Chapter 4
Chapter 4
First Meeting (3)
Village noon.
Around the time the sun sits atop my head and slowly begins to heat everything, the village square starts to come alive.
As usual, I sat leisurely on a bench in the square, a worn book borrowed from the village head’s study—which also served as the village library—spread open in my hands.
It was the tail end of summer, when the cicadas’ cries sounded like screams.
Nice weather.
Since the boar incident, I had deliberately adjusted my food intake and occasionally mixed in fake coughs in front of people to maintain a suitably pale complexion.
Thanks to that, my reputation in the village was very stable.
Ian, the frail one.
That title perfectly shielded me from troublesome labor and the rough antics of village girls.
But there was one person who cast particularly sharp looks at this perfect daily life.
"Ian, come here for a second."
A low voice came from beyond the pages of my book.
When I looked up, it was Kara, the blacksmith’s daughter, staring down at me with a hammer as big as her forearm resting on her shoulder.
A girl holding a large hammer, her arms smeared with soot. Kara.
The only person who claimed to have seen me subdue the boar that day in the forest.
I didn’t know if it was true, but ever since that day, the girl who used to casually mess with me seemed oddly restless whenever she saw me.
"What is it. I’m reading. Don’t disturb me."
"Don’t lie. You’ve had that book open to the same page for thirty minutes."
Sharp.
I casually turned the page so she wouldn’t notice.
"The content is quite profound. I’m savoring it."
"Savoring? Are you eating it? Anyway, that thing you used when you took down the boar. What was that?"
Kara’s voice was low but firm. I widened my eyes slightly and feigned ignorance.
"What thing? I was just watching while the young lady took care of it."
I deliberately responded in an even weaker voice. But the girl standing in front of me looked flushed with excitement.
"Don’t mess with me! I saw it clearly. She was frozen, and you took down that huge thing with just a dagger!"
My eyes wavered for a moment without me realizing it.
So she really saw it.
"...You know, that day... it really was you, right? I saw it. You took down the boar in an instant..."
"Kara."
I lowered my voice and cut her off.
"You saw it wrong. I was too scared and had my eyes closed. The boar probably just ran into a tree by luck."
"That’s a lie. The wound on its hind leg couldn’t have been made like that. You can’t fool my eyes. My family runs a blacksmith shop. I can tell the difference when metal cuts flesh and breaks bone..."
As she kept talking, Kara suddenly reached out to grab my wrist.
Instinctively, I stepped back and avoided her hand.
It happened in an instant, but her eyes filled with certainty.
"See! I tried to grab you, but you dodged without even looking!"
Ah... I should’ve just let her catch me.
I dodged reflexively.
Hiding my fluster, I forced a smile and looked at Kara.
"You startled me by suddenly reaching out, so I stepped back. Could you stop interrogating me? I’ve been having nightmares every night."
Kara’s face flushed red and blue, and she slammed her hammer onto the ground.
"Hey, you... what are you really? Why are you acting like some pathetic weakling in the village? The village head, my mom—everyone’s making a fuss about protecting you!"
At that moment, another girl came running toward us.
It was Millie, the famous "Ian fan club" president and the florist’s daughter.
"Ian! What are you doing here? Hey, Kara! Are you forcing weird stuff on Ian again? What if he gets sick?!"
Millie stepped in front of me and glared sharply at Kara. She was my overzealous fan who brought me wildflowers and herbal tea every morning, claiming they helped restore energy.
"Millie, move! Ian is actually—!"
"Actually what! Actually the most fragile and protection-worthy pretty boy in the village! Ian, don’t worry. I’ll keep watch every day so Kara doesn’t bully you."
Millie grabbed my hand tightly, her eyes sparkling.
Thanks, Millie. You’re actually helping.
"Ian just needs to keep smiling prettily and reading books like he does now. Rough stuff is for dumb girls like Kara, got it?"
I gave a bitter smile and nodded. I understood she meant well, but it was a bit overwhelming.
Kara shouted, pulling at her hair in frustration.
"That’s not it! He’s really strong! The way he just—!"
"Honestly, Kara, you’ve hammered too much and lost your brain. Since when is a boar like some neighborhood puppy? As if Ian could take it down."
Thanks to Millie’s ironclad defense, it seemed the situation was resolved, but Kara’s persistence didn’t end there.
"Are you all idiots? I saw it with my own eyes! Ian is a monster!"
Kara shouted in frustration, but only silence echoed back.
Monster might be a bit harsh.
Passing women giggled.
"A boar with one hand? Kara must have gone crazy because she likes Ian too much."
"They say when a crush gets too strong, delusions follow."
Unable to hold back, Millie smacked Kara’s back with the bouquet she was holding.
"You dare call our fragile Ian a monster? Kara, did the forge fire cook your brain?! From today on, you’re banned from coming within two meters of Ian!"
Even the onlookers nodded in agreement with Millie.
Kara kept shouting until the end, "Even Lady Yuki is hiding something! I’m recruiting people to investigate what those two do in the forest every night!"
But all she got in return was, "You’re obsessed with boar meat, go get some sleep."
Leaving Kara’s resentful gaze behind, I headed toward the bookstore. But her voice clung stubbornly to the back of my head.
"I won’t give up, Ian! I’ll uncover your identity someday!"
Don’t say lines like a hero. You look weak doing it, Kara.
That night, Yuki was already waiting in the forest clearing.
"You’re late, Ian."
Yuki answered casually while swinging her sword. But the sound cutting through the air was sharper than usual.
"You looked like you were having fun with the village girls today."
"Fun? It was exhausting."
"You’re my teacher. So why are you outside with that absent-minded look, surrounded by girls? It’s unpleasant to watch."
Yuki stopped swinging her sword and stepped right in front of me.
"Especially that blacksmith’s daughter. She tried to grab your wrist. Isn’t it improper for a commoner to touch you like that?"
Instead of her usual arrogance, there was a strange irritation in her eyes.
"Are you jealous?"
"...D-do you want to die? Don’t misunderstand. I just don’t like my teacher being tainted by low-level girls."
Yuki’s face instantly turned red like a tomato. Flustered, she withdrew her sword and turned away.
"More importantly, Kara has started to suspect me. She might follow us into the forest soon."
"Don’t worry. If that blacksmith girl comes, I’ll deal with her myself."
"Deal with? That sounds dangerous. You’re not planning to kill her, are you? I won’t allow that."
"As if I would! I’ll just pressure her with my family’s influence, or..."
Yuki sheathed her sword and stepped closer. Her silver hair glowed coldly in the moonlight.
"I could hire her as my personal blacksmith and bind her under me. The best way to keep a secret is to make that person yours."
Her words sounded disturbingly plausible.
Even at her young age, she truly was a noble—instinctively understanding how to use power to get what she wanted.
"The same goes for you, Ian."
She poked my chest with her slender finger.
"I don’t care if the villagers see you as a pitiful boy, or if that girl Millie follows you around. But at night, you belong to me. The teacher I learn from, and the one I must surpass."
Her finger pressed against my chest as if trying to brand my heart.
"Remember this. I’m the only one who knows your true worth... so don’t get any ideas. You’re the only one I’ve acknowledged."
As I felt her hair brush against my shoulder, I thought—
Millie, full of prejudice, and Kara, chasing the truth, were both exhausting, but the most exhausting of all was this silver-haired noble girl trying to consume me along with my technique.
When did she get this close?
"Alright, so step back a bit. The smell of sweat on your clothes is making my nose go numb."
"...Do you really want to die?!"
Still, her personality isn’t as bad as I thought.