This chapter has an interesting development!! Also, two more chapters to end the first arc of this series and start the second arc!
Patron Mention : Patrick Frake, a big thank you as always! (ノ^∇^)
Also, if you notice some links in the middle of your reading, it’d redirect you to an explanation page or image of the linked word!
Chapter 29
Gradually, My Health Recovers
At the end of the day.
Beginning around the afternoon of the day where I first stayed in the bed, from then on, I became a bedridden person along with my stomach ache for around 4 days. Stomach, or should I say, around the insides of the area between my legs, that place gave me a tingling sensation and a dull pain. I’ve had enough, would I be experiencing it for every month? It’s hard, you see.
Also, regarding the hot-water bottle… or in this world’s term, the hot water container has such a tremendous power. After pouring hot water into it, I wrap it in with a slightly thick cloth and placed it on my stomach. After a short time, the warmth spread gradually. Because of that, somehow I felt more comfortable. Nah, really, the ancestor’s wisdom is incredible!
Thanks to the hot water container, I somehow managed to eat my meals. I received foods that are made tender and easy to eat, the ones made using ingredients similar to stew or pot-au-feu, and I got to eat them on my bed with ease. I felt relieved that my foods were warm.
Ah, I also properly went to the toilet. After putting on the gown, I asked someone from the maids to accompany me. Then, once I was done wiping, I was like, “Whoa!”. The same thing happened whenever I needed to exchange my napkin.
The toilet paper used in this world is more like cotton or scraps of fiber gathered, it looks like a paper but it is soft and thin. It seems that in order to increase the volume of the material and to reinforce it, they also mixed the textile made of the plants that were usually used for making papers, but I think I feel guilty from using several sheets1.
“It’s a get-well gift from Saryuu-sama. It looks like a souvenir from the spring festival.”
On the second day, or if I name it, the next day after my bed rest day, Minoa-san brought me a small glass bottle. The content is… aah, it’s the Viola preserved sugar. The one that was on top of the cake and that Saryuu placed into his tea.
Did he realize that I took an interest in it? What a good little brother he is, indeed.
“I have received a message from him saying that when you get better, please drink a tea with this. I also have told him ‘thank you’ in Seiren-sama’s place.”
“Yeah, thanks. That tea was totally delicious… Would it also be delicious even when I drink it just like a normal tea?”
“Sometimes there are the types of tea that you drink after putting in the preserved sugar, so it’s alright.”
I feel relieved by Minoa-san’s words.
I know that preserving salt is used in preserved foods, but it looks like the same case for the preserved sugar. It can be kept for quite a long time, and it has to be placed in a cool place like in the shade. Once I am feeling well, I’ll call Saryuu and ask him to drink the tea together with me. As brother and sister, would it not be strange?
On the day where it seemed like my circulation ended, I entered the bath after a while. Although my body was wiped properly every day, it still got dirty in the end, as one would expect.
During the time I left my bed, it seemed like the sheets and the pillows were completely replaced. Minoa-san said strongly to me, “Leave it to me. So that Seiren-sama can have a very pleasant rest, I shall tidy them up,” but could it be that she was boasting her capability?
“Since we’re not watching, please wash your body thoroughly, okay?”
Before soaking myself in the bathtub, Oriza-san and Alica-san put up cloth on my surroundings while saying that. …Nah well, that saved me, thank you.
Anyway, as for washing my private parts… It has to be done with no exception at all even during the time I was sick and in a bed rest, there was a tub where I could thoroughly wash it myself. This situation is normal, but I feel bad for having to rub it. Also, it reeks the smell of iron2.
Also also, I felt somewhat a strange sensation for having to scrub that place by all means, but that is well, nah…
Please don’t say anything, it’s quite embarrassing since I’m talking about my own body that I will have to compromise with for my whole life.
So, feeling refreshed after having my whole body thoroughly washed, I’ll be having a meal together with my family for the first time in a while. Wearing a deep green dress with a short-coated jacket that looks like a white bolero, I timidly entered the dining room.
“Nee-sama!”
“Seiren. Are you feeling alright now?”
Saryuu looks happy, while my mother’s voice indicates that she’s worried. I somehow laughed and said, “I’m sorry for making you worried,” while bowing my head. As for my father… he folds his arms on his own seat and keeps silent. My mother squinted her eyes in an instant, and then called him out with a slightly angry tone.
“…Dear.”
“…Unh. Se, Seiren, that, is your body, alright, now?”
“Yes. It’s all thanks to everyone.”
Errr, Tou-san, I was thinking as to why you were slightly mumbling, but as I thought, it must be awkward to bring yourself to ask about the female’s body, right? Well, this is indeed a complicated situation. The situation between a maturing daughter and her father, I mean.
“I, is that so. Then I’m glad. From now on, try not to force yourself too hard.”
“Yes.”
What he means by “don’t force yourself too hard” is not just about my physical condition, I’m sure of it. Really, I need to be more careful, too.
I really shouldn’t go outside too much, eh…
Then then, a few days later.
After my health was stable, in accordance to what I thought during my bedrest, I invited Saryuu to have a little tea party in my room. I also have some shortbreads my mother gave me and the Viola preserved sugar that Saryuu brought for me.
Bringing along Kanna-san who also went to the spring festival together with us, my little brother entered my room with a slightly tense expression. Ah-, it must be because he’s entering the room of someone of an opposite gender whose age is only slightly apart, so of course he’d feel nervous. I’m his older sister, although deep inside I’m supposed to be a brother, though.
“E, excuse me.”
“Excuse me~!”
“Yeah, come inside. Saryuu, thank you for the festival’s souvenir.”
When I took the Viola preserved sugar from its storing place and showed it to him, Saryuu sternly straightened his back. O-i, it’s not parents’ day3 or an entrance examination, so there’s no need to be that nervous-. …Nah, it doesn’t seem like this little brother of mine has ever experienced things like that, though.
“N, no problem! Since Kanna was the one who recommended it to me…”
“Eh, is that so?”
“Yeah. Seiren-sama, it’s all because when you imitated Saryuu-sama dropping the preserved sugar into the tea and drink it, your face formed a really gentle expression!”
“A-h, haha, is that so. Thanks, Kanna-san.”
Even so, I see… a boy around his age won’t be too sensitive for things like that. When I was around his age, I was also quite insensitive. Yup, people said that people lacking self-consciousness usually turned insensitive, I think.
Well, anyway, Saryuu finally took a seat and proceeded to drink the tea that Oriza-san brewed after dropping in the preserved sugar. Kanna-san also enjoyed her tea and snack while happily saying, “Thank you so much, ya-y!”. Although she was not in the same table as Saryuu and me, she was sitting somewhere else slightly apart from our table.
“Speaking of which, my biological father came during the time Ane-sama was in a bedrest.”
After eating one shortbread, Saryuu suddenly mentioned it. Which reminds me, he came to this family as an adopted child to succeed this house after I went missing. That being the case, it won’t be weird for his biological parents to come and meet him, I guess.
“Biological? Aah, I heard that you were our distant relative. So, he visited you?”
“Yeah. It has been quite a long time, but he visited me and strangely asked about Ane-sama. That’s why, I’m a bit bothered by it.”
“About me?”
I spontaneously pointed myself and Saryuu nodded firmly. Why me, as I was about to think about that, I immediately realized about how I was known for.
“Well, of course he’d be curious. Even if they all said that I was recuperating, in truth, I was a daughter who went into somewhere nobody knew.”
“No, that is…”
When I answered like that, my little brother’s expression strangely turned serious. I faltered and decided to drink one sip of the tea. After that, I noticed from his discerning eyes that it might be something quite grave.
“He said something like, ‘so she has come back from a really faraway place, hasn’t she?’. His eyes were like gazing into the very distant place.”
“What?”
Finally returned, from a faraway place.
I’m supposed to be known as [the frail daughter who was recuperating] outside the mansion.
There was nothing wrong with the way he said that, but somehow the nuance of his sentence, doesn’t feel like he indicated my recuperation.
“…Uhm. Did Saryuu’s biological father… regarding my getting abducted…?”
When I asked, Saryuu shook his head. Flatly.
I’m really saved on the fact that the gestures used in this world are all the same as the ones I know.
“He shouldn’t have known. I haven’t even heard anything about it until very recently, despite the fact that I have been spending some years in the Shiiya family.”
“…I thought he was referring to my returning home after recuperating, but the way he talked about that was quite peculiar…”
“Yeah.”
I wonder if the place I had been to was discovered?
The reason why we were hiding the fact that I was abducted and sent into a far, different world is because it won’t be weird for various problems to arise should anyone find out.
The ones who know about my being in the other world are only my parents, Jigen-san, and Kuon-san.
While the ones who know that I was abducted are only the people inside the Shiiya house, and also the servants.
But.
“…how should I put it… is it okay, Saryuu?”
Realizing something, I questioned my little brother.
To say such things, regarding how suspicous was his own biological father for the way he spoke.
“About what?”
“No, I mean, the one who said that was Saryuu’s biological father, right? For you, he must be a very precious parent.”
“Even so, my father right now is Shiiya Mondo. Also, my name is Shiiya Saryuu.”
“That is true, but still…”
I couldn’t think of any respond to Saryuu who answered decisively.
Since before coming here, I was also Shikino Seiren, so I can somehow understand that feeling.
But, my parents right now are none other than Tou-san and Kaa-san.
“That is why, for me right now, he is just a distant uncle, Shikino Touya.”
“………………what?”
At that moment, I can’t believe my own ears.
Just now, what did Saryuu say?
“Err, what did you, just say?”
“Eh?”
“Did you just say Shikino Touya?”
“Yeah. The direct distant relative of Shiiya family, the feudal lord of a remote region, the head of the Shikino family is Touya, my biological father.”
Saryuu reacted with a nod to me who was wide-eyed and was about to gnaw at the name he mentioned just now.
Shi-ki-no Tou-ya.
Shikino Touya.4
The same surname, the same personal name.
Saryuu’s biological father and the orphanage director who raised me have the same name.
“…are you serious? Having exactly the same name…”
“Having exactly the same name?”
“The one who raised me was also called Shikino Touya.”
“What?”
This time, it was Saryuu’s turn to be wide-eyed. That is a natural reaction.
Since someone who’s supposedly in the faraway place that Saryuu doesn’t know, to have the exactly same name as his own biological father.
“Coincidences really do exist, huh?”
“……T, that’s right.”
I can only nod in response to Saryuu who said that in his blank amazement.
That day, the back that I found and chased after.
The director, could he be?
Notes:
1 If anyone has a better suggestion for this line: 材料のかさ増しと補強のためにって普通に紙に使われる草木の繊維も入ってるらしいんだけど、でも何枚も使っちゃうと申し訳ないと思う。
2 Iron or metallic odor. It’s normal to have this kind of smell around that area during menstruation because blood contains iron.
3 day when parents come to the school and observe their children during the class
4 The first line was written with katakana, while the second line was written with kanji. Katakana: シキノ・トーヤ。Kanji: 四季野冬也。
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My Comment:
Boy, I’m glad they bring up this topic about the director again! XD
Thanks for the new chapter! Wow that’s an interesting coincidence! O_O
Theory time:
1st theory would be he’s the kidnapper, but Seiren was raised well growing up. So I think this theory is unlikely.
2nd theory is that Shikino Touya is the same person that can jump worlds. Idk how plausible that is because the words Saryuu mentioned don’t fit well with the theory. Plus I don’t remember any random disappearances by the director in the original world. Been a while since the early chapters though, so maybe I forgot. XD
3rd theory (last one I can think of) is parallel world Shikino Touya. The one in this world was Saryuu’s biological father and raised him for a time. The Earth world version is the orphanage director. And they have a mental connection, maybe.
Honestly leaning towards the last one, but just have to wait and see. XD
Your 2nd and 3rd theories seem plausible! I’m also interested in how the Shikino Touya in two different worlds will be connected xD I just hope it isn’t dismissed as a mere coincidence and that we’ll get an interesting answer~!
It’s usually nice to consider contingencies that could falsify your assumptions. For example:
1)
Seiren was kidnapped, but you don’t necessarily have malice against somebody you kidnap. It could just be that he finds this a regrettable political necessity or the best of a bad situation. That or he’s calculating and believes it’s easier to cage somebody who feels love for you.
Dynastically, controlling the fate and education of a young mind makes every difference. People used to take political hostages in this manner. One of the advantages of just passing on hereditary rank is that you can pretty reliably insure that your offspring will feel loyalty to your family and its legacy and that they’ll imprint from a young age on the culture and things you value.
That is demonstrably what happened with Saryuu.
2)
While it doesn’t make sense that Saryuu has no loyalty to his blood father, maybe his father never had a choice in the matter. It’s not Touya can volunteer his son to be the next heir then expect to have any control over his education or future. He has no say in the matter. So if he’s just hoping to install a blood relation as part of some power play, then it’s not a very good plan (see above).
On the other hand, there just may be laws about inheritance that says that Saryuu must inherit because he’s the closest blood relation. So who knows. Maybe the plan just failed to work as intended or is already working and doesn’t depend on Saryuu’s specific loyalty.
If there are bad guys, then they wouldn’t want their plan failing at all, but it clearly would have for there to be a story at all. Otherwise Seiren continues living on Earth and that’s that.
What really gets my goat is why Touya would bother checking up on Seiren himself. Does he not have spies for this sort of thing? Why jeopardize the plan by giving the game away? In a way, it makes sense to send spies. Who wouldn’t? The whole story about Seiren being a sick heir who just conveniently happened to be away for a long time sounds fishy and anybody who wants to know where their toast is buttered is going to try to dig deeper than that.
3)
This sounds plausible narratively but is purely speculative. It sounds like the sort of quasi-mystical thing that would happen in a fantasy setting. But it’s also very specific. We already know the family wizard can pull Seiren between worlds without actually personally being able to see her. So this sort of magic already exists. So why can’t it be reverse-engineered to work the other way?
Sure, we need more data. But ehh, the circumstantial evidence smells very fishy to me.
Okay, bear with me, because I like overanalyzing things and I like logic exercises so I can learn to think more critically.
So I’m using Occam’s Razor and simplifying this problem to a couple questions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
In summary, Occam’s Razor just says that you should use the least available entities when creating an explanation.
So we have two questions:
1) What is Shikino Touya?
2) How did Seiren get pulled between worlds and get sex swapped?
So I dismiss that Shikino Touya is some parallel world many-universes version of the orphanage director. This is because his name is unusual enough that it sticks out like a sore thumb. If parallel universe versions of people are common, why just this one person? Wouldn’t Seiren just start notice that her surroundings just has incongruously Japanese-looking people and cultural elements in a mostly European style fantasy? She would’ve mentioned that Japanese-sounding names just seem common for some reason.
So I’ll go with the simplest explanation. Shikino Touya is the orphanage director.
Seiren got pulled into another world because a wizard did it. We have direct evidence that wizards do this. The alternative is that this was just some completely unrelated accident. But that’s kind of weird since nobody mentions that this sort of thing just happens once in a blue moon. Like “Woops, the leylines shifted, the planets aligned and people just disappear.” Or, “Well those dang pixies are at it again!” It’s the kind of thing you look into and think about when the daughter of a powerful family just goes missing.
This also neatly explains how Touya can travel between worlds. If a wizard can send another person through, then why not the director?
So that’s the prediction I’m betting my imaginary gold coins on.
1) Touya is the orphanage director.
2) And a wizard sent Seiren into another world.
I do not care to speculate into motivations because I keep running into brick walls there.
I believe that this issue would be explained, but I don’t see the mysteries being revealed so soon… I love your theories and also, I can’t wait to read the explanation that the author wrote XD
Wow, I just think about this novel suddenly got update. Thanks for chapter!
Wow so intriguing. I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Man, is it Stockholm Syndrome?
IDK….
Anyway, thanks 4 the chap updates
Well… I can only say:
No shit, Sherlock
parallel world doppelgangers
But with mental connection? XD seems plausible too!
Many thanks for the chapter as always! Also, my last name doesn’t have a c in it.
OH, I’m so sorry, the typo has been fixed :” Thank you so much for your support XD
thanks for the chapter XD
unveiling the mystery about the uncle and the director!!!
After the festival incident I would be twice guarded about the person who sorta raised me. At that age one knows that kindness can be simulated if the political gain is enough. I think they are same person and some kind of wonky mcguffin device allows for a golem/doppleganger as needed or a wizard twin brother since he is a couple degree removed branch family
I still can’t find the right theory to explain this phenomenon but I hope the author could explain it well by the time the revelation chapter is out ^^