Chapter 86

〈 Episode 86 〉Longing for People

Once out of sight of the people, Asha crammed all the bundles of gifts she had been carrying into her Inventory.

“Haa…”

She still felt her face burning, even after leaving the village. It was the same when she was invited to Kaila and Kate’s house, Asha wasn’t really used to receiving gratitude from people. Still, as she talked with them, she couldn’t hide her smile, even as she felt embarrassed.

Since coming to this world, Asha had always lived being abused and taken advantage of. Having suffered as the weak until now, it was an unbearable joy for her to be treated with respect and valued by others.

“Mom, where are we going now?”

“Huh? Ah, right… We have to go to the Orc Settlement now. How far is it…”

Asha, who had been smiling without realizing it, snapped out of it at Lucia’s words and turned on the map. The Orc Settlement was originally a full day’s journey from the human village, but now that Lucia could fly, it had become a short distance of only 30 minutes.

“Lucy, shall we go?”

“Yes!”

Lucia, who had already grown her body for flight, hugged Asha from behind and spread her large wings, soaring back into the air. After hovering in the air for a moment, she quickly gained altitude as Asha boosted her with Wind Magic.

“Lucy, go that way!”

“Okay, I’ll go straight there!”

Lucia continued to fly in the direction Asha pointed.

Asha’s Winged Garment was still unusable due to the time limit, but the penalty became meaningless to her as she could fly with Lucia. Asha and Lucia were able to reach a point where the Orc Settlement was visible in their field of vision not long after starting their flight.

“Oof…”

Asha, who had landed on the ground again with her daughter, was able to step on the ground without staggering, thanks to being a little more used to flying now. Lucy also quickly retracted her wings and returned to her original childish form from the appearance of a girl of about thirteen.

“Okay, shall we go?”

“Yes!”

“Hoo…”

Asha, who had emerged from the forest, was relieved to see that the village looked much the same as she remembered. Changes in the village were good, of course, but the changed appearance felt awkward to her.

‘Of course, it’s a good thing that people are living well, but it was a little embarrassing.’

Asha smiled at the sight of this place, which could be considered her hometown, remaining the same. The guard standing in front of the village happened to be someone Asha knew.

“Franz!”

Asha knew most of the Orcs in the village, and she had gone hunting with him a few times. The Orc, who had been standing guard idly, turned around at the sound and was surprised to see Asha and Lucia.

“Goodness, Asha! It’s been months!”

“How have you been?”

“What could happen here? Well, not that nothing has happened.”

Asha felt a sudden sense of unease at his words. She asked back with a clouded complexion.

“Um… Has anyone died?”

“Huh? Ah, I mean things have changed a lot these days, not that anything bad has happened. Anyway, it’s really good to see you! Come on in. There are so many people who will welcome you, Asha.”

“Really? Is that so…”

Asha nodded, feeling dazed by his warm welcome, and entered the village with Lucia.

Unlike the human village, which flaunted its changes from the entrance, the village’s exterior hadn’t changed much. However, the inside of the village was very different from before. It was originally a bustling village with Orcs making things or hunting animals, but with humans joining in everywhere, it felt even more chaotic.

“The villagers said they came here to work…”

Asha had only just entered the entrance, but she could already see a human woman helping an Orc who had been hunting to repair his equipment, and a human merchant haggling with an Orc who looked like a cook.

“No, that person’s face is quite familiar… Otto!”

The Orc, who was talking to the merchant while holding a flimsy piece of grass that looked too delicate for his pot lid-sized hands, turned around at the sound of someone calling him.

“Asha? It’s been a long time!”

“What on earth is going on? Did you decide to do something else?”

Otto, who used to wear armor and go hunting with Georg or patrol around the village, was now a rather decent-looking cook with a large apron on his burly body.

“I was originally good at cooking, but these days, things like herbs have come in, and it’s become really fun. It’s almost like a great culinary era!”

Asha was slightly taken aback by Otto’s excited voice.

“Ha, haha… It suits you better than I thought?”

“It’s been over two months since I picked up a kitchen knife, so of course it has to suit me. Ah, Lucia was here too. How have you been?”

“Yes!”

Lucia couldn’t hide her amazement at Otto’s transformation from a hunter to a cook. No matter how the mother and daughter looked at him, Otto himself seemed to like his appearance.

“Well, are you going to meet some other people? I can’t just leave the person in front of me alone. You’re not leaving right away, are you? Come to our shop for a meal sometime!”

“Okay, I’ll stop by with Lucy later.”

He patted his apron to straighten it after bowing to greet Lucia, and then continued haggling with the human merchant. Asha also greeted him and hurried on her way again.

“It’s best to go to Uncle’s house first.”

Asha knew where Georg, Walter, and Eva’s houses were, but if it was still bright like this, Eva and Georg were unlikely to be home right now. She headed for Walter’s house, which stood out even among the large Orc houses, with its roof clearly visible.

Asha felt a warmth in her heart at the thought of meeting a longed-for person after a long time. Finally arriving in front of Walter’s house, she knocked on the mansion’s gate.

“Uncle! Are you there?”

The mansion, which had been immersed in silence, was awakened by Asha’s shout. A sound was heard from the quiet house, and the door opened from the inside.

“Asha, you’re back?”

“Yes!”

Walter looked the same as before after a long time. His tone was calm, but Walter’s joyful emotions were evident in his voice. Asha also wanted to hug him right away, but she held back because she was holding hands with Lucia.

“There are so many things I really want to ask you, Uncle. Georg, Sister Eva, and Konrad too…”

“Hmm… Eva has something to do. Eva isn’t here right now. She said she was bored and left for another place. No, more than that…”

Walter picked up Lucia next to her. Lucia stretched out her arms for easy holding and snuggled into Walter’s arms.

“Lucy, aren’t you too strong? At this rate, I’ll be overtaken in no time.”

“Lucy is that strong? Of course, I know Lucy is strong, but…”

Asha was dumbfounded by Walter’s words.

“This girl must have been pretending a bit. In the past, I only felt a powerful force, but now she’s even condensing Mana inside her body. Lucy, did someone teach you?”

At Walter’s question, Lucia said with a bright face, as if she had thought of Justitia.

“Auntie taught me!”

“Auntie? She doesn’t seem like an ordinary person… It seems like it would be a good meeting, so I’d like to meet her sometime. Well, did anything happen, Asha?”

“No, well… What could have happened to me? By the way, it’s a shame that Sister Eva isn’t here.”

“She’s such a Wind Magic-like person, so she’ll be back when the time comes. How long are you planning to stay this time, Asha?”

Asha pondered for a moment.

‘I can’t stay here until the end of the year, but maybe a month or two…’

She wanted to stay here as long as possible, but she couldn’t just stay without a purpose.

“A month? Maybe I can stay longer. Since Sister Eva isn’t here, where should I stay…”

“Weren’t you going to stay at Georg’s house? Weren’t you two like a couple? Surely that guy wouldn’t have done anything bad.”

“Hee?! A, a couple…”

Asha made a strange noise as if she had been stabbed in the side. Walter’s words were an unexpected blow to her, as she had never properly thought about her relationship with him.

‘Come to think of it, we always slept together and had a child… A couple, are we a couple…’

Lucia got out of Walter’s arms and came down, grabbing Asha’s sleeve.

“Georg, is he Daddy?”

“U, um…”

Asha was speechless at Lucia’s question. It was because Lucia had stimulated something that had not yet been properly organized in her mind. Walter smiled bitterly at Asha’s confused appearance.

“I guess I said something I shouldn’t have. Don’t be too conscious of it. Things like that tend to get sorted out as time goes by.”

“Yes… Thank you, Uncle. And, I want to meet Konrad too. Is he still living in the community orphanage?”

“Yes, he’s there. He’s grown up so much. You’ll be surprised when you see him. Shall we go together?”

“Yes!”

Asha nodded.