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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“Oh my, I’m so tired…”
I adjusted my backpack as I followed the grandmother, who was walking energetically despite claiming to be tired.
I’d been seeing her every month for almost a year, and she was truly vigorous.
She looked like she could live for another ten years.
“Thank you, Iyer… Thanks to you, I can see my husband’s face one more time.”
“Seeing how healthy you are, I think you’ll see him a hundred more times, ma’am.”
The grandmother chuckled at my words.
“Still, it’s thanks to someone like you, Iyer, that I can go… I can’t go alone. The forest is full of wild dogs and such…”
“I also rely on people like you to make a living. I’m getting paid for this, you know.”
“You’re something else, heh heh…”
This grandmother was one of my regular clients.
Every 1st of the month, she requested an escort into the forest.
Her husband, whom she lost when she was young, was buried in the forest, and she went there every month to pay her respects and tend to his grave.
Until a few years ago, she had no problem going alone, but it seemed the increasing number of wild animals had made it dangerous for her.
I took on the request and accompanied her into the forest every 1st of the month.
With me around, animals didn’t approach, and there were no other dangers, so it felt like I was simply taking the elderly lady for a walk.
That’s why I hadn’t brought any weapons other than my dagger.
“So, Iyer. I’ll spend some time here, so go and take care of your business…”
“Yes, I’ll be back soon.”
This was part of our now familiar routine.
The grandmother would wait here, and I would finish my other two requests in the meantime.
Thanks to Rigati, who deliberately chose requests located nearby.
I opened the capped bottle and sprinkled its contents in a wide circle around us.
This should deter any wild animals.
After confirming that the grandmother had settled down near the grave, I took out the request form from my pocket.
“…”
A clumsily drawn flower was attached to the request form.
Hmm… So, I’m supposed to pick this flower?
But no matter how long I stared at it, I couldn’t tell what kind of flower it was.
Running my fingers over it, I found that Rigati had written the name of the flower, but I wasn’t very knowledgeable about flowers in the first place.
Would someone who knew flowers well be able to tell what kind of flower this drawing represented?
“Ma’am, excuse me, but do you know what kind of flower this is?”
“Let me see…”
The grandmother furrowed her brow as she examined the drawing, then let out a small “Oh!” of admiration.
“If it’s this, you can find it a little further inside…”
“Do you happen to know which way I should go?”
“From where we are, try looking along the path leading to the main road… You should find a place where flowers with five-lobed leaves grow in clusters of three or four…”
Thanking the grandmother, I started walking towards the main road from the grave, as she instructed.
“Oh, my goodness. Iyer…”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“While packing food for my husband, I packed some for you too, so if you don’t mind, take it and eat when you’re hungry…”
The small basket the grandmother handed me contained what appeared to be freshly cooked food.
Bowing my head in gratitude for her kindness, I resumed my walk.
Leisurely strolling while listening to the chirping of birds in the trees, I spotted a cluster of three flowers growing under a tree.
Comparing them to the drawing, several characteristics matched.
This was definitely the flower.
I carefully dug around the base of the plant and lifted it out, roots and all.
Then, I gently placed it inside a cloth bag.
After putting the other two flowers in the bag, I pondered for a moment.
“It’s better to get a few more, right?”
Judging by the slightly crooked handwriting on the request form, it seemed to have been written by a child, which meant it was most likely intended as a gift.
I thought it would look better to have more than just three flowers, so I looked around the area.
After gathering five or six more…
“Oh?”
I found a bag abandoned in the middle of the bushes.
Taking out the request form and comparing it to the bag, I realized it matched the description of the lost bag.
“Is this what they mean when they say good deeds bring good fortune?”
I had been prepared to search even the wild dogs’ dens, considering the possibility that they might have taken it, but I found it much faster than expected.
I was quite lucky today.
The flower-picking request was successfully completed.
The lost bag was recovered.
Now, all I had to do was escort the grandmother back to Tillasden and deliver the requested items, and my tasks for the day would be done.
As I turned to go back to where the grandmother was…
…Please…
…Help…
“Huh?”
From a distance, a faint moan, inaudible to ordinary people, reached my ears.
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“Ha… Ha…”
A young woman leaned against a tree, gasping for breath.
Her thin, white legs, visible beneath her long skirt, were covered in small scratches, like red paint streaked across a white canvas, trickling down her legs.
Her glasses, perched precariously on her nose, had one of its lenses cracked.
It was a pair she treasured, but she had no time to worry about them now.
It had been three days since her last meal.
Her stomach was aching beyond hunger.
She hadn’t even managed to find a single berry, only licking the dew from leaves to quench her thirst.
It was no wonder her stomach was in an uproar.
They had been wandering through this forest for three days, trying to find their way out.
But during that time, they hadn’t seen a single person.
The young woman barely managed to turn her head and look at the man collapsed beside her.
His condition was no different.
No, it might have been even more serious than hers.
“Foreman… Foreman…!”
There was no response.
She could hear intermittent groans, but he didn’t move.
Perhaps the berries he ate to test for her had contained toxins.
Her loyal secretary was on the verge of death from poisoning, all for her sake.
Foreman, whom she trusted, wouldn’t move.
The young woman, too, could barely move anymore.
The young woman…
Jonah squeezed out a voice that wouldn’t come.
She desperately hoped someone would hear her cry.
“Help… me…”
…….
…….
But…
As had been the case for the past two days, no one answered her cries.
If she had spent more time exploring the outside world instead of just reading books when she was younger, could she have handled this situation better?
Was she, in the end, just someone who theorized from behind a desk?
Such thoughts gnawed at her.
Jonah’s body, leaning against the tree, gradually lost its strength.
Almost lying down, she let out a hollow laugh.
Ha.
Just as she gave up, a dark shadow fell over her.
“Are you alright?”
Jonah’s head shot up, despite thinking she had used up all her energy.
Her fading consciousness made her wonder if she was hearing things.
But it was definitely a human voice.
Seeing the shadow cast over her, Jonah realized someone was looking down at her.
It was a ‘human,’ the very thing Jonah and Foreman had been searching for for three days.
“Help… me…”
The figure, after quietly observing Jonah’s condition, supported her back with both arms and helped her lean against the tree.
Passively guided by his touch, Jonah opened her eyes to see who had helped her up.
But due to the backlight filtering through the trees, she couldn’t see his face clearly.
He took a leather pouch from his bag and held it near her mouth.
“It’s water. Drink slowly.”
“Mmm… Mmm…”
Water flowed into her mouth, which had only tasted dew.
Contrary to Jonah’s desire to quickly rehydrate, he poured the water slowly, pausing and resuming repeatedly.
He was being considerate, preventing her empty stomach from being upset by the cold water.
Unlike her usual composed and rational self, Jonah, after rehydrating, weakly tugged at his clothes.
“Food… Food…”
The man rummaged through the basket he was carrying.
A boiled potato, wrapped in cloth, appeared.
He broke it into small pieces with his hands and held it to her mouth, as if feeding a baby.
It was just a plain boiled potato, the kind she wouldn’t have paid much attention to back home.
But why did it taste so good?
The lightly salted potato tasted far better than the finest beef she had ever eaten.
She finally realized the preciousness of every meal.
As Jonah hungrily chewed on the potato, the man withdrew his hand.
“M-more, please…”
“Eating suddenly after a long period of fasting will upset your stomach. Rest a bit before eating more.”
“Please…”
Despite her pleas, the man mercilessly withdrew his hand.
Then, he approached Foreman, who was lying beside her.
Only then did Jonah realize that she had forgotten about Foreman in her desperation for food and water.
“He… He ate a poisonous berry…”
“It seems so.”
“Please, save him…”
At her words, the man’s gaze turned towards Jonah.
He stared at her for a long time without saying a word.
Clouds gradually covered the sky.
The sunlight that had been shining brightly through the leaves was slowly obscured by the clouds, and the backlight that had hidden the man’s face gradually faded.
Finally, Jonah could see the face of the man who had saved her.
A brown robe covered his entire body.
His backpack was filled with plants that looked like medicinal herbs.
He looked like a herbalist.
Jonah’s gaze rose to meet his face.
He appeared to be in his twenties.
Dry lips.
Ordinary black hair.
But there was something unusual around his eyes.
A black cloth covered where his eyes should have been.
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The situation before me was enough to perplex even a seasoned adventurer like myself.
A man and a woman lay collapsed at my feet, clearly having gone without food for several days.
“He… He ate a poisonous berry…”
“It seems so.”
“Please, save him…”
What was this girl talking about?
This wasn’t a tropical region.
There were no berries poisonous enough to kill a person near Tillasden.
At most, they would cause stomach aches.
“Please, save him…”
As I stared at her in disbelief, a tear rolled down the girl’s cheek.
‘…What are these people doing?’
The main road to Tillasden was right there.
Less than a five-minute walk away.
If they went out to the main road, they would see a line of carriages heading to the city.
Why were these people stranded here, at a distance where I could take a stroll from Tillasden with an elderly lady?
‘Good deeds bring good fortune…’
I sighed inwardly and muttered to myself.
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