episode_0027

“As expected of Killua-nim. You’ve splendidly solved the problem.”

She had indeed solved the village’s troubles in an astonishingly splendid way.

From the drinking water causing inconvenience to the high-quality specialty products that would replace the timber no longer coming from the now desolate forest.

With this, Eton Village would be able to develop even further than before.

“Hmm! The villagers are more delighted than I expected, which feels a bit burdensome, doesn’t it?”

As if such hospitality and consideration were burdensome, Killua lightly cleared her throat and fiddled with the badge pinned to her chest.

“Do you intend to be the village chief?”

The badge pinned to her chest by the woman, depicting an axe embedded in wood, seemed like a symbolic item passed down only to the chief of Eton Village for a long time.

“I should return it. Calling me a village chief… it makes me sound too old.”

Killua fiddled with the badge that one of the women, unable to contain her surging joy, had impulsively detached from the chief’s chest and pinned onto her own, a small smile gracing her lips as if finding the situation both embarrassing and amusing.

“Hmm… I think the Mage-nim might be the rightful owner of that badge?”

Most of the villagers already viewed her abilities favorably, without a shred of doubt.

Even the village chief, despite having his badge taken, did not seem displeased at all; rather, he appeared to be feeling happiness from the revitalized village itself.

“Hee hee… Is that so?”

Killua, seemingly in good spirits, lightly tapped the badge with her fingertip, a small smile on her face.

“Thank you very much, Killua.”

At that moment, Rai approached Killua, who had been watching the villagers busily preparing a festive dinner, and expressed his gratitude.

“It’s truly been a long time since I’ve seen everyone so happy and joyful like this.”

Rai turned to look at the villagers, a smile gracing his lips, as if their joy and happiness were his own.

“Don’t mention it. It’s just a small repayment for the favor you did me by saving me.”

Killua, feeling triumphant, crossed her arms, adjusted her posture, and subtly leaned against him.

As her shoulder touched his forearm, Rai did not move away. Instead, he slightly leaned towards her, allowing Killua to rest her weight against him.

“……”

I subtly feigned indifference, glancing sideways to check Killua and Rai’s faces.

Killua, leaning on Rai’s shoulder, and Rai, who had slightly tilted his body to let her lean, both began to show a faint blush on their faces.

“Ah, that’s right!”

Killua, who had been feeling their body heat through their lightly touching shoulders and forearms, seemed to notice me glancing at her face. She let out a small gasp and hastily pulled her shoulder away from his.

“A festival can’t be without alcohol, can it?!”

“Alcohol?”

“Alcohol, you say?!”

The first to react to Killua’s mention of alcohol were the villagers.

The village chief had led the way in setting up a large table in front of the square, laden with all sorts of food, but nowhere was there a drink that looked like alcohol.

“Fortunately, Jazel was perceptive enough to bring it! Jazel! Could I trouble you for that small jar?”

“Small jar?”

Killua’s left hand was pointing at a small jar tied to the cart.

I couldn’t believe Killua’s words, seeing that very jar that the Hero had clearly brought, filled with slime mucus, now being called alcohol. I looked at her as if doubting my own ears.

“That’s the one, so please bring it!”

Withdrawing the finger that had pointed at the jar, Killua made a gesture as if to cover her lips with her finger, implying that the contents’ true nature should not be revealed.

Her instructions were perplexing, but for now, I placed the small jar, which had been secured to the cart, onto the table as she requested.

“In the desolate forest, I couldn’t find any ingredients to make alcohol… How did you manage to produce it?”

At the mention of alcohol, the villagers one by one approached the small jar placed on the table, carefully touching it as if unable to believe it.

“I borrowed a very secret ancient brewing method.”

Killua removed the pressing stone that was holding down the jar’s lid.

Then, after taking a sweeping look at the villagers’ glittering gazes fixed on the jar, she carefully began to open the lid at the moment everyone’s tense breaths paused.

“Whoa… This really smells like alcohol?!”

As soon as the lid was opened, an unmistakably strong alcoholic scent wafted out, potent to an excessive degree.

It seemed to be a high-proof alcohol; even from a distance, the pungent alcoholic scent was strong enough to sting the nose instantly.

“It’s an alcohol brewed with various root herbs and a secret ingredient found in the forest. It’s too potent as is, so you can dilute it with water according to your tolerance and drink it!”

Killua, as if demonstrating, poured a small amount of alcohol, barely three spoonfuls, into a small cup.

And when she filled the remaining space with water, the overly potent alcoholic scent softened, and the secret, hidden fragrance of the alcohol began to reveal itself.

“What kind of scent is this? It’s like… a scent of being in the forest?”

“Wow… I’ve never seen alcohol like this in my life?”

As the villagers remarked, the diluted alcohol held a faint, forest-like aroma.

At the peculiar scent, as if there were a small forest within the cup, the villagers gasped with surprise.

“My goodness… Could that possibly be made from mucus…”

But I, who knew the true identity of Killua’s hidden secret ingredient, swallowed a sigh and unconsciously took a step back.

“Come on, come on! Everyone, have a drink!”

Killua, as if demonstrating, diluted a glass of the alcohol with water and handed it to a villager.

The villagers looked at the alcohol she had personally brewed with disbelief, then cautiously began to take sips of the drink she offered.

“Oh?!”

“Wow… It’s incredibly refreshing, with no bitter aftertaste?!”

Those who tasted the alcohol all burst into exclamations of genuine surprise.

Encouraged by the sincere admiration of those who tasted the alcohol, everyone shed their apprehension and doubt about Killua’s brew and began taking a glass in hand.

“Hmm… It seems like we might run out of water… I’ll go fetch a few more jars of water.”

Rai, who had been watching the villagers cheerfully receiving cups of alcohol from Killua, gave a wry smile and subtly tried to slip away.

“Hoh hoh hoh! Where do you think you’re going?!”

Just then, a middle-aged man who had been the first to receive alcohol from Killua and had guzzled it down without a second thought, suddenly appeared from behind as if anticipating Rai’s actions. He grabbed Rai’s shoulder, preventing him from leaving.

“It looks like we might run out of water, so I was going to get some more…”

At that, Rai let out an awkward laugh and calmly tried to explain why he was trying to leave.

However, the middle-aged man, listening to his explanation, clicked his tongue as if he had anticipated Rai’s excuse, and pointed a finger at the men on the edge of the festival area.

“Leave that to us!”

Already, three men, as if anticipating Rai’s attempt to escape, had each shouldered a large water jar and were setting off to fetch river water.

“There’s nothing more unreasonable than you not drinking the alcohol made from the treasure you brought back!”

The man laughed heartily, slapped Rai’s back, and led him towards Killua, who was distributing alcohol to the people at the table.

“Ah… No, as you know, I’m not really one for alcohol…”

Rai let out a wry smile, looking flustered, and tried to escape the middle-aged man’s grasp by any means necessary.

“Oh, dear. Having tasted it myself, I think this alcohol will really suit your taste too! Just trust me on this!!”

But the middle-aged man also seemed unwilling to back down, almost forcibly dragging Rai in front of Killua.

Killua, who had been pouring and handing out alcohol to the various villagers approaching her, only belatedly noticed Rai’s presence when he was right beside her.

“Rai! You liked alcohol, didn’t you?!”

Upon spotting Rai, Killua lit up with her brightest smile, as if she had been waiting. She pulled out a clean cup and poured in the undiluted alcohol she had made, without hesitation.

“Ah… No. I don’t really like alcohol…”

At Killua’s words, full of certainty that he would like alcohol, Rai hastily denied it.

“You didn’t like alcohol?”

His workshop had certainly been full of jars for brewing alcohol.

Before the forest became desolate, he must have used those jars to make various alcohols from the herbs and fruits found in the vibrant forest.

Killua, who had predicted Rai would like alcohol based on clear evidence, stopped pouring the undiluted alcohol into the cup, flustered as her prediction went awry.

“Dilute it a bit more. Even if Rai isn’t good with alcohol, he’ll surely like the one you made yourself.”

At that, the middle-aged man who had led him there lightly winked at Killua and asked her to make a drink for Rai.

Listening to the man’s advice, Killua made the alcohol even more diluted than what she had given to the other villagers and handed it to Rai.

“I’ve diluted it, so this should be fine.”

“Ah… Yes. Thank you.”

Unable to refuse the alcohol she had personally made and offered right in front of her, Rai cautiously took the cup Killua handed him with both hands.

The middle-aged man, who had been watching, waited until Rai accepted the cup from Killua, then raised his own cup high and shouted as if he had been waiting.

“Alright!! Everyone, raise your cups! Tonight, let’s toast to Killua, who brought great fortune to our Eton Village!!”

“Waaahhh!!”

Responding to the middle-aged man’s hearty shout, the villagers let out joyful cheers and raised their cups high.

In response to the villagers’ actions, Killua and Rai, who had been looking at each other, exchanged small eye-smiles and raised the cups in their hands, blending in with the villagers.

“That’s good to see.”

I watched the villagers, whose festive mood was merrily rising, and Killua, who was bursting into bright laughter alongside them, then gave a wry smile and took a step back.

The villagers were subtly treating me as if I weren’t there.

Perhaps it was their blatant effort to pair Rai and Killua.

“There’s no helping it…”

But it wasn’t that I didn’t understand their actions.

From their perspective, I must have seemed like an obstacle, a variable that could disrupt the relationship between Rai and Killua.

Rai was someone who, at a young age, had not left the village and was single-handedly supporting it.

Their attempt to pair him with Killua, who possessed exceptional abilities, was likely the villagers’ way of repaying Rai for his good deeds and service to them until now.

“Hoo…”

Ultimately, I, having become an annoying obstacle and alienated by everyone, let out a small sigh and turned my back on the square, where cheerful voices and laughter echoed.

“Heh heh. When your mind is complicated, how about some exercise?”

The moment I turned my back, about to quietly leave the square, the Hero suddenly appeared before me.

He held out the axe he had been carrying on his back as if it were a part of his body, and still broke into a foolishly bright smile.

“Yes. That’s a good idea.”

At the thought that I wouldn’t have to spend time idly by myself, I curled the corners of my lips upwards and took the axe he offered.