was, actually?
In any case, it should not be that expensive if it were that size. Replacing all the windows of your house with glass will cost you quite a lot of money, as expected, but it is not completely impossible. The Linga village where I used to live was in the countryside, so glass products simply did not make it to the village.
Even so, buying this with your 6 copper of pocket money.....considering that it includes her lunch money, it must have been quite tough for her.
「The uncle at the stand said that all I have to do next is to make the wooden frame」
「I see」
I am actually also not that good at making things, but if that is the case, then I should lend her a hand. I am sure a disastrous future will definitely come if I just leave her alone like this. The sight of Dona in tears after breaking her one and only pane of glass. If that was all, then it is fine. But she might get injured from the broken glass shards, nails, or the hammer.
「Then, can I also help?」
Her eyes opened wide when I said that.
「……is that okay?」
「Un」
A second or two after I answered, she burst out in joy. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Really!? Waa!」
Then she jumps up and down on the spot. So cute.
First, let’s imagine the structure. Donna had thought of simply sandwiching pieces of wood and glass together, but that would only create a rough product.
First, the frame that fits the glass pane. Prepare a wooden frame with a shape that is going to cover every side of the glass, then place another wooden frame behind it that fits the glass as perfectly as possible. Then nail them from the front. In other words, the first part is the front part to hold down the glass, and the second part is the frame that fits the glass. The back panel for the glass is still missing.
After that, just fit the glass pane into the frame, but in the end, there is going to be some gap. It will not be good if that gap makes the end product rattle around, and placing hardwood directly against glass also feels dangerous. So wrap up a very small amount of thin, Japanese paper-like fiber, and insert it between the front frame and the glass pane.
Once you have done that, place the crucial pressed flowers, backing paper behind it, and the wooden board at the very back to fill the gap. Furthermore, I prepare another wooden board of the same size as the entire wooden frame and stick it to the back. A depression is carved onto the back of this board. Then fix it in place by gluing around the edges.
But, since it might come off, add boards to the sides as well. Drive nails through this board into both the front and back boards as well. It ended up becoming too big and unshapely, but I am bad at handiwork to begin with. Should be something like this. I don’t have the skill anyway.
Finally, fit a board to the back to prop it up.
After I explained the process, Dona shouted 「Okay!」. But maybe she does not remember it all. That is fine. It is just a matter of my being reliable.
Using the whole afternoon hours, sometimes holding Dona’s hand, sometimes showing how to do it myself, we were able to somehow make it. At first, Dona jumps in joy.
「Thank you!」
She said excitedly.
「You’re welcome」
Now then, it is done. No one gets hurt, so it is a relief.
But then, Dona’s air changed. She stopped jumping about, and the smile quickly faded from her expression. And just when I thought so, slowly, her smile returned to her face. Only, it was not a joy coming from within, but rather gave off a sense of clarity, like the feeling of being bathed in a pleasant breeze.
And then she spoke again, this time with a quiet tone.
「Thank you」
「Ah, un」
What the?
「I’m glad you were able to make it safely」
「No, it’s not like that」
So it’s not about the pressed flower? Right. She said ‘Thank you’ for that already. Then, what about the second ‘Thank you’? www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
Could it be.....she knows where the flowers came from?
「Then, what for?」
I asked while my expression turned slightly stiff.
But, she....
「Umm, uhh, that.....what was it again?」
It does not seem like she was acting. She was just plainly confused.
「So many things happened, I’m confused」
Aah....is that so ? I feel somewhat disappointed.
In any case, since we are done, let’s return to our room. Even if I want to read a book, it is starting to get dark. And it is nearly dinner time.
She will probably do the cleaning up. I stepped on the stairs.
「Hey」
But, Dona still continued to talk.
「Why....?」
「What is it?」
「Why did, Noor, know my name when we met for the first, time?」
Crap.
She still remembered that?
Come to think of it, I have also just made the same mistake recently with Tamaria. I might start messing things up little by little if I am not careful. Let’s pay more attention to that and be careful next time.
「Did I not tell you before? I thought maybe that was your name since you have black hair and it was unusual」
「Hmーm?」
What a lame excuse. It will not work against an adult, at least not at first.
But, it is the truth. What did I call her? I suddenly called 「Nora?」 to her. I did not ask 「Could your name be Nora?」.
「Then, why?」
「What is?」
「That time, why did you cry?」
She also remembered that?
This is also, no way to explain it. I was dreaming of my previous life. It was a memory of a painful time. But I can lie about it as much as I like. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「I had a dream about the past」
I am not lying. We are talking about a child who was sold to a slave merchant after all. It is not strange for the child to have memories that make them cry. It is simple to answer easily by saying, ‘Stop asking about everything’.
「That dream, what kind?」
「I don’t really want to talk about it. Dona also doesn’t want to remember unpleasant things, right?」
Yep, it is done.
She should have no choice but to accept it.
「But, I mean」
She continued speaking while looking up intently at me.
「Noor was, speaking words I had never heard of before」
……what!?
Darn it, what did you do, me?
So Dona saw me groaning in Japanese? I see, that’s why it left an impression on her.
「Noor, where are you from? Are you from a foreign country?」
There is no way it is like that. Even if I say I am, the lie will immediately be exposed if Myluc were to check it. No, in that case, would Myluc harbor suspicions about me? I told him I came from Linga village. Meaning, I must be a Forestian. It is impossible for such a young child from the countryside to learn a foreign language at just 2 years old. To begin with, when I was being picked up by him, I could not even speak Fores language well.
「No way. I was born in Forestia, you know」
After a moment of hesitation, I answered like that while broadly smiling.
It’s okay. There is no one here who can speak the Hanfan language. Let’s just say that all that groaning was Hanfan. Only, I do not know what my real father looks like. I must have subconsciously remembered my real father when I was a baby. Right, let us make that kind of story.
Just when I was trying to hurriedly summarize the reason, Dona quietly muttered in a sad-sounding voice.
「……but, you looked like you’re really in pain……」
I felt like my chest had been stabbed. It’s truly like that. But I can not let the agitation show on my face. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Dona. It is almost time for dinner. You should tidy up quickly 」
It looked like she came to her senses when I changed the topic.
「Do you need my help?」
「No, it’s okay! I’ll do it myself!」
Yosh yosh. I am really happy she does not think of so many things at once and obediently went along with the conversation.
「Then, I’m going first. See you」
「Ah, un」
Just as she began cleaning up, she looked up again and shouted.
「I will treasure these pressed flowers!」
It is utterly heartwarming.
Well, who knows what will happen in 10 years.....she might become the beloved concubine of a wealthy person so it is hard to imagine she will still have those shabby pressed flowers at that time. She will probably be surrounded by riches.
Waving my hand and turning my back, I started climbing the stairs when another voice called out to me.
「I, I’m going to be someone like Noor-kun!」
……what did she say?
I started breaking out in cold sweat. When I finally turned around, I saw Dona energetically waving her hand at me.
Just, what does she think I am? The inside.....I am just a loser who ended up living a dull life in my previous life, you know? It is even less than that in this world. I am just a wretch who survived by catching and eating cockroaches, killing his stepfather and real mother, and fleeing his own village.
Aah.....it is really scary not knowing anything.
With difficulty, I waved my hand once again. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
Previous Chapter - TOC - Next Chapter
Support me through Patreon (by clicking on that Next Chapter) or through ko-fi here
No comments:
Post a Comment