Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Comfort - 4
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At the Village Chief's request, I took on a search mission in the forest near the village.
And upon arriving there, I understood why he had asked me.
"Here it is. I found it while logging."
"That's gruesome."
The village woodcutter showed me the horrific scene he had discovered.
As a hunter, I could guess right away: someone had been eaten alive by a monster.
"Judging by the claw marks and the broken trees around, it looks like a Yeti. They have a habit of using trees as clubs."
"Why would creatures from the northern regions come all the way here?"
Yeti.
Humanoid monsters with the intelligence of a child and immense strength.
Though called humanoid, they were more like apes—resembling humans in form but fundamentally different from beastkin or orcs. They were monsters, after all, so that was to be expected.
The problem was how tricky they were to hunt. Their tough hides repelled spears and swords, their powerful muscles made them formidable, and their intelligence allowed them to use tools. Traps rarely worked on them either.
But why had these cold-climate dwellers come all the way down here?
Winter was approaching soon. Had they come down for that? There hadn't been any such changes last year.
"Sian, take a look at these clothes. The dirt on the bottom of one pant leg... Doesn't this belong to Garom?"
"It could be. He's the only one whose body we haven't found."
It had been over two weeks since he went missing.
A man who could have died anytime, and yet to reunite like this...
"He must have fled from the mercenaries and climbed up here, only to run into a Yeti of all things. What terrible luck."
"It's not bad luck—it's someone who kicked away his own fortune."
"Haha, true enough."
No one gathered here mourned Garom's death.
True to his greedy nature, he'd embezzled a lot as the mill owner and abused his position over petty things.
I hadn't thought much of him either.
'The head of the family abandons his kin and runs? Good riddance.'
If he'd swallowed his pride and evacuated as I suggested, there wouldn't have been any issues. But he clung to that pride, stubbornly stayed put until the mercenaries arrived, then ditched his wife and daughter to flee.
As a fellow man, I couldn't respect that.
Still, he was from the same village, so we all cremated his body together and held a simple funeral.
In the midst of it, Tom stroked his beard, muttering something suspiciously.
"But this is dangerous."
"What is?"
"A Yeti that has tasted human flesh once. Won't it attack the village again for more?"
I'd heard the exact same thing from my father.
Monsters that had cannibalized once would never forget the taste and raid villages for seconds.
That was why the most important rule for hunters was to never get eaten by a monster.
"That's possible. I'll patrol this direction for a while."
"Good to have you around. But be careful—that Yeti might have become a spear ghost."
"Spear ghost?"
"You don't know as a hunter? The grudge of someone eaten by a monster possesses it, driving it to kill their family."
It sounded like some Joseon-era superstition, but this was a fantasy world with monsters, auras, and magic.
Well, I'd never actually seen magic, but Tom's words weren't entirely without mysticism.
"But if it's a grudge, why not kill the monster that ate them instead of tormenting innocent family?"
"Grudges always go after the nearest easy target, don't they? Anyway, you took Elsia as a concubine, right? Be careful."
"Yes, thanks for the advice."
I wasn't one to believe in superstitions, but I took Tom's warning to heart.
In this world, age meant survival.
'Just in case, I should set up some alarms around the house.'
Son of a bitch, even in death he's a pain.
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
"Clia, you just had lunch."
"Playing with Elin lately has made me hungry at this time~ Snacks! Give me snacks!"
"Sigh... Fine. But you have to share with Elin."
"Of course."
Sylvia's depression seemed to have improved; she had more energy. Though it wasn't overcoming it so much as forgetting it due to new worries. And those worries were...
"Need any help?"
"Eek?!"
"Sylvia?"
She startled at the sight of me, let out a shrill scream, and fled. She must still have been hung up on what happened that day.
"Bro, did you fight with Mom?"
"No, it was all my fault."
"Oh? But bro, I want a snack."
With Mom gone, Clia boldly demanded one from me.
"A snack... What do you want?"
"Hmm, something sweet like fruit?"
Sweet foods were hard to come by in a rural village like this.
Especially in winter, fruit was even tougher.
"Any eggs left?"
"We have eggs! Gold King laid some yesterday too!"
Gold King.
The name of the chicken Clia raised.
"Good. Can you bring me a few eggs?"
"Okay~"
Clia toddled off to the coop in the yard to fetch them.
"Aaaah! Gold King, just give me a few eggs!"
From the screams, she was battling Gold King for the eggs.
While Clia was at it, I headed to the apiary across the river for honey.
A massive honeybee greeted me upon arrival.
Buzzzzzz.
"I'll take some honey."
The Giant Pring, a colossal honeybee.
I'd captured a few workers with Leon to start beekeeping; they formed their own colony.
Buzzzzz~
Harmless to the village, but without me, harvesting honey would be impossible.
"Yeah, yeah, good job."
Buzz!!
I ignored the angry buzzing, collected the honey, and returned to the living room.
Clia was there, victorious from her battle with Gold King, eggs in hand.
"Hehe, bro, here are the eggs."
"Good work."
I separated the fresh eggs' whites and yolks, whipped the whites, added a pinch of salt, then mixed in the yolks before pouring onto a hot griddle.
The resulting soufflé omelet got a drizzle of Giant Pring honey on top.
"Here, try it."
Clia cautiously speared a bite, then her eyes sparkled.
"Bro, this is so good! What's it called?"
"Soufflé... No, just Pring Bread."
"Pring Bread? So yummy—make it again next time!"
"Sure, sure. But brush your teeth after."
"Okay!"
Clia toddled off with her Pring Bread, probably to share with Elin.
"Some ingredients left over."
A few eggs remained, so I made another Pring Bread.
I pondered who to give it to, then decided on Sylvia.
'Hope this improves things a bit.'
I made the Pring Bread and searched for Sylvia.
But she was nowhere inside. Puzzled, I asked Chloe, who was resting.
"Mom? Probably at her old house before the move."
"That place? Isn't it the one the displaced villagers used?"
"It's unmanaged and abandoned now. Mom goes to clean it occasionally since."
"I see. Oh, Chloe, I made a snack—want some?"
"I'm good. My stomach's upset."
Chloe's morning sickness had gotten worse lately.
It pained me that there was nothing I could do for her suffering.
"Honey, don't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look."
"Thanks. I believe in you."
I kissed Chloe and headed out to find Sylvia as she'd said.
"So this is the house Chloe lived in before marriage."
My first visit to her maternal home, but nothing to see.
Typical rural village structure: a simple all-in-one house with no privacy.
Livestock had been kept inside too, leaving a strong smell.
And months of neglect hadn't helped.
"Sian?"
"Sylvia, you're here."
She panicked at seeing me. Worried she'd run again, I grabbed her wrist.
"Made a snack for you, Sylvia. Eat first, then let's clean together."
"Uh... Okay?"
Out in the yard, Sylvia took a bite of the Pring Bread—and reacted like Clia.
"Never had bread this delicious."
"Not exactly bread. No flour."
"Really? It's so fluffy!"
She ate so appreciatively, it made the maker happy.
Watching her, I surveyed the rundown house where she'd spent her life with her three children.
"You raised three siblings here."
"Siblings? Oh, yeah."
Harsh to think it, but it was truly shabby.
Given her beauty, couldn't she have married someone better and lived nicer?
Lost in such thoughts, silent, Sylvia stared blankly at the house and spoke.
"I gave birth to the kids in there."
"I see."
"With the first, it felt like I had the world."
"..."
"Chloe's birth was joyful; Clia's, just okay."
"..."
"Losing my husband was despairing. Leon's conscription terrifying."
"Must have been hard."
"Yeah. But the wedding... Chloe's wedding was the hardest."
"What?"
I was shocked. I hadn't expected her to resent our marriage.
But that wasn't her intent.
"I wondered if Chloe hadn't chosen her own life because of me."
Forcing her daughter into marriage for the family, it seemed.
"Like how my husband forced his life on me."
"What do you—"
His sudden mention startled me.
Sylvia carefully explained to my confusion.
"Sian, you know my husband was the former Village Chief's son, right?"
"Yes."
New to village acceptance, I didn't know much about folks, but I'd picked up bits from Tom.
"He schemed to marry me."
But this was news to me.