Chapter 3

As I descended the winding staircase a couple of times, a large tavern came into view.

“Wow…”

The tavern, which seemed to have been converted from a two-story house, was very spacious. Even in broad daylight, some people who were already drinking noticed me and greeted me warmly.

“Oh, Eve. You look like a mess today. Did you even wash your face before coming out? Haha!”

I was startled and quickly wiped my face with my sleeve. The guy who made the joke and his friends burst into laughter.

“Come here, Iveris. Order some milk.”

Memories of Iveris gradually came back to me. He was the guy who always drank until his nose turned red, then got slapped by Aunt Violet and went home.

Once, he nearly got attacked by a demon after getting drunk, but the hero dramatically saved him.

“That memory is about a year old… It seems like a bad time to remember it.”

If my guess is correct, this time period is after the hero defeated the Demon King. While I had memorized everything up until that point from hundreds of attempts, I didn’t know anything about what happened afterward…!

“Here, have this.”

“Yes.”

I quietly accepted the milk glass with steam rising from it, but the grim reality was so hard to accept that my eyes kept wandering to their glasses of alcohol.

Even though he was drunk, the man somehow recognized me and loudly moved his glass out of my sight.

“Oh! You can’t drink until you’re an adult.”

Ah, yes. How petty.

“So, will the hero visit our village again? Even though there’s no obligation, we’d like to treat him to a meal for saving us…”

“Oh, this cheeky guy! Am I treating you, or are you treating me? Still, it would be nice if the hero visited this small village again.”

“I heard he came down to buy ingredients once? I didn’t see him, though.”

“Maybe he didn’t go to the capital after all?”

“Or maybe he bought food before he went?”

“The hero?”

I never thought such an event would happen in this small village. I had thought the hero was just an extra in an extra village with no meaningful interaction after saving it single-handedly and leaving. But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

As I showed a surprised reaction for that reason, others interpreted it differently.

Then, everyone drinking or having brunch turned their attention to me. All eyes were on me.

The man next to me cleared his throat and began his passionate speech.

“You must have been too young to see it then! People were ecstatic that day…”

“Oh, not seeing that is such a shame. Do you know how amazing the hero was that day? He drove out the demons alone and saved our village. Everyone in the village cheered. Not being able to see that moment! It’s really regrettable.”

The word “hero” seemed to hold special meaning for them as they recounted the tales of the hero with hollow eyes.

Yes, yes, I know all about that. I ordered it, after all. About… 200 times.

After the awakening of the demon king due to the tragedy of the nearest village to the demon castle, the invasion of fierce demons was an essential element informing about the demon king’s intrusion.

‘So, the hero still visits the village even after that.’

If lucky, one could meet the hero who had come down to buy ingredients.

“The hero saved our village! He’s truly a grateful person.”

‘Yeah, I raised him!’

I felt proud and embarrassed at the same time. His praise felt almost as embarrassing as my own.

Yes, it was a bitter pill to swallow that I ended up being reincarnated by the one I raised, but what could I do?

The warm milk warmed my hands. Even if I denied reality, the pain and sensation were still vivid.

It wasn’t a dream, so… I reluctantly accepted that I had been reincarnated in the game.

It seemed too much of a price to pay for a single wrong stamp on a contract.

‘If I meet the hero, I want to say something, but for now, I need to match his tastes to return home.’

Ordinary people might gather information about the hero in the village, but I didn’t need to. I knew Adam the best.

‘Of course, if he asks if I knew he would reincarnate me, I have nothing to say.’

Anyway, the villagers knew about his whereabouts. Just a few hours ago, they were eagerly asking about him.

I looked beyond the window of the tavern at the top of the castle, faintly visible.

The demon castle that appeared after passing through a small forest in the Dainel Village.

The hero was there.

“Well, the news has been cut off lately… but since he said he killed the demon king, wouldn’t he go back to the palace soon to receive praise?”

“Hmm, but is he recovering from his injuries? He hasn’t returned to the capital for weeks since he announced the demon king’s death.”

“If he had returned to the capital, those palace goblins would have made a fuss! Geez, his whereabouts are mysterious. I’m really worried.”

“He’s that great hero! Why worry? He killed the demon king alone!”

That amazing hero, who I had ordered to clean the demon castle…

I almost spat out the milk I was about to drink at the sudden change of topic, then swallowed it with a gulp and perked my ears with an innocent expression.

“So, is there any movement?”

“Hmm, well… There were rumors that the monsters near the demon castle suddenly disappeared, so some hunters approached, thinking it might be the hero’s doing, and they thought they saw him…”

“Why are you using a questioning tone?”

“Well, because that person’s a bit senile…”

“Ah…”

I completely understood. Well, then there’s nothing we can do. He’ll probably be at the demon castle as they expect. Ordinary people wouldn’t have thought the hero would still be staying in a castle even after the demon king is dead.

But such a thing had actually happened.

“I should probably try to meet the hero…”

What excuse could I use to approach him?

Although I had avoided and revered the place where the demon lived, it was still a castle.

I remembered that despite spending a month cleaning and rebuilding the demon castle, it was still far from being presentable.

As someone who had put the hero to work in the demon castle, I knew well what roles were needed.

Chef, janitor, gardener.

There were many options, but whether the hero would accept them was questionable. Considering Adam’s personality that I had seen in the game, he would probably refuse.

‘But I guess I have to give it a try.’

Sure, Adam might be wary and reject me, but what can I do?

Even if I had to volunteer as a maid, I had to take responsibility for the welfare of the hero at the demon castle.

“Eve, we’ve got orders!”

“Oh, yes!”

But for now, I had to deal with the immediate situation rather than the hero.

* * *

Dainel Village was smaller in size compared to other villages, but almost all of its residents knew each other’s faces.

There was only one house where there was no interaction with the villagers. Violet mentioned that nobles lived there.

It was strange to have nobles in such a small village far from the capital.

When asked why nobles lived in a remote village rather than near the capital, she said, “Some pasts are better left unasked” and tapped her finger on her lips.

Anyway, except for the noble with refined tastes, everyone else was a familiar face wherever you went.

‘It seems easy to ask for help…’

But there would be no help for the possessed.

And being a young laborer made them good prey for them.

“Eve!”

“Eveline-“

“Eve, can you help me with this?”

Even Eve was a versatile homemaker.

With her nimble fingers, people in the village called for Iberis’s help everywhere. Especially as the only herbalist in the village, she was indispensable.

Moreover, in such a small village, there was only one former hunter, now an elderly grandfather, who was called upon as a doctor. But as he became more eccentric and started driving people away for no reason, the villagers had no choice but to turn to me.

‘This is for piercing wounds, and this is for cuts… This is an herb for headaches.’

Fortunately, with Iberis’s memory intact and her habit of keeping things organized, I was able to overcome the obstacles.