18:00

    Margo and the four others, along with Yurina-san, got on the wagon to return to Resta. Feeling worried that Yurina-san might feel cold, I brought a quilt made from fur and wrapped her in it.

    While feeling embarrassed, Yurina-san said ‘thank you’ in Japanese. Just like I was learning some words in the Lancaster language, Yurina-san was also learning some words in Japanese.

    Somehow, I felt happy.

    And so, Yurina-san returned to the town in a wagon together with Margo and the others. Although she kept on looking back at me, appearing to be reluctant to leave. I just stood there, not moving an inch amidst the fluttering falling  snow until I couldn’t see the wagon she was riding on.

    “Hachoo!”

    I let out a magnificent sneeze. Although I had wrapped myself in an ash wolf mantle, it seemed I still had lost quite a bit of my body heat.

    “Kuuun…”

    Ash was whining worriedly while looking up at me.

    “I’m fine. Now then, let’s get back inside.”

    I opened the door to the cabin and the warmth of the living room gently wrapped myself and Ash.

    “It’s so quiet here…”

    I muttered to myself. The bustling liveliness that was here a while ago felt like a lie now. And, that thing suddenly came to my mind.

    The feeling of loneliness.

    I want to meet with my lover.

    I want to fool around with my close friends.

    I don’t want to be all by myself.

    I’m such an idiot.

    Having a me time is more important than anything else? Ha! How laughable. Aren’t I the one who easily succumbs to loneliness easier than anyone else?

    “Damn it!”

    Didn’t have anywhere else to throw these feelings away,so I threw my mantle on the bed with a thud.

    I wonder how Yurina-san is doing right now? She seems accustomed to dealing with drunk men.

    However, I seriously couldn’t stand the thought of those beasts with ulterior motives in their mind gawking at her body, like they wanted to lick her all over. In fact, I even had this urge to kill those beasts.

    I scratched my head with my right hand, pacing back and forth in the room like a bear. I was feeling restless.

    “Meddling in on her job is not a nice thing to do, but….”

    Seeing the unsightly state I was in as I kept on mumbling things that even I couldn’t really understand, Ash snorted exasperatedly at me.

    The next thing I knew, I was already picking up the ash wolf mantle I had thrown on the bed and got on the wagon to go to the entertainment district in Resta, the place where Yurina-san worked.

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    T/N: We need Yurina-san’s POV here. If she enjoys her work then I think MC shouldn’t stop her from working but if Yurina-san also doesn’t feel comfortable with the hungry gaze, then it’s okay for her to stop working.