Chapter 7: Magic Stone(1)

“Delicious!”

Arsene’s wife, Envel, exclaimed with a bright smile.

“Avalli, you might have a talent for cooking.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s amazing. The same ingredients, but the taste is so different.”

Envel continued to express her admiration.
Not only that, but she also ruffled Avalli’s hair playfully.
However, Avalli, the target of the praise, was a bit dumbfounded.

‘…My cooking is delicious?’

Back when Avalli was still a man, his cooking skills weren’t objectively that great.
Every time he impulsively grabbed a kitchen knife and frying pan, he ended up realizing the greatness of pre-made food.

Without an air fryer and a microwave, he couldn’t make a decent meal.
The only time he used the induction stove that came with his studio apartment was to boil instant noodles.

“When Arsene comes back, make sure to cook for him too. He’ll definitely love it.”
“…Will he really?”
“Yes. This unnie guarantees it.” (TL Note: Unnie is what a younger female calls an older female.)

Envel said with a bright smile.
Twelve and twenty-six.
Despite the age gap being more than double, Envel always referred to herself as “unnie” to Avalli and the village children.

Actually, she had her reasons.

Envel was the youngest among the married couples in the pioneer village, and there was a nearly ten-year age difference between her and her husband, Arsene.
Unlike the other boisterous wives in the village, Envel’s appearance still retained much of her maidenly charm.
In other words, Envel still had the desire to ‘look young’.

“Okay, unnie.”

Avalli nodded with an innocent smile.
Avalli wasn’t insensitive enough to point out a woman’s desire for beauty and youth.
She had seen Envel flinch several times whenever Hans, running errands, called her “ajumma” (a term for middle-aged women) when visiting their house.

“Um, Avalli. Could unnie ask you for one more favor?”

After lunch, Envel spoke hesitantly.

“Anything.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet. There are some finished clothes on top of unnie’s bed. Could you take them to Bern’s house? After that, there’s nothing else you need to help with.”
“Bern… Is he the monster hunter?”
“Yes, his house is at the northeastern edge of the village.”

Avalli, whose guess was confirmed, frowned slightly.

“…I’ll have to stop by the river to wash up on my way back.”
“Sorry, Avalli. Thank you for your trouble.”
“It’s no trouble. As a guest, I should at least do this much.”

Avalli declared confidently, got down from the table, and went to the bedroom to collect the clothes.
There was no reason to delay, as the saying went, ‘strike while the iron is hot’.

“I’ll be back!”
“Be careful.”

Avalli called out and left the house with energetic steps.
The pioneer villagers were also finishing their lunch and heading back to work.
Avalli bowed her head in greeting each time she encountered one of them.

“Hey, Avalli. Running errands? Be careful not to fall.”
“Avalli, thank you for washing my child today! He looks so clean!”
“Avalli, doesn’t your neck hurt? What kind of regional greeting is that anyway?”
“Long time no see, Avalli. Send my regards to Arsene.”
“Avalli unnie! Where are you going?”

A small pioneer village with a total population of around 50.
Most of the residents knew each other’s every move, and that included Avalli, who had now fully integrated into the village.
Each time she conversed with the villagers, Avalli felt an undeniable sense of community.

‘Is this the true meaning of rural life?’

Perhaps it was because of the different era.
This was a world with magic, demonic beasts, divine magic, and other fantastical elements that didn’t exist in modern times.
In the harsh environment of the Eastern Great Forest, it would be difficult to survive without sticking together.

The area of the pioneer village was about the size of one or two soccer fields.
To the west, there were some small, cultivated farmlands, but in the other three directions – east, south, and north – there was still a long way to go.
At least, thanks to the recent decrease in demonic beast appearances, it was now possible to cut down trees in the forest more actively than before.

Which meant there was a lot more work to be done.

But few residents disliked this fact.
These people had already made the pioneer village their second home.
There was no reason to shy away from developing their home and leaving it for future generations.
Although their bodies were tired lately, they always had smiles on their faces.

“Hello!”

Arriving at her destination at the northeastern edge of the village, Avalli called out loudly.

“Bern! I brought the clothes!”

She called the homeowner’s name again, but there was no response.

Bern’s yard, visible beyond the fence, was unusually tidy.
Usually, it was a place littered with demonic beast hides and bones, along with pungent chemicals used to treat those materials, forcing one to cover their nose.
That’s why his house was located on the very outskirts of the village, but now the smell had almost disappeared.

‘Has business been slow lately?’

As Avalli pondered this, she heard the voice of a man slurring from alcohol.

“…What? Avalli?”
“Ah, Bern. I brought the clothes.”
“Clothes? …Oh right, thanks for the trouble.”

Bern, with half-lidded eyes, stumbled towards Avalli and extended his hand.
Avalli placed the clothes Envel had mended on his outstretched hand.

“Then I’ll be going.”

She bowed her head and was about to leave—

“Wait… Hic, just a moment, Avalli.”

Bern hiccuped, stopping Avalli.
Normally, she would have pretended not to hear, not wanting to get involved with a drunkard’s rambling.
But Avalli was in a particularly good mood today, so she turned back.

“…Did Arsene leave this morning?”
“Yes.”
“…Then the Paladin… Um… Sir Kyle too?”

Avalli nodded.
The reason she was in such a good mood today was actually because Kyle had left.

Successfully brushing off that night’s incident with a blatant lie was one thing.
But Kyle, still seemingly suspicious, had stayed in the village for about a week, talking to Avalli whenever he got the chance.
Especially in the past few days, he had tried to indoctrinate her with the Goddess’s Faith, which had given her a splitting headache.

‘…But why is he asking about that man?’

The answer to the question that had just popped into Avalli’s mind immediately came from Bern’s mouth.

“Then I’m completely doomed. It’s over.”
“What’s over?”
“My life.”

Bern slumped his shoulders with a dejected expression.
His appearance resembled Avalli’s past self.
Specifically, the Avalli who had failed job interviews for nearly six months.

“…Are you free now, Avalli?”

Avalli spoke in a subdued voice.
Judging by his talk of life being over and being doomed, it seemed he had some kind of story to tell.
Enough to make him want to confide in a young girl like Avalli.

‘Sigh.’

Now that she was a member of Asha Village, she couldn’t just ignore Bern in this state.

“For now, yes.”
“…Then keep me company for a bit. Wait here. I’ll just put these clothes away.”

Bern said so and stumbled back into his house.
The thought of running away now crossed her mind, but a strange pity in her heart kept Avalli rooted to the spot.

“Sure.”

Bern, emerging from his house again, seemed relatively composed, as if he had splashed cold water on his face.
But he was holding something in both hands.
A spoon in his left hand, and a glass bottle filled with something in his right—

‘Oh.’

Seeing the contents of the bottle, Avalli inwardly exclaimed.
She had thought he was just a drunkard, but it seemed he had at least a modicum of manners.

“Have this while you listen.”
“Okay, Bern!”

Avalli snatched the peach honey preserve and opened the lid with a cheerful smile.

“…You’re strong. That lid is pretty tight.”
“I’m pretty strong. More importantly, Bern, what happened to make you so down?”

The sweetness that spread through her mouth instantly boosted Avalli’s affection towards Bern.
Although she thought she should eat sparingly since it was probably an expensive treat, Avalli couldn’t control herself, savoring the sweetness she hadn’t tasted in a while.

“Well, you see…”

Without stopping Avalli, Bern began to recount his experiences over the past month.
And as his venting continued… the speed at which Avalli spooned the peach honey preserve into her mouth slowed considerably.

“I know it’s a good thing for the village. But what can I do, it’s a disaster for me. The deadline for my contract is right around the corner!”
“…So, the Paladin…?”
“Yes. If Sir Kyle was here, I could go deeper into the forest. It would have been an unreasonable request, but I thought it would be better than dying where I sit.”

But it was already too late.
With Kyle gone, there was no way for Bern to obtain demonic beast corpses.
The same went for the ‘magic stones’ he was supposed to deliver to the mage.

‘……Oh.’

Through recent conversations with Kyle, Avalli had learned that the creatures she had thought of as mere beasts were actually demonic beasts.
The survival struggle she had waged for nearly two weeks after arriving in this world had indeed been a great help to the villagers.

Avalli had been quite pleased with that fact—

‘Is this my fault?’

For Bern, whose livelihood depended on hunting demonic beasts and extracting magic stones, it was a bolt from the blue.

“When is the deadline for your contract?”
“…Two weeks.”
“What happens if you can’t fulfill it?”
“If I’m lucky, I’ll be sold into slavery.”

At the word ‘slavery’, the movement of the spoon in Avalli’s hand finally stopped.
Her body still craved the sweetness, but the adult’s reason within Avalli managed to suppress the urge.

“…And if you’re unlucky?”
“I’ll become a magical experiment subject. …Haha, my life is over.”

Bern clutched his head in despair.
Avalli had fought the demonic beasts to survive, and it had been unavoidable.
But seeing this man facing the prospect of being sold off made her feel uneasy.

‘How… Is there a way to help him—.’

……
……
……

There was.

“Bern.”
“…It’s alright, Avalli. You can finish the honey preserve.”
“No, it’s not that. You get magic stones from demonic beast corpses, right?”

Bern nodded weakly, his eyes lifeless.

“Um… can you keep this a secret from the other villagers?”
“…Sure, tell me. I’m a dead man anyway, I might as well hear your confession.”
“It’s not a confession.”

Avalli spoke to the utterly negative Bern in a quiet voice.

“I know a place where demonic beast corpses are scattered.”

Figuring it was like saving a person’s life.