Please Answer Me - Chapter 40

“…Nu- Nurang [1].”

[1] a dog that has yellow hair.

“Ah….”

Rosetta let out a pitiful sigh; his sense of naming was so horrible it made her shudder. Sika, beside her, started laughing, even holding his stomach.

“Oh my God! Nurang? How tacky! Hahaha!”

Sika’s gaping mouth was soon shut by Mark, who started punching him again.

“You bastard, you dare to make fun of a grown man when you are still a child!”

Sika giggled and dodged Mark’s punches. Surprisingly, he didn’t get a single punch this time. It was almost as if he had done it on purpose before.

In the midst of all this chaos, Benny calmly asked, “Rigaina, do you have any names that come to mind? Please give her a new name. Anything’s better than a Nurang.”

“Um…”

Rosetta steepled her chin with her fingers and looked at the horse. Truth be told, her naming skills weren’t all that great. It wasn’t quite up to par, but most of the small animals she’d raised so far had common, mundane names. For example, Pretty, Grumpy, and so on.

“What would be a good name….”

The sunlight was slanting through the high windows of the stable. Where the sunlight caught the horse’s mane, it glistened a brilliant gold, unlike any other part of the horse.

As she looked at it, Rosetta murmured softly, “Masha…”

The first person to respond to the name was Rashid.

“Masha?”

Rosetta smiled brightly and nodded. “Yes, I’ll go by Masha.”

Rashid raised an eyebrow. Then he asked a cautious question, “Who is Masha?”

“What?”

Rosetta looked puzzled. “I just told you, Masha’s the new name for Nurang.”

“Isn’t ‘Masha’ a name you knew before?”

“No. It’s a name I just made up on the fly.”

Rashid stared at Rosetta for a long moment, his mind racing with questions, until Benny clapped her hands and shouted, “Rigaina, why don’t you go for a little horseback ride now?”

“Horseback? Now?”

Benny nodded. “Yes, people should get along well with their horses, and you can only find that out by riding one, so why don’t you try it now?”

“You’re right about that, Benny.” Mark agreed.

He continued, “Even the most gentle of horses may not get along with people, so why don’t you take a test ride today?”

Rosetta turned her head and looked up at Rashid. He was the one who had offered to teach her how to ride, and he was the one who had brought her here. So this was something he could say yes to.

Rashid nodded shortly. “Very well, since I don’t have anything else to do.”

Then Sika’s eyes lit up. “Wow, that’s great. I’ve been feeling a little under the weather myself, but I’ll get my horse–”

“You stay here.”

Rashid cut off Sika’s words like a knife.

“Sika and everyone else, stay here. Don’t think about following me.”

Sika protested, “No, why?”

Rashid silenced his complaint with a single word, “Because you’re intrusive and noisy.”

Rashid grabbed the reins of the horse that had just been named Masha and turned to Rosetta.

“Let’s go.”

Rosetta gave the three of them a glance and followed him at a gallop. The three noisy meddlers were left where they were.

[…Riga is a bit different, isn’t he?] Sika asked a moment later.

Mark coughed loudly. [Yeah, he looks different to me too.]

[What’s the difference?] Benny, who hadn’t had much contact with Rashid, asked.

Sika shrugged. [He’s definitely different from the way he usually treats women. I’m actually surprised he took the time to teach Rigaina how to ride a horse. He’s not usually like that.]

Mark nodded. [That’s right. He’s not used to talking to the clan leaders’ daughters, even briefly, and I’m surprised he’d volunteer to teach Rigaina how to ride a horse, alone.]

[Apparently, they’re right that history between a man and a woman happens at night.]

At Sika’s words, Benny blushed and covered her cheeks with her hands, but despite the embarrassed gesture, her eyes were shining brightly.

[Does that mean it affects how they two get along?] she asked.

[Of course. That’s the most important thing between a man and a woman,] Sika answered.

He added with a smug smile, [If you are good at it, even a man and a woman who were at odds will quickly become close, and even if they have a fight, they’ll quickly make up. So the reason they two are getting along so well in such a short time is because Riga is good at night–]

Then Mark’s fist hit Sika’s head again. This time, Benny was hit as well.

[Ouch!]

[Ouch! Why are you hitting me again?]

Mark clicked his tongue as he looked at Sika, who was somewhat frustrated.

[This is a big deal. Kids nowadays speak inappropriate words in broad daylight. I am really worried about the future of the Quat tribe. And you, you bastard, you don’t even know what you’re talking about.]

[I know better than a bald old man who’s been living in a stable…]

[This asshole!]

Mark raised his voice, and the two younger ones giggled at each other.

Mark shook his head and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. It was at this moment that he understood why Riga had told him not to follow him. With those two around, it would be hard to get on the back of a horse today.

[Well, at least it’s good that they two get along. It’s better than hating each other.] Benny wrapped this up neatly with a positive attitude.

[That’s right…]

Unlike Benny, however, Mark’s expression darkened a bit and he looked at the cigarette in his hand.

He fervently hoped that one day, when Riga did marry, he would find a good woman, so that he could enjoy the family happiness that had eluded him so far. And Rigaina, as he saw her today, certainly fit the bill.

She had goodness in her eyes. Mark had seen a lot of people in his life, and he knew from experience that people with good eyes like that were usually good people. She was definitely what he was hoping for, a nice, good woman, which was why he was worried when he saw them together.

He knew of a lover whom he was very close to, and how the end of them.

Mark was suddenly afraid that Rashid would go through the same thing. He hoped it wouldn’t happen, but if something happened to the woman… and if he were to make the same choices as his father…

[By the way, is Riga any good at teaching others?]

Benny’s words rang out just before the cigarette in Mark’s hand nearly burst from the exertion.

[I don’t think I’ve ever seen Riga teach anyone anything.]

Mark recalled for a moment, then turned to Sika. [Sika, you were taught swordsmanship by Riga, how was that?]

After rescuing Sika from a burned-out Katan village, Rashid taught him swordsmanship and language himself, as the child of a dead clan leader was considered unwanted by all.

They doubted that a child who couldn’t even speak Ardenese would follow Rashid so well from the start. They worried that he would never truly follow the man who had killed his parents and everyone else in his village, and that he might one day stab him in the back.

This is how Rashid ended up taking over and teaching Sika. Ardenese, Latisse, swordsmanship, and everything else he needed to survive here.

-thud!

At that moment, an apple Sika had taken a bite out of fell to the ground and rolled away.

[Hey, you bastard!]

Mark fumed, realizing it was one of the apples he’d set aside for the horse.

[You’re stealing food for the horses so they don’t have anything to eat now!]

[That’s not the problem now. We’re in trouble!]

[What?]

Sika exclaimed in horror, [Rigaina might ask for a divorce today! Oh, why didn’t I think of that before, if I had, I would have stopped that from happening!]

[What kind of nonsense are you talking about?]

Sika slapped his hand against his chest in genuine frustration. [Mark, have you ever, in all your years, seen the cruelty of Riga?]

Mark shook his head. [No.]

For Sika, Riga is his god, his father, his faith, and his belief. Thinking Riga is cruel is something that will never happen to Sika unless the world perishes.

[But today, we might see it.]

[Riga’s cruelty?]

[Yes.]

Sika wiped her apple juice-stained hands on his pants. Then he leaned closer to the two of them and spoke in a voice full of seriousness.

[I swear to the heavens, Riga as a teacher is really, really the worst!]