Chapter 71: Pat Me Too

The moment he stepped into the village, Elias headed straight home to his simple house.

Once inside, he hurried to his room to clean himself up. Buka’s bite marks were still showing on his face.

"Hmm... About Mira, I think it’s better to leave it to the Village Chief and those two girls.

Then, about a place for them to stay..."

While Elias was rubbing his chin, thinking about where Evelyn and Elysia could stay, the two girls suddenly appeared right behind him.

"What are you doing, Elias?" Evelyn asked, bending down a little to see what Elias was looking at.

Elias was startled, though not as dramatically as usual. Well, he’d almost gotten used to those two’s antics anyway.

"Nothing, it’s nothing."

Elias then stood up and turned to face them.

"Have you two looked around the village yet?"

"Not yet. Why don’t you take us on a tour?"

"That’s a great idea!" Evelyn clapped her hands, agreeing with Elysia’s suggestion.

Elias raised an eyebrow. He wondered for a second if he was even in a position to show the two girls around. But since he was the only person they knew in this village, it really was better if he went with them himself.

He scratched his head before answering.

"I don’t mind."

Hearing Elias’s answer, Evelyn and Elysia broke into happy smiles. The two of them then hurried out of the house first.

In the yard in front of Elias’s house, there was a wide stretch of open land with yellowish-green grass.

Meanwhile, lots of villagers were passing back and forth. Some were heading out to plow the fields with water buffalo, while others had just come back from harvesting their crops.

Even though their lives and clothes looked really simple, the villagers seemed happy. They kept going about their daily routines, even though what they got out of the work wasn’t much.

Evelyn and Elysia seemed to be soaking in the scenery in front of them. Elias, who’d just come out of the house, stopped for a moment when he saw the two of them standing still with their eyes fixed in one direction.

’What are they doing?’

Elias followed the direction of their gaze. But instead of finding an answer, he only got more confused.

How could he not be? All that was in front of him was a huge stretch of wheat fields. As far as the eye could see, there were only wheat fields and a few villagers harvesting them.

’Are they curious about how commoners work?’

Instead of guessing, Elias decided to just ask.

"What are you thinking about, Lady?"

Elysia glanced at Elias for a moment before looking forward again.

"Elias, we want to try doing what they’re doing."

"You mean, harvesting wheat?"

"Yeah! We want to try it too! It’s our first time seeing this much land just for dry grass!"

Hearing Evelyn call wheat dry grass, Elias could only laugh awkwardly. A drop of sweat showed up at his temple.

"Don’t just say whatever. That’s not grass, Big Sis."

"How would you know? If it’s not grass, then what is it?"

"That’s..."

Hearing Evelyn’s question, Elysia shut her eyes tight and rubbed her chin, like she was working out some insanely hard answer.

Evelyn and Elias looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Elysia, full of curiosity.

"It’s what?"

Elysia then opened her eyes and stared straight ahead with a blank face.

"A plant or a crop."

*Bonk!

Hearing that answer, Evelyn immediately knocked her sister on the head. The smile was still on her face, but a vein was popping at her temple.

"I know that much too."

"..."

Elysia just stayed quiet, holding her head. Thin wisps of smoke were even rising from it. Her eyes were teary too, a sign that Evelyn’s knock had really hurt.

On the other side, Elias could only wince at Elysia’s answer.

’That made it worse.’

He sighed quietly, then rubbed the spot on Elysia’s head where she’d been hit.

*Pat.

"!!!"

Elysia’s body went stiff the moment she felt Elias’s hand rubbing her head. She tilted her head up a little to look at him while a red flush started showing on both her cheeks.

But Elias didn’t notice the change in Elysia’s behavior at all. Instead, he looked at Evelyn while still rubbing her sister’s head.

"Listen, that plant is called wheat. Wheat belongs to the cereal group, or grains. The bread you usually eat is made from wheat flour."

While explaining that, Elias felt a wave of heat brush past the side of his head again. The palm of the hand rubbing Elysia’s head was getting warmer and warmer too.

But he chose to ignore it. After all, they were standing under the sun.

"So, Lady, food crops come in a few groups. There are cereals or grains, like wheat, rice, and corn. Then there’s the legume group, or beans. And there are a few other groups too, with different types and uses..."

Elias kept on rambling about all kinds of plants and what they were used for to Evelyn and Elysia.

Meanwhile, the heat on the side of his head kept getting stronger. His palm kept getting warmer as well, like it was pressed against something really hot.

But Elias didn’t pay it any attention.

In his mind, those two girls had only just stepped into adulthood. They also grew up in a super luxurious environment, so it was only natural that simple stuff like this felt unfamiliar to them. He had to explain everything properly using his knowledge from the modern world.

That was why Elias totally ignored the heat coming from his palm.

So where was that heat actually coming from?

To find out, we just need to look from Evelyn’s point of view.

Right now, Evelyn was looking at Elias, who kept explaining with his eyes closed. But he wasn’t the center of her attention.

It was Elysia.

The girl’s face had turned insanely red. Smoke was even starting to puff out of her head.

*Pssshh~

So, mystery solved! The reason Elias felt heat on his palm was because Elysia’s head was, literally, on fire.

Seeing the state her sister was in, Evelyn obviously felt super jealous. She puffed out her cheeks, then walked up to Elias with an annoyed face.

"Elias!"

Elias, who’d been explaining with his eyes shut, flinched at Evelyn’s loud voice. Before he knew it, she was already standing right in front of him.

"What is it, Lady? Was my explanation not detailed enough? Is there a part you didn’t understand?"

Realizing Elias was still stuck on his explanation about plants, Evelyn’s cheeks puffed out even more. Then she snorted in annoyance. For some reason, that sound came across as kind of cute to Elias’s ears.

Evelyn raised one hand and hit her own head, as hard as she’d knocked Elysia earlier.

*Bonk!

Elias, who saw it, was shocked and panicked right away.

"What are you doing, Lady?!"

Evelyn then pointed at the spot on her head she’d just hit.

"Look! It hurts here too! Now pat me too!"

A red flush started to show on Evelyn’s face, from embarrassment and from holding back the pain. Tears were even gathering at the corners of her eyes.

Elias looked at her, confused. He really didn’t get what she was doing, hitting her own head like that.

"Lady, I just..."

"Hurry up and pat my head too!"

Elias moved his hand from Elysia’s head to Evelyn’s on reflex. Then he started rubbing her head.

Realizing Elias’s hand was no longer on her head, Elysia suddenly felt like she was missing something. She looked up and saw Evelyn smiling with her head bowed, her face bright red from being patted by Elias.

Seeing her sister smile so contentedly, Elysia started to feel a little jealous. She glanced at Elias’s hand patting Evelyn’s head before finally tugging at the hem of his shirt.

"Elias."

"Hm?"

"I want it too..."

Elysia looked at him with her head tilted up a little. Her voice sounded quieter than before, and her face was red too. Her hand still gripping Elias’s shirt seemed to show she had no plans of giving in that easily.

Elias tilted his head. This time, he was starting to feel worried.

While Elias was wondering what the girl wanted, Elysia suddenly raised her hand and hit her own head, exactly the way Evelyn had done before.

*Bonk!

"!?"

Elias was shocked when he saw Elysia do something he never expected.

"Lady? What are you do—"

"It hurts, Elias. Pat it. Now."

Elias moved his hand over to Elysia’s head right away. Even though her voice was low, Elias could tell her last words weren’t a request, they were an order.

Evelyn, seeing Elias patting Elysia’s head, puffed her cheeks out again.

"Elias, I want more too."

"Lady, didn’t I just—"

"I want it again, period!"

Elias went quiet for a moment before finally sighing. Then he moved his hand back to Evelyn’s head.

"Hehe..."

Evelyn smiled contentedly. But Elysia, seeing that, immediately yanked Elias’s arm.

"Elias, don’t stop."

"Hey! It’s my turn now!"

"No. I’m not done yet."

"Don’t be greedy, Elysia! It’s my turn!" Evelyn pulled Elias’s arm over her head.

"You have to give way to the younger one, Big Sis!" Elysia pulled Elias’s arm back over her head.

"The older one should get her turn first!"

With his arm being tugged left and right by Evelyn and Elysia, like kids fighting over a toy, all Elias could do was look up at the sky. Then he closed his eyes while a single tear started rolling down.

’Having only one arm is seriously a pain.’

On the other side, a villager harvesting wheat happened to spot Elias and the two girls.

"In this scorching heat, they’re being all lovey-dovey! Are they doing this in front of me on purpose?!"

* * *