episode_0034

“What were you doing in a place like this?”

Realizing his reaction was delayed because he couldn’t believe the man was riding in the carriage pulled by that strange creature, Usher quickly said.

“Uh, well! Belka collapsed! Can you possibly help?!”

Although he should have been flustered by Usher asking for help without even knowing if the other person knew who Belka was, the man spoke slowly.

“Calm down a little. Is the child behind you the one named Belka?”

“Yes, yes! She collapsed suddenly without even drinking water.”

Usher rambled on, half-sobbing. The old man went behind him and placed a hand on the girl’s forehead.

“Hmm, her fever is high, but she doesn’t seem to be sweating… Heatstroke? For now, I’ll ask someone I know.”

“Thank you! Please do!”

The carriages that had been following the one he was riding were already stopped off the road, forming a large circle. As people started getting out of the carriages and looking at them with curiosity, Usher felt a little intimidated but dismounted his horse.

“First, this horse.”

-Neigh!

As the old man looked at the horse, showing signs of wondering where to put it, the horse neighed as if saying it was bothersome, approached the carriage where he had been, and lay down.

“A smart fellow, isn’t it.”

At his admiring reaction, the horse snorted as if showing off. Usher found the sight absurd. It seemed true that the horse was smart, but he wondered what the old man would think if he knew it was obsessed with women and originally had horns. Still, since treating Belka was important now, he urged the old man, who was distracted by the horse.

“Excuse me.”

“Ah! My apologies.”

As he followed behind the old man, who was heading somewhere saying he would guide him, passing through people who seemed to be preparing for camping, Usher felt their gazes occasionally focusing on them and grew tense. This was because, although he had experience living with village people, Belka had hardly ever met other people for some reason. He became needlessly wary of his surroundings, thinking he might encounter someone like Mac. After passing several large carriages. A pungent smell of grass and a similar but different scent wafted from somewhere. The old man, who had been walking ahead, finally stopped in front of a man setting up a tent near the carriage from which the strong scent emanated.

“Hey, Doc, are you very busy?”

“Uh, Ermis-ssi?”

The man was called a doctor by the old man, but for some reason, one of his legs was wrapped in bandages, and he also had bandages around his head and waist. Seeing him limp towards the old man, Usher doubted if he was really a doctor.

“Excuse me, is that person really a doctor?”

“Hmm, he may look like that, but his skill is certain. Don’t worry too much.”

Asking the old man cautiously, knowing it was rude because he looked more like a patient who needed treatment right away rather than a doctor, Usher learned that his skill was surprisingly good.

“Uh, uh, what brings you here?”

His appearance, stuttering badly, was very far from being trustworthy, only increasing Usher’s anxiety. Unlike Usher’s feelings, the old man dealt with him familiarly.

“I was thinking it would be good if you could take a look at the condition of the child this boy is with.”

At his words, the man looked surprised, as if he had just noticed their presence.

“Uh, the, the, the first children I’ve seen. Children like this usually…”

“Oh, come on! Man!”

As the man stuttered too badly, the old man shouted, seemingly angered. But something about it seemed strange. Usher listened to their conversation while harboring doubts.

“There are things you can say and things you can’t! Enough, just treat her quickly!”

“Ah, aah, I understand!”

In the end, it seemed Belka had to be treated by this scatterbrained man. Even when Usher looked at the old man worriedly, wondering if he could really trust this man, the old man smiled as if telling him not to worry and gestured for him to follow the man.

“Well, the, the, the tent is still being set up so that won’t do. Come, come into the carriage.”

Hearing the scatterbrained man’s words, Usher reluctantly followed him and got into what seemed to be the carriage the man had been riding in. The inside of the carriage was as spacious as its size suggested, and although worn, it looked clean. At first glance, he was bothered by the sight of a few people lying bandaged, but the man’s voice was heard.

“He, he, lay her down here.”

“Yes.”

The place he pointed to was a bed. However, it was a bit high, so he took Belka and laid her down instead. It didn’t seem like he was called a doctor for nothing, as his movements looked familiar. But that was only for a moment. Usher ended up shouting at his actions.

“What do you think you’re doing right now!?”

“Eek?!”

Because he had undone the front of the girl’s clothes, his hands trembling. As Usher fumed in an angry voice. He spoke, even while stuttering.

“Th, that’s… to, to, to use the stethoscope, you, you have to take off her clothes.”

“Ah.”

Usher couldn’t hide his face flushing at the sight of the object that looked like a medical tool, which the man had pulled out as if to show him. After the examination was over, Usher sat on a chair next to the girl, who was lying on the bed, breathing shallowly without moving, and watched over her. The doctor had said it wasn’t heatstroke, but that she had simply fallen asleep from overexertion and would be fine after a little rest, but the thought kept bothering him: what if Belka was really sick and he hadn’t noticed? Because of this thought, he couldn’t leave her side with peace of mind.

“Excuse me, uh?”

“Yes?”

“Uh, the, the child is waking up. It will take some time, so, so… how about going outside and playing with the other children?”

Although he wasn’t completely lacking curiosity about there being other children, Usher still didn’t quite trust this stuttering man.

“No, thank you. Belka is all I need.”

“That child’s name is Be, Belka.”

When Usher answered curtly. When he looked suspiciously at the man confirming the girl’s name.

“What’s your, your name?”

“…It’s Usher.”

He felt deflated watching the man grin foolishly while asking his name. He still doubted that this person was a doctor, but he no longer felt wary.

“I, I am Ttrus.”

“That’s a strange name.”

He didn’t seem to mind being told his name was strange, after introducing it, and just grinned sheepishly.

“Still, I’m wo, worried. I’ll give her a little fa, fatigue medicine.”

He pulled a transparent bottle from his pocket and dripped a few drops of the liquid inside onto the girl’s lips. It looked like medicine.

“Ho, could you perhaps ge, get some drinking water from Ermis-ssi?”

“You can just bring it yourself.”

Besides, shouldn’t things like that usually be prepared in advance?

“Dr, drinking water and such… Ermis-ssi manages it, so, so. I ha, have to give it to the patients. The wa, water used here isn’t drinkable.”

As he said that, he deeply dipped a towel into a bucket of water, wrung it out so the water went back into the bucket, and placed it on the girl’s forehead. Afterwards, claiming to be busy, he busily moved around, checking on the people lying asleep in the other beds one by one. This made Usher think that being called a doctor wasn’t a complete lie after all.

“Ugh!”

Still, his mistrust didn’t change. Watching him trip and fall on something while walking, Usher shook his head. He somehow understood why the drinking water wasn’t entrusted to him. Usher left the fallen man and headed for the door. He wanted to find the old man, remembering that the man had called him Ermis-ssi. The carriage was as high as its size, so he needed a small ladder to get down from this one too. Stepping onto the ladder, he slowly climbed out of the carriage.

People’s gazes flew from all directions, piercing his cheeks. Feeling burdened by the eyes scrutinizing him like something strange or curious, he instinctively shrank back but quickened his pace to find the old man named Ermis. As he was walking back along the path he had followed the old man. Something darted out in front of him and tripped him.

“Whoa!?”

He was about to fall headfirst with a loud noise, having hurried his steps out of urgency, if someone hadn’t caught him.

“Little one. Are you not hurt?”

It was a man wearing old brass-colored armor who caught him as he was about to fall. The man, who had covered his face with a helmet down to his head, kindly asked him, and Usher, who had been momentarily stunned, belatedly realized the situation and thanked him.

“Th, thank you.”

“No, it’s our kid’s fault.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

He was about to ask what the man meant, but soon he understood the meaning of his words.

“Hey, you! Logi! Where do you think you’re running off to!”

“Kyaak!”

The man left Usher standing there and ran somewhere, then grabbed a boy’s scruff of the neck as he was slyly trying to walk away.

“Now you’re even bothering kids you’ve just met?!”

“Ugh! What did I do?!”

The boy struggled in the man’s hand, but unable to overcome the strength, he was eventually dragged in front of Usher. Seen up close, the boy had dark skin and was half a head taller than Usher. His short hair stuck out messily, and his face, claiming injustice shamelessly, looked like that of a rascal.

“Alright, apologize.”

At his words, Usher felt like he knew how this boy would act. And sure enough? At the man’s words, the boy glared at him with a sullen expression, then snorted derisively.

“Watch where you’re going. Shorty.”

“Hey! I told you to apologize! Is that what you should be saying?”

“There’s no proof!”

“I saw everything! You brat!”

Seeing this scene, which was exactly as he had expected without an inch of difference, Usher stopped the man who was about to lightly hit the boy’s head with his fist.

“Wait a minute. You don’t have to do that.”

“Huh? But this kid…”

“Hmph, he says it’s fine!”

At Usher’s words, the man looked puzzled, and the boy seemed confident, but no one expected what Usher was about to do.

“Hmph!”

Usher shouted with spirit and kicked his leg up, and his leg accurately struck the inside of the boy’s thigh.

“Ugh?!”

Perhaps not having expected him to react that way, the boy’s face turned pale as he clutched his thigh. The boy seemed to have underestimated Usher because of his small build, but despite how he looked, Usher was the biggest rascal in the village he originally lived in. Thanks to Belka, his personality was surprisingly docile, but his rascal tendencies hadn’t disappeared. As even the man who saw the scene froze awkwardly. Usher spoke with a refreshed look.

“I think it’s fine now.”

Thinking that he felt more relaxed because of it, he passed through the crowd of people, who now seemed a little less unfamiliar, and went to look for the old man.

“Hey, you, you messed with the wrong person.”

“Ugh, shut up.”

Ignoring the voices of the two people heard from behind him, when he found the carriage the old man had been riding in. Usher witnessed a strange sight.

“Huh? That place…”

In the place where the old man’s carriage had been, many people were gathered, buzzing with noise. Had something happened there, perhaps? Then he remembered the horse that had brought him and the girl.

“No way!”

Had the horse caused some trouble, perhaps? With an anxious heart, he pushed his way into the crowd of people.

“Excuse me! Please let me through for a moment!”

Having pushed his way through the crowd and arrived inside the circle they were forming, he could clearly hear the buzzing voices of the people.

“What kind of horse is this?”

“The leader said it was a horse brought by some children.”

It didn’t seem like the horse had caused any trouble. They were simply curious about the animal itself. It was the old man he was looking for who found Usher standing among the people, unable to understand the situation.

“Oh, you’ve returned. How is that child?”

“Th, thank you! The doctor-mister said she’ll be fine after a good sleep.”

Even if he didn’t trust that doctor, there was nothing he could do about it. While he was genuinely grateful to the old man, he wondered why they had helped them. Still, not trusting and only doubting what adults did would not make a good impression, as he had experienced enough in the village. Usher needed to make a good impression on the old man, who seemed to be leading this procession, especially for the sake of the collapsed Belka.

“Excuse me, Leader-nim?”

Just then, a woman among the people came forward and spoke to the old man. Although he didn’t know the exact meaning of ‘Leader-nim,’ he could sense that the old man held a role similar to a village chief.

“Who is that child?”

And the woman’s gaze turned towards Usher. As the curious gazes of the gathered people also focused on him. He felt burdened. He should have thought about it when he saw how huge the carriages were. Since he had seen people setting up tents on the way here. Even though not everyone who came out of the carriages was gathered here, their number seemed greater than the population of his village.

‘It really, really was the countryside.’

He realized anew that the village he had lived in was a quiet, rural place. Although he wasn’t a shy person, being looked at by so many people made Usher feel tense.

“He is one of the children I mentioned earlier.”

“The ones who had this horse?”

“That’s right.”

At the old man’s words, the people’s murmuring grew louder. It seemed like they were discussing something, but there were too many conversations happening to properly hear what they were saying.

“Ahem!”

The old man, who had silenced the people with a clearing of his throat, soon beckoned to him.

“So, what did the Doc ask you to do?”

The old man seemed to have anticipated why Usher had come looking for him and asked.

“Ah! He asked me to bring some drinking water. He said the patients needed it.”

“Alright, take this.”

As he held out a covered bucket, Usher, who was about to take it, saw the old man suddenly pull the bucket back. When he looked at the old man, wondering if he didn’t want to give the water.

“Hmm, it seems you wouldn’t be able to carry it yourself.”

“Ah.”

Usher remembered the fact that he was smaller than children his age. However, he had never lost in strength, so he hadn’t considered it a problem, but the old man’s words were faster.

“Hey! Donar!”

As he loudly called out someone’s name. A man burst through the crowd. Usher’s eyes widened in surprise at the man’s appearance.

“Yes! Elder! Did you call?”

“Could you carry water to the Doc’s carriage instead of this child?”

“Of course. Huh? You’re…”

He was the peculiar man who had grabbed the playful boy earlier. As they seemed to know each other, the old man, sensing the situation, stroked his chin.

“Did you perhaps meet already?”

“Ah, yes. On the way here, I saw him getting tricked by that mischievous brat and helped him out a little.”

The old man nodded at his words and said to Usher.

“You two weren’t just wandering around here either. If you have water containers, I’ll share some water with you.”

“Leader-nim?!”

Somewhere, someone raised their voice as if to stop him. Other people, although they didn’t shout, looked surprised. The old man calmed the people down and motioned to him. Although he wondered why this old man was being so kind, Usher approached the horse. It was to take out the leather water bottles from the bag the horse was carrying. As he took out the water bottles and approached the old man, he noticed people looking at him with even more surprise. Why were these people acting like this? When he looked at the horse, as if asking if he had caused trouble without knowing it, the horse only shook its head as if feeling wronged, so he couldn’t understand.

“How about you take your share of water and go back to prepare for the night? It’s getting close to sunset.”

With the old man’s words, others also started receiving water one by one. And on the way to the carriage where Belka was, accompanied by the man the old man had assigned to him. Just as the old man said, the sun was setting beyond the wilderness with shimmering heat haze, and shadows were forming in the irregularly piled sand of the wilderness, making it look like it had scattered holes. That sight was one of the things he found most difficult to adapt to here. In a forest, it would have been well past sunset by this time. Even as it was setting, the bright sun was still illuminating this land.

“You’re a really strange child.”

As they walked, looking at the scenery, the man walking beside Usher, carrying a bucket, said.

“Are you trying to pick a fight?”

When Usher, irked by this, glared at him, the man flinched and waved his hands.

“Oops, I’ll pass on your kicks.”

The man seemed used to dealing with children Usher’s age, and without realizing it, Usher had arrived at the doctor’s carriage while making small talk with him.

“Huh? Why is the carriage door closed?”

“He didn’t even finish setting up the tent.”

It was strange; the carriage door, which had been open when he left, was tightly shut, and the tent he had been setting up looked unfinished.

“Ttrus! What are you doing, not even setting up the tent!”

The man put the bucket down on the ground and knocked on the carriage door loudly, and at that moment. Crash! A loud noise came from inside the carriage, followed by a small scream. Even though he had only met the doctor recently, Usher felt like he knew what was happening inside.

“Does the doctor-mister usually like that?”

“Uh, he’s a bit scatterbrained, but his skill is reliable.”

“Ugh!”

As soon as Donar finished speaking, the carriage door burst open, and the doctor-mister could be seen tumbling out. When Usher silently looked at the man. He whispered softly.

“Probably.”

It was truly an answer that inspired no confidence.