Chapter 26: "What are you doing, you two lovebirds?"

The thing inside the dumpster looked like a real, damn alien, straight out of a space horror movie.

Its slightly parted lips were like a nasty wound, revealing exposed gums with terrifying, four-rowed, jagged teeth, clearly capable of tearing flesh in a harrowing manner, along with a long, serpentine tongue protruding from its fearsome jaws, inert.

Its eyes were disgusting, bulging out of their sockets like a gecko's or something, and they were a fetid yellow that was disgusting to look at. It also had cat-like claws and paws.

His skin was covered in scales like a fish, and it seemed that most of the unpleasant rotten smell of the garbage came directly from him as he was decomposing in some places with obvious wounds, although it was probably just a thought.

Finally, a tail that reminded me of a dinosaur's extended about 20 centimeters long from its fractured rear end, with a tip that seemed designed to inject venom into its victims….

Whether in reality or in a game, I'd never seen anything so strange, so alien... a creature that would be better off coming from a space exploration saga than a magical fantasy.

It was so grotesque that the smell of the garbage escaped our perception as we stared at it frozen in fear, with me being the first to regain a normal capacity for thought (?).

“Ugh! That thing is so ugly! It’s really scary!” Without thinking, I grabbed Thadeus-kun’s arm that wasn’t holding the garbage bag and clung to it with lingering fear, as if somehow that thing could threaten me with just its ugliness.

No…but there were Undead in this world, so who knows….

“U-uh it’s okay, it’s just the corpse of…!” Thadeus-kun hesitated as he tried to comfort me, clearly also not knowing what the heck this alien filth was, “Something monstrous, but dead! There’s no reason to worry..!”

“Yes….true!”

I nodded in agreement, trying to convince myself with reason that there was nothing to worry about… But it was scary!

It was embarrassing to be scared of a dead creature, no matter how alien it looked, but that's how it was. And just clinging to Thadeus-kun gave me a sense of security, no matter how small…

Suddenly, the thing's eye moved and its body jerked, its head turning in our direction as it flicked its tongue....

“¡Kyaaaa!“

I couldn't help but scream in fear at that horrible sight, tears threatening to spill out.

“He’s alive! Damn it…!”

Thadeus-kun exclaimed, equally scared, and quickly threw the bag on top of that thing, covering it before it did anything creepier to my poor maiden heart(?).

Shortly after, with courage that truly impressed the cowardly me, he stood up and closed the garbage can.

If it were me, I would have simply walked away because I would have been afraid that he would throw himself at me like the coward he was to the cockroaches and spiders… Thadeus-kun is truly a hero. I couldn't help but cling to him even tighter as I trembled, the horror of seeing a living corpse infuriating me.

Why was there such a thing in our trash can!? I'll have to give Mom an explanation!

I thought with a sense of fury at the thought that I might have encountered such a thing on my own if it weren't for Thadeus-kun.

♦♦♦♦

“I didn’t expect there to be something like this in Canelia-san’s dumpster…”

Thadeus, who was equally bewildered as Maru at the mysterious, ugly, and horrifying corpse creature in the garbage dump, whispered to himself as he felt Maru's trembling body clinging to him, frightened by the horrible sight.

The girl was terrified, and Thadeus felt a little guilty for not holding back his reactions and letting Maru see something that could haunt her nightmares, conveniently ignoring that she might have still encountered the scene of a strange nightmare alone earlier even if he hadn't been there.

“Now it’s okay, Maru, that thing can’t hurt you…”

Thinking he should calm her down, Thadeus thoughtlessly hugged her and said in a comforting tone…only to freeze mid-stride at Maru's state, who raised her head to look at him in his arms.

Her eyes, those pitiful, watery, gem-like eyes, stared into his, wide and bright, as if on the verge of tears, her red cheeks too adorable to ignore.

Thadeus's heart seemed to leap at that. He gaped slightly, his mind blank for a moment as he tried to process her excessive cuteness.

“Thadeus-kun…?” Maru asked with a puzzled expression and a voice that sounded excessively tender in his ears, looking at him with curiosity while gradually letting go of his fear thanks to the reassuring warmth he felt from being in his arms.

The girl instinctively snuggled up to him, unable to control herself, with such a charming expression that Thadeus felt as if he had received a lethal blow to the heart.

Huh, w-what? What's this ? He was very confused and disoriented by his Maru's tenderness. What's this? I don't know, it's scary.

He felt like he was going crazy. He'd never felt anything like that, as far as he could remember.

Maru's face suddenly turned an even more charming red, as if she realized something, and she began to struggle as if to break away from him...but Thadeus didn't let go, staring at her in bewilderment.

“Um…Thadeus-kun…? Could you let me go? This is…a little awkward…”

“Ah…”

Thadeus exclaimed, realizing that they were in an overly intimate position that unnecessarily made his friend uncomfortable.

Yet for some reason, he didn't want to; he liked feeling her soft warmth and holding her in his arms, as if claiming her for himself.

Her girlish scent, up close, was very pleasant and intoxicating, something that became even clearer after the experience with the fetid stench of the garbage, and it tickled his heart.

He just wanted to bring his face closer to her hair and smell it even more closely to try to etch that sweet smell into his memory until the end of his life.

Looking at her gorgeous pink lips slightly parted even aroused a strange feeling in him that the current Thadeus couldn't understand, how could he even touch and play with them.

He just stared at her as if hypnotized, making Maru's face turn even redder as she felt him squeeze her a little tighter.

This feeling... Is this what that old man, Sir Valeni, was talking about? Does this mean I want Maru as my wife?

Thoughts like that arose in his heart, which beat rapidly as he remembered the old man's words, which he had dismissed as some kind of morbidity. 

And despite his previous thoughts about how such things weren't possible between them due to status, they grew stronger within him as he unconsciously brought his face closer to smell her better.

Maru, on the other hand…

No way? T-Thadeus-kun is going to kiss me? H-here now!? I'm not ready yet….! No, I shouldn't kiss a boy…! But, but…!

She's having a panic attack and nervousness due to a misunderstanding, her heart pumping hard too as she thinks she must fight her girlish desires.

...They were an absolutely adorable couple, and a certain God in a suit watched everything with an amused smile.

“For the first day, things are going better than I expected.”

The God whispered, elegantly sipping a glass of ambrosia in the sky while enjoying the idea of a plan that is going swimmingly.

“Anyway…enjoy this new chance at love and life, Maru…”

♦♦♦♦

The Village of Thaur was a small village of more than 300 inhabitants, mostly farmers and hunters. 

It was surrounded by a particularly strong circular fence of elm wood, enchanted by the Magic of certain generous adventurers of the past, whose descendants continued to visit the village as a kind of novice tradition to strengthen it.

The village inn,  oddly named 'MaLykawaii', was very close to the village fence compared to other work and living buildings, its garbage dump at the back bordering quite a bit on it, and there, two impressive-looking children, who held promise for the future with their growth, were gathered and closely embraced, shy and restless.

The atmosphere was peculiar, like that of a small romance between pure and innocent individuals who didn't know how to express their feelings for each other... because they didn't fully understand each other and didn't know how to deal with it. It gave such an adorable image that it could bring a genuine smile to almost anyone's face.

If only they weren't in the middle of what was clearly a garbage dump, it would be perfect...

“What are you doing, you two lovebirds?”

And suddenly, that atmosphere was interrupted by a girl's voice. They both froze for a moment, then stiffly turned their faces in the direction of the voice.

There, at the entrance toward the back of the inn, was a little girl about six years old, looking at them mischievously.

It was Lily, Maru's younger sister.