A Cold Reunion
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
I grumbled pointlessly as I trudged along the uneven dirt road, blowing warm air into my gloves. Unlike the city, where windbreaks were everywhere, our village had almost nothing to stop the wind—only scattered houses and a few hole-riddled lattice fences. The season shouldn’t have made it any colder, but the open landscape made the chill bite deeper.
Still hunched against the cold, I arrived in front of Rein’s house. Aside from the slightly weathered wood, nothing much had changed. “That’s not how you do it…”
Auntie’s voice drifted faintly from inside, matter-of-fact as ever. The overlapping sounds of people moving about felt exactly the same as they had two years ago. The village itself was frozen in time, while everyone else had moved on. It was almost unnerving how reassuring that lack of change could be.
Knocking on someone else’s door felt different from knocking on my own. There was no tension, only a comfortable ease. The light tap echoed softly.
“Who is it?”
A familiar voice called from the other side. The door swung open without hesitation, as if the person expected a neighbor. Even after two years, the face that appeared was just as familiar as the voice.
Rein froze the moment she saw me, as if time itself had stopped.
“Uh, your mom said I should come by…”
She stared blankly for a moment, then her expression crumpled the instant I spoke. Before I could say anything else, a fist slammed straight into my solar plexus.
“Ghk…”
The first blow caught me completely off guard. A pained yelp escaped me, but the punches kept coming—second, third, relentless. Rein’s fists, heavy with emotion, hammered into my upper body without mercy. Again and again. Thud, thud, thud, thud.
“S-stop…”
Even a girl’s punches hurt after that many hits. I gently caught her wrist as the ache spread. She still tried to pull free, struggling with teary eyes, then wrenched her arm away, bit her lip, and glared at me for a long moment before turning and storming inside. The door slammed shut with a deafening bang that left my ears ringing.
In a quiet village where shouting was rare, the sound was startling. Rein’s family reacted first. Two sets of footsteps hurried closer.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? What happened?”
“Hey, what’s the matter?”
Their voices overlapped just beyond the door. Auntie’s gentle tone tried to soothe her while Uncle sounded flustered. As they drew nearer, Rein’s sobs grew louder.
“Hic… huuuaaah…”
Something pressed against the door from inside. I heard the faint rustle of clothes sliding down as Rein sank to the floor, her back against the wood.
“What’s wrong? Did you stub your toe? Let me see.”
“Don’t just cry—tell us what happened.”
Of course, neither of them had any idea I was standing outside. They kept guessing at reasons for her tears, repeating their questions like parrots.
‘Ah… it hurts, and it’s cold…’
While Rein sobbed, I was left crouching outside like an abandoned stray, shivering in the cold. I stood there for what felt like dozens of minutes. Eventually the crying faded. I heard the sound of her standing up and lifted my head.
The wooden door creaked open. I turned to look. Rein’s face appeared, sniffling, eyes swollen and puffy.
“Huh?”
“Oh my!”
Only after the door opened did Uncle and Auntie notice me. Their expressions shifted to shock as they stared, exchanging glances. Maybe because they’d known me for over ten years—two years apparently wasn’t enough to make me look all that different.
A little later, I sat at their table, warming my body that had gone stiff from standing outside. Auntie was the first to speak.
“What happened? We all thought you were dead for sure.”
Rein, still puffy-faced and glaring at me through narrowed eyes, said nothing.
“There were… some circumstances.”
I answered while sipping the hot water, unsure if it was going in through my nose or mouth, and kept glancing at Rein’s expression. Two years of personal matters compressed into a few sentences. Uncle seemed curious too; he raised an eyebrow with sudden interest.
“Well, I figured there had to be something… but what kind of situation keeps you from showing your face for this long?”
The way he smiled made it clear he was more intrigued than worried. It wasn’t like I couldn’t talk about it—just that summarizing two years wasn’t easy. Still, there was nothing I had to hide.
“It’s a bit of a long story…”
Just like I’d told my parents, I began explaining everything at a leisurely pace. I kept the parts about Windren and the capital short, then spent more time on why I couldn’t return. When I reached the bandit attack on Esmar’s wagon, Auntie looked distressed.
“Goodness, that must have been terrible.”
“Still, some people are just meant to survive, I suppose.”
Uncle nodded along. I left out the part about commissioning Brenda’s capture and killing her myself—that wasn’t something I could tell even my parents. After glossing over that, I proudly mentioned hunting monsters and training on my own.
“After everything that happened, I figured if I just came home, my parents would never let me leave the village again…”
“Well, that’s only natural.”
“Goodness, I wouldn’t have let you go either.”
Both of them understood from a parent’s perspective. I finished by explaining that I’d stayed in Karsion for two years to prove I could survive outside the village on my own.
“So I decided to come back only after getting stronger in the capital.”
In a tiny village where everyone knew everyone else’s business, they understood my father’s personality better than most. Even someone as stubborn as him wouldn’t be able to refuse if his child returned capable. Uncle gave me an incredulous look.
“Whew, you’ve got quite the head on your shoulders for someone so young.”
“If you think about Uncle Shen’s personality, he really wouldn’t have let me leave again if I’d come back the same as before. He’d have said it was impossible until the day he died.”
“You made the right call. The real problem is how much our daughter and her parents have been worrying themselves sick…”
At the mention of them worrying themselves sick, guilt stabbed straight through my conscience. I shamelessly repeated the excuse I’d already given at home, hoping to ease it a little.
“I tried to send letters, but they said they wouldn’t reach this far…”
“Well, of course not. What kind of mail service reaches a backwater like this?”
Uncle brushed it off casually, even calling the village a “backwater” as if it were obvious. Right—he was originally from the city.
The conversation seemed to wind down, but Auntie spoke again.
“So, you’re heading back to the capital soon?”
“Ah, yes. Probably. Maybe even today or tomorrow…”
I answered lightly. In truth, my departure depended on the coachman’s schedule, not my own wishes. When I mentioned it could be as soon as today or tomorrow, Auntie looked regretful.
“Goodness, already? Can’t you stay a little longer?”
“The coachman who brought me from Karsion is waiting. I have to go back to Windren with him.”
After explaining the coachman’s situation, Auntie gave a short “Mm” of understanding. Walking barefoot all the way to Windren would be an unnecessary ordeal. Even though it was only a few hours by carriage, the distance on foot was unimaginable—and I didn’t even have a proper map or clear memory of the road. Since carriages rarely came to this remote place, I had no choice but to follow the coachman’s schedule.
“Mom and Dad told me to come right back after telling you, so I should head home now…”
The chair scraped as I stood up. I realized I still hadn’t explained everything to my parents either. When I said I had to go tell them too, Auntie’s face filled with alarm.
“Goodness, you haven’t told your parents yet?”
“No… I just remembered. I should get going.”
After a polite bow, I slipped out of Rein’s house like I was escaping. I hurried through the front door and was adjusting my boots when I heard the latch click behind me. Thinking it might be Auntie seeing me off, I turned around.
Rein stood there instead, still looking gloomy as she gazed down at me.
In the heavy silence, I managed a few words.
“…Sorry I was late.”
After making her believe I was dead for so long, the only thing I could offer was that pathetic apology. When no reply came for a long time, I straightened up, unsure what else to say.
“Uh, well… I’ll go now. See you later.”
Just as I turned my back and lifted my heel, a weak hand caught the hem of my coat. A faint, watery voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Don’t go…”