kscans

Chapter 64 - A Welcome from End Village

It was on a day when August was drawing to a close that the messengers from End Village arrived at Yuri’s place. There were three of them. Old Man Audel and his granddaughter Dona, who had visited before, and another person, a young man, who had come with them. Seeing the young man stare wide-eyed at the stone wall, cast a peculiar glance toward Yuri, and then repeatedly peek at Dona out of the corner of his eye, Yuri thought, "Ah, he has a thing for Dona." He figured the man was concerned about him and had tagged along as a guard. Ah, to be young. Such a thought, unbefitting of his age, or rather, unbefitting of his current appearance, though inside he was a thirty-seven-year-old geezer, crossed Yuri’s mind as he gave the young man a lukewarm gaze. As for the recipient of that gaze, Dona looked on in puzzlement, the young man seemed somewhat uncomfortable, and Old Man Audel just nodded sagely, as if he understood everything.

"Welcome. Since you're here, Audel-san, does this mean the merchant's arrival is near?"

"That's right. Sorry to rush you, but are your preparations ready, Yuri-kun?"

"They are. The harvest is mostly finished, and what's left can easily wait until I get back."

Saying they should come inside, Yuri welcomed the three into the village. It was the second visit for Old Man Audel and Dona, so they were calm, at least on the surface. But the young man, here for the first time, was so astonished it looked as if his eyes might pop out. It was to be expected. Here was an orderly, abandoned village in a dangerous zone, where a child lived all alone, maintaining such vast fields by himself. It would be stranger not to be surprised. Yuri led the young man, who looked as if his soul had half-left his body, back to his home. Just as before, he served them cold water and, since the other two seemed to be expecting it, white Lycoris dumplings topped with maple syrup. While watching the two who were joyfully savoring the treat and the young man who was speechless with fresh surprise, Yuri posed a question to the pair.

"So, who might this be?"

Hearing the perfectly natural question, the two realized they had forgotten to make introductions, or rather, had abandoned introductions to devote themselves to the dumplings. Looking slightly awkward, they finally got around to it.

"Oh, right. This is one of the young men from our village, Otta. We had him come along today to serve as a guard and to carry luggage."

The young man introduced by the old man, Otta, mumbled, "Nice to meet ya," under his breath. He did not seem to be a man of many words. Yuri, who was aware of his own slightly socially awkward tendencies, felt a sense of kinship.

"My name is Yuri. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Ah, yeah, you too."

It was unclear whether he had decided Yuri would not be a rival for the time being, or if his spirit had been broken from being so thoroughly dumbfounded, but the wary air he had at first was gone. Thinking that was enough for now, Yuri was then addressed by Old Man Audel.

"So, where are your things, Yuri-kun? We brought Otta along with the intention of having him carry them."

So that was why Otta had an empty pack basket on his back. They must have thought a single child could not carry much and brought him along with the intention of getting him to provide as much food as possible. However...

"Oh, that's all right. It's all in here."

So saying, Yuri showed them a small leather pouch, small enough to fit in one hand. It was a Magic Bag that Yuri had repaired after finding it in the village ruins, but one would not know that just by looking at it. Just as he expected, all three of them gave him a skeptical look.

"In there?" they all asked.