Chapter 375. [Words Expand Life’s Options]
《Hah, hah... Iroha-chan, I’m sorry for causing you trouble.》
《Don’t worry. For now, please rest your body.》
The female secret service agent, delirious from the fever, apologized to me.
Her condition was relatively stable... but showed no signs of improving.
Occasionally, she’d wake up like this, only to lose consciousness again. Over and over.
And every time she was awake, she’d keep apologizing to me.
《I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...》
《It’s okay, really.》
She must have been barely lucid.Even so, during the brief times she was awake, she managed to tell me about the crash.
I had been asleep at the time, so I hadn’t known.
She didn’t know what caused the explosion, but there had been communication issues just before it happened.
I sensed deliberate sabotage in that.
Surely, someone didn’t want help to come...
“...She’s asleep again.”
The secret service woman had drifted off again without my noticing.
As I continued my daily routine of caring for her...
“I’m sorry... I’m sorry. But you’re wrong. I’m the one who should be apologizing. You protected me...”
Tears of frustration welled up.
I needed to get her to a doctor, but I couldn’t.
My voice must have carried outside.
Someone peeked into the house, looking concerned.
‘――Hey, miss. Are you okay? Did something happen?’
‘No, it’s fine.’
I replied to the local in their language.
Yes, I had finally reached the point where I could mostly understand their language!
But even so...
“...I’m sorry.”
We were still unable to escape the jungle――.
***
The breakthrough that allowed me to rapidly understand their language came from grasping the foundation of their culture: equality.
The deep connection between culture and language hit me profoundly.
Once I could communicate, I immediately asked the locals:
‘――Is there any way to contact the outside world? Do you have any connections with others?’
But their response... was all “no.”
This settlement was completely isolated.
They didn’t even interact with other tribes.
They told me that, at least within a distance we could travel on our own, there were no other humans beyond this settlement.
“I had a feeling. Ever since I started understanding their culture.”
The “equality” here was possible only because there were no external threats.
It was sustainable only in a small, self-contained community without external ties.
They were, in essence—an “uncontacted tribe.”
“But I won’t give up yet... I won’t!”
I steeled my wavering resolve.
As I waited outside the house, the man I’d been looking for passed by.
It was the local who had previously tried to teach me hunting.
I called out to him.
‘Hello.’
Their language has no word for “greeting.”
So I didn’t actually say that.
But perhaps as my language skills improved, I began interpreting—or translating—things that way.
“Now that I think about it, Japanese is similar.”
Hello.
Even “こんにちは” (konnichiwa) is an abbreviation of “今日はお日柄もよく” (Today’s weather is favorable).
Yet we use it even on rainy days, without considering the weather.
Hello.
It could also be short for “今日はご機嫌もうるわしゅう” (Today’s mood is fine), for all we know.
Either way, it’s not something we change based on mood.
‘Sir, would you take me hunting again?’
‘Hunting? Are you serious? After last time!?’
‘Ugh!? Y-yes! Even so, I still want to go!’
‘Well, if you’re that insistent, let’s go together.’
Though he seemed quite exasperated by my previous failures...
In the end, he smiled and agreed.
***
Following the local man, spear in hand, I ventured into the forest.
My body tensed with nervousness.
“...Gulp.”
Walking in the forest was still terrifying.
Because danger lurked everywhere.
But I was improving.
I could now identify some plants.
‘Don’t touch that. It’s dangerous.’
‘Yes, I know. It attracts bugs, right?’
He was warning me about a red flower I’d once tried to touch and been scolded for.
I’d later learned its danger from the children.
Apparently, if the flower was disturbed, it emitted a unique smell.
Certain bugs were highly attracted to that smell.
If you touched it carelessly, the scent would stick to you, drawing the bugs in swarms.
And the bugs, in their excitement, would sting you relentlessly...
‘――We’ve all been stung at least once. It hurts like hell!’
The boy who explained this laughed as he spoke.
This red flower must have evolved that way to protect itself from harm.
‘Let’s move on.’
‘Understood.’
Avoiding the flower in a wide arc, we continued through the forest.
For a while, we walked without stopping.
It seemed the man had given up on forest hunting after my previous disaster.
Without any detours, we reached the river.
“Let’s catch some fish.”
‘...Excuse me!’
As the man began fishing, I gathered my courage to speak.
Though I deceived him, my true goal wasn’t to learn hunting techniques.
‘Can we stay in this area for a while!?’
I couldn’t convey it well before.
But now, with my improved language skills, I had more options to act――.
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