A Scent from the Past
"..Hm? What were we talking about?"
"Ah, right... It's a summons from the capital. You should head out as soon as possible."
"Oh, yeah. Got it. I'll leave today."
Aisha returned the guard captain's salute and headed straight up to her room to pack her things. This inn had grown on her over time. Truth be told, someone of her stature could easily buy a house in a backwater village like this, but she preferred long-term stays here. Sure, there were occasional drunks causing trouble like today, but she could always handle them quietly.
With her modest belongings slung over her shoulder, Aisha stepped out of her room and bumped into a small girl in the hallway—the same kid from earlier who'd been teased by those louts, Annie.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yeah. Thanks for putting up with me all this time."
"No need to thank me. I've gotten way more help from you."
Aisha silently stroked Annie's head. Even as the empire's benefactor, a beastkin was still a beastkin. The prejudice built up over long years hadn't vanished, but this girl saw her for who she was. In over a century of life and countless connections, few had ever done the same. Maybe that's why she could never quite bring herself to leave this little inn.
"Don't make that face. It's not like we'll never see each other again."
"Okay..."
But even as she said it, Aisha didn't believe the girl's future would be bright. She'd been able to protect her until now, but once she was gone, Annie would be alone again. There was no guarantee she wouldn't run into scumbags like today and suffer something awful—like Aisha herself had, sold off to that perverted noble in her past.
Yet Aisha couldn't say a word. She couldn't be a Leon from her own childhood, the one who'd saved her. Spouting empty words without taking responsibility would be irresponsible.
"Well, see ya."
With her gear slung over her shoulder, Aisha brushed past Annie. The girl watched her back in silence.
"..Huh?"
Annie had turned to go just as Aisha reached the stairs, but something made her stop and stare.
"That guy's definitely..."
Right after Aisha descended, a man passed her on the stairs and headed up. He wore strange clothes she'd never seen before. Come to think of it, she might've spotted him in the pub earlier, though the memory was fuzzy.
But things were getting weird. For some reason, Aisha—who'd just gone downstairs—was turning back toward the man. No, she was actively trying to get closer to him.
"What's she doing?"
Annie's curiosity piqued at this uncharacteristic behavior, and she started toward them. That's when Aisha's voice rang out—desperate enough to halt Annie in her tracks.
"Leon..!"
...
"Leon..! Leon!"
Aisha was crying. Nearly a century had passed, but she still remembered that scent. It was the smell of the previous Hero, Leon.
As she'd passed the man on the stairs, that exact aroma had hit her. After almost a hundred years, reuniting with the man she loved—it was only natural for tears to spill as she threw herself into his arms.
But he wasn't the one she sought.
"Hey..! Calm down. This is getting awkward all of a sudden..."
"..Eh?"
She'd been so sure it was Leon, but his voice and face were utterly different. Just some ordinary stranger.
Aisha realized it too late and stammered in confusion.
"No way... That scent was definitely Leon's... It's still here even now..."
"Look, I don't know the details, but I'm not this Leon guy. So, if you'll excuse me..."
The man brushed her off without a backward glance and slipped into his room.
"..."
Aisha could only stare blankly at his retreating figure, her eyes still wet with tears.
...
In the end, Aisha couldn't leave Roswell Village that day. The man next door—the one with Leon's scent—nagged at her mind too much to bear.
Deciding to stay one more night, she sneaked into his room under cover of darkness. For a beastkin martial artist like her, slipping through the window was easier than pie.
"..."
Aisha peered down at the man's sleeping face on the bed. Definitely not Leon. The looks, the age—they didn't match. Leon had been a bright young man in his early twenties. This guy seemed older, and not particularly similar anyway. Plus, a human like Leon couldn't possibly still look young after over a century.
If she had to find a similarity, it was the rare black hair uncommon among this continent's humans. She'd loved Leon's hair, the same shade as her own fur. And now, this stranger was gaining her favor just for that.
Suppressing her quickening breath, Aisha cautiously leaned in and sniffed his body.
"Sniff sniff... Ahh..! It's this scent... Leon... Leon..!"
Like inhaling some dangerous drug, Aisha's face lit up in ecstasy. Her reason screamed that this wasn't Leon, but her instincts urged her to burrow into his arms.
She was exerting superhuman self-control to resist.
"But why... What the hell is this guy's deal?"
That's when it happened.
"Mm..?"
"!"
The man opened his eyes. Their gazes met, and a brief silence hung between them.
"Ah... You're that girl from earlier... Mmph..!?"
The moment he spoke, Aisha clamped a hand over his mouth and pounced.
"Mmph!"
He was pinned in an instant. As a former Hero party member, no average guy could resist her.
"Quiet... Move recklessly, and I'll rearrange every joint in your body."
"..."
Faced with the chilling threat, he could only nod. Aisha, meanwhile, questioned her own actions. Why am I assaulting and threatening a total stranger? She knew it bordered on crime, but it was too late to back out.
She flipped him face-down on the bed, mounted him, and restrained his arms in a perfect back mount. Only then did she ease her hand from his mouth.
Aisha demanded, "What's your name?"
"My name? I'm Kang Minwoo..."
"Kang... what?"
"Kang Minwoo. Just call me Minwoo."
"Minwoo... Weird name."
"Yeah, figured as much."
Even pinned down, his eerie calm escaped her notice as she pressed on.
"What's your connection to the Hero?"
"Hero? You mean the one summoned from another world to defeat the Demon King?"
"Don't play dumb! And don't answer with questions!"
"Ow, ow! Okay, okay..."
Just a slight shift in her weight made him wince. Hard to imagine this frail guy as a Hero, but Aisha waited silently for his answer.
"Truth is... I'm not from this world."
"What... does that mean?"
"Well... Ugh... I don't know the details myself, but I came to when I was already in some strange place..."
"Explain properly!"
"Hey... Could you let me go first? I can't run from you, and I don't want to anyway..."
"..."
His plea snapped her back to some rationality. He was right—no ordinary villager-level strength here. No need to restrain him; he couldn't escape her. And with Leon's scent pleading, her resolve weakened—though she didn't realize it.
Aisha released him. He wiped sweat from his brow and rubbed his wrists. Her grip must've hurt.
She swallowed an apology and snapped, "Now explain. What do you mean you're not from here? Tell me everything—who you are."
She gave him no breathing room, but inwardly, she was the tense one. Her usual self would've noticed his faint smile.
The man began his tale—simple, yet absurd. He was from another world, somehow summoned here without knowing how, and had trekked desperately across barren wastelands to reach this place.
No proof he wasn't the Hero, but Aisha had already received the summons from the empire. It said a new Hero had been called and requested her as mentor. Meaning the new Hero was in the capital.
Thus, this man truly wasn't the Hero.
"So you're really not the Hero, then."