49 – Episode 49. No, how could mom be such a huge shrew….

-Whoa.

When I finally came to my senses, I heard the sound of the wind.

With that, my blurred vision gradually became clearer, and the surrounding scenery began to come into view.

A series of buildings with signs of collapse and weathering on all sides.

Feeling neglected in a city that felt empty in itself, I took some time to think about why I was in a place like this.

“…What is this place?”

Isn’t it strange?

I was clearly in Tacia’s workshop, but why am I wandering around these ruins?

-Tuk.

A faint sound heard when one feels confused by such an incomprehensible image.

As I headed toward the place where the sound came from, I saw a girl squatting in the middle of what seemed to be a square.

-Tutuk, tuk.

Yes, he was a child.

A child with short blue hair and a one-piece dress, digging in the sand with a trowel in his hand…….

“Hey, kid?”

It turned out well in a confusing situation. The moment I thought about it, approached cautiously, and asked a question.

“… Later?”

The girl who responded let go of her trowel, looked blankly at me, and started blinking.

He turned his eyes toward me, filled with unspoiled purity that contrasted with the desolation of the surroundings.

“… Green onion.”

As if she had immediately realized something, the girl smiled brightly and ran toward me, shouting.

“Papa~!”

“What, what?”

“Papaya, papa. hehehe~”

When she came to her senses, the girl had already wrapped her arms around my waist.

I was embarrassed that I had become a widower when she hadn’t even given birth to a baby yet, but the girl clinging to me and smiling was so cute that even the thought of arguing with her disappeared.

Anyway, at best he looks like he’s about three or four years old, so he could be mistaken for his dad or miss him.

“Yes, yes. “Let’s assume that’s the case for now.”

I held the girl in my arms, stroked her head, and quietly looked back at the ruined place.

When I came to my senses, I arrived in an unidentified abandoned city, and the only person I found was a girl.

Because it was a strange situation to anyone, I couldn’t help but attach more importance to the girl in my arms.

I don’t know if the words will make sense, but in order to overcome this situation, I have to rely on this child.

“Hey, kid. “Is your mother not here?”

“… Mama?”

From noble mtl dot com

Hey, wait a minute. What did I just say?

You’re saying things to a kid left alone that you would only use for science majors who are the worst at playing games. What if this kid is really an orphan?

“Mamai jjim.”

“You have a mother!”

But fortunately, the girl had a mother, and I was able to escape the stigma of being a scumbag who played a role against an orphan.

And on the other hand, I felt relieved again.

At least I learned that this child was not left alone in this city.

“Well, then can you tell me her mother’s name?”

“Im?”

“Yes, I’d like to know my mother’s name.”

I don’t know why this child is playing here alone, but if she is a lost child, she would need to call her name to find her parents.

When I asked for the necessary information, the girl who immediately understood what I was saying raised her finger to my mouth and said,

“Taa….”

“Ta?”

“Dadjji.”

“… What?”

“Yes! Mama tajjiya!”

A word whose English is unknown.

The girl jumped out of my arms with him, spreading her arms wide and shouting in a bright voice.

“Tajiya, mama, it~ Tamanae!!”

“…… Mom.”

It took me a dozen seconds to look at the girl with her arms wide open and her eyes sparkling.

I interpreted the girl’s words over time, and spoke them out of her mouth in a daze.

What did you just say? Is shrew’s mom coming later?

“Your mother is a giant shrew?”

“Yes!”

The girl nodded immediately to my question.

I felt my mind going blank and spoke without realizing it.

***

“No, how could it be that my mother is a giant shrew…”

“What on earth are you dreaming about?”

“…Eh?”

A grumpy voice can be heard while muttering absentmindedly.

It was only then that I realized that my stiff body was loosening, so I lifted myself up from the bed I was lying on and glanced back at the place where the sound came from.

Beyond the messy room, a tired-looking woman was standing at the entrance, staring at me with grave eyes.

“Get in, Mr. Tacia?”

“You sleep for quite a long time.”

Unlike the last time I saw him, he looked fine.

As I was about to feel her relief, she glanced down at my body and said.

” You must have been quite tired? “I heard you sleep so well that you wouldn’t even notice if I took your clothes off.”

“… Yes?”

I took off my clothes. What do you mean?

I looked down at my body feeling puzzled and saw that I was wearing a white shirt and shorts instead of the damaged armor I was wearing before.

Unless I was sleepwalking, it would mean that someone changed my clothes for me.

“Did you change my clothes while I was sleeping?”

“Is there a problem?”

Nevertheless, Tachia frowned and waited for my response as if she was asking me something strange.

It’s not something I would say after looking at a person’s naked body, but if you look at it that way, it wasn’t easy for me to answer since I had committed a more dangerous act.

She said she was unconscious, but she would have guessed what the situation was if she had seen me take her to the bed. Are you sure you’re just trying to ignore that too?

“… No, it was my fault for sleeping in someone else’s house. Yes.”

No, let’s not think too deeply about it.

If you think about it, this person was the one who pressed his chest even more when it touched his chest to measure the size of his chest protector.

Others may not know, but if you argue about something like that in front of this person, you will lose. After calming down my confusion, I took the time to quietly look around.

… I don’t see any kids whose mom is a giant shrew.

Is this really a dream?

“Whatever, when you come to your senses, come down and eat first. “Looking at the luggage you have, it looks like you have some business for me too.”

“Yes? Rice…….”

“No matter what you do after, it’s breakfast, so you have to eat it first.”

Tacia said that and stood at the door, glaring at me.

I could only feel the indifference toward me in his eyes, which were soaked with peculiar fatigue.

“Why don’t you want to eat the food I serve?”

“Oh, no. “If you give it to me, I will eat it gratefully.”

No problem.

No matter what, it’s free food, so you should eat it gratefully.

***

Potato-based stew mixed with some meat and vegetables, bread with cheese, salad, etc.

The meal Tachia prepared was not only better than she expected, it was even good.

Anyway, this would also be a treat for new adventurers who don’t have money.

“… “A spear is flying towards you?”

“Yes, like this.”

After finishing the meal, when we sat across from each other at the tea table, I briefly explained what had happened and then quickly threw the spear into the air.

And then again!

The spear, which was supposed to fall in a parabola in the air, flew back into my hand and was caught.

“Other than that?”

“Uh…. “Does it mean that it uses its own mana to increase its power?”

“…… Okay?”

After hearing the whole story, Tacia silently drinks the tea he brought.

The bluntness was still the same, but I vaguely felt that it had become strangely stiffer than usual.

It’s not a good look to say that results have been achieved.

“Is it possible that the results are not as good as expected?”

“No, it’s even more amazing than I expected.”

When I asked her, feeling a bit anxious, she answered my question without any problem.

“It means that when I made it, it hadn’t even created itself yet, but now it has enough consciousness to find its owner.”

It was said that engraving a name on an Ego Weapon that clearly has no ego is a sufficient condition for it to be recognized as its owner.

It even comes running as soon as I call it, so right now, you could say that the weapon recognizes me as its owner.

Of course, since the value is valuable, they won’t hand it over to me for that alone, but… If I’m really disappointed, I’ll make money and come back to buy it later.

Even if we sell all the ingredients here, it won’t be enough right now.

“Anyway, I took a quick look at what was in your backpack while you were sleeping. You want me to buy it or make it into armor, right?”

“Oh yes, you understood right away?”

“I can roughly guess that a new adventurer with no money ruined the armor he had invested all his money into and asked him to make something out of the materials dismantled from the demon he had luckily defeated. I was able to defeat a demon of this level thanks to luck or potential…….”

Tachia looks around at the hanging materials.

Afterwards, as if something was bothering her, she soon began to turn her frowning eyebrows towards me.

“…The most important thing is where did you sell it?”

“Yes? “Is it important?”

“The heart. Just looking at the materials, it looks like a demon that has lived for quite a long time. At this level, a demon crystal created by solidifying magic power in the heart area is bound to form.”

Oh yes, I was definitely told to take those things with me when I was working as a porter.

At the time, I was only focused on buying it, so I didn’t know the details, but considering that I was told to never steal this, I could indirectly understand that it was worth a lot of money.

I didn’t remember it properly because the heroes who said it were all being searched for, but anyway.

“Well, what is the value of the heart?”

“If you compare everything here and the heart, it’s about 2:8.”

“… “Heart 2?”

“Heart is 8.”

“Hey guild bastards!!”

I understand that 20% is deducted from the dismantling cost as tax, but do you include the most expensive item in that!?

Maybe it’s because he’s jealous that a novice adventurer caught an executive-level demon……. No, it was probably the guy who disbanded it or a high-ranking member of the guild who stole only the expensive ones.

But even though I felt resentment there, considering what I went through in this world, I was confident that nothing good would come of protesting.

At the time of disbandment, it is obvious that they will try to force it somehow, such as saying that no appraisal was done and no price was set, or that it was specified in the contract.

“Oh really, being ignorant is a sin. Being ignorant is a sin.”

I opened my eyes and saw something worth four times as much as a cut in my nose, and was happy, thinking I had won the lottery.

Anyway, there are more people here and there.

“I can’t help it because I was scammed, but I don’t think there’s any need to blame yourself for that.”

As I was mulling over my frustration, Tacia took something out of my arms.

She took out her iron case along with her blunt-tipped pipe and rummaged through it, pulling out a crumbled leaf and brushing it off the end of her pipe.

“Isn’t that how the world was created from the beginning? A bird that does not know how to fly will be eaten by beasts on the ground, and no matter how much of a predator it is, if it does not learn how to run, it will not be able to hunt and will starve to death…”

“Ah, yes, that’s true, but….”

“If even parents who are supposed to teach such things leave without being able to withstand the harsh world, the children left behind will not be able to even properly learn how to walk, which is necessary to become adults. In such a situation, a person from another world like you must become familiar with the rules of this world. “Isn’t it strange to criticize someone for being ignorant for failing to understand this?”

Tacia blows his breath while giving blunt advice.

She then heard the sound of embers popping inside the pipe, and then she saw the inside turn red and smoke spreading out.

“The saying that ignorance is a sin only applies in a world where the beginning and environment are the same.”

Tachia said, putting a cigarette in her mouth.

“At a time when not everyone is born the same, encouraging such words is probably just a fake excuse to hide the imperfections of a law-abiding society. So there is no need to blame yourself. At least in my opinion, you are better than other humans. “Because I’m working hard.”

Tachia doesn’t even make eye contact, just lights the cigarette in his mouth and quietly blinks his haggard eyes.

The words he continued as if there was nothing strange about them were pessimistic, but had quite a bit of weight to them.

Her unique decadent atmosphere seemed to vaguely indicate that her experiences were not easy.

“… “It’s me, Mr. Tacia.”

Yes, this advice has its own weight.

As soon as I could guess it, I felt that the questions I felt while facing her were chaining together at this moment.

“If you don’t mind, may I ask you a question?”

Just handling business without regard for ethics or common sense, or lending an ego weapon made of mithril to an invited person.

And the current advice is also something that, from an ordinary person’s point of view, is something that can hardly be done.

“What is it?”

“Tachia, are you not human by any chance?”

“…….”

The answer did not come back right away.

Is that silence positive? Or is it because it’s ridiculous?

“… Phew.”

Tachia did not immediately respond to such possible speculations, but only exhaled the cigarette smoke from his mouth.

When I opened my mouth again, the leaves in the pipe were almost burned and the smoke had faded.

“Why don’t you take a guess?”

“… Yes?”

“He said he didn’t think I was human. “Then don’t you have any idea what race it is?”

Is the reason you ask back without answering right away because you are affirming or denying what I said?

In any case, Tacia didn’t seem to have any intention of answering me right away, and she didn’t seem to be particularly upset by what I was saying.

“Tell me whatever comes to mind. “What kind of race am I?”

“Uh, um….”

Yes, I also didn’t bring up the same question without any basis.

Coming to this world, I have met many races, and among them, there are those with ‘unique personalities and characteristics’ such as Hellcry and Death Knights.

The reason I asked her this question was because I vaguely sensed the same thing from her.

“… Follow.”

But if her identity is what I thought, is she really okay to talk to?

From noble mtl dot com

When those thoughts went beyond anxiety and became fear, a thought suddenly passed through my head and came out of my mouth.

“A shrew, is it?”

“… What?”

Tachia took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked at him blankly.

No matter what happens, it’s not strange. This was the moment when she unusually revealed her feelings of embarrassment.

“Shrew, why did you think that?”

Still, she maintained her composure, and I spoke to her following her stream of consciousness, thinking that I had finally committed it.

“Well, the name is Tacia, shrew…” ….”

“… ….”

“…… Sorry.”

Damn it, what on earth did I say?

No matter how intense the dream I had today was, the shrew was brought up out of thin air when talking about a different species.

“No, whatever.”

But even though she could feel humiliated and angry at such an unexpected remark, she just turned her head and spoke indifferently.

“That could be possible. Funny, that joke.”

The moment when the expression is obscured by the sunlight shining outside the window.

Is it because of my mood that the corners of my mouth, shining faintly beyond that, appear to be slightly raised?

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