Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Seris and the Village (1)
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What is this?
I stared at the blue window floating before my eyes, lost in thought.
It looked just like one of those messenger windows from a game at first glance...
Was this the so-called status window from those novels?
'Status Window!'
I shouted it in my mind. But no new blue window appeared.
Did I have to say it out loud?
I muttered it very quietly, almost under my breath.
"Status Window."
Still nothing happened.
Was this not it? Or maybe it wasn't working yet because synchronization was ongoing?
As I tapped the table with my fingers, deep in thought, Kara suddenly poked her head in.
I flinched in surprise and pulled back.
"Oppa."
"What's up?"
"That's what I want to say. You didn't answer when I called. Aren't you gonna tell me about the city?"
Kara grumbled, her face pouty and sulky.
Right. I'd promised to share city stories. I'd completely forgotten because of the blue window right in front of me.
The place I was currently at was Kara's house.
She'd heard I was from the city and insisted I stay with them.
Her older sister, Seris, had seemed a little hesitant at first, but she'd relented when Kara begged.
"Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a bit. What kind of story do you want to hear?"
"Adventurers! You've lived in the city, so you must know about adventurers!"
Adventurers.
That's what they called people who registered at the Adventurer's Guild and took on requests.
To put it nicely, adventurers. To put it bluntly, mercenaries.
"Alright. What should I start with..."
I took the adventure tales I'd overheard here and there and fleshed them out as I told them. Kara listened with eyes sparkling like a puppy eyeing treats placed right in front of it.
"Here, have some of this while you talk."
I was right in the middle of my story when the silver-blue-haired beauty, Seris, handed me a bowl filled with soup.
"Thank you. But what's this?"
The soup she'd given me was a reddish color—one I'd never seen in a soup before.
"It's tomato soup."
"Ah."
Tomato, huh. No wonder I'd never seen it. I hated tomatoes.
I felt a strong aversion to even lifting the spoon, but I forced my hand to move. You couldn't just ignore your host's kindness, after all.
I brought the soup to my mouth.
...?
For a split second, I fought back the grimace threatening to form on my face. It wouldn't be polite to the person who'd made it.
But I couldn't manage a smile either. The tomato flavor was just too overpowering.
I'd expected some of it since it was tomato soup, but not this intense. And there weren't any other ingredients.
Well, there were some. Something crisp and crunchy, chopped very finely.
But I had no idea what it was, and because of it, I couldn't just sip—I had to chew—which only made the unpleasantness worse.
"Ah! Sis! I told you not to chop the cabbage so finely!"
Cabbage, huh.
Why chop it that fine?
"But Uncle Gedric said it gives a better crunchy texture this way..."
"You believed that uncle? He only said it to tease us. It's already tasteless enough, and now you've added a weird texture on top."
"Tasteless..."
Seris wilted at the harsh critique.
It was a little pitiful. Just moments ago, she'd been watching me with expectant eyes.
I decided to tell a well-meaning white lie.
"It's fine for me, though?"
"No, you don't have to go out of your way to say that..."
"Really, it's fine. No—more than fine. It's delicious."
"...Really?"
"Yes."
She brightened right up, as if her gloom had never been there, when I nodded confidently.
"Eck, Oppa—you really mean that?"
"Kara, I've told you a million times: you're way too picky."
Seris ignored Kara's look of disgust and scooped up a big spoonful of her own soup. She popped it in her mouth and chewed thoroughly.
With every movement of her jaw, the arc of her smiling lips drooped a little more. Soon enough, it had fallen completely, leaving her with a subtle expression.
"..."
Seris glanced at me before hesitantly asking,
"Yuseong, you really think this is delicious...?"
I set down my spoon.
"No."
"Sorry. It was my first time trying to make it today, and I failed..."
Seris apologized as she handed me some tea. I waved it off while taking the cup.
"It was way better than anything I could make."
Lip service.
"By the way, when do your parents usually get home? I feel like I should at least greet them."
I asked casually, probing a little. Sure enough, Seris gave a wry smile.
"They passed away a few years ago."
As I'd figured.
At this hour, with neither parent home, I'd already suspected as much.
Most folks headed home once it got dark. Sure, some lingered late at taverns, but that wasn't the norm.
I put on a regretful expression.
"Ah... Sorry. I shouldn't have asked something like that..."
"It's fine."
Seris shook her head.
"It was really tough at first, but things are a lot better now."
"That's a relief. Still, with just the two of you... you sure it's okay letting an outsider like me crash here?"
"Why? Planning to do something shady?"
"No, nothing like that..."
As I pretended to fluster, Seris covered her mouth and giggled. I ended up staring blankly at her for a moment. I pinched my thigh to snap out of it.
"I figured you weren't the type. And even if I'm wrong, I can handle myself."
"Huh?"
Her answer was so unexpected that I found myself asking her to repeat it.
We'd only just met—how on earth had she come to that conclusion?
Seris pointed to her own eyes.
"The way you looked at me when we first met. This might sound weird, but... men's gazes tend to be all... sticky? Yeah, like that. Ah, not every single one, of course."
She hurried to correct herself so I wouldn't misunderstand.
"But yours didn't have any of that. You just looked a little surprised."
"Ah..."
A sticky gaze, huh. Well, given her looks, it made sense.
Even I—who'd seen all sorts of makeup and filters back on Earth—was genuinely impressed by Seris's beauty.
"What do you mean by 'handle yourself'?"
"I'm strong."
Seris placed a hand on her bicep and declared it confidently.
"Ah, yeah... I see."
I couldn't help but chuckle.
It was a more innocent answer than I'd expected.
I'd been thinking things like, 'She could scream and the villagers would come running,' or 'There's a palisade, so no escaping—and even if she tried, the roads at night are dangerous.'
"It's true. You don't believe me?"
Seris narrowed her eyes as she spoke. She must have taken my laugh for disbelief.
Just as I opened my mouth to explain, Kara—sleeping on the bed—rolled over and started sleep-talking.
"Hehe, Great Adventurer Kara has arrived! Everyone, bow your heads!"
"..."
"..."
"Sis! You too. No favoritism just 'cause we're family!"
"Kara, please..."
Her face flushing red, Seris hurriedly covered Kara with the blanket.
Kara squirmed, clearly stifled, but Seris showed no mercy.
Every time some part of Kara poked out, Seris tucked the blanket back over it. In the end, Kara had no choice but to sleep buried under it.
"Looks like your little sister wants to become an adventurer?"
I said it without hiding my amusement. Seris let out a sigh.
"Yeah. Why adventurers of all things..."
'It's so dangerous...' She muttered to herself before turning to me.
"What do you think, Yuseong? About being an adventurer?"
My opinion?
"Yeah. You've lived in the city, so you must know more than I do."
I'd certainly heard plenty.
Though most of the storytellers exaggerated wildly.
Still, there was one thing I could say for sure.
"It's grueling work. Being an adventurer."
Adventurers took on requests to earn coin.
And most of those requests involved slaying monsters known as magical beasts.
Which meant risking your life—a lot—and plenty of people actually lost theirs.
"Yeah, I figured. Sigh... If only she'd just give up..."
Seris gazed at Kara with eyes brimming with worry. Oblivious, Kara slept on peacefully.
The sight felt warm to me.
I smiled as I took a sip of tea.
Hmm. Bitter. And spicy.
"...Mind if I ask what kind of tea this is?"
"This? It's brewed from Olong leaves."
"Olong leaves? First I've heard of them... Are they expensive?"
"Huh? No, we don't sell it."
"...Pardon?"
"I picked them myself up in the mountains."
"Hmm, I see. Herb gathering's no easy task. Your parents must've taught you well."
Plenty of folks mistook poison plants for medicinal herbs. Being able to properly identify them was a rare skill.
"Nah. Back when I was little, I'd just pluck and eat them to fill my belly. They were bitter, so I figured they'd make good tea."
"..."
I was at a complete loss for words.
She'd just eaten them raw like that?
Why?
No—more importantly, because they tasted bitter, she'd decided to brew them into tea?
Without even knowing what they were?
I opened my mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. I had plenty to say, but I held back. Suppressing a sigh, I turned my head—and spotted a painting displayed in the corner of the room.
It depicted two young girls and what looked like their parents.
"What do you think? Pretty well done, right?"
Seris said it proudly.
She was right—it was excellently rendered. It could've passed for a photograph.
"Who drew it? You, Seris?"
"No way. I don't have that kind of talent. A painter passed through the village a while back and did it for us."
"A painter?"
A painter with skills like this, in a village like this?
I felt a twinge of doubt, but I let it go. It wasn't that important.
"So, which of them had the blue hair?"
Both of the supposed parents had hair shaded in black and white.
That was usually how they depicted dark hair—but Seris's was silver-blue. Definitely not dark.
"Neither. Mom had blonde hair, and Dad's was brown."
"...Pardon?"
I furrowed my brow at her words. Blonde and brown? Could that produce silver-blue hair?
As if reading my mind, Seris gave an awkward smile and scratched her cheek.
"Truth is, they're not my birth parents. They took me in after they found me wandering lost in the mountains."
"Ah, sorry. I keep asking the wrong things..."
"It's fine. I wasn't hiding it. I'm grateful they took me in."
Seris stroked the painting fondly with a wistful gaze. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she whipped around to face me.
"Yuseong, can you read?"
"Read? Yeah, I can."
Curiously, ever since arriving in this world, I'd never once run into a language barrier.
Communication was fine, and reading posed no issues either. Writing was impossible, though.
Her face lit up at my response.
She pulled a rolled-up sheet of parchment from beneath the bed.
"Could you read this for me?"
"What's this?"
"I found a hidden space under the floorboards of our house. It was in there. No one in the village can read, so I don't know what it says... I think Mom or Dad wrote it, maybe..."
From what she described, it sounded like a will.
To go so far as to hire a scribe for one... her parents must've loved their kids dearly.
"Sure. I'll read it for you."
I smiled as I took the parchment from her and began reading its contents.
'What the hell.'
I frowned.
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