Chapter 13: 13. Who Are You, Grandma?

After putting the nightmare customer to bed, I should have headed home—but my feet took me down a different path than usual.

The weight of the coin pouch jingling in my pocket was the same, yet today it felt especially heavy.

I carefully opened the pouch and stared at the single gold coin shining a different color from the rest.

‘Jackpot! Could it be... every time she comes?’

One gold coin the proprietor had given me after work, telling me I had done well.

For personally attending to one nightmare customer, it was an unbelievably large sum.

I felt rich.

I had just earned, all at once, an enormous amount of money that would normally take me twenty-five days of work to touch.

At the moment, I had one gold coin and forty silver coins on me.

Normally, I would have left it at home, but today was the day I was buying Wonhongju, the liquor my master liked.

As I walked along, imagining the expression on my master’s face, I soon found myself standing in front of Maehyanggak.

When I opened the door, I saw someone inside the quiet inn, wearing a robe and drinking alone.

‘There really aren’t many customers here...’

"Hello~"

I was not staying to eat, but when I called for someone, a gaunt man came out of the kitchen while wiping his hands on his apron.

"Yes, welcome! Are you alone?"

"I’m not eating here. I’d like to take a bottle of Wonhongju to go."

The man’s eyes widened at once, and he looked me up and down.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

"...Sigh. Please wait just a moment."

I wondered whether I looked like I could not afford it.

I was considering whether I ought to hold some silver coins in my hand when the man returned carrying a box and set it before me.

"Here is the Wonhongju. It may be inconvenient, but please carry it like this. It is quite an expensive liquor, and carrying it openly could invite trouble."

"Ah..."

It seemed I had let my guard down just because nothing had happened these past few days.

This was not the world I had lived in. It was another world, where crime was commonplace.

‘The first person I met was a slave trader, too... Get a grip.’

Then a baby’s cries rang out from upstairs in the inn.

Waaah, waaah!

Startled, the man hurried upstairs, then came back down with a newborn baby in his arms.

"Shh! Hang in there a little, sweetheart. Okay? I’m sorry, customer. The price is forty silver coins."

Waaah, waaah!

"Oh, dear... Daddy’s sorry... There, there~ Brrr!"

The baby reminded me of my younger siblings at the orphanage, and the words slipped out as if I were possessed.

"Would you like me to help? Hand her over."

"Pardon? Ah... Once she starts crying, she just will not stop. Won’t that be difficult for you?"

"I’m actually good at this sort of thing."

Still doubtful, the man handed the baby to me.

As I held her, the old sensation came back to me.

"Brrr! Peekaboo!"

"Waaah... huh?"

The man’s eyes went wide when he saw the baby’s crying subside.

"How did you...?"

"Kyaa~ kyaa~"

That was not all. I gently stroked the baby’s chin, eyebrows, and forehead with my finger.

The baby’s expression went blank...

"Kyaa... oo... zzz..."

The man covered his mouth and looked back and forth between me and the baby, who had fallen asleep.

Careful not to wake her, he spoke softly.

"How did you do that, young sir?"

"First, there is nothing wrong with how you hold her. When you pick her up, support her neck properly with your arm and put your hand under her bottom, all right? Then stroke her chin, eyebrows, and forehead in that order..."

A glint appeared in the man’s eyes as he became absorbed in my explanation.

"No... Oh! There’s a method like that!"

"When she is a little older, gently clean out her ears. Very gently, okay?"

The man took the baby back, his face brightening.

"Thank you, young sir! Thank you!"

Smiling, I handed him the money. Just as I was about to leave...

"Hey there, young man! Come sit over here."

An elderly woman’s voice stopped me.

There were three people in the inn, and the only young man was...

"Are you talking to me?"

"Yes. Come sit here."

She looked suspicious, and I was about to ignore her and leave, but the man whispered in my ear.

"You will not lose anything. Why not have a conversation with her?"

...? Was the baby a decoy, and were they a two-person kidnapping team?

But... they did not look like bad people, so I decided to trust them once.

After all, he was the one who had saved me from wandering around with expensive liquor in plain sight.

And I was the one who had stuck my nose into the matter with the baby.

Seeing elderly people also reminded me of the orphanage director.

When I slowly approached and sat down, the old woman held out a cup.

"Pour me a drink, will you?"

The wrinkled corner of her mouth, visible beneath her robe, curled upward.

I had just finished dealing with one nightmare customer, and it seemed I had run into another.

Thinking I would pour her just one drink and leave, I filled her cup.

"Ahh! Liquor tastes even sweeter when a handsome young man pours it for me!"

"Tsk, ma’am, you should not do this to just anyone, okay? I’ll be going now."

"Are you busy? This old woman is lonely, that’s all~ Pour me just one more. Just one more cup."

Ugh... This sucker personality of mine... Hearing that she was lonely made me feel bad.

When I sighed and poured her another cup, the old woman began to snicker.

"Heh heh heh heh. You’re terribly naive, aren’t you? Young man, are you married?"

Sigh. I should exchange just a few more words with her before leaving.

"No."

"Hmm? You have no children? Then how are you so good with babies?"

"There are reasons..."

"Did some woman abandon her child and run off, perhaps?"

What was she talking about?

"No, I’ve never been married, and I don’t have any children! It’s just that my younger siblings... Ah, never mind! I’m leaving."

"Tell me just a little more, and I’ll pay for that liquor. What do you say?"

I was tempted by the offer to pay for the liquor, but there was no such thing as kindness without a reason.

I shook my head and refused.

"No, it is enough that I bought it with my own money."

"You have plenty of money, then?"

"No..."

"Heh heh heh... Is that so? Then, my granddaughter is rich. Want to marry her?"

"What?"

I had thought she was a suspicious old woman, but perhaps she was simply a meddlesome one.

In my mind, Grandma’s danger level immediately plummeted.

When I sighed and sat back down, she grinned and said,

"My granddaughter is incredibly rich. She is a little fierce-tempered, but she is very pretty too."

"Even a hedgehog thinks its own child is beautiful, Grandma."

"Heh heh heh! Right! You’re absolutely right!"

I poured another cup of liquor for Grandma.

"Sigh, drink in moderation, Grandma. It isn’t good for your health."

"Then why are you buying liquor, young man?"

"Ah, it is a liquor my master likes, so I saved up and bought it."

"Is that so? Who is your master?"

Ha, honestly... I wonder if she would be so shocked she fell over when she heard this?

"Grandma, do you know Arin?"

"Of course I do! Could it be..."

I proudly puffed out my chest and said,

"Yes, I am Arin’s disciple."

Grandma burst out laughing at my words.

"Pwahahahaha! That little Arin sure is lucky! She went and brought home a boy handsome as the moon!"

She sounded quite close to my master, making me curious.

"That little...? Are you close with my master, by any chance?"

"Heh heh heh heh! Of course! Very close!"

I could not quite believe her, so I would ask my master later.

If they really were close, I could apologize then.

"...May I ask your name?"

"Forget it. Just call me Grandma. It sounds nice!"

"...You were lying about being close, weren’t you?"

When I stared at her suspiciously, Grandma said meaningfully,

"Heh heh heh heh. Who knows? Just go to that little one and tell her, ‘I’m waiting.’ Then she’ll have some idea who I am."

This was something I could verify later.

Talking about my master, I realized quite a bit of time had passed.

I should get back before she started worrying.

"Grandma, have this last cup and then go inside. I should get going too."

As I tried to rise from my seat, Grandma pressed two fingers firmly against my forehead.

"?? Grandma?"

"It’s a gift, you brat. Don’t get hurt out there, and if you ever want to meet my granddaughter, come to the Western Blue Magic Tower."

As Grandma’s fingers glowed, a cheerful sound rang out in my head.

Ding!

[You have acquired the skill [LV.1 Water Resistance]!]

[Intelligence +3]

When I blinked, Grandma was gone. In her place was the money for the meal, while in my hand were forty silver coins and one blue coin.

"...Grandma???"

It seemed I had received a fortuitous encounter.

**

A pale face, ears folded with anxiety, a fluffy tail curled inward, neat teeth biting at her nails, and crimson lips slick with saliva.

Arin paced in front of the gate, waiting for her disciple, who was a full thirty-seven minutes late.

One day, he would have to leave her arms and soar on his own, yet his master was suffering from separation anxiety. A wave of self-loathing washed over her, but...

"Kidnapping? Rape? Murder?!?? Please, just be alive..."

Delusions powerful enough to drown out her self-loathing gathered strength in Arin’s legs.

"I have to find him."

Just as she was about to leap away with all her might...

"Master!"

Seeing her disciple down the road, hugging a box and smiling brightly, the strength suddenly drained from her body, and warmth began to return to her ice-cold heart.

Ryu-o must have run all the way here. His flushed face, beaded with sweat, gave off an alluring air.

Arin simply stared blankly at her disciple. Instead of scolding him for being late, a pleased smile formed on her lips.

"You’re back, sweetheart?"

No matter how hard she tried to make her manner of speaking dignified, it always ended with a soft, tender tone befitting a man.

Still...

"I’m back! Master, this is a gift for you!"

How could she help herself when he did something so adorable?

Hiding the twitching corners of her mouth, Arin tilted her head.

"Oh my? What is this?"

"Open it!"

Pretending not to know, she opened the box and found a well-packaged bottle of Wonhongju sloshing within.

Arin covered her mouth, which threatened to split into a grin, and opened her eyes wide.

"My goodness! Isn’t this Wonhongju, my most. favorite. liquor in the whole world? How did you buy something this expensive?"

"Hehe, your disciple bought a bottle to repay even a small part of your kindness, Master."

Arin was struck head-on by Ryu-o’s brightly smiling face.

Her thighs clenched, her stomach twitched, and an illusory voice told her to let go of the last thread of reason.

"Master?"

But an illusory voice from the other side, her ancestors sternly telling her to come to her senses, brought Arin back to reality.

"I’m so very happy. Come on, let’s go inside and drink it together. A day this wonderful calls for a drink."

With a radiant face, Arin took hold of Ryu-o’s hand.

Arin was not the only one who had been struck head-on.

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