Wrath [Today's Diary]
Weather: Cracked an egg on a rock and it turned into a frying pan.
Lady's mood: 👹
– The brewery's running smoothly.
– Delivered a bottle of makgeolli to Elir as thanks.
– But for some reason, the lady's mood was off the charts.
– Her face alone made it believable if a goblin had possessed her outright.
– Shit, Congee girl...
A little over a week had passed since we applied the medieval greenhouse setup.
Thud thud.
Stepping into the drying room, a warm breeze greeted me in the sealed space.
"......"
No. Warm my ass. It was so hot I felt like I was about to collapse.
Who the hell turned on the heat in this summer vinyl house?
"That would be me."
Haha. As I laughed like a lunatic, a pale green wind rippled faintly in the distance.
{As expected... you're a total madman... scary...}
The wind suddenly picked up strength with it. I panicked and waved at Silpo.
"Whoa whoa! No! Don't dry it!"
{...?}
Oh right. They don't understand human language.
I spat out some unrefined spirit tongue in a hurry.
{Hey, don't go crazy on me! Easy on the wind!}
{Whimper...}
Please hold off on the full dry-out, I begged with everything I had. Silpo gradually toned down the wind's intensity.
"Phew..."
In that brief moment, I realized one thing.
'My life's in these guys' hands.'
Bankrupt and killed by Elir, or killed by the lady for not getting her makgeolli.
Either way, without them, I'd be crawling on the ground begging.
Sweat poured down. I couldn't tell if it was from the heat or cold sweat.
With a trembling voice, I added to Silpo.
{I-I'm gonna go now? So don't freak out and play nice, okay?}
{Ung... See ya.}
I trudged out of the drying room.
It was already packed with laborers packaging the twice-fermented makgeolli.
"Oh, Sir Rio!"
"Hey, good to see ya."
"Heh heh, your speech is always so weird, sir."
A middle-aged man with his head half-bald like a highway greeted me with a hearty laugh.
He pushed forward two boxes of makgeolli, two bottles per pack.
"Just finished packaging. Take 'em."
"Thanks, nameless laborer."
"...It's been two weeks; you'd think you'd remember my name by n—"
The baldie's mouth drooped in disappointment, but this body—Lady's one-way street, Rio—doesn't waste brain space on some middle-aged baldie.
"Alright, I'm off!"
Taat!
I grabbed the makgeolli he offered and bolted.
The laborer mumbled something at my shrinking dot.
"...My name's Yiman, you little shit..."
Of course, I didn't hear it.
Meeeem— Meeeeem—
Creeeeeech!
Cicadas heralding full summer blared alongside the sun beating down from the sky's center.
Under that blade-sharp sunlight, someone was kicking up dust, sprinting somewhere.
"...Marie."
"Yes, my lady."
Lucresia watched him from a high window. She seemed thrilled with his direction.
It looked exactly like her study.
"He's coming this way, right?"
"Hmm..."
'...Doesn't look like it.'
Marie hesitated, unable to answer.
The reason? His path seemed subtly off.
But she couldn't say no.
'She's expecting it too much.'
Look at those eyes full of sparkling anticipation under slightly raised lids.
She couldn't deny the ruby-glowing hope in them.
"Haa..."
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Guess I didn't sleep well last night."
"Then crash on that cot over there? Rio's coming anyway; you'll probably skip studying."
"...I'm fine, my lady."
Marie just closed her eyes, secretly wishing Rio would head straight here.
Even if it felt unlikely.
'If he has any sense, he'll come here first.'
She clung to that slim chance.
Meanwhile, 63-year solo Rio didn't head to the study, just as Marie predicted.
Emphasizing again: 63-year solo.
So Rio knew nothing of push-pull games.
His thinking was brutally simple.
Knock out the annoying stuff first.
Then enjoy the good parts.
Like eating the gross cafeteria food first to save the tasty bits for last.
Making the final bite the happiest memory.
Rio was exactly that type.
So he was heading to the finance office to handle the most annoying task first.
Of course, the glaring lady above wouldn't appreciate it.
Tadak.
He soon reached the finance office.
A guard stood at the door.
"Sir Rio? What brings you here?"
"Got a gift for Lady Elir."
Rio shook the packaged makgeolli. Something murky bubbled up from the bottom like vomit.
The guard eyed it curiously.
"This makgeolli?"
The rumors were already wild in the mansion.
The freshly adult lady was already boozing, and now a full brewery for mass production?
Of course eyes and ears turned there.
Rio ignored it all.
If his lady enjoyed it, good enough.
Funding woes were next.
'So drop it quick and bounce.'
Rio nudged the ground with his toes, urging the guard.
"Yeah. Mind if I pass? Gotta deliver to the lady too."
"...To the lady too?"
"Yep."
A guard knight boldly offering booze to the recently adult lady.
The guard pondered lecturing him as an adult but swallowed his boomer instincts.
"...Go ahead..."
"Thanks~"
Taang!
"......"
No point talking to someone who wouldn't listen anyway.
"...Nice weather."
Clear blue skies without a cloud.
But a single dark cloud blooming within.
"......"
Rain coming soon, huh.
Delivered the alcoholic makgeolli to Elir.
[You just gave booze to an elf?]
She held the bottle I handed her with a baffled look.
[Do you know what that means?]
Of course not.
'No clue.'
Don't wanna know.
Just thanks for keeping the brewery smooth, and a bribe for continued favor.
[Gifting alcohol to an elf means wishing easy childbirth.]
[Then have an easy delivery! I'm out!]
I turned tail the second she said it.
'She'll pop out a kid someday anyway.'
Elir vanished from my mind after that.
Filled it right back up with the most important: the lady.
Elir's presence was ant-fart level to me.
"Let's go~"
Taat!
I bolted to the study where the lady was studying at max speed, like a bird.
Time to savor the precious side dish I'd saved.
Knock knock.
"Lady, it's Rio!"
"......"
No answer.
Knocked again.
Knock knock knock!
"Lady?"
"......"
No response. Weird.
Normally I'd hear her chatting with the captain at least, but not even an ant crawling.
No way.
'Assassin?!'
I yanked the handle and flung the door open.
But the sight wasn't what I imagined.
The lady stood arms crossed, glaring daggers at me—eyes blazing.
'...Why?'
I glanced at the captain behind her.
She averted her eyes. Sweat beading on her forehead—something bad happened.
The lady's tight lips parted.
"Who said come in."
"Lady...? Something wr—"
"Out."
"Huh?"
"You bastard! Get out! I don't wanna see your face! Out! Now!"
Kwang!
She hurled whatever was in her hand at me full force.
Black ink splattering my face. Inkwell.
'That's expensive as hell!'
No, focus.
Figure out why she's pissed.
This level of rage from the lady?
'Seen it once.'
Pre-reincarnation.
The drizzly day she caught the crown prince smooching his mistress by the garden fountain.
I saw a monster beside her.
'She was epic then.'
Thinking back now makes my eyes misty.
[You fucking punk!]
Kicked off her shoes in a flash, dashed over, snapped her wrist to grab his hair, and dunked him in the fountain.
First time she tossed noble decorum.
"...Gulp."
So this rage matches that day, huh?