Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Improvement? (3)
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『Gob's Perspective』
The first day working as Lucy's assistant.
What on earth would I be doing? My heart pounded with anticipation.
Would I get to use magic too? Would flames or ice shoot out from my hands?
It felt like the fantasies I'd dreamed up as a kid, obsessed with fantasy stories, were finally becoming reality.
"Stir."
That was the first thing Lucy said to me, brimming with excitement.
Looking down, there was a huge rod gripped in her hand.
Was she telling me to swing this thing? Swing it at what, exactly?
Glancing around, there was exactly one thing that looked swishable.
A massive cauldron smack in the middle of the lab.
Green liquid bubbled with herbs, fruits, and twigs floating around in it.
"Here."
She held out the hand clutching the rod.
Clack. The moment I took it, my inflated expectations deflated instantly.
Me, using magic? Yeah right. In this life, I'm stuck in the kitchen too.
I trudged over to the cauldron, head hung low.
"Keep stirring until I say stop. It'll take about thirty minutes."
-Nod.
"Can you handle it? Any questions?"
-Nod nod!
With all my cooking experience, of course I could. It'd just be kinda boring...
"Alright, it's all yours."
Lucy headed to a corner of the lab, fiddling with miscellaneous ingredients or drawing magic circles.
I plunged the rod into the cauldron and stirred away.
No big deal. Easy as whipping up some batter. It was as simple as I'd hoped, and I let out a yawn.
That's when my arm started to tingle a bit—trouble brewing.
Bubble bubble... The liquid began boiling in earnest, unleashing a foul stench.
Burning smell, oily reek, hospital odor—you name it. Every bizarre scent imaginable hit at once.
What the hell is this stuff? It's like they gathered every weird smell in the world.
As time dragged on, my arm ached more and more, and the nauseating fumes made my head spin.
And the heat. Standing in front of the furiously boiling cauldron, sweat poured down nonstop.
Should I ask Lucy to cool me off with some ice magic? But wouldn't that be a bother...
In the end, I kept stirring without a word.
Ah... I wanna stop...
But quitting now would disappoint Lucy. What if she kicks me out as useless?
I didn't want to lose this daily routine with someone else.
Just don't flunk out. Hang in there...
My consciousness fading. Right as I was about half letting go...
-Knock knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
Who could it be? Kasha again?
"Come in."
Creak. The doorknob turned, and the door slowly swung open.
Sera. There she was beyond the threshold.
For a split second, I thought an angel had walked in.
Her pure white robes were elegant and modest.
They barely showed any skin, yet an irresistible allure radiated from her.
Sera scanned the room, seemingly looking for Lucy, until her eyes locked onto mine.
Her pupils widened, then her face twisted into a scowl.
"Lucy."
Sera called out to Lucy. A chill seeped from her voice.
"What is it?"
"Why is that here?"
Raw hostility aimed straight at me.
I'd been sneaking peeks at Sera, but now I guiltily turned back to the cauldron.
Let's see, is the stew nice and hot?
Couldn't tell if those floating bits were bone fragments or twigs...
"My assistant. He's going to help me from now on."
"That's it? Don't you think that needs more explaining?"
Sera still didn't know I was human.
I figured she wouldn't believe me even if I told her, so I hadn't said a word.
I should've spoken up sooner, but I'd hemmed and hawed and missed my chance.
"What more explanation do you need?"
"Are you insane? That's a monster!"
Her sharp voice made my heart sink.
Even in front of the steaming cauldron, cold sweat drenched me.
I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Please, just stop fighting...
"What does that matter?"
"...Hah. Of course. That's just how you are."
The atmosphere turned vicious. It was devolving into an emotional showdown.
I wanted to apologize and bolt, but I couldn't abandon the cauldron.
"To you, humans and monsters are all the same, right?"
"Humans and monsters are entirely different species."
"That's not what I mean. Which do you like more—humans or monsters?"
Just say you prefer humans! Even I, a monster, prefer humans!
I stared desperately at Lucy's lips.
"I don't have a preference for any specific race."
Ah... She really doesn't compromise at all.
Yesterday, I'd admired that bluntness. Now, it just felt tragic.
"...I figured you'd say that."
Sera looked as deflated as I felt. Utterly exasperated.
"If that goblin and I fell in the water at the same time, who would you save first?"
"I'd telekinetically rescue you both at once."
"...Even after decades together, to you, I'm on the same level as that goblin."
The air in the room grew unbearably heavy. And I felt even worse knowing I was the cause.
Thump. Thump. Thump. My heartbeat echoed in my ears.
Urk. Nausea welled up.
Hot, exhausting, tense. My vision blurred. I was about to collapse.
Should I just ditch the cauldron and run? But Lucy told me to keep stirring...
Agh—my arm hurts—
Thud!
A heavy crash, and goosebumps prickled all over.
A stinging pain in my back and the cold floor beneath me.
What? Why am I lying down?
As my senses cleared, Lucy's face came into view.
Did I just collapse? Passed out while stirring? What the hell am I doing...
"Any injuries?"
Lucy asked with a blank expression.
Not wanting to worry her more, I quickly propped up my upper body and shook my head.
"Don't force yourself up. Just lie there for a bit."
Lucy gently pressed down on my chest.
I lay back down, staring at the ceiling.
"What do you even plan to use that thing for?"
Sera's words reached my ears.
They didn't anger me. They just hurt.
If Sera knew I was human, she wouldn't have said that.
But even without saying it, I was useless. That's what stung.
Bang! The door slammed shut, reverberating through the room. Sera must have left.
She's gone. After seeing me in such a pathetic state.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. Gotta get up and do my job.
With that thought, I lifted my head to check the cauldron.
But the rod was stirring the cauldron on its own.
...What? Why's it moving by itself?
"Don't worry about it. Telekinesis magic."
Lucy noticed my gaze and tried to reassure me.
But instead of relief, emptiness drained all strength from my body.
She can stir it with telekinesis. She didn't need me from the start.
She just made up a task because there wasn't anything real for me. And I passed out doing that made-up job.
I'm totally useless. I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Next time, I'll give you something more suitable."
Lucy's words made my eyes well up.
I appreciated the consideration, but that's not what I wanted.
I wanted to be helpful too. Not just keep taking like before—I wanted to give something back.
But right now, I was nothing but baggage. A worthless piece of trash.
And that wouldn't change even if things got better with Sera...
...
...
I lay there a moment longer, then brushed off my back, got up, and sat in a chair.
"Nothing for you to do right now. Read this at least."
Lucy said that and handed me a book.
The title: Founding Chronicle of the Ciel Kingdom.
"It'll help fill in some of your lacking common knowledge."
Founding chronicle? Like a history book of this country? Perfect—I'd been curious anyway.
I needed to know what kind of place this was.
All I'd ever known was that narrow forest.
I'd once thought about relocating, but monsters infested the north.
The other three directions were human territories, too tough to break through.
I could've forced it a few times, nearly dying in the process, but death scared me.
No matter how many times I'd died, I never got used to it. Each one hurt like hell.
Remembering being eaten alive by an orc still made me shudder even now.
"Kerer..."
I shook my head to shake off the horrific memory.
I don't even want to think about that. Time to read the book.
Flip. I turned the first page of Founding Chronicle of the Ciel Kingdom.
...
...
...Thud.
I closed the book halfway through the early section.
The beginning covered the hero's background and feats. Reading it made my heart pound like a drum.
I went over to Lucy and tapped her waist.
The pen drawing magic circles on paper stopped abruptly.
"What is it?"
She turned to me and said.
[Is this book recording actual facts?]
I scribbled on my notebook and pen.
"Mostly real. Some parts fake."
[What's fake?]
"Casualty numbers and defeats are downplayed or omitted."
[So the hero being from another world is true?]
"True."
Her answer sent chills down my neck.
[That's amazing.]
I tried to hide my tension as I wrote.
"It's the goddess's doing, so no surprise. Questions over?"
-Nod nod.
Lucy turned away from me and resumed drawing the magic circle.
I returned to my seat and opened the book again.
I reread the passage I'd just read.
The hero came from another world at the call of the Goddess.
From a country called 'Republic of Korea' on a planet called 'Earth'.
Someone else from Earth besides me. From the same Republic of Korea, no less.