MTM 4

“Wait a moment. I will make tea for you.”

After Harto ate the bread Zed gave him, he grabbed a dented kettle and ran to the fireplace. He placed one log after another from the messy pile stacked beside it, and he looked very excited. His soft body wobbled like jelly as he moved. While he murmured, “I should put more today,” he added something into the kettle.

“What did you put in there?”

“This? It is the tea I save for myself. I boil bark from a tree called Naelleum tree. It tastes very good.”

Harto had tried the bark and the tea left by the wanderers who stayed in the cabin, and he had fallen in love with it. Its color, fragrance, and taste were exactly like barley tea from Korea, so he drank it sparingly whenever he felt down.

Today was not a sad day but a very happy one.

Anyway, Harto decided to make this special tea to treat his guest.

“But the name of the tree that has this bark is Naelleum tree. Is that not funny? Naelleum, naelleum.”¹

“…I think it is not Naelleum but Elm tree.” ²

“Hm?”

Harto, who had been happily talking while arranging the firewood inside the fireplace, turned at Zed’s words. A small flame was flickering on his little finger.

“You…”

Zed’s eyes widened when he saw that. Harto ignored him and moved the small flame from his hand to the firewood.

“You can control fire?”

At Zed’s question, Harto became a little embarrassed.

“Yes. Only a little.”

He could also control water and earth, but he decided not to mention it. To be honest, those were not really his own abilities but those of the villain from the original story, so he did not feel proud of it.

“You speak the human language, and you can control fire.”

“I can transform into a human too.”

“Yes. You said you can transform into one.”

While the water in the kettle boiled, Zed was lost into thought. The side of his face lit by the fire shone with a vivid glow. Harto remembered the Zed who had questioned him under the influence of the suggestion spell as he looked at him.

When he compared them, Zed then and Zed now were a little different. The expressionless Zed had looked a bit frightening, but now, his black eyes looked alive, and his golden hair was very beautiful.

‘Ah, right. When I saw him in the cave, his eyes were golden. Should I tell him that? But maybe it only looked that way because of the firelight…’

While Harto hesitated, Zed, who had finished organizing his thoughts, asked a few questions.

“Why are you living in this cabin?”

“Ah… that is… for rest? I just wanted to live alone in the cabin.”

“While I was unconscious, did you feel anything strange around here… I mean, any presence or something?”

“Yes. None. Since the weather got cold, even animals do not come near anymore. Before it became cold, rabbits and squirrels sometimes came to play, but it is a shame. They are very cute. Plump and round…”

“Did you go back to the cave?”

“No. That is not a place I usually go to. I am worried that if I go there, the animals might run away. Many animals rest there. Bears, wolves, deer…”

“Stop. I am not curious about that.”

“Huh? Ah, you are not curious…”

The flame in the fireplace weakened for a moment. Maybe Zed had relaxed a little, and Harto had spoken more than he should have without realizing it.

Bubble, bubble.

When the water in the kettle began to boil, the discouraged Harto poured it into a cup without a word. The room filled with the scent that resembled barley tea.

“Here. It is hot, so drink carefully.”

Feeling timid before Zed, Harto handed him the cup.

“Yes. Thank you for the concern.”

“Y-yes…”

When Zed smiled as he thanked him, Harto’s heart melted even though he knew it was only a polite reply.

Zed seemed to be someone who spoke very honestly. He always spoke directly, cut unnecessary words, and thought that if someone showed goodwill, it was right to express gratitude in return.

“It tastes good.”

Zed blew on the hot tea and drank, and the unexpected flavor surprised him.

“Really? It tastes good?”

“Yes. I honestly did not expect much. This is my first time drinking tea like this. I did not know bark could taste like this.”

Watching Zed praise it so sincerely made Harto feel proud.

‘Good boy.’

Harto suddenly recalled what Zed had said earlier, along with the moment his warm hand had gently stroked his head.

It was warmth he had not felt for a very long time.

Maybe that was why Zed felt different. His handsome face played a part, but more than that, he did not treat Harto with fear. He acted as if it did not matter if he was a monster or a human.

After dying in his original world and possessing the body of a villain, Harto had never met a single person, monster, or spirit who was kind to him. One day, he had even taken human form and gone down to a village to try to fit in. He knew he had to accept his destined, irreversible fate, but as time passed, loneliness and emptiness grew too heavy to bear.

‘What is this filthy beggar?’

But the villagers had treated Harto like a beggar or tried to seize him. Harto had quickly escaped from their hands and run breathlessly back to the cabin. That day he cried all day long. It was the first time since coming to this world that he had felt such sorrow and loneliness.

After that, he never went down to the village again.

He had told Zed that he came here to rest, but that was only truth mixed with lies. It had started that way, but now he had no choice but to stay.

Shiver. As Harto recalled that terrible day, he felt a chill and drank his tea. The warm heat spread quickly through his entire body. He had never drunk tea while in his monster form, but maybe because of his slime-like body, the effect seemed immediate.

Crack.

While Harto stared at the fire lost in thought, Zed ate a few pieces of cookie and then held out the bread.

“Do you want more?”

“Yes…!”

Harto took the bread that Zed handed him, but instead of putting it straight into his mouth, he slowly set it down on the floor.

“What is it? Why are you not eating?”

Zed gave him a suspicious look.

“I am saving it…”

“Did you not eat only a little before? Eat more. I want to see your human form with my own eyes.”

“Ah… that…”

Harto became troubled. He also wanted to show his human form rather than this soot-like shape, but it was not an easy thing to do.

Being able to maintain a human form depended on his will. But living in his monster form caused far less strain on his body. So even before he became sick from hunger, his body had weakened because he had spent days taking care of Zed and searching for food. Even if he ate a few pieces of bread, he was not sure if he could regain enough strength.

“What is this. So it was a lie after all?”

When Harto hesitated, Zed asked with suspicion in his eyes.

“N-no! I think it is because I could not sleep properly for a few days…”

“So it is my fault.”

“N-no!”

“…Haa. Come here.”

“Ah.”

Zed took Harto’s hand without hesitation and walked toward the sofa. Startled, Harto wriggled as he followed him.

“Get up.”

“On the sofa?”

“Yes. Give me that.”

Zed took the cup that Harto had been holding in his other hand and set it down on the floor. In that time, Harto climbed onto the sofa and blinked.

Was he going to question him because he did not believe him? Harto wished Zed would trust him, and he was a little disappointed.

“Is this cloak yours?”

“Yes… it is mine.”

Flap. Zed took the cloak that had been hanging behind the sofa and gently spread it over Harto’s body.

“Get some sleep.”

“……!”

Harto’s blue eyes widened. He had not expected those words.

“You said you have not slept for days. For now, sleep. And do not save the bread. Eat all of it.”

“Huh? Ah…”

Zed brought the bread and tea and placed them directly into Harto’s hands.

“Eat.”

“Yes…”

When Harto saw that Zed stood there looking like he would not move until he did, he put the bread into his mouth. It was the same bread as before, but now it tasted much sweeter.

“Well done.”

Was he going to pat his head again?

When Zed praised him, Harto leaned his head forward slightly, but when he saw Zed step away instead, his body drooped.

“You are leaving?!”

Harto stretched out his arm and grabbed the hem of Zed’s clothes as he moved away. His large eyes shimmered as if he might cry at any moment.

“…No. My body has not fully recovered yet.”

Zed looked at the hand that held his clothes and spoke in a calm voice.

“I feel shameless, but I will stay here for a while.”

“Yes!”

Harto answered brightly, as if he had been waiting for those words, and let go of his clothes.

“Then I will look around outside for a bit. I will come back before it gets dark…”

Zed checked his clothes and took everything he needed from his bag. When he had prepared to leave and turned toward Harto,

snooze, snooze, he saw the black monster already fast asleep on the sofa. Zed quietly sighed and stepped out of the cabin.

1. “낼름” (naelleum) is an onomatopoeic word that imitates the sound or action of flicking the tongue, like “lap” or “lick.” ↩︎
2. Harto misunderstood Elm tree (엘름 나무 / elleum namu) as Naelleum (낼름 나무) because the words sound almost identical in Korean pronunciation. ↩︎