episode_0012

“Here’s 10 silver.”

“Thank you.”

I handed over the beloved (not really) painting to a stranger and waved until she was out of sight.

I could have just worked for a living, but… I wanted to earn money with the first painting I ever got recognized for.

Of course, I utterly failed.

Moreover, the world was not so forgiving. I was nothing more than a superfluous human being, completely lacking in basic common sense here.

I learned about the local currency by begging, and I learned what was rude and how to live by struggling alongside people, but there’s still much I lack.

Well, I’ll get better little by little.

Still, it feels human, which is good.

Not a single insane person was in sight here, no matter how hard I looked. If there were, wouldn’t they have praised my painting as a masterpiece and bought it?

It just occurred to me, the day I went to visit Hellstrom, she gave me a hefty pouch. All the coins inside were gleaming gold.

I just earned 10 silver from selling a painting; 100 silver makes 1 gold.

10 silver is enough money to eat a full meal three times a day.

…Ah, I miss it, I truly miss it.

Even so, life here is satisfying.

I begged a nearby artist for the canvas and easel, brushes and palette, and paints.

He fiercely criticized me, saying it was a sin to waste materials on my doodle-like paintings, but the next day, perhaps having changed his mind, he would toss me his leftover materials once a day, as if giving charity.

He said something about how there’s no set path in art, and he had been too narrow-minded.

I gathered my easel and miscellaneous belongings and stood up from under the bridge.

Now that I’ve sold a painting, I need to eat and find a place to rest.

Unlike my grubby self, the dark fantasy residents walking around looked quite presentable.

Which makes sense, the name of this place I’m staying in is Shabriang.

It was a city reclaimed by humanity, recovered by the expedition that Naia participated in to retake it.

It’s bustling with explorers and refugees due to its high civility, making it quite busy, but it’s more peaceful, clean, and friendly than Hellstrom.

I stopped by a restaurant I often frequented and took a seat.

They always chased me out for being grubby, but since I came back every day, they made the very corner seat, right next to the bathroom, my permanent spot.

…If I just cover my ears and nose, I can eat the meat-filled soup and bread.

“I’ll come again later.”

“I’ve told you countless times, if you come after washing up, I’ll guide you to a good seat!”

Turning my back on the madam, who waved me off with her ample frame jiggling, I left the city center and moved to the outskirts of Shabriang.

I developed a habit of sitting on the high city walls and observing the outside.

That’s because my beloved hometown was perfectly visible from the walls.

“Oh, Yuseong. You’re here again.”

“I’ll make myself at home again today.”

“…Why don’t you just get a job as a guard instead? I feel bad for you.”

“If a guy like me took on an important job like a guard, something bad would happen.”

“Oh, for goodness sake, come anytime! I’ll never forget the favor you did for me!”

Normally, it would be absolutely impossible for an ordinary citizen to climb the city walls.

Why are the people here so warm-hearted? It’s easier to live here than on Earth.

“Keep up the good work today!”

“You too!”

After exchanging warm greetings with this chance acquaintance, I climbed the steep stairs and sat astride the city wall, looking out.

The vast land outside, a blend of wide-open golden fields and towering giant trees spiking up like awls, brought peace to my heart no matter how many times I gazed upon it.

But there’s one thing to be careful of: never look to the left. That place reeks too much of blood.

Beyond the fields and trees, the vast forest I escaped from spreads out like mold in a bathroom corner.

On the first day I escaped from Leruye, I slept with a rabbit and danced with a bear, our arms linked.

…Seriously.

On the second day, I went for a stroll with Munmuni, the bear I’d befriended, and we were attacked by the forest tyrant.

Munmuni lifted his large body and sacrificed himself for me. Afterwards, to never forget him, I skinned him and wore his hide.

On the third day, I succeeded in defeating the tyrant who had attacked, drawn by Munmuni’s scent.

I succeeded in stabbing its eyes and tearing its mouth open with the pen I had brought from Leruye, but because of that, I lost my pen and couldn’t doodle for a while, which made me quite depressed.

On the fourth day, I met some explorers. They attacked me, seeing me wearing Munmuni’s and the tyrant’s hides, but once we managed to communicate, they readily brought me here to Shabriang.

The man who had just spoken to me so kindly was also a member of the explorers who saved me.

And today marks exactly one week since I arrived in Shabriang.

It feels like just yesterday I escaped Leruye.

From the fifth day until today, I consistently wandered around Shabriang, searching for my friend, but I haven’t succeeded in reuniting yet.

My rabbit friend, Naia—the one who recaptured Shabriang—the explorers all told me she left to recapture another city. My friend, you’ve become famous.

“It’s about time I went to get it. The explorer’s license.”

Surprisingly, an explorer’s license was required to explore this place.

I was scolded so much for pleading to be taken on an expedition without even knowing I needed one. Even now, if I close my eyes, that lightning-fast golden hair shimmers before my eyes.

Painting… should I give it up?

Thinking about the future made me feel a little bleak.

For some reason, I had a customer right from the start today… but actually, I was an unpopular, low-tier artist.

Truly, it was surprising.

On the first day I started selling paintings, the explorers who saved me approached with interest, but their reactions were all the same…

“Isn’t that a doodle?”

“It’s a doodle.”

“It’s a doodle~”

“You, you have tentacles, don’t you?”

“Why?”

“Your tone is exactly like that.”

Ah, recalling yesterday, when I had no customers, my heart breaks for no reason.

I realize now that not a single word you said was wrong. Thump…

Just as I wiped my moist eyes with the back of my hand, watching the view outside the city walls, click, click, the sound of heels echoed on the stairs.

I’ve come to dislike the sound of heels that reminds me of her. It just makes my heart restless for no reason.

“Are you wallowing in misery here again?”

I turned around and greeted the lady with the clicking heels.

The haughty-faced young lady, whose lightning-bright golden hair reached her ankles, swished open a fan — one I couldn’t imagine where she’d found it — covering her mouth and giving me a sidelong glance.

The humiliation I felt when her star-studded golden eyes swept over me from head to toe… wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

That young lady, she only looks fierce, but she’s completely an angel.

“Are you criticizing me in your thoughts again?”

“I always praise you, though?”

“…Hmph, I told you, didn’t I? Stop wallowing in misery like this and just work under me.”

Ah, this accursed popularity. Everywhere I go, it’s just job offers.

But what can I do if I’m not really drawn to it?

The elegant young lady in front of me is Lady Chris, the leader of the explorers who saved me in the forest, and a young lady from a prestigious explorer family.

“You sleep on the streets every day and can’t even eat proper meals… I’ve told you countless times, just stay in the spare room, okay?”

“That’s… I have an allergy to women who say they’ll ‘domesticate’ me.”

“Is there such a thing…?”

“I developed it after coming here too.”

“Hmph, so… where’s the painting?”

“You said it was a doodle, didn’t you?”

I felt an inexplicable eeriness from the young lady who had come out of nowhere, immediately asking about the painting.

I wished the people here would stay as sane as possible.

But contrary to my concerns, seeing the young lady’s twisting face, it seemed she had come to offer a favor.

“I went to all this trouble to find you, afraid you might be going hungry!”

“Come tomorrow, I’ll draw a painting just for you tomorrow. How could I do less for my savior?”

“How long are you going to keep saying things like that? There’s a limit to how mistaken you can be.”

“You use difficult words too.”

“…I don’t know! I’ll be going now!”

Heh heh, she’s aloof.

Even so, she’s a soft-hearted young lady. You can tell just by the fact that she comes to find me every day, worried about a refugee saved from the forest.

Today was quite chilly; on a day like this, it’s perfect to freeze to death if I sleep outside.

…Should I impose for just one day?

“I can give you as much as you need, don’t you need a blanket?”

“Thank you!”

With the friendly mister’s generosity, I spent the cold night in the city wall’s storage room.

The chirping of birds and the wind blowing into the empty, windowless space naturally opened my eyes.

…Of course it’s cold when the wind whistles in like that.

Isn’t this not much different from sleeping outside?

As I was leaving the storage room, plop, something small fell onto my nose.

When I extended my finger, scuttling, a small spider wiggling joyfully climbed onto my hand, and our eyes met.

Its slender legs and mirror-like transparent eyes.

When I raised my head, the spiderweb, broken by my collision, fluttered in the wind.

“Your home got destroyed because of me, I’m sorry.”

I extended my finger towards the web, but the spider still danced happily on my finger.

“You don’t want to go?”

‘Yes!’

As I gazed into its innocent eyes, the spider in my imagination replied.

Okay, your name is Geomgeomi now.

I placed Geomgeomi on my shoulder and exited the storage room, walking along the well-paved stone path.

Left turn, right turn, right turn, left turn, right turn…

I found it.

-Knock, knock, knock!

[Who is it!]

“It’s me, Yuseong.”

-Bang!

A masked figure wearing a crow-beak-like mask suddenly opened the door and, wham, threw a canvas at my face.

“Be careful, my friend might get hurt.”

“Did a scoundrel like you even have friends?”

“I have Geomgeomi, and I have Mister-or-Lady Artist.”

“What’s ‘Mister-or-Lady Artist’ now?!”

“Because I don’t know if you’re a mister or a lady, so ‘Mister-or-Lady Artist’.”

-Slam!

That hot-and-cold artist would wear a different mask and hand me a gift every time I visited.

Moreover, their voice was so muffled that I couldn’t tell if they were male or female. But kindness is unrelated to gender, so I just let it go.

Well, shall I live a hopeful day today too?

Geomgeomi and I headed to my atelier, under the underpass.

Although I sometimes miss her, this life isn’t so bad.

Kind neighbors, new connections, and even my humble hobby.

I think I might be the happiest person in the world!