episode_0318

The cold wind that was cutting through my body doesn’t reach me.

The snowflakes that had been coldly wrapping around my skin are being pushed away.

Instead of the wind and snow, a warm feeling comes. From something wrapped tightly around my back.

I wonder if my head is damaged by the cold.

I thought I was just paralyzed for a moment and feeling a sense of futility.

Until I heard that voice.

I turned around, wondering if it was true.

A familiar purple hair caught my eye.

Really, it was Harnie.

The person who holds my back tightly and won’t let go.

“How do you feel about this…”

“Is it time to ask that now?”

-puck.

“…ah.”

“Idiot idiot.”

She hugged me from behind and whispered softly.

But it sounds clear.

“Were you thinking of sleeping out in this cold place?”

Her nagging, which I was starting to get used to now.

“Tell me. Were you planning to sleep out here?”

“…”

“You’re a real liar. At least you decided not to hurt yourself.”

I was speechless.

Because that’s true.

That’s why I felt even more sorry.

It wouldn’t be strange if Harnie activated that jewel at any time to punish me.

However, the magic on the jewel was never activated even once.

…I guess it was only to respect my wishes.

“You are wanted and cannot enter the building, but if you move around like me while hiding your appearance, you will be able to. There is a room I have rented in advance, so follow me and warm up first.”

It is still the same now.

…clearly, I thought I was alone.

I was convinced that there would never be anyone who would help me.

It’s the same in this world or that world.

I thought it was natural that I would be able to do everything on my own.

There are no allies anyway.

What if he was a human who hid behind a mask for a moment to take advantage of others?

Those who pretend to help while actually taking advantage of others will be spread out by the truckload.

So, of course, it cannot exist here either.

Someone who truly wants to help me.

Because I don’t have any allies anyway. Because there’s no one who would extend a helping hand to me.

And I was confident that no one would worry about me.

Even my family relationships were a mess.

however.

That doesn’t seem to be the case.

There was.

Someone who truly cares about me.

A country is a place where people truly care about each other.

***

-Tiring!

▶Status Abnormality: Freezing Stage 3 slowly recovers over time.◀

▶Status Abnormality: Cold Air Stage 3 slowly recovers over time.◀

▶Status Abnormality: Frostbite is relieved over time.◀

[ Time remaining: 5 minutes ]

…

…

Inside the building, the bitter wind and snow had completely stopped.

As soon as you arrive at Harnie, your status abnormalities will be lifted and your decreased abilities will start to return to their original levels.

Not only that, but the feeling that was disappearing was also the same.

The problem is…

There was only one room.

“…”

“…”

As soon as Harnie entered the room, he seemed to have the same thoughts as me, and he started to get excited.

“I didn’t know it would turn out like this! I just thought I had to melt my body first.”

I was really embarrassed.

At times like this, his absurd side shows itself.

“Well, it’s safer to have them right next to each other than renting two rooms! If you look at it this way, this is better!”

Even making excuses somehow.

It’s really easy to understand.

After making such a fuss, Harni returned to his normal state and asked me.

“Now tell me, why were you out there?”

Back to the original question.

The same question as when the snowstorm was approaching.

This is actually an answer that shouldn’t be said.

Because there is no one on my side in this world.

For me, who has always lived alone, this is likely to backfire in the future.

There may be several reasons.

Either you’re lining up with the Duke. Or you’re after a bounty. Or you just want to get rid of me now.

Either way, the danger doesn’t change.

The more I think about my future plans, the more likely I am to get hit in the back of the head.

But… I would never have told anyone else, but I could only reveal this to her.

“It was to escape from Ileor without attracting attention. At night, most people live inside the building, so there aren’t many people going outside… If you avoid the alley, you can completely avoid attention…”

“…If I hadn’t been there, how many hours would you have hidden there?”

“Yes. I thought that if not, the opportunity would not come…”

“Idiot.”

When I reluctantly answered like that, Harnie sighed deeply again.

After a brief pause, silence begins to flow.

I was so nervous about what would be said.

at that time.

-Sudden!

The magic stone that had been lighting up the room went out in an instant.

“Huh, huh? Why is this…”

Harnie approaches the light and tries to activate the spell several times, but the light does not turn on.

“It won’t work. It probably won’t turn on today.”

“What does that mean?”

“This is a common phenomenon in Ileor due to the cold. It is so cold that the magic stone that supplies magic power is completely frozen and cannot function. It cannot be used until an expert comes to repair it.”

This was also a peculiar characteristic of Ileor.

If you think about it differently… it’s like a water leak in a basement room that smells musty in reality, or a toad house collapsing due to a current leak.

Anyway, it was a part that required time.

If the repairable UI pops up, you can still fix it by hand, but this is definitely broken.

After fiddling around here and there looking for a replacement for the light, I finally found something useful.

▶I repaired the lantern, etc.◀

▶Repair level: 38%◀

“Fortunately, the small lantern seems to be burning.”

“If not, anything else…”

“Yes. None of them work.”

“Then, are we… this is the only light in our room…?”

“…I see.”

Rather than having a conversation, the lights were all turned off and it was just dark.

It’s just creepy, if a rat appears out of nowhere…

-Tick tick!

“Gyaaaah!”

“Wow!”

“Rat, didn’t you just hear a rat sound? Huh…”

-Squishy.

…I knew it.

“Hey, Harnie? Let’s take a look from a distance…”

“shi, I hate it. It’s scary.”

“Harnie, calm down…”

“I hate it!!”

After that, Harnie stayed attached to my body for a long time.

It was fortunate that the rat got startled and ran away. If I hadn’t chased it away, I would have probably suffocated to death by now, buried under that huge lump of flesh.

After I finished organizing everything, I took a closer look at the things in the room that were still functioning properly.

The conditions were not very good. All that could be done in this room was to light a small kerosene lamp and cook food.

“Fortunately, the food is well-preserved. Let’s cook with this and fill our stomachs. That will give us strength, right?”

Harnie said this as she took out her cooking utensils.

That’s right.

In times like this, I have to eat something.

Since starving was a daily occurrence, I know better than anyone that hunger accompanied by cold is even more painful.

however…

“Just sit comfortably. I’ll do the cooking.”

“…”

-Boom boom boom!

“shi, that’s a mistake!”

It feels very familiar to see her confidently throwing out all her cooking utensils while wearing an apron.

-You just sit comfortably on the sofa over there. I’ll cook and bring it to you.

-Oh, that’s a mistake!

‘I’m anxious…’

Well… Harnie is a true noble girl.

There’s no way I’d do something this trivial…

It turns out that the author has never cooked before…?

“…I’m asking just in case, but have you ever cooked before?”

“There it is!”

“Then what kind of food would you like…?”

“Why are you asking that! Have you ever made it? Are you doubting me?”

It makes me feel uneasy to see him avoid eye contact and talk like that.

“Are you sure it’s okay…?”

“Oh, boy. Trust me and leave it to me!”

Harnie said that and pushed my back.

…Will it be okay?

***

-Ta-da.

What is this ominous thing placed on top of the bowl?

It is unknown what form the substance originally took.

I have no idea what color it was, what shape it was, or what features it had.

And what is this smell?

For now, I can’t even guess what it will taste like.

A strong feeling already comes from sight and smell.

“Hey, it looks weird, but it tastes good, right?”

Your appearance is strange.

You knew it too.

But why is the smell so cleverly removed…?

“Try it. It tastes different than it looks. Throw away your weird prejudices!”

It’s delicious…

Yeah. It might taste different from its appearance.

Even though it smells terrible, it actually tastes good, like cheonggukjang.

If you get rid of the prejudice against pira, seonji is a food that boasts a unique texture and taste.

I carefully cut off a chunk of Harnie’s grotesque flesh and put it in my mouth.

“Oh, how is it?”

“…”

What do you think?

This was… a taste that I can’t even describe.

“…Harnie.”

“Yes…”

Harnie’s face died down as if he had a premonition of what he was about to hear.

“I’ll cook…”

.

.

.

I got to cook for the first time in a while.

Here, I only ate one dish prepared by the chef every day…

But somehow, the persimmon I was eating alone didn’t die, because my head and body remembered it all.

“…Wow.”

As for the tasting notes, I guess that’s not really necessary.

“But, Carcein. I wonder…where did you learn to cook?”

“Yes?”

“You only do it at the workshop. Usually, the chef or cooks do it instead. You don’t eat it yourself, right?”

Eek. What a sharp question this is.

I said, scratching the ball and turning around.

“I, there were times when I had to eat alone. In a place like Yeongji, there’s no chef, right?”

“Hmm. That’s true. But, Camilla knows how to cook too, right? I heard she’s good at it from what Mina said.”

“That…! Camilla, wasn’t she busy to begin with?”

“If you’re busy… I guess that could be the case.”

Fortunately, I thought he would understand and move on, but this time he died down.

It seemed like little by little, people’s eyes were drawn towards the food he had made.

The expression on the face of the person who ruined his own cooking and was so disappointed was like that.

I guess I’ll have to appease him a bit.

“Ahem. Well… it’s not like it’s completely ruined.”

“…Huh?”

“Just look at your hands.”

I took the food she made and started cooking it again.

Just change the necessary ingredients a bit more.

Remove some of the impurities.

After looking at the hands like that, it became a ‘food’ state.

After tasting the changed food, Harnie looked embarrassed and said to me.

“…Please teach me this next time.”

“Yes.”

If you practice, you will get it. If you practice, you will get it.

***

The day has come to an end.

It’s getting really chilly now.

If I had been outside, I would have had to endure the freezing to death, but inside the inn, it was much better than that.

However, the inside of the inn was not entirely warm.

It doesn’t change the fact that the insulating and heating magic stone is broken.

But it wasn’t cold in Harni.

“I wish you had done this earlier. I said you could have done it this way from the beginning.”

“Be careful, I told you.”

“Yes, yes. I bet you would.”

Because Carcein is by my side.

So, the regret remains.

The reason I didn’t want to see you again after that day was to shake off this obsession.

‘If I don’t go… do I have to go back…? Karcein…’

Harnie eventually betrays his firm convictions.