The Bride Of The Sacred Forest God
Chapters 16. A Change in the Last Night

Reda finished eating the rice and went back to work. Although for now he has not dared to drink water from all the water sources in Aragaki's place, but he will try to find a water source in the forest at lunch time.

Thanks to the rice also, Reda can continue the heavy tasks that must be done by him such as cleaning the garden after watering the garden, sweeping the front yard and mopping the inside of the Aragaki residence.

On the sidelines of the activity, he had time to wash dirty dishes and pick vegetables.

Lunch time is almost here and Ryuunosuke is cooking for everything. This time, he deliberately gave a large portion to his master and other loyal servants.

“May there be other leftovers for Reda-sama. Ryuunosuke will also make tamagoyaki for additional Reda-sama lunch and tea for him.”

Ryuunosuke delivers the food with Reda back.

When he gives his first plate to his master, Aragaki is surprised by the portion he gets. In fact, Ryuunosuke doesn't usually make karaage for lunch.

“Why are the portions this much?” ask the master of her little fox

“This..ini Ryuunosuke make because Aragaki-sama did not spend your breakfast. So, Ryuunosuke deliberately gave a lot of portions so that Aragaki-sama is full.”

What a clever excuse for the little fox.

Not only Aragaki portions are made a lot, Nagi and other portions are also made very much, especially in the rice and karaage section.

“Ryuunosuke, we will not transport heavy goods so this food is impossible to run out. It's a pity if you have to throw it later.” said Kuroto with a protest tone

“Kuroto-sama simply ate it. Don't protest at Ryuunosuke or Kuroto-sama cooking dinner later!” the fox turned around in protest

Kuroto did not want to quarrel with the fox and just looked at the food in seriousness.

Unlike the black tengu, Nagi and Ginko look at each other. They thought of something this time.

As Ryuunosuke exited the dining room, Aragaki and the others started eating. Ryuunosuke who was walking with Reda towards the kitchen started to do other things.

In the kitchen, Reda who had finished soaking the vegetables picked by her before left Ryuunosuke who was busy preparing something.

“Ryuunosuke, I'll be out for a while to find some food huh. Ryuunosuke eat first. Later I will wash the dishes and lift the clothesline.”

“Be careful Reda-sama.”

Reda gave a smile and stroked the little fox's head until its tail swayed in delight.

As soon as Reda left the kitchen, Ryuunosuke began to compile the food that would be given to Reda secretly.

**

In the dining room, Aragakai began to ask his four servants.

“Didn't you guys feel weird about that little fox attitude?”

“Any?”

“True. Not usually he makes a lot of portions like this.”

Hakuren answered his master's question.

“Maybe it was his form of attention. Ryuunosuke is very fond of Aragaki-sama so it is natural that he gives a lot of attention including in terms of food.”

Aragaki did not say anything more and started eating her food.

However, things are a little different with Nagi and Ginko. They took only half of his bowls of rice and separated half of their side dishes.

I don't know what the two youko were thinking, they both compactly did it. As soon as he finished his meal, Hakuren saw a lot of leftovers on his second plate and asked.

“Why not spent? Unlike usual, you guys didn't spend all that?”

“Ah, this? We went to the village to buy dango before eating. We're full so we can't spend it.” Nagi replied by giving an expression of nausea and satiety

Ginko also seemed to defend Nagi and make gestures as if he was full.

“I feel bad for Ryuunosuke. Later we will both apologize to the little fox.”

“One of you why buy a snack before lunch. Basic greedy!”

“Kuroto, don't talk like that! It is wrong to eat dango before eating rice!” Nagi started to look angry

Both youko and tengu were starting to have a fight and it was enough to make his master dizzy.

“You guys, when you're done better get out of here. I'm starting to feel like my food won't digest well if you guys keep fighting after eating.”

“Ba–baik. We excuse you, Aragaki-sama.”

Aragaki came out of the dining room first, followed by her two leads. This time they tried to walk around the house to see the work of the village girl. While the two fox demons rushed to the kitchen.

Arriving at the kitchen, they call Ryuunosuke.

“Oi, little fox! We're done eating. There is a lot of food left. You make it too much until I can't spend it.”

Ryuunosuke who heard Nagi's words looked delighted. It was not shown from his face but from his wagging tail and his moving ears.

“Foods the rest..there are many? That can Ryuunosuke throw away?”

“Will you keep that food?”

“Ryuunosuke, please clean the rest yes.”

Ryuunosuke rushes towards the dining room to pick up the dishes.

**

In the forest, Reda walked towards the hut first to drink water from the well. No longer thinking the water was raw or cooked, he only wanted to fill up a little bit of his stomach just in case he could get nothing else in the forest.

“Thank God there is still water. At least with this, I can survive a little until tonight.”

Reda smiled and looked inside her hut. He saw nothing in it except his old clothes that had been torn but did not look so dirty because they had been washed yesterday.

“I think tonight I will sleep in my old clothes so that the clothes I used to wear sleep can be washed. I have to appear clean so that Nushi-sama does not feel disgusted at me.”

Reda decided to wash the clothes she used to wear to sleep for a while and then sunbathe them. He then went to the forest to find food.

In the forest, he really did not find anything. Just a little twig around it.

Walking a little more into the forest, he found something unexpected.

“It...plant fuki?!”

Reda immediately ran and saw it well. How happy he was to find sansaitori (a wild vegetable in the forest) in the depths of the forest.

“Thank God, God. Thank you very much. At least with this, I can cook it later tonight.”

Reda was like finding a treasure, he picked the plant and started to take it to the hut. Because he did not have a basket, he was forced to take a bucket tied to a well bucket to be used as a basket.

The girl ran back to the forest to look for other plants. He has to go deeper and deeper. The longer distance made him have to be willing to run to return to the hut later. But it doesn't matter to him.

After the afternoon sun began to rise, Reda unknowingly picked a lot of wild vegetables and ran home to wash them.

“Yes Gods, look at this. There is tara no me, kogomi, nobiru, fuki, suberiyu, warabi, tochi no ki (all names of wild vegetables in the Japanese forest). It's like a dream. It feels like my struggle this afternoon is paying off. Glad~”

That sweet smile was shown by the beautiful girl on her lips. His face was full of sweat and blushing yet his heart was completely delighted. He washed everything clean to the point of forgetting that he had not had lunch.

From the top of the tall tree, he was not aware that there were two tengu watching him.

“He willingly went into the forest and managed to find wild vegetables huh. I really did not get out of thought with his efforts.” muttered Kuroto from above

Hakuren watched the girl walk into his old hut with a smile. Without even knowing it, he smiled.

“I don't understand. Unlike the other ‘bride candidates, less than two days he was here and I felt he might be completely different as the little fox had said. For some reason, I might so really wish she was married to Aragaki-sama.”

Realizing that his thoughts were almost impossible for now, Hakuren went to see the state of the other forest leaving Kuroto.

Reda stored all the vegetables and rushed back to Aragaki's place. Her feelings were being happy at this moment until she forgot that she was not having lunch anymore today.

“I'll look for it again tomorrow. Hopefully there's a lot I can find.” he thought as he ran

When he returned and headed to the well to draw water, Ryuunosuke called out to the girl.

“Reda-sama, Reda-sama!!”

“Ryuunosuke. What's in such a hurry?”

The little fox gave three packs of bamboo leaves containing three pieces of rice in each package. The little fox even tied a bottle to his waist. Reda was really surprised to see it.

“What...ini?”

“It's the cockerel rice from today's leftovers. The rest of the food is plenty! Ryuunosuke had already chosen it and made this. Ryuunosuke also brings water, let's eat first.”

Reda held back her tears. He seemed to have had a lot of luck today. Not only did he manage to find wild vegetables in the forest but he also got leftovers for his lunch.

The girl received the food and ate it voraciously. This time, he tried very hard to hold back his tears and replace them with a smile that he kept showing.

“Enak no?”

“Enak. There's chicken and eggs. It's very fancy for me.”

“Reda-sama has to eat in order to fight. Ryuunosuke will support Reda-sama.”

How sweet the little fox is. Reda could not stand the sweetness until she hugged him back.

“Thank you very much, Ryuunosuke. I'm really happy.”

Ryuunosuke hugged her and waited for the girl to finish eating. When the rice and drinks brought by the little fox ran out, the little fox started running into the kitchen again.

As soon as Reda saw the little fox was no longer there, she cried alone.

“Thank you for caring about this dirty me. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to not give up. I will fight a little more. I will fight again to keep my promise. Hiks..hiks...”.

In a place unknown to Reda, there were two youko who saw her crying. They did not say anything, but their facial expressions showed that they were happy with the feeling of the village girl.

A small change overnight has occurred. However, no one knew to what extent this change would side with the poor beautiful girl.

****