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Anyway, I returned to the depths of the forest.

I went pretty far so it should be okay, but I watched my surroundings to guard myself against the monsters. Yeah, no one could see me from outside! I’m finally relieved.

Therefore, first I had to level the ground so I could put my house. I stored the snow in the entire area and pulled out the trees in the way. Normally, I would store the herbs that grew with the trees, but finding wild herbs in this season was just impossible.

Next, I used earth magic to even out the entire area and took out my house. Finally, I sprinkled a sizable amount of demon repellent to complete the work.

Hmm, maybe I could make something that automatically repelled the demons? Like the lantern that wards off spirits. If possible, I wanted to make something that I could use again and again. It would be easier for me to install them at equal intervals… Ah, maybe it would be safer if I also installed barrier magic? Hmm, let’s make them later.

Ah, I should stop thinking and enter the house already. I felt nothing since my equipment protected me from all attributes, but Norn and Bell should be cold. Huh? They were born to be resistant to cold, so it’s fine? I see, it’s like that…

In the end, Norn and Bell didn’t enter the house. They slept in the garden space. They also told me ‌they needed nothing since they would hunt their own meal… I was thinking of making curry in this rare opportunity. Turns out they didn’t want it? Hm?

Before I could mention the curry, they already ran together, so I missed the chance to tell them. It’s kind of awkward. But I didn’t feel like eating curry alone, so let’s eat something else tonight…

Since I was tired from traveling long distances, I went to bed early today without doing my daily routine after meals. I should just do today’s portion tomorrow! Fuhehe!

The next day, I had nothing special to do. I made the repellent lantern that I came up with yesterday. And I completed it in the morning.

Hmm, it’s thanks to my high skill level, but I wanted to do research or experiment that would take more time… No, this is more convenient, so it’s fine! But I was not satisfied with this!

In the afternoon, I set up the completed lantern to repel monsters and went around to explore the surrounding area. By the way, I also installed this lantern in the four corners of my stone fence. My safety came first!

Two years ago, I secretly came to this forest several times to collect food. Even so, I never went this deep before. The adventurers in the town mainly tried to subdue goblins and stray orcs. Even low-ranking adventurers who were collecting herbs wouldn’t go deep into the forest.

Why did I know something like this? Well, most of the orphans could only become adventures, so it’s natural for me to gather information, isn’t it?

Older orphans who left the orphanage earlier also gave us the information they had collected. You could say that I heard about the adventurer’s situation thanks to them?

By the way, the standard course of an orphan was to register as an adventure while earning small coins by collecting herbs while they were still living in the orphanage. And when they were around twelve to fourteen years old, they would leave the town and aim for the royal capital.

When I was ten years old, I was also planning to register as an adventurer and save money to leave the orphanage. But I was fortunate enough to learn [Appraisal] at that age. You guys know it, right? Me entering the ‘getting sold to a merchant’ course.

Um, I said that they sold me. But actually, they told me to sign an employment contract to have an apprenticeship. That time, I thought ‌I would work to repay that frog-faced merchant who was also an investor for the orphanage.

But then, I overheard from the employees or the apprentices of the branch office that they would force me to use contract magic and slavery magic, living like a slave. At that point of life, I fell into despair, thinking ‌my life had ended… well, now I have turned into this kind of person. Life sure was unexpected.

However, the wording of the contract was ‘… will work for… years,’ instead of ‘… will work for… years from… AM to… PM’… They didn’t write the working hours… But it also had a result… I realized that I regained the memory of my previous life after that. Really, I hate that.

That’s why I couldn’t let them find out about me. I was supposed to be dead. If they caught me now, I would have to make a lot of effort to get out of this country and somehow deal with that contract. Because of that, I had always been careful of any pursuer and staying away from the problematic merchants.

Although I had gained the ability to fight to some extent in the past two years, physically eliminating someone else would make me a criminal. That was my last resort.

I always thought ‌I should just escape if anything happened. But there were limits in escaping. Becoming a criminal and running away from the country would make me hesitate too.

Let’s get back on point.

I continued to explore my surroundings, my mood complicated. Norn and Bell were naturally going with me. They occasionally ran out and returned with prey.

Sometimes, I felt like someone was watching me. But then, Norn and Bell were running around hunting, so the wild animals might be wary of me.

As I made good progress, I felt a sign of a person approaching… I had caught them with [Detection] a while ago, but it seems like they noticed me‌. Maybe they were a hunter? Did they come to talk so they could prevent competing for prey?

I stopped and waited for a while. Then the bushed moved, and a large figure of a man slowly appeared.

I couldn’t see how he looked since he was wearing a cloak, but he was huge. Even if he didn’t reach two meters, he was ‌180cm or more. And he had a long stick wrapped in cloth in his hand. Maybe it was a long spear or something like that? Let’s do [Appraisal] on it… Oh no, it had resistance.

I was going to use [Analysis] instead, but he already took a step forward. I warily took a step back, and Norn and Bell came out in front of me, starting to intimidate him with a growl.

“Ohh, I look suspicious like this, right? No need to be that wary.”

I thought he was a man from his physique, but he had a croaky voice. Sounds like he was pretty old. Not losing my guard, I was on my toes. He then lowered his hood to expose his face.

The man’s hair was pure white and long, reaching his back. Since his hair was ‌white, maybe he was sixty to seventy years old? No, his stern face looked a little younger… maybe he made himself look youthful? Nah, he’s an old man. He even had a beard that reached his chest.

I could see a glimpse of his black armor from his cloak. The decorations were elaborate, like they were infused with some kind of magic power. His back was straight and his posture was good, plus his arms and legs had solid muscles.

“Right… I look like a hunter, don’t I? So rest assured.”

… A hunter? As if there’s any hunter like you! If I have to describe you, you look like a ‘veteran soldier’, you know! There’s no old hunter who will show signs of abnormality like him! Huh? Maybe I’m in great trouble now?

“I’m here to hunt for today’s food, but I can’t find any… Sorry, but can you please share anything I can eat?”

When I was cooperating with Norn to prepare our escape, but he said something stupid again. Hey, you’re a hunter, right? Why did you become a monk suddenly?”

“… Are you a participant in the winter subjugation?”
“No, I’m a hunter.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“I’m a hunter.”

He’s really… Responding to this kind of guy properly would make me look like a fool, though…?

He didn’t seem like he would tell me the truth no matter how many times I asked him… I couldn’t feel any hint of malice from his gaze, so let’s just trust him for now.

Norn and Bell were with me. In the worst case, I should be able to run away as long as I resisted him with all of my might.

“…Haa, I understand. A hunter, huh? A poor hunter who can’t even catch his prey at that age.”
“Yeah, I’m an incompetent hunter. So please share your food with me. Right, I want something unusual and delicious!”

What a cheeky grandpa.

“Okay. My house is over there, so please follow me.”

He would know my house anyway, so let’s stop resisting futilely. But I had no intention to let him enter my house.

Once we arrived, I went inside by myself. That grandpa waited outside. Then, I took out some dishes I had prepared from [Storage]. He told me he wanted something unusual, so I gave him oyakodon, miso soup, and pickled vegetables. I added fruit jelly as the dessert.

He wouldn’t expect me to act so suspicious anyway, so I would curry favor with him. If that didn’t work, I would deliver a hail of blows and magic swords to him.

“It’s ready.”
“Ohh! Thanks!”

I took out a table and chairs in the garden and had a meal there. Yeah, I also ate. I didn’t take off my hood, though.

“Oh, this is delicious!”

I know, right? But grandpa, stop talking when eating.

In the end, that grandpa asked for another serving three times. Where did the food end up? And after the meal, I served warm barley tea, taking a rest.

“Wah, thank you so much for the delicious food! I know, I’ll give you this to thank you.”

After saying so, that grandpa took out something wrapped in cloth. What was this?

“This is the wing of a dragon. I killed it a long time ago.”

Eh.

“I want to give you the scales, but I didn’t bring any with me right now… Forgive me with this.”

What? A dragon? He killed it? Eh, this grandpa was a dragon slayer? Ehhh!?

“It seems like your cloak is made of mithril, Miss. If you use this, the defense will be better. You can also make a breastplate with that.”
“Eh, I can’t receive this! I only gave you a meal, this is too much!”

Hey hey, this grandpa was really an idiot, wasn’t he!? Giving me dragon material to thank me for the meal… Maybe he was crazy!?

“Hahaha. Just take it. It’ll be useful for something… Now then, since I’m already full, I’ll leave now. We’ll meet again if fate allows it. See you.”

He immediately left after saying that… Leaving the wrapping cloth on the table.

Ehhhh, what’s with that grandpa!? What the hell just happened!? It’s too strange! And we’ll meet again if fate allows it? He said he wasn’t taking part in the subjugation, but he should join it! If he could kill a dragon, then participate, please! Why did a dragon slayer not participate in this subjugation!?

I was so confused about my encounter with the ‌suspicious grandpa that I became so annoyed. In the end, I went to bed early that day.

I really don’t get him at all!