Seith’s cooking skills were truly impressive.
I began bringing his dishes over one by one and tasting them, and every single thing he had made was delicious enough to make my eyes widen in surprise.
It was on a completely different level from anything I could make.
I admired him honestly.
“It’s really delicious. You must have always been smart. To make something like this just from reading a book.”
“Is that so? Moments like this make me wish my memories would return quickly. That way, I wouldn’t be a burden to you, doctor.”
As Seith made a worried expression, I reassured him.
“It’s alright, Seith. Like I said earlier, don’t rush and just relax. Then your memories will come back sooner.”
“But still.”
“Look at this. The soup and the bread are both delicious. You must be someone very skilled with your hands.”
At my words, Seith smiled and joked,
“Haha. Perhaps I was a chef.”
“Was that it? If so, you must have been a famous one.”
I smiled and played along, though of course I didn’t actually think so.
Sure, the food was incredible, but what kind of chef would have such a muscular body and go through something violent enough to be injured like that?
“Thank you for the meal!”
“It’s nothing.”
“Kyang!”
Even Ain wagged his tail as if to say he had eaten well.
After finishing the meal, Seith cleaned up all the dishes neatly and then began cleaning the house.
I tried to stop him, but it was useless.
“N-no, Seith. You don’t have to do all this!”
Seith hesitated, then let out a sigh and said,
“Ah… I’m sorry. The house… honestly, it’s too dirty for me to tolerate.”
“…Sorry about that.”
I felt embarrassed.
To be honest, I had no talent for tidying or cleaning.
Since I lived alone, I barely organized anything, and I usually just did a rough cleaning once every two weeks. It seemed that didn’t sit well with Seith.
Burning with determination, Seith looked at Ain and me, then pointed to the front door.
“Doctor and Ain, please step out for a while. Honestly, you’re in the way.”
Driven out by Seith, I took a basket and went out with Ain to gather herbs.
‘Ugh… damn it.’
Being scolded by a guest for having a dirty house was quite depressing.
‘I should start keeping things tidy from now on.’
It felt like a promise I wouldn’t keep, but I pushed aside the discomfort and climbed the mountain to gather herbs. Rare medicinal plants grew up there. On the way back, I also needed to collect Verita herbs.
After climbing for quite some time—
“Miss.”
I ran into three men wearing high-quality uniforms.
“Yes?”
“We’d like to ask you something.”
I tensed up, wary of the unfamiliar men and their strange attire.
“Yes.”
“Ah, don’t be alarmed. Have you perhaps seen any unfamiliar adult man around here who doesn’t live in the village?”
Though they spoke politely, they were extremely intimidating, and their eyes were filled with hostility.
Especially the swords and maces they carried were so chilling that I instinctively shook my head.
“No. This is deep in the mountains, so strangers can’t easily come here. Even if they did, we’d notice right away.”
“Is that so?”
One of them looked at me with a chilling gleam in his eyes. I raised my voice.
“I said it’s true. If you’re curious, go take a look around yourselves later.”
I spoke confidently, firmly believing that even the villagers couldn’t find my house.
At that, one of them narrowed his eyes and stepped closer.
“Then… would you mind if we searched your house?”
His unexpected question startled me.
“My house? Why would you—”
“How very rude.”
At that moment—
A man appeared behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder, and showed clear displeasure toward them.
I turned to look at him, puzzled.
It was a man I had never seen before.
He was handsome, with silver hair and blue eyes. I was certain I had never met him, yet there was something strangely familiar about him.
‘Who is he?’
The uniformed men had seemed ready to act freely when I was alone, but upon his appearance and anger, they hesitated.
“No, we only meant to look around the house—”
The silver-haired man swept a sharp gaze over them and spoke coldly,
“To attempt entering our home without permission. Is that how the Imperial Army behaves? I will report this to the lord.”
“Entering without permission? No, we’ll just leave.”
Under his fierce glare, they quickly retreated in a fluster.
They were the Imperial Army?
I stared blankly after them, then came to my senses and turned to the man.
“W-who are you?”
At that, he relaxed his expression and smiled gently, pointing to himself.
“It’s me. Ain.”
“A-Ain?”
Ain hesitated slightly, then sighed and spoke cautiously,
“Yes. I’m a beastman. I’ve been wondering when to tell you…”
‘A beastman?’
That meant a special race that could transform between animal and human.
To think I’d meet one here!
“I-it’s hard to believe.”
“But I am Ain. The day you saved me, I had been injured badly in my leg after letting my guard down while fighting a wolf. Of course, I won.”
“I-I see.”
I was still shocked, my eyes wide. But that tone and presence… it could only be Ain.
Accepting that he really was Ain, I nodded.
“That’s amazing. I never thought I’d meet a beastman.”
“You can speak casually.”
“Mm.”
Though surprised, I recalled how Ain had sometimes behaved unlike a normal fox.
‘Come to think of it, he was unusually intelligent.’
“Do you dislike me because I’m a beastman?”
At that moment, Ain looked at me with a dejected expression.
“Huh? Of course not. You’re just Ain.”
I smiled, gently stroking his soft silver hair.
Come to think of it, his silver fur and hair color are the same.
No wonder.
His status had said he was twenty years old. Maybe that referred to his true age as a beastman.
Anyway, I stretched my neck to look in the direction the Imperial Army had gone.
‘…I have a bad feeling they’re looking for Seith. What are they planning now? He hasn’t even recovered his memories yet.’
After glaring at their retreating figures, Ain and I gathered various herbs and headed back home.
‘But why is the Imperial Army looking for Seith? Is he a criminal?’
No.
At least, I felt certain he wasn’t that kind of person.
As I walked, deep in thought about Seith, Ain, walking beside me, seemed to think I was worried about something else and reassured me.
“They won’t be able to find your house anyway, Ailet. Don’t worry.”
I looked straight into Ain’s blue eyes and asked,
“Why? Is our house really that hard to find, like the villagers say?”
“Ah, didn’t you know? There’s magic cast on both you and your house. Even I wandered around for a long time trying to find it. That day too, when you opened the door, it was like I was granted permission to see it. Do you know a powerful mage?”
“R-really? I don’t know any mage.”
Ain looked at me seriously, then stroked his chin and advised,
“Yes. You should look into it sometime. In any case, they won’t be able to find your house easily, so don’t worry.”
I nodded.
When we returned home, as expected, the cabin was quiet. It seemed they hadn’t been able to find it.
And then—
“Wow…”
Relieved, I stepped inside, only to freeze as the house sparkled with cleanliness.
‘So it really was me who couldn’t clean… Is Seith just incredibly skilled?’
“It’s really clean.”
Even Ain couldn’t help but admire it.
What couldn’t that man do?
Wasn’t he supposed to be some noble who had never cleaned before?
I went to the annex to thank Seith, but he wasn’t there.
‘Where did he go?’
Tilting my head, I headed to the backyard just in case—
There he was, chopping firewood with his upper body bare.
Thud— Thud—!
The logs splitting cleanly in a single strike, his flexing muscles, the sweat rolling down—
Every bit of it looked like a work of art…
‘H-hey, get a grip! Where are you even looking?!’
