episode_0012

Tia and I prepared to go up the mountain.

There were many medicinal ingredients to prepare for winter.

When winter comes, all the flowers and grass disappear. In the cold, people get sick more easily than usual.

So, winter was the hardest season for pharmacists.

It was crucial to collect as much as possible.

Even a single blade of grass that might be ignored in summer must be meticulously collected.

All the collected medicinal ingredients are dried or dissolved into liquid form for long-term storage.

This winter… seemed like it would be quite harsh.

Unlike last year, the area around the village was progressively drying up.

I didn’t know why.

My recent headaches over medicinal ingredients were all due to this strange phenomenon.

Today, I planned to go a little deeper.

It was partly to gather a plentiful supply of various ingredients, but more importantly, I was short one medicinal ingredient for the village elder-nim.

“Tia, are you ready?”

“Yep!”

We donned our hiking robes, shouldered large herb bags, and headed deeper into the woods.

Crossing the boundary line had become familiar now.

I remembered all the paths we had taken so far.

Every time we went down an unfamiliar path, Tia marked the trees with her knife as we went along.

We could easily find our way back by following those marks.

We passed countless marks and searched deep into the mountain, but there was nothing to be seen.

Tia grumbled as she cleared away the fallen leaves piled at her feet.

“Can’t see anything well.”

It was troublesome.

The forest path was completely covered in fallen leaves, making it impossible to find what we were looking for.

We’d been wandering around since early morning, skipping breakfast, with no harvest at all.

Even though I was looking only at the ground like a mole, I hadn’t filled half of my herb bag.

Tia asked.

“Don’t they sell medicinal ingredients in Taildon?”

“I already checked. They said they’re short on supply there too, so they have nothing to sell.”

“…What about the general store?”

“There too. Fosao Ahjussi said he has to go somewhere far away, so he won’t be handling herbs for a while.”

“Hmm-”

I went to great lengths, checking everywhere, but it was the same situation in other places.

They said they couldn’t sell because they had no herbs.

In the end, the only option left was for me to dig them up myself.

“We’ll have to keep looking until sunset. Let’s go.”

“Yep!”

And so, we traversed the mountain.

Even though she was dragged into a boring task, Tia helped search for herbs with great excitement.

The girl had an extraordinary talent even for this kind of work.

My herb bag still showed its bottom, but Tia would disappear somewhere for a moment and then reappear, returning with a handful of herbs.

She said it was because her ‘intuition’ told her it would be there.

She must have been a rabbit or a deer in her past life.

After wandering for a long time, we had gone so deep that we no longer knew where we were.

A tired Tia flopped down on a rock.

“Ugh- I’m tired-.”

Had we wandered so much that even she would say ‘I’m tired’?

We had truly walked without rest.

By rough estimate, this was the deepest we had ventured so far.

I raised my head.

A red glow lingered in the distance.

It was almost time for the sun to set.

I opened my herb bag.

Other ingredients were more or less taken care of, but the one medicinal ingredient for the village elder-nim still wasn’t visible.

As if someone had deliberately hidden it.

I grew impatient.

Lately, the village elder-nim had begun to weaken even more.

Every time I visited his hut, I saw his noticeably emaciated limbs.

The stubborn village elder-nim, who seemed like he would live forever, suddenly became like this, and even the villagers couldn’t hide their anxiety.

I occasionally heard talks of what would happen if the village elder-nim passed away.

It probably wouldn’t happen, but on the off chance it did, I, as the ‘village elder-nim’s son,’ would have to inherit the village.

The problem, though, was that I wasn’t ready for that.

I hadn’t even had my baptism yet, nor had I learned how to lead a village.

Compared to the elders, I was still far too young; I didn’t know what I could possibly do.

“Tia.”

“Hm?”

“If I become the village elder… will I be able to do well?”

“Of course!”

It was a refreshing answer, without a hint of hesitation.

“Ritsu is smart, so you’ll definitely do well. The elders trust and follow Ritsu, too!”

“That’s because I make medicine for them. Being a village elder is a different story.”

“Hmm- I don’t think there’s any difference?”

Tia kicked her feet while lying on the rock.

“I think a pharmacist and a village elder both have the same desire to protect the village. If you can just keep that desire, won’t there be no problem?”

“……”

“Besides, Ritsu has so many people who will help you anytime! Marvin Ahjussi, who’s good at work, Merid Imo, who’s good at cooking, strong Ruyef. And… there’s ‘me’ too?”

Tia grinned when our eyes met.

Hmph. Cute kid.

Come to think of it, Tia was right.

Breezedon wasn’t just the village elder-nim’s alone.

Hadn’t the village elder-nim said it himself? That all the villagers were the lords of this land.

For me, who knew nothing, the villagers would gladly roll up their sleeves and help.

“Tia. If I become the village elder, will you take over the apothecary then?”

“Me?”

“You’re the only one who can read.”

“Hmm-.”

She scrunched up her eyes, as if she hated boring things.

She rolled her eyes, her expression showing she wanted to avoid being cooped up in the apothecary somehow, when suddenly, a good idea seemed to strike her, and she sprang up with a “Yap!”

“Okay! I’ll take over the apothecary!”

“Thank you.”

Tia shook her head.

“Nuh-uh. Not me, but a child who looks just like Ritsu will take over!”

“…What? A child who looks like me?”

“Yep.”

Tia, with a shy expression, leaned close to my cheek.

“…’Our’ child.”

What?!

“Hey, wh-what, what! What the…!”

“Kuhut. Ahahaha-!”

Ugh. Seriously, I was completely caught off guard.

Leaving the girl, who was clutching her stomach and laughing, behind, I quickly got up.

“Seems like you’ve rested enough if you’re spouting nonsense. Let’s get back to work.”

“Alrighty-.”

It was time to finish up.

I crawled on the ground to get as much as possible before sunset.

I pushed aside fallen leaves, cleared away grass and moss, and carefully dug up herbs.

After finishing all the work, we checked each other’s herb bags.

What a relief.

Although I hadn’t gathered much, I could breathe a sigh of relief thanks to Tia collecting a lot.

If we gathered like this for just one more week, it seemed we could barely get through the difficult period.

It was good news, but.

“There’s no ‘Cheonjinju’.”

“Yeah. No matter how much I looked for it, I couldn’t see it…”

If even Tia couldn’t find it, should I consider it practically nonexistent?

It would be perfect if I could make medicine with Cheonjinju and give it to the village elder-nim. What a shame.

Awhoosh-.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew from somewhere.

The fallen leaves on the ground and Tia’s robe flapped.

Caw- caw-.

Even the crows were crying.

“The day is completely gone. Let’s go back now.”

“Hmm-.”

Tia thought for a moment, then pointed in one direction.

“Ritsu, let’s go a little deeper.”

“No.”

“I have a feeling-! If we go in that direction, it’s definitely there!”

“No. Any deeper is dangerous. Let’s go back.”

I was about to turn my steps back towards the village, but.

“Don’t worry! I’m here-!”

Tia puffed out her chest confidently.

And as if she could draw her short sword at any moment, she rested her left hand on the scabbard.

Since she was a ‘Swordsman’ who even received Priscolla qualification, did that mean a beast was fine?

Indeed, Tia was stronger than me, so there was no concern about safety.

…But why did I have such an unsettling feeling?

It felt as if I would never escape if swallowed by the darkness beyond that forest.

“Let’s go back.”

“Huh- don’t you trust me?”

Tia had probably just thrown that out as a joke, but.

I couldn’t help but stop at the word ‘trust’.

“No, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just…”

“Then what are you worrying about! We’re just going to take a quick look over there.”

Well… is that so?

Even if a fierce wolf appeared, Tia would surely defeat it easily.

Her sword is truly formidable.

“Alright.”

We headed deeper into the forest.

My heart was filled with unease, but as soon as the sight before us appeared, that worry melted away like snow.

“My goodness…”

As expected, Tia’s keen senses were correct.

We cut through some bushes and entered, and indeed, it was filled with various flowers, vines, moss, and mushrooms.

This was an immense profit that made up for all our previous failures.

She crossed her arms and boasted.

“Hehe-. See-! ‘If you fear little, you gain nothing great’ [a proverb about risk-taking]. It’s a basic virtue for adventurers, written in the !”

“Haha. You have a point. Let’s just grab what we need and go back quickly.”

I hastily picked up only what was easily visible.

Now, we had gathered enough to last through winter.

If we filled our herb bags completely and came back here tomorrow to dig for a long time, it seemed we wouldn’t need to come to the forest for medicinal ingredients anymore.

As Tia and I steadily filled our bags,

“Ah.”

A little further away, I accidentally discovered a brilliant red flower.

It was that medicinal ingredient I wanted to give to the village elder-nim.

A flower that shyly poked out of the ground, like a red, round berry.

Cheonjinju.

“So you were here…”

I held my breath, approached, and carefully cleared away the surrounding soil.

The slightly exposed root looked massive at first glance.

This was it.

With this, I could restore the village elder-nim’s energy.

Unable to hide my excitement, I dug around the base of the root with a trowel.

I pulled it out of the soil with all my strength.

“That’s enough, Tia! Let’s go back now…”

The moment I turned my head to put it in the bag.

Something bright red streaked past in the darkness.

…What was that?

At the same time, my body instantly froze.

It was an undeniable instinct.

My breath caught, words wouldn’t come out, and my mind went blank.

“Ah…”

Grrrowl-.

A massive body emerged from the darkness.

An unpleasant stench wafted to my nose.

The mountain vibrated with every step of its forepaws.

ROAR-!!!

Scattering fallen leaves, that black mass… was charging.

Why hadn’t I known?

I had clearly heard that bears lived deep in the mountains.

The elders and my aunts had warned us so much since we were little.

Why had I forgotten that?

GROOOOWWWL-!!

A forepaw rose.

At the same time, a scream overlapped.

“Ritsu-!!! No-!!!”

Thwack-.

Something inside my body shattered.

I didn’t know where I was.

The sky and ground flipped over multiple times, and I was thrown around everywhere as if being swept away.

“…Gasp.”

When my choked breath finally burst out again.

“Gasp… Cough…”

It hurt. It hurt so much.

I felt like I would die. No, I was dying.

I couldn’t breathe.

My stomach felt full of something.

“Agh… Ugh…”

In my blurry vision, I saw blood.

Hot blood seemed to have been sprayed all over my body.

I couldn’t budge. I couldn’t move.

It hurt too much to even speak.

“Aaaah-!!”

From somewhere unseen, Tia screamed.

It was a voice filled with rage.

An immense rage I had never heard before.

Tia screamed like a wild beast, like she was insane.

“Die! Die-!! Die…!”

SNARL-!!

No, Tia.

I’m done for.

Please, run away.

My vision was gradually darkening. No thoughts came to mind.

I was simply worried about Tia.

Even that thought vanished emptily.

“……”

My vision went black.