episode_0029

Under the softly shining beautiful moonlight, the two walked hand in hand down a narrow path.

At the end of the path they walked was a small, neatly cleared glade, as if weeds had recently been removed from it.

The man and woman sat on a small bench in the middle of the glade, seemingly crudely carved from a log, and gazed at the softly shining stars.

“What are they saying?”

As the two entered the glade, the hero and I, who couldn’t reveal ourselves due to tailing them, watched them from the edge of the glade.

However, the distance from the edge of the glade was too far to hear the conversation between the man and woman sitting on the bench in the center.

“Shh.” I grabbed the hero, who was leaning forward as if trying to hear their conversation, and kept a close watch on their actions.

Two hands resting on the armrest of the bench. Cheeks flushed so red they couldn’t be hidden. Their bodies subtly leaning closer to each other.

Their gaze was on the stars in the sky, but I could feel that all their senses were focused on each other’s every small action.

“The atmosphere looks good…”

The hero, who couldn’t hear their conversation, sat down on the ground with a dejected expression.

Just as he said, the two exchanged a few words and shared many laughs.

Then, Rai took a deep breath, big enough to be seen from afar, as if she had made some decision.

“Is it a confession…”

Had Killua also noticed Rai’s determined action? He only swallowed dryly and hastily turned his gaze to the night sky, pretending not to know.

“She took his hand with both hands.”

Rai turned her body towards Killua.

And she gently took his left hand, which was holding the armrest of the bench, in both of her hands and lifted it to her eye level.

At the same time, Killua, startled by her action, trembled greatly and looked at Rai, who was holding both of his hands, with a face as red as a ripe tomato.

“Ah…” A sigh filled with an inexplicable intense emotion escaped my lips as I watched the two of them.

Rai uttered a few words to Killua, pouring out her sincerity.

Killua, looking at Rai’s face with trembling eyes and listening to the sincere words she uttered, slightly lowered his head, as if shy.

But Killua, swallowing the shyness that had surged at Rai’s sincere words, powerfully lifted his lowered head and looked back at Rai.

Following that, as if having made a great decision, he looked directly into Rai’s eyes and answered Rai’s sincere words.

And…

Killua, tightly grasping Rai’s hands so she couldn’t pull back, boldly and slowly brought his face towards Rai’s.

“Killua…” I called out his name with an inexplicable pity and a sorrowful voice.

But my faint call could not possibly be heard in the middle of the distant glade.

Rai, who was watching Killua slowly bring his lips closer to hers, widened her eyes as if surprised by his boldness.

But…

Embrace. Rai’s response was to gently pull her hand from Killua’s two hands that had been clasping it, and then softly embrace Killua, who had been trying to kiss her.

“Wow…” The hero, who was watching their embrace, let out a foolish exclamation, jolting me back to reality from my excessive focus on their actions.

“Ouch…” Snapping back to my senses, I let out a small groan from the burning pain in my hand.

Unconsciously, my nails had dug sharply into my palm within my tightly clenched fist, leaving a deep wound.

“Let’s go.” I roughly shook my bleeding hand in the air to wipe off the blood and then prepared to leave, leaving Killua and Rai, who were engrossed in their affectionate display, behind.

“Huh? Something’s strange?” Just then, the hero grabbed my shoulder as I was about to leave, tilting his head as if something was odd.

At his words, I paused and looked back at the center of the glade.

“What?”

After their short, soft embrace ended, Rai stood up.

But Killua did not stand up with her; he remained seated on the bench, smiling faintly and waving his hand at her.

Rai, who had been giving Killua a bitter smile as if apologetic, reluctantly waved back in response to Killua’s greeting and left with slow steps, as if filled with strong lingering regret.

“Wha… What is this?!”

Confused by the unexpected turn of events, I demanded an explanation from the hero.

Then the hero merely looked back at me with a bewildered expression, as if asking what I expected from him.

“Hmm… I’ll go ask Rai!!”

Immediately after, the hero shot up from his spot and ran in the direction Rai had left, as if to find an answer to my question.

“Hey… you idiot!! Your footsteps…”

But had the ignorant hero forgotten for a moment that we were tailing Rai and Killua?

Or was it simply because he was in a hurry to quickly find the answer I wanted?

He dashed through the dense bushes with a loud rustling noise, heading in the direction Rai had gone.

“Ugh…” At the undeniably loud rustling sound, Killua, who was alone in the glade, turned his head and looked directly at me, where I was hiding.

He sighed as if dumbfounded, and crooked his finger as if telling me to come over.

“Damn hero…” Blaming the foolish hero’s actions, I shook off the leaves clinging to my body from hiding in the bushes and trudged towards the center of the glade like an ox being led to the slaughterhouse.

“I never knew tailing people was your hobby.” As I approached the bench in the middle of the glade where he sat alone, Killua reprimanded me in a weak voice, as if disappointed.

“I apologize.”

Killua disliked excuses.

Although I had plenty of excuses, knowing that a simple apology was more effective than a needlessly ugly one, I immediately apologized for his reprimand.

“Why were you tailing us?” Naturally, Killua then asked for the reason.

“I was worried about the relationship between Rai and Killua-nim.”

I could have blamed everything on the hero.

I could have said that the foolish, overly strong fellow tried to tail them, and I merely accompanied him out of concern for his foolish actions.

But Killua would certainly continue to throw sharp questions and reprimands to pry out my true feelings one by one.

Knowing that very well, I honestly revealed my true feelings without holding back.

“Hmm… so did you see a satisfying result?” Were my answers the correct ones?

Killua still hadn’t taken his eyes off the stars in the night sky, but a slight interest could be felt in his voice.

“I’m not sure.”

I had certainly confirmed that Rai and Killua embraced each other in a good atmosphere.

But after that. Rai suddenly left, and Killua didn’t accompany her, sending her back alone.

“Want to sit next to me?” Killua, who was gazing at the stars, quietly patted the spot next to him with his hand and spoke.

“Then if you’ll excuse me.”

Having no reason to refuse, I took the spot next to him where Rai had been sitting.

Only when I sat next to him did Killua slowly turn his gaze from the stars to look at me.

“First, let’s have a drink.”

He took out a small bottle and two cups tied to his belt.

“That’s…”

It seemed like he had put the alcohol he made into the bottle.

And two cups, prepared in advance.

Perhaps he had intended to come to such a pleasant place and share a drink with Rai.

“Rai was really weak to alcohol.”

He handed me the cup he had brought for Rai.

And, using his teeth instead of his uncomfortable right arm, he easily pulled out the cork stopper sealing the small bottle.

“I’ll gratefully accept it.” I gripped the cup with both hands and respectfully received the alcohol Killua poured for me.

From the alcohol half-filling the cup, a fresh forest scent gently rose, as if a small forest had been transplanted, just as the villagers described.

“Pour me a drink too.” Killua, who could only move his left hand, handed me the bottle and lifted his own glass.

Receiving the bottle from him, I carefully poured alcohol into his glass with both hands until it was half full.

“I made this alcohol to be perfect for this atmosphere…”

“It truly is…”

A glade in the middle of a quiet forest, bathed in soft moonlight.

And a glass of alcohol with a fresh forest scent, as if it contained a small forest.

Although my knowledge of alcohol wasn’t deep, I could vaguely sense that the drink he had made was fantastic and perfectly suited to this atmosphere.

“You’re not so weak to alcohol that one glass would make you dizzy, are you?”

“Ahahaha… you don’t have to worry about that.”

I had experience with various entertainments while working as a merchant.

Naturally, I had many occasions to drink alcohol, and thanks to that, I could proudly say my alcohol tolerance was strong, not envying anyone.

“Cheers.” He clinked his glass against mine.

And without hesitation, he brought the glass to his lips and slowly began to tilt it.

“……”

Unlike him, I couldn’t drink immediately and just gazed at the alcohol in my glass.

The alcohol glowed with a soft orange hue, resembling the evening sunset, similar to the forest that had been covered in mucus.

It was clear that it had this color because it was brewed from slime mucus.

Making food from mucus, which was no different from slime’s excrement… it was something I could never accept according to my common sense.

“Phew…” But at this moment, in this atmosphere, I couldn’t inconsiderately bring up that fact and grumble.

Closing my eyes tightly and suppressing the disgust swirling in my mind from common sense, I brought the glass to my lips and slowly began to tilt it.

“Hmm?”

As the alcohol entered my mouth, the refreshing scent of a rich forest gently began to fill it.

The fresh taste of wild herbs and the bitter taste of medicinal plants mixed seamlessly with the alcohol aroma, subtly lingering on the tip of my tongue before gently disappearing down my throat.

“Oh…” Unconsciously, I had drained the glass of alcohol I had thought disgusting in one go, and now I looked at the empty glass with disbelief, letting out a small exclamation.

“How is it? It’s not bad, right?” Killua, who had been staring intently at me, seemed pleased with my reaction and asked for my impression with a smiling gaze.

“It’s surprisingly good?”

“Yes. For something made from mucus, it’s quite decent, isn’t it?” Killua seemed to have noticed that I already knew the true nature of the alcohol from seeing me drink it with my eyes squeezed shut, and he openly mentioned the alcohol’s most secret ingredient.

“How did you make it?”

It was amazing that such fragrant alcohol could be brewed from mucus, which was no different from slime’s excrement.

In response to my question, Killua handed me a small leather pouch from his waist, as if there was no need to hide anything.

“Take a few out to eat as a snack.”

The small leather pouch he handed me was clearly the snack pouch the hero had given him as an apology for his mistake.

It was a leather pouch filled with finely sliced strange root vegetables and fruits that I didn’t recognize either.

“The amount has decreased a lot. Surely not…”

When I first received it from the hero, it was a leather pouch with a slightly bulging amount of contents, but the leather pouch Killua showed me now was noticeably deflated.

“Luckily, all the ingredients needed to turn mucus into alcohol were among the snacks the hero brought. Thanks to that, I could easily ferment the mucus into alcohol.”

“That’s quite a strange coincidence.” I put my hand into the leather pouch he offered and pulled out a thinly sliced, unknown root vegetable that my fingertips touched first.

The thinly sliced root vegetable, unidentifiable in its original form, looked wrinkled and tough like tree bark, as if it had been sun-dried to prevent spoilage.

“It’s also strange that the hero carries such things around as snacks.” I examined the thinly sliced, dried root vegetable, then put it in my mouth and chewed it as a snack.

Naturally, there was no sweetness; only a bitter taste and an unpleasantly chewy, clinging texture lingered in my mouth.

“Actually, this isn’t suitable as a snack, but it’s surprisingly perfect as an accompaniment to alcohol.” As I chewed the unpalatable root vegetable I had tossed into my mouth, my brows furrowed. Killua then tilted the bottle over my glass.

As he refilled my glass, I hastily gripped the glass with both hands and carefully received the alcohol he poured.

“Ugh… so it was so unpalatable that it made me want to drink the alcohol.” As my glass was filled with fragrant alcohol, I naturally wanted to drink the fragrant alcohol to wash away the lingering bitter and chewy texture of the root vegetable in my mouth.

“Ahahahaha! That’s right! You got it.” Killua also took out something similar to the root vegetable I had picked from the leather pouch and put it into his mouth.

He also slightly furrowed his brows as if the root vegetable was unpalatable, and raised his glass towards me.

“Cheers.”

After lightly clinking my glass against his, I unhesitatingly drained the fragrant, though mucus-brewed, alcohol to erase the unpleasant lingering taste of the root vegetable in my mouth.

“Aah!” “Hah!”

Killua and I, having emptied our glasses simultaneously, let out refreshing exclamations of pleasure from the disappearance of the unpleasant root vegetable taste that had filled our mouths, neither of us going first.

“Ahahaha!!” “Hahaha!”

Surprised that we had both let out the same exclamations, we turned to look at each other, and as our eyes met, we burst into laughter together at this utterly absurd moment.

“I had wanted to do something like this with Rai…” Killua, who had been laughing heartily, let out a bitter and regretful sigh, then gazed at the night sky again and murmured.

Despite having laughed heartily with me, his bitter sigh and true feelings that spilled out made it feel as if a large hole had been pierced through my chest.

I tightly gripped the glass that he had given me, the one meant for Rai, and pretending nonchalance, I looked at his profile as he gazed at the sky, asking in a calm voice.

“What happened with Rai?”

“Ah… about that…” Belatedly, Killua realized he had made a slip of the tongue, expressing his longing for Rai in front of me, and looked at me with unusually flustered eyes.

I quietly picked up the bottle he had briefly placed on the ground and tilted it over his glass.

Killua, who had been quietly watching the alcohol flowing from the bottle I tilted fill his glass, briefly closed his eyes as if organizing his thoughts.