Lise-san and her older sister Lua sat on either side of Lise-san, and Kagari-san and I sat in front of them.
Lindsay-san looked at Lise-san sitting next to her.
"It's really been three years, hasn't it?" (Lindsay)
"Yeah, I thought everyone was frozen to death." (Lise)
"Ugh, Lise is bigger. I was bigger..." (Lua)
Three years for Lise-san, who continued to grow, and three years for Lua, where time stood still.
That's why it turned around.
"Sister, you're small and cute." (Lise)
Lise-san hugged her sister Lua.
"Hey there, introduce me to these kids." (Lua)
Stopping Lise-san from hugging her, she turned to look at us.
"Well, the one dressed as a bear is Yuna-san, and the little one is Kagari-chan. They helped us." (Lise)
"I see"
"How did they both get here?" (Lua)
"They both are adventurers." (Lise)
"Adventurer?" (Lua)
One of them was wearing a bear costume, and the other was a little girl. Not very much though, but we didn't look like adventurers.
Then, Lise-san talked about the past three years, as if to supplement Bollard-san's explanation.
About the six survivors.
How did they survive for three years?
Tears fell from Lindsay's eyes as she listened to the story.
"I'm sorry. You're having a hard time. I was stuck in ice for three years without knowing anything." (Lindsay)
"It's not mother's fault." (Lise)
Lindsay wasn't a bad person.
There was nothing anyone could do.
If you're wondering who's to blame, it's the Ice Dragon.
"Lise, show me your hands." (Lindsay)
Lindsay-san had been looking at Lise-san's hands for a while now.
Lise-san looked at her hand and hid it behind her back.
"My hands are dirty." (Lise)
"Let me see." (Lindsay)
With a gentle voice, she looked at Lise-san with straight eyes.
Unwavering eyes.
"..."
"..."
Lise-san, defeated, put her hand in front of Lindsay-san.
"Well, it's probably dirty. So..." (Lise)
Lise-san worked among adults in order to survive and not cause trouble.
They couldn't take a bath, and hot water wasn't readily available, so they must have used cold water. There were probably no creams or medicines for hand care.
When you looked at your hands, you could see how much effort you put into it.
Lindsay-san grabbed Lise-san's hand as she tried to pull back.
"They're not dirty. They're the hands of someone who worked hard to survive." (Lindsay)
She gently touched Lise-san's hand.
"Mother……" (Lise)
"If anyone thinks these hands are dirty, please tell me. I will never let you say that to my precious daughter again." (Lindsay)
"Me too. If she asks me anything, tell your sister." (Lua)
Lise-san's older sister Lua also holds Lise-san's hand.
"Big sister……" (Lise)
"It's a big sister's role to protect her precious little sister." (Lua)
Tears welled up in Lise-san's eyes.
It's supposed to be a moving scene, but it's ruined because I was in an out-of-place costume as a bear.
"But now, even when I think back on it, it feels like it was yesterday that the ice dragon appeared." (Lindsay)
"The city is frozen, father and Lise haven't come home, and it's cold inside the house." (Lua)
"That's right. We were hugging each other." (Lindsay)
When we looked, the entire mansion was frozen, and so were the two of them.
Maybe it was so cold that it was like in the freezer.
"When I woke up, my room and clothes were wet, father was haggard, and Lise was bigger than me." (Lua)
To the two of them, it might seem like something that happened in a dream.
"We tried to go home, but the snowstorm was so strong that we couldn't go home. When the snowstorm stopped and we managed to get back to the city, the city was frozen and so were the people. We didn't know what to do. At that time, we thought we were going to live like this forever. Then one day, they both showed up." (Lise)
Lise-san looked at me and Kagari-san.
"I was surprised when I saw lights in the city at night. I heard there were people there. So, when my father and I came to see, there were two of them. When they heard us, they prepared food and a bath for me. It was the first time in three years that I took a bath, so I was happy." (Lise)
"You haven't taken a bath in three years?"
"Turning water into hot water is a difficult task. We had to use wood and fire magic stones carefully. I can't say that I want to take a bath. However, I wiped my body with a wet towel." (Lise)
"..."
"..."
After hearing Lise-san's story, the two of them fell silent.
"At first, I couldn't see mother or sister, and I just cried every day. It was cold, and the only clothes I had were mine work clothes. We only had the same food, other food, and sweets. I even bothered my father by saying that I wanted to eat." (Lise)
Lise-san said with a laugh.
At the time, Lise-san was about 12 years old. She was the daughter of a feudal lord, and maybe it was hard on Lise-san, who had lived a wealthy life.
There's no point in wanting to eat sweets.
However, there were some children in this world who could not eat food even if they wanted to.
Children in orphanages often experienced hardships such as being abandoned by their parents or losing their parents.
Lise-san was not the only one unhappy.
Maybe she was still happy because she had a kind father.
It was difficult for people all over the world to be happy.
However, I hoped that as much as possible, fewer children would be unhappy.
"It must have been more difficult than I expected. But did you make hot water for the bath?" (Lindsay)
"She built a bear bath at the mine." (Lise)
"Bear bath?"
Come to think of it, I thought Lise-san and the others would live in the mine, so the bear bath was still there.
"You don't need it anymore, so I'll clean it up before I go home." (Yuna)
"No, please leave it as it is. If the people in the town lived like mother and sister, more people would work in the mines. I think it would be better if there were a bath at that time. I'm sure your father thinks the same thing." (Lise)
If she said so, I couldn't break it.
And Lise-san told the story of what happened after we appeared.
She learned that the ice dragon could talk and told them that she went to the mountain peak to meet the ice dragon.
"Did the ice dragon speak?" (Lindsay)
"Yeah, so Yuna-san and Kagari-chan went to see the ice dragon at the top of the mountain to talk to it." (Lise)
"I can't believe the ice dragon even spoke, but did you climb that mountain?" (Lindsay)
"Apart from these two, there was a cute bear, and we rode them up to the mountain." (Lise_
"Bear?"
When she said bear, Lindsay-san and Lua looked at me.
I'm a bear too, but it's different.
"They are called Kumayuru-chan and Kumakyu-chan, a black bear and a white bear." (Lise)
I received permission and summoned Kumayuru and Kumakyu of normal size.
Lua stood up and hid behind Lise-san.
Now, I didn't know which one was the older sister.
"Big sister, Kumayuru-chan and Kumakyu-chan are kind, so it's okay." (Lise)
"Really?" (Lua)
Lise-san approached Kumayuru and patted him gently.
"As expected, it’s cute." (Lise)
"Are you sure it's okay?" (Lua)
Lua looked a little worried, but after checking on Lise-san, she slowly reached out for Kumayuru.
"Soft" (Lua)
When she realized that Kumayuru was not scary, she also touched Kumakyu.
Then, Lise-san told them about our trip to the top of the mountain.
Another ice dragon appeared.
Kagari-san and I fought a new ice dragon and drove it back.
"..."
"..."
I forgot to keep her quiet about my fight with the Ice Dragon.
Before that, there was no time to keep quiet.
"Did you fight the ice dragon? Did you chase it away?"
"These kids..."
"That's unbelievable"
Lindsay-san and Lua looked at me and Kagari-san.
"I can't believe it either. But there are battle marks outside the city, so you can see it if you look. And there are horns and scales on the first floor."
Still, they both looked like they couldn't believe it.
"Whether you believe it or not, don't tell anyone." (Yuna)
I made a request just in case.
"That's right. I don't want to be bothered." (Kagari)
And maybe it might come in the future.
It's bothersome to cause a fuss every time.
Also, a baby was born from the ice dragon's egg, and since the ice dragon left this morning, it came down to town. When I was cleaning up the house, Lindsay-san and the others woke up.
"Is that so?"
"I can't believe it when I hear the story."
That's right.
"If you still don't believe it, ask father and everyone else." (Lise)
The conversation ended there, and I looked at the ice dragon's horns and scales on the floor.
Kagari-san, myself, Lise-san and the others decided to help clean up the house until Bollard-san came back.
I imitated Kagari-san's magic of collecting water and treated it.
Yes, it's convenient.
Author's Note
Looking at her hands, she might have understood the hardships Lise-san had endured over the past three years.
*As for future plans, I would like to take a break for a while once the Ice Dragon arc is finished.
There are a lot of things going on, but I would appreciate it if you could give me some time to write the 21st volume and think about the development of the next story.
...
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.
Translator's Note
Because the author took 4 weeks of break and there are only about 5 chapters left at this time, we will reach the latest chapter earlier than expected. So, next month (or next week?), translated chapters will be published twice a week, on Wednesday and Sunday.