Blue skies with scattered cumulus clouds. A bird flying across it.
It was a beautiful day.
On the way home. The laughter of children could be faintly heard from beyond the quiet street alleys.
Tap, tap. Doyun quietly followed Elsie, who was walking ahead with short steps.
She was much smaller in stature compared to him.
She was walking diligently with those tiny feet, but he could overtake her with just a slightly faster pace.
Doyun, who was gazing at Elsie as she walked with an unwavering, dignified posture, racked his brain to break this awkward silence.
‘But… what should I say?’
He could count on one hand the number of times he had been alone with Elsie.
Moreover, now that he was conscious of her, Doyun couldn’t figure out what to say.
He kept remembering the words Elsie had whispered in the conversation he had eavesdropped on.
‘I like Han Doyun.’
‘What does she like… Does she mean I’m a good friend… Or if not…’
He wanted to ask exactly what they had been talking about, but it wasn’t polite to ask about something he had secretly eavesdropped on in the first place.
With curiosity and a desire to break through this silent walk home from school, Doyun’s heart grew impatient.
‘Should I ask if there were any problems with the house repairs? No, I’m not a construction worker, why would I ask that…’
It was a moment that became unnecessarily awkward as he became conscious of her.
He could just casually suggest going to play in the nearby streets, like he would with his close friends Jaime and Pajolt, or ask her if she wanted to come over to his house.
‘No, not the house. That’s a bit…’
“Han Doyun.”
Elsie stopped walking and turned to look at Han Doyun.
The refreshing air and the tranquil atmosphere of the street today soothed her troubled mood even a little.
“Why are you being so quiet? Say something.”
He was unusually quiet, unlike his usual self. And his face was subtly flushed—
‘Does he have a cold?’
“Are you sick somewhere?”
“…I’m just a little hot.”
“Is that so? It does seem to be getting warmer. But it’s still pretty cool… Are you sensitive to heat?”
“Haha… I guess so.”
Doyun’s fever showed no signs of going down at the sight of Elsie looking up at him with a bright face.
Doyun just smiled awkwardly.
Elsie tilted her head and started walking next to him instead of going ahead.
Her long silver hair flowed softly, and Elsie’s round, small head came closer.
A pleasant fragrance tickled the tip of his nose on the breeze.
As they walked again, Elsie looked up at him as if she had remembered something.
“Oh, right! There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“A, ask me something?”
‘What is it? Could it be about that thing from earlier? That she likes me or whatever… Or what else could it be?’
Just as Doyun, whose self-consciousness was running wild, fell into vain delusions,
Elsie nodded, her eyes sparkling.
“I’m asking because it’s just the two of us. I couldn’t even bring it up if Thrud was here…”
Doyun covered his mouth and turned his head away, feeling self-conscious about her actions.
What was she really going to ask?
“You said you were doing mercenary work, right? I’d like you to tell me about it in detail.”
“…Mercenary?”
Doyun, who had been nervous about what she was going to say, felt the heat rising in him cool down at the unexpected question.
“Yeah. The one you were doing last time.”
“You want me to tell you about that?”
Elsie nodded with a longing look, her blue eyes sparkling.
“What kind of work you mainly do, how much you get paid… things like that. Thrud has been making a fuss, telling me not to even be interested, so I couldn’t bring it up until now.”
Elsie clasped her hands together, her face a mixture of curiosity and anticipation.
As Thrud said, it wasn’t something that a noble lady from a prestigious family like Elsie needed to be interested in.
‘I have some idea why she’s interested, though…’
Elsie, who forgets her usually shy personality and goes wild when she enters battle.
If she enjoys fighting so purely, it’s no wonder she’d be interested in mercenary work, which is often rough and dangerous.
‘It’s not like there’s always fighting like Elsie thinks… How should I explain it…’
The fact that it was often rough and dangerous wasn’t just limited to situations where battles occurred.
There were quite a few cases where they ended up facing dirty and ugly scenes at the end of it.
Dealing with monsters or, like last time, cracking down on criminal organizations was actually the better side of things.
Mercenaries often cooperate with the city guard and rush to the forefront of various incidents and accidents.
Because of that, they often see corpses that are damaged beyond description, or face victims who have suffered from torture or assault so terrible that they can’t bear to look at it.
Doyun thought that Elsie was too incompatible with such ugly scenes.
She had lost her memories and was in a state of pure innocence, beyond just lacking common sense.
‘There’s a reason why Thrud makes a fuss whenever the topic of mercenaries comes up. It’s understandable.’
If Elsie showed any more interest, Doyun chose his words with the determination to persuade her and opened his mouth.
***
Elsie, who had listened to Doyun’s story with interest, stopped walking as they reached the edge of the residential area.
From here on, the residential area ended and a path leading into a remote forest began.
Elsie looked up at Doyun with a slightly disappointed expression.
“I should go now. It was fun talking.”
“Go?”
“I have to go home, right? You’re going that way, right? See you later.”
Elsie glanced at the path leading into the residential area and waved her hand at Doyun.
Doyun blinked and shook his head.
“Wait a minute. I received a request from Thrud, and personally, there are strange rumors going around, so I can’t let you go alone.”
“My house is just past that forest path, what’s there to worry about—”
“That’s why I can’t let you go even more.”
Doyun frowned at Elsie’s statement, which was close to a lack of safety awareness, and opened his mouth firmly.
‘Considering Elsie’s usual combat power, it’s understandable, but her condition right now…’
“Accidents all start from such carelessness. If something happens to you because you’re careless about living in a remote place where you have to go through a forest path, then I…”
Elsie took a few steps back and ran her hand through her hair as Doyun began his lecture.
“T, that’s true…”
“Right. You’re in a state where your power usage is limited right now. If you were your usual self, neither Thrud nor I would be worried like this, but…”
Elsie thought as she listened to Doyun’s lecture-like speech.
‘It’s unlikely to happen, but let’s say a monster from the rumors really appears, then I—’
A secluded forest path where she’s walking alone.
A bare-chested, silver-haired monster and a giant chicken spewing red appeared beyond the shadows of the silent trees.
“Heck—”
Someone said that humans are the scariest. That was definitely a valid point.
The unidentified monster and the unknown beast in her imagination had given Elsie an unknown fear.
To be subdued by such unknown beings and have her panties stolen.
The reality of the rumors wouldn’t be like that at all, but it was definitely a very frightening situation.
“Ha, haha. It’s okay, though? If necessary, I can use my strength to…”
Elsie, who was upset that she was scared by such unknown dangers, clenched her fists and spoke strongly.
Although the scattered memories showed no signs of returning,
‘Even though I was once a man, I can’t show that I’m scared of something like that… I can’t…’
She was experiencing some unknown changes, both emotionally and mentally, as she became Elsie, and her memories were mixed up.
But even so, she was still herself. To be afraid of some trivial rumors and accompany a friend, she wasn’t a coward, even if she was shy.
“My house is just a quick walk through the forest path, what’s there to worry about? If you come all the way to my house and go back, you’ll have to go too far out of your way. It’s also a hassle.”
“My house is closer than you think. Do you see that house at the end of the road entering the residential area? That’s it.”
“That’s it? I, it’s really close… No! I said it’s okay!”
“I said I’m not okay. It’d be different if you could wield your power as much as you want like usual—”
And so, Elsie and Doyun’s argument continued for a while.
***
*Crackle, crackle—*
The sound of burning firewood echoed. The blazing flames flickered as if dancing, and warmth was felt from where the embers rose.
After a lonely wait, Dane, who had lit a bonfire, was sitting in the yard of the building presumed to be Elsie’s house, spacing out.
[Wouldn’t it be better to go inside and wait?]
The nameless eagle and Vedrfolnir approached, making loud footsteps.
Flames rose from around the beak of the nameless eagle, who swallowed a few pieces of firewood as a snack.
“If it turns out to not be Elsie’s house, I’ll really become a criminal!”
Dane shook his head, looking at the two monsters, who were supposed to be an eagle and a hawk, with a pathetic face, as they were less reliable than chickens.
[This house is definitely it. It’s understandable that I forgot the location because I didn’t have a sense of direction in Midgard. Do you think I’d forget a place I’ve seen so easily?]
“Well, how would I know what’s in your heads? You guys didn’t even come on the scheduled date because you were visiting Hraesvelgr’s nest. You might have forgotten in the meantime.”
Dane lowered his head deeply. He missed Elsie especially at this moment, even more than usual.
[Come to think of it, we were all partying at Hraesvelgr’s nest. Someone was trying to summon Hraesvelgr.]
Dane was briefly intrigued by the fact that someone had dared to summon the legendary Jötunn, who was known to be very picky.
“Who is it? How many lives do they have? I heard that no one who summoned Hraesvelgr has survived.”
For the past hundreds of years, the legendary Jötunn had killed or devoured the foolish beings who summoned him.
Dane had only encountered him in books, but thanks to these birdbrains, it was a name he encountered quite often.
[He has high standards. Or rather, he’s picky about faces. His picky standards for choosing beautiful women are worse than those of the dwarves of Svartalfheim.]
The truth that came out of Vedrfolnir’s mouth was truly absurd.
The legend of Hraesvelgr, famous enough to be recorded in history books, had started with him killing summoners who didn’t meet his aesthetic standards.
“So is this summoner safe? I hope there won’t be such an unfortunate victim in this era.”
At Dane’s question, Vedrfolnir tapped his hawk-shaped forefoot and pointed to the nameless eagle.
[He couldn’t respond to the summons because he was wrestling with this idiot. But he seems to have sucked up all the energy sent by the summoner.]
It was fortunate in a way. Anyway, Dane, who was relieved that there were no victims, quickly lost interest and looked around the house.
‘By the way, this house. Is it being maintained? If it’s really Elsie’s house, there’s no way she’d be living alone without servants…’
There were many signs of recent repairs everywhere, but there were also clear signs of neglect.
“I can’t stand it. I should chop some firewood.”
Dane, who was bothered by the poor condition of Elsie’s house, took off his shirt and started chopping firewood while waiting for her.