Episode 4 - Now I Know Why That Bastard's Acting Like That
Sirin changed into the clothes she had received.
She roughly covered her face with her disheveled hair and put the crude mask back on.
This way, her face wouldn't be seen properly.
Sirin kept walking toward the square.
The liberating sensation of finally being able to speak properly made her steps lighter than ever before.
Now that the words were flowing, she should properly greet Aunt Marta. She had also thought of a few things to snap at that little brat Vera, or whatever her name was. Well, she didn't plan on being too harsh for Marta's sake, but she couldn't let those freckles covering her face like strawberries pass without a word.
Sirin was in a good mood.
Right now, she felt like she could even teach that dainty little brat about the relationship between mud and skincare.
Her steps felt like they could take flight.
But as she drew closer to the square, Sirin's steps gradually slowed.
She heard a commotion worse than before, shouts, and what sounded like a woman's screams mixed with weeping.
The scene of the square came back into Sirin's view.
It was the mercenary bastards.
Some of the mercenaries seemed to have gone off somewhere, so there were fewer than before, but only the worst of the worst remained, and their attitude was even worse than earlier.
This time, Heres was grabbing Vera's forearm in front of the bakery and raising hell.
"P-please, don't do this...! I-I'll give you money...!"
Marta tried to somehow pull the two apart, but the mercenary's thick forearm was too firm.
The surrounding people merely stood far off, whispering or turning away as before. The imperial peacekeepers were nowhere to be seen.
Heres cackled and said,
"I heard there's some Salvation Order or Love Order or something in this village? They say there you love each other and date and stuff, so can't I date too? Huh?"
There was something in Heres's words that caught Sirin's attention.
She had known Peter was with the Salvation Order.
But a Love Order? The Salvation Order told people to date? Peter hadn't said anything like that to Sirin.
"Ah."
Sirin suddenly realized.
Could it be? Had him constantly telling her to act like a whore actually been him telling her to date?
Sirin thought to herself. As expected, that old man was out of his mind. Well, to understand the crazy things I say, you'd have to have a screw loose yourself.
Sirin nodded in satisfaction.
-Ding!
[ Your understanding of others has increased! ]
[ You have partially met the activation conditions for the foundational Insight system! ]
'What kind of dog-shit crazy nonsense is this.'
A system window seen after six months had a considerably unfamiliar feel to it.
And to call it Insight. Even when she demanded an explanation, the system remained silent.
While cursing inwardly at the system window, Heres's voice was growing more vicious.
"Damn it. Why are you treating me like I'm some rapist? Fucking hell, did I come to this backwater and risk my life subjugating demon beasts for this? Huh? Am I a rapist? I just asked to have some fun together, do I have to be treated like this?!"
Heres's grating voice pierced Sirin's sensitive ears.
Sirin felt increasingly filthy.
"Kyaaak!"
Thud. Marta's scream as she was thrown to the ground.
"Mo-mom...!"
The sound of Vera, grabbed by Heres, crying.
The muttering of villagers who couldn't rashly approach.
The smell wafting from the scattered bread.
Unable to bear the wretched sight, Sirin raised her head and looked at the sky.
"Wow...."
For a moment, Sirin forgot everything at the sight before her eyes and gasped in admiration.
The sunset had become a giant golden spear, cutting through the ashen clouds.
A clean and majestic landscape she could never have seen in her hometown, filled with murky air.
That spear of light was slowly disappearing as a purple darkness dyed the sky.
Sirin closed her eyes for a moment and felt the blowing wind. Sirin's sharp senses told her it was the wind of the dusky night.
Soon, darkness would rear its head completely.
"...."
But Sirin could also feel something else.
The faint warmth still remaining in the sun that had already set and nearly lost its form.
Sirin felt that faint warmth resembled the texture of the hard bread Marta had pressed into her hands.
Sirin let out a short laugh.
There is a saying: Do not raise a black-haired beast.
Contrary to common misunderstanding, this does not mean one should not help others. It is an adage warning against becoming a beast oneself by ignoring those who have shown you kindness.
Yes, what must be repaid shall be repaid. Whether it's a debt or the warmth of a single piece of bread.
"Does one die once? Do they die twice?"
Sirin murmured those words softly and chuckled to herself.
Sirin does not die. That was the very first thing Sirin learned in this other world.
Immediately after falling into this other world, Sirin had thrown herself off a cliff thinking she was dreaming.
The result was obvious. Compound fractures so severe she couldn't move.
A person dies if they don't drink water for even three days. And Sirin spent several times that long at the bottom of the cliff.
A terrible time, painful just to remember. She had tried to quench a burning thirst by licking the blood she had spilled, but to no avail.
Even after enduring such pain, Sirin did not die.
Sirin does not die.
Then what is there to fear? What is there to be afraid of?
What to fear is not pain.
What to fear is Sirin falling into becoming a beast. What must be feared is giving up one's humanity.
Sirin would never become a beast.
Sirin took a step. She had a way to resolve matters in the most civilized manner possible.
Sirin shouted,
"Hey, Heres! You fucking pedophile bastard!"
A torrent of abuse that couldn't come from the village residents struck Heres's ears.
"Which bastard?"
Heres turned around with a face contorted in anger, but upon seeing who had spoken, he couldn't help but be bewildered.
"That crazy mumble-mouth woman... speaking properly?"
Sirin was something of a celebrity.
Well, with an identity as the crazy beggar bitch who could only curse in this backwater frontier village, she was practically a reverse idol.
Sirin enjoyed Heres's astonished gaze as she spoke.
"Hey, Heres. What are you doing twisting a kid's arm over there?"
"...."
Heres was so dumbfounded he momentarily lost his words, but soon a sneer spread across his face.
"You crazy beggar bitch... I don't care whether you can speak straight or not, but if you don't want to see something nasty, fuck off. You want to see blood on a festive day like today?"
But Sirin cackled and took another step closer. A grating laugh that got on Heres's nerves.
"Heres, Heres, you fucking bastard. I know. I know why you're twisting a child's arm on a fine day like this."
Heres's face turned vicious, but Sirin paid him no mind.
"You. You're Heres, vice-captain of the Blade of the Messenger mercenary band."
At Sirin's words, Heres's face stiffened. How does this bitch know me?
But at Sirin's following words, Heres stopped caring about such things.
"I heard the rumors. They say you hit Marie and got kicked out of Wilson's place?"
The puzzle pieces clicked into place in Sirin's head. Why had that bastard hit Marie and gotten kicked out?
In Sirin's beloved homeworld, there was a saying.
[ Jegosam ]
Please, may that bastard's dick be three centimeters!
It was a phrase uttered by men who were 'normal'—defined as slightly above the average distribution, for the peninsula's standard for 'normal' is high—toward handsome, muscular men, brimming with envy and jealousy.
One could say Heres met about half of those criteria. Heres was what you might call a 'moderately well-built' muscular man.
But only 'half.'
Heres had a good body but an ugly face. So, bonus points. It wouldn't be unreasonable to say Heres's dick was 3.5 centimeters rather than 3.
But whether it's 3 or 3.5 centimeters, it's all the same.
"Yeah, now I understand."
Sirin nodded with a satisfied face.
"Now the picture fits perfectly. A grown woman like Marie won't have any of your rat-tail-sized thing, so now you're pestering easy little kids? You thought you could somehow make it work with your dainty little thing because a child's body is small, right?"
"Shut up! You dog-like bitch...!"
Heres's face was now burning red. The whispers of the villagers stabbed like daggers.
Sirin spoke in a languid drawl.
"Well, Marie must have had it hard too. With your... cute? With that thing, she probably couldn't feel a thing properly. Sigh, she took the money so she had to do her job, but pretending to feel it with your tiny thing must have been har—"
A lightning bolt of realization struck Sirin's mind.
"Ah, is that why you hit Marie? Because she didn't act well enough?"
-Ding!
[ Your understanding of others has increased! ]
[ You have met the activation conditions for the foundational Insight system! ]
[ Congratulations! ]
Sirin swatted away the system window in front of her.
That sort of thing wasn't important right now.
"...."
Without a word, Heres let go of Vera's arm.
His hands trembled, his breathing was rough, and his eyes were bloodshot.
"Beggar bitch."
Heres spoke with murderous intent in his eyes.
"You seem excited that you can speak now, so flap your lips all you want. Today will be the last day you can wag that tongue of yours."
At Heres's words, Sirin felt extremely pleased.
She could repay the kindness.
Sirin would beat these thugs to a pulp and repay the kindness she owed Marta.