episode_0085

That day, it seemed like a big feast was taking place in the village.

The lumberjack, carrying chunks of meat in a bundle, waited for the day to darken, sitting high up to avoid people’s eyes and watching the bustling scene in the distance.

“Wow… What kind of big feast is that…? Normally, I would have gone there to eat and drink until I burst… If only that deer hadn’t been so stubborn…”

How regretful it was not being able to attend that grand feast…

Caw thud..!

Ridiculous people..!

Some hid in the mountains, shivering from the nightly cold, while the villagers invited to the lively banquet house with bright torches seemed full of laughter, warmth, and happiness.

Whose feast could it be….

The lumberjack’s curiosity didn’t last long.

At one moment, a fearsome hunter appeared riding a horse in ceremonial attire…

Soon, the bustling hall quieted down…. The wedding began….

And slowly, the bride’s face revealed itself..!

“No way, is that woman…!”

It was the first time he had seen such a heavenly beauty up close, even from afar.

Even at a glance, her celestial beauty was evident.

The lumberjack’s eyes widened.

He realized he had never properly seen a fairy’s face before.

“What is this! What a sight! I didn’t know someone could be so beautiful! She’s mine! She’s mine..!”

With his head filled with determination, he prepared to leave, ready to overturn the wedding and reclaim his bride…!

“Stop…! You can’t just charge ahead like this! Do you really want to die?”

“……”

A voice stopped the lumberjack’s impulsive actions.

It was that deer.

Ugh.. annoying creature. I should have just sold him to a rich household back then..!

“Where did you go? As expected..! Didn’t I tell you? If you meet that author next time, you’ll surely die! Even if you don’t die, it’ll be terrible! ”

“I got it!”

“You understood, yet you sneaked into the village secretly? I told you to stay hidden in the mountains until I dealt with that hunter! Why did you come here? And if you came, why openly seek death? This shouldn’t happen more than once or twice! Are you really a fool! Why do you always complicate things! Why did I choose someone like you..!”

“But we still need to take care of our mother! Our brother is badly injured, and if I stay in the mountains, who will take care of our mother! Those wicked villagers will surely drive her away as soon as they see her! What should we do about that! I just brought some meat for her and planned to go back up!”

The lumberjack had been eagerly waiting for an opportunity to go down to the village.

However, he simply couldn’t bring himself to go home.

The deer was right.

There had always been a strange sense of surveillance around his house.

His house was right below the mountain, so there were no obvious signs of attention, and it was a humble house that no one paid much heed to even if people passed by.

But since that day, there seemed to be many people passing by strangely, and some would casually glance at his house.

If it weren’t for the deer’s warning, the lumberjack would have unknowingly been caught while bringing his mother down.

So, despite his reluctance, he listened to the deer’s words, but…

Every day, he would sneak down near the village to spy on the town’s activities, and finally, today, taking advantage of the village’s commotion during what seemed like a big feast, he seized the chance to bring some meat for his mother to enjoy….

But of all times, why did it have to be the hunter’s wedding feast…!

“But why did you just try to barge in there with your own feet!”

“That hunter didn’t know it was my wife’s wedding ceremony! How dare he! Everyone in the neighborhood must think that woman is a hunter’s wife! If I let that go, and suddenly she leaves me, you’ll be responsible!”

The agitated lumberjack’s voice resonated loudly.

The deer, with a dignified expression, quickly calmed the lumberjack down.

“Oh, please..! Your voice is too loud! Phew.. Calm down for now.. Calm down. Oh! She said she came to bring meat! Let me pass that on first. The weather has darkened just right.”

“Sshh..! Sshh..! Phew… Right.. I should give her the meat.”

Though the lumberjack still harbored plenty of dissatisfaction, thinking of his mother waiting alone for her son, he suppressed his rising anger and headed home with the deer.

A little while later…

“Oh my! My child!”

“Mother..!”

They were particularly affectionate towards each other.

Unable to contain their tender feelings, tears like chicken droppings flowed from both of their eyes.

In reality, it hadn’t even been a month since they parted ways, so to others, it might have seemed an incomprehensible sight, but from the perspective of the mother who had been separated from her son for a long time, it felt like the sky was falling.

After the tearful reunion…

Accepting the meat from her son, the lumberjack’s mother urgently called him back as he tried to leave immediately.

“Just a moment, just a moment..! Even if you’re leaving, eat this before you go..! It’s your mother’s wish!”

Hastily rushing to the kitchen in case her son might refuse, she retrieved a shriveled pumpkin from a corner, which she had saved to feed her son despite her own hunger.

Pumpkin porridge was a favorite of the lumberjack.

As the aroma of the hot pumpkin porridge wafted from the kitchen, the lumberjack’s resolve crumbled.

Ignoring the anxious deer hiding behind, eagerly waiting for the lumberjack to come out, what mattered most to the lumberjack was not the deer’s warning but his mother’s love.

When did he ever listen to the deer anyway?

Before he knew it, a steaming bowl of pumpkin porridge was pushed in front of the lumberjack.

“Go on.. Eat it and go. Your mother is fine.”

“Y-yes, mother… *sob*”

After eating the pumpkin porridge, he realized he might not see his mother for a while…

He resented the deer needlessly urging him to hurry, especially when there seemed to be no one around to watch them linger a bit longer.

Disregarding the discomfort in his mouth, the lumberjack hastily devoured the pumpkin porridge.

A farewell with tears in his eyes.

“Hurry up and come! We need to leave quickly! Why are you dragging your feet like this! People will be coming soon!”

As the lumberjack left the house, the deer emerged from the bushes and reproached him.

His heart heavy with worry for his mother, the lumberjack felt a surge of anger at the deer’s impatience, not understanding his own concerns.

With thoughts ablaze in his mind, the lumberjack continued walking, finally deciding to confront the deer about everything he had kept bottled up inside.

“Hey…! How long do we have to live like this, unable to see our mothers! I saved your life! What have I gained in return! You promised to grant my wish! My wife is suffering right now! Why has her body become disabled like this! She can’t move, can’t fix her body! None of that works, so what does work! Are you expecting me to find my wife on my own! That hunter has taken my wife and is marrying her, and I can’t just sit back and watch that happen!!”

It doesn’t make sense, of course! Are you saying you’ll die if you wear a mask? Is this what I’m telling you to do for my own good? Listen to me! I’m going crazy too! I thought I could easily solve the piled-up tasks, but why did it come to this… Because of you, my plans keep failing, and if you die like this, I’ll have so much work piled up that I won’t be able to handle it!

Although a deer’s face had no expression, its eyes darted around, revealing white sclera, making it seem like its insides were turning upside down to anyone who looked at it.

The woodcutter, whether or not he knew what was inside the deer, continued to babble senselessly.

“I’ve lived well until now, so why should I die now? I’m the chosen one! Why should I die! I won’t die!”

“This time you really will die! How many times do I have to say there’s no more room for your story! I’ve saved you once or twice already! No matter how great you are, how can you be so ignorant? You can’t even properly take a powerless fairy with you, almost died because you stubbornly refused to apologize, even though you wouldn’t go as far as reconciliation!”

“The hunter stole it! And I told you about reconciliation before! Why should I apologize when I’ve done nothing wrong! It’s unfair even to receive punishment for that! Just because of that, I hurt my butt and only the precious axe got damaged!”

“Ugh..! If you had apologized back then, I would have somehow found another bird to inquire about! Then we wouldn’t have come this far! So why are you clinging to past stories that have already passed! If you had stayed still, things would have quietly passed, but you needlessly deepened the bad fate with the hunter!”

“Whether it’s a story or not, I don’t know! I will never apologize! Never! And now I don’t like any other woman! It has to be her! So, find a way to bring her back no matter what!”

“Apologizing now is pointless! And I’ve already found a way for you! The hunter must be killed before he realizes his abilities! Convince him, kill that guy somehow before he figures out his powers, so that both you and I survive! There might be casualties, the hunter still doesn’t know his abilities. If you had killed him back then, the fairy would have come looking for my story again! No matter how immortal he was!”

Immortal.. The deer felt a sense of despair at the thought.

It was a monk’s tale. It wasn’t supposed to come out here….

How much fear had he felt due to the possibility that contrary to the original story, the monster might survive because of the aftermath of his actions.

Dealing with stories was such a terrifying thing. The repercussions of his small actions were completely unpredictable…

Even though he could conditionally see some parts of the future… things had gotten so twisted.

At least it was fortunate that the immortal died as the story went…

Then what now.. He couldn’t eliminate the hunter, the source of overturning all his designs…

Sigh.. It must have been just the immortal’s death that fueled his anger.

It’s all because of that stupid woodcutter.

If he had just laid out the story Tiger offered him and accepted it as it was presented, wouldn’t that have been enough!

He had clearly warned him.

He felt a sense of foreboding in front of the village, not knowing what variables might be present, so he was told to resolve everything around that house where no one was present.

But that idiot, with some ridiculous idea in his head, ignored my words and started messing around near the village, inadvertently touching on the absurd immortal story and exposing my existence to the monk!

As if I wasn’t already worried and deliberately avoiding him!

By now, the hunter probably realized my existence.

Perhaps even my abilities…

I am certain that he is likely of the same nature as myself.

In a place where I happened to be, why would such a person exist! Ah… If I had known it would be like this, I would have waited a bit longer… The opportunity was too good to pass up… Even if the hunter had been caught in the trap… Well, there was no way he wouldn’t be caught…

Feeling that the upcoming battles would become more exhausting, the deer’s headache was too much.

“Ah, forget it! You figure it out on your own somehow! I did everything the deer asked me to do, but every time something strange popped up! I went to find the oracle and a hunter popped up! I went in with my brother and a monster popped up! Why can’t you just tell me one thing properly? It’s all messed up because of you!”

Ah… that scoundrel… I’d rather have died when I met the hunter back then or encountered an impossible situation!

Although the pain of accumulating debts was bone-crushing, looking back now, it would have been easier on the mind to incur losses back then and be done with it.

With continued failures and the burden increasing, feeling helpless. If there is even one more failure in the future, one will be crushed under the weight of debts.

If one manages to succeed in the plans set for the future, the current state could be maintained…

…But even the deer itself didn’t believe in its success.

There was no way to escape.

No matter how one might twist the story, there was no escaping from living in this world.

Ah… since that scoundrel won’t let me go like this… I have no choice but to somehow succeed in the future by hook or by crook…

“[I told you..! Follow my instructions properly and speak! How many stories have you ruined! How many times have I saved you! I saved your life once and I have many wishes! Just because I got involved with someone like you, I’m the one bleeding right now!]”

“So you’re not going to grant my wish? Say it! Turn this crippled body back or bring back my wife!”

Oh? That’s right! Wasn’t there a way to escape?

Just tie his tendon, right? That’s also a wish!

It may be difficult… but I know of two ways.

Either deceive the woodcutter with a story related to tying the tendon,

Or use all the goodwill I’ve accumulated over the years to create a miracle and forcibly connect them…

Of course, since he doesn’t know the story about tying the tendon, the only option is to create a miracle.

To repay the debt, sacrificing all the goodwill accumulated so far might just make a miracle possible?

Ah… but considering how hard I’ve worked to accumulate this much…

The deer pondered deeply and seemed to resign itself… lowering its head deeply.

Ah… my dream was too big.

Driven by the ambition that soon I would be able to settle all debts with the accumulated goodwill, I had been dragged along with the idea of somehow resolving this situation…

But by sticking with that stupid guy and wandering around, instead of settling the debt with the goodwill, the debt has grown larger.

If the story is twisted and not concluded properly, the debt will continue to grow like a snowball rolling downhill…

The prepared story? Well, let it happen as it may.

Rather than clinging to something with a high chance of failure and ending up with unbearable debts, it’s better to just abandon all the accumulated goodwill.

At least there will be a tomorrow.

Yes! Let’s clean up here and turn all the accumulated debts on that woodcutter.

You fool! Without resolving the entire story, you want me to settle the debt with the goodwill I’ve accumulated all this time…

Originally, it was because of that stupid guy that the debt rolled over. Why should I solve it? I’d rather give up what I’ve built up until now. Pfft!

After all, the goodwill will eventually come together again… it’s like stepping on poop.

A mere hunter, just a human, will eventually die.

When the story quiets down, avoiding the gods who come to rectify the distortion of the story, one can accumulate votes using the story left alone in the world.

“Alright. Lumberjack. I will use all the virtue I have and ‘sacrifice’ it to fix your body. Isn’t that giving up the virtue I’ve accumulated over a long time? Fixing it?”

As if granting a generous favor, the deer’s proposal to fulfill the lumberjack’s wish despite suffering great losses brought a sense of relief.

However…

“……”

The lumberjack’s response seemed uneasy.

It was strange.

Wasn’t he throwing tantrums every time he met me, desperate to fix his crippled body?

I should have just ended it then… Why is he suddenly hesitating like this? Fixing my body? Please let’s just finish this quickly!

The deer felt a strange anxiety in the lumberjack’s silence and urged him to come quickly to heal his body.

“Come here and extend your arm! What are you doing hesitating like that?”

“I don’t need…”

“What? What do you mean! You asked me to fix your body!”

“Not that kind of fixing! I don’t need that! Finding my wife is my only wish now! I also need to detach myself from sympathy!”

“What is this..!”

Despair filled the deer’s eyes, which had intended to come out gracefully.

How did the deer know?

A clear sign.

The feelings of a person who had lost a country due to their beauty had fallen into my hands.

Unbeknownst to him, the lumberjack had seen the beauty of a fairy today…

Only then did the deer realize that he had been entangled in a bitter fate.

It was the sacrifice the deer had desperately wanted to avoid.

“Oh… Oh..”

A despairing sigh echoed in the deer’s throat.

“Anyway! My wish is that one thing! Remember that. Also, since I’ll tell you the location of our hideout, just go there from now on…”

“No, absolutely not! You must not know that location! It’s dangerous!”

“Why do I have to keep coming out in the open all the time! It would be easier and better if you just came there!”

“Shut up! There are reasons for everything! It’s because of how you act…! Ugh. Fine. Since I will find your wife or whatever, just please keep your promises without any tricks… And… If you want me to grant your wish, you need to think about it now, so could you please go back to the hideout now? What are you waiting for? If you’re leaving, leave quickly! Get lost! You have a lot to think about! Just make sure your face isn’t in front of me right now!”

Feeling bad due to the deer’s harsh tone, the lumberjack spat out phlegm, lit a torch on the lantern, and disappeared into the hideout through the dark mountain path…

Standing still, the deer pondered repeatedly in deep thought.

How long had he been standing there absentmindedly?

Finally, with a heavy heart, the deer started moving towards his hideout to return.

“I have prepared something, but… Ah… That benefactor… His face is too ugly, can I really overlay that story…?”

Even if it had been an ordinary-looking human, the chances of success would have been high…

No matter how much he thought about it, he felt that he would fail with that face, so he tried to leave after thinking about it…!

But the time to cut ties had passed too late.

While the deer was planning the future course of action…

Squeeze!

Huh? A tightening sound…?

Screaaam!

“Ke, Kek! This… this can’t be! I already escaped a hunter once… Why am I caught again…? I… I don’t know this kind of story! Surely…! No! Keek! This can’t be happening…! What is this…! Lumberjack! Where are you! Come back…! Please help me! No! This way, we’ll all die…!”

-Keeeek! Kieeek! Kieeek!

A dark, quiet mountain echoes with a strange scream, making it unclear whether it’s a deer or a wild goat.