MOOD FOR LOVE (3)

Every night, the mountain brings an eerie energy that disturbs our sleep, only to flee hastily with its shade when the sun rises high in the sky. After sleeping soundly all night in the embrace of the frosty wind and dew, we woke up feeling refreshed.

The thick wood that blocked the draft and the warm blanket that kept away the night chill were kind and cozy no matter where in the world one went.

“Did you sleep well, sir?”

The breakfast we had at a 30% discounted price consisted of a simple salad, vegetable soup, and sandwiches made from birds caught by the mountain keeper. Every bite of bread brought a popping sound of meat juices along with a slight bitterness that was exquisite. I picked up a sandwich and said to the hero:

“Yes, Hero. Did you sleep well? The night wind was quite cold.”

“The blanket was warm, so it was fine.”

The stress accumulated from being harassed by elves all day yesterday seemed to dissipate as we looked at the trees glistening with dew and the blue-filled mountain ridges beyond the fog. The hero said:

“We were supposed to meet Mille’s parents today, right?”

“That’s right. I heard her mother is a highly educated professor. I wonder what kind of person she is. Do you think she’s bright and fun like Mille?”

The hero shook his head and said:

“Academy professors are all famous for their eccentric personalities. Many of them are nicknamed ‘witch’ or ‘goblin’ by students. Thinking about that, though it’s a bit unfair to Mille, I’m honestly a bit afraid.”

The hero looked at the ceiling with a droopy expression while eating bread. I watched his deep, distant expression and smiled slightly.

“Do you miss the academy?”

“What?”

The hero blinked as he looked at me, then his face turned red as he hurriedly said:

“Ahhh! That, I mean! This is just something I heard! Something I heard! After I received the hero’s mission, I briefly went to the academy for training education. Really!”

This seemed genuinely true, so I nodded.

“What’s going on? Why so noisy in the morning? Hero, did the porter say something strange?”

“Ah, no.”

The hero hastily shook his head and evaded. Lena tilted her head, sat between me and the hero, and picked up a sandwich. She looked at the whole bird inside the sandwich and said:

“What? They just put the whole bird in here?”

“They say they clean the internal organs and bones and just preserve the outer form. It’s delicious.”

Seeing the hero chewing without aversion, Lena also took a bite of the sandwich in the same way. There was the familiar flavor I knew and the sound of meat juice bursting abundantly, and Lena nodded with wide eyes.

“Mmm. This is delicious! It would be perfect with alcohol. Sir! Do they sell alcohol here too?”

“Alcohol is not discounted.”

“…This is really driving me crazy.”

Thinking that they were very strict about discounts, we chuckled.

---

“I’m here!”

Mille appeared at the door with an energetic voice. She was smiling brightly like a morning alarm clock, just waiting for us to get up. Having finished our meal, we responded to our timely arriving companion with bright greetings.

Ashuria, who had just finished her meal, wiped her lips with a napkin and waved to Mille. Seeing us all gathered, Mille stomped her feet and said:

“You know, my mom wants to meet you, can you come now? We agreed to all meet together!”

We had made such a promise, and we were planning to go see her anyway. The hero looked around at us once, then nodded and said:

“Of course. Shall we leave right away?”

Mille exclaimed with sparkling eyes:

“Yes!”

---

Mille’s house had a form that could well be described as a work of art. The entire house faced away from the sun, giving it a gloomy atmosphere, and because it was neither finished nor painted, the walls looked like they were covered with the skin of someone with a skin disease.

The red paint on the roof actually added gloominess and eeriness to the building. The hero was already frowning slightly and tensing up, and Lena asked Mille:

“Hey, Mille. Who started designing buildings like this? They all look similarly strange.”

“Huh? Building design? Ah, this is made from a tree species that grows this thick, and we hollow out the inside. The red roof color is due to chemical treatment to prevent parasites from spreading.”

It meant they paid no attention to design, and this bizarre appearance was merely a product of coincidence. Thinking that way and looking again, I could feel the entire village’s appearance, which had seemed to imply a creepy and bizarre personality, transforming into a product of laziness.

“…I think they’re an extremely efficiently living group.”

Ashuria struggled to find words before finally speaking. Mille nodded and said:

“Right! It’s super convenient! Moving is easy, and building new structures is good too because you just wait a few months and hollow out the inside of a tree!”

“But, it really does seem good. Could I get one seed? I think it would be perfect to build a house with that later and use it as a vacation home.”

Mille shook her head at my words. She made a troubled expression, looked around, and said:

“Elves regularly use medicine and cast spells, so it’s fine, but it’s a species very vulnerable to epidemics and insects, so you can’t grow it outside.”

“That’s unfortunate. It looked good because it seemed like you don’t even have to clean the exterior.”

“Hehe, if the porter lived here, I’d give you one. Our village surprisingly doesn’t complain about people moving in!”

“Really?”

Lena looked at Mille with an expression of disbelief. Mille nodded and said:

“Yes. Everyone leaves within a few days anyway. They leave angrily saying they can’t live here, you know? I don’t understand why. There’s no village as quiet and good to live in as this.”

“Indeed. I really don’t understand.”

Ashuria nodded and agreed, but there was a subtle lack of soul in her voice. I stroked my chin and thought for a moment. This village would be a good place to live later. If I defeat the Demon King and survive, the air would be good and no one would bother me.

“Later, living here really seems nice. Could I farm here?”

“You’d have to buy land separately… but it should be possible! But since we all focus on hunting, gathering, or research, you’d have to go out a bit to farm!”

Mille added more detailed explanations than expected, as if she had seen people moving in several times. As I was listening seriously, Lena asked me:

“What, sir. Do you really want to live here?”

“It doesn’t seem bad. The food is delicious. The people are… quiet. The air is good.”

“Is that so? What about you, Hero?”

The hero, who had been quietly moving forward, jumped as he was suddenly pointed at and said:

“Huh? Me?”

Mille said with sparkling eyes:

“That’s right. Hero! How about living here when your job is done?”

It seemed a bit too much for the noble hero to live in this terrifying neighborhood. This was because the hero shook his head and said:

“Hmm… I already have a place to live, so it would be difficult here.”

“You can’t live here?”

As soon as she heard this, Mille drooped her ears and showed disappointment. Ashuria stroked Mille’s head, and Lena said:

“Wow, Hero, that’s mean.”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…!”

The hero was flustered when Mille expressed her emotions so intensely. As Mille glanced at the floundering hero, she stuck out her tongue and made a silly face.

“Nyah!”

“Ahahahaha!”

It was just the party members teasing the hero as always. Lena laughed loudly and shook her head, and Mille also had a bright expression. Ashuria continued to stroke Mille’s head, and I stood at the rear of the party, constantly watching the hero, who had turned red with embarrassment.

“Ah! We’re here! Mom!”

And Mille, as if she had never been disappointed, shouted in a bright voice as she brushed past the hero. She stretched out her arm to grab the doorknob, and we looked at the door with tense faces, as if we had never laughed and joked around.

Beyond the wide-open door stood a woman in a gown, staring at us.

She was holding a letter in her hand, and as she met us, she tore up the letter and threw it in the trash bin. Mille asked:

“Another graduate student letter?”

“They wrote nonsense about wanting to graduate this year. They’ve only been here for 6 years, and they’re already talking about graduation. It’s nonsense.”

Mille’s mother lightly stroked Mille’s head and then met our gaze. She had a pipe in her mouth and was wearing a large white gown. With shadows under her eyes and glasses, she had a face identical to Mille’s.

She exhaled thick gray smoke and greeted us:

“Nice to meet you, Hero. And… companions. I am Mille’s mother and Academy archaeology professor, Bnuel.”

“Ah, yes. Hello. It’s nice to meet you like this.”

The hero awkwardly greeted her, and Bnuel tilted her head askew, looked us over, and then counted numbers in the air as she said:

“Come in and have some tea before you go.”