Chapter 21

 

“Why are you eating plants over there?”

“Warrior!”

I jumped up, quickly brushing off the dirt from my clothes with an awkward smile. Adam was dressed neatly, looking like he was about to head out. The earlier image of him shirtless flashed in my mind, so I quickly tried to change the subject.

“Would you like some too? It’s a herb that’s good for hangovers.”

“I’m fine. I didn’t even get a chance to drink, what with someone causing a scene after drinking too much.”

“….”

I wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it from embarrassment.

Was there a shovel around here? If there was, I’d dig a hole and jump in right away. Then, I’d ask someone to engrave my gravestone.

[Eveline, died of embarrassment.]

As I mentally dug a hole for myself, I heard a faint sound of someone trying to hold back laughter beside me.

“…?”

When I glanced over, I saw Adam covering his mouth with his hand, and then he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He burst out laughing.

“Hahaha.”

Did… Adam just laugh?

“Eve, you’re really quite amusing.”

I stared at him in a daze, my mouth slightly open.

Had Adam ever laughed since I arrived?

I had seen him smile countless times, but this was the first time I’d ever heard him laugh like that.

Realizing this himself, Adam awkwardly rubbed his chin.

“It’s been a long time since I laughed like this.”

Seeing my dumbfounded face, Adam continued in a calm voice.

“For the record, I don’t care what kind of person you are, Eve.”

It sounded so kind, like he would forgive anything, and it pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Because…”

I interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

“Because I’ll be leaving soon? Well, just watch! I’ll be stuck by your side forever, Warrior!”

“Haha…”

“Forever.” Adam muttered quietly.

With a soft smile, he looked at me, almost as if he were responding to a child’s playful promise.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Though he smiled, it felt like he might cry at any moment.

Adam poked the back of my neck with his finger, which was burning red.

“But right now, Eve, I feel like if I tease you a little more, you’ll run home.”

“That’s not true!”

Forget what I said about him looking like he was about to cry! He’s definitely planning to tease me more!

As I yelled back at him, I noticed his outfit was different from usual. Unlike his usual casual shirt, he was properly dressed today.

“Are you going somewhere, Warrior?”

“Yes. I’m planning to visit a village nearby.”

A village nearby…

“Dainel Village?”

“No.”

He shook his head smoothly.

“If you head northeast from the Demon King’s castle, there’s a village a bit larger than Dainel. Someone came there, and I think I should meet them.”

“It doesn’t sound like someone you’re close with?”

Adam’s face darkened, as though he were about to meet someone he didn’t want to.

Scratching his cheek awkwardly, he replied.

“In terms of closeness, I don’t know this person at all.”

Well, Adam doesn’t have any friends.

I nodded, accepting this fact without thinking.

“Do you know them, Eve?”

“…No? How would I?”

“Aha.”

…His reaction seemed odd.

Had I really said something strange yesterday? It felt like Adam was trying to gauge something from me, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

‘No matter how smart Adam is, there’s no way he’d know that I’ve been transported into this world.’

I couldn’t figure out Adam’s actions up until now, but today he was acting even stranger.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand his intentions, so I came to the conclusion that it was impossible to figure out.

I just watched as Adam slowly disappeared from view.

At that moment, Ben suddenly appeared from behind.

“Warrior! Lunch is ready! Where are you? Oh? Eve, have you seen the warrior? I’ve been looking for him everywhere, but I can’t find him.”

“The warrior just went down to the village.”

“No! This meal is best enjoyed while it’s still warm!”

After Adam had praised Ben’s cooking a few times, even giving him a thumbs-up, Ben had taken a real liking to cooking. Now, whenever Adam was too busy working or reading to eat, Ben would go looking for him with food, making sure he ate on time.

“All muscles are made from food! If you don’t want to lose those gains, you’d better eat.”

I didn’t know where he’d picked up that phrase, but it was true.

And that’s why Adam’s muscles… Oh no.

I shook my head fiercely, trying to erase the image of Adam that kept creeping back. Then, I grabbed the plate from Ben’s hands.

“But that’s for the warrior!”

“He’s meeting someone, and since he changed his clothes, it doesn’t seem like a light meeting. He’ll probably be back late.”

I tried the fish. Ben’s cooking skills had improved again—it was savory and perfectly seasoned, with no fishy taste at all.

“But how did you know the warrior changed his clothes?”

“…”

I deliberately changed the subject.

“By the way, Ben, do you know anything about the village to the northeast?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I know it! You wouldn’t know since you’ve been stuck in the Demon King’s castle, but that village isn’t too far from ours. There was a bit of a fuss when a priest arrived there to grant blessings. It’s not often we get such golden opportunities in our village.”

“Aha.”

It seemed that the person Adam had to meet was likely this priest.

“But is the priest still there? It’s been two weeks now.”

“Maybe they’ve been waiting for someone.”

“For who?”

I shrugged my shoulders silently.

Who else could it be?

They must be waiting for the warrior, the person the temple is so eager to see.

‘It’s definitely the priest that Ben mentioned, but… why did Adam look so displeased?’

For now, I didn’t have any answers.

Adam returned earlier than I expected, and after Ben glared at him for not eating lunch, he made sure Adam ate twice the normal portion before letting him go.

* * *

It was a morning where even the early birds weren’t catching worms—they were just chirping away noisily.

“Why are the birds so loud today?”

Annoyed by the noise disturbing my sleep, I threw open the window.

The culprit had to be nearby!

‘Huh?’

Adam was outside in the garden.

Unlike usual, a bird was perched on his arm. Sitting on a large rock, Adam was feeding the bird and staring off into space, deep in thought.

I quickly changed my clothes and headed down to the garden.

“Good morning, Warrior!”

“Good morning, Eve.”

I greeted him as usual and ran over. Sure enough, there was Adam, along with a bird perched on his arm.

The bird’s belly was full, likely from all the food Adam had given it.

A white man and a white bird.

They were a fitting pair.

The bird, with its pristine white feathers, was preening on Adam’s arm. I recognized it.

“Oh, this bird!”

Adam seemed a bit surprised that I knew the bird’s identity.

“You know it?”

“Of course.”

It was the bird that had helped me track down my village when I first arrived here.

If it weren’t for this bird, I wouldn’t have been dragged back to the village by the warrior!

As I stared at the bird, locked in a silent standoff, Adam gently placed it on my arm.

I accepted the bird, looking into its jet-black eyes.

‘It’s kind of cute when I look at it like this.’

But then the bird quickly turned its head away.

For some reason, I felt offended.

It couldn’t be, but it felt like the bird was ignoring me.

“Eve.”

“Yes, Warrior!”

Adam paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully before speaking.

“I’ll need to leave the Demon King’s castle for a few days.”

“Really?”

Adam had never left the castle for more than a day.

For him to say he needed to be away for several days meant it was something important.

“Yes. In the meantime, with Abraxas and…”

At the mention of Abraxas, Adam’s eyebrows furrowed, likely recalling our previous antics.

Ah, don’t wrinkle that handsome face.

“Now that I think about it, leaving the castle with two troublemakers inside might cause some serious aftermath. Eve, would you like to go to the temple?”

Am I one of the troublemakers?

I pouted in frustration, but his next words quickly made me forget my irritation.