Side Story 1: Unaccustomed
Chapter 4
I felt a little, just a little, short of breath. I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t help but think,
‘They’re having tea, going for walks, they’re really going at it.’
I clicked my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull my head back inside. I just stood there, stiffly, watching them laugh and talk below, for minutes on end. I couldn’t even describe what I was feeling.
“…Ah.”
At that moment, our eyes met.
Not Woo Acrea’s, but the red-haired woman’s, whose name I didn’t even know.
Her gray eyes curved into a smirk as I stared at her, refusing to look away.
I finally admitted defeat and closed the window. My eyes felt like they were twitching, and I blinked repeatedly.
“What is she trying to do…?”
Those words escaped my lips, involuntarily.
I felt a surge of anger in my stomach, but I couldn’t bring myself to storm out of the room and run downstairs.
And I wasn’t even sure who my anger was directed at.
I rested my head on the table, waiting for these confusing emotions to subside, then slowly left the room. Luckily, the gray-haired man wasn’t in the hallway, and I forced myself to straighten my slumped shoulders and went down the stairs.
***
“Master Woo.”
I called out his name first.
Luckily, the red-haired woman wasn’t there when I went to the back of the inn. Woo was alone, feeding Rem, whose invisibility had been lifted.
“Sue.”
Woo stood up at the sound of my voice. I looked at Rem, who was eating his food, and asked,
“Is Rem okay?”
“Yes, he’s almost fully recovered.”
“That’s good to hear.”
I smiled, and he smiled back. I stared at his face for a moment, then called out his name again, “Master Woo.” His gentle voice replied, “Yes, Sue.”
“You said you had something to do early this morning. Are you done?”
“…Not yet.”
His face, which had been smiling, clouded over. I bit my lip, seeing that fleeting expression.
“Aren’t you going to tell me what it is?”
“…Do you want to know?”
“Yes.”
Woo’s face was filled with surprise at my natural answer. And I was surprised by his surprised expression.
‘He thought I wouldn’t ask.’
I had to ask if he was suddenly acting differently. Why?
…Because he always had?
I circled the answer I had come up with and continued, my heart heavy,
“You’ve never done this before… I’m curious. What could you possibly have to do in a foreign country like this… Can’t I be curious? …Can’t I?”
“…No, you can.”
My voice was surprisingly whiny. Woo took a step towards me and slowly raised his hand. His long, strong fingers gently stroked my hair.
“I’ll tell you when we leave this place.”
His touch was clumsy, yet sudden. I couldn’t meet his gaze and just licked my dry lips. His voice came again, a warm voice, as if he was soothing a child.
“Don’t worry, it’ll just take a little time, it’s not a big deal.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. It’s just… something that will be resolved when we leave Gemin.”
“It’s not anything strange, right?”
“No, it’s not.”
“I see… Okay.”
I chuckled.
Judging from his tone, he might have something going on, but it didn’t seem like something to worry about. And he wasn’t willing to tell her now, even after she had asked him so many questions.
‘Well… It could happen.’
It was good enough that he had promised to tell her when they left Gemin. He could have personal matters he couldn’t talk about right away.
Strange.
The heavy weight that had been on my heart seemed to melt away just by hearing him say that.
“Then I’ll be…”
I straightened my expression and looked up, but I quickly averted my gaze.
“Sue?”
“Ah, the sunlight suddenly got in my eyes…”
I made up an excuse as Woo looked at me with a puzzled expression.
But that wasn’t the real reason.
I had made eye contact with “her,” who was watching us leisurely from the window above the inn.
‘The red-haired woman…’
I hadn’t forgotten about her. I couldn’t forget about her. Honestly, I was more curious about her than Woo’s personal matters, and I had been wanting to ask him about it since before we came to the back of the inn.
“…Master Woo.”
Woo raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to speak.
I had been so curious, so bothered, but strangely, I couldn’t say the next words.
‘What’s going on with that woman you were with at the restaurant?’
It was just one sentence.
‘…Why?’
Why couldn’t I say it?
“Sue, what’s wrong?”
The sun continued to beat down on us, and as time passed, all that increased was the cold sweat trickling down my back.
‘…Haha, am I… afraid of his answer?’
Was she really scared?
I chuckled at the ridiculous conclusion.
‘That’s impossible. I don’t… like him yet.’
I closed my eyes and opened them again.
And then, I felt like everything was pointless.
“…I don’t know.”
My tense body suddenly relaxed. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I took his wrist and pulled him along.
“Let’s go, we didn’t come to Gemin to just stay cooped up in the inn, did we?”
Woo followed me without any resistance, and I tightened my grip on his wrist, as if to show someone.
***
We went to the guild headquarters first and received a map of the fair and a guidebook to Gemin. We stepped outside, and dozens of guild tents were lined up along the street, surrounding the headquarters.
“Wow…”
The vast street was packed with people. I was speechless, and a gasp escaped my lips.
“Let’s be careful not to get lost.”
I nodded and held onto Woo’s sleeve.
***
We visited almost every guild along the fair route. The largest merchant association in Lokor, a merchant guild from the East, a guild that specialized in tea leaves from all over the world, a silk trading guild, a mercenary guild for swordsmen, a magic tower guild that researched magic formulas…
We collected brochures, watched competitions, and by the time we were done, the brochures in my arms were as thick as two books, and my mind was overloaded with information.
It was well past lunchtime, and the only thing I had eaten was half a bowl of porridge for breakfast. I was exhausted, and I collapsed onto a bench in a deserted park that Woo had found, desperate for a break. We had decided to rest here for a bit before going to the restaurant we had made reservations for.
“How was it? Today.”
Woo, who had disappeared somewhere, came back with two cups in his hand. I took the cup he offered me. Fresh orange juice sloshed inside. There was a guild that specialized in making fruit juice, apparently.
“People are really working hard. There are even people who dedicate their lives to making juice. …Ah, this is good.”
I said, taking a sip of the orange juice. I meant it, I was genuinely impressed by them. Seeing people so passionate about their work, whether it was for money or for knowledge, made me feel small.
“You too, Sue.”
Woo’s voice came from beside me as I was drinking my juice.
“What?”
“You’re amazing too.”
His smile, bathed in the sunlight, was mischievous. I blinked and asked,
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Woo nodded confidently. But I couldn’t accept his compliment.
I wasn’t living that amazing of a life…
“I was working hard… in Lohn, but… I’m just traveling now. And I wasn’t even working hard because I wanted to in Lohn.”
A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. There was no point in confessing like this.
“But… if you say so, Master Woo. I guess I am amazing.”
I smiled at him.
“…Master Woo?”
He stared at me for a long time, silent, then finally said, as if he had found the words he was looking for,
“Ah, found you!”
At that moment, a man came running towards us from the entrance of the park. He was wearing a thick silk cloak and a pointed hat, the uniform of the Magic Formula Theory Research Guild.
“You were listening to our competition earlier, right?”
“Yes… Why?”
“Ah, well…”
The man wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was probably hot. He then held out two thick books.
“Thank you for listening to our guild’s competition. As a token of our gratitude, we would like to give you a collection of classical papers written by our founding guild master!”
“Ah…”
I don’t need this.
But the man’s face was filled with such excitement that I couldn’t refuse. He looked like we were about to join his guild.
Come to think of it, their competition arena had been empty. They must have been desperate for new members.
“Thank you, I’ll take it.”
I accepted the books, feeling a pang of sympathy. But they were surprisingly light for their size. The man in the pointed hat, as if he had read my mind, snorted.
“Our founding guild master was such a genius that he even created a weight reduction formula! It’s too complicated to be widely used, though!”
“I-is that so?”
He was so excited that he was spitting as he spoke. I gave him a vague response and flipped through the books. And then, I saw a familiar name at the bottom of a page.
“Jean Emilia…?”