Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Strong Person (2)
I arrived at Arthur's general store.
As I opened the door to the general store, the familiar bell rang out cheerfully.
A hearty voice immediately greeted us.
"Oh, you've come! And the little miss is with you too!"
"!"
"Hello, Mr. Arthur."
The inside of the general store was as cluttered as ever today.
Due to his habit of stocking every new item he saw,
the goods were scattered everywhere without any proper categorization.
One oddly shaped tool seemed to catch Mertesia's curiosity.
Her eyes sparkled as she reached out for it,
so I grabbed her hand and pulled it back.
"?!"
"No. It's dirty."
"Eeeh?! Hey, Row! Isn't calling it dirty a bit much?"
"It's a fact that it's dirty. Just look over where Mertesia was. It wouldn't be strange if something worse than a mouse crawled out."
The customer who had arrived first glanced our way and chuckled.
Arthur, the village chatterbox,
was spending his time chatting with the customer as usual.
I knew the early customer too.
She was a middle-aged woman who ran a handicraft workshop in the village,
and she got along with the general store owner Arthur like old neighborhood friends.
I'd helped her out a few times in the winter, so we exchanged greetings.
Arthur dusted off his hands and walked over.
He grumbled, but his delight was obvious.
"Come on in. What are you here to buy today? Exercise equipment?"
"No. Mertesia's form was a bit off when she used the exercise tool I bought a few days ago."
"Hmm? Off? Let me see..."
Arthur headed straight to the display counter.
He crouched down and rummaged for a while before scratching his head and standing up.
"Huh? It's not here. That's weird. I could've sworn I put it right here..."
"That's why you need to clean up, man."
"Haha, that just doesn't suit my style."
With that, he started digging through the display stacked with goods.
Occasionally, he'd pull something out and hold it up,
confirm it wasn't the right one, and shove it back in.
Finally...
"!!!"
"...Dust."
"Good job, real good."
The items piled on the display came tumbling down with a crash.
The impact sent dust from the shelves and goods billowing up all at once.
"Atchoo!"
The store filled with dust,
and Mertesia suddenly started sneezing.
I hurriedly covered her with my robe.
"Whoops, sorry, sorry!"
"......"
Arthur frantically waved his hands and apologized repeatedly.
Startled by the sneezing, the workshop owner quickly flung open the windows.
She was clearing her throat too.
"Jeez! I breathe in more dust here than at my own workshop!"
"Haha, sorry about that. Really sorry."
Arthur scooped up the fallen items while apologizing nonstop.
In the meantime,
Mertesia, who had stopped sneezing, peeked her head out from under the robe.
She looked up at me with teary eyes.
"You okay?"
"!"
She nodded slightly and hugged my waist tightly.
I could hear her sniffling intermittently with each breath.
I gently patted her back.
"You're fine. It's all settled now."
"......"
"I'm really sorry, little miss. I didn't mean to make you go through that."
Arthur stood up again with an awkward expression.
He was holding something in his hand.
"But it wasn't for nothing that I dropped them. I found it. This the one?"
"Yeah. That's it."
"!"
"This one's a bit tricky to use. It works the back and core muscles more than the arms, so if you're not used to it, your form can look weird."
Arthur demonstrated, showing the proper form.
His movements had a definite stability to them.
Completely different from Mertesia's last night and this morning.
If Arthur's form was like a firmly rooted tree,
Mertesia's had been like a newborn foal.
'But it was cute anyway.'
A chuckle escaped me.
Her lips pressed tight in concentration despite the clumsy form,
and the determined look in her eyes even as she wobbled on the verge of falling.
Adorable and praiseworthy.
And moreover—
when I'd smiled a little because her form was funny...
"!!!"
"Hm?"
She started exercising even harder than before.
With her enthusiasm fired up, her form got progressively weirder,
and eventually, it devolved into something unrecognizable from the original.
"There, like this."
"!"
"Good. Straighten your back!"
Her wildly individualistic form gradually fell back into place under Arthur's guidance.
I leaned against the wall and watched them fondly.
Then, the workshop owner, who had packed her purchase, came over to me.
"Row."
"Yeah?"
"Can you help out later? Too much leather came in, and I need someone to move it."
"Sorry. Got stuff to do at home."
"Aw, too bad."
The workshop owner let out a short sigh.
Her gaze shifted right away to Arthur, who was teaching the exercise.
"Arthur! Don't forget to come! One hour, one hour later."
"Argh, yeah, yeah. Go on already."
Arthur scratched his head as the workshop owner left.
"Man, gonna get an earful from the wife again."
"Why?"
"Agreed to close the shop for a bit and go help her out. She'll chew me out for ditching business to poke around elsewhere."
Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly and pretended to tidy the display.
But his eyes were on Mertesia.
As the little one sweated buckets correcting her form, a smile spread across his face.
"The little miss has really brightened up."
"Sean said the same thing earlier."
"Haha. See? I told you I'm like that guy."
"Doesn't seem like it."
At my honest opinion,
Arthur threw his head back and burst into laughter, throat bobbing.
Then he sobered up with a sigh.
His expression held a mix of relief and bitterness.
"She's always stuck in my mind."
"Mertesia?"
"Yeah. What crime did that kid commit? ...But I couldn't easily reach out."
"Why?"
"Everyone was covered in wounds. No spare energy, hard to look after anyone."
A sigh leaked from Arthur.
"And you know, right? My son came back from the battlefield with a busted leg."
"Yeah."
"Fixing that ain't cheap. Braces and all, we'd have to sell the house."
I'd heard from Arthur.
Sean originally took after his father,
skilled in physical work.
His swordsmanship was top-notch even among young soldiers,
and he was often praised as having a bright future.
But—
he badly injured his leg on the battlefield,
and now he couldn't swing a sword like before, or even stand for long.
Yet he didn't give up,
and sold mushroom skewers to help the family.
What a commendable young man.
Arthur's voice came, tinged with a shy smile.
"Well, we've gotten over the worst, scraped together some basic braces. Lucky for that. Can't even dream of proper ones."
"Yeah..."
"Truth is, besides that, there's another reason I couldn't help the kid easily."
Arthur scratched his head.
He hesitated, as if weighing whether to voice it, then added cautiously.
"Stepping up would've gotten me shunned right away. Too many folks who didn't like her."
"Yeah. Mr. Hubert told me."
"Did he?"
Arthur fell silent for a moment.
He wiped dust off the display with his hand, wordless for a while.
I watched him quietly.
Even in ancient times,
it was common for similar races to form groups.
There were solitary types like dragons,
but most, like elves or dwarves, lived in communities from birth.
I rarely mingled with them,
but having lived eons, I understood group dynamics.
Different ones always stood out,
and from that moment, wary eyes followed,
soon turning to group rejection.
Those who went from group life to solitary were usually like that.
I'd never delved deep into why.
I just knew it was so.
But—
I gazed at Arthur silently.
Our eyes met, and he sighed, shaking his head.
His face was filled with self-reproach above all.
"So... I knew how pitiful the kid's situation was, but I pretended not to see. Didn't want the backlash, barely holding my own family together."
"Yeah. I get it."
Yeah.
I understood now.
Because of Mertesia, I'd gotten involved with humans more.
Before, I hadn't cared much.
How others lived,
what they thought of me,
what feelings they held toward me.
Less than a passing breeze.
I wouldn't linger among them long, after all.
Like not bothering to notice passing ants.
Seeing,
hearing,
knowing,
but not committing to heart.
That was the extent of my interest in strangers.
But—
Not anymore.
I could soothe the child's fears,
but only others could erase them.
Others' gazes,
others' perceptions,
the world others created—that's where this child had to live.
So—
Others' gazes started to matter.
I hoped they'd be a bit kinder to her.
Probably the same for Arthur.
He knew better than anyone,
after rubbing shoulders with humans in groups for ages,
that what I alone could do wasn't enough.
That's why this strong, resolute man fidgeted before others' eyes.
I looked at Arthur and slowly spoke.
"Past is past. You're good to Mertesia now. That's what counts."
"You think?"
Arthur shrugged and forced a smile.
His eyes were a bit misty.
We learned the exercise method again,
bought the sand play toy, and left the general store.
I wasn't sure if the child understood our talk.
But,
before leaving,
Mertesia gently patted the back of Arthur's hand twice.
Next stop was the flower shop.
Then the bookstore.
As I organized the plan in my head, I felt her grip tighten on our joined hands.
"Hm?"
"......!"
Yeah. I understood Arthur.
How exhausting rejection was.
Some still shot us sharp looks.