Tensei Shoujo no Rirekisho was written by Karasawa Kazuki and this chapter was translated by yAmi on www.yamitranslations.com

“Isn’t this ground (clay pack) awesome!”
“You are right--. Feels great --”
“I’m gonna spread all over our arms, legs and everywhere else that is exposed to the sun!”
“Ah! Me too me too--. It also helps as a sunscreen too.”

It has been approximately one year since we left and escaped Guriguri village. 
Many things have had happened during our journey but the bandits are all doing fine.

However, we have not met up with Bashu-san yet.

Nevertheless, we did not spend the time fruitlessly waiting for Bashu-san. Kou-okaasan and I started a beauty seminar to enhance women’s femininity, spending our days on polishing up one’s figure.
Today was a seminar on clay packs. It was an ointment that had been made with fine soil mixed with medicated water and then thickened into paste.

“Uwaa! Kou-anesan? Is it? What are you doing! I totally thought you were some demonic beast, buahaha—”

Kou-okaasan delivered a clean hit to Kuwamaru-aniki who had been talking straightforwardly!
“What do you mean by demonic beasts!”
After Kou-okaasan’s shouted back with dagger-like sharpness, I joined in with,“Yeah right, that’s rude!”
After spending more time with Kou-okaasan, I have acquired a womanlier tone. It is a good thing.

“S-sorry! U-um, the boss is calling.”
As Kuwamaru-bro held his beaten cheeks with his hands, he stood up unsteadily.

“Oh? Alek called? Well, then I shall make my way.”
Kou-okaasan went off while covered in mud.

“A-are you going in that state……”
Kuwamaru-bro interjected with a soft voice after waiting for Kou-okaasan to be some distance away.

“Aniki has returned huh! Have we made contact with Bashu-san?”
“Right on.” said Kuwamaru-bro as he gave his thumbs up.

Finally, some days before, Bashu-san has finalised his team to undertake the agricultural reform. However, having boss appear out of nowhere and saying, “Gahahaha, I have finally found you!” would invite suspicions that he might be a demon lord, and we were afraid that we might be subjugated by Bashu-san’s escorts so Kuwamaru delivered a message instead.

“Well, it is easy so long as you leave it to me. First of all, I went to a nearby village and approached a girl. I gave her some pocket money and I told to help me pa.s.s a bouquet to the person in the carriage. And then, inside the bouquet was the message addressed to Bashu so…... hey, are you listening!” Bro stopped in the middle of his story to shout at me because I was still smearing the mud on every crook and cranny of my body.

“I am listening. So the size of it is that Bashu-san found the letter in the bouquet and is coming to us right? Impressive, impressive.”

“What’s with that half-hearted praise…… Y-your treating me pretty bad these days y’know? Just one year ago, you were still so docile…...”

“You must be imagining it.”
As I continued applying the ointment, in order to get back to the main topic, I said, “And then?” Kuwamaru-aniki roughly understood my intent and continued with his story.

“And therefore, the strategy worked out well…...just that there was this extra guy--”

“Extra guy, you say?”

“It was Kou-anesan’s little brother. He is together with Bashu-san. He is a spirit user…...from another domain -- Yamato domain. For him, ever since he kind-of eloped with the Ojou-sama, the royalty has been alienating the Yamato Earl Family. I wonder if he would be driven out from Ruby Fallen.” said Kuwamaru as he laughed meanly. Thereafter, Kuwamaru switched to grumbling and complaining that, “--d.a.m.n, that he would appear was totally unforeseen.” Still, there was some delight hidden in his voice. It was more like he was actually thrilled.

“......It sounds as if, you were close friends?”

“We ain’t close. Disgusting! All we have is a fatal destiny.”
I see. From his reaction, they must be really intimate friends.

“Boss and everyone are friends from the school yes? I heard about it from Kou-okaasan. Did boss and everyone often hang out with this Kou-okaasan’s brother?”

“……Well, yeah. Still, he was a mage so the worlds we live in are different.”
Monkeyface-aniki looked somewhat gloomy.

“However, that boss hanged out with him, shows that they got on well with another though? Furthermore, earlier, Aniki said that he actually eloped……! With a princess at that, doesn’t that mean he was a charming person?”

“What! Charming? No way! He was immature.” He said while laughing and crumpling my hair.
At the part when he said “Charming?”, he made a terrible shrieking voice, he had better not been trying to imitate my voice when he did that! My voice is definitely cuter than that! A cute voice that young girls have!

To display my indignation, I gave Aniki a hug while covered in mud.

“Uwa, hey you! You’ll dirty me—!” Aniki yelling resounded through the mountains.

*


The meeting with Bashu was arranged to be 10 days from now.
Ever since that was decided, somehow, boss had been on his toes and Kou-okaasan was less lively.
After having our dinner around the bonfire, the rest started drinking and making some noises but something felt different about today’s atmosphere compared to other days. Everyone seem to be drinking with a tinge of weightiness.

I grabbed hold of a handmade bamboo flute. (TN: specifically, a transverse flute)
I had always played a tune or two after our meal but what should I do today?

A life in the mountains would not have the usual entertainment we have normally, so I was thinking of what could I do before finally choosing music. Hence, I made this bamboo flute myself. It was made such that the notes were accurate.

Usually, together with the party, I would blow a nice “Pii Hyara”(TN: the sound of a party horn) music with a refreshing rhythm and the intoxicated Gai-san and Kuwamaru would dance to it.
However, it looks like the audience do not have that kind of fervor today to dance to the music. From the atmosphere, if I did that today, I would undoubtedly be regarded as somewhat who cannot read the atmosphere.

In the end, I played a solemn cla.s.sical music as the BGM.
As I blew from my flute, as always, Rudel-san glaringly gazed at my hands.
Rudel-san had a boundless interest in the sounds of the flute.
Even now, as he observed my hands, his hands were vaguely moving too. No doubt that he is practicing in his head right now.
Occasionally, he would secretly ask me to teach him the flute. He was an excellent disciple that spared no effort.

“Ryou-chan can play it like that too huh.”
“No, it is more like Ryou was originally better at playing these calm compositions.”
Kou-okaasan nodded while Rudel-san went into his a.n.a.lytical mode without a moment’s delay.

That I was good at cla.s.sical music, I could somewhat agree. In my previous existence, I had endlessly played them in musical performances. They were music from the sheets to allow me to win awards at contests.
I had never imagined in those days that this music would, after I had been reincarnated, for the sake of letting others listen to it, etch on a melody that describes the current state of my heart. I never expected the day when I would play this music so naturally, so much so that I would say that this is exactly my rock! 

“However, it is so miraculous—. Despite having no lessons in it, that she can play it so well.”
“True. Basically, only spirit users can play musical instruments without practice.”
It seems that in this world, playing music with an instrument is not common. There is a strong connotation of it to rituals that spirit users conduct to execute large-scale magic and that it has been sanctified too, so it was not something the average person would lay his hands on.

Ultimately, on that day, boss continued to be serious throughout while the curtains on Ryou-chan’s cla.s.sical concert closed.

The reason for boss being tensed up after having decided the meeting with Bashu-san, was something that I could vaguely guess at since I have been with him for the past one year.
It might be something that boss is trying to do or what he wants to say to Bashu-san.
I pretended not to notice anything and continued with my child-like innocence.