3. The First Request……. - Wrap-up -
Just one night, and the village had emptied out completely, leaving not a soul behind. A massive wave of panic hit me for a moment.
Afterward, Princess Aria and Sierra woke up and found me looking somewhat haggard. They asked worriedly,
"Hm? What's wrong, Ian? Why the long face?"
"Um, over there...? Are you okay?"
At the three women's concerned words, I cautiously broached the subject.
"W-well... there's no one in the village at all. It's like a ghost town... There were definitely people here yesterday, right? Like that kind mother and daughter who lent us their house..."
"What do you mean? Say that again. The village is empty?"
"Yes, there's no one in the village."
"Maybe they all went to work? To the fields or up the mountain to chop wood?"
"No, that's not it. No one's in the fields, all the houses are empty... Even if a few went to chop wood, how could everyone disappear? Kids too!"
"Hmm..."
I rambled on, and Aria and Sierra asked puzzled questions in response. I answered even more passionately.
"I'll go check it out first, Princess Aria."
"Do that. You might just be mistaken, Ian."
"Argh, seriously. There's no one there!"
They didn't quite believe me at first, but soon Sierra went out and came back with a baffled look on her face.
"Uh, um..."
"Well? Was there really no one, Sierra?"
"Yes, Ian's right, Princess Aria. The village is completely empty."
"...That's strange."
Only then did Aria's expression turn a bit serious.
A short while later, the three of us sat around the table and began discussing the situation.
I spoke up first.
"D-do you think we ended up in a real ghost town?"
Hey, this world had magic and monsters—it was a fantasy world, after all. A village full of ghosts wasn't out of the question.
But Sierra shook her head, as if denying my idea.
"No, it can't be. A ghost town doesn't feel like this."
"Huh? It's not?"
"Ghost towns look like normal villages at night, but during the day, they appear completely abandoned and ruined."
"S-so that means..."
"This house we're in is perfectly fine, right? If it were a ghost town, it'd be crumbling to pieces by morning like it was ready to collapse any second."
"Hmm. I see."
So ghost towns were real... I'd said it half-jokingly, but Sierra responded quite seriously.
As I let out a faint groan, she—who had just refuted me—offered another theory.
"More likely... something happened. Like they all had to evacuate suddenly. Maybe monsters invaded?"
Aria shot back with an incredulous look.
"No, that can't be, Sierra."
"Why not?"
"Obviously. If it were that serious, there'd have been a huge commotion from the start. Did we hear any big noises while we were sleeping?"
"...R-right. That makes sense. I said something stupid."
"It's fine, Sierra. You've always been a bit slow-headed right after waking up."
Sierra spouting even wilder nonsense than me, and Aria smiling like she found it adorable. Ugh, my eyes hurt just watching.
I'd noticed a strange vibe between them these past few days on the road. They made it obvious every evening, whispering behind my back while I drove the carriage. Mostly Aria cooing about loving Sierra, calling her her baby bird or cute chick...
I hadn't heard it directly, but Cheong-ah—with her sharp ears—had overheard and spilled every juicy detail with her "Oh my, oh my!" routine, saying that's how girls talk among themselves. No way I could ignore it.
And them being lesbians? Wild. Sure, I came from a world full of that stuff, but surprisingly, Cheong-ah from conservative Yuldo didn't bat an eye. Rumor has it love transcends borders, age, and gender. Cheong-ah's mind was surprisingly flowery inside.
...Women, huh? Wait, that's sexist. Anyway, not the point.
"So what do you think, Princess Aria? Any idea why everyone vanished?"
"No rush. Ian, you've got a bit of a hot-headed streak from what I've seen these past days. Let me think."
"...Sure. Oh, by the way, why'd you two sleep in so late today?"
Aria usually woke early on our trip to the capital, nagging me with that proverb about early birds getting the worm. Sierra joined in too.
Curious why they overslept today, I asked. Aria smiled leisurely, but Sierra's face stiffened noticeably.
"Oh, that? Nothing much. Heh."
"Why are you worrying about that, Ian?! W-we can sleep in whenever we want sometimes!"
Sierra flushed red and yelped defensively. I scratched my head, wondering what I'd done wrong.
"D-did I ask something weird?"
"No, no. Sierra's just embarrassed—ignore it. You were too sensitive, Sierra. It was nothing, right? Just a little extra sleep—why snap at Ian? Now he's thinking weird things."
"U-ugh... Y-yeah, you're right. It really was nothing. We just chatted about old times and overslept. Nothing strange happened!"
Sierra desperately insisted it was nothing, even though I hadn't pressed much.
We debated the reason for a while longer. Soon, Cheong-ah woke up, stepped out in her usual neat attire, and asked,
"Hm? What's so fun that you three are chatting about?"
"Cheong-ah, you're up? Overslept today."
"Yes, my lord. Did you sleep well? There was a good reason for it. Anyway, what were you talking about?"
Cheong-ah having a reason to oversleep? Come to think of it, she never slept in. And unlike Aria and Sierra, she'd gone to bed early...
I was about to ask, but she beat me to it.
Well, no rush.
"Oh, well..."
Having slept deeply and woken early for once, I explained how the water jug was full again, the half-empty vegetable basket was mostly gone, and crucially, the village was empty.
She smiled sweetly through my explanation, then said once I'd finished,
"Oh, that. I did all of it."
"Huh?"
"Pardon?"
"What?"
We—Ian, Aria, and Sierra—all stared at her in shock.
No way—the culprit behind our heated debate was Ju Cheong-ah? Then why was the village empty?
As we stared expectantly, she casually took my cup of water, drank, and explained.
"I just said there was a reason I overslept, right? Something happened at dawn. Oh, it wasn't serious, so no need to worry."
"What exactly happened? Explain in detail."
Aria demanded impatiently, and Cheong-ah pondered before answering.
"Well... To put it simply, this village wasn't a normal one. It was set up to ambush us."
"What do you mean?"
"Basically, there shouldn't be a village around here. The Assassins' Guild threw it together recently to kill you, Princess Aria, on commission."
Sierra blinked in confusion at Cheong-ah's blunt summary.
"Wait, how? They couldn't know exactly when you'd re-enter Tronen."
"Apparently, they started prepping a week ago. Building a whole village at once is tough, so they focused on this house and half-assed the rest. This pass is the only way to the capital, right?"
"...Yeah, it is. I didn't think of that."
Sierra nodded in agreement.
"So, Cheong-ah, the villagers were all assassins? That's why they vanished?"
"Yes, my lord. All assassins."
"And the water? You dumped it to clean up battle traces—and blood splatter?"
"Yes. Didn't want you waking up to a gruesome sight tomorrow morning and starting the day off sour."
True. Waking to blood everywhere, chunks of flesh and guts scattered? I'd freak out. Not a gore fan.
"Then the vegetables?"
"Blood on those too. No point keeping contaminated ones—I buried them with the bodies."
"Uh, yeah. Good job."
The ghost town mystery that chilled me to the bone was solved. Exhausted, I slumped into a chair, leaning back and stretching out.
Dawn battle? Who knew.
"You worked hard."
"No big deal. Just my duty."
"Still, cleaning up at dawn? Should've woken me."
"Oh, no. How could a wife wake her soundly sleeping husband?"
"Cheong-ah..."
Her dutiful words tickled something in my heart. Who'd ever gone this far for me? She felt so lovable, so grateful.
I slowly stood to approach her, but Aria cleared her throat from behind.
"Ahem... I get your marital bliss, but Ian."
Grrrrowl...
"...When's breakfast?"
Oh, right.
"I'll get it ready."
After breakfast, we finished checking the carriage, packed some provisions, and left the ghost village behind, heading once more for the capital.