“Haah……”
A helpless laugh leaked out with a short breath. Normally, I might have already thrown it out. But I couldn’t bring myself to kick out this small demon beast that couldn’t even open its eyes properly yet.
After catching my breath for a moment, I brought a bowl filled with unseasoned chicken broth.
Just then, as if consciousness had returned, the creature’s eyelids blinked heavily. Red eyes were revealed, still glaring at me as if on guard.
No, was it really wariness? It seemed more like it was sizing me up.
“As expected of a demon beast.”
Despite being injured, its eyes were still those of a predator selecting prey. Kind of like it was wondering, ‘Can I swallow this human in one bite?’
Moreover, if it was food offered by a suspicious human, it wouldn’t need to eat it, but after tasting it slightly for a moment, it soon quietly emptied the broth and buried itself back under the blanket.
I watched that sight and chuckled.
“You must have been hungry.”
I too soon grew tired and leaned my body against a chair. I’d intended to close my eyes just until customers came, but when did I fall asleep? I slowly opened my eyes at the sunlight tapping my eyelids and the damp sensation brushing my arm.
“……?”
A red tongue brushed over my arm. The demon beast was sneakily licking my arm. Before surprise, my gaze headed to the wound. The wound that had been beading with blood until earlier had now stopped bleeding.
Holding an unfamiliar feeling, when I made eye contact with the creature, it immediately turned its head away sharply and buried itself under the blanket.
I stared blankly at that sight for a moment, then suddenly a smile spread.
“This is why everyone raises animals.”
My heart wavered at even one small gesture.
It’s kind of cute, isn’t it.
***
Was it because I’d done too excessive a scaling service last time? After that, Lionel didn’t appear. I waited with my fingers in my mouth, disappointed about when he’d come again.
Around when my tongue was aching bitterly, he showed himself after five days. But this time he wasn’t alone.
He was with Theorde.
I reflexively drooled. This golden combo! Perhaps seeing my expression, Lionel flinched and glanced at me, then quietly ate his meal without a word and left.
“Tsk.”
Unfortunately, my tongue service didn’t seem to please His Highness the Crown Prince. Still, the gukbap must have been tasty, right? Anyway, he left money, so from a merchant’s standpoint, isn’t that a gain?
Right. The demon beast I picked up last time—was it around the third day? Before I knew it, its wounds had recovered, and when I woke up, it had disappeared. I felt both disappointed and relieved. Since my throat wasn’t slashed clean off, it’s probably a good thing.
But there was one strange thing.
For several days, bloodstains faintly continued in front of the inn. I couldn’t tell if someone had been loitering around and disappeared, or if it was traces of that demon beast.
It seemed like the creature was prowling around, so when I finished business and left a bowl of gukbap in front of the door before sleeping, it was always completely emptied by the next morning.
Was it trying to repay a favor? Or was it simply a late-night snack thief?
Anyway, I didn’t have time to worry about it.
Because today was a day off.
Which meant it was the day to meet Jeffrey again.
Ding-a-ling-
As soon as the bell rang, I bolted upright. As always, he entered through the door with a gentle smile. However, to my eyes, even that smile looked strangely chilling.
“Good morning.”
Along with the soft greeting, he glanced around the surroundings and continued.
“Have you become a little accustomed to this place?”
“Well, I lost my memory, I told you.”
I uttered an excuse that still didn’t work at all, but Jeffrey rather curved the corners of his eyes as if intrigued.
Soon he calmly sat in a chair, and I brought out tea, pushed it in front of him, and sat across from him. Jeffrey slowly lifted the teacup, deeply savored the aroma, and swallowed a sip.
“The scent is good.”
“It’s rosemary tea. They say it’s also good for headaches.”
I shrugged for no reason and added.
“I heard mages have chronic headaches.”
Actually, I received it as a service at the pharmacy. But even lip service feels good to hear, doesn’t it?
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
A surprised look briefly passed through Jeffrey’s eyes, then he held his usual smile.
Then he turned his gaze and swept over the worn ceiling. After that, the walls, the table. He examined every corner of the shabby inn as if turning pages of an old book, then finally stopped his gaze beyond the door he’d entered.
“Do you know what the boundary where this inn is located means?”
“It’s a symbol of the armistice. The Boundary Line that separated demon beasts and humans.”
Jeffrey slowly nodded.
“In the beginning, demon beasts and humans fought endlessly. And for the armistice, a saint crossed over from another world.”
What, isn’t this a very familiar isekai cliché?
When my expression became subtly distorted, Jeffrey didn’t miss that change. Without withdrawing his smile, he tapped the table with his fingertips. Tap.
“The saint from another world.”
Tap.
“The ancestors of the current Hart family, and the ancestors of the Latour family.”
Tap.
“The Chevalier imperial family that inherited dragon’s blood.”
Tap.
“And lastly, one hero.”
The last finger landed on the table. Tap. The echo was short but strangely powerful.
Jeffrey’s violet eyes glinted somewhat ominously.
“Upon those five pillars, the current Empire originated.”
I unknowingly gulped. A story that didn’t appear anywhere in the original work. It was only described as ‘a commotion that started at the Boundary Line,’ but his words were specific as if explaining that origin.
My heart pounded and my spine went cold. Even while thinking I shouldn’t be drawn in, I was being pulled into his voice.
Jeffrey’s violet eyes gleamed secretly as if telling a secret story.
“My ancestor married the saint of that era.”
Was it that ancestor who enjoyed spicy flavors? Could the reason his hair shines particularly black also originate from there?
But I couldn’t bring that question out of my mouth. Instead, I hesitantly changed the topic to something irrelevant.
“…Then, who is that one hero?”
While hiding behind the role of ‘owner’ guarding the Inn on the Boundary, I was asking as if hearing this story for the first time. In the end, it was tantamount to admitting I myself was from another world.
Yet Jeffrey’s face showed he didn’t care at all. Rather, he calmly held a smile and continued his answer without a shred of wavering. The emotion contained in that smile was so deep I couldn’t even guess at it in the end.
“No records remain. They said one single hero who didn’t even leave a name gathered them. Some called him a god, and others said he was from another world.”
“……”
“What’s likely is the theory that he was from another world like the saint. The theory that he returned to his original world after the armistice, and the theory that he quietly disappeared—these two are most often discussed.”
Returned, he says……?
My throat stiffened rigidly and even breathing was difficult.
And as if reading my heartbeat, Jeffrey tapped the table again. Tap, tap.
That regular echo strangely matched the rhythm of my pounding heart. Like a wave slowly subsiding.
“Still, seeing you know about the Boundary Line, it seems you’re not completely without information from this side.”
“……!”
Suddenly Jeffrey’s hand reached out. When cold, firm fingers cupped my cheek, my whole body stiffened tightly. Like having my nape bitten by a large beast, I couldn’t say anything and only gaped my mouth.
Soon graceful fingers swept over my lips and gently caressed my lower lip. When the soft lip was pressed by his finger, Jeffrey laughed shortly.
“Let me make another proposal.”
A low but deeply permeating echo in my ears.
“Instead of meeting just once a week like now, how about staying by my side and learning about this place directly?”
“……!”
That unwavering attitude and the predator’s gaze slowly tightening as if using my confusion captivated me.
“It’ll be a much better proposal than before. I’m on the kind side when it comes to my possessions. Also, who knows, I might send you back to your original world someday.”
Gulp. My throat was parched, so I swallowed.
Honestly, it was an attractive condition. Rather than surviving in this world, returning to the original world was much better. No matter how much I endure selling gukbap, doesn’t it ultimately have limits?
It’s not a problem that can be solved simply by earning a lot of money. This was a world where war would soon break out.
Moreover, Jeffrey—he’s described as the most powerful Grand Mage in the original work. If there really was a way to return, it would probably be through him.
Yet I was hesitating within those violet eyes.
Why?
Because Jeffrey was an ambiguous stream. I didn’t know how far his words were truth.
Perhaps noticing that confusion, Jeffrey slowly leaned toward me. My vision was entirely dyed violet, and only when our noses lightly touched did I finally stammer out.
“By your side…… h-how?”
At the naive question, Jeffrey laughed shortly. Unlike me, who must have been making a stupid expression, his lips held both cold composure and sweet threat simultaneously.
“I’m not bad as a bed partner either.”
Bed partner? Why is bed partner coming up here?
