The forest was undeniably much warmer than I’d expected, and tremendously humid. I got Griffy to wait at the edge of the woods so that the elves didn’t panic—so, once we entered the forest, I was the one pulling the cart of drinks.
“See? It’s hot, right?” Ririka already appeared to be melting.
Man, she must really have trouble with warm weather. I handed her a bottle of the new emergency beverage. “Try this. It should keep you in decent shape.”
“Th-thanks…” She uncapped the bottle and sipped it. “It’s not as good as a potion.”
“But it’s not so bad you wouldn’t drink it, right?” Emergency beverage tasted much more watered-down than a potion, so I could see why it’d be disappointing if you expected the same amount of flavor.
I spotted an exhausted, sweaty elf on their way back from hunting. “Ririka, give them an emergency beverage.”
“All right.” She approached them and explained the beverage; the elf began to drink it. Returning, she complained, “Reiji, how in the world are you fine with this heat?”
“I’m not really sure how to answer that.”
I mean, I was hot. But compared to a scorching, humid Japanese summer, this was downright comfy. I wonder if elves just naturally struggle with hot weather?
I added, “My hometown was way hotter and more humid than this.”
“Your hometown…?”
Plus, Japan had air conditioners. You could cool off once you got inside.
I wiped sweat off my brow and continued forward. Every time the cart shook, I heard the bottles clacking against each other. Finally, we arrived in Ririka’s village. The last time I was here, there’d been more people outside, but right now, there was no one.
“Everybody’s in the shade to stay cool,” Ririka explained. “Most people are holed up at home.”
If they really were getting heatstroke, that was the right move—assuming their houses were cool inside, at least. “How’s the temperature indoors?”
“Better than being outside.”
Well, that’s good. “I never realized elves couldn’t handle hot weather…”
I wondered if I should’ve tried to make more emergency beverages to treat even more victims. I had a feeling that all the elves were predisposed to heatstroke.
“I guess I’ll leave all these emergency beverages with you, Ririka,” I decided. “If anyone gets heatstroke, give them a dose.”
“Sounds good.”
Let’s haul these over to her place then. The cart shook and rattled as I followed Ririka’s lead.
When we reached her house, she went in to check on her brother Kururu. I heard her ask, “How are you feeling, Brother?”
“Ah, Ririka. I’m glad you’re back. How was Reiji baby? Did he mention wanting to see me?”
“Um…not at all. Your name didn’t even come up.”
“Whaaa…?! Th-that stings…”
Crap. If he realizes I’m here, this’ll get messy. Of course, I told Ririka earlier that I needed to see the people who had fallen ill before diagnosing them with heatstroke. Having run into a few elves on the way, however, I was pretty sure that was the issue. I’ll just quietly leave the emergency beverages here and head out…
“Reiji’s here,” I heard Ririka say.
“Huh? He is?!”
She came out of the house. “Sorry I made you wait. Could you check on my brother? He’s expecting you.”
Damn it. I missed my chance to fly the coop. “Y-yeah, of course. No worries.”
Ririka and I went back inside, and she opened the door to what was probably Kururu’s room.
Kururu lay in bed. “H-hey, Reiji baby…” He coughed, then croaked out some more words. “Thanks…for coming…all this way…to see me.”
Wait… I just heard him gabbing with Ririka! He’s playing this up!
Kururu gave the most exaggerated wheeze possible.
“B-Brother?! Just a moment ago, you were doing so well!”
He still is.
“You’re sure we aren’t facing a pandemic, Reiji?” Ririka looked deeply concerned.
“Reiji baby… I think…this might be it for me.” Kururu peered at me. I could feel him gauging whether I was concerned or not.
Please stop. “Nah. You’ll be fine.”
“I know…my body…better than anyone…”
“Could you stop talking like you have an incurable disease?” Gosh, he is such a nuisance. “When did he get sick, Ririka?”
“The day before last.” In that case, Kururu probably wouldn’t have trouble recovering.
“I was sweating like crazy…as if all the water in my body drained away,” Kururu added.
So, he’s probably dehydrated too.
“I felt dizzy and nauseous,” Kururu continued. “Even now, I’m lightheaded…!”
“Reiji? Will Kururu be all right?” Ririka asked nervously.
“I’m pretty sure he’s already fine.”
He jumped out of bed at my blunt statement. “Th-there’s no way that’s true!”
Why do you want to stay sick? I figured he was fishing for my sympathy.
“Reiji baby…this is my last request. Please…let me lay my head across your lap.”
“Not happening.”
“I see… Thanks anyway, Reiji baby. I’m glad I saw you in the end. If I do pass away…try not to regret…turning down this opportunity.”
Now he’s trying to guilt-trip me? How many tricks does he have up his sleeve?
“You’re not going to die. Not from heatstroke, anyway.” I heaved a strained sigh. “I brought a bunch of emergency beverages. From now on, if you feel symptoms similar to before, drink one as quickly as you can.”
“Why’re you being so cold, Reiji baby? It’s been…so long since we last saw each other…”
What is he, my long-distance girlfriend? “I’m not trying to be cold.”
“Why not let me utilize your lap, then?!”
“You mean lay your head in my lap, right? Or is ‘utilize’ code for something else?”
“I think my brother’s all right, Reiji.” Ririka finally realized what was going on.
“Yeah. When I heard you two talking before I came in, it dawned on me that he was doing fine.”
“Curses! I can’t believe I let that happen!” Kururu exclaimed, gripping his head in his hands.
I knew it. “I’ll be on my way, Ririka. If anyone else feels the way Kururu did, have them drink an emergency beverage as soon as possible, okay?”
“Got it.”
That was that. “But why is the forest so hot?” I wondered. “Do you have any idea, Kururu?” Kururu was already out of bed, and he’d fixed his hair to boot. The guy’s not even trying to hide that he was faking it.
“The forest’s usually quite cool,” he told me. “In fact, it’s never been this hot or humid. Even if the temperature rises, a cool breeze balances things out.”
“A cool breeze?” I repeated.
Ririka cut in. “Some people are saying the wind spirit might’ve caused this heat wave.”
“There’s a wind spirit?” That doesn’t seem too odd, since there’s a lake spirit and all.
“Yes. They’re a truly wonderful creature who’s blessed us elves. Thanks to them, we can use wind magic easily.”
“And some think the forest got this warm because the wind spirit isn’t causing any wind,” Kururu explained.
“Then…how do we solve that problem?”
“Well, the wind spirit mostly spends their time out of sight,” Ririka said. “They rarely reveal themselves to us.”
“So, we can’t just go talk to them easily?”
“Right. Even if you found them, they’d be difficult to communicate with unless a similar spirit was there.”
Ah. Well, we’ve got one of those working at the drugstore. “So, if we just ask the spirit to kick up some wind, that’ll take care of the heat wave.”
“If it were that easy, no one would be getting heatstroke,” Ririka said skeptically.
“I think I have an in,” I assured her. “Let me see what I can do.”
With that, I left the elves’ house, hurrying to where I left Griffy.