Translator: mii

Editors: sleepchaser, con

The hero"s cottage stood at the top of a hill.

It was surrounded by forests and fields. A path led from the front of the cottage down to a road that ran alongside the river, with a mountain range visible beyond.

And said river acted as the boundary of this world.

After accepting Sig"s invitation, I had imagined it to be an easy walk. But it wasn"t anything as relaxing as that. We headed towards the area behind the house first. Past the well and continuing on, we entered the forest and began the climb up the mountain.

It was intense. We were jogging, but it was definitely a different thing altogether to keep a good pace in such a steep area. Once I started to gasp for air, Sig grabbed my hand, letting me leaning on him for support as he scaled the mountain. What"s up with this guy? Why"s he able climb all the way up these slopes without sweating?

“This place should be good,” Sig muttered, announcing that we had arrived at the destination while still keeping a hold on me. We"re finally here, huh? I, whose stumbling feet had already been worn to the bone, took a deep breath as I stepped onto the rocks.

We stood on a large boulder that cut through the mountain ridge. The place from which we had emerged was further up than the surrounding trees, giving us a view of the area below.

Peering down in the direction of the house with Sig by my side, I could make out the field and the mountain stream beyond. On the other side of the river lay a deep, thick forest.

“I discovered this when I walked around yesterday," said the hero. "Can you see it, Minoru?”

Without realizing it, I scanned over my surroundings. And I gasped in surprise.

There was a city in the distance.  In the center stood a castle made of stone, just like those famous tourist spots in Europe.

What, so there"s such a big city out there… Was this world actually larger than I had thought?

I whipped my gaze back to the hero. His stare fell upon me, his head slightly shaking.

“All the scenery beyond the river is an illusion. It doesn"t really exist.”

A breath of relief escaped from my lips. It would be bad if after I had purchased the bridge, I ended up reaching that city instead.

“I just want to know if you"re familiar with that city.”

“No, I"ve never seen it before,” I said, shaking my head. From the way he said that, it sounded like he didn"t know the city either.

There wasn"t much to look at other than that city, only rocks and hills as far as the eye could see, and we hopped down from the boulder.

Even so, the illusory city looked real. It might be a mirage of a real city somewhere.

After heading back down the mountain, we followed the road along the river and arrived at the "entrance to the world" where I had gotten lost a few days ago.

As I approached the riverside, the hero grabbed my shoulders from beside me.

“Be careful, Minoru. This river is dangerous.”

He said the same thing as G.o.d, with a serious look on his face. Maybe he could sense something sinister from this place, unlike I. I obediently nodded, leaving with him as he pulled my arm.

"You came here a lot yesterday."

My eyes went wide at that unexpected statement. It was true that I had come here yesterday. In fact, I had visited this place many times ever since I had accidentally trespa.s.sed on to this world. I never missed a day, holding on to a small hope that I could cross the river some other way. But yesterday especially, I had come numerous times when I was trying to contact G.o.d.

So he saw me, huh?

“What are you worried about?” Sig asked, staring straight into my eyes.

Should I tell him the truth? That I was just a "lost child," and I wanted to get out of this place?

I was at a loss, but after a moment I decided not to say anything. Sig was kind, but n.o.body liked to know that they had been deceived. In this small world, I didn"t want to lose his trust.

I looked at the other side of the river, thinking about how to dodge the issue.

Ah, how about this?

“I"m waiting for other people.”

"No one will come." Sig"s voice was calm and low. "You should have noticed it as well, right? This place is completely closed-off. There"s only me and you."

Under the sun, Sig"s eyes occasionally appeared a shade of pink.

“I told you about my job yesterday, right?”

“Yeah, you were asked to take care of me.”

“That"s correct. But other than that, I need to keep the house and field clean…”

The hero nodded, a serious look on his face. I looked away from those sweet-looking eyes, turning my gaze to the place the bridge used to be.

"Once I finish my job, a bridge will appear right there… Then a wonderful person will cross over and come here."

I wasn"t lying, of course. Once I crossed the bridge and left, the hero"s bride would arrive at this miniature garden.

But it"s not like I could just say “your bride is coming soon,” so I ended up giving him a pretty lame response… Would the hero accept that explanation?

I glanced at Sig"s face, sweat clinging to the back of my neck. Those purple eyes never left me, his surprise apparent.

“Cross the bridge… and come here?” Looked like he accepted my answer, no matter how stupid it had sounded.

…Was he really okay? Since yesterday he had believed everything I said without question; this hero was too pure. Even my chest was starting to hurt.

But hero, I was talking about the bridge just now, so why didn"t you turn that stare at the other side of the river? Why did you instead look at me?

My heart thrashed against my chest. I felt anxious under the scrutiny of those beautiful eyes.

Had I said something bad?

Share a Bed Rank C: 2000  [Note] Nestling while sleeping/Feeling complicated