PRSR | Chapter 3.6

That night, Jjikjjiki and I moved out of the expensive inn and into the Brown Caravan warehouse. The warehouse was empty, and it felt a bit cramped since there were no windows, but it didn’t matter since I wouldn’t be staying in the room much anyway.

I spread a thick blanket in the corner of the warehouse and set up a tent nearby. It was cozy. The merchant had also given us permission to cook there. While I couldn’t cook anything extravagant due to the lack of fire, I could buy ingredients and make sandwiches.

The cost of using the public bath in the village was 2 silver, so I could reduce my daily expenses from 30 silver to 5 silver.

“At this rate, I might become rich soon.”

“If you become rich, what’s so great about it?”

“I’ll be able to meet Beastmen quickly.”

“Chik…”

“And I won’t have to work, so I can spend more time with you, Jjikjjiki.”

“I want Soul to become rich.”

Dreaming of becoming rich with Jjikjjiki, I saved up a little bit each day.

One day, the merchant came to find me.

“I’ve got good news. I’ve found the information you were looking for.”

“Really? The location of the Beastmen?”

“Yes. I found someone who knows a lot about them. They’re coming to visit tomorrow. I feel bad taking the full 50 gold for the information, so… how about I charge a 5 gold introduction fee instead?”

“Can it be paid later?”

“Hmm. Let’s do it that way. But please keep up the good transactions. The hides you handle have fewer damaged parts, which makes them more valuable, even though the cuts aren’t smooth.”

It was obvious why my cuts had fewer damaged parts—Jjikjjiki would just kick the monsters down instead of stabbing or slicing them.

“And this.”

“What’s this?”

“I received a bottle of good wine as a gift and wanted to share it with you. Do you like wine?”

To be honest, I was more of a beer person, but there was no reason to turn down a drink when it was available. I smiled brightly and accepted the wine.

“Thank you! I’ll enjoy it.”

“Tonight, there’s no cloud, so the moon will be visible. It’s a perfect night to drink wine. Have a great night.”

As soon as the merchant left, I pulled Jjikjjiki into my arms and rolled on the blanket.

“Jjikjjiki, it’s done! Soon we’ll meet another Beastman and ask them to teach us how to become human.”

As I rolled around, Jjikjjiki squeaked. At first, I thought he was just as excited as me, but listening carefully, it sounded more like a sorrowful cry.

“Chiiik… I don’t want you to meet another Beastman… But if you become human, you can hug me… Chik… Chiiik… What should I do?”

Jjikjjiki was stuck in a dilemma—a very cute and absurd dilemma. I hugged him tightly and rubbed his belly.

“If you become human, we’ll finish the quest and go home together.”

“With Soul.”

Jjikjjiki clenched his little fist. It seemed like he had come out of his dilemma.

“Now that we have wine, should we have a party tonight?”

“I love parties!”

I declared today a holiday for me and Jjikjjiki and went shopping instead of hunting monsters. I bought fresh vegetables that Jjikjjiki liked and some meat for myself, spreading everything out in the corner of the warehouse for a small party. Aside from Jjikjjiki nearly falling into the mug of wine, it was a peaceful party.

“To successfully clearing the tutorial quest!”

“To the quest!”

Jjikjjiki placed a grape in my mug with a cheerful “tok,” clinking it with mine. It felt like I had seen this scene somewhere before.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night.

It had been a long time since I woke up at night after starting to learn the butchering work. Every night, I had been sleeping like a corpse, groaning in pain, so waking up in the middle of the night was quite rare.

“…Bathroom…”

Living in the warehouse had its downsides—besides being cramped and uncomfortable, one of the worst drawbacks was the difficulty of going to the bathroom at night.

There was no bathroom in the warehouse, so I had to enter the shop run by the Brown Caravan to use the bathroom. But the merchant would never hand me the key to the shop. So, on nights when the shop was closed, I had to walk all the way to the public bathroom, located at the far end of the village.

It was called a public bathroom, but it was nothing like the ones you’d see back on Earth. It was simply a hole in the ground surrounded by wooden planks. I would rather be threatened to go to the bathroom by someone grabbing me by the collar than go there.

‘I really don’t want to go.’

I hadn’t drunk any water after dinner because I hated going to the bathroom at night, but that cursed wine was the problem. I had drunk a lot with Jjikjjiki during our party, and it ended up in this terrible situation where I had to go now.

I cursed my past self from a few hours ago and got out of bed.

Thud. Jjikjjiki, who had been curled up on my face, rolled off to the side.

Jjikjjiki, who used to sleep curled up in my pajama pocket, had recently gotten into the habit of sleeping on my head or neck. He was used to sitting on top of me and falling off to the side, so even now, in this situation, he didn’t wake up immediately.

“…Chik.”

Seeing Jjikjjiki sleeping soundly, I felt bad about waking him up. I covered him with the blanket and went outside.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

I tried to curl my body as much as I could and quickly walked toward the bathroom.

Rustle.

“…?”

Did something just pass behind me?

‘It must be my imagination.’

I wasn’t that perceptive to sense something passing behind me. Plus, given how urgent my need for the bathroom was, I had no time to stop and look around.

I rushed into the poor bathroom and quickly did my business, washing my hands with the water I had prepared.

When I stepped out, I felt a cold chill brush against my neck.

“……”

There was someone behind me.

‘…Who is it? Did they follow me? …Maybe they’re just another person who came to the bathroom.’

I cautiously moved forward, glancing behind me. The presence behind me followed my every move.

“……”

At that point, I couldn’t confidently say that the person behind me wasn’t an enemy anymore.

Who could it be? A bounty hunter who noticed the 30 gold on my head? A hunter targeting Awakened people? A serial killer who randomly kills people on the streets? Either way, the thought of any of those possibilities only brought terrifying endings.

‘…I have to run.’

My body was stiff with tension, but I forced myself to act as calmly as I could. The warehouse was about a ten-minute walk away, but if I ran, I could get there much faster. I had to avoid provoking the person behind me, so I had to pretend not to notice them and act like everything was normal.

‘If I had known, I should have brought Jjikjjiki…’

Thinking of Jjikjjiki waking up and squeaking as he searched for me, I almost burst into tears.

If I disappeared, Jjikjjiki would cry until he collapsed from exhaustion. I had to get back to the warehouse safely, for Jjikjjiki’s sake.

I moved forward, my steps heavy and slow, as if my body was chained down.

“……”

The presence behind me… the sound of breathing was getting closer. I swallowed dryly and clenched my fists.

And then, I ran.

“Jjikjjiki!”

The enemy wasn’t just behind me. As I began running, figures emerged from the alley, and I was quickly grabbed before I could even run far.

“Don’t let her escape.”

“Shut her mouth! Don’t let her scream!”

One of the assailants pressed me down onto the ground, while another shoved a cloth into my mouth to keep me from shouting.

“Chik… huff.”

This was bad… really bad. The fear of death washed over me like a cold wave. I had forgotten how dangerous this world was because Jjikjjiki was so strong and things had been going so smoothly.

The assailants tied my trembling hands and feet and held up a torch to shine it in my face. The sudden bright light made me squint, and I turned my head away, but they grabbed my chin and forced my face into the light.

“I wish you were a little more attractive.”

“She’s not bad, though. Her skin’s white and clean—she’ll sell well.”

Thud. My heart dropped.

Sell me? Are they going to sell me? Human traffickers? Slave traders?

‘Jjikjjiki…’

As I started to cry, the assailants laughed.

“I wonder what kind of Beastman she is. A cat? Should we strip her and see?”

“Stop it. If she turns into a beast and runs away, it’ll be hard to catch her. Don’t you know this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance?”

Beastman? Beast?

‘…Do they think I’m a Beastman?’

The assailants didn’t give me time to think, and they brought a leather restraint collar up to my neck.

‘Jjikjjiki… Jjikjjiki…’

I called out Jjikjjiki’s name over and over in my mind, hoping he would come to my aid, as if he could hear me. As if he would rush over to me, knock out the assailants, wipe my tears, and turn my body around for me.

‘…Jjikjjiki!’

Boom!

Was it my wish that made it happen? One of the assailants who had been about to lock the restraint collar on me was suddenly hit by something and flew at an incredible speed, crashing into the alley wall.

‘Jjikjjiki!’

The way the assailant flew was reminiscent of how the monsters Jjikjjiki kicked had been sent flying.

I was sure of it. Jjikjjiki had come to save me. He had woken up, noticed I was gone, and ran to find me.

“Jack! Damn it, who is that! Which bastard is it!”

The assailant who had been holding me down jumped up, pulling out a dagger.

The area was dark, and nothing could be seen. Realizing that we were exposed with the torch, the second assailant hurriedly threw the torch. He probably hoped to light up the area and find the person who was attacking us.

Whoosh.

The torch flew in an arc, revealing the figure of the person who had come to my rescue.

Small, fluffy… cute… what?

“……?”

The shadow I saw didn’t seem small, fluffy, or cute at all.

…Who is that?