Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 26

“Why, what is the matter? Does your head ache?” Irene asked.

‘If so, things are going to get very complicated!’

“No, it is not that. It just seems there is no answer. I expected as much, but no matter what we plant, everything takes several months, and it says cultivation is even harder here since this is a mountainous area and on the colder side.”

“Pardon? It is incredibly warm here. In the summer, it gets so hot I feel like I might die.”

“…? Are you certain?” Idris asked.

“Yes.”

Irene nodded with eyes full of conviction. When she first settled here, the hardest thing had been the summer. How difficult it had been to endure the scorching sun. During her first summer, she had barely left the house, surviving only by relying on cooling magic tools.

However, Idris narrowed his eyes as if he could not believe it.

“Just to check, what do you think the temperature of this basement is right now?”

“It is just right? If spring were this temperature, it would be cozy and nice.”

“I see. As I thought, the climate here is indeed on the colder side. It says what can be grown in these mountains is limited.”

“Pardon? I am telling you, it is not cold at all.”

Irene could not accept it. As she raised her objection, Idris began to point out the reality, refuting her plainly.

“No, objectively speaking, it is on the colder side. I suppose because you are from the Kingdom of Orihen, you are resistant to the cold, but this basement is also at a very chilly temperature.”

“Here? Surely people of the Empire do not call this chilly? You make even more of a fuss than the people from the south.”

“…Ms. Irene. By any chance, are you from the northern part of Orihen?”

“Yes. That is correct.”

Idris wore an expression that said, ‘I knew it.’

“I understand what you mean, but northern Orihen is simply too cold. Does it not snow there all year round?”

“Not all year round. That would be the Kingdom of Runhark.”

“But it is true that a cold wind blows roughly all year round, is it not?”

“That is true, but.”

She could not bring herself to refute that much. In Irene’s village, they wore clothes made of wool all year long. Thus, the short debate ended in Irene’s complete defeat.

* * *

“Are you still looking at that?” Irene asked.

“Ah, there are more things to see than I expected. You do not need to mind me.”

The two had succeeded in finding several books and even some useful grain seeds. However, Idris, who had returned to the surface, had been immersed in the books for half a day now, staring so hard his eyes looked ready to pop out.

He was reading with such intensity, as if he would die if he missed a single letter, that she was honestly a bit worried.

‘Since he is just staying still like that, I am bored.’

Irene approached Idris, who was literally tearing his hair out with a thin dictionary spread out on the table, and placed her hand and chin on his shoulder.

Idris’s movements stopped as if by magic. Through his shirt, she could feel his tensed muscles contracting. His pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks from terror, but Irene did not see it.

“Mr. Idris, you seem far too anxious right now,” Irene said.

“Is… that so,” he managed to reply.

Hmm, this will not do. He seems to have no self-awareness at all.

“Yes, nothing is solved by being this restless. It does not change anything if you read it a few hours later.”

It was not as if he were going to starve to death this very moment.

“So, let us think after we have dinner first, shall we?”

The tension that had stiffened Idris’s body drained away. He let out a silent sigh of relief.

“…Yes, let us do that. Ah, may I handle dinner tonight? You have worked hard all this time, Ms. Irene.”

“Really? I will not refuse then.”

Seeing Irene smile radiantly, Idris let go of even his remaining tension and fear.

Rising from his chair, Idris headed straight for the kitchen. Idris’s simple gray slippers were followed by a pair of small slippers resembling the paws of a calico cat.

Idris rolled up his shirt sleeves, which had been unbuttoned. As he began preparing by washing his hands at the sink, Irene peered at him from here and there with curiosity.

He only looked slender because he was covered by clothes; he certainly had well-defined muscles, the body of a true knight. Watching his arms, where veins were particularly prominent, Irene tilted her head at a thought that suddenly crossed her mind.

‘Come to think of it… just how strong of a knight is Mr. Idris?’

It did not seem like he was weak, but since she had hardly ever seen knights, it was difficult to tell just by looking.

‘Hmm. I could easily find out if I pitted him against a monster.’

Irene stared intently at Idris’s back as he even put on an apron. Idris, feeling an inexplicable chill, tightly gripped the dish he was taking from the cupboard with both hands.