The picnic shall go on
UraMa DX Drama CD booklet special
Cold air caressed my cheeks, so I lifted my heavy eyelids, all the while thinking: I’m down with a cold and am running a fever, no way the windows were left open. But upon seeing the shadow moving into my sight, I almost rose. The blanket covering my stomach fell down.
“…Conrad?’
“Shh.”
Beneath the dim light he smiled, and put a finger to my lips.
“It’s a dream.”
He wore clothes of the water’s color, reminiscent of the winter sky. It was better than his usual uniform of these days. He was like a traveler, free; suited him much better than a uniform of another country.
“Relax. This is just a dream. You’ll forget when you wake.”
“Then I don’t want to wake up.”
Chuckling at my childish response, Conrad pulled up the covers and the blanket I had kicked away. A constant repeat of push away if hot - gather up if cold had gone on.
“How are you?”
“Fever, feeling a bit bad.”
“Nausea?”
“Not yet. But I don’t feel like eating.”
“This is quite serious!”
With a grandiose movement of his shoulders, he said, such times call for vitamins, and took out a fruit he seemed to have brought with himself. Green skin and freckles, a small apple.
“Should I puree it into juice?”
“Oh, mom use to, when I was little.”
In elementary school she made the same foods, pretty much always, when I was down with a fever. Not porridge or Udon, like for adults, but ice cream or pudding or canned peaches, or pureed juice where you could taste the fleshy bits.
“Looking back now, I’m all, what was it with the canned peaches? But how did you know? Is the edible apple juice a tradition here too?”
Conrad didn’t give an answer, and stared worriedly at my face.
“Strengthening your recuperative ability is important, but sometimes you have to ask for the help of Gisella too.”
“I’ll do that the next time. I can’t this time, there’s a reason why no one should know. Don’t fret, it’s only a cold. Will be better in no time.”
“Colds don’t just go away… Didn’t Wolfram come to your room?”
“Chased him away. Can’t have him catching it. And have to prepare for tomorrow.”
“Prepare?”
Enquiring, he sat down at the edge of the bed.
“Uhuh, going on a picnic tomorrow, we are. Handed over the preparations to Wolf. Sorry for that.”
“Watch out. Wolfram tends to pack unnecessary things in the package.”
“There used to be, in elementary school, some kid who’d always catch a fever right before the picnic or class trip.”
This is probably all very confusing. I doubt the Mazoku soldiers had elementary school days, and they definitely wouldn’t have had picnics in the military academy. They probably had outdoor camping to enforce camaraderie, but from what I’ve heard about it from Wolfram, it sounded like training. Cadets that came down with fevers prior to trainings can’t have been of much use after graduation.
But the Conrad of dreams merely nodded along with an expression that said he’d understood. The real one would have done the same.
“So then on the day, they’d be absent. Am I going to be like that? Absent tomorrow?”
“You’ll be fine. Said so yourself, that you’d get better in no time.”
“Think so?”
“Yes.”
I sighed. The air around me succumbed to the fever; the passage of time feels sluggish and heavy.
“Wish you could come.”
The words I’d blurted out were to disappear into a bitter smile. It’s only a dream. There’s no way a character from a feverish delirium could come to tomorrow’s excursion.
But Conrad smoothened over my sweat soaked hair and said,
“I do so too.”
The fingers that had wielded swords moved away, and pulled the blankets up to my shoulders.
“Now sleep. It’ll be alright, you can go to the picnic.”
“Are you giving me… that?”
Smiling as he always does, he threw the apple into the air before my face, and lightly pressed the small fruit against my cheek. The fever receded suddenly, it was that chilly.
“It’s gone down.”
“….huh?”
What I thought cold had been Wolfram’s palm. He must have touched my cheek to check my temperature.
“Wolf, what?”
“The sleep must have done good, the fever’s down. Do you want to eat something? Think you can eat?”
With that, he picked up something from nearby the pillow.
“Apple, huh…. Want me to get it puréed?”
“Eh, but how, why, is the apple here.”
Not noticing my mutter, Wolfram gazed nostalgically at the green fruit.
“Long ago, he used to feed me pureed apples whenever I had fevers. I told him many times I wasn’t a baby, I could chew apples no problem - insisted I take them this way, easier to digest.”
Long ago? Whenever? I imagined their conversation, and felt my face relax. Though the widely open windows, the morning sunshine flooded in.
“Lemme guess.”
“Guess what?”
“You actually have a Brother-complex, right?”
The fever’s gone, had a good dream, and the weather’s great.
Even though he’s not here, the picnic shall go on.
=========
Additional note
The Dramatized version of this short story describes this happening post-book 17, but originally the story was written by the author during the Seisakoku Arc, when Conrad had not returned yet. : [
The Drama Cd version was released in 2009 along the ASUKA magazine, and has more chit-chat info in the form of Wolfram and Yuuri talking about the picnic.
The translation is a translation of a translation.
Cold air caressed my cheeks, so I lifted my heavy eyelids, all the while thinking: I’m down with a cold and am running a fever, no way the windows were left open. But upon seeing the shadow moving into my sight, I almost rose. The blanket covering my stomach fell down.
“…Conrad?’
“Shh.”
Beneath the dim light he smiled, and put a finger to my lips.
“It’s a dream.”
He wore clothes of the water’s color, reminiscent of the winter sky. It was better than his usual uniform of these days. He was like a traveler, free; suited him much better than a uniform of another country.
“Relax. This is just a dream. You’ll forget when you wake.”
“Then I don’t want to wake up.”
Chuckling at my childish response, Conrad pulled up the covers and the blanket I had kicked away. A constant repeat of push away if hot - gather up if cold had gone on.
“How are you?”
“Fever, feeling a bit bad.”
“Nausea?”
“Not yet. But I don’t feel like eating.”
“This is quite serious!”
With a grandiose movement of his shoulders, he said, such times call for vitamins, and took out a fruit he seemed to have brought with himself. Green skin and freckles, a small apple.
“Should I puree it into juice?”
“Oh, mom use to, when I was little.”
In elementary school she made the same foods, pretty much always, when I was down with a fever. Not porridge or Udon, like for adults, but ice cream or pudding or canned peaches, or pureed juice where you could taste the fleshy bits.
“Looking back now, I’m all, what was it with the canned peaches? But how did you know? Is the edible apple juice a tradition here too?”
Conrad didn’t give an answer, and stared worriedly at my face.
“Strengthening your recuperative ability is important, but sometimes you have to ask for the help of Gisella too.”
“I’ll do that the next time. I can’t this time, there’s a reason why no one should know. Don’t fret, it’s only a cold. Will be better in no time.”
“Colds don’t just go away… Didn’t Wolfram come to your room?”
“Chased him away. Can’t have him catching it. And have to prepare for tomorrow.”
“Prepare?”
Enquiring, he sat down at the edge of the bed.
“Uhuh, going on a picnic tomorrow, we are. Handed over the preparations to Wolf. Sorry for that.”
“Watch out. Wolfram tends to pack unnecessary things in the package.”
“There used to be, in elementary school, some kid who’d always catch a fever right before the picnic or class trip.”
This is probably all very confusing. I doubt the Mazoku soldiers had elementary school days, and they definitely wouldn’t have had picnics in the military academy. They probably had outdoor camping to enforce camaraderie, but from what I’ve heard about it from Wolfram, it sounded like training. Cadets that came down with fevers prior to trainings can’t have been of much use after graduation.
But the Conrad of dreams merely nodded along with an expression that said he’d understood. The real one would have done the same.
“So then on the day, they’d be absent. Am I going to be like that? Absent tomorrow?”
“You’ll be fine. Said so yourself, that you’d get better in no time.”
“Think so?”
“Yes.”
I sighed. The air around me succumbed to the fever; the passage of time feels sluggish and heavy.
“Wish you could come.”
The words I’d blurted out were to disappear into a bitter smile. It’s only a dream. There’s no way a character from a feverish delirium could come to tomorrow’s excursion.
But Conrad smoothened over my sweat soaked hair and said,
“I do so too.”
The fingers that had wielded swords moved away, and pulled the blankets up to my shoulders.
“Now sleep. It’ll be alright, you can go to the picnic.”
“Are you giving me… that?”
Smiling as he always does, he threw the apple into the air before my face, and lightly pressed the small fruit against my cheek. The fever receded suddenly, it was that chilly.
“It’s gone down.”
“….huh?”
What I thought cold had been Wolfram’s palm. He must have touched my cheek to check my temperature.
“Wolf, what?”
“The sleep must have done good, the fever’s down. Do you want to eat something? Think you can eat?”
With that, he picked up something from nearby the pillow.
“Apple, huh…. Want me to get it puréed?”
“Eh, but how, why, is the apple here.”
Not noticing my mutter, Wolfram gazed nostalgically at the green fruit.
“Long ago, he used to feed me pureed apples whenever I had fevers. I told him many times I wasn’t a baby, I could chew apples no problem - insisted I take them this way, easier to digest.”
Long ago? Whenever? I imagined their conversation, and felt my face relax. Though the widely open windows, the morning sunshine flooded in.
“Lemme guess.”
“Guess what?”
“You actually have a Brother-complex, right?”
The fever’s gone, had a good dream, and the weather’s great.
Even though he’s not here, the picnic shall go on.
=========
Additional note
The Dramatized version of this short story describes this happening post-book 17, but originally the story was written by the author during the Seisakoku Arc, when Conrad had not returned yet. : [
The Drama Cd version was released in 2009 along the ASUKA magazine, and has more chit-chat info in the form of Wolfram and Yuuri talking about the picnic.
The translation is a translation of a translation.