The Damn Family Is Back Again - Chapter 318



318. The Loner (1)

The biting wind that had been piercing my body is no longer felt.

The snowflakes that had been chilling my skin are pushed away.

Instead of the wind and snowflakes, warmth is transmitted. From something wrapped tightly around my back.

Could it be that my head is playing tricks on me due to the cold?

I thought it was just a fleeting sensation caused by temporary paralysis.

Until I heard that voice.

With a heart full of disbelief, I turned my body around.

Familiar purple hair caught my eye.

It was really, Harunie.

The person who was holding onto my back tightly, not letting go.

“How did you get here…”

“Is this the time to ask such things?”

-Thud.

“…Ah.”

“Foolish idiot.”

She whispered softly as she hugged me from behind.

But it was clear.

“Were you thinking of sleeping rough in such a cold place?”

Her nagging, which I was starting to get used to.

“Tell me. Were you planning to sleep rough here?”

“…”

“You are such a liar. You said you wouldn’t harm yourself.”

I had nothing to say.

Because it was true.

So I felt even more sorry.

Harunie could activate that jewel and punish me at any time.

Yet, she never once activated the magic in the jewel.

…It must have been to respect my wishes.

“You are wanted, so you can’t enter buildings, but if you move with me while hiding your appearance, it will be possible. I have a room I rented in advance, so follow me and warm up.”

Just like now.

…Surely, I thought I was alone.

I was convinced that there was no one to help me.

In this world or the other, it was the same.

I thought it was natural to handle everything alone.

After all, there are no allies.

Unless it’s a person hiding behind a mask to use me temporarily.

There are plenty of people pretending to offer a helping hand while actually taking advantage of you.

So, naturally, there wouldn’t be any here either.

Someone who genuinely wants to help me.

After all, there are no allies. There wouldn’t be anyone extending a helping hand to me.

And I was certain that there wouldn’t be anyone worrying about me either.

Even my family relationships were a mess.

But.

It seems that’s not the case.

There was.

Someone who genuinely cared about me.

Someone who genuinely worried about me.

*

-Ding!

▶Status Ailment: Frostbite Level 3 will slowly recover over time.◀

▶Status Ailment: Chill Level 3 will slowly recover over time.◀

▶Status Ailment: Frostbite will gradually alleviate over time.◀

[ Time remaining: 5 minutes ]

…

…

Inside the building where the biting wind and snow had completely stopped.

As soon as I arrived following Harniere, the status ailments began to lift, and the fallen abilities started to return to normal.

Not only that, but the fading senses also began to return.

The problem was…

There was only one room.

“…”

“…”

As soon as Harniere entered the room, she seemed to have the same thought as me and started to fuss nervously.

“I-I didn’t plan for this to happen! I just thought we needed to warm up first.”

She was very flustered.

Indeed, in times like this, her clumsy side shows.

“St-still, it’s safer to stay right next to each other than to rent two rooms! If you look at it this way, th-this is better!”

Even making excuses like that.

It’s really easy to understand.

After making such a fuss, Harni returned to a calm state and asked me again.

“Will you tell me now? Why were you out there?”

Back to the same question.

The same question as when the snowstorm was approaching.

This is actually an answer that shouldn’t be spoken.

Because I have no allies in this world.

For someone like me who always lives alone, this kind of thing is likely to backfire later.

There could be many reasons.

Tying up with the duke’s family. Aiming for the bounty. Or maybe wanting to eliminate me at this opportunity.

Either way, the danger doesn’t change.

Considering my future plans, it’s even easier to get stabbed in the back.

But… originally, I would never have told anyone else, but I could reveal this to her alone.

“It was to get out of Illeor without attracting attention. At night, most people here live inside buildings, so… if I avoid the alleys, I can completely avoid being noticed…”

“…If I hadn’t been there, were you planning to hide there for hours?”

“Yes. I thought there wouldn’t be another chance otherwise…”

“Fool.”

Reluctantly answering like that, Harni sighed deeply again.

After sighing, now a time of silence flows.

It was tense enough to wonder what words would come out.

At that moment.

-Thud!

The magic stone that was illuminating the room suddenly went out.

“Huh, what? Why is this…”

Harni approached the lamp and tried to activate the spell several times, but the light did not come on.

“It won’t work. It probably won’t turn on for the rest of the day.”

“What do you mean?”

“In Illeor, this is a common phenomenon due to the cold. It’s so cold that the magic stone supplying the power freezes entirely and stops functioning. It can’t be used until an expert comes to repair it.”

This was another one of Illior’s annoying traits.

If you think about it differently… it’s like a basement room in reality that smells musty, leaks water, or has a circuit breaker that trips due to a short circuit.

Anyway, it was something that needed time.

If a repairable UI pops up, at least you can try to fix it, but this was definitely broken.

While fiddling with this and that to find something to replace the light, I found something usable.

▶You have repaired the lantern.◀

▶Repair level: 38%◀

“Fortunately, it seems the small lantern works.”

“Is there anything else…”

“No. Nothing else works.”

“Then, are you saying… this is the only light we have in our room…?”

“…It seems so.”

We couldn’t even talk because the light went out, and it was just dark.

It felt eerie, as if a rat might appear from somewhere…

-Squeak!

“Ahhh!”

“Whoa!”

“Wasn’t that a rat sound just now? Ugh…”

-Squish.

…I knew this would happen.

“Hey, Harnié? Maybe we should move away a bit…”

“No, I don’t want to. I’m scared.”

“Harnié, calm down…”

“No!!”

Even after that, Harnié clung to me for a long time.

Luckily, the rat got scared and ran away, otherwise, if I hadn’t been able to chase it away, I might have suffocated under that big lump of flesh.

Once things were roughly sorted out, I looked around the room to see what else was functioning properly.

It wasn’t in great shape. The only things that worked in this room were the small lantern and the ability to cook food.

“Fortunately, the food supplies are well preserved. Let’s cook something and fill our stomachs. We need strength, don’t we?”

Harnié said as she took out the cooking utensils.

That’s right.

In times like this, you have to eat something.

Having been accustomed to starving, I know better than anyone how much more painful hunger is when accompanied by cold.

But…

“You just sit comfortably. I’ll do the cooking.”

“…”

-Clang! Clatter!

“It, it was a mistake!”

From noble mtl dot com

Seeing her confidently spill all the cooking utensils while wearing an apron feels oddly familiar.

-You just sit comfortably on the sofa. I’ll cook and bring it to you.

-It, it was a mistake!

‘I’m worried…’

Well… Harni is unmistakably a noble lady.

She wouldn’t do such menial work…

And Ji-eun, it turns out, has never cooked before…?

“…Just in case, have you ever cooked before?”

“Y-yes!”

“Then, what kind of dish…?”

“Why are you asking that! I said I’ve cooked before, didn’t I? Are you doubting me?”

Seeing her avert her gaze and say that makes me even more anxious.

“Are you really sure…?”

“Oh, come on. Just trust me!”

Harni said that and pushed me on the back.

…It’ll be fine, right?

*

-Dun dun.

What is this ominous thing placed on the plate?

I can’t tell what kind of substance it originally was.

I can’t guess its color, shape, or any characteristics.

And what is this smell?

I can’t even begin to imagine what it will taste like.

From the sight and smell alone, I already have a bad feeling.

“It may look strange, but it tastes good, right?”

Strange appearance, you say.

So you knew it yourself.

But why are you cleverly omitting the smell…

“Try it. The taste is really different from how it looks. Let go of your weird prejudices!”

Taste, huh…

Well, it might taste good despite its appearance.

Even though it has a tremendous smell, it might taste good, like fermented soybeans.

If you let go of the prejudice against blood, even seonji can boast a unique texture and taste.

I carefully cut a piece of Harnié’s bizarre dish and put it in my mouth.

“So, how is it?”

“…”

How is it, you ask.

This… I can’t even begin to describe the taste.

“…Harnié.”

“Yes…”

Harnié seemed to have anticipated what I was going to say and looked dejected.

“I’ll do the cooking…”

.

.

.

It’s been a while since I cooked.

Here, I had been eating only what the chef made every day…

But somehow, my head and body still remembered how to cook on my own.

“…Wow.”

No need for a tasting review, I guess.

“But, Karsein. I’m curious… Where did you learn to cook?”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve only been in the Duke’s household. Usually, the head chef or cooks would handle it. You don’t cook for yourself, do you?”

Yikes. What a sharp question.

I scratched my cheek and answered evasively.

“Well, there were times when I had to cook for myself. In places like the estate, there isn’t a head chef, you know?”

“Hmm. That’s true. But, Camilla should know how to cook too, right? From what Mina says, she’s good at it.”

“That…! Camilla was always busy, wasn’t she?”

“If it’s because she was busy… that could be the case.”

Fortunately, she seemed to accept it, but then she looked dejected.

Her eyes kept glancing towards the dish she made.

She looked just like Ji-eun when her cooking failed and she was downcast.

I should cheer her up a bit.

“Ahem. Well… it’s not completely ruined.”

“…Really?”

“It just needs a bit of fixing.”

I took the dish she made and started to re-cook it.

Added some more necessary ingredients.

Removed some impurities.

After a bit of work, it became ‘food’.

Tasting the changed dish, Harni awkwardly said to me,

“…Next time, teach me how to do it.”

“Sure.”

Practice makes perfect. Practice.

*

The day had completely ended.

It had really gotten cold.

If we were outside, we would have had to brace ourselves to avoid freezing to death, but the inn was much better in comparison.

That didn’t mean the inn was warm.

The fact that the heating magic stone was broken didn’t change.

However, Harni wasn’t cold.

“If only it had been like this from the start? I told you it could be done this way from the beginning.”

“Please be a bit more cautious.”

“Yeah, yeah. As if you would.”

Because Karsein is by my side.

That’s why I have lingering feelings.

I tried not to meet him after that day, all to shake off these lingering feelings.

‘If I don’t go… If I don’t return… Karsein…’

In the end, Harniye herself cracks her once firm conviction.