episode_0017

‘What is the biggest obstacle right now?’

The first thing that comes to mind is that I am illiterate.

At least it should be more useful than daily meat.

Even though I only know how to write, somehow──── Incheok stole my attention.

Jump and jump

It was the elf from before.

In his hands were two wooden meat skewers.

The elf was eating skewers, and suddenly held out a skewer to me.

‘Do you want to share?’

─Can I eat it?

I was so hungry that it was difficult to worry about that.

Lack of sleep does not only result in feeling sleepy.

The extremities of the body tremble and the body feels cold.

‘I have low blood sugar.’

It was natural since I walked dozens of kilometers in one day as a 14-year-old.

The limits of the body are approaching in many ways.

I am so hungry that my body hurts.

Even if he dies in the first place, it doesn’t really matter.

Because I will be reincarnated again.

‘Why are you giving it to me? ‘I’m human?’

Even though I was skeptical, I accepted it.

I wanted to say thank you, but Jules told me not to.

I had no choice but to bow my head and say thank you.

‘What do you think?’

I’m so hungry I’m going to die right now.

What if it’s poisoned? All you have to do is restart.

I immediately took a bite of the meat.

‘···delicious!’

It was a familiar taste, as if I had tried it on Earth.

Without even realizing it, I ate it up like a crab hiding my eyes.

It tasted similar to the soft veal I had the day before I went to the military.

What kind of meat is this delicious?!

‘After all, an empty stomach is the best spice.’

When properly prepared food arrived for the first time in a long time, I felt satisfied.

Even after that, the elf was looking at me, and it wasn’t until much later that I realized that he was asking for a wooden skewer.

Because the concept of disposable products is vague here.

When I handed over the skewer, the elf disappeared somewhere again.

Even though it’s a place like this, there are still elves with such kind hearts.

It gave me courage to know that I could get through it well.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little full in my stomach.

As soon as the food arrived, my mind became clearer.

I got up and looked around Ymir’s grave.

Fireflies fly around huge tree roots.

Perhaps because each house had a candle, the treetops were colored in a soft orange light.

‘It looks like the tree has shining fruit.’

It’s definitely a cool sight.

However, the problem was that the auditorium had grass floors with bugs crawling on them.

I like Juul because of the charm and all, but it was too ‘raw’ for me.

Is it because there are no trees around?

I don’t know if it was because something was burning, but there were no mosquitoes even though there was a moat, which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Something that preyed on my gaze appeared again.

The elf is walking this way again.

Holding a meat skewer in both hands.

The elf held out a skewer to me.

‘Why do you have to give it like this?’

Anyway, it’s good.

Juul has no understanding of human appetite at all.

‘You need to eat a lot right now.’

I nodded hello and took the barracuda and ate it.

This elf was squatting down and watching me eat.

It seems strange that meat eats meat.

‘If I had committed a crime, I would have left.’

He ate it like a crab and gave the wooden skewer back.

This time the elf thrust meat in my face.

It meant that you should eat it like a dog.

‘Was this your intention?’

···okay. You can’t do that much?

If you eat that much, you will be satisfied.

I just took whatever the elf fed me with my mouth.

The elf watched me chew the meat.

Soon he slowly stretched out his hand and stroked my head a few times, then immediately stood up.

There was a refreshing smile on the elf’s lips.

Is this how a cat with a good owner feels?

I wanted to change my butler right away.

‘If I could speak, I would have said thank you.’

It was a shame that I couldn’t bear it.

I had no choice but to bow and say hello.

The elf also waved lightly at me and started walking somewhere.

Thanks to my stomach being full, I soon begin to fall asleep.

‘···There are people like that.’

I thought everyone hated humans.

Still, I felt like I was gaining the courage to endure here, just a little.

* * * * * *

“Wake up. Wake up!”

“······Yes?”

Jules’ hand is on my shoulder.

Why is this happening all of a sudden?

Before I even realized what was going on, Jules was shaking my shoulder mercilessly.

“Wow! Wow──?!”

The back of my head was repeatedly rubbed by the grass.

It felt like it was running inside a washing machine.

“You! What did you get yesterday─?!”

Are you really crazy?!

I feel angry at Jules’ violent attitude toward waking me up.

What the hell… Why do you look at me like that?

“Yesterday, an elf came and handed out food?”

Jules’ expression was as hard as stone.

“Did you eat that?”

“Yes. I took it when he gave it to me.”

Jules exposed his fangs and pressed his temple.

Is something wrong? What happened?

Can’t I just get a piece of meat and eat it?

“This is why I hate Chinese food.”

“No. I just wanted to give it to you─”

“What you ate was human meat.”

ah?

“······Yes?”

“It’s okay. You may not know because cooking rice hides the true nature of the meat.”

I could only understand it after thinking about it.

‘Are you saying I committed cannibalism?’

At times like this, I thought I would throw up or something.

But I feel comfortable inside.

In order to resolve low blood sugar, all of the internal organs were melted.

‘It was that delicious?’

That was human meat?

Suddenly, the story of Master Wonhyo’s skull comes to mind.

But there is no enlightenment to be gained.

I didn’t even want to realize anything from this.

“······Are all elves like this?”

“There are some shady people who feed slaves the meat of their own people. When I look at those guys, I get scared too.”

Feeding them meat from their own people?!

“No, why! Why do you do such crazy things…?”

The feeling of arrogance exploded like popping candy and made the way he spoke bizarre.

A look of confusion flashed across Jules’ face.

An elf, a fairy friend who loves the forest and nature and has a kind and beautiful personality?

These are crazy guys straight out of a Cthulhu horror fairy tale!

“······Let’s drink some water first.”

Jules suddenly woke up.

We arrived at a stream where people gathered to fish.

There weren’t many people as it was early morning. On the surface, the water was clean, and it seemed like people were using it for drinking.

I drank enough water to my stomach and washed my face.

“Ugh! I think I’m finally going to buy something!”

The moment I was shaking off the water.

Something sparkling in the water caught my attention.

······Something was looking at me from the water.

It made eye contact with me and fell into the depths of the water, avoiding me.

It kind of looks like a dragon.

‘I guess it’s my mood, right?’

Jules patted my back as if telling me to relax.

“I ate it without knowing, so don’t take it to heart.”

“I have no thoughts. It’s my fault for taking it.”

It’s not even the Earth, so there’s no way someone would donate for no reason.

Moreover, humans and southern demi-humans have lived in a cold war for over a hundred years, so it is natural.

Unlike on Earth, it can be seen as a war not with one’s own kind, but with monkeys who can communicate.

Even if they were the same person, in the end, only humans could treat each other cruelly.

I never thought the day would come when that target would be me…

“Let’s go.”

My thoughts were broken.

I followed Jules and headed straight to Felix’s workshop.

* * * * * *

“You’re back.”

Felix, who was taking out the trash, bowed to Jules.

Looking at his face, he seemed quite tired.

“You’ve been diligent since morning.”

It’s not that I was diligent in the morning, but it seems like I didn’t sleep.

“No. Please come inside.”

Felix entered the workshop ahead.

My walking pace seemed particularly faster than yesterday.

Did anything happy happen?

Felix pulled my arm and took off my bracelet.

What’s on that bracelet?

But contrary to what I thought, Felix buried his nose in my arm.

My arms were shaking from the unfamiliar behavior.

Sniff-! Sniff-sniff!

I felt awkward rubbing my wet nose because it felt like I was licking.

When he looked up, Felix rubbed his nose as if wiping it.

“Hmm! This slave shouldn’t be exposed to iron for long.”

“Keep that in mind. What happened to my armor?”

“I couldn’t fix it, so I prepared a new one.”

Felic took out a large-looking piece of armor from the shelf.

‘···That’s so cool.’

Is that the armor worn by medieval knights?

The inside was lined with leather, and chain armor was placed on top.

Plate metal was also added on top of the chain armor.

On the surface, it seemed plausible.

‘If you wear something like that in the South, you’ll get steamed to death.’

To begin with, it was not something that could be made in one day.

It was even made to fit the large Jules perfectly.

It was clear that it had already been made for Juul.

Jules shook his head as if he was tired.

“······This is excessive.”

“Isn’t the armor that was supposed to protect the owner torn rather than broken? This will be able to block even Terub’s claws.”

But that side shows no signs of backing down either.

Felic repeatedly presented the armor to Jool.

“I have never forgotten the grace I received from Seolrang. I almost returned the favor with vengeance. I will provide maintenance and repairs until the day I die.”

Jules looked down at Felix.

Felic was also looking up at Jules.

In the end, it was Juul who raised the white flag in the snowball fight.

“I need it right now, so I’ll take it, but if I stop by later, I’ll give you this much money back.”

Jules reluctantly accepted the armor and began to put it on.

Meanwhile, Felix planted copper cores in the leather bands he had already made. After that, the leather was put up again and a copper stud was placed to hide it.

And even a lock.

Thanks to this, the thickness of the bracelet has increased to the point where it is comparable to a metal watch, and since it is made to a size that can be worn around the neck, the band has to be tied diagonally around the wrist several times.

‘···It’s so big.’

To the point where I thought he might look at the bracelet before my face.

I have to wear something like this on my arm until I become an adult. The dog tag had writing similar to Chinese characters written on it.

But it is definitely different from Chinese characters.

Still, it’s ironic that seeing letters with similar shapes makes me think of the Earth. Like Chinese characters, elven writing appears to have evolved from pictures into hieroglyphs.

But it just looks similar.

Even if you don’t know the content, the meaning will be different.

Slam!

Felix put a bracelet on my arm and locked it so I couldn’t take it off.

“Good. You can say it now.”

“Ha… I thought I was going to die of frustration.”

“What?!”

Felic was startled and his eyes opened wide.

“Do humans know how to speak Lamrat?!”

“Similar.”

Felic tilted his head and looked at me.

“······I heard that there are humans who can communicate with some Ramrats, but it’s amazing to see it in person.”

I feel burdened by the eyes staring intently at my face.

“Hello.”

Felik’s eyes instantly cooled at the greeting.

He looked like he wanted to beat me to death.

“Does the slave say hello?”

“You’re young.”

‘Could it be wrong to say hello?’

This is a cultural shock.

Jules laughed and ruffled Felix’s hair.

Felik couldn’t say anything and stepped back, straightening his hair out of sight.

···Hair loss.

Anyway, Felix’s reaction was very cold.

It never occurred to me that greeting someone would be rude.

‘Couldn’t being a slave be harsher than I thought?’

Felix, who was straightening his hair, came over with some clothes from under the counter.

“Take it.”

“Thank you.”

“Be thankful to Seolrang, not me.”

“Seollang. Thank you.”

“Are you coming?”

Felic frowned and then closed his mouth at Jules’ reply.

My words must have sounded like Ramrat’s language.

There were two sets of clothes, top and bottom.

It has the same color as the raw material, is thin and long.

“Try it on. If it doesn’t fit, you have to change it.”

here?

First, I took off my clothes.

─Woah!

The caked blood on my pants and underwear gave off a rotten smell.

I feel it too, but what about the two of you?

Jules shook his head.

“Ugh, let’s leave that behind.”

“You don’t have any underwear to wear?”

“I’ll buy it for you, so throw it away.”

“But───.”

“I told you to throw it away!”

Jules showed his fangs.

‘···Those are the clothes my mother made herself.’

It seems that he is sensitive to bad smells. I can’t help it.

“Ah! I also have a few spare underwear.”

Underwear Felik took out a long piece of cheesecloth from a drawer under the counter.

“You can wear this.”

‘How do you wear that?’

Felik took off my underwear and started wrapping the cloth around my crotch.

Lastly, I tied a knot at the pelvic area, making it look like I was wearing briefs.

‘How on earth did they do it?’

To learn it by looking at it, the hand movements were like lightning.

…I guess I’ll have to wear this by myself from now on?

I tried on the pants that Felic offered.

The pants were so big that they would fall down if I didn’t wear a belt.

“Wait.”

Felik quickly made a belt out of scrap leather.

He’s like MacGyver.

The shirt had fairly large sleeves, but even when I rolled up the sleeves, they kept coming loose. This was only resolved after Felix, who was worse off, lent me some clothespins.

It was the same with the hem of the pants.

In the end, Felix, who had organized my clothes on his own, glared at me.

“This child has poor dexterity.”

I felt like my dignity had been hurt.

yes yes! you’re right!

I am a hater! At this age, I can’t even wear clothes, and at this age, someone has to put on my underwear for me!

Still, what can you do if you’re trying it for the first time?

“But you can interpret, right? I have to go now.”

Felik glances at me.

It will sound like I only speak Lamrat, so I guess I don’t understand the term interpreter.

“Please stop by anytime.”

“Thank you. ······Seollang.”

“Hmph! A poor guy.”

Felic frowned and withdrew his gaze as if he were disapproving.