MTM 10

Whoosh.

As soon as Zed arrived at the cabin, he revived the nearly dead embers in the fireplace. The hunters must have fled in panic while he and Harto were in the water, because there had been no sign of them anywhere along the way.

They might have gone down to the village to report what happened, or to claim that a monster had appeared.

‘I should’ve just killed them.’

Zed’s eyes flashed as he thought about tracking them down and finishing the job right then.

“Zed.”

At that moment, Harto called to him and came closer.

“Here… thank you.”

Harto handed Zed his shirt and expressed his thanks. He had worn it on the way back from the river to the cabin. He hadn’t had the nerve to ask for a ride again, so he just borrowed the shirt and ran back quickly.

“……”

Zed silently looked at Harto as he returned his clothes. The tips of his still-damp black hair curled slightly. Droplets clung to his long lashes. Even now, it was hard to think that the person before him and the lump of soot he had seen before were the same. Maybe because he had imagined a hulking man instead.

“I’m twenty years old!”

“What?”

Harto suddenly shouted, reacting to Zed’s gaze.

“I’m twenty, just like you. I’m not lying.”

“Ah…”

Zed hadn’t doubted it, but he cleared his throat and looked away.

Rattle, rattle.

“Hic…!”

Startled by the sound of wind outside the window, Harto clung to Zed’s arm. Zed quickly checked outside. Heavy raindrops were falling through the fierce wind.

“It’s the wind. Don’t worry.”

“Y-yes…”

Harto peeked out the window, then awkwardly withdrew his hand.

“Zed… you act older than your age.”

He suddenly said something strange. Zed had heard that kind of comment more than once before, so he honestly replied.

“Well, people do say that sometimes.”

“Really? But it’s true. You were really… cool today.”

“……”

Perhaps it was the firelight or something else, Harto’s face looked especially red as he spoke softly. Zed felt a strange tickle rise around his neck as he watched him.

He cleared his throat and turned toward the window.

“The villagers might come in the morning.”

“Ah… because of those hunters from before?”

Zed nodded seriously.

Harto instantly remembered the angry faces of the villagers and the hands that had tried to seize him like in a nightmare.

“Then… do we have to run away?”

Harto asked nervously, and Zed shook his head.

“No. We don’t have to.”

“But what if they come to hurt us?”

Even if Zed was strong and clever, it seemed impossible to fight that many people. Of course, he would fight alongside him if he had to.

Clink.

While Harto fretted, Zed used the poker to pull out the burning logs and said calmly,

“It might actually be the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

Harto blinked his wide eyes, unable to guess what he meant.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

The next day, the rain that had been pouring down all night had eased, and a warm morning arrived with a cool breeze.

Just as Zed said, the villagers came up the mountain at dawn. There were more of them than expected. From children to adults to old men with graying hair, they surrounded the cabin and shouted something. Then three young men went inside the cabin and came out again.

The tallest man leaned toward an old man wearing a hat with ornate patterns and whispered something quietly.

Thump!

The old man struck his white staff against the ground and sighed. People began speaking among themselves, but as the noise grew louder, it became impossible to hear the words clearly. They only repeated two names, ‘Eira’ and ‘Kalla’, and soon the children began to sing.

After that, the women untied their bundles and scattered dried flower petals all around the cabin for a long while, and then the villagers went back down the mountain.

“Is it… over?”

“It seems so.”

As soon as the sun rose, Zed and Harto, who had hidden deep in the forest before dawn, quietly made their way back to the cabin.

“Wow, they really scattered flower petals everywhere!”

Colorful petals, rare for this season, were scattered beautifully around the cabin. And they even placed a basket filled with fruits and root crops at the entrance.

“They even left food behind!”

It had been so long since Harto had seen fruit that he cried out in delight. He had thought the villagers would come to punish them after hearing from the hunters, but instead they had left gifts, leaving him speechless.

Zed, on the other hand, looked unsurprised. He only checked around the cabin once, then looked inside.

“They even left the deer.”

“Ah, they really did? It’s exactly like you said…”

When Harto had packed up at dawn and stepped outside, he had hesitated to leave the deer behind. But Zed had said to leave it, and since it wasn’t their own kill, he had agreed.

Now, it was clear Zed had expected this outcome from the start.

As Harto wondered how Zed could have known, Zed spoke.

“The villagers performed a ritual.”

“A ritual?”

“Yes. This forest isn’t a place people normally visit. It’s not where monsters or spirits live either. Even hunters rarely come here. You said only wanderers passed by sometimes.”

“That’s right. I saw hunters for the first time this time.”

After entering this world, Harto had crossed forests and mountains before finding this place. There were no dangerous monsters or animals, and only a small village below the mountain, so he had settled here.

“These are offerings for the guardian gods.”

Zed pointed at the basket filled with fruits and root vegetables as he continued.

“Small village folk have old gods they worship. From the ritual yesterday, it seems they’ve believed in the mountain’s guardian gods for generations. ‘Eira’ and ‘Kalla’ are gods of the earth and harvest. They dislike killing and love growing plants. That’s why the villagers live by farming fruits and crops instead of hunting.”

Then Harto understood why the villagers had sung songs and scattered petals.

“Then… the hunters we met yesterday?”

“They weren’t from the village. They were outsiders who came here to hunt. I think they disguised their identity to pass through the village and reach this place.”

“Ah, so that’s why…”

Only then did Harto understand what Zed had meant when he said it might actually be the opposite.

“Even if the hunters went back to ask for help, the villagers wouldn’t have listened! And you left the deer on purpose so the villagers would see what the hunters had done?”

“Yes. Those men were probably driven out already. But since they shed blood in the mountain, the villagers left these offerings to calm the guardian gods’ anger.”

Zed’s explanation fit perfectly, and Harto looked at him with admiration.

“Zed! You’re really smart!”

He jumped in place as he spoke, and Zed scratched his chin awkwardly.

“I once studied guardian gods a bit. Well… it looks like that helped this time.”

“It helped a lot!”

More than anything, Harto was overjoyed that they didn’t have to leave the cabin. Seeing him like that, Zed felt satisfied too.

“But Zed, can we… eat this?”

Then Harto stared at the fruit with hungry eyes. Zed’s gaze narrowed.

“Do you believe in gods?”

“Uh…”

He didn’t know how to answer. While Harto only rolled his wide eyes, Zed chuckled softly.

“Well, a monster believing in gods would be strange. Go ahead. You could say we earned this for driving the hunters away.”

“Yes.”

The moment Zed granted permission, Harto took an apple and bit into it.

Crunch.

He didn’t know if Zed was right, but right or wrong didn’t matter. After this, he felt like maybe he could believe in the gods once. After all, in this life where he thought he would remain alone until the destined end, the gods had given him Zed as a gift.