My Alpha Mate's Christmas Gift novel Chapter 71

　　Realising he could not dissuade her, and trying would only waste time even further, he decided to give up on the thought. Instead, he became concerned about how she would get the work done with him.

　　“D-Do you know how to use that?” He asked, pointing to her axe with a look of curiosity mixed with concern.

　　“Oh… Ah, I’ve never used anything like this before. Hahaha” She said with a nervous laugh.

　　He looked at her unbelievably. Such an inexperienced person wanted to do such a thing. The more he thought about it, the more he didn’t understand. Why would she go as far as to help him?

　　“But I’ve watched you do it. I already know the basics. Besides… it’s just chopping wood, right? How hard could it be?” She said smugly.

　　After trying for several times, and after minutes had passed, Roxanne found herself panting in surprise and frustration. It turned out to be harder than she thought. She had initially thought she would raise her hands, grip the axe tightly, bring it down, and bam! The wood would split into two! However, she corrected her initial logic after countless trials and errors!

　　“This is harder than I thought..” She muttered.

　　While she had even greater strength than the man who was doing his work effectively, she had no technique and precision, making him easily beat her in every way. She had barely any chopped wood in her pile, while his just continued to increase. And she realised why.

　　Her strength was not controlled enough to generate efficient precision in chopping the wood. If she used too much strength, she would miss her target. If she used too little, the impact wouldn’t cause the wood to split. This would also cause the Axe to get stuck in the wood, giving her a hard time removing it.

　　“Huff… Huff…” She heaved.

　　For someone who had a frightful amount of stamina, even she was starting to get exhausted from the work. She was shocked that such a man was able to keep this up for so long. He said he had been doing it for a long time and was used to it, so that had to be the reason, but Roxanne still found it unbelievable.

　　She had a newfound respect for the man… Even more than most of the opponents she had faced in a match. If they were to fight, she was confident she could win… As long as he didn’t bring out any weird werewolf power. Yet, this work he had… The way he was so diligent and dominated the field… She couldn’t help but look at him with wonder.

　　“This is the last one!” He said to her with a smile.

　　“Hahaha…” She laughed awkwardly.

　　Even though she told him her help would shorten the time he would use to take care of all the wood, she did the exact opposite. He spent even more time teaching her how to use the axe, making him neglect his own work. He had to cater for her and watch her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself. All of this wasted his time, and she felt guilty about it. It turned out that her help wasn’t really needed and she ended up being a burden instead.

　　However, the man didn’t seem angry with her or disappointed. He appeared to be happier than how she met him. That much made her feel happy and confident while still trying her best to help him, though he was mostly helping her.

　　“This should do it…” He said with a smile.

　　Before she could finish her thoughts, he was finished with the wood.

　　“Ahhhh….” He heaved loudly, dropping his axe on the stump.

　　He stretched his body and Roxanne could hear cracks in his bones. He must have been very stiff in some joints after mechanically performing the same task for over an hour. Such monotonous labour, every day, for years… This man was amazing.

　　“Thank you for your help today, young lady…” He said, bowing his head slightly.

　　“Ah, come on sir. You shouldn’t be doing that to someone like me. Besides, I should be apologising. I ended up slowing you down even more. I’m sorry!”

　　She felt guilty indeed, but she was also feeling a sense of achievement within her… She didn’t understand the reason why though.

　　“Oh, no. There’s no need to apologise. Even though we did take an unexpected amount of time…”

　　“I knew it… I was a nuisance after all” She said to herself as heard him.

　　“…. I have to admit, it’s been a while I was able to enjoy chopping wood this well. This is the best wood chopping experience I have had in years. And it’s all thanks to you.” He said.

　　“O-Oh… Is that so?” Roxanne said, blushing as she heard this.

　　Such a compliment on her, she couldn’t help but feel prouder of herself. It seems he enjoyed her company, and that was enough for her.

　　“Then, what now? How are you going to take care of all this pile of wood?” Roxanne asked, eager to help him again.

　　She knew she was terrible at chopping wood, but if it was just carrying some load, she was confident in her ability.

　　“Oh, about that… I usually have someone help me with it. He should be here any moment. I’m surprised he has taken this long.” The man said.

　　Suddenly, Roxanne heard footsteps approach where they were. The sounds got closer, until a person appeared.

　　“Sorry I’m late dad, I had an errand to run for The Beta, Lord…” The voice stopped midway when the owner saw Roxanne with the man.

　　Roxanne’s eyes also widened in surprise as she saw who it was that called the man she helped dad. The son of the wood chopper… It was another familiar face to her.

　　“Larry?!” Roxanne said with surprise.