Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Seris and the Village (5)
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After a long while, once Seris had calmed down, Kara asked her what had happened. As Seris hesitated over how to respond, Yuseong spoke up first.
"There were talks going around among the villagers about marrying you off, Kara."
"Marriage? Sis, for real?"
"Uh, yeah. It's true. The village chief was the first one to bring it up."
Seris nodded quickly.
"Haa, why the hell are they messing with me when I'm perfectly fine?"
Kara draped her arms over the back of her chair and grumbled. Then, as if something had occurred to her, she smirked and looked at Seris.
"By the way, sis, were you crying because of that? Worried I'd get married off?"
"Yeah. That's right."
"Huh?"
Normally she'd get flustered or yell at me not to tease her...
Seris was someone who was fine with plenty of physical affection like hugs, but she always got shy about expressing her emotions openly. So when she admitted it so readily, Kara was the one who ended up flustered instead.
But it wasn't a bad feeling, so the corners of Kara's mouth twitched upward.
"Kara, how about we go to the city?"
"Huh? Sis, what'd you say?"
"What if we go live in the city?"
"What?! I didn't hear that wrong? Sis, you're serious? If this is a joke, I'm gonna get mad?!"
"I'm dead serious."
"Yeehaw!!"
Kara was so thrilled that she jumped to her feet and did a little victory dance.
Is she really that happy about it?
Seris smiled as she watched her little sister. If she'd known something like this would happen, she would've left for the city ages ago.
Seris, gazing warmly at Kara, suddenly recalled the conversation she'd overheard through the gap in the wooden window.
-That girl was always yapping about becoming an adventurer. Why not send her instead?
>-That's... not a bad idea. But would Seris just sit still for that?
>-Just send Seris off to the baron while you're at it.
She'd only heard their voices, but she could perfectly picture the expressions on those village elders' faces.
They were surely relieved it wasn't their own families, making excuses about it being an unavoidable sacrifice for the village—all while wearing the faces of disgusting hypocrites.
Seris remembered when her father had gone missing in the mountains. When she'd begged the village adults to search for him, they hadn't even pretended to listen.
They'd just given her pitying looks and said,
-He must've been dragged off by goblins. No helping it. Tsk tsk. I told him not to go deep into those mountains.
Seris remembered when her mother had fallen ill. When she'd asked to borrow money for medicine, they'd gone cold.
-Tsk tsk. She knew how to spend it, but not how to save, huh?
In the end, Seris lost both her father and mother.
There was no kind soul to look after the two sisters left behind.
Seris had to earn money just to eat and survive.
She took on whatever jobs the villagers offered. She endured their scoldings and the teasing from kids her age, all while holding her tongue and working hard. All for Kara, whom she'd left at home.
And this was the little sister she'd raised all on her own through sheer effort.
What?
Send her as a sacrifice to the goblins?
Rage boiled up inside her. The heat rising from her chest felt like it was cooking her brain, twisting her guts.
Seris wanted to storm into the village chief's house right then and flip the place upside down. But she held back that impulse.
There was one simple reason she didn't.
She couldn't handle the consequences.
If it weren't for that, the moment she'd heard that vile conversation, she would've smashed everything to pieces.
As Seris's insides churned with fury, someone poked her side. It was Yuseong. He nodded toward the front door.
Understanding his gesture, Seris rose from her chair.
"Kara, sis and Mr. Yuseong are heading out to work."
"Huh? Didn't you already finish work and come back?"
"Your sis heard about the marriage talk and freaked out, bolting off. I chased after her asking where she was going."
"For real, sis?"
"Ahaha..."
Seris let out an awkward laugh as she stepped outside. Yuseong followed her out. They walked a bit farther from the house to put some distance between them and Kara.
"This should be far enough."
Yuseong said once he figured they'd gone a suitable distance. Seris stopped walking, turned to him, and bowed her head.
"Thank you."
"Huh?"
"Thanks to you, we can leave the village before anything serious happens."
Seris bowed again. Yuseong waved it off, but she was dead serious.
"If it weren't for you, Mr. Yuseong, we really would've been in big trouble."
If his teasing earlier hadn't tipped her off, she would've let it slide right by. Only after the worst happened would she have struggled to escape—and those struggles probably would've failed.
Yuseong gave an embarrassed smile, then wiped it away, his face turning serious as he asked,
"So, what do you plan to do now?"
"We have to go to the city. Start fresh there."
"I see. Got any savings?"
Seris hesitated for a moment before answering. But Yuseong didn't seem like the type to harm them, so she decided to be honest.
"We've got about 10 silvers saved up."
It was money she'd scrimped and saved without fail for ten whole years. She took a bit of pride in it. But Yuseong's next words shattered that pride.
"10 silvers... That's not gonna cut it..."
"It's not enough...?"
"Yeah. 10 silvers isn't chump change, but it's way short for living in the city."
"We don't need a house or anything. Just a place where we can eat and survive...!"
Seris's voice grew desperate. But no amount of desperation changed reality.
"Inn costs 3 coppers a night."
"3... 3 coppers..."
Seris's eyes went wide. She worked her butt off all day for 5 or 6 coppers. And just sleeping cost 3...?
"Of course, if you're gonna live in the city, you can't stay at an inn forever. You'd need to rent a place, which means getting a citizen's ID. And that costs 10 silvers per person."
"10 silvers..."
It was her entire fortune. Ten years of her life poured into a single citizen's ID.
"And living isn't just about having a bed. You need food, and even at the inn, using the well costs extra. Plus, if you look like country bumpkins, folks'll try to rip you off."
"..."
"Heading to the city clueless like that... it's gonna be really tough."
Seris's pupils trembled. She'd vaguely thought that just getting to the city would make everything work out somehow.
It made sense—she'd spent half her life in this village. She figured if she worked as hard as she did here, it'd be fine.
That's why Yuseong's description of city life hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Then... what should we do?"
Her voice grew damp with tears.
"What should we do?!"
The rage she'd felt toward the villagers mixed with the powerlessness of facing reality, churning her insides.
"Even if we go to the city, I can't do anything there, so should I just stay here and let those damn people have their way? Get dragged off as the baron's concubine while Kara gets brutalized by goblins? I hate that!"
Seris was confident she could sacrifice anything for her family.
But for this village? She wouldn't give a single copper coin.
"Yeah! Like you said, Mr. Yuseong, living in the city would be hard! So what? That doesn't change a damn thing. Why tell me all that just to kill my spirit?! Why!"
Hic.
Seris sniffled as she spoke. She knew it too. She knew Yuseong was just worried about her. She knew this was just her lashing out.
But she couldn't hold it together without venting like this. The weight of being the family head that she'd forcibly shouldered for the past ten years was too heavy, too suffocating.
And it was still crushing her shoulders now. Seris just wanted to ease that suffocation, even a little.
"You're not even gonna help!"
So she lashed out at innocent Yuseong. She knew it was wrong. She knew he'd be disappointed in her. But she wanted to feel even a bit better.
Drip.
A single tear rolled down her cheek. That was the start. Like an old dam bursting, tears flooded from her eyes.
Step step.
She heard footsteps. Probably Yuseong, disappointed, walking away. It was fine. She'd always handled everything alone anyway. Nothing would change going forward. Yeah. She'd cry a little, then get back to normal. Back to how it was.
But then Seris noticed something odd. The footsteps weren't fading—they were getting closer.
Seris looked up. Something soft touched the corner of her eye.
A handkerchief. Yuseong was gently wiping her tears with it.
"I'll help you."
Yuseong said with a smile.
I hadn't planned on making her cry. I just wanted to lay out the reality and make her see how she needed me.
"You'll help us...? For real?"
"Yeah."
"But Mr. Yuseong, why...? You have no reason to help us."
Not true.
For starters, the status window made me suspect I was tied to Seris somehow.
But I couldn't exactly tell her that, so I gave a vague answer.
"I've got no intention of sticking around this village anymore either. Never imagined they'd sacrifice people to goblins. So I'm heading back to the city anyway—might as well help you out while I'm at it."
"You sure that's okay...?"
"Yeah. But next time, wipe your own tears, at least?"
Only then did Seris seem to register the situation, flustering about.
"Ah, I-I'll do it myself!"
"It's fine. Already got 'em."
"Then let me at least wash the handkerchief for you. Here!"
"I said it's fine. Go home and pack your things. I'll come by this evening."
"Evening?"
"Yeah. We're leaving the village tonight."
"At night? But night is..."
"Dangerous, like you think. But better than getting chased by the villagers."
After sending her off to pack, I headed back to the tavern. Gedric still wasn't back.
I grabbed my axe and climbed the mountain—the same one where I'd tailed those goblins before.
My plan was to kill the goblins patrolling here. Let one or two get away so they could report back where we were from.
Then the enraged goblins would turn the village into a wasteland.
It'll drag in innocent folks too, so I'll feel guilty...
But there was a good reason for it.
Seris's father had sent a letter straight to the baron.
That meant the baron knew about Seris. So if I took her and slipped out of the village?
The baron would send an execution squad himself. Or hire mercenaries to kill us.
Me dying or someone else—when forced to choose, my decision was clear.
I recalled the goblins' patrol routes and carefully ascended the mountain.
Soon, I heard goblins chattering. They were heading this way. I hid between the trees and bushes.
-Kirik! A new woman's coming soon!
-Even if she does, the chief gets first dibs. You'll have to wait a while. Kirik.
-Kirik! Chief's hogging her all to himself!
-Then challenge him. Doesn't the chief accept all challenges?
-Impossible! No kin could beat the chief!
-That's right. Our great chief!
Their voices drew closer. If not for the tree blocking the way, they'd spot me instantly.
My heart pounded with tension. But my movements held no hesitation. I burst straight at the goblins.
"Raaah!!"
-Ki, kirik!?
The first goblin I saw got my axe buried in its skull. Its head split open, and it crumpled.
The alert popped up. Not the time to worry about it.
I didn't pull the axe out—just dropped it. Pulling now would've created an opening. I kicked the goblin next to the dead one.
-Ki, kiiik...
It took the hit square in the gut and staggered, collapsing. A young one, child-sized. No way it could've withstood my full-force kick.
-Kirik! Human!?
The last one leveled its spear at me. A crude thing, shorter than I was tall.
I grabbed the shaft and yanked it toward me. As the goblin stumbled in, I kneed it.
-Guhk...
I drew my dagger from my bosom. Gripped it reverse and plunged it into the goblin's throat.
-Khek...!
The goblin's eyes bulged as it glared at me. I yanked the dagger free and stabbed its throat again. Its eyes glazed over.
"Hoo..."
I pulled the dagger from the dead goblin and glanced aside. The one I'd kicked was crawling away, desperate to live.
I picked up the crude goblin spear from the ground and approached the crawler.
-S-spare me! I'll do anything!
The crawling goblin begged for its life, rubbing its palms together like a fly. Utterly pathetic. I thrust the spear through it, ending its groveling.
I dropped the spear and flexed my hands.
"Fuck..."
The feel of the blade piercing flesh and bone. It was utter shit. Even if it wasn't my first time, it still sucked.
I wrenched the axe from the goblin's head. Brains oozed out.
"Tch..."
I wiped it on what passed for the goblins' clothes—filthy rags. Cleaner now, axe in hand, I plunged deeper into the mountains.
To really piss off the goblins, this wasn't nearly enough.