I accepted a simple request and left the guild.
It was, quite literally, a chore—gathering medicinal herbs.
But as a first step, it was perfect for learning the terrain around the village and getting a feel for the area we’d be working in from now on.
Nothing difficult, nothing burdensome.
That didn’t mean it was something we could simply take lightly.
In this world, an easy job was synonymous with getting hurt because you let your guard down.
Whether you went into the forest or crossed a field, no one knew what might happen.
After all, a request meant there was enough danger involved that someone was willing to pay money to have another person do it for them.
A few steps beyond the village, wheat fields began at once, followed by gentle hills, short trees, and old stone walls scattered in disarray.
The wind blowing over the fields was cool, and from far away came the faint mingled sounds of wagons and people working the land.
“This village is nicer than I expected.”
Sairun said as he looked around at the scenery, one hand on his waist.
“It’s not bad. The wind’s nice and cool too.”
Baldik plucked a blade of grass, chewed it, then eventually spat it out.
“Damn it, ptoo! Ptoo! I thought it was edible grass, but I guess not.”
“Who told you to eat it?”
I laughed, shook my head, and turned toward the eastern hill where the herbs were said to grow.
Aileen followed quietly behind before asking in a low voice.
“Does something like this really make money?”
“There must be demand for it if a request was posted. Apparently it’s usually used as an ingredient for medicine or even for tea.”
“Then should we try growing some too?”
“We don’t even have a house. If you’re thinking of planting it behind the inn, give it up.”
As we exchanged jokes like that, the sound of a stream soon reached our ears, and beneath a gap between small rocks, broad leaves with a faint mint hue came into view.
“There they are.”
I crouched down and began carefully gathering them.
Baldik knelt by the stream, scooping up water with his hands as he said,
“It’s clear, all right. I don’t see any strange beasts around here.”
Sairun had already picked up a branch and was performing air slashes at Aileen, while Aileen, expressionless, sidestepped him until she finally picked up a stick and lightly jabbed Sairun in the shin.
…When is that kid ever going to grow up?
I told them to keep watch, honestly.
“Argh! Hey, that really hurts!”
“I only poked you lightly with a stick.”
Ignoring Sairun’s scream behind me, I carefully pulled out the last herb by the root.
“We’re done. Let’s head back.”
“Yeah~ First request complete!”
Sairun shouted, throwing both arms into the air.
On the way back, the wind passed over us once more, rustling the blades of grass.
It was a peaceful afternoon.
A day like this wasn’t bad either.
***
During our stay in the village, we took care of small requests one by one.
Gathering herbs, clearing paths around the village, simple road patrols, and the like.
There was nothing special about them, but our days were surprisingly busy.
Now and then, we heard talk of goblins being sighted and went out to search, but so far no monsters had actually been found.
Most of the time, it was simply a frightened farmer’s mistake, or someone misreading animal tracks.
“Another wild goose chase.”
Sairun grumbled, holding up a broken axe handle he had found in the grass.
“Still, it’s not bad. It’s a hundred times better than them hiding somewhere and suddenly jumping out at us.”
I looked around once before answering.
Baldik was sitting in the shade of a nearby tree, fiddling with a liquor bottle as if it had become a habit by now, while Aileen silently examined the small footprints along the edge of the road.
The days were quiet and leisurely.
That didn’t mean we could fully relax, but for now, at least, things were peaceful.
“This isn’t bad either. It doesn’t pay much, but it’s peaceful.”
“Days like this will be over soon.”
“Pardon?”
I didn’t particularly want to throw cold water on the mood, but it was true.
Recently, the number of requests posted on the board had been steadily dwindling.
Instead, requests coming down from the guild, like searches for missing people, had begun appearing one by one.
If the war taking place in the neighboring territory was a storm, then we were in the eye of it.
We were standing in a brief moment of silence.
“It means the effects are slowly reaching this area too.”
I exhaled briefly as I spoke.
“That sounds frightening.”
Aileen murmured softly as she looked at me.
“Still, we’ll have to take on those kinds of jobs eventually. We can’t earn big money like this.”
Baldik said, tapping the liquor bottle against his shoulder.
It was a thoroughly realistic remark.
“…Things are still fine for now, aren’t they?”
Sairun lifted his head and looked around.
“I hope we can keep taking requests like this from now on. Rather than shedding blood.”
“I’ll admit that much.”
I nodded and stood up, and the others brushed off their backsides as they rose as well.
Sunlight filtered through the green leaves, and the wind gently swayed the branches.
In the end, we returned to the inn without having gained anything.
Perhaps summer had crept up before we knew it, because the midday sun was fairly sharp.
Damp sweat clung to my spine, and my clothes stuck lightly to my skin in an unpleasant way.
I headed straight for the back of the inn.
There was a makeshift washroom surrounded by wooden planks, and inside it sat an old wooden tub and a shabby ladle.
I scooped up a basin of water, quietly rolled up my shirt sleeves, and wet my face and arms.
“Phew…”
As the cool streams of water ran down my cheeks, it felt as though the fatigue clinging to my body was being washed away bit by bit.
I went back inside the inn.
In the dining area on the first floor, several villagers had taken seats and were chatting over mugs of beer.
The sound of familiar faces laughing and talking filled the room, and a warm liveliness lingered around every table.
This village had no separate restaurant.
That was why this place, the village’s only inn and eatery, also served as a public resting spot.
During the day, laborers gathered here to sate their hunger; in the evening, drinkers came to bring their day to a close.
It didn’t have the bustle of a city, but instead there was a clear sense of living people here.
These small everyday moments came together to form their own kind of peace.
The phrase “peaceful daily life” somehow felt real.
“I’d like a meal, please. Is there anything special today?”
The innkeeper’s face brightened slightly.
Since we had stayed here several times over the past few days, we had become fairly familiar faces by now.
“You’re in luck today. Some hunters happened to bring in a goat this morning. We have goat rib stew prepared—it’s known as a Beldor specialty.”
Before long, food was placed on a wooden tray along with a fragrant aroma.
The first thing that caught my eye was the crispy roasted goat ribs.
The seasoning was simple, but thanks to the spices mixed from crushed garlic and herbs, there was almost no gamey smell from the meat.
Golden-brown pieces of meat clung to the ends of the ribs, and they looked tender enough to tear apart without a knife.
Beside them was a soup made by thoroughly boiling potatoes and root vegetables grown in this village.
It seemed to have a bit of herb added to a rich meat broth, and the savory aroma tickling my nose stirred my appetite.
The fat floating on the surface of the soup looked like spreading warmth.
And then there was a loaf of freshly baked rye bread.
A pale piece of cheese had melted slightly over the bread, enough that if you tore it with your hands, the cheese would stretch out in strings.
The moment it was set down on the table, I realized anew just how hungry I was.
“Would you like beer or ale to drink?”
The innkeeper asked with a smile.
“Beer.”
It was a somewhat luxurious meal.
It wasn’t exactly fancy, but warm food, cold beer, and the pleasant murmur of noise around me.
Perhaps it was because of moments like this that even hard work felt worth doing.
Just as I scooped up a heaping spoonful of soup and brought it toward my mouth—
“What, it’s already out?”
A chair clattered as someone sat down in front of me.
It was Baldik.
He had approached without any sign of his presence, brushed off his collar as he took his seat, then raised a hand high.
“Innkeeper! One beer, please!”
Food could come later; beer seemed to come first.
A short while later, Baldik picked up the wooden mug the innkeeper brought and drank it down at once.
Gulp, gulp—
Then he let out a deep “Khaa,” exhaled, and said,
“Burp. Finally feel alive again.”
He belched with a satisfied expression.
“Aren’t you ordering food?”
I asked with a laugh, and he waved his hand dismissively.
“You’ve got to have a drink first to work up an appetite.”
At that, I lifted my spoon again.
The soup, filled with roughly chopped root vegetables and pieces of meat, was salty while carrying a subtle herbal fragrance.
Perhaps it used a spice unique to this village, because the faint prickling sensation in my mouth was excellent.
For a moment, I thought it would be nice if the day simply passed into evening like this while I filled my stomach.
“Oh, right. I heard a strange rumor on the way here.”
Baldik said that, then leaned his upper body slightly toward me and lowered his voice.
Amid the calm noise of the dining hall, his voice sounded oddly clear.
“What was it?”
“A few days ago, someone from this village went missing near the northern forest. At first, people brushed it off, thinking he’d probably been taken by a wild beast… but there was one strange thing.”
I stopped my spoon.
“Strange thing?”
“There were no footprints. They say he just vanished. No bloodstains, no signs of a struggle.”
Baldik trailed off and lifted his mug again.
He took a sip, then quietly looked into my eyes.
“It might just be a rumor going around. But… the person who said it seemed fairly trustworthy. An old hunter who patrols the village, apparently.”
Only then did I slowly look around the dining hall.
Unlike the lively atmosphere, there were a few people in the corner quietly drinking without speaking much.
I felt one of them glance briefly in our direction.
“…As a coincidence, that’s extremely strange.”
“…It is.”
I lifted my spoon again.
The warm flavor spreading through my mouth seemed to slowly melt away the tangled thoughts of the day.
Just then, I heard the door open, and when I raised my head, I saw Aileen entering the inn.
“Wow, today’s meal is really generous.”
Seeing the food on my table, Aileen’s eyes widened.
Since the rich smell of stew was filling the room, her reaction was only natural.
“Hurry and order. Otherwise, you won’t get any.”
When I said it jokingly, Aileen’s eyes went round as she clasped her hands and quickly replied,
“What? Excuse me! I’ll have the same thing as this, please!”
After dashing off to place her order, Aileen returned with a satisfied expression and took a seat.
Sairun, who came in a little later, also rushed to order, but what he brought back was only a bowl of soup and a hard loaf of bread.
“…Why am I the only one like this?”
Sairun asked with a miserable expression, and Baldik shrugged as he answered.
“That’s what you get for coming late.”
“I was maintaining my equipment! Don’t the rest of you do that?”
“Of course we do. You’re just slow.”
In front of Baldik as he said that were a plate of meat already half emptied and a mug of beer.
Wiping the grease from his mouth roughly with the back of his hand, he smiled shamelessly.
“See, this is why the quick ones win in this world.”
Sairun lowered his head and stirred his soup, and seeing him, Aileen burst into the laughter she had been trying to hold back.
“Come earlier next time. The Beldor specialty is tastier than I expected.”
“…Haah, this is seriously unfair.”
With Sairun’s sigh, the meal resumed.
Amid the sound of spoons tapping against bowls, the story Baldik had just told naturally became the topic of conversation.
“Really!?”
Sairun asked, his eyes wide.
“Shh, lower your voice. Everyone here will hear you.”
Baldik said quietly as he tilted his mug slightly.
“Then that means something is happening inside this village.”
Aileen continued, still looking as though she could hardly believe it.
“Right. Until now, almost all the missing person requests posted were for people from other regions.”
I added cautiously.
“But this time, they say a villager disappeared.”
“Could it be… a kidnapping? Or a monster?”
“We don’t know that yet. Seeing how quiet things still are, it might not be as big a deal as we think.”
Sairun slowly chewed the bread in his hand and nodded without a word.
Before we knew it, the atmosphere had grown somewhat heavy.
But not so heavy that we stopped eating.
In this world, food—especially warm food—was always one of the first things you had to take care of.
For now, recovering our strength mattered more than talking.
“Still, the fact that something like that happened in this village is a little unsettling.”
“True. Maybe it’s about time a fight breaks out.”
Baldik muttered as he emptied his mug.
“…Still, it isn’t bad enough to ruin my appetite yet.”
Aileen said with an awkward smile as she picked up a piece of meat from her plate.
I quietly looked at her, then nodded.
…She’s gotten completely used to this work now too.
Once, she was the kind of girl who recoiled at even a single drop of blood.
Now she could talk about missing people while chewing meat.
Well, I was the same.
Whether I had grown numb, or simply gotten used to it.
“Still, I hope this peace lasts a long time.”
Aileen said quietly.
“Peace is like the seasons.”
Baldik said, lifting his cup.
“It only brushes past for a moment. That’s why it’s all the more precious.”
“I suppose so. Eating and laughing together like this might be something we miss someday.”
Sairun said as well, with a low chuckle.
At those words, all of us fell silent for a moment and looked down at the table.
Warm broth, freshly baked bread, and the cool evening air.
It would be nice if we could protect a table like this forever.
But that was only a wish.
Reality would always bring another wave.
And that might very well be tomorrow.