The Healer in a Japanese-Style Game World: Mastering Healing to Save My Favorite Character in a Brutal World, Only to Find Everyone Around Me Becoming Obsessed - Chapter 28: Morning at the Store

Act Two: The Harvest Festival in the Land of Shinano

Chapter 28: Morning at the Store

“…Morning, huh?”

—The second floor of the rented house of the general store, Yomi.

Even though I felt the unmistakable morning sunlight in the bedroom given to me, my consciousness slowly woke up.

I glanced to the side with sleepy eyes and checked the clock. It was always set for my usual wake-up time at 5 AM, so I woke up at the hour of the Rabbit.

“Today is the third day of searching for the cat… I need to wrap it up soon.”

While I wasn’t fully awake, saying the job out loud helped me bring back my awareness. 

After blinking several times, I started to get out of bed. That’s when I noticed something.

Besides the blanket covering me, something else was on top of me—it was leaning against my chest. It was light but firmly holding onto me, not letting go. A sweet scent filled the air… I had a good idea what it was, but I lifted the blanket to confirm.

“Makami… no, Oboro-sama?”

Under the blanket was my new housemate, soundly asleep with gentle breathing.

I was startled by the presence of someone other than my usual family who snuggled in, but I couldn’t help but smile at the peacefully sleeping Oboro-sama.

“…She must have come in here half-asleep.”

Knowing her, she wouldn’t come in on her own. 

She must have woken up in the middle of the night and accidentally walked into the wrong room.

But this is troublesome. I’m confident I can sneak out without waking her, but her nine tails are functioning perfectly as a warm, soft pillow. Leaving this cozy spot in the slightly chilly autumn feels like a foolish move.

“No… I can’t do that. I need to stay calm.”

I wasn’t making excuses to anyone in particular, just whispering to myself.

When I checked the situation, it seemed pretty bad. I thought I could sneak out, but Oboro-sama’s grip was much stronger than I expected. 

The faint sweet scent and soft touch were making me blush, but getting caught in this situation would be terrible.

“…Mmm, my dear?”

Oh no, this is seriously too much. 

What is with this goddess? She’s way too defenseless. 

While I was flustered, Oboro-sama stirred slightly and nuzzled her face into my chest. Not only that, but her substantial breasts pressed against me, making a squishy sound.

“…Sorry, Oboro-sama!”

The next movements were very fast. 

I decided she was trying to kill me, so I used my blessings to escape at full speed and started my morning routine. 

Trying to calm my still-pounding heart, I made breakfast, preparing for everyone to wake up. At that moment, a voiceless scream came from my room.

“Y-Yomi-samaa! It’s not what you think! It wasn’t my intention!”

Then I heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and she tumbled into the kitchen where I was cooking. She was completely flustered, apologizing, her face a deep shade of red.

“Be more careful next time, Oboro-sama.”

“Yes… I’m truly sorry.”

“Good morning, both of you… Did something happen? I heard Oboro screaming.”

“No, it’s nothing, Kagura-sama. Please don’t bring it up.”

“I see, then I won’t worry about it.”

“I-I am not shameless. It’s not what you think… Tsukuyomi-sama…”

Kagura, who usually woke up later, seemed to have been awakened by Oboro-sama’s scream. She came down to the kitchen, still a bit sleepy.

Curious about what happened, she asked Oboro-sama, but the question made her recall the incident, and she looked like she was at her limit, steam practically coming out of her ears.

“Yomi… are we having fish today?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s the fish we caught a few days ago with Kagura and the others. Oboro-sama froze it for us.”

“…It was frozen fresh right after we caught it, so it’s perfectly preserved.”

A little while later, as I was grilling the river fish, Oboro-sama reported with a proud look on her face. Thanks to her expertise with cold, the preservation technology at the general store, Yomi, had significantly improved. Recently, it even surpassed the refrigerators from my previous life.

“Thanks, Oboro-sama. I appreciate it.”

“I can’t do housework, so I thought I could be useful in this way. Besides, I didn’t have any other job to do.”

“I think it’s fine. My main job is as a healer…”

“Even so, I’m part of the general store too.”

While I thought she didn’t need to worry about it, I realized that Oboro-sama didn’t have any specific tasks. The physical work was handled by Makami and me, and Kagura took care of all the administrative and accounting tasks.

“That’s why I plan to learn housework! Yomi-sama usually handles everything, but I should at least learn how to clean!”

“Yomi… should I learn housework too?”

“No, I’ll take care of it…”

It’s great that you’re motivated, but cleaning is really my job, and I don’t plan to hand it over.  

I appreciate the help, but I usually clean up regularly when I come back, and besides, everyone keeps things pretty tidy, so there isn’t much to clean.

“Well, anyway, once Makami wakes up, we’ll have breakfast… and then I’ll go look for the cat.”

“Got it… I’ll organize any requests that come in.”

This was a moment in the morning of September. It had been a month since Oboro-sama joined our group. Every day, while handling requests, our daily life continued.