The Misunderstanding Resumes
“Whew.”
Sian let out a quiet sigh as he checked over his outfit.
After years of just throwing on whatever shabby clothes happened to be within arm's reach, dressing properly for the first time in ages left him feeling strangely off-balance. Though "dressed properly" was a stretch — it wasn't as if he'd put on some formal uniform. He'd simply dug out the gear he used to wear back in his adventuring days.
“Well, at least I haven't put on weight.”
Not recently, anyway. He'd been helping out with the farm work and heading into the mountains fairly often, after all.
Sian had dressed up like this because he was heading into the city, and he had two errands to run there.
The first one:
Selling the herbs he'd accumulated.
This was untouched countryside where rare herbs grew in abundance, but the village itself had little use for them. With so few people around, nobody getting injured on a daily basis, and not a single resident who knew how to properly prepare them, the herbs had no choice but to pile up. It was simply how things worked. So every time his stock reached a certain point, the usual routine was to trek into the city and sell them off.
And the second one:
If there's even a chance I'm actually moving, I'd better start looking into it.
He wanted to find out whether there was another safe village out there besides this one.
Considering everything that had happened lately — well, Tiana was one thing, but once Selene showed up, honestly, it was starting to get overwhelming.
A count's daughter, of all things.
If the Count got suspicious, investigated Sian, and turned up absolutely nothing, he could picture the outcome without even trying. 'How dare you deceive my innocent daughter?' — and off would come his head.
Lost in thoughts of this possible future, Sian suddenly muttered to himself.
“Seriously, this is so unfair.”
If he'd actually committed fraud, at least the injustice wouldn't sting. But the girl had shown up on her own and trained herself half to death without him ever asking — what was he supposed to do about that? If she didn't want her neck on the chopping block, she should have explained things herself. And sure, someone might argue that she'd gotten stronger, so wasn't that fine? But no medieval nobleman was going to accept that excuse. From what he'd gathered back in his adventuring days, you could kill a man on trumped-up charges or plain wounded pride and barely face any punishment at all.
Just pay a fine and call it even, probably.
That was the saying — with the right pretext, anything was justifiable. Trying to survive in a world like this with no talent and no money genuinely made his heart ache. There were days he found himself missing the whole world of his old dead-end job.
But seriously, how did she awaken that eye?
The question naturally surfaced as he grumbled about Selene. Even granting, charitably, that the Magic Wheel Eye really existed — actually awakening it just because someone told you to? It didn't feel like something that should be possible.
Isn't that straight-up protagonist territory?
You know the trope. The master orders the impossible, and the protagonist, blessed with absurd talent, actually goes and achieves it. By that logic, did everyone who'd learned under him possess protagonist-level talent?
“Ugh.”
A sigh escaped him of its own accord. Wondering wasn't going to solve anything. It wasn't his talent in question, so curiosity would only end in a stomachache.
Shoving those feelings down deep, Sian gathered the herbs and his pack and stepped outside.
“Whoa! It's Teacher!”
“Teacher, where are you going?”
“Are you an adventurer?”
“Are you going to hunt a dragon?”
The kids playing outside swarmed around him the moment they spotted him, eyes sparkling at the sight of his gear, blocking his path with beaming faces.
“No, you little rascals, and don't go saying stuff like that anymore. Someone's bound to overhear and get the wrong idea again. I'm just running into the city to sell some herbs, that's all.”
“Bring us back snacks!”
“Sure, sure.”
Even while he was being slandered from all directions, these pure little ones still came running up to him with innocent eyes. He couldn't help but feel fond of them.
Just as he was about to leave the village—
“Excuse me.”
A man was approaching from the direction of the village.
Sian turned toward the voice to find a man he'd never seen before calling out to him.
“Can I help you?”
“Ah, yes — would you happen to be someone called Sian?”
A wave of unease washed over him the instant he heard the question. What on earth was it going to be this time? His stomach tightened with dread. He considered fobbing the man off with a lie, but he'd be found out in no time, so he had no choice but to confirm it.
“I am Sian, yes.”
“Ah, there you are. I've been looking for you.”
“Wh-why?”
“I have a delivery for you. I was told to hand it over personally.”
With that, the man held out a letter. Sian tilted his head at this entirely unexpected arrival.
“Mail gets delivered all the way out here?”
As far as he knew, the nearest post stopped at the city. The way he understood it, the village chief made regular trips to collect the mail himself.
At his question, the deliveryman let out a hearty laugh.
“Got paid extra for it.”
“I see.”
So money talked out here in the sticks too. With that wry observation, Sian opened the letter and read.
Dear Teacher Sian,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and peace.
It is Tiana.
Quite some time has passed since I left your side at your command. Time truly does seem to slip by so quickly.
The letter was from Tiana — a greeting followed by news of how she'd been doing.
Under ordinary circumstances I would have headed straight for my homeland, but I still feel myself lacking, and so I devote myself to training while hunting down monsters.
Reflecting on the meaning of the teachings you awakened in me, I have not once neglected my ten thousand Grateful Sword Draws each and every day.
All of this is thanks to you, Teacher. Thank you, truly.
“…Huh. Looking at her again, the girl's practically a saint.”
If only misunderstanding him was something she kept to herself like this. How wonderful would that be?
He kept reading with that thought in mind.
When people thank me, I tell them that everything I have achieved is thanks to my Teacher — so that all may know how remarkable you are.
“……”
An S-rank adventurer, walking around telling everyone who'd listen that all her strength came from him?
Adventurers lived and died by rumor. This would spread like wildfire in no time.
But worry as he might, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
Though I am still too lacking to fully grasp the depths of your intentions, I have engraved every word you spoke — however casually — into my heart.
Thanks to you, Teacher, the village must still be at peace, yes?
There is surely no need for you to worry, but from afar, I sincerely pray for your health and tranquility each day. So that one day I may return and greet you as someone worthy of standing before you, I will continue to walk the path of gratitude without faltering.
Never forgetting your kindness, always—
Tiana.
“……Whew.”
Sian finished the letter, dragged a hand down his dry face, and let out a long, deep sigh.
Why was this girl digging the hole deeper all on her own?
'Thanks to me, the village is peaceful'? What is that even supposed to mean?
A village that had been peaceful for decades — peaceful thanks to him, who'd only been there a few years? It made no sense whatsoever.
If anyone overheard that, they'd think I was keeping the Demon King sealed away or something.
The whole story about this place being where the Demon King was born was just an old ghost tale. Surely she didn't actually believe it? An S-rank really shouldn't be that gullible.
“Is it because she's still young?”
One thing Sian had learned since arriving in this medieval fantasy world: people remained surprisingly naive well into adulthood. Maybe it was because there was no social media like on modern Earth, or maybe it was just the nature of a fantasy world where anything could happen. Either way, if he tried to pick apart every single line of this letter, a full day wouldn't be enough — so he gave up.
“I'd love to write back and tell her to stop spreading rumors…”
But he had no idea where Tiana even was, so there was nowhere to send a reply. Sian sighed at the realization that misunderstandings were piling up in places he knew nothing about. Then, shelving the helplessness of being unable to do anything, he headed for the city.
Fortunately, the road to the city was uneventful, and the herb sale went smoothly. They'd fetched a better price than he'd expected, and the satisfying weight of his purse did wonders for his mood.
And now…
After wrapping up his trade with the herbalist, Sian drifted around near the adventurers' guild notice board, browsing through information on other villages and potential work. He kept an ear out as well, but so far the rumors didn't seem to have spread that far.
Well, sure. However S-rank Tiana may be, no one's actually going to swallow nonsense like that—
He got that far, remembered Selene's face, and shut his mouth. Because he'd just recalled that there were people in this world who would believe far worse than nonsense — people who'd swallow a children's game wholesale.
Lately he'd been learning, painfully and repeatedly, that the world held far more people who defied common sense than he'd ever imagined.
I'll need to look into the moving situation a bit more.
He couldn't decide based on overheard gossip alone. For now, he consoled himself that at least today's worries were behind him, bought the snacks he'd promised the kids, and set off on the road back to the village.
“Hm?”
A narrow alley behind an old warehouse — a spot where people almost never passed. Sian's gaze drifted toward it idly, and before he knew it, his footsteps had stopped.
Someone was lying collapsed in the dark corner at the back of the alley.
“…Now what.”
With everything that had been happening lately, his instincts could read nothing in it but bad news. Still, he wasn't cold-blooded enough to walk away after seeing it with his own eyes.
If I hear later that someone died here, it'd nag at me for no good reason.
Drawing closer, he could make out the faint rhythm of breathing. A young woman, in clothes that weren't expensive but were neat and presentable — or had been. Now they were caked in dirt and dust, scratched and torn to shreds in places.
…This doesn't look good.
The evidence of ragged, desperate breathing was plain, and her face was ghastly pale. But it wasn't so much that the woman herself was in bad shape — it was the situation that was bad. There was no mistaking it: she had been fleeing for her life from something, and had simply run out of strength and collapsed.
“Wh… o…?”
“Hey, are you all right?”
Even at Sian's voice, she couldn't properly gather herself. She barely managed to force her mouth open.
“R-run… they're coming…”
Squeezing out those words was all she could manage before she fainted again.
And watching her, Sian…
“……”
really, truly hesitated.
Something about this was seriously wrong. It smelled like a massive headache in the making, and he was actually weighing whether he should just leave right now — when it happened.
Shff—
Three figures emerged soundlessly from the shadows on either side of the alley, blocking the way out.
Matching black outfits. Sharp, cold eyes. They glanced briefly at the fallen woman, then fixed their frigid stares firmly on Sian standing beside her.
“Hoh. I did wonder why she'd flee to a dump like this — so she had an accomplice, did she?”
The one who appeared to be the leader sneered. His eyes weren't on the fallen woman at all; they were aimed unmistakably at Sian.
Sensing danger on instinct, Sian rose slowly to his feet and opened his mouth.
“W-wait, just a moment. I think there's been a misunderst—”
“Not our assigned target, but no matter.”
The leader cut him off without a shred of mercy, clearly having no intention of listening. In his eyes burned a cold-blooded killing intent — the kind one brings to squashing an inconvenient bug.
“Dispose of him.”
A short, clipped order. The two pursuers flanking him drew their swords from their hips without a moment's hesitation.
A chill of sweat ran down Sian's spine. The atmosphere had been turning ugly, and he'd braced himself as best he could — but—
Fast…!
In the blink of an eye, the pursuers were right in front of him.
Damn it—!
Clicking his tongue, he steeled himself for the pain that was about to come — when something abruptly wedged itself between Sian and the pursuers.
Before he could even register what it was—
Clang!
“What…?!”
A voice thick with bewilderment rang through the alley. Not just the leader issuing orders from behind — the two sword-wielders were just as stunned. Because the thing — no, the person — who had appeared out of nowhere was standing between Sian and his attackers, gripping both of their blades barehanded.
And Sian was every bit as shocked.
An overwhelming presence that didn't belong to such a slender silhouette. And something about that back, turned toward him, felt strangely familiar — so familiar that the name of a woman from his memory rose to his lips.
“Elina?”
His first disciple (self-proclaimed), the S-rank adventurer who could bring down even a Calamity.
It was Elina.