Episode 6: I’ll Teach You
Huz brought me food at the same times every day—8 AM, 12 PM, and 7 PM. For the first two weeks, it was all soft, easy-to-eat meals like soup, stew, and bread.
Then one day, the food changed.
Steak with grilled garlic and onions, sweet barbeque, cheesy tomato spaghetti, fresh salads—everything was delicious.
He even sent snacks three times a week: sweet chocolate, cheesecake, lemon tea, raisin cookies, and salty nuts. It was all so good, and I never got sick from eating it.
After a month, I got used to eating well and became a little worried.
“Wait… am I being tamed?”
I was surprised at myself. I used to be careful, but now, whenever food arrived, I got happy. When I ate steak, I even thought of Huz like a god.
Of course, that feeling didn’t last. After the meal, I’d go back to hating him. Just because he gave me food and shelter didn’t erase what he’d done.
Still, I sighed and tapped the wall.
“Isn’t he coming today?”
For a whole month, Huz had only sent food. I hadn’t seen him once.
“Maybe if I saw him, I could try to tame him instead…”
I looked at the clock, feeling more and more impatient.
The Next Day
Huz finally showed up.
“Welcome back, Huz!”
I smiled and waved. He looked surprised but quickly turned away. Huh? Not a bad reaction.
“What have you been doing?” I asked.
“Why do you care?” he replied.
“I’m just curious…”
He gave me a cold look. I suddenly remembered he was known as a murder maniac. Regret hit me fast.
“What about you?” he asked while cleaning blood off his scythe.
“I ate, played, and slept,” I said.
“No wonder you got fat.”
…What?!
You’re the one who fed me, you jerk. But I kept smiling.
Then he asked, “Has a tall, lion-like woman with brown hair and blue eyes come here?”
I shook my head. “Nope, not even a rat.”
“Good.”
I wanted to ask more, but I stayed quiet. No need to get scolded again.
He started sharpening his scythe with a stone, and the sound gave me chills. I sat down and spoke carefully.
“You said I could break the curse. How do I do it?”
He stopped.
“……I don’t know.”
What? Did I hear that right?
“Then maybe we can look for information?”
“Maybe,” he said quietly.
I added softly, “But… I can’t read. No one ever taught me.”
His face darkened.
“You can’t read?”
“No.”
He frowned. I thought he’d call me useless, but instead, he said something unexpected.
“I’ll teach you.”
“……What?”
“I’ll teach you how to read.”
I blinked like an idiot. Did I hear that right?
“You… know how to read?”
“I know every language in the world.”
…Wow. I thought he only knew how to kill people. But I guess he’s a genius too.
“Okay, I’d appreciate that.”
He gave me a book. It had 15 big letters inside.
He leaned over me to teach. I smelled faint blood on him but focused.
“I’ll say this once. Memorize it.”
Then he quickly read the letters:
“Gi, Na, Hia, Taran, Seka, Jilil, Ab, Kevi, Liu, Che, Kati, Era, Hyoke, Li, Herk.”
“……Huh?”
“Done. Memorized it?”
I just blinked, dumbfounded. He got up, but I grabbed his robe.
“Wait, I didn’t catch that—”
I stopped. We were so close now, I could feel his breath. His red eyes stared hard at me.
“Do you want to die?” he asked coldly.
“S-Sorry.”
“And stop talking formally.”
“Right. Sorry.”
He threw the whetstone down and cursed as he headed for the door.
Wait—that’s it?! How am I supposed to memorize that in one go?
I thought about begging him to repeat it but backed off. I didn’t want to die.
I followed him like a baby chick behind a mother hen.
“Leaving already?”
“I’m not here to entertain you. I’m busy.”
Right. Busy killing people. Still, I pretended to be sad.
“That’s too bad. It was nice seeing your face again.”
Yikes, that sounded super cheesy. I wanted to hit myself.
Huz frowned. “You enjoyed it?”
“Yeah. It was fun. Didn’t you think so?”
He stared, trying to figure out if I was lying.
Then he turned to leave. I waved goodbye.
“Take care!”
He looked back like I was crazy. I awkwardly smiled. He muttered:
“You’re good at acting…”
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled. A soft, small smile. It looked… surprisingly nice.
“I’ll let you go out.”
“Huh? Out?”
“You can go outside. Just stay inside the barrier.”
I was shocked. And happy.
It might only be fifty steps from the house, but it was way more than what the villagers ever gave me.
“Thank you! I can finally get some fresh air.”
Huz looked down at me, and I had to crane my neck to meet his gaze. After a moment, he turned and walked away.
Once he was gone, I let my smile drop.
“Whew, that was tough.”
I rubbed my sore neck.
“Still… not a bad start?”
He let me outside just because I thanked him once. Maybe Huz was simpler than I thought.
Later That Day
I brought a chair outside to study. Sitting under the shade, I opened the book and swung my legs.
“Gi, Na, Hia, Taran, Seka, Jilil, Ab, Kevi, Liu, Che, Kati, Era, Hyoke, Li, Herk…”
Wait.
“What? I memorized that?!”
I said the letters randomly:
“Ab, Li, Gi, Che, Herk, Seka, Hia, Kati…”
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.
“Am I a genius at memorizing?”
Even saying and reading them was easy. Somehow… it felt like I had always known these letters, but just forgot them.
