‘… In the end, I just played hard.’
Avali, who walked out of the river and lay down on a wide rock, began to reflect on herself.
She had planned to show the perverted kids an example, but when she came to her senses, she had jumped into the river and was having fun.
She had played so hard that even the village kids had forgotten their original sinister intentions.
This was fortunate for Avalli, who was still in her mid-twenties and had the identity of a young woman just starting out in society…
But when she thought, ‘Does the mind really follow the body?’ she felt a little strange.
Avalli, who was a modern woman, had boycotted all outdoor activities after becoming an adult and being discharged from the military.
She had always been an indoor person, to the point where she would stay home except when commuting to and from work—but recently, she had been having fun like a 12-year-old kid.
I wouldn’t say this was a bad thing…
But she felt a slight sense of crisis at the point where her personal identity was changing.
‘I guess I was just worrying for nothing. Avalli liked the daily life of this pioneer village, Asha Village.’
The initial wariness had almost disappeared, and recently everyone liked Avalli, calling her a lucky charm.
After Avalli became a member of Asha Village, the situation in the forest around the pioneer village had changed completely.
No one knew why, but it seemed that the beasts that used to attack once or twice a week had disappeared.
Since the beast’s attacks had ceased, the area of activity had expanded, and it had become possible to pioneer the forest more actively.
Naturally, the amount of resources stored in the village had increased, and the food situation had also become very comfortable.
There was still a shortage of things that the village could not produce, such as nails, but after trading the remaining resources, there would be an abundance.
Since all these changes occurred after Avalli came to the village, the villagers could not help but feel that she was a symbol of good luck.
Of course, Avalli herself thought it was just a coincidence… but there was no reason to feel bad about others being attracted to her.
As Avali was wringing out her wet clothes and thinking about such things, a boy came walking out of the forest.
“Oh, it’s Hans oppa.”
“Where have you been?”
“Hyung! We should be going back now! We’re late!”
The children spoke to the boy, Hans, one by one.
However, Hans did not necessarily respond and slightly turned his gaze to examine Avalli.
The soaking wet clothes clung to Avalli’s body, and the slight feminine curves were dizzying Hans’s eyes.
“…… Be careful, okay?”
“Huh? What?”
“I mean, the way you dress.”
“Why?”
Avalli tilted her head, pretending not to know anything, even though she knew exactly what Hans meant.
One of the tricks to kill time in Avalli’s pioneer village was ‘playing with Hans.’
Hans, the eldest, had already entered puberty, drawing a strange line between him and the other kids.
It seemed that she, a new member of the village, was also categorized as a ‘kid’ in Hans’s mind.
Despite that, he couldn’t help but feel the curiosity that comes with puberty, and he would sneak peeks at her body.
‘What a cute kid.’
Although Avalli was two years younger than him in this world, the person inside was almost ten years older than him.
Watching him hesitate, conflicted between instinct and reason, she couldn’t help but feel like teasing him.
“Why don’t you play too, Hans?”
“… It’s lunchtime. And you told me to put my brother next to you, right?”
“No. We’re about the same height as each other.”
Of course, objectively speaking, Hans was much taller.
The identity as a man that still occupies a large part of Avalli’s heart is what prevents her from saying the cringe-worthy word “oppa.”
“… Haa.”
“Why, Hans? Are you sighing because I’m so pretty?”
“That’s not it!”
Hans shouted at Avalli as she giggled.
Even though he was a boy in puberty, he was still just a kid in front of Avalli.
“I’m not interested in ugly kids.”
Hans said his displeasure in a blunt voice.
However, unlike usual, there was no counterattack.
When he glanced around, Avalli was shocked and had her mouth wide open.
“… That’s too much, Hans.”
As Avalli said that and pretended to sob, the kids around him started to add their words one by one.
“Hans, oppa, was bad.”
“No, hyung, that’s not right. Your words were too harsh.”
“Avalli made her cry!”
Hans briefly panicked at the sudden wave of criticism, but soon came to his senses and approached Avalli.
“Hey, Avalli. … Don’t cry.”
Hans stood in front of the sobbing Avalli, looking around.
He felt sorry, but his pride was too much to apologize first.
Avali, who thoroughly enjoyed his hesitation and indecision, raised her head again and giggled.
“You’re not crying?”
“… Huh?”
“Well, Hans is just a kid. He probably doesn’t know what’s pretty yet.”
Hans blushed when he realized that Avalli was teasing him.
Hans, who was always teased by Avalli, who was two years younger than him, would have been angry and returned to the village.
“…I know.”
But today was a little different.
“Huh?”
“She’s much prettier than you, I know!”
Hans shouted and turned around.
Avalli was momentarily dumbfounded, but quickly realized the identity of the ‘girl prettier than you’ that Hans was talking about and held her stomach and laughed.
“Avalli-sister is laughing!”
“Why? All of a sudden? Are you crazy?”
“Avalli-sister, that’s weird!”
After laughing for a while, Avalli checked the number of children.
Since the number of people was the same, it was time to go back to the village.
“Everyone, hold hands tightly and don’t let go. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“I got it, sister!”
“It’s stuffy, Avalli! Let’s go quickly!”
After everyone held hands and made a line, Avalli set off for the village.
Hans grumbled, saying, “You’re overdoing it for no reason,” but Avalli, who had the common sense of a modern person, couldn’t help but be careful.
“You have to take care of the children.”
Of course, they forgot their duty and had fun together today, but Avalli tried to ignore that fact.
“Then, let’s all see each other tomorrow.”
“Bye, Avalli-sister!”
“Let’s go to the forest tomorrow!”
“It would be nice if Hans-hyung played with us too.”
The children who entered the village went back to their respective homes to eat lunch.
Instead of going back to the village chief Arsene’s house, Avalli knocked on the door of Karls’ house next door.
“Oh, Avalli. Your clothes are all wet.”
“Hehehe… I guess it happened.”
Avalli scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile.
To others, she looked like a lively girl for her age, but the young man inside felt a little embarrassed by this liveliness.
“Come here. Hans has a few clothes that no longer fit, so take this opportunity to take some.”
“Really? Thank you.”
After bowing politely, Avalli followed Mrs. Karls.
A strange gaze followed Avalli as she moved toward the corner room.
“Hans, what did you ask me?”
Avalli turned her head with a slight frown.
“…Why did you come to my house?”
“Mom told me to come for lunch. Why, Hans? Are you embarrassed when a girl comes to your house?”
“That’s not it!”
Hans, who was sitting at the table, shouted and turned his head.
“Oh, you know, that.”
When a friend comes to visit, there are people who feel embarrassed when their family is present.
“Why are you getting angry? You need to get spanked by Mom to come to your senses.”
“Mom, please!”
Before the atmosphere between the two became tense, Avalli intervened in the conversation.
“Madam, I need to change my clothes quickly.”
“Oh, come on, I’m not in my right mind. I need to change my clothes quickly before I catch a cold.”
After a while, Avalli, wearing neat pants, came out of the room with Mrs. Karls.
Avalli, who sat down naturally at the table, shook her legs up and down as if she was having fun.
“… What’s so fun about you?” Hans asked with an indifferent expression, but Avalli did not bother to answer and waited silently for the meal.
Hans was still too young to understand the value of a meal with others.
“Here, it’s a warm stew. Eat it with bread. Oh, and there’s venison in it too.”
“… Really?”
Avali looked at Mrs. Karls with sparkling eyes.
The meals in the pioneer village were so bland by modern standards that the mere mention of meat made her heart race.
“Yes.”
“Is it because the demons haven’t been very active lately? They say there have been a lot of wild animals.”
“I’ll eat well!”
“… I’ll eat well.”
The two, who were in the midst of their growth, quickly finished their meal.
“See you tomorrow, Hans! Don’t miss out on tomorrow and let’s play together.”
“… … See you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, ma’am!”
“Okay, be careful on your way home.”
After leaving Karls’ house, Avalli was about to head straight to Arsene’s house, but…
“Avalli, wait a minute.”
She stopped for a moment at the sound of Karls’ voice behind her.
“What, sir?”
“… This nail. You really stole it from Arsene’s warehouse, didn’t you? His wife is threatening to not give him food if he doesn’t fix it quickly, so I guess she’s worried.”
When she wondered why Karls hadn’t shown up during the meal, it seemed like there had been such circumstances.
‘You’re really suspicious. Of course he didn’t steal it.’
Avali had simply used magic to ‘create’ the nail.
“I really picked it up by the river!”
“It’s so clean…”
“It’s okay. The village chief will check later.”
Only then did Karls grab the nails and hammer in his hands when Avalli spoke confidently.
“… Well then.”
Avalli returned home, hearing the brisk hammering sound.
The house was still empty, so she returned to her room and opened her book.
However, not long after she started studying, she fell asleep—Avalli passed out on her desk.
“Avalli.”
“Yes!”
Avalli got up right away upon hearing the voice of the village chief.
Avalli wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth with her arm and looked at Arsene.
“You’re early, village chief.”
“Yes. Because the road is not blocked. More importantly, Avalli, I have an honored guest who has come to see you.”
“… A guest?”
“Yes. The paladin has business with you.”
The paladin.
Since Avalli came to this pioneer village, this was the first fantasy-like word she had heard after Masu.
Of course, she had only heard stories about Masu and had never seen one, and she had no desire to encounter one.
But it seemed that the ‘real’ knight was waiting outside this door.
Avalli’s heart began to pound with anticipation.
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