GalaxyTL
* * *
Arc 8 begins.
A slightly shorter arc.
—
“Peep peep……piyoppeep……”
Outside the house, the asapippi bird was chirping.
The morning sunlight streaming through the window hit Prough’s young face, causing him to briefly open his squinting eyes before irritably pulling the blanket over his head.
(Just a little more……)
In the warm, dimly dark blanket, Prough began dozing off again.
For some reason, he felt like he had been having a very nostalgic dream.
Just once more, if only once more, he wanted to see that dream again……
“Hey—! Prough! How long are you going to sleep for—?!”
However, Prough’s drowsy head was fully roused by his mother’s voice ringing out from the next room.
“Fuaah! I’m up! I just woke up, mother!”
Hurriedly jumping up, Prough changed out of his sleepwear.
Tying his slightly lengthened deep green hair into a ponytail, he prepared to go outside and made his way to the living room where his mother waited.
“Honestly, you’re such a sleepyhead, Prough!”
Lining plates on the shabby table while placing bread and fruit on them, the beautiful green-haired woman matching Prough’s hair color smiled.
Her name was Otta. Prough’s mother.
She had lost her husband long ago and now raised Prough alone.
“My bad! I was having an incredibly wonderful dream, you see!”
“Oh? Fufu, so you’re saying that excuses oversleeping? What kind of dream was it?”
“I forgot!”
The two continued their casual conversation as they finished breakfast.
The warm sunlight brightly illuminated the room.
The golden bread adorning the table glittered, glistening under the morning rays.
A tranquil, blissful moment flowed.
“Now then, once you’ve finished eating, it’s straight to work! As always, Prough, start by fetching water from the river!”
“Yeah, I know, mother!”
When breakfast concluded, Prough dashed out of the house carrying three large buckets.
While Prough’s body remained small, he was quite strong.
He could easily hold two water-filled buckets, one in each hand, and even place a third on his head without feeling any weight.
That’s why the morning water fetching was Prough’s task.
Without overexerting themselves, the residents of this Grounoddka Village lived by fully applying themselves to what they could manage.
Leisurely without letting their smiles fade, they lived brightly supporting each other.
Earnestly nurturing their wheat as they lived.
As Prough proceeded toward the river, he gazed upon the verdant wheat fields sprawling endlessly into the distance.
Prough loved the wheat fields.
He loved the lush greenery swaying in the wind under the blue sky.
He loved the golden radiance glistening under the sun’s rays.
He absolutely adored any wheat field.
Simply watching filled him with happiness.
And Prough also loved the people working there.
The person who noticed Prough walking along and waved with a smile while wiping sweat from his field work was Hark.
Next to him weeding was Grute.
Both were Prough’s neighbors.
Further beyond, clearing trees to expand the fields, were Ronte and Itakk who had recently arrived in the village.
Having been adventurers together until recently, physical labor was their forte.
A bit rough around the edges befitting adventurers, they had hit a snag when first meeting the villagers, but now they were precious members of the community.
Working with fulfilled expressions while occasionally chatting with the other villagers.
“Prough———!”
There, a lovely voice called out from behind Prough.
Turning around, a single girl came running over carrying a bucket.
“Fetti! Good morning!”
Her name was Fetti.
An energetic girl, Prough’s childhood friend.
Whenever she bounced about, the two bunches of hair tied on either side would sway.
The accessory keeping her hair tied was a handmade gift Prough had previously made for her.
Prough thought Fetti’s calm brown hair was beautiful and lovely, so he diligently created a hair ornament befitting it.
Fetti had really loved that gift as well.
“Hey Prough! You’re fetching water too?”
“That’s right, Fetti! Want to go together?”
“Yeah!”
The two headed side-by-side toward the river flowing beside the village.
Time flowed tranquilly.
* * *
That river was a beautiful stream running through the forest straight westward from the village center, reaching a clearing.
An indispensable river for the village’s laundry and bathing needs, Prough didn’t know its actual name.
In the village, when referring to “the river”, that was the one in question, so he had never bothered about its proper name.
“Hey Prough, I wonder if any treasure washed ashore today?”
Fetti tugged on Prough’s sleeve with a sparkling smile, saying that.
Occasionally, various things would drift down this river from upstream.
Usually tree nuts or oddly shaped black branches, but sometimes animal fangs or other rare objects would come floating by.
Fetti’s hair ornament had been made by shaving down scales from some shimmering thing that had washed up from upstream.
Searching for those rare items…treasures was a small delight for the two water fetchers.
“Ahaha, let’s see?”
Laughing while gazing upon the river’s shimmering, sunlight-dappled surface, Prough proceeded to the water fetching area.
This forest was well-maintained by the villagers, with the undergrowth trimmed and trees properly thinned to keep it bright.
No monsters had ever appeared, so the two leisurely strolled in their usual carefree manner, treading upon the soft moss.
“Oh, treasure! Oh, treasure!……Huh?”
It was then.
The footsteps of Fetti walking ahead while tugging Prough’s sleeve came to a halt.
“Nn? What’s wrong, Fetti……Ah!”
The puzzled Prough immediately spotted the cause as well.
There in the direction of their gazes at the water fetching area, an unfamiliar black object had washed ashore.
Hurrying over, the two were stunned to discover that black object’s identity.
It was a person.
A girl around their age, it seemed.
Prough inadvertently held his breath upon seeing that girl.
Because he had never witnessed such a beautiful girl before.
Although her clothes were tattered rags, her skin was translucently pale, and her hair jet-black like night.
And her exquisitely refined features were so immaculate, one could mistake her for a doll rather than human.
She was beautiful.
……Uncannily so.
And Prough, for some reason unknown to him upon seeing that girl’s black hair……
Felt a sense of nostalgia.
Even though in his life up to now, he had never seen a black-haired person before.
“Ah! Prough! This girl, she’s alive!”
“Eh!?”
While Prough had momentarily stood dumbfounded, overwhelmed by the girl’s presence, Fetti seemed unfazed.
Tentatively approaching the black-haired girl, she noticed the girl was still breathing.
“Let’s hurry and take her to the village, Prough! We need to warm her up and help her!”
“U……Understood!”
Shaken back to his senses by Fetti’s words, Prough flung aside his buckets before hastily lifting the black-haired girl and rushing back along the path toward the village.