Chapter 25 – Chapter 2: Patrol – 2
Zech.
I slowly placed my right hand on my waist.
Unfasten the buckle with your thumb and grip the knife handle tightly.
“Ah… Good… Ahhh-.”
The blood is gradually rising.
My heart was pounding like it was going to burst, and my vision was getting narrower.
I climbed the last stairs.
Now only this thin door remains between me and the truth.
Kikigeek-. Kikigeek–.
“Ah, noaa-. Ah-.”
The discordant sound and the man’s moans are mixed.
I can’t stand it.
She held the knife in her right hand and held the doorknob with her left hand, which held the lamp.
I tried to push it back with my shoulders.
Boom!!
The door was tightly locked.
At the same time, the noise and groaning coming from inside suddenly stopped.
Damn.
“W-Who are you-!?”
I heard Uncle Posao’s voice in confusion.
I answered calmly.
“I’m on patrol.”
“… Lee, Ritz?”
“Yes.”
It became quiet inside again.
How long was the silence?
After a while, I heard a loud sound of the floor landing, probably because I was getting off the bed.
From the shaking of the stairs I was stepping on, I could tell that a heavy figure was walking this way.
Crash.
The metal latch was released and Mr. Posao opened the door.
“…”
But it was only a little.
He opens it slightly enough to show almost half of his face, and looks down at me with dark eyes hidden in shadow.
Uncle Posao wasn’t wearing anything.
The shaggy hair on his chest and lower abdomen was visible, and his groin was barely covered by a blanket wrapped around it.
Just from that, I could tell that he had been naked just a moment ago and that he had rushed out at my call.
The man asked in an anxious voice.
“Hey, what’s going on at night?”
“I was patrolling when I heard a noise.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The man sounded like he was in pain. Are you feeling well?”
“No! “I’m fine!”
The man took a deep breath.
Her whole body is wet with sweat, as if she had been moving vigorously just now.
Hot and humid air also flows out of the room.
“Then what were you doing?”
“Ooh, I was working out…” .”
“… Yes?”
It was nonsense.
She had never seen this man doing something similar to her exercise before.
The word ‘exercise’ never suited this lazy man, who has lived with a lump of belly fat all his life.
Besides, you make sounds like ‘good’ while exercising?
I felt like I was slowly going crazy.
I lifted my heel and tried to look inside the room.
However, Posao stayed that close and covered up the gap.
This pig…
“Exercise?”
“Okay… Yes, it’s true. Working hard these days… Ha, I’m doing it.”
I stutter a lot and sweat a lot.
I can’t believe it.
“Can I please go inside?”
“… Why?”
The black eyes turn.
The eyes are trembling with anxiety.
“I want to find out what the problem is.”
“Ah… “Yeah?”
“Yes. I have to be sure. You never know. It could be that you are unwell somewhere. “I can’t do this on the stairs, so please sit on the bed and I will examine you.”
Then, I tried to open the door further, but it was blocked by the heavy body.
The guy is blowing unpleasant breath and talking.
“Uh, over there, Ritz…”
“Yes?”
“You… Something a bit strange. Same…”
“What’s strange is that he looks like an old man.”
“Patrol… Hold a knife… “Don’t come into the house, right?”
The man pointed to the sword in my right hand.
“Oh, I was holding it just in case. “I’ll put it back in.”
Chuck.
The weapon was hung on the waist.
“Okay? So, please open the door now.”
“I hate poetry.”
“You need to be cooperative with the patrollers.”
“In the first place, ‘your’ village didn’t even come patrolling to my house.”
Even though he stuttered, he spoke with a clear voice.
“At night, they all came to me with knives… I don’t think it’s like this. Ritz.”
“…”
My blood, which had been heated by those words, suddenly cooled.
If.
What if the real man was purely exercising?
In that case, I was no different from a robber who broke into a general store in the middle of the night with a knife.
From Uncle Posao’s point of view… It will only look like that.
So there was no reason to open this door.
Rather, it’s a situation where I wouldn’t be surprised if I got stabbed.
Because he heard my voice, he opened the door a little.
To the person who was willing to help me when I was sick.
What am I doing now?
“… Sorry. “This is my first time patrolling, so I was rude to you.”
“Naaah-. Oh, no. Hehe…”
Uncle Posao took a step back and showed the room.
Kkeikik-.
The uncle’s room was just like I remembered.
When I was young, I used to take a nap in that big bed.
When we played tag, we hid in that large closet and giggled behind the safe.
At that time, the room was very dizzy.
I remember a room filled with all kinds of trash and objects.
It was very clean now, as if everything had been cleaned out.
So I was able to know more clearly.
There… There was no Tia.
There is no place to hide.
“Phew.”
My heart, which was pounding, cools down quickly.
At the same time, I exhaled comfortably as a sense of relief came over me.
Uncle Posao gestured.
“W-Would you like to come in?”
“No. Are you okay? I confirmed that there was no problem. But exercise… “You’re doing it so intensely.”
“Because it’s good… Hehe.”
It seems like there really was a change of heart.
Cleaning the garden and even exercising all night long.
All kinds of things happen in life.
“Then let’s go. “I’m sorry for causing a disturbance at night.”
“Yes. Take care… Hehe…”
Thud! Slam!
As soon as I went down the stairs, the door closed, and the latch was secured.
“…”
My face felt hot.
What on earth was I doing?
I lit the lantern again and went up to the village.
“… What is it?”
The sun will rise in the west tomorrow.
That guy works out. I couldn’t even laugh.
Are you saying that from now on, you’re going to lose weight and grab a random woman and woo her?
But I’m not rich or noble.
Is there any woman in this world who would want to marry a man as old as a pig like that?
Well, you’ll figure it out.
Jeez. Jeopuk.
I went straight to Tia’s house.
And when I peeked through the window…
There is.
Tia was lying on the bed, sleeping soundly.
I see.
I guess my delusion went too far.
Tia is not the type of person to go out at night. She probably went to the bathroom in a hurry.
Unfortunately, you crossed paths with me.
Well, I didn’t really want to wake him up.
She was relieved to see Tia sleeping soundly like a baby rabbit, so that was it.
Hwiiing-.
I walked around the village again, cutting through the strong wind.
* * *
“Cough! Cough! “Keuhum!”
I guess it was too much.
It was too greedy to stay on watch when I wasn’t feeling well.
I began to break into a cold sweat in the morning, and eventually fell onto the bed and lay motionless.
She forced me to get out of bed because she had to make medicine for the elderly, but Aunt Sherry forcibly picked me up and put me back on the bed.
He told me to worry about my body first, saying that in times like this, resting comfortably would help.
It’s not wrong. I was just so busy that I didn’t have time to rest.
When I woke up from a deep sleep, there was a black medicine bottle next to me.
It was a recovery medicine made by Tia.
I was grateful, but I also sighed at the same time.
I said I would take care of it.
Geerko Tia also made medicine and brought it to me.
The time it takes to make one bottle of this is enormous.
If I had helped out more with village work during that time, I wouldn’t have had to strain myself as much.
After taking some medicine and sleeping briefly, I felt lighter.
I spent the whole day lying in the hospital bed, and it was already getting close to evening.
I wanted to take a short walk, so I went outside.
The aunts were talking in front of the bonfire.
“… “You’re sleeping again?”
“That’s right. “I just saw it.”
“I need to wake you up. “Then.”
“I want to see how long you sleep. Ugh…”
As I wandered around, Aunt Merid turned around.
“Ritz. Don’t worry again, just go in and rest.”
“I just came out to get some air.”
“Ah, yes, Ritz. “What does Tia do every night?”
“… Yes?”
Aunt Olivia pointed toward the warehouse.
“Tia said she was exhausted these days. “It’s sad to see her because she’s been dozing off since morning.”
“Well. I’m good at that too…”
“I heard you were on patrol yesterday. “Have you never been to Tia’s house?”
I remembered what happened last night.
However, she decided not to mention it.
She shook her head.
“I’ve been there, but I just… “She was sleeping well.”
“Okay? Hmm-. “It’s strange.”
“Are you in any pain?”
“Oh! That could be possible.”
“Go see Tia. “She’s probably still sleeping.”
After listening to what my aunts said, I went to the warehouse.
The door crack was open. When I looked through the gap, I saw Tia.
The guy is curled up in front of a pile of firewood, sleeping soundly.
Isn’t it even cold?
I was worried that he might catch a cold, so I quickly shook him to wake him up.
“Wake up, Tia. “Move your mouth.”
“Uhm… Ritz… ?”
“Since when has she been sleeping?”
“Huh… Wait a minute, I slept…”
Tia stood up from her seat, lifting her slumped shoulders.
She still looked like she hadn’t completely woken up from her sleep.
“Aren’t you sick somewhere?”
“No.”
“But why am I so low these days?”
“Hehe- Since it’s winter, I guess I’m going to hibernate too.”
Then he sits down on her pyre and nods her head again.
“…”
If it were like the old days, I would have laughed at jokes like that and the way he dozed off was cute.
You shouldn’t show yourself like this now.
My heart flutters every time Tia’s name comes out of my aunts’ mouths.
She listens with bated breath, wondering what’s going to happen to her this time.
If I could, I would like to apologize on his behalf.
But as it happened over and over again, I couldn’t help but feel irritated.
Although I think I have lived a fairly moral life.
I was confident that I would not care about morality at all when it came to things related to Tia.
Sometimes I feel like I’m cold-blooded, and I wouldn’t hesitate to lie for Tia.
It has been so and will continue to be so.
… However, that doesn’t mean I don’t feel remorse.
I am also human.
My heart always feels cold whenever I intentionally remain silent or lie in front of the villagers.
I also want to live by speaking only the truth.
I want to live without a single bit of shame under the sky.
I no longer want to deceive and deceive others.
To protect you like this, to be with you.
I tore my conscience to pieces with my own hands.
But what about you…
“Tia. Come to your senses.”
