Side Story 1: Unaccustomed
Chapter 5
The man in the pointed hat puffed up his chest, catching my mumble.
“Hehe, he was our guild’s founding guild master.”
“….”
“We didn’t know where he was from or how old he was, all we knew was his name, ‘Jean Emilia’… But our founding guild master was a brilliant businessman. Our guild might be on the verge of collapse now, but back in the day… Um, miss?”
The man, who had been giving me a long speech about Jean Emilia, trailed off, seeing my reaction. I stared at the familiar name on the cover of the book, then looked up at the sound of my name, “Sue.”
“…Do you know where this person is now?”
“What? No… Our guild was founded hundreds of years ago. He’s obviously dead now.”
The man scratched the back of his head, his face bewildered by my absurd question. I was also baffled by his answer.
“You’re saying Jean Emilia died hundreds of years ago?”
“Y-yes… Well… He was the founding guild master, so…”
The man in the pointed hat flinched and nodded, startled by my loud voice.
‘Magic formula theory… genius… Jean Emilia…’
It couldn’t be… a coincidence. I had no evidence, but my gut feeling told me it wasn’t. And the handwriting looked similar.
The genius mage, Jean Emilia.
And besides, that man was the kind of person who would make a name for himself, no matter where he was or what he was doing.
“Sue, let’s go. It’s time.”
Woo, taking my hand, gently pulled me up. He said to the man in the pointed hat, as I was still preoccupied with the collection of papers,
“Thank you for this. We’ll stop by your guild again if we have the chance.”
“Ah…! Yes, sir! Please come visit our guild!”
We left the park, leaving the man in the pointed hat waving goodbye.
***
“Master Woo, what do you want to do in the future?”
I asked suddenly as we were walking, enjoying the scenery after our late lunch. The sky was already painted with a light purple hue, but it was so clear that it looked like the whole world was light purple, not just the evening sky.
“In the future?”
I nodded at his question.
“Yes, in the future… When this journey is over. What do you want to do?”
“….”
“Be a farmer, open a general store, run a restaurant… Ah, you would be good at running a hospital, Master Woo. You’re smart, and you’re good at white magic.”
That was the reason we had come to Gemin, wasn’t it?
We couldn’t play noble anymore. We would have to become ordinary commoners someday, somewhere.
“What about you, Sue? What do you want to do?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
He asked back, a faint smile on his face.
“Well…”
I thought about it for a moment, and then an image came to mind.
“A bookstore owner.”
“Huh?”
“It changes from time to time, but right now, I want to be a bookstore owner.”
“You liked books? …Come to think of it, I did see you reading books sometimes in Lohn.”
I shook my head.
“No, I don’t really like them. I was just desperately trying to break the curse back then, so I read any magic book I could get my hands on…”
“…Then why?”
I took a deep breath and answered his puzzled question,
“I just… want to.”
“Just because.”
“Yes, just because.”
He chuckled at my absurd answer.
“A bookstore owner, huh…”
Woo kept repeating the words, as if he was imagining it, his gaze fixed on the sky. So I also looked up at the sky. A pleasant breeze blew, ruffling my hair.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. This peaceful moment was quite comfortable.
‘I don’t like books, but I know someone who does.’
To be honest, it wasn’t “just because.”
I had seen someone reading on the train, and I had wondered if reading was really that enjoyable, I had wanted to understand his feelings. That was all. Words I couldn’t say out loud.
And then…
“I hate books.”
A stranger, suddenly appearing on the peaceful lakeshore, threw a large stone into the water.
“What a coincidence, meeting you here.”
An unfamiliar voice, not ours, cut through the air.
“You’re…”
Woo stopped walking. But I was probably the one who knew this man better. My eyes twitched as I saw the man blocking our path.
“The scammer…”
Gray hair, sharp eyes, a sturdy build.
It was the man who had been following me around since morning.
“A scammer? I’ve never lied in my life.”
You’re lying.
He smirked, as if reading my thoughts from my eyes. Woo was silent, so I spoke first, my voice sharp,
“What do you want?”
The gray-haired man swaggered towards us.
“I just saw you while I was passing by. Nice to see you again.”
His hands were shoved in his pockets, his posture slouched, he looked like a thug. No, he might actually be a thug.
“I’ve been reading books since I was a kid. So I really hate books. They’re boring, right?”
He rambled on about things I hadn’t even asked about, and I just stared at him blankly, dumbfounded. He circled us a few times, then suddenly snatched a few guild brochures from my arms.
“H-hey! Give those back!”
He was faster than a pickpocket, and by the time I realized what had happened, the brochures were gone. I flailed my arms, but my hand couldn’t reach him, as he was a head taller than me.
“Hmm… Hmm~”
He expertly dodged me and flipped through our precious brochures.
“Looking for a guild, huh? Is that why you’re here?”
His words were curt now. He had even dropped the formalities. I glared at him, but he just ignored me and stroked his chin. And then, he ripped all the brochures in his hand to shreds.
“Ah, agh! Seriously! What are you doing?!”
My involuntary scream, mixed with the sound of ripping paper, dissipated into the air. The brochures I had worked so hard to collect were turned into white snow, fluttering down on us.
“….”
“….”
We could only watch, speechless, as the scene unfolded before our eyes. And then, the man’s voice reached our ears,
“No need to be upset, they’re all shady anyway. Do you know how many guilds there are that try to scam newbies like you and steal their money?”
“…Really?”
The gray-haired man smirked at my cautious question,
“Of course. Because you’re about to believe my baseless words without a second thought.”
“Ugh…”
“Hahaha, I’m kidding. Or am I?”
What was he talking about?
I felt myself being drawn into his pace, even though it had only been five minutes since he had appeared. I glanced at Woo, trying to break the flow. But he was still silent, his lips tightly pressed together.
‘…What’s wrong?’
It could have been my imagination, but something felt off. He hadn’t said anything since the man had appeared, his expression was strangely stiff, and I couldn’t even tell where he was looking.
He would have usually dealt with the man before I could even intervene.
Maybe he was too flustered to speak, like me… I wanted to think that, but something about it didn’t feel right.
“Hmm…”
The gray-haired man, watching us, seemed to be calculating something.
“…Hey, Sue.”
He finally spoke, a good idea coming to mind, and placed his hand on his chest.
“Why don’t you hang out with me instead of that guy?”
“What?”
“Let’s hang out together. I know more about this city and the guilds than he does.”
“What? No… I don’t want to.”
I stepped back, disgusted. But the gray-haired man seemed unfazed by my blunt rejection. I would learn the reason much later.
“Why don’t you give it a try, Sue?”
“…What?”
Woo, who had been silent since the gray-haired man had appeared, finally spoke. I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant. And then, he repeated himself, his pronunciation clear,
“I’m talking about… that man named Pel. He seems knowledgeable about this place. It wouldn’t hurt to get his help.”
I pointed at the gray-haired man, baffled by his absurd suggestion.
“He’s a scammer.”
“I don’t think he is. He looks quite decent.”
I chuckled at his words, as if he were a fortune teller.
I was so surprised by the unexpected turn of events that I couldn’t even think straight, my mind blanking. And then, the gray-haired man, who had been smirking, dropped another bombshell.
“Ah, right, that woman, the red-haired woman. No, not Sue, the one here. Celine, was it? She was looking for you, Woo. You should probably go back to the inn.”
“…Really?”
My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t know if it was because of the news, or because of something inside me.
“Then I’ll head back to the inn first. Sue.”
“…Why?”
You said you liked me?
Were you the kind of person who would abandon me for no reason? And then go meet another woman?
‘Huh? What am I thinking?’
The heat that had been rising to my head suddenly cooled down.
Right, what was I thinking?
“…Are you leaving?”
My body felt heavy. I spoke, as he didn’t answer,
“Go back safely… I’ll be back soon.”
“…Yes.”
Saying goodbye was a habit. Was it also a habit for him to answer?
Anyway, Woo turned his back on me and walked away. I stared blankly at his retreating figure, then turned away and sighed.
I wasn’t sure if I was angry, if I should be angry, or if I shouldn’t be angry.
Dumped again.
The gray-haired man, no, Pel, who was still next to me, said something that annoyed me. I wanted to punch him.