Chapter 3 – Story 60: Make-up

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Shyemul woke up inside her own tent and nimbly dressed herself. Thereafter, she started her morning routine by lightly stretching her body to get rid of the stiffness that had settled in her bones over the night. Next, she roughly scratched her whole body to have any loose fur fall out, before combing her now messy fur back into a proper, prim state. Afterwards, she put on her body armor which was knitted out of ivies and dyed with bright colors. And at the very end, she affixed the machete, her father’s memento, at her waist.

“Alright! Guess it’s about time for me to head over to Soma.”

Shyemul stepped out of her tent after motivating herself lightly, but her face was anything but bright. Deep wrinkles had carved themselves into her forehead and her lips were pursed while the corners were clearly pointing downwards.

Outside the sun hadn’t risen yet, but the camp was already filled with the bustle of many people moving about. Shyemul squinted her eyes at the change in lighting, and then turned her eyes towards Souma’s tent which had been set up in a spot a bit further away from her own tent.

Back in Bolnis Shyemul would always sleep in the room adjacent to Souma’s so as to be able to quickly rush over at any moment if something were to happen. But, out here at their Conte encampment, they had deliberately separated their tents.

This was something Souma had decided. The military regulations had been set so that murder and pillaging of civilians would be punished very harshly during the campaign. This also included rape. Souma had announced that they would execute anyone, who violated those rules, on the spot and even put up their head as warning for the other soldiers.

However, it was bound to lead to unnecessary misunderstandings among the lower ranks, if Souma himself was waited upon by elven court ladies on the battlefield. For that reason, no elven court lady in civilian clothes was allowed to approach him during daytime, and during nighttime all women were barred entry to the tent used by Souma. Even Shyemul was no exception to this, despite her being recognized as Souma’s closest retainer by anyone. And for this very reason, Shyemul had been sleeping in a separate tent.

However, this wasn’t the reason for Shyemul’s gloom. Her dark feelings stemmed from Souma’s attitude completely changing after he received the news about the subjugation force’s advance.

Even after that, Souma had been smiling cheerfully whenever they went around to check the morale of the soldiers and the progress of the dwarves’ work. But, Shyemul could easily tell that he was forcing himself.

Once Souma relaxed his guard during times when only those close to him were around, like during breaks or meals inside his tent, his face immediately clouded over with depression while sighs kept escaping his lips. Moreover, he frequently summoned the harpyians under Pipi and especially quick-footed zoan to his tent, constantly sending them out to scout the enemy. And whenever they returned for their reports, he got even more worried.

But, that wasn’t all of it.

According to the sole archer among the zoan, Fagul Gulshata Shahata, who was guarding Souma’s tent at night in Shyemul’s stead, Souma glared at the map with its figurines until very late into the night, resulting in him not catching much sleep. On top of that, even after finally laying down, Souma would repeatedly jump up in the dead of the night, apparently plagued by nightmares.

Souma had been cornered so much over the last few days that Shyemul couldn’t help but think that he was almost acting like a calf which had been surrounded by starving wolves.

Shyemul gazed eastwards while walking through their encampment. As soon as she did, she could spot an encampment consisting of a simple fence surrounding an assembly of countless tents in the far distance. That was the camp of Holmea’s subjugation force.

A few days ago, Holmea’s army had finally shown up. Back then, Souma’s agitation had been so severe that Shyemul worried Souma might faint then and there.

Her mind was filled with the wish to somehow help him. But, when it came to the military affairs troubling Souma so much, Shyemul couldn’t be of any help whatsoever. It seemed like Zurgu and Dvalin, who led their clans into battle, and Marchronis, who used to serve as adjutant of a company commander in Holmea’s army, could advise Souma to some degree, but neither of them had experience in battles involving tens of thousand troops, if you added foes and allies together. And when it came to a battle where they were supposed to crush an enemy who exceeded them in combat forces, it already counted as complete unknown for all three of them.

In the end, Souma could only rely on himself. As such, Shyemul couldn’t prevent a sigh making its way out of her mouth as she lamented over her own worthlessness.

Once Shyemul arrived in front of the tent used by Souma, elven court ladies were already present at the entrance. Them being here meant that Souma had already woken up. Shyemul grabbed one of them and questioned her about what Souma was doing. In response, she was told that he’d woken up just a little while ago and was currently in the middle of getting himself ready.

Just as it was custom among the zoan, Shyemul cleared her throat in front of Souma’s tent. Immediately following that, she could hear Souma from within.

“Shyemul? It’s fine, come in.”

Shyemul entered the tent as soon as she received his permission, but immediately frowned upon seeing Souma’s face.

“You look really bad, Soma.”

Just as Shyemul pointed out, Souma’s state was anything but good. All blood had drained from his face, making the description pale sound like an understatement. Rather, he was so ashen pale that he looked like he was on the deathbed. In addition, his eyes were bloodshot ― probably because of excessive lack of sleep ― and dark bags were visible underneath his eyes.

“Is it so terrible?” Souma rubbed his face all over while asking.

Earlier I’ve been asked by the elven ladies, who have been helping me with my preparations, whether I’m actually sick, and going by them handling me like super fragile porcelain right now, my face must look quite bad. But, seeing how even Shyemul has pointed it out, despite being a zoan, who generally have difficulties to tell human expressions apart, things have to be much worse than I expected. At this rate, I won’t be able to go outside in front of other people. I need to improve the blood circulation as much as possible, assessed Souma and briskly massaged his own face.

But, his current condition wasn’t anything he’d be able to fix with such a makeshift measure. Shyemul sighed deeply at Souma’s pointless efforts.

“Good grief, you’re really incorrigible, aren’t you? ――Hey, Eladia, lend me the stuff you guys always smear on your faces.”

Being addressed by Shyemul, Eladia placed one of her beautiful hands on her cheek while tilting her head to the side, “On our faces…you say?”

“You’re always using that white powder, aren’t you? That’s what I mean.”

At last, Eladia realized what Shyemul was talking about.

“Oh, you mean our make-up, right?”

The concept of using lipstick and powder to pretty up faces already existed in this era. The origins of cosmetics could be traced back to the continent’s center. However, as commodities which had only recently reached the West, cosmetics were exceedingly rare and costly, limiting their application to the wives and daughters of royalty, nobles, and rich merchants.

In that regard, Eladia had learned the newest ways of applying cosmetics as a prostitute princess of the highest class during her stay at the continent’s center, so it’d be no exaggeration to say that she was the leading expert on cosmetics when it came to the West.

Eladia ordered one of her court ladies to bring over several beauty products. Namely, powder made out of starch flour which had been extracted from tubers, a creamy mass that combined starch flour and animal fats, rouge that used the same animal fats, etc.

“Okay, don’t move now.”

Shyemul scooped up some of the powder and slapped it on Souma’s face in one go. The white powder billowed up like smoke and Souma immediately started to cough after breathing in the powder. However, that only earned him a scolding from Shyemul since he’d moved. Once he straightened his face while suppressing the coughs, Shyemul closely stared at him.

“Hmm. ――If I remember correctly, humans have red cheeks whenever they’re lively. Does that signify their complexion being good?”

As soon as Souma nodded at that, Shyemul thrust her index finger into the creamy rouge stored inside a shell container and scooped up plenty of the mass by twisting her finger around. Watching her do that, Souma got a very bad feeling about this, but faster than he could stop her, Shyemul smeared the full heap of rouge onto his cheeks and lips.

“Nice. Now you look much better!”

While wiping the rouge of her finger with a cloth and clapping her hands to get rid of the powder, Shyemul nodded many times over as she checked out her own work in satisfaction. Souma, on the other hand, couldn’t believe that he’d look any better after that rough application of make-up.

When it came to zoan make-up, it was limited to drawing patterns similar to shading by using earthen colors. Logically, it was basically impossible to expect Shyemul, a zoan girl, to apply make-up on a human face, which she couldn’t quite distinguish in the first place, without any prior practice whatsoever. If she had been able to pull this off without a hitch, it’d be akin to a miracle. And Souma sure didn’t want to waste any miracles on such things right before their big battle against Holmea.

He used his eyes to ask the elven women around him whether it was truly alright, but they only answered his question with polite smiles. Feeling that his own suspicions were spot on, Souma felt conflicted on how he should handle this whole matter.

“Excuse me, Lady Shyemul, but you made a small mistake over here,” Eladia commented while pointing at the area around Souma’s eyes.

“Hmm? Really?”

Seeing Shyemul pull a face that clearly told anyone that she didn’t know, Eladia smiled gently and offered, “Yes. ――Having said that, it is a very small mistake. So, if you do not mind, I shall correct it.”

“I see. Okay, please take care of it.”

Eladia retrieved the rouge and powder from Shyemul with those words, but then looked as if she had suddenly remembered something.

“It is about time for Marco to finish preparing Lord Soma’s breakfast. Please forgive me, but could you go and grab it for Lord Soma, Lady Shyemul?”

“Me?”

This was a rare request for Eladia who always insisted on the court ladies taking care of Souma’s necessities. As Shyemul inclined her head in doubt, Eladia further added, “Today is the day of our crucial battle against Holmea. I believe it is only appropriate for the role of serving Lord Soma his breakfast on such an important day to be handled by his first retainer.”

Shyemul’s eyes immediately flew wide open. Believing that Eladia’s words were very reasonable and just, Shyemul nodded gravely.

“Very well. Allow me to take care of this task as Soma’s first retainer.”

With those words Shyemul cheerfully headed over to Marco. As soon as she had left Souma’s tent, Eladia handed Souma a hot, steaming cloth, which she apparently had another elven court lady prepare in advance.

“Lord Soma, please use this to first wipe your face clean.”

Far from correcting it, Eladia had apparently judged it necessary to do it over from scratch.

“…So it was that bad after all?”

“With all due respect, but please allow me to refrain from commenting.”

After making Souma sit down on a chair when he had finished wiping his face, Eladia sat down in front of him and began to apply a new layer of make-up. She carefully rationed the cosmetics, constantly checking the whole, as she smeared the powder, which she had blended with some of the rouge to give it a red tinge, on Souma’s face so as to cover his dark bags and pale cheeks.

As a complete amateur when it came to cosmetics, Souma left it all up to Eladia, but silently sitting in front of a radiant beauty like her for a longer period of time made him feel awkward. Having said that, he couldn’t think of a smart conversation topic either.

Accordingly, Souma randomly commented on the earlier events.

“Shyemul sure is as pushy as ever. Quite the troublemaker, isn’t she?”

Knowing that this was Souma’s attempt to hide his own embarrassment, Eladia revealed a faint smile, “But, thanks to that, your heart has calmed down quite a bit too, has it not? Your face’s complexion has visibly improved when compared to earlier.”

“Did it look so bad?”

“Quite so. You appeared like a walking corpse. However, right now it is just the unhealthy face of a sleep-deprived person.”

Even though he had asked on a light note, Souma grasped that his earlier face must have looked very disastrous.

As he unintentionally smiled bitterly at his own realization, Eladia asked while continuing with the make-up, “Lord Soma, do you know the tale of the cicada and the earth goddess?”

Once Souma admitted that he did not, Eladia recounted the following legend:

According to Seldeas’s folklore, the cicada was the most beloved insect of the earth goddess. Because of that, the goddess granted the cicada a longer lifespan than other insects, and allowed it to serve her all the time by staying next to her inside the earth.

One day, the cicada spotted a gathering of other insects. They were the larvae of other bugs who would be very soon leaving the soil. They were heatedly discussing what they’d be able to see on the surface. Their conversation was especially focused on the greatness of the sun.

Hearing their words, the cicada started to feel like wanting to see the sun as well, and asked the goddess, “Oh Goddess, oh Goddess, I would love to also leave the earth and take a look at the thing called sun.”

The earth goddess felt conflicted by the cicada’s request. After all, she had granted the cicada a much longer lifespan than other insects for the very purpose of it always being at her side. The goddess suspected that the cicada would die within a few days as its longevity would disappear as soon as it was basked by sunlight.

However, even when the goddess explained all of that, the cicada’s feelings on this didn’t budge. With a heavy heart, the earth goddess bestowed wings to the cicada so that it would be able to freely fly through the sky and gave the cicada her permission for it to leave the soil.

The people of Seldeas believed this to be the very reason why cicadas would chirp loudly as soon as they left the soil during the season when the sun’s might was at its peak, just to die a few days afterwards.

“However, know that you have given us freedom as wings and a future as sun, Lord Soma. So why should we hold our lives dear over everything else, if a mere cicada has chosen freedom and future over its own, eternal life? Do you believe that the cicada would resent the object of its admiration, the sun, just because its life fleetingly burned away?”

Having finished applying the make-up, Eladia closed the lid of her cosmetics box, and bowed towards Souma.

“I believe your kindness to be something very precious, Lord Soma, but please make sure to not bear all responsibility by yourself.”

“…Okay, I will.”

He understood Eladia’s point. But because Souma still hadn’t come to terms with other people losing their lives in battles he started, Souma’s reply was somewhat half-hearted.

“Then again, seeing how you have someone with you, who will demand to carry a part of the burden, whether you like it or not, I am not all that worried,” Eladia said with tease coloring her voice.

Realizing whom she was referring to, Souma couldn’t help but smile.

She’s right. Shyemul would likely try to share some of the responsibility, even if she has to use force to get it done. Rather, she won’t shy away from knocking me down either.

Just then Shyemul entered the tent while carrying a tray with Souma’s breakfast.

“Hey, Soma, I brought your breakfast. I got a share for myself as well, so let’s eat together.”

Talking up to that point, Shyemul tilted her head lightly and then scrutinized Souma’s face. After a while, she nodded several times.

“Great. Now your face looks a bit more decent.”

Shyemul put the tray down on the sheet covering the ground and sat down cross-legged.

“Come one, let’s eat, Soma.”

As soon as Souma sat down in the same way, Eladia and the other elves left the tent out of consideration. Their breakfast was a simple meal consisting of a small piece of cheese and a porridge based on a provision ball. After all, it was Souma’s belief that everyone in the army should eat the same food, be it general or foot soldier.

The two wished each other a good meal and then started on their breakfast. Both were silent and thus you could only hear the faint sound of the tableware inside the tent. But, somehow this silence felt very comfortable for Souma.

“Hey, Soma. You seem to be smiling. What’s the matter?”

Having it pointed out by Shyemul, Souma realized that he had started to smile at some point without being aware of it.

“It’s just I’ve started to feel like it’ll work out one way or the other.”

“Really?”

Shyemul asked with a bewildered look due to Souma’s ambiguous reply, but her ears were twitching.

“What’s going on? I feel like it’s become noisy outside.”

Souma couldn’t tell what was going on yet, but he knew that Shyemul had to be right since zoan ears were much better than human ears.

Soon after, Eladia spoke up from outside, “Please excuse me, Lord Soma. Just now we have received news that movements have been spotted within Holmea’s encampment.”

“Got it. I’ll come outside in a moment.”

Saying that, Souma pursed his lips and stood up. After getting up just like him, Shyemul picked up the headband with its iron plating from the table next to Souma’s bed, quickly went behind him, put it around his forehead, and tied it together on the back of his head.

While making sure that it was a good fit, Souma said, “Let’s win this, Shyemul.”

“Yeah, victory will be ours, Soma.”

Lightly nodding at each other, the two left the tent together.

The battle, which would become famous as 「Sunomuta’s Humiliation」 in later years, was finally about to start.

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