Chapter 74: The Village Bathhouse

Aunt Potato, watching how Mira and the two girls were getting along, smiled.

At first she’d honestly been worried when Mira suddenly showed up and sent Elias away. She thought Mira would lose control again and try to hurt Evelyn and Elysia.

She’d even prepared a spell in her hand just in case.

"I worried for nothing."

"Thank goodness Mira didn’t do anything reckless."

Elias, who’d just walked up to her, chimed in. Then he looked at the three girls pulling potatoes, joking and laughing together every now and then.

Aunt Potato noticed Elias beside her and only gave a small snort before going back to pulling the potatoes in front of her.

"She was just shocked earlier when she saw you’d lost your left arm. And well... I was shocked too, you know."

"I’m fine with it, though. Well, even if what I can do is kind of limited now..."

Elias then picked up a sack of potatoes next to Aunt Potato. But before he could head to the cart to put it down, Aunt Potato suddenly asked about his left arm.

"Do you still have your severed arm? If you do, it should still be possible to reattach it."

"Really?! I do have it, but I don’t think that’s possible."

Elias then walked toward the cart with the sack hauled over his shoulder.

Hearing Elias say that reattaching his arm was impossible, Aunt Potato was obviously confused. She raised one eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

*Hup!

Elias set the sack onto the cart, then wiped the sweat off his forehead before answering.

"I tried to reattach it back then too. They said it’s impossible. Well, because the God died or whatever it was."

Aunt Potato stopped her work right away when she heard Elias talk about a "dead God".

She then turned to Elias, who was standing beside her.

"Where did you hear that?"

"A woman said it. She’s also one of the people who saved us in Blackwood Forest."

After hearing Elias’s explanation, Aunt Potato lowered her head with one hand on her chin. Her forehead creased like she was trying to remember something.

’Could it be her...?’

Still without an answer to her thoughts, Aunt Potato finally asked Elias again.

"What’s that woman’s name, and which god was she talking about?"

Elias looked at Aunt Potato, raising an eyebrow. He was starting to get a little curious about her reaction.

"Her name’s Umbra. As for the god she meant, she doesn’t know the name herself. But anyway, the god got killed by someone and it seems to have some connection with the Church of Light."

Aunt Potato’s eyes, which were usually closed, flew all the way open. Her pupils trembled while sweat started pouring down her face, like she’d just remembered something forgotten a long time ago.

Seeing the change in Aunt Potato’s expression, Elias raised an eyebrow in confusion. He then moved closer and touched her shoulder.

"Why are you spacing out, Auntie?"

Aunt Potato flinched when Elias touched her shoulder. Her face showed a bit of worry.

She then looked up at Elias before smiling like everything was fine.

"Nothing. It’s nothing."

"Really?"

"Seriously! It’s nothing! I just suddenly remembered something. I think I know a woman named Umbra."

"Really?!"

Elias was shocked to hear Aunt Potato knew Umbra. He quickly sat down next to her since he wanted to hear more.

"Are you two close? Where did you meet before? What exactly is she? And who is she?"

Seeing Elias’s sparkling face, Aunt Potato was reminded a little of his childhood. Back then, every time she started telling a story, Elias would make the exact same face as he did now.

The woman let out a small sigh before smiling and flicking Elias’s forehead.

*Flick!

"Ouch! Why’d you flick me?"

"You’ve grown up. Why do you still want to listen to stories like a little kid?"

"What’s wrong with that? There’s no rule like that in the empire, you know."

"That can wait. Now go lift those sacks!"

Elias clicked his tongue for a moment before getting up lazily. He’d been ordered around by Aunt Potato again, even though he’d wanted to hear the story about Umbra.

"Tch! Fine. You’ve gotten so stingy now."

"Fufu~"

Aunt Potato just giggled at Elias being annoyed.

But her laughter suddenly stopped when she remembered something. Since Mira wasn’t mad at Evelyn and Elysia anymore, Elias should start preparing something for his sister’s birthday.

"Elias, you still remember that today’s Mira’s birthday, right?"

Elias stopped walking right away and turned toward Aunt Potato.

"Of course I remember."

"Have you prepared anything? If not, you’d better start now."

"Huh? But what about the potatoes—"

"I can get someone else to take care of it."

Aunt Potato then stood up and walked over to Elias before starting to push him toward his house.

"Now go take a bath and get everything ready. I’ll take care of the potatoes and the girls."

Elias was a bit reluctant about being forced to leave. Well, how could he not be? A moment ago he’d been told to haul potatoes right when he wanted to hear a story, and now he was being forced to take a bath and prepare Mira’s birthday.

But even though he was annoyed, he didn’t argue. After all, it was for his beloved little sister’s birthday. Even if it was a bit of a hassle, he still had to do it.

"Ugh... Fine, fine! Quit pushing me."

Elias then walked to the tree to grab his shirt before heading home.

While Aunt Potato was looking at Elias’s back as he got farther away, Mira suddenly appeared behind her with Evelyn and Elysia.

"Auntie, where’s Big Bro going?"

Hearing Mira’s question, Aunt Potato stood up straight and answered. Of course, she couldn’t tell her that Elias was being sent off to prepare Mira’s birthday party.

"Um... I told him to go hunting with the Hunter Uncles. Ah! Are you girls tired?"

"No. I’m not yet—"

"Good thing you’re tired! Mira, take the Ladies to soak in the village bathhouse!"

Mira raised an eyebrow when she was suddenly told to take Evelyn and Elysia to soak. She didn’t even feel tired. Well, though her sentence had been cut off.

"But, Auntie—"

Aunt Potato immediately pushed the three of them to get them out of the field and go clean up.

"Ladies, go with Mira. She’ll show you the pride of our village, the bathhouse!"

*Wink!

Evelyn and Elysia were a little confused at first when Aunt Potato suddenly acted like she was chasing them off. But after seeing the woman’s wink, the two of them finally realized something.

"Ah... Of course!"

"Mira, please lead the way."

"Hear that? Now go rest and soak your bodies! I can handle this by myself."

Aunt Potato pushed the three of them again, harder this time. Mira felt a little confused as she scratched her head, but in the end she still followed along without asking anything.

"Alright..."

The three of them then started walking toward the village bathhouse. Once they were far enough from the potato field, Aunt Potato let out a sigh of relief while wiping the sweat off her forehead.

*Phew~

"For now, those two girls should be able to handle it."

* * *

On the way to the village bathhouse, Mira, Evelyn, and Elysia ran into villagers a few times who came up to talk to them. But most of them only wanted to tease Evelyn and Elysia with names like "Elias’s girlfriends" or "Mira’s sisters-in-law".

Every time they heard that teasing, Evelyn and Elysia’s faces turned red right away. The two of them could only laugh without denying what the villagers said.

Meanwhile, Mira was getting annoyed watching Evelyn and Elysia keep getting teased by the villagers. She thought the two girls might feel uncomfortable or bothered by that kind of treatment.

Well... if this were a novel, people reading it might think Mira was a mirror of her own brother.

"Oh my, Mira. Out for a walk with your future sisters-in-law?"

"Goodness, you two are so beautiful! I wonder what kind of magic Elias used to win you over."

"Ladies, do you need a lot of baby clothes? If you do, just contact us here."

Evelyn and Elysia accepted a slip of paper with the address of a clothes weaving shop, their faces red and their smiles faint.

"Th-thank you..."

Mira slapped her forehead in frustration and sighed. Unable to put up with the villagers they passed, she grabbed Evelyn and Elysia by the wrists.

"We’d better just run so these people can’t bother you."

"Eh?"

"..."

Evelyn and Elysia exchanged a glance for a moment while running before finally following Mira’s pace.

*Dash!

But of course, some villagers still kept calling out and teasing them, or more accurately, bothering Evelyn and Elysia.

"Oh my, Mira. You like your future sisters-in-law so much you’re running around with them."

"Hey, Mira! Are you gonna be an aunt soon?"

"So are those two already pregnant?"

"Ugh... Shut up! Stop bothering Lady Nocturne!"

"Hahaha!"

Mira could only shout in annoyance as she kept running, holding Evelyn and Elysia by the wrists. But the villagers only laughed at her even more.

On the other side, Evelyn and Elysia’s faces got even redder from embarrassment. Their hearts were pounding too.

*Thump... Thump...

Their faces were so hot that smoke seemed to be coming out of both their heads as they ran.

A lot of what the villagers said kept echoing in their heads.

’P-pregnant... Baby... This is so embarrassing!’

’M-me... Being a mother...’

And that was how the three of them made their way to the village bathhouse, filled with the villagers’ laughter, Mira’s irritation, and Evelyn and Elysia’s embarrassment mixed with happiness.

* * *