LosFra - Character Story - Kuon

---Encounter:

Kuon: My name is Kuon. A traveling apothecary, glad to make your acquaintance.

Kuon: Where did I come from? Uum, soo... I'd appreciate if you would disregard this.

---Chapter 1:

Akuta: Now then, to the next matter...

Kuon: Akuta, can I bother you right now?

Akuta: Oh, what's the matter?

Kuon: I've come with a request.

Kuon: There has been multiple onsen inns in Azumachou who signed for an investigation of the reason behind the source drying up.

Akuta: The hill nearby that onsens use as their water source shouldn't be a dangerous place though...

Akuta: This isn't a pressing matter, so couldn't it be delayed until later?

Kuon: U~m, so you're saying you're ready to ignore people who are in need of help right now?

Akuta: I never said I wouldn't do it. ...Jeez, fine, I'll prioritize it.

Akuta: By the way, what about the remuneration?

Kuon: Uum, right, that's- Ahem, there isn't any. Working with money as your goal is too self-centered, I think.

Akuta: Even if I say my methods will depend on the pay?

Kuon: ...

Akuta: ...Forget that, you were right, Kuon, expecting to work for my own self-interest was unreasonable of me.

Kuon: Y...Yeah, R...Right?

Kuon: Uum~... Azumachou really is nice. This is a true kotuahamuru, I think.

Akuta: You're exaggerating. Was there a very low variety of onsens and baths in your home country?

Kuon: No, in Tuskur... Ah, sorry, forget I said anything.

Kuon: It's an unknown foreign country, I'd imagine nobody would be interested in my story... Right?

Akuta: I don't understand what you mean, but if it's a touchy subject for you, I'll avoid prying into it.

Kuon: Fufu, thank you.

Akuta: Are we approaching? We've been walking for a good while already.

Kuon: We should be, according to the request, but...

???: Ugigii!

Akuta: Hm? That was...

Kimamau: Gii! Ugii!

Kuon: Weh!? Kimamaus-

Akuta: What are these huge monkey...-looking things? There's a lot of them too.

Akuta: Could they be the reason why the inns needed to entrust the source investigation to us?

Akuta: Kuon, you just said kimamau, so you must know something about-... Kuon?

Kuon: ...

Akuta: Hey, why are you hiding here?

Kuon: Why aren't you? You'll be in danger unless you hide.

Akuta: Haa?

Kimamau: Hunbaa!

Squish! Whoooosh!

Akuta: Weergh! Gwah, what's that on my head... it smells!?

Kuon: Kimamau have a habit of throwing their feces at people to intimidate them, so you'd better watch out...

Akuta: Ergh, pft-. You're supposed to say that before they do it!

Akuta: Damn it... We're going to beat them up! Kuon, come out of hiding and out here!

Kuon: Eeh~...

Akuta: Stop complaining or you'll get some of this too.

Kuon: I get it, fine! Kuuh, endurance, endurance... This too is for our goal...

Kuon: Teyaaaaaaah!!

Kuon: Sei! Yaah! Taah!

Kimamau: Gii!?

Kuon: Phew... These kimamaus were tough opponents.

Akuta: ......Hey.

Kuon: I see, so this boulder was behind the water drying up.

Kuon: And there's only one way to fix that!

Kuon: Take this, haaaaaaaaaa!

Kuon: Phew, a job well done!

Akuta: ......Hey.

Kuon: Incredible, all this water is gushing out.

Kuon: With this...

Akuta: Hey.

Kuon: Fwah!?

Kuon: Ah... R-Right, thank you, Akuta. I would've been in serious trouble without you serving as my shield.

Kuon: I'm seriously grateful.

Kuon: Very, extremely grateful.

Akuta: Then why did stay behind?

Kuon: ...Eh? Because... you know?

Kuon: It would make me happy if you could not get any closer...

Akuta: ...

Akuta: Al~right, come over here. If you really are thankful, just one hug of gratitude should be fine.

Akuta: Aah, crap, she ran away! How is she so fast when making a run for it...

Akuta: Crap, this stinks...

Akuta: What do I do? Now that's a stinky situation. Hahahaha-

Akuta: Haa...

Akuta: Phew~, I finally took that stink off.

Akuta: Jeez, that was awful. I couldn't help but worry about what if I couldn't take it off.

Akuta: Kuon...

Akuta: Well, I got a bath and alcohol, so all is good in the end.

Akuta: Kaaa, that's the stuff... Nothing goes best with an onsen than hot sake. I can feel hot water and alcohol coursing through my tired body after a job well done.

Kuon: Kyahooooo~~!

Akuta: ...Hm?

Kuon: A bath, a bath~♪ Ahaha, ahahahahaha!

Akuta: She... does like baths that much, huh. She was strangely insistent that I take on this request, the onsen wasn't her objective from the start, was it?

Akuta: ...No, it couldn't be.

Kuon: Uhyaa~h! Ahahahahahahaha!

Akuta: Still... Kuku, she's a bit too hyper.

Akuta: She seems pretty mature, but maybe she's more childish than she lets out...

Kion: Yeehee... Happiness...

Akuta: Now that's a face a girl your age shouldn't make. Sure is one relaxed expression.

Kuon: Eeh, is it?

Akuta: By the way, you were so enthusiastic I could hear you from here. "Hyahoo" and stuff.

Kuon: ...Eh.

Kuon: Y-You... heard...?

Akuta: It's an outdoor bath, of course anyone can hear you just fine.

Kuon: N-No! That wasn't me.

Kuon: It was someone else, you know, like the kimamaus from earlier!?

Akuta: You don't have to get upset and try to deceive me.

Kuon: III-I'm not trying to-

Akuta: (Actually, it would be scary if someone could imitate her voice that closely.)

Akuta: (Though, I'll leave it at that.)

Akuta: Aah, you must be right.

Kuon: W-What is this halfhearted expression? You don't believe me, do you?

Akuta: No? I believe you, for real. There's no way an adult like you would be this overly excited like a child would.

Kuon: You're lying! You don't believe me, I know it!

Akuta: But I believe you. I'm just asking you to believe me in return.

---Chapter 2:

Tavernkeep: Welcome!

Akuta: For two, will that do?

Tavernkeep: Come right this way.

Kuon: Akuta, can I really eat as much as I want?

Akuta: Yeah. You participated in eliminating these monsters a few days ago, this is to thank you.

Kuon: I see. Then I'll gladly accept your offer and order every item on this menu, I think♪

Akuta: Hey.

Kuon: Ahaha, it was a joke. I could only eat half of them at mos-

Kuon: ...!

Akuta: What is it?

Kuon: Err, there's a drawing of the dish right next to its name, but this looks like a common dish from where I come from, called mororo...

Kuon: The name may be completely different, but I thought that perhaps it was the same.

Akuta: Why don't you try ordering it? Boss, we'll take this and the alcohol of the day-

Kuon: And everything on the menu from here to there, please!

Akuta: ...Hey.

Kuon: Hm~, it all looks delicious!

Kuon: Thank you for the meal~. Crunch, munch munch munch...

Akuta: ...

Kuon: Chomp, munch munch munch... Gulp.

Kuon: What's the matter? If you're not going to eat, I'll have it all to myself, you know?

Akuta: ...No, I was just wondering where does all that food go in that thin body of yours.

Kuon: Ahaha, this is much normal.

Akuta: Normal, huh...

Boss: Here ya go!

Kuon: Wah, it really is the spitting image of mororo...

Kuon: I-I'll help myself then.

Kuon slightly nervously brings the food to her mouth.

Akuta: So?

Kuon: Um... It does taste good, but it's different from mororo...

?: Haaaaaaaa...

Akuta: Hm? Is that... Teoro?

Sitting at a table not far from theirs was Teoro.

Akuta: This isn't like him to sigh heavily like he just did. I'll try calling out to him.

Akuta: Teoro.

Teoro: Hm? Aah, if it isn't the boss.

Akuta: You seem rather disheartened.

Teoro: Well, I thought I'd get to taste some of my home flavor, but it was different after all.

Kuon: Ah, it's the same thing I ordered... Excuse me, were you referencing mororo!?

Teoro: Oh, so you know about it too? I wish I had a huge serving of mororo.

Akuta: This ingredient would be difficult to come by here, right?

Teoro: I guess... But with seeds, it should even grow on barren land.

Akuta: So seeds are the issue here.

Teoro: ...If I left it to ma, she might be able to make this mororo-like stuff into something really close to mororo.

Kuon: Really!?

Kuon: Please wait right here! I'll ask where we can harvest it!

Akuta: Kuku, she sure prioritizes food over making herself look attractive.

Teoro: Well, as long as she's healthy.

A few days later

Akuta: This is awful.

Kuon: Yes... I've heard a giant boar would often devastate the fields, but...

Teoro: This is going to be a nightmare to find even one undamaged one in here.

Teoro: But this is all for mororo. If we split up, we should be able to find one our two.

Akuta: Right.

Kuon: Then I'll be over this way.

Teoro: Boss, why don't we... Oh.

Akuta: What is it?

Teoro: Looks like some were spared over there.

Looking in the direction Teoro's finger was pointing, it did indeed seem like some were intact.

Akuta: You were right.

Teoro: Let's dig them up.

Akuta: By looking for the vines, we were able to harvest them completely... or we would have.

Akuta: Cutting a vine in the way shouldn't be a problem... right?

Teoro: Boss, I can't focus if you breathe through your nose so loud.

Akuta: Hm? It's not me.

Teoro: No way, it's gotta be you. I've been hearing it behind-

Akuta: Behind?

Giant boar: Grunt, grunt, grunt.

Giant boar: Gruuuuuuunt!

Akuta: Geh, a giant boar!?

Teoro: Boss, we better get out of here!

Giant boar: Grunt!

Akuta: Ow, leave my butt alone...!

Teoro: Urgh, nh...! This is nothing compared to ma's swings...!

Teoro: This is bad, Teoro! It's blood, from my butt!

Kuon: Jeez, what's all the-

Kuon: Eh, a giant boar?

Akuta: Kuon, can you take care of this?

Kuon: You really are hopeless.

Kuon: Haaaa...!

Gluttonous piglet: Oink?

Kuon: ...Eh?

Gluttonous piglet: Oink! Oi-Oink!

Giant boar: Grunt, grunt.

Kuon: This giant boar has a child...

Akuta: So it's been devastating this field to feed its kid.

Teoro: Because it couldn't just let its kid starve to death.

Kuon: Yes, if it's in order to survive, then it was unavoidable.

Kuon: It's okay. You can have everything here.

Gluttonous piglet: Oink!

Kuon: Haha, it's happy.

Sleepy piglet: Oink...

Courageous piglet: Oink!

Kuon: ......Eh?

Akuta: Wai-, hey. How many are there?

Piglets: Oink!!

Giant boar: Ruuuuunt!

Kuon: Eh? Eh? Eh?

Akuta: They didn't leave anything uneaten in their path...

Kuon: Uuh, my mororo...

Akuta: Hmph, so...

Akuta: I'll ask advice from Teoro later.

Kuon: Huh? Akuta, Teoro-san. What do you need?

Akuta: We have a little something to discuss, but what about a meal to go along with it?

Kuon: I was just about to go get lunch, I don't mind.

Kuon: Hm~, what a nice smell.

Akuta: Kuon, this way.

Kuon: Eh? But I haven't ordered anything yet...

Akuta: Don't worry about it.

Kuon: O-Okay.

Akuta: Alright, we're ready.

Following Akuta clapping his hands, a cook came out of the kitchens, laying multiple dishes onto the table.

Kuon: Wah, fried mororo, mororo mamtu, mororo porridge...!

Kuon: And so many others, why all this!?

Akuta: By planting the few remaining mororos like potato seeds in a field, we managed to grow more of them.

Teoro: And since we harvested them, I asked ma to make these.

Teoro: Well, it's not like we can mass-produce these, and it's purple, but it looks just like mororo, doesn't it?

Kuon: Yes! Yes!

Akuta: Why don't you have a bite?

Kuon: Thank yo~u! Chomp, munch munch...

Kuon: ...!?

Kuon: Amazing! This is the taste of mororo!

Teoro: Let's see...

Teoro: That's ma for you, it tastes the same as mororo from our hometown.

Kuon: Nom, munch, mucnh... Hm~, happiness♪

Akuta: I'll have a taste of this too.

Akyta sat directly across from Kuon, and brought a mororo mamtu laying in a plate to his mouth.

Akuta: ...Ooh, this is delicious! And very filling.

Kuon: Right?

Kuon: Fufu. I didn't think I would get to eat it in another country, I'll have to thank Teoro-san's wife.

Teoro: Don't bother, if you'd ask her, she'd say having someone liking her cooking this much makes her happy already.

Kuon: Your wife sure is one talented cook.

Kuon: If you don't mind me asking, there's another dish I would like to have...

Toero: Huh?

Kuon: It's made from a plant called amam. I've been hearing rumors about a similar plant growing in a secluded region...

Akuta: Kuon, what kind of dish do you make with amam?

Kuon: You grind it in a mortar, and then bake the result.

Kuon: Next, you usually put cooked meat or fish you like, wrap it up, and eat it with your preferred dipping.

Akuta: Ooh, this sounds delicious.

Akuta: In any case, you said secluded region, so it must be far away from here, right?

Akuta: Hm... Oh, this isn't bad either.

Teoro: Boss, try some of this steamed mororo. You won't regret it.

Kuon: Yes... It is far, but there's a more troublesome problem...

Kuon: The place where it grows is apparently guarded by ferocious birds, and people who get too close are mercilessly killed.

Kuon: According to a survivor, they were above six feet tall-

Akuta: Urgh!?

Teoro: Uh...!

Kuon: Wah, are you okay!?

Akuta: Y-Yeah..

Kuon: When shall we depart, then? I'm ready anytime, even today.

Akuta: Well...

Teoro: Uh...

Akuta/Teoro: No thanks.