After finishing training, I left the training grounds with Ralina-chan.
Of course, I hadn’t tested 『Paralyze Arrow』 on her.
……Good grief, what a ridiculous misunderstanding that was. I nearly convinced myself that Ralina-chan was some overly open and ecchi onee-san.
And as for Ralina papa, I almost went around spreading some terrible rumors. I was really about to consult my parents and the other villagers about it……
Once I realized the misunderstanding, I made it clear to Ralina-chan that I had no intention of testing 『Paralyze Arrow』 on her. There’s no way I could ever point an arrow at her.
Besides, Ralina-chan must have been scared too. For her to actually say something like 『You can shoot the arrow at me』 is not something just anyone could do.
That determined expression of hers made sense now. Her feelings honestly made me happy. Happy enough to be a little scared, but still….her desire to support me meant a lot.
Not exactly as repayment, but right now I’m visiting Ralina-chan’s home.
Before heading back to my own place, I thought I’d give her a short lecture on tongue twisters――
「Did you write them down?」
「Yeah, more or less. Something like this.」
「Hee, that’s a lot.」
「Sure is.」
Since I gave up on explaining them aloud, I wrote down a few tongue twisters on a piece of paper and handed it to Ralina-chan.
「Frogs hopping, three hops hopping. Add them up, six hops hopping(Kaeru pyokopyoko, mi pyokopyoko. Awasete pyokopyoko, mu pyokopyoko.)? This is the one we were trying earlier, right?」
「Yeah, that’s right.」
Well, to be exact, it was the one I tried and failed to do today……
But Ralina-chan read it smoothly without a single stumble. Impressive.
「The one who leaned bamboo against this bamboo fence, leaned it because they wanted to lean bamboo(Kono takegaki ni take tatekaketa no wa, take tatekaketakatta kara, take tatekaketa)?」
「Yeah. You’re supposed to repeat that three times.」
「At night I’ll boil carrots(yoru ninjin niru yo?」
「Yeah. ……Wait, huh?」
Something weird slipped in there. Looks like I accidentally mixed it in.
「This one isn’t very hard.」
「Sorry, that must have been a mistake. That’s not a tongue twister, it’s a palindrome.」
「Palindrome?」
「Yeah. A sentence that reads the same backward as forward.」
「Eh? At night I’ll boil carrots… yoru ninjin niru yo… Ah, you’re right! Amazing, Onii-chan!」
「Uh-huh… huh?」
……Come to think of it, these tongue twisters and palindromes are all from Japan.
Yet somehow, Ralina-chan seems to understand them perfectly. ……How does that even work?
「Ralina, I’m coming in」
「Ah, geez, mom. At least knock first」
「Yeah yeah, sure sure」
While I was absentmindedly pondering the mysteries of this world, Ralina mama stepped into the room.
Ralina-chan complained about her barging in, and Ralina mama brushed it off.
Although honestly, Ralina-chan barges into my room without asking all the time……
「Thanks for coming, Alec-chan」
「Thank you for having me」
「Hm? What’s this? Studying or something?」
She had noticed the quill and paper on the table and asked.
「It’s spell practice, mom」
「Spells?」
「Yeah, try reading it」
Ralina-chan handed her the sheet of tongue twisters I had written, wearing a mischievous grin.
「What’s this? Uh, this bamboo fence has ta-ta-tete-te…」
Looks like Japanese tongue twisters work just fine on Ralina mama too.
「…This is some real tangled writing. I’ll bite my tongue at this rate」
「You practice with it to get better diction. For chanting spells」
「Huh… I see? Did you come up with this, Alec-chan?」
「Eh, more or less」
「Always thinking of something clever, aren’t you, Alec-chan」
Saying that, Ralina mama reached out and patted my head.
Her gap never stops amazing me… The contrast between her tone and her appearance is huge. She talks like this, yet she looks like a delicate beauty…
「Hm? ‘At night I’ll boil carrots’… This one isn’t very hard」
「That one is――」
Ralina-chan started explaining with a proud look. These two really do get along.
And sure enough, even the palindrome works on Ralina mama. ……Strange.
I once thought maybe it was because Deis-san had tinkered with my brain that I hear and speak Japanese, but maybe that’s not it.
……Could it be that Japanese is the official language of this world?
◇
After the tongue-twister challenge with Ralina and Ralina mama, the results were clear. Ralina mama and I were terrible at it, but as expected, Ralina-chan could say any sentence without stumbling.
I had been trying hard with 『Right eye right ear right ear right eye(migime migi mimi migi mimi migime)』, or rather, I was getting a bit too worked up about it, and before I knew it, a lot of time had passed. I should really take my leave.
「Um, I think it’s about time I head home」
「Is that so? …Ah」
「Is something wrong?」
「Since you’re here, why don’t you stay for dinner, Alec-chan」
「Dinner?」
「Now that I think about it, that’s why I came to see you. I completely forgot, how careless of me」
Ralina mama let out a hearty ‘Gahaha’ laugh. The gap between her appearance and that laugh was striking.
But dinner, huh…
「No, I appreciate the invitation, but I think I’ll go home today」
「Oh, come now, there’s no need to hold back」
「That’s right, onii-chan, let’s eat together」
「Sorry. I haven’t told my parents anything, and… I think my mother is probably already making dinner for me too…」
If she had prepared it all and waited, only for me to come home and say, 『I ate outside』, how would Mother feel? …She’d probably sulk.
Mother loves cooking and puts her heart into it. If I ignored her cooking, how would she feel? …She’d probably sulk.
「Ah, I see」
「Yes. I can’t let my mother’s cooking go to waste…」
「That’s true… knowing Miriam, she’d probably sulk」
Since Ralina mama was close with Mother, she knew her well.
「That’s how it is, so I’m sorry. Next time for sure」
「Alright, I understand. Next time then」
「Aww… too bad, but see you again, onii-chan」
「Yeah. See you, Ralina-chan」
I said my farewells and stepped out of Ralina-chan’s room. Most likely to prepare dinner, Ralina mama left with me as well.
「Thank you as always, Alec-chan, for playing with Ralina」
「No, no, really, it’s nothing—」
「Oh my, Alexis-san. You were here?」
「Hii!?」
A pervert! The pervert who tests techniques on monsters appeared!!
next chapter: How about walking mushroom?
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