Chapter 2

That day, I woke up significantly earlier than usual. My eyelids were heavy as the fatigue hadn’t worn off, and I wondered why I had woken up at all, but soon enough, I realized: the wind howling past the window was fierce. Sensing the cold air wrapping around my skin, accompanied by the noise that instinctively brought to mind a snow-covered landscape, I felt a sudden sense of confusion.

Where am I?

As soon as the question arose, my eyes habitually darted around the room.

I saw the old ceiling with its wood grain. Confirming that this was the shabby house I had been staying in for the past few months, the confusion finally subsided.

This wasn’t the Count’s castle. That fact alone eased the familiar despair somewhat.

Even so, perhaps because of the noisy wind, I couldn’t fall back asleep.

As soon as I started my shift, I was gathering firewood to feed the fireplace. Just as I was about to fill the basket, the window of the room at the end of the second floor opened, and Yumir, the innkeeper, stuck her head out.

“Iel. Come up here for a second.”

She looked more haggard than usual, likely having failed to get proper rest through the night. To be fair, the dawn wind had been quite noisy. I excused her in my mind and answered dutifully.

“Yes.”

I clapped my palms together to dust off my gloves and went inside. When I climbed the stairs to the guest floor, Yumir was waiting in the hallway with the door to the last room wide open.

“Did you call for me?”

Yumir exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke without answering and gestured with her chin toward the other side of the door. She looked troubled. Did a tree branch fly over and break a window or something?

Instead of asking, I snuck a glance into the room. A blood-stained human was sprawled out in the middle of the mess.

“A corpse?”

“If it were, I would have tossed them out already. They’re alive, for now.”

“Aha.”

I let out a sound devoid of any real feeling and looked at Yumir. So, what was I supposed to do about that? Reading the question clearly visible on my face, Yumir let out a sigh.

“Clean the room first, and look after them whenever you have a break from your chores.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to call a doctor?”

“The guest didn’t want one.”

Apparently, before losing consciousness, the guest had said they didn’t need a doctor and told her not to make a scene. It was extremely suspicious.

“If that’s the case, is there really any need to look after them?”

I didn’t want to carelessly touch a critically ill patient who hadn’t even been seen by a doctor, only to make their condition worse. If they died after I intervened, it would just complicate things for me. Even though I expressed my reluctance, Yumir persisted with the request.

“They still have breath in them. And I’ve already received the payment for the stay.”

If you’re that worried, do it yourself. However, as an employee, I couldn’t very well say that to my employer. Especially since there were no other decent jobs to be found at this time, and more importantly, because I had to stay in this village whether I liked it or not, as the “master” had yet to give me any specific instructions.

“I understand. But if they die, it’s not my responsibility.”

“Fine.”

Yumir replied in a half-cracked voice, pressing her temples. Since there was no one else to entrust the guest to early this morning, she had watched over them herself, but the guest had been so sensitive that she couldn’t even provide medical treatment. She said she felt more anxious because she didn’t know when they might die.

“Why don’t you go in and get some rest?”

The fatigue from worry and insomnia was written all over Yumir’s face. In times like these, even if there were guests, having one or two travelers was already a lot. Besides, the only “guest” today was that half-corpse, so there was no need to prepare breakfast. The dining area wouldn’t see any villagers stopping by for a drink until the afternoon.

Hmm, looking back on it like this, I was amazed I hadn’t been fired for the inn’s poor business performance, which made me feel naturally cautious around Yumir.

“If nothing else comes up, I think I can handle it on my own.”

Getting fired was not an option. Honestly, money wasn’t the issue, but it would be problematic if I appeared to be living comfortably despite having no visible job. It would be suspicious and would draw attention. In a small village like this, that would be even more noticeable.

“Are you sure? You have the patient to look after, too.”

“If it gets too hard, I’ll tell you.”

Yumir seemed to hesitate for a moment, but unable to overcome her exhaustion, she told me to take care of it and left.

Seeing the wreck of a room late, a sigh escaped me. I pushed aside the feeling of being overwhelmed, grabbed a rag and a bucket, and went inside. While the guest had been heading to the bed, they must have been unable to support their own body and bumped into everything, as items on the shelves and drawers were scattered everywhere. If Yumir were a bit softer-hearted, she would have definitely tried to support them. Though, since the guest had refused a doctor and acted sensitive, they probably wouldn’t have accepted any help anyway.

I put the broken items in a basket and placed the intact ones back on the shelves, glancing at the blood-stained man. Seeing him up close, he looked even more wretched, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him, worried that he might suddenly stop breathing.

I was even hesitant to stir up dust next to him, so instead of a broom, I collected the debris with a wet rag, swept it into a dustpan, and stood up. Once I had cleaned the room roughly, I felt lost again about what to do with the half-corpse on the bed.

What if they die if I touch them? I carefully lifted one leg that had slipped off the bed. As soon as I turned my gaze toward his face, we made eye contact, and I was startled.

“Gah—!”

I held my breath and pressed a hand to my chest. The man was staring at me without a word.

“Are you awake?”

The man didn’t answer. Seeing his half-closed eyes, he still seemed to be in a daze. Perhaps he had only opened his eyes reflexively because I touched his leg. They said he was sensitive, and he really seemed like that kind of person.

Leaving him without any notable reaction, I left the room for the time being. When I returned with lukewarm water and a medicine kit, the man’s eyes were closed again. I carefully grabbed his shoulder and shook him, but this time he didn’t open his eyes. If he had let go of even the slightest bit of tension, unable to hold on any longer, that was a big problem. It meant his wounds were slowly worsening.

Thinking that I had no choice but to treat him, I struggled to take off the man’s clothes. And only when I touched the wound directly could I feel it.

Magic?

The physical trauma was severe, of course, but there was something else truly eating away at his breath. I didn’t know the structure of it. I could only feel it. Still, due to the nature of my own power, I could discern the degree of danger and the harm it might cause to those around him.

After a moment of hesitation, I wrapped my fingertips in divine power and stripped away the mysterious magic. I excused myself by thinking it was something that had to be done, but in reality, I had to be careful, as using divine power on a human could lead to unnecessary suspicion and trouble later.

However, since I had already done it, I decided to play dumb from here on out. I know nothing about it. I decided to “self-brainwash” that I had only applied medicine and wrapped bandages, and forget what I had just done. Of course, this was nothing more than a meaningless struggle to avoid late regrets.

After finishing the basic treatment for his external wounds, I scooped water with a spoon and let it trickle between his dry lips. Seeing him swallow reflexively, it didn’t look like he would die.

I pulled the blanket up to his neck, patted his chest a few times, and told him to rest well before leaving the room. I had done the bare minimum of my duty as a human. Whether he lived or died was his own fate from here on, so there was no point in worrying about it anymore.

Although I started my inn chores late, it wasn’t very busy as there were no other guests. The villagers who stopped by occasionally in the afternoon were all well-acquainted with Yumir, the innkeeper, so they rarely made demanding requests, making it easy to deal with them alone.

Yumir didn’t show her face until it started to get dark. She looked embarrassed, saying that her rhythm had been broken for the first time in a while and she had slept more than usual; I replied that it was a good thing if she had gotten some rest.

Before finishing my shift, I went up to the second floor to check on the guest’s condition. When I quietly opened the door and peeked in, the room was pitch black. I entered, lit the lamp on the table, and turned my head toward the bed. I was immediately met with a pair of flashing eyes.

“Whoa—!”

This time, I really jumped halfway out of my skin. Hey, give me a sign if you’re awake! I pressed my thumping chest with both hands and barely managed to regulate my breathing.

“Phew… Seriously. When did you wake up? I thought you’d at least be asleep all day today. You must have a fast recovery.”

“…”

“Ah, I’m an employee of this inn. I just stopped by to check on your condition.”

Saying I wasn’t a suspicious person and telling him not to be tense, I slowly approached the bed. The man lay there, his focus following my every movement.