Chapter 59
It was a very strange feeling.
I wasn’t such an amazing person that I could inherit someone else’s will, and yet—
my heart stirred, and for some reason, I also felt a faint sense of pride.
Why was that?
“Well then, let’s go. With this axe, you should be able to cut even merbau trees easily. I’ll guide the way.”
Perdia smiled brightly, showing her teeth.
I gripped the newly given axe tightly and followed her lead into the forest.
The forest, untouched by darkness, was beautiful.
The shade from the trees kept it cool, and the scent of the grass was fresh and lively.
Sunlight filtering through the leaves shimmered and changed the scenery every moment—it was like walking through an Impressionist painting.
When I expressed my admiration as we walked, Perdia smiled proudly and said,
“Beautiful, isn’t it? This beautiful forest exists because of you, hero.”
“T-too much praise. That’s embarrassing…”
Overcome with shyness, I hid my face in my palms as I kept walking—
and then nearly tripped over a tree root. A perfect little comedy skit.
Who knows how long we walked like that?
Eventually, we arrived at a place where trees of the same kind grew densely together.
“Here we are. This is where the merbau trees grow in clusters.”
“Ah, so these are merbau trees.”
Massive, towering trees lined the area.
Some were as tall as ten-story buildings.
‘So… I’m supposed to chop these down?’
I could only blink blankly in disbelief.
“While you’re at it, I’ll go gather herbs nearby. When you’re done, we can head back together.”
“Ah, yes! Please stay as far away as possible, though. These trees are huge.”
I figured I’d have to check carefully to make sure no one was within the falling range before chopping.
“Don’t worry. I’ve lived as a woodcutter’s daughter for years. I know how to be careful. Oh—and collect the leaves too. I’ve heard they’re useful as medicine.”
Oh-ho, that was a good tip.
If I dried them well and sold them to Dioscorides, they’d probably fetch a decent price.
After all, merbau trees didn’t seem to grow on Mid-Isle Island.
So Perdia went off to gather herbs,
and I began chopping trees in earnest.
They were so thick that it took a long time to fell the first few,
but once I got used to it, I started working faster and faster.
‘And my proficiency’s shooting up, too.’
Feeling my skill level rise tangibly made the work more fun, and soon I was chopping trees in a trance-like state.
After a while—
“Hey there, hero. How’s the work go—”
Perdia, who seemed cheerful after gathering herbs, appeared with leaves stuck to her clothes—
and froze when she saw the completely devastated forest around me.
“…Welcome back.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and greeted her calmly.
“W-what is this…? Are you planning to make about a hundred wooden dolls? No, more importantly, how are you going to carry all this lumber…?”
“Ah, well… I’m sure I’ll find some use for the leftovers. And don’t worry about transporting it. I’ve got a universal subspace inventory.”
Smiling confidently at her concern, I began stuffing the thick logs into my inventory.
In no time, the area was cleared.
Perdia watched the logs vanish one by one like dust being sucked into a vacuum cleaner, her mouth agape in disbelief.
“Well then, shall we head back to the village?”
I clapped the dust from my work gloves and spoke cheerfully.
Perdia shook her head wearily, looking almost traumatized, and led the way back.
We crossed the forest, passed through the city gates, and arrived in town.
Perdia glanced at me and asked,
“I have to deliver the herbs I gathered to the Forestry Guild. What about you, Guardian?”
“Hmm, well… I plan to return to Mid-Isle right away. I’ve got a lot to do.”
I had to visit the carpentry shop, process the logs into timber, and then make the wooden dolls.
And since varnishing and drying them would take a long time, my schedule was tight.
“Don’t worry about me. I can find my way from here. It’s almost a straight path to Elm Square anyway.”
“Hmm, alright then. Take care. I won’t do a teary farewell this time—something tells me you’ll be back soon enough.”
At that, Perdia scrunched her nose and gave me a teasing smile.
“Hehe, you really know me well now.”
I replied with a playful grin of my own.
After parting with Perdia,
I began walking toward Elm Square.
People in the city recognized me and greeted me warmly.
“Guardian! So good to see you!”
“Wow, it’s the hero!”
I felt like crawling into a mouse hole out of embarrassment.
‘Next time I come here, maybe I should wear a hat and mask…’
It was mortifying, but ignoring the heartfelt gratitude of the citizens felt wrong, so I awkwardly smiled back.
The short distance felt strangely long.
As I was walking—
‘Huh? Something’s… off.’
A sudden sense of wrongness made me stop in my tracks.
The cheers and greetings that filled the air a moment ago faded away.
It was as if an invisible wall had formed between me and everyone else.
When I turned to look, the crowd was frozen in place—
as though someone had pressed a pause button.
“…?”
I’d never experienced anything like this before, not even in the game.
Panicked, I looked around for the cause.
Then, I noticed a strange shop that wasn’t in my memory.
This wasn’t my hometown, but I’d stayed here long enough to know the area around the inn pretty well.
‘Was there… a shop here before?’
If it had just been built on an empty lot, maybe it was a new store.
But no—this looked as though it had forced itself between two existing buildings, squeezing into a space that shouldn’t exist.
‘No matter how I think about it, that shop has to be the cause of this weird phenomenon, right?’
Swallowing dryly, I steeled myself and approached the shop.
I carefully pushed the door open.
Ding-ling, the wind chime on the door made a pleasant sound.
And inside, waiting for me—
was someone just as beautiful as that sound.
A tall figure with long, pure white hair.
Their appearance was androgynous, impossible to tell whether they were male or female.
As light hit their hair, it reflected different colors—
like holographic fabric woven from light itself.
Turquoise, lavender, pink, pale yellow, sky blue—
a rainbow shimmered across their hair.
‘What kind of unreal hair is that…’
It was the kind of beauty that could only exist in fantasy, never in real life.
The beautiful person fluttered their pale lashes and smiled at me.
Even their lashes sparkled faintly like translucent starlight.
“Welcome, hero of the goddess.”
When their red lips parted, a voice that defied classification came out.
Too delicate and pretty to belong to a man,
but too low and husky to belong to a woman.
“Uh… hello? What kind of place is this? And, who are you?”
A strange feeling washed over me—
like when I first crossed into this world, or when I met the goddess in that dream.
It felt unreal, dreamlike.
“Ah, pardon my manners. My name is Cashy.”
The ethereal figure bowed gracefully and introduced themselves as Cashy.
Cashy… sounded like a woman’s name, but still—
their gender was completely indeterminate.
Or maybe they weren’t even human.
Still, that name—where had I heard it before…?
‘Wait… Cashy? Don’t tell me that means Cash?’
As that absurd thought flashed through my mind—
“And since this is my shop… hmm, you can call it the Cash Shop.”
Cashy smiled as they said that.
I felt as if someone had just bonked me on the head with a toy hammer.
“This is where we sell rare items that are hard to find in normal stores. The currency here is Rainbow Stones.”
So it really was a cash shop.
Unbelievable.
Cashy wasn’t just the owner’s name—it was literal!
As my dazed mind caught up, I let out a half-laugh in disbelief.
Cashy went on cheerfully, unaffected.
“Now then—how about this little friend? Isn’t it adorable?”
Cashy reached toward a shelf, and out popped a small, yellow Pomeranian.
The tiny dog wagged its tail furiously, panting happily with its tongue out.
“It’s this small normally, but if you want—watch this.”
Cashy set the dog on the floor.
In an instant, the once-small puppy grew until it was big enough for me to ride.
An elegant saddle even appeared on its back.
“It can grow this large. Imagine how fun it’d be to ride such a cute companion! I can offer it for just 100 Rainbow Stones.”
I stared at the scene with mixed feelings.
…That was the exact same Pomeranian mount I used to ride in the game.
Of course, I didn’t have that kind of money—
but more than that, the situation just felt wrong.
“Hmm, I guess our little puppy doesn’t quite suit the goddess’s hero, does it?”
Cashy chuckled softly and placed the now-small dog back on the shelf.
