Chapter 56

It had two resistance attributes to status effects. This was the first time Jun-sang had acquired a ring with more than one attribute in this manner, since the Guardian’s Cat’s Eye Ring. A seemingly ordinary man in this small slash-and-burn village possessing such a ring? The item description, stating he “accidentally found it in the forest,” piqued Jun-sang’s curiosity about the forest bordering this village. However, without any immediate quest information, he didn’t have the leisure to go looking for it deliberately.

Jun-sang slipped Bandes’s ring onto his finger. Wearing two rings on his left middle and ring fingers felt a bit uncomfortable. Yet, it was also true that it was difficult to abandon the abilities the ring possessed.

“…”

The remaining three quests were nothing special. For Siras, he found herbs with antipyretic properties to reduce a child’s fever. Koren wanted him to repair a section of the aging wooden fence, and Igel was looking for his wife’s lost necklace in the forest. Jun-sang resolved their requests and received special seasoning from Siras, a makeshift saddle suitable for the Crimson Wolf’s back from Koren, and a scented candle made from a sizable chunk of pine resin from Igel as rewards. And once all that was done, he disappeared like the wind, just as he had arrived.

“Who on earth… is that man?”

“W-well…”

Only then did the villagers realize that this unidentified man hadn’t even given his name, but there was no way to find out now.

Meanwhile, Henes was traveling much more comfortably than before, thanks to the saddle fitted on the Crimson Wolf’s back. She pondered. What on earth was this man’s true identity? He suddenly stormed into a slash-and-burn village deep in the forest, then, as if he had known all along, solved the villagers’ problems, received seemingly insignificant rewards, and then left just as quickly. For her, who didn’t know about the existence of quests, Jun-sang’s actions were nothing but an unsolved mystery.

But Jun-sang, oblivious to Henes’s blatant staring, silently continued his sprint. As the sun set, he finally stopped and began preparing for camp. Jun-sang first took a shovel from his cabinet, dug a hole in the ground, filled it with fallen leaves, then covered it with a tarp before finally setting up a pop-up tent.

“Wow…” Henes, watching something quickly transform into a sleeping arrangement, let out an involuntary exclamation. The pop-up tent, especially, that instantly unfolded with a whoosh, was simply amazing.

Once the sleeping arrangements were made, Jun-sang immediately summoned the remaining two wolves, then dismissed the bear’s spirit and summoned wisps instead. Jun-sang first commanded Gentle Breeze.

“Gentle Breeze, guard the surroundings and repel intruders.”

As Gentle Breeze vanished, obeying his command, Jun-sang then commanded the three wolves. “Guard the surroundings.” The wolves then divided into three directions around the tent and began to keep watch.

Only after all that work was done did Jun-sang dig a pit, surround it with stones to make a simple fire pit, and gather branches for firewood to build a campfire. He whittled wood with a multi-tool to set up two stands, hung a mess tin on them, and boiled water. Henes stood to the side, blankly watching all these things happen in an instant, as if by magic.

Jun-sang beckoned her over only after the preparations were roughly complete.

“W-why…?” Henes approached hesitantly. Jun-sang took out a tracksuit from the cabinet and handed it to her.

“Wear this.”

“…” Henes looked at the clothes handed to her.

“Wear… this?”

“If you’re going to sleep in that, then do so.”

“…” At Jun-sang’s words, Henes hesitated for a moment, then went into the tent to change. It was very cumbersome and difficult to take off a dress alone in a confined space, so after quite some time, Henes finally managed to change and came back out.

During that time, Jun-sang had butchered the wild boars caught in Bandes’s field and was grilling the meat. Jun-sang spread Siras’s special seasoning on the mess tin lid, cut and placed the grilled meat on it, then poured boiled water into a mug and made instant soup, handing it to Henes.

“Ah…” Henes, who had been timidly approaching due to her unfamiliarity with the tracksuit, forgot her caution at the smell of the food handed to her. She devoured her portion in an instant. She then glanced at Jun-sang, who was slowly chewing his meat as if a cow was ruminating, and spoke.

“Earlier… why did we go to that village?” It was a question she threw because his actions were odd in many ways for someone who supposedly had prior business there, but Jun-sang’s answer was simple.

“Because it was necessary.”

“…” Henes was speechless. It was an answer that made it difficult to say anything further, implying she shouldn’t ask more questions. But Henes bravely spoke again.

“For something that was ‘necessary,’ you seemed quite aloof.”

But this time, Jun-sang’s answer was brief. “Because it was unnecessary.”

“…” Henes frowned at the overly concise answer, yet she was busy trying to decipher the underlying meaning of his words. So, Jun-sang’s words meant this: the act of granting the requests itself was necessary, but being friendly or amiable was unnecessary, so he simply didn’t do it.

Henes, pondering the nuance of his words, spoke to Jun-sang again. “Um… I’m still young, so I don’t know much, but…”

“…” As she started, Jun-sang’s gaze, which had been quietly looking at the campfire, turned towards Henes. Henes was startled, recalling the flashing eyes she had seen during the day, but soon realized that his gaze looking at her was different from what she had seen earlier, and she bravely continued.

“My father used to say…”

“What?”

“That if you have to do something anyway, it’s more enjoyable to do it with affection.”

“…” That was right. In Henes’s eyes, Jun-sang seemed to be reluctantly doing something he disliked. No, something was different. It felt subtly different from simply being annoyed because he didn’t want to do it. As a result, even while fulfilling the villagers’ requests, he appeared stiff and rigid, and even while doing good deeds, he ended up seeming like he was threatening them. Henes felt sorry about that. If he had been a little softer, a little kinder with his words… The villagers wouldn’t have watched them leave with such wary eyes.

However, Jun-sang listened to her words, smiled bitterly, and replied, “To have affection for this world, that’s too much to ask.”

“Huh?” Henes’s eyes widened, wondering what he meant, but Jun-sang turned his gaze away from her and said, “Go to sleep. We’ll be running all day tomorrow.”

“…” With those words, Jun-sang got up and distributed the boar meat and bones to the wolves. Henes considered saying something more but gave up after seeing his eyes, which had again become cool and subdued.

Henes went into the tent and slipped into the soft sleeping bag. “Phew…” Perhaps it was because her body was tired. Although her mind was complicated, perhaps because the sleeping arrangement was cozier than she expected, Henes quickly fell asleep.

And the next day. She woke up in the pre-dawn hours feeling the need to relieve herself, and then she was startled. The reason being… Jun-sang was sleeping right next to her in a sleeping bag.

“…” Henes pondered for a moment. Should she scream here, or should she just pretend not to know, relieve herself, and go back to sleep? It was a somewhat ambiguous problem. Even if nothing had happened, considering the possibility that her purity could be sullied just by the act of sleeping in a confined space with a man, it would be right to scream here and create a situation where either he leaves or she leaves.

Henes realized this only after thinking it over and checked her clothing. But she didn’t feel any signs of being touched. If he hadn’t touched her, was there really a need to cause a commotion here? But conversely, if she simply condoned this situation, it could be understood as her accepting him. Henes, groaning in thought, decided to relieve herself first.

Carefully crawling out of the tent, Henes put on her shoes and emerged from the tent. As she came out of the tent, the gray wolf, which had been lying near the campfire, stood up and stood a little distance away like a guard.

“…” Henes felt somewhat embarrassed seeing the wolf watching her, but since she could no longer hold it, she entered the bushes to relieve herself. After carefully finishing, hoping no sound would be heard, Henes approached the weakened campfire and put in a few more pieces of firewood. Then she stared at the campfire, lost in thought. Should she go back in as she was? Or should she just spend the rest of the time by the campfire?

However, her contemplation disappeared shortly after a cool breeze brushed her spine, where the firelight didn’t reach.

“Right, I just need to be careful not to wake him.”

Henes made that decision and carefully re-entered the tent, slipping into the cozy sleeping bag.

“Phew…” As her body touched the fluffy down filling in the sleeping bag, Henes sighed unconsciously, intoxicated by the warmth.

It was at that moment.

“Heh heh…” A chuckle escaped Jun-sang’s lips, whom she had thought was sound asleep.

“…” Startled, Henes hid her head in the sleeping bag like a caterpillar retreating into its cocoon. Then, Jun-sang’s small voice reached her.

“You resemble a fairy.”

“…” Jun-sang had meant that Henes’s actions resembled those of the fairies he had seen before, like Iniana or Ilmarene. However, Henes, completely unaware of what had happened between him and the fairies, couldn’t help but be confused by his sudden words. Resembling a fairy, he said. How was she supposed to take that? Jun-sang fell back asleep after saying that, but Henes, with her mind complicated, couldn’t easily fall asleep.