PMEVBO 47

If you can find Mr. Kim in Seoul¹, there’s no way you couldn’t find Seriha inside Hayut Castle. Even though it was night, it wasn’t that late yet.

Fortunately, Paf knew Seriha’s whereabouts. I arrived at the room she mentioned, and knocked.

Knock knock─

“Co-come in!”

I recognized that delicate voice, and opened door. In that room, which the merchants used as a storeroom, was Seriha, working diligently like a Kongjwi.²

His head lifted from sorting goods, his expression was like a deer spotting its predator and going on high alert. Though the moment he realized I was the visitor, his face instantly relaxed.

“Lucariel? How did Lucariel end up here…?”

Yes, it must seem suspicious, no doubt.

I forced myself to stay calm and used the excuse I’d prepared beforehand.

“I couldn’t find you all day, so I stopped by on my way through—”

But despite the agonizing time I’d spent crafting it, my excuse didn’t even make it to the end. Seriha cut me off.

Grrrr-!

More precisely, Seriha’s loud stomach clock.

“Why is it that whenever you see me, you get hungry?”

“I’m sorry…um… I was busy today and didn’t get to eat.”

Seriha bowed his head, looking embarrassed.

“What?”

Damn it, so he’d been starving all day…?

The spacious room was crammed with all sorts of items. Organizing these things into rows and columns seemed to be Seriha’s task.

…He’s got a lot on his plate.

But people need to eat. We all work to live, after all. I shook the picnic basket tucked under my arm.

“Perfect timing. I brought this for you.”

To be honest, delivering a late-night snack all the way here was just for appearances. I felt too embarrassed to show up empty-handed, so I brought something. Who knew he’d be starving at this hour?

But the effect of the late-night snack delivery was huge.

Ping!

──【 Sub Quest 】──

Praise ‘Seriha Kal Macelan Levana’!

(15/15)

D-0(5h 3m 29s)

Success!

──────────────

…Yes, nothing beats delivery food when you’re hungry at night.

Wow… It feels like just yesterday I cursed when that first 15-praise quest dropped, but here we are.

Come to think of it, the quest itself wasn’t that hard. If it weren’t for that ten-day gap, I would’ve cleared it ages ago. Seriha was a cost-effective praise target.

Especially today, it was insane. One praise was automatically achieved just from seeing the basket…

..He must have been starving. Poor guy.

That was why. Even after completing the original objective, I ended up plopping my butt down right across from Seriha.

I watched Seriha quickly slurp down his food before pouring him a cup of water and handing it over.

“You’ll choke like that. Eat slowly.”

“Thank you.”

Seriha accepted the cup of water with both hands, then went ahead and put on a water-drinking show. He gulped it down fast too. If I’d floated a willow leaf in it to make him drink slower, he’d probably have chewed that leaf too.

“…Are you being harassed by the merchants?”

“Huh? Cough!”

Seriha coughed, probably choking on something.

I patted his back and clicked my tongue. Ah, I shouldn’t have given him water.

Once the coughing subsided, Seriha spoke in a tiny voice.

“I don’t think it’s… harassment…”

The aftereffects of the choking made his face red enough to be visible even in the dim candlelight.

“Forcing work onto someone, if that’s not harassment, what is?”

Even at a glance, the workload was overwhelming, yet here, only Seriha was working himself to death. The others weren’t even showing their faces. 

It was clearly not a normal situation.

Yet Seriha waved his hands frantically, looking flustered.

“No! No! It’s a misunderstanding! The inventory check wasn’t forced on me, it was a request. They said I could refuse if I didn’t want to.”

Oh, right. With your personality, like you’d ever refuse. I was so flabbergasted I could only laugh.

“…Well, fine, let’s set the inventory aside. What about the holy book?”

Seriha flinched. I crossed my arms, leaned back against the chair, and continued.

“Why did you insist on borrowing the holy book from him last time?”

Seriha fidgeted with his fork, stammering out his explanation.

“Ah, well… it’s just… a colleague of mine wanted to see the priest’s holy book …”

“So that was a request too, huh?”

“Yes…”

Seriha lowered his head and answered weakly.

Seeing the priest’s holy book was just an excuse. I bet they just wanted to screw him over.

‘Lucariel’ is notorious as a complete scoundrel. Asking him to borrow a holy book from a bastard like that? That’s just asking for trouble.

Seriha’s head, bowed as low as it could go, showed no sign of lifting. I stared at him for a moment, chin resting on my hand, then spoke.

“I have a question.”

“……Yes, ask away. “

“How do you ask others for favors? Do you treat them the way your colleagues treat you?”

Seriha hesitated briefly before shaking his head slightly. He remained bowed like a criminal.

“……No.”

“Then which way do you think is right, yours or your comrades’?”

Seriha ultimately gave no answer. He only bowed his head deeper.

I sighed as I watched the top of his head, tinged scarlet by the candlelight. His shoulders flinched when he heard the sound.

“Look up. You haven’t done anything wrong, so why are you like this?”

Only then did Seriha slowly lift his head. I brushed my hair back and said.

“You’re right. Your colleagues are the ones acting strange. That’s enough rudeness, enough harassment.”

My anger flared at those despicable merchants, and before I knew it, irritated words slipped out. Seriha immediately shrank his shoulders, dejected. His eyes looked like a wounded puppy’s.

Feeling sorry, I quickly placed a piece of baguette in his hand. 

Fortunately, the baguette’s effects kicked in immediately. Seeing Seriha’s brightened face was a relief. I forced myself to speak in a gentle tone.

“It’s good to express your displeasure to someone who crosses the line. That way, you’ll feel better.”

“Uh, how?”

Seriha blinked his round eyes and asked with an innocent expression. I answered seriously.

“Beat the crap out of them.”

“Huh?”

Thud.

The remaining piece of baguette in Seriha’s hand fell onto the plate. Seeing his expression, as if he couldn’t believe his ears, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Just kidding.”

“Ah…”

“Just look them in the eye with a serious expression. That alone should mostly solve it.”

Seriha didn’t look entirely convinced. Fidgeting with his clenched hands, he countered softly.

“But what if I’m mistaken? What if the other person acted without malice, and my reaction ends up hurting them for no reason…”

“Well, that could happen.”

I nodded readily. I’d had plenty of experience with that myself.

Of course, I was usually the one being misunderstood, not the one misunderstanding.

It happened even back in middle and high school. I’d just be talking with friends, yet I’d often get scolded by teachers. Told not to bully my friends. Briefly reminiscing about that bitter memory, I offered a compromise.

“Then try asking once before you get serious.”

“Yes, that’s fine. What should I ask…?”

I tilted my head and demonstrated myself.

“Is that really comfortable for you?”

Seriha’s expression was strange after seeing my demonstration. Covering his mouth with both hands, he trembled and said.

“That’s too scary…”

“That just now?”

I was genuinely confused, but I didn’t show it.

“…Then should I try using formal speech?”

Seriha nodded. Bolstered by that enthusiastic nod, I carefully chose my words.

“Are you comfortable?”

“…That’s even scarier.”

“Oh, really?”

I have no idea what’s going on.

Then Seriha burst out laughing. His giggles filled the room. He was the type to get excited over the smallest things, so I’d seen him smile plenty, but this was the first time I’d seen him laugh so hard.

I was dumbfounded for a moment, not understanding why he was laughing, but then a chuckle escaped me too.

But I’m glad his gloomy mood seems to have lifted.

As I cleared away the dishes, now so clean they looked like they’d been washed, I asked.

“But why are you doing inventory without eating or sleeping? Is it that urgent?”

“Ah, yes, I have to finish by tomorrow morning. But I’m almost done, so I should be able to finish in time.”

Seriha answered cheerfully. But it didn’t look like there was any way he could finish in time. The haphazardly placed items glared at me insolently.

…Guess I have no choice.

I rolled up my sleeves.

“What can I do to help?”

Thanks to him, I’d even cleared a praise quest, so this was the least I could do. I suppose I was the toad in the Kongjwi story.³

Seriha vehemently refused my help, but it was meaningless. By the time I’d finished helping him sort the inventory, the sky outside was turning bright white.

“How can I ever repay this favor….”

“Favor? What favor?”

I chuckled softly and checked the time. It seemed I could head back earlier than my usual wake-up time.

I hope he’s asleep…

Just as I was getting ready to return to my room, footsteps sounded outside the door.

Bang─!

“Hey, Abel, did you finish the inventory?”

It was the Patjwis’ arrival.

1. 서울 가서 김 서방도 찾는다. It means going to the vast city of Seoul and looking for Mr. Kim without even knowing his address. It is a metaphor for vaguely looking for someone without knowing their address or name. 
   Mr. Kim–> Refers to the person you are looking for. ↩︎
2. Kongjwi and Patjwi is a traditional Korean romance story from the Joseon Dynasty. Kongjwi is a good, hard working girl who lives together with her cruel stepmother and the lazy Patjwi. Eventually kindly spirits arrive and assist Kongjwi escape her miserable home life. ↩︎
3. Kongjwi is forced to do impossible chores by her stepmother and Patjwi. When she’s overwhelmed, animals step in to help her, and one of them is a toad. ↩︎