Life in Another World as a Maid Mage
Volume 1 - Daily Life of A Maid Mage
022 – Nursing services available for unforeseen illness (3)
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Author's Note: Fragments of Alex's and Zack's past and Shiori's complicated feelings.
First of all, I would make a fruity water for rehydration. The clean water produced by magic is boiled and then brought back to room temperature in a flash. Magic was really in handy in times like these. I took out the berry syrup, the honeyed preserved apples, the bottle of preserved ginger syrup, and the salt from the shelf, and then mixed an appropriate amount of each into the already prepared water.
Apparently, berry syrup has been commonly made in Strydia for a long time. Many varieties of berries naturally grew in the country and had been an important preserved food during the winter when fresh fruits and vegetables were hard to procure. Thanks to the transportation and preservation technology developed during the reign of the previous king, fresh fruits and vegetables were now reasonably available even in winter, but berry syrup was still loved as a traditional preserved food.
Personally, I would have liked to have had some lemons, but they were imported and expensive in Strydia. You could only get them occasionally.
"… Something like this?"
I transferred the resulting fruity water to a jug.
Next was the soup. I'd like to use mineral-rich white fish for the broth and as a source of protein, but I didn't have any on hand, so I used chicken, which was low in fat and easy to digest. I diced the onions and tomatoes, finely chopped the summer leeks, and then cut the chicken into small pieces. I put the chicken, vegetables, and grated ginger in a pan with fruit oil and fried them quickly. Then I added water and brought it to a boil. After a while, I also added the homemade freeze-dried carrots, radishes, and celery to the pot and simmered it for a while. Afterward, to finish I added salt and pepper to taste.
I did the dishes, washed my hands, brought the fruity water to the small table by the bed, and then checked on Alex. The towel on his forehead was already warm. I rinsed it in the water bucket before lightly wiping his face and body. Then I rinsed it again, squeezed it, and froze it slightly with magic. I touched him again before putting the towel on his forehead. He was terribly hot. It didn't seem like his fever would go down easily. His face, which I had just wiped, was once again drenched in sweat; I wiped his face again before gently placing the chilled towel on his forehead.
He let out a faint whimper when he occasionally moved, as if his joints were hurting. There was no sign of him waking up yet.
(… Maybe I should prepare for him to stay the night.)
There were many adventurers who live alone. If they got sick or injured and had to stay in bed, there was usually no one to take care of them, making it very rough on them. In such cases, I was sometimes dispatched by request through the guild, but this was indeed my first time nursing someone in my own home. It was a bachelor to boot.
(Big brother Zack might have something to say about it.)
I'm sure my concerned and overprotective brother would mind. I asked Rurie to deliver a note, so he was definitely going to stop by here after work.
(I'm certain he won't just throw a sick person out of the house, no matter what.)
I headed to the bathroom to do the laundry with a wry smile.
I wondered if there was a big difference between monster's and human's blood stains, but I was able to somehow remove them just by rubbing soap and by scrubbing. After that, I used my magic to finish the laundry as usual, hung it on the clothesline in the bathroom, and used wind magic to blow away the moisture. If I opened the window and let the wind circulate, it would be dry in no time.
Rurie, who had returned earlier, was floating in the bathtub, playing in the water. It seemed like she planned to stay like this for a while longer. I asked her to move a bit, then washed my hands.
As I took off my apron and folded it, I looked out the window.
The approaching dusk was drawing an exquisite gradient from the sky in the east, which had already turned purplish-navy blue, to the mountainside in the west, which was tinged in deep red. Far overhead, the stars were beginning to twinkle. The sun was setting earlier and earlier. Winter was almost here.
Knock Knock
I heard a knock at the door. When I approached it gently, I heard a familiar voice saying, "It's me". I unlocked the door and opened it. A man with a hair-color like the sunset sky that I had just been looking at stepped through the door.
"Yo! I'm here to check on you."
"Big brother Zack. You're early."
"I got off early. I was worried about you."
Pushing the paper bag in his hand to me, Zack walked over to the bed in the back. He looked at Alex, who was still asleep, and then gently pressed his palm against Alex's cheek, looking thoughtful. Eventually, he let out a deep sigh.
"… I intended to take him home, but this is impossible. It's too harsh on his body to move him."
As I had thought, he was planning to take Alex out of here. I smiled wryly.
"I feel bad for you. It must have been hard for you to bring him here. Let him sleep like this."
"…Ah"
Zack was somewhat frustrated but seemed to have given up. He sat down on the round chair by Alex's bed and soaked the towel on his forehead in the tub of water and wrung it out. As he wiped away Alex's terrible night sweats, I was a little worried that I might have to wake him up at some point and give him some water.
"You used to get fevers all the time when you were a kid, but… I haven't seen you in bed like this in a long time. "
Zack said in a quiet voice. I had heard that they were old acquaintances when Zach first introduced me to Alex, but I was surprised to learn that they had known each other for so long.
"Childhood friends?"
"It's not like that. The first time we met was when he was about to turn ten, but I came of age soon after and left home. Our real relationship didn't start until after Alex came of age and joined the adventurers."
"Huh…"
"When he was just starting out, he didn't know what to do. He was reckless and often ended up in bed, wounded, but that was only for a year or so. That kind of thing rarely happened by the time his body had developed."
Zack looked at Alex with a nostalgic look on his face.
Both Alex and Zack were only known as great adventurers, so it seemed strange that they had had such an era. I wondered what kind of boyhood they had.
"… Are you interested in hearing the story about me and this guy when we were younger."
Zack said jokingly. I had no choice but to smile back at him.
"I'm interested, but… it's not allowed for adventurers to dig into each other's pasts, is it?"
Some adventurers became adventurers purely out of admiration, but there were also many who were adventurers for a reason. Of course, criminals were out of the question, but it's a job that anyone can get into as long as they passed the written exam and interview. For that reason, it seemed that many high-ranking people, such as the sons of noblemen who could not inherit their family's households or the daughters who could not find a husband, chose to become adventurers, hiding their true identity. Even some of them were noblemen who had misbehaved and found it difficult to stay in their homes. So it was not advisable to dig each other's past. It was an unwritten rule among adventurers that they should not privy the identities of their fellow adventurers.
Honestly, I, myself, didn't want to be asked because I couldn't even answer since I couldn't explain it.
"It's not that big of a deal, though. There's nothing wrong with talking about it as long as it's voluntary."
Zack shook his red hair and laughed.
"It's not much of a big past, though. I'm a child born out of wedlock. My father took me in and raised me, but I became uncomfortable because of all the noise around me, so I left home. My family had its ups and downs, but… that's just the way it is. This guy Alex, well, we're not so different."
"… I think that's sufficiently a 'big past'."
A child born out of wedlock. The people around him made a lot of ruckus.
It's easy to imagine his situation. Although the age of adulthood in this country is sixteen, it is still an age when one could still be called a child. It was a heavy burden to experience at such an impressionable age. Besides...
(Maybe he was a child from a good background.)
At first glance, perhaps because of the way he speaks, Zack appeared to be crude. In reality, however, his behavior was sophisticated and elegant. Even the way he ate, his manners were beautiful. When he was an adventurer, he seemed to have done a lot of work for the nobility.
I thought that Alex, who had known Zack since they were kids, may also be similar.
"…the people are not expendables for the nobility!"
Those were the words he previously said to the Count's family. I felt that those words were not from someone with a normal upbringing.
"Uh…"
Alex grunted and I came to my senses. I looked at him, but he didn't seem to be conscious. There was still no sign of him waking up yet. Zack and I both let out a sigh.
"…I'm sorry, but let me stay too. I'll take care of him."
"Yeah, let's take turns. Do you want to eat while I sleep?"
"Yes, please. I'm sorry about all this. There are some bread and apples in that paper bag I gave you."
The fact that Zack had apologized for Alex's behavior showed that their relationship was more than just a friendship. They were best friends - no, they were more similar to brothers.
(I'm kind of jealous.)
It's already been four years, and yet, it's only been four years. In this world where I couldn't show my friends, my family, my background, or any of my roots, my existence was very vague, and I was terribly jealous of those who had such things.
If I spent more time in this world, would I be able to find a reason to live, a reason to stay, a place where I could belong? … is it possible? Would it be okay to create one? I was in an ambiguous position.
"If you want, I can be the place where you belong."
That's what Alex said to me once before. He is a very good person. He is a kind man who cares for me in many different ways. But I wasn't sure if he meant what he said, and if it was okay to take his hand unconditionally.
There were many people who were just as kind. It's not that there weren't men who approached me and whispered suggestive words. However if they wouldn't shorten the distance any further, I wondered if it was just a form of social etiquette for men in this country. It's even more for me because I know my foreign and ambiguous position.
"I want you."
"I need you."
I could never forget the man who followed me around and repeatedly said those words., But then, he left me in the labyrinth to die without whispering his love to me for the last time. In the end, I was reminded that I was only worth that much.
That's why.
… I was too timid to take the hand that was extended to me.
I felt like I would never be able to recover if I were told I wasn't needed like that again.
Even though I know that such foolish men were rare, and that and that most of them were good people.
But.
"…Lets go home.
A hand was extended out to me. A hand clasped mine.
Alex's hand was gentle and warm.
"…"
I gently touch that hand, which was now terribly hot and sweaty.
I still wasn't sure what Alex really meant, but the time I walked with his gentle and kind hand was pleasant. A person with a gentle and warm hand that kept my ambiguous existence here.
"… I hope you feel better soon."
After stroking his hot hand, I left his bed to prepare dinner.
…I didn't notice that Zack was watching my back with a questioning look on his face.