Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Adventure Club #3
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[Chapter 83] Adventure Club #3
084 ? Adventure Club #3
“It’d be best to head to the Wish Pavilion once the sun’s up. This fairy forest is a completely different place at night than during the day.”
The fairy forest where Marmar’s cabin was located. Evening fell there incredibly quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the sun had dipped below the horizon, blanketing everything in pitch-black darkness. It was disorienting.
The only sound was the rustling of leaves and branches shaking in the shadowy breeze.
━Hoooowooo.
━Meeeoooow.
━Eeeengyaeng.
━Kyuuueeng.
When I strained my ears, eerie sounds echoed from all around the forest, sending chills crawling up my back.
━Karruk.
What kind of beasts made noises like that?
I couldn’t even guess from the cries alone. They had to be terrifying monsters. Something out of legends...
“Comrade, it’d be best to stay here tonight.”
Marmar lit a stubby, nearly spent candle and cautiously peered out the cracked window.
“Fierce beasts roam the fairy forest at night. I know your magic skills are impressive, Comrade, but wandering this forest alone in the dark is dangerous.”
With shadows playing across her face, Marmar gave a brief rundown of the beasts living in the fairy forest.
She said that since heroes often abandoned their pets here, the forest itself had become a dangerous ecosystem unto itself.
“Heroes abandon their animals?”
“They say they’ll come back for them someday. But most don’t. They dump them and run off without ever planning to return. The poor beasts just wait here, clueless.”
“Abandoning pets. What scum.”
So this forest was full of pigeons abandoned by Joo, fighting each other for survival.
Rustle.
Something stirred in the bushes, and I could only nod.
“I didn’t realize it got dark so fast. Guess we’re staying the night. Marmar, mind if I crash at your cabin?”
“I’ll lend you my bed! Sleep in my bed tonight!”
I glanced at Marmar’s narrow single bed.
On closer inspection, it wasn’t really a bed—just wooden crates stacked like blocks, covered with a blanket to make a makeshift sleeping spot.
Still, it was the most decent-looking thing in this rundown shack. And she was offering it to me.
“Marmar, where will you sleep?”
“The floor’s fine for me! I snagged a carpet from Professor Belhock’s lab recently. It’ll be okay spread out on the ground.”
Making the homeowner sleep on the floor while I took the comfy bed? It pricked at my conscience, leaving me a bit embarrassed.
“I might pull an all-nighter anyway. Marmar, if you get sleepy, you can take the bed.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve got stuff to sort out and practice anyway.”
All the info I’d gathered so far, the relationships between people. The tasks ahead.
The spells I could use. Potential risks to my plans. I needed an all-nighter to organize it all.
I’d been putting it off because of everything else, but now was the time.
“You’re such a good guy, Comrade! Giving me the bed!”
I turned to see Marmar trembling like she was deeply moved. Yielding the bed had touched her heart.
Why, though?
It’s your bed to begin with.
“Anyway, let’s have dinner! My treat!”
Marmar bounded out of the cabin energetically.
It was scary knowing beasts lurked in the woods, but if she was heading out alone, it must be fine.
Grip.
Just in case, I clutched my tail wand.
My magic had worked even on Professor Ballan, a powerful black mage, so I figured it could handle most beasts.
* * *
Fwoosh.
Marmar’s first move outside the cabin was to light a pile of dry leaves on fire.
Puff.
White smoke billowed up, stinging my throat and making my eyes and nose burn. Tears and snot streamed down my face.
“Gah, ugh, Marmar. What the hell is this?”
“It’ll be fine if you tough it out a bit. Gotta burn bug-repellent herbs to keep the bugs and beasts away!”
No wonder beasts would flee. Even I was tearing up.
“Since we have a guest for once, let me treat you to dinner! I’ve been saving this dried meat, garlic, mushrooms I foraged...”
Swish swish.
Marmar tossed dried jerky and herbs from outside the cabin into a bubbling pot over the bonfire.
Then, with an awkward “Oh,” she asked sheepishly.
“Um, Comrade, you okay with spicy? Rabbit meat’s kinda bland, so spicy’s better.”
“It’s fine. I like spicy.”
Truth be told, “spicy” in this world barely registered as such to my Korean palate—just mildly hot. The thought of something with real kick excited me a little.
Aelana Elga looked Western and didn’t care for spice. Did Mirna feel the same?
Splash, splash.
Marmar dumped what looked like dried chilies into the pot and shouted cheerfully.
“As expected, Comrade and I are on the same wavelength! I love red—it’s Imp-friendly and revolutionary!”
“Uh... yeah, sure.”
“Done!”
“Already?”
“It’s been boiling for 30 minutes!”
Where did the time go?
In this unfamiliar place, with crickets chirping and night beasts howling, my sense of time felt off.
Marmar ladled the bubbling red stew into a battered wooden bowl and handed it over.
“There’s more, so eat up!”
It was a generous portion. The mushrooms and veggies had soaked up the broth perfectly, plump and inviting.
The meat looked tasty too. I’d heard rabbit was a delicacy back in places like England. With rabbit traps around, she must have hunted it herself.
Hard-earned meat and rations.
I hesitated, but Marmar urged, “Eat! Tell me how it tastes!” So I scooped up a spoonful of red broth.
It was better than expected. Clean and spicy without being sticky—more like a Korean stew than stew.
“Tastes good.”
“Then I’ll eat too!”
And so Marmar and I ate.
It surprised me how well Marmar cooked. But for someone surviving alone in the wild, self-sufficiency was probably a given.
“I’ll clear the dishes! Gotta wash ’em quick or bugs and beasts’ll swarm. Especially with all the barking squirrels around here.”
“Got it. Need any help?”
“Nope! Just sit!”
“Alright then.”
Seeing Marmar bustle about reminded me of my little sisters.
Now that I thought about it, she had a vibe similar to them.
Hard to put into words, but despite being cast off by society, she pushed on stubbornly...
I tried not to dwell on my old life.
But in this timeless natural haven, memories bubbled up: my childhood, friends, teachers.
Swish.
Marmar finished cleaning and offered me something—a flower with thin, slender petals.
Its blue cylindrical petals looked like a long beak or spout. No idea what it was.
“What’s this?”
“Fairy honey flower! Put your mouth on the petals and suck—the honey comes out.”
Marmar demonstrated, sucking on a petal.
I followed suit, and unexpectedly sweet nectar filled my mouth from between the petals.
「Delishhh...!!!
Job ‘Half-Fairy’ level up by 1!
Lv. 6 → Lv. 7
Now you’re a proper fairy too...!」
“Tastes good.”
Leveled up too.
Curiosity struck, so I asked Marmar.
“Where’d you learn all this? Surviving outdoors, hunting, foraging herbs and stuff.”
I’d grown curious about Marmar. She fiddled with her worn headscarf, perched on a log stump.
“I was raised at a convent deep in the forest. Learned it all there.”
“A convent? Church of Radiant Flame?”
“Yeah!”
Ah, that explained the nun outfit.
Being raised at a convent meant no parents or siblings to care for her.
We had that in common.
Besides Theo Gospel, I, Lee Sung-eum, grew up in a church-run orphanage too.
Maybe that subconscious similarity drew us to each other.
“But the convent’s gone. Baron Volter kicked everyone out to make a hunting ground. We all scattered. No idea where anyone is now.”
Droop.
Marmar’s proud diamond tail sagged to the ground. That explained her disdain for highborns.
“What about you, Comrade? Gospel’s a church ward name. Did you grow up in a monastery like me?”
Marmar shifted, asking about me instead to drop her own memories.
A flood of recollections hit me.
Envying kids with parents at sports day. Fighting over the orphanage’s few ancient computers. Kind but scary teachers.
These were Lee Sung-eum’s memories, not Theo Gospel’s.
A sudden question arose.
Theo’s brain wouldn’t have these. Why could I recall them so vividly, like yesterday?
Aren’t memories stored in neurons? But Theo’s neurons and mine should be totally different.
Maybe memories are etched deep in the soul, not the body or brain?
Soul.
I’d prayed dutifully before meals and bed, but never seriously pondered souls or faith.
Too many other worries.
But now, I wondered.
Why was I here?
Was my soul entering Theo Gospel random? Where did Theo’s soul go...?
I even considered if I shared this body with two souls, like Mirna or Narmi Draco.
Maybe Theo’s soul slumbered deep inside.
I’d worried sometimes that his personality might resurface.
But I sensed no trace of anyone else—no fragments of memories or soul.
I existed wholly alone, traces of others nowhere, which felt lonelier.
“Did I ask something weird...?”
With me silent so long, Marmar wagged her tail awkwardly side to side. To avoid misunderstanding, I brushed it off.
“Nah, my childhood was just boring. Strict doctrines. Scary teachers.”
“But Theo Gospel, I heard you were sold into slavery. How’d that happen? You don’t seem the type now.”
“Beats me.”
I wondered too.
Yaaawn—.
Marmar let out a huge yawn.
“I’m sleepy. Mind if I crash first?”
“Yeah. Go ahead. Dinner was great.”
“So tomorrow, you’ll guide me to the Wish Pavilion?”
“Yeah.”
“Professor Belhock’s canceling class tomorrow anyway. We can head straight there from here.”
Her words furrowed my brow.
“Why so many cancellations?”
“No idea! With the black mage stuff and the undead incidents outside town, he’s swamped.”
She jogged my memory of events I’d been through. Yeah, I fought Professor Ballan.
“But what’s that got to do with Belhock being busy?”
“He’s meeting some hunters to bring into Ark for better city guards or whatever. That’s why.”
“Hunters?”
I echoed, and Marmar rattled on unprompted.
“Apparently a famous hero party from the borderlands. Warrior, priest, hunter, guide. Four of them, I think.”
No way—.
Chills ran down my spine as a chill wind shook the forest.