The Story of Becoming a Married Man in Another World - Chapter 35



035 Thank you

Gus suddenly appeared.

He usually comes around dawn, but today he was very late. Judging by the direction of the sun, it was probably around two o’clock.

Gus was standing idly at the edge of the forest and the clearing, a little distance from the cabin.

From noble mtl dot come

It was a bit surprising since it had never happened before.

Was something wrong?

Juhwan stopped hammering the fence behind the house and approached Gus.

“…You’re building a fence.”

“Yes. It’s the mountain, wolves are dangerous. So are people, strangers.”

Speaking and listening were the same, but expressing it verbally felt a bit more difficult.

Listening was easier because he could guess the meaning if he knew the words, but speaking required him to think of everything himself. He regretted not studying the language better when he was in school. It was a late regret.

Gus thought for a moment and then looked at Juhwan.

“I’ll teach you how to make a bow.”

Normally, Gus would wait until Juhwan was ready. But today, there was no time for that. Gus just pulled him along, saying it was fine.

“We can make the real one later, later. For now, just ##.”

With only an axe tucked into his waistband, Juhwan hurriedly followed Gus down the mountain.

Gus led him to the side of the shed behind his house. There were several long logs next to the shed.

It was unclear whether the logs were being dried to make bows or if they were discarded because they were not suitable for bows.

Gus stood in front of a log at the edge and gestured for Juhwan to watch closely.

Using the thin edge of the axe, he drew a long line on the surface of the log.

Then he showed Juhwan a wedge made of bamboo.

“First, make this.”

It was a thick bamboo shaped into a long triangular prism. The top was round like the original bamboo, and it became narrower and flatter towards the bottom.

Gus placed the bamboo wedge vertically in the center of the log’s cross-section and gently hammered it with a blunt mallet.

Once the tip of the wedge was slightly embedded in the center of the log, Gus placed another wedge on the pre-drawn line on the top of the log and gently tapped it with the mallet again.

As the wedge went in a bit, he placed another wedge next to it and gently hammered it again.

It wasn’t split all at once. Gus slowly split the log along the long line by hammering in multiple wedges. Sometimes he used the axe to split it.

Once the log was completely split in half, he used the wedges to peel off the bark.

“Not too much. Little by little.”

Gus showed how to peel the bark carefully. The bark had to be peeled gently. Gus repeatedly said it wasn’t good to carve deeply while demonstrating the angle of the wedge.

Then he began to carve the bow shape. He hollowed out the center where the hand would grip and gradually shaped the bow.

Gus placed the roughly outlined bow on the ground and raised one finger.

“Wait. About #.”

Then he thought for a moment and wrote a number on the ground. 30. And he said again.

“Wait. The wood needs to dry.”

—

After saying that, Gus took Juhwan into the workshop. It was a place filled with bows and arrows.

On the workbench lay an unfinished bow.

Gus showed the remaining steps of making the bow using the unfinished bow.

He also taught Juhwan how to make arrows using the bamboo in the workshop.

“Watch and remember.”

Gus said this as he attached feathers to the arrow and added the tip in front of Juhwan.

Seeing that there was a little time left, Gus pretended to roast the bamboo, which had nothing attached to it yet, over the fire. It seemed that the arrows were a darker color than regular bamboo because they were roasted over the fire.

Juhwan felt something was a bit strange. Gus had definitely said before that he would teach him how to make a bow, but that probably meant he would show him the process when the time came. It didn’t seem like he would show everything at once like this.

Juhwan observed Gus’s expression and asked,

“Is something wrong? Is the mountain dangerous?”

“No.”

Gus shook his head.

“A bird flew over the mountain. A circle, a high mountain, from a far place, from a distant mountain.”

Juhwan looked at Gus, recalling the scene he had seen a few days ago. Perhaps Gus’s actions now were related to that event.

Gus shrugged and said,

“There are wolves in the mountain. The wolves must have attacked humans.”

When Lizzy taught him the verb that means to guess, she had a hard time. Guessing is not something you can see, so it’s really hard to explain.

Listening to Gus, Juhwan thought, “Oh, is that so?” He had also been attacked by wolves before. If a pack of wolves attacked, ordinary people wouldn’t be able to handle it easily. The wolves here are quite large.

Thinking of the bird circling in the sky, Juhwan felt a bit anxious. The bird at that time must have been circling to eat human flesh. That meant there were many dead people.

Noticing Juhwan’s anxiety, Gus smiled, dusted off his hands, and stood up.

“Go on. I’ll teach you more later.”

“Thank you.”

Juhwan bowed his head in gratitude and left the workshop. He hurriedly headed home, hopping along. Although it was getting late, it would be best to finish the remaining fence today.

Suddenly, he remembered the time when his parents passed away. His grandfather had also passed away just a year after they started living together.

His heart pounded ominously.

He imagined a pack of wolves attacking his home. No. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like his whole body was throbbing.

All he could think of was Lizzy and Dorothy soaked in blood. Please, let that not happen.

His father’s face, horribly distorted from the car accident, suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Juhwan quickened his pace.

When he arrived home, running until he was out of breath, he saw Dorothy entering the rabbit hutch.

—

—

Dorothy, hearing Juhwan’s footsteps, turned around and smiled brightly. The child had a rabbit basket in her arms.

“Daddy.”

Dorothy ran towards him with small, quick steps.

Juhwan hugged the child along with the basket and closed his eyes. It’s okay. Nothing happened. The child is smiling. Nothing bad has happened. No one has died.

“Daddy, Daddy, look, a rabbit.”

Dorothy squirmed in Juhwan’s arms and held out the basket. There were two rabbits in the basket. One was a real rabbit, the other was a doll. It seemed like Lizzy had made it from scraps of cloth.

“It’s Dorothy’s doll! Daddy, give names to the rabbit and the doll.”

Dorothy pushed the basket towards Juhwan.

Juhwan took a deep breath and hugged the child. The child squirmed, trying to get out of his arms.

“….”

Sorry, Dorothy. Let me catch my breath. I ran so crazily that I feel like I might die right now.

*

After Juhwan’s figure disappeared, Gus returned to his workshop.

When he reported that he had found the goblin, the village chief immediately sent his son to a village half a day’s distance away.

There is a guild branch in that village where the regular carriage stops. Although small, if you inform them, the matter will be handled quickly. I heard that the guild actively intervenes in such matters, so they will consult with suitable adventurers and send someone right away.

‘They should arrive in a few days.’

But the goblin’s actions are faster than expected.

The bird that Juhwan saw was probably targeting human corpses.

When they found the goblin’s tribe, they discovered people hiding in the mountains.

It was a small group of only about six people. They seemed to be people who had fled because they couldn’t make a living, with poor weapons and clothing.

And there was a pair of a man and a woman who seemed to be a couple.

‘That woman must have caught the goblins’ attention.’

When something that has been held back bursts, the aftermath is great.

The woman in the goblin group belongs to the strongest one. The weaker ones would have had a hard time even approaching her.

Once such goblins get a taste of a woman, their already bad brains stop working even more.

There is no nearby village on the other side of the mountain. It’s just a barren field with a rarely traveled road. It’s a road where bandits would starve to death, as carriages hardly pass through.

The nearest village to where the goblins live was this place.

Gus shook his head hard, recalling Juhwan’s face thanking him. Sacrifices are inevitable for the purpose. There’s no other way.

Besides, even if it hurts now, as long as he’s alive, he can meet another woman and start a family. That man will surely survive.

Gus began to check the bow and arrows he would use when facing the goblins.

—

At the end of life’s journey, one encounters the most splendid hunting ground. For Gus, who has lived his entire life as a hunter, there could be no greater happiness.

*

Tonight, the night is unusually cold. The sound of the wind blowing through the branches was like the wailing of ghosts.

‘On such a cold day.’

Lizzie wrapped herself in an outer garment and went outside.

Juhwan was working so hard on the fence that he couldn’t even straighten his back. He sharpened the ends of the bamboo like spears and drove them into the ground again. He kept repeating this process. It seemed he hadn’t rested at all since he went out with Gus and came back.

Beasts like wolves are dangerous, but they do not attack this house. Animals rarely approach a human house that uses fire.

Moreover, although it was in the mountains, this house was located on the edge. To humans, it might seem like a house in the mountains, but to the beasts, it would probably be outside the mountains.

You could tell this house had been used as a hunter’s residence for a long time. It wasn’t that dangerous.

Even so, Juhwan just smiled. He didn’t stop working. He was working so hard that one might worry he would hurt himself.

Fortunately, the fence seemed almost complete. Only the entrance was left, and tall bamboo spears densely surrounded the house.

Lizzie held the stew close to her chest to keep it warm and headed to where Juhwan was working. With every breath, white puffs of air rose into the sky, mingling with the warm air of the stew like smoke.

“Juhwan.”

When Lizzie called, Juhwan turned around. Despite the cold, her husband was shirtless. Sweat was running down like water. Maybe he would have preferred cold water over warm stew.

She thought so, but when Juhwan saw the bowl in her hand, he smiled brightly as if he was happy.

“Stew! Thank you, Lizzie. It looks delicious. I’m hungry.”

When he smiled, his fierce eyes softened and he looked a bit like a child. It was strange, but in that moment, he looked a bit like Dorothy. Even though she was someone else’s child, why did he look like her? It was really strange.

Juhwan took the bowl of stew from Lizzie’s hands and smiled.

“Thank you, Lizzie. It’s cold. Go inside.”

“Just until you finish eating. I want to stay with you a little longer.”

It was cold, but she didn’t want to go inside. Today, she felt like she was missing him. Even though they were in the same space, they had less conversation and eye contact than usual. Somehow, it made her feel sad and regretful.

Juhwan said a few more times that it was cold, but each time Lizzie shook her head, he smiled as if he had no choice. She liked this part of him too. Juhwan never forced her to do anything.

When Lizzie leaned slightly on his arm like a spoiled child, Juhwan sniffed his body as if worried about the smell of sweat. When she laughed at this, Juhwan looked a bit gloomy. He was cute.

“Lizzie, come here.”

Outside, there were remnants of firewood and cut bamboo, and a bonfire was burning. It was like a torch illuminating the darkness, and Juhwan placed a log in front of it and sat her down.

Standing behind her to block the wind, Juhwan ate the stew.

Lizzie turned her body slightly to look up at Juhwan’s face. Slurp, the big man blew on the warm stew and ate it quickly.

When their eyes met, Juhwan’s eyes curved into a small smile again.

After finishing the stew and lowering the bowl, Juhwan said in a small voice,

“It was delicious, Lizzie. Thank you.”

—

“No, it’s not you who should be thankful.” Lizzie smiled brightly as she received the bowl from Joo-hwan’s hand.

“Thank you, Joo-hwan.”

In the cold air, their hands slightly overlapped. Why did the touch of their skin, as if it were ordinary, make them so happy? Lizzie looked up at Joo-hwan once more and said,

“Thank you.”

It was a night that made her want to say those words.

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