PDHMO Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Chloe, do you want more sweet potato bread?”

I stared absentmindedly at the plate still piled high with sweet potato bread, then shook my head.

“Mm… I’m okay. I don’t want any.”

“Really? There’s still a lot left…”

Despite my rather cynical response, the girl sitting across from me smiled shyly, dimples forming on her cheeks.

“Your mom’s late today, huh?”

“Yeah. Yawn…”

A yawn escaped me, born from the boredom wrapping around my whole body.

“Chloe, if you’re sleepy, you can go to bed. Should we go to the bed together?”

“I’m not gonna sleep… I want to wait for Mom…”

I replied while blinking slowly, and the girl let out a small sigh as if she couldn’t help it.

“You really like Aunt Diana, don’t you?”

“Of course! I’m stuck to Mom like glue!”

“You’re the one saying that, huh.”

The girl chuckled at my words, letting out a soft “Pfft.”

Her name was Jessie, a girl who lived next door. She was three years older than me.

Whenever Aunt Jessie and my mom went out for work together, I would always be left in her care.

Luckily, Jessie was a mature older girl and found me quite adorable.

And for good reason—because I was quite sharp for my age. Why, you ask? Because inside this five-year-old body was a fifteen-year-old middle schooler.

Well, to be precise, I wasn’t just inside it—I was reborn in this body.

The moment I realized I’d been reincarnated was simple and trivial.

About two years ago, when I was three, I tried to sneak a sugar cube from the cupboard without Mom knowing, missed my step, and went thud onto the floor.

At that moment, memories from my past life came flooding back like a massive tidal wave. Most of them weren’t pleasant, but perhaps because my physical body had died, the emotions tied to those memories had died as well. So it wasn’t all that sad or painful.

After that, I became a rather mature five-year-old kid.

I could understand adult conversations pretty well, pronounce words clearly, and only whined once in a while—very rarely, really.

To me, this was a significant change, but my mom didn’t find it odd at all.

Maybe because, in her doting eyes, I was already a sweet, obedient daughter.

Anyway, with the combined age of my past and current life being twenty, I was still quietly waiting for my mom with Jessie.

If there was one downside, it was that the pretend games Jessie and I always played while waiting for Mom had become boring.

That meant I had to endure the wait in boredom. Since I never begged to play anymore, Jessie would just stay nearby while doing chores or studying.

“Oh, right. Chloe, did you hear?”

“Hm?”

“You know George, who lives down the hill?”

“Yeah.”

“Yesterday, George’s dad went missing. So George’s mom reported it to the town watch, but they still haven’t found him.”

“Missing…?”

“Oh, ‘missing’ means…”

Thinking I didn’t know the word, Jessie started to explain what it meant, but her voice faded away in my ears.

It wasn’t hard to figure out why George’s dad had gone missing.

Monsters.

In this world I was reincarnated into, there were all sorts of monsters, and attacks on humans by these creatures weren’t uncommon.

Lately, their numbers had been increasing dramatically. Missing people were the norm—sometimes only parts of their bodies were ever found.

In the capital and territories protected by the Five Great Houses, monster invasions were almost nonexistent. But out in the frontier, where there were no such protectors, the danger was real.

That’s why most people living in the frontier were poor commoners or vagrants with no family. Sure, there was something called the town watch that was supposed to protect us, but few of them actually did their jobs. In places untouched by the state’s gaze, they acted like nobles, demanding payment from villagers and throwing their weight around. I’d seen them causing trouble more than once.

My mom and I hadn’t had trouble with them—yet. But that didn’t mean I felt safe.

Noticing my serious expression, Jessie must’ve thought I was scared and tried to cheer me up with a bright voice.

“Chloe, yogurt with raspberry jam is really tasty! Want to try it?”

A spoonful of pink yogurt came right to my lips.

I opened my mouth reflexively, and the tart flavor of raspberries instantly spread through my mouth.

It was exactly the kind of flavor my mom, who loved tangy fruits, would enjoy. The thought made me chew happily.

“Hey, Chloe.”

“Yeah?”

“Next month is Children’s Day, right? What do you want for it?”

Oh, right. This world had Children’s Day too.

I thought seriously about her question before answering.

“Umm… Moo…?”

“Huh? Poop?”

Startled, Jessie tilted her head in confusion. I quickly scrunched my face and shook my head.

“No! Not poop! Moo-ney! This!”

I got a little too excited, forming a circle with my thumb and forefinger. I could usually pronounce words pretty well, but there were still some I struggled with.

And I hated that. Every time someone couldn’t understand me, I couldn’t help but show my frustration.

“Ohh, you meant money, not poop?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded firmly, and Jessie gave me a heartfelt apology for the misunderstanding.

“I actually heard from your mom. You’ve been saving up lately, huh? Where are you keeping it?”

“In my piggy bank.”

“Pig? Wait, what?”

Oops. Wrong choice of words. There weren’t any piggy banks here—I’d drawn a picture of a pig on a wooden box instead…

I considered correcting myself but decided to let it slide.

“I’ll show you later. But you can only look! No opening it!”

“Ah, okay! I’ll just look. You have to show me, though!”

“Yep!”

Jessie could be a bit much with how much she doted on me, but she was still a good friend. Showing a friend your treasure—well, that was fine.

But I couldn’t tell her how much I’d saved. Not even Mom knew that.

“Jessie, Chloe! Did you two behave while I was gone?”

Just as I was about to tell Jessie I couldn’t reveal the amount, a familiar, booming voice came from outside—it was Jessie’s mom, Aunt Royna.

“Mom! You’re early today?”

“The village festival is tomorrow, remember? Everyone finished up early to prepare. Chloe, were you good with your big sister? Your mom just stopped by the market and should be home any minute now. Jessie, walk Chloe home, would you?”

“Okay. Chloe, let’s go.”

Jessie, as usual, took my hand and walked me home. This had always been part of our routine whenever my mom worked late.

Since our houses weren’t far apart, we got there quickly.

“Chloe, I’m off! See you tomorrow!”

As always, Jessie waved both arms and shouted a cheerful goodbye. She was such a lively kid, every single time.

I waved back until I couldn’t see her anymore, then plopped down on the front steps.

This, too, was part of my usual routine while waiting for Mom. To pass the time, I began tapping out a rhythm with my feet, trying to entertain myself.

I was staring at my little shoes, keeping the beat, when a shadow fell over me.

Mom?

I looked up quickly—and gasped.

The face that appeared was that of an absurdly handsome man.

His long, jet-black hair covered his entire neck, yet somehow it didn’t look messy or unkempt. His silvery-gray eyes were cloudy, yet they only made him look even more striking.

But… he was staring down at me with wide, bloodshot eyes, like he was in shock—and it scared me a little.

I didn’t understand why this man was glaring at me like that. I just blinked in a daze as his crimson lips slowly parted.

“You… Who are you?”

“…Huh?”

Excuse me, but that’s what I should be asking…

I just gawked at him, speechless, and his smooth forehead slowly wrinkled.

“A kid? Don’t tell me the report was true…”

What is this guy talking about?

I couldn’t take it anymore and stood up abruptly.

“Mister, who are you?!”

Ugh, I put too much force in that. My pronunciation slipped.

One corner of his eye twitched as he looked down at me.

“And who are you?”

“Clo—…”

“Clo…?”

“Ah!”

I almost gave away my name. Slapping my hand over my mouth, I glared at him.

One of his eyebrows rose even higher, arching sharply.

“Why’d you stop mid-sentence?”

“B-because I don’t want to say it anymore!”

“…Ha. Fine.”

He let out a short sigh and turned to walk… straight toward my house.

“Wait!”

I quickly jumped in front of him, arms spread wide.

“No way!”

“What? Move.”

“T-this is my house!”

Like heck I’d let some shady stranger into our house!