Beware of the Red Thread - Chapter 15

Sleipnir was indeed the fastest monster in the world. We arrived at Lemda Village without getting lost. The town streets were buzzing as the day had just begun. Clip, clop. The sound of six hoofs and the mane of flames fluttering in the grass drew attention everywhere.

“Isn’t that Lian?”

Some of the village monsters recognized me and tried to approach me, but they saw something behind me and ran away in panic. After receiving such gazes about eighty-four times, I arrived at the Temple of Lemda. In order to get permission to stay in the village, and to show my face.

“Let’s go together.”

Abel was supposed to follow along, but I raised my finger and refused firmly.

“Wait here. I’ll tell you then come out.”

Obviously, the priests who knew Abel’s face would faint if I took him with me. In addition, the plants around him were drying out because of the black energy that I didn’t like so much before.

In the old days, I would have been very scared, but now that I’m used to that kind of thing–I’m so used to it–I’m so so used to it– I left Abel behind and entered the temple. After a month or so, the temple was still there.

“Excuse me.”

“Eh, I’m sorry, but the opening hours are over…?!”

Priest Finn the Dolphin, who did an evening swim in the pool in the temple’s front yard – he used to say that dry skin was unpleasant all day long-! He let out a muffled high-pitched scream. Hehe, it’s been a while. I greeted him awkwardly and went inside. I wanted to close my open jaw. Creak, as soon as I opened the temple door, similar words came out,

“The temple opening hours are already over…”

The chattering sounds ceased abruptly. Crash! In the silence, the sound of a pottery cup that someone was holding fell and shattered. Perhaps it was during tea time after the day’s work, the priests who were sitting at the table opened their mouths – they wanted to close them. Even if a dead monster had come back to life, it would not have been such a reaction.

“Solar! Who is this!”

“Lian! What happened? Did you run away from the reaper? Oh my, the smell of blood!”

“No, no. Wait a minute. That’s not it.”

“Oh my God, look at this filth! What’s with this face!”

Let me talk! The priests who rushed in late to the questions seemed intent on making me drown in a flood of questions. I couldn’t say a word, no, no, no, I was repeating it a hundred times.

“Hey, what’s taking you so long?”

Bang! The door opened somewhat rough, and everyone who appeared had a change of atmosphere. Smash-! A bowl of holy water that fell from someone’s hand rolled over the floor. Everywhere was as quiet as a dead mouse monster.

“Oh. It’s a cute temple. Excuse me. I’m sorry for the dirty feet.”

After that, Sleipnir came in with a cheerful sound of horseshoes, like a guest visiting the house. Heh heh heh! I closed my eyes in despair with the suffocating sound of some of the priests. It’s been less than 5 minutes since I told them to wait outside! Someone stuttered as if he had lag.

“Re,re,re,re!”

“…I’m only planning to stay for a few days, but I’ll never make a fuss…”

“Kyaaaa! Death’s Horse! Oh my God!”

“Hahahaha! This is the body that was active in the Dark Age, but the recognition is still on!”

Sleipnir cried neigh! The black mane fluttered—the cosmos flower pots lying nearby shrieked. Everyone in the temple, including me, was in a panic. Abel slowly looked at me as if he had noticed my rotting expression. In a word, it was a mess

“Why is everyone making so much noise?”

In the middle of it, just as it was cooling down, someone came down from the stairs above. A spider monster with ten dark purple eyes. He was the priest of Cherkopia.

“You?!!”

He spotted me and tried to approach me, but when he saw Abel, he said, “Oh, oh, oh!” and grabbed his back. The little priests rushed and supported him, and they managed to sit him in the levitation chair. Eight pupils trembled like an earthquake on his bluish forehead.

“Wh, why why did you come back again? Ooh, did my child do something wrong?”

Abel, who was looking around the temple with his legs crossed at the pitiful stuttering that looked like he was about to cry, opened his eyes at once.

“Look at these guys. Hey. Are you guys treating me like a villain… Ooph.”

“Hahaha. I stopped while passing by. I’ll be going back after a few days.”

It was easy to keep Abel’s mouth shut. Hiik! Again, the priests let out a breathless scream, but they continued the conversation without caring.

“Is that okay?”

“Ah, of course. Isn’t this your home? …By the way, that one over there too?”

“…how did that happen?”

I didn’t even know it was going to be like this. I let everything go and smiled in vain. While Abel was still glaring at the Cherkopian priest, he whispered again.

“I haven’t slept well since you left. You’re like a lifesaver for me. How did I feel about letting you go…”

Even the eyes on his forehead are red and bloodshot, whether it is real or not. “I was so stressed that I couldn’t even make a cobweb for a month.” The strong and chewy spider web, which is the pride of the Spider Monster family, is severely affected by emotional ups and downs. If he couldn’t spit out any of that cobweb, I knew how stressed he was. He pulled out his handkerchief and sniffed, blowing his nose.

“However, I thought it was the grace of light that you come back like this! Ah, the sacrifice of the reaper is still there. It’s not worth praying with holy water. Huhuhuhuhu.”

“I’m not a sacrifice! You’re the one who sent me obediently!”

You said yes at once! Looking at the eyes of Abel standing behind—still as if he was looking at a natural disaster—the Cherkopia priest tapped my shoulder bitterly with the expression of a peasant who had lost everything in the typhoon and was liberated.

“…hik, hik. Anyway, make yourself at home.”

*

That’s how I stayed in Lemda for a few days. After receiving treatment from the priests who seemed to have a lot to say – Abel was standing next to me and the atmosphere was like a funeral – I left the Temple of Lemda and headed home.

It’s so nice to be on the way to and from work every day, it feels like I’m back in my hometown. Hmmm, happy home. Without realizing it, I moved in lulalala.

“What a cute little town!”

Sleipnir, excited at the same time, followed step by step, step by step, and Abel followed from a distance with a somewhat sullen face.

My house was on a small hill, a little far from downtown. When I fell here in the beginning, the whole village monsters couldn’t do anything about the smell of humans and were overwhelmed, and the priests, worried about it, made a separate house for me.

Now, I have become well-known enough to live in the middle of the village, but I was comfortable with this house, which I have been fond of for 5 years. About the time we were going up the hill along the stone road, Sleipnir announced in advance.

“I’ll be staying on this hill. It’s cute, but it’s too cramped, it’s not my cup of tea.”

I was half convinced when I saw his size. He will destroy it right from the entrance. But I asked politely.

“Still, it’s a bit difficult to put guests to sleep outside.”

“Hahahaha! It’s more rude to put a free spirit like me to sleep in the house! I’m just grateful for your heart!”

Sleipnir, who coolly asked for a high-five with the tip of his nose, concentrated on eating the tender leaves that were full of the hills. I decided to go downtown tomorrow and get a sugar cube.

It was a very rural village, and there was nothing to steal, and there was no house key. When I open the padded wooden bar, I can see the cutely decorated garden. I had been away for a month, but it was clear that someone had cleaned it, and there were no weeds and no dust. Instead, it’s kind of weird.

“What is this flower?”

Abel looked at the pile of flowers in front of the front door. What is this? Bewildered, I picked it up and it looked familiar. Soul flower. The white, fluffy cloud-like flower is, as far as I know, the national flower of this world.

At Karein’s funeral, the female lead was holding it and I remembered that it was described in detail. Why are you bringing this to my house? I picked it up with cold eyes. Some were old and dry, and some were fresh as if they had just been prepared.

…… I’m not dead. He’s not dead. I guess I’ll have to grab the neck of every monster I meet. The house was cleaner than when I left. It was certain that someone had taken care of it regularly. I looked around awkwardly as if I had come to someone else’s house, and then pointed to a corner of the room.

“Sorry it’s small. You use the bed. I’ll use the sofa.”

“Why?”

“You’re the patient, so use the bed.”

“You’re a patient too.”

That’s right. As I stood, I was wrapped in bandages, so I looked more like a patient than Abel. Somehow, standing in the daze, Abel stared at me. Normally, I would have avoided it casually, but something is awkward! I’m going to die of embarrassment.

Every time I saw the lips that looked particularly red, I kept thinking about what happened yesterday, and I felt a bit queasy. I first turned my gaze away. And to forget the thoughts, I sat on the sofa and started organizing my bag. Gold coins, jewels, diamond rings, parchment… …

“That’s right. This.”

I pulled out a palm-sized heart box I had stored deep in my bag and held it out. Just looking at the box brings back the pain of yesterday and makes my shoulders tremble. It really hurts so much.

Whether it was out of a sense of duty or my obsession with my lifeline, I was holding him in my arms until I collapsed yesterday, so fortunately it didn’t get too wet in the rain. I pushed it out proudly like a triumphant general, but Abel, who seems to be looking around the house, ignores the box. Huh? When I was bewildered by the unexpected reaction, he spoke it out of the blue.

“Keep it.”

“Why? It’s yours.”

“……”

The probability that it would be dangerous if I had it—sadly because I’m a useless person in battle—is naturally high, so I asked a question out of pure curiosity. He opens his mouth and starts staring at me. No, what did I do? Looking at each other bewilderedly, I turned my head away with a deep sigh.

I feel bad for being looked at by an idiot like that. Besides, where is the point? I don’t know. Followed by sighing, I put it back deep in the bag

*

Fortunately, the refrigerator was plentiful, I’m sure the food was regularly refilled. Unfertilized eggs of the giant quail monster, Sir Chuchu, who were terrified at first, but acknowledged the racial differences, and sliced

ham, which Sir Muno at the butcher used to personally process for me, who couldn’t eat the meat that the monsters eat-, cheese, milk, and various other products. Everything was there except for the seasoning.

I was starving all day and was very hungry, so I decided to work a little. The main menu items included a Monte Cristo sandwich with ham and cheese, a bagel with salmon, a pancake with kakagu undiluted solution, a cheese omelette with tomatoes, and a salad made with lettuce and paprika and other sprouts.

“…you can even cook?”

Abel looked at me with new eyes, blankly watching me cutting the bagel in half and browned on both sides with salmon drizzled with the sauce—sitting at the table and clenching his chin. It’s just an act to make ends meet as I’ve been living on my own. Even if I die soon, I eat well, so my skills have improved naturally.

“Let’s eat.”

After putting the hot chocolate made from kakagu powder in front of him, I sat down at the table with satisfaction. Abel, who used to eat lavish food at the temple—it was pretty just by looking at the likes of beefsteak or panini—though he was going to complain, he began to eat it unexpectedly without saying a whole lot. But he just kept glancing at me as he ate.

The sun was setting by the window. Under natural light, Abel was truly like a statue. Unexpected flash of the eye. Had I been looking at Abel without realizing it? I took a sip of hot chocolate and met the blood eyes. The pupil, who had always been arrogant, trembled slightly. His face was red, not knowing if it was because of the sunset. I stopped eating my meal for some time, and Abel, who was staring at me, hesitated and bit his red lips.

“Ehem, you…”

Bang bang! Then someone knocked on the door. The sculptural forehead was wrinkled. Who is at dinner time? I tilted my head and walked towards the door.

“Lian! I just heard the news that you’re back, so I’m just running!”

Standing in front of the door was none other than Verseppo. Upon opening the door, a young man with lively green eyes. He was a pine spirit with a cute bud sprouting in the middle of the auburn-colored crown. His pointed ears were a little different, but he was close to a humanoid, and he was one of the village monsters close to Lian.

“This is a herb that is said to be good for wounds, and this is an herb with anti-inflammatory effects. These are Kakagu fruits that Lian loves! I have something to explain, so I’m coming in for a moment… ah, sorry!

Verseppo, who found Abel just then, put on an expression that was not sure what to do. At least he didn’t know Abel. Verseppo was a plant fanatic, and he only roamed the forests, so he was very slow despite the rumors that everyone knew. Even so, the fact that he ran straight up like this was an obvious part of how hot the news that I was back was.

“Hello! That, I thought Lian was alone… Ah, my name is Verseppo, the pine spirit!”

He held out his hand, but Abel, who for some reason hid his sullen expression, raised the corner of his mouth and meekly shook the hand. And,

“Oh!”

Verseppo hastily withdrew his hand. His hand, which had dandelion fluff growing out of it, was burning black. Because of his energy, his vitality was taken away. What are you doing, man? Without realizing it, I clenched my lips fiercely.