Chapter 35

If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the girl was smart. Within a week of teaching her to read and write, she had mastered it completely.

“Eh, ehehe.”

Of course, I had to take care of all the household chores in the meantime. Once she focused on something, she became oblivious to her surroundings. As a result, the teacher ended up waiting for the student.

“Is it good?”

“Ah. Y-yes. S-sorry. It must have b-been hard for you…”

“Not really.”

The forest had plenty to eat, and there was still a good amount of money from what So Jung-yang had given me when I left the Eastern Merchant Company. That was enough to take care of one child without much difficulty. 

“I even built a new hut while I was at it.”

“W-wow!”

I had constructed a decent wooden hut next to the dilapidated haunted house where Lena was staying. When I say decent, it was practically a palace compared to the rundown shack.

“Y-you m-made this? W-while I was…?” 

“Your concentration is really something else. I made a lot of noise outside, but you didn’t even notice.”

“Heh heh. I-I got p-praised…”

As Lena blushed with delight, I led her to the hut.

“Wooow!” 

Lena excitedly explored the hut, which had two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom and shower. Her eyes sparkled when she saw the small bedroom.

“A b-bed!”

“That’s your room.”

“My r-room?!”

She gets so excited over such simple things. Lena alternated glances between the modest room furnished with a bed and desk and me before plopping herself spread-eagle on the bed. 

What is this girl doing?

“What are you doing?”

“The p-pose of s-submission…”

What pose?

“I-I’ll do a-anything you s-say!”

How can one girl be so servile? I looked down at Lena, who was panting like a puppy with her belly exposed, and kindly extended my hand.

“Just focus on your studies.”

Since that’s what I wanted her to do anyway.

Lena had spent nearly a week studying without properly eating or washing. Meaning an already dirty girl had gotten even dirtier. 

So when I told her to wash up, she tried to go outside. Even after I said she could just use the bathroom, she made a fuss about how someone as filthy as her shouldn’t use such a clean facility.

Winter was nearly over, but the weather was still cold. What if she caught a cold and could not properly use magic as she was?

I dragged the whining Lena towards the village. There should be a public bathhouse there.

“Ngh. B-but. I c-can just wash in the r-river…”

“Didn’t you say you’d do anything I say?”

“Still… I-I’ve never b-been to a p-public bath before…”

Well, could you expect a girl who lived hand to mouth to have visited a bathhouse? But this was also an experience she should have had.

“Heek…”

“Didn’t you say you’d do anything?”

“Y-yes, but…”

Perhaps because she had said it herself, Lena quietly shut her mouth. When we arrived at the village with her in tow, the merchants I had met over the past few days greeted me with smiles. 

“Hey! Lee Hyun! Out and about again today?”

“Mr. Lee Hyun! What fun things will you show us today?”

“Oy! Young Master Lee! Try a taste of this before you go!”

What friendly folks. Unlike most country people, they don’t shun outsiders.

Responding to their greetings and jokes, I headed to the public bathhouse with Lena by my side. Feeling a gaze boring into the side of my head, I turned to look.

Lena was staring at me, her eyes sparkling.

“…What?”

“Y-you’re a-amazing! I-I’ve been coming to this v-village for t-two years but I c-can’t even g-greet people p-properly…”

“Well… I’m the type who likes talking to people and drinking. Isn’t it fun to chat with others?”

“Gah… so dazzling…”

Lena made a pained expression as if the brightness was too much for her. In the meantime, we arrived at the public bathhouse in the center of the village. 

A middle-aged woman about to enter the bathhouse caught my eye. She was the owner of the vegetable shop. We had chatted before, and she gave me some extra produce. 

“Sister Luceia!”

“Oh my! Well, if it isn’t young Lee Hyun! Hohoho~! Here for a bath? I closed shop early to bathe with my little one today~!”

“Mr. Lee Hyun~!”

Luceia’s daughter, Lorian, ran up to me with a bright smile. I hoisted up the cute six-year-old girl, “flew” her around a few times, then set her down and pushed Lena, who had hidden behind me at some point, to the front.

“Eek!”

“Ah! It’s Quiet Big Sis!” 

At Lorian’s shout, Luceia tilted her head quizzically.

“Quiet Big Sis?”

“Yeah! She always walks around the village with her head down, avoiding people! So my friends call her that!”

What in the world has this girl been doing? Perhaps unable to withstand Lorian’s excessively bright demeanor, Lena seemed to be shrinking.

“This one seems to be visiting a public bath for the first time. Could you show her the ropes?”

“Oh my, is that so? Then I’ll have to teach her everything from start to finish! But who is she? Your little sister?”

“My student.”

“Ah! H-hello…”

Lena greeted them in a barely audible voice before hiding behind me again. Grabbing her, I pushed her forward, where Luceia took hold of Lena.

“Eek! T-teacher! Teacher!” 

“I’ll leave my student to you then… When will you be done?”

“About two hours should do it.”

“Okay! Let’s meet when the village bell tolls twice then!”

Laughing heartily, Luceia dragged Lena with one beefy hand and held Lorian with the other as she headed inside. Shortly after, a shrill scream of “Hyieeeeek!!” rang out from within, but… 

I’m sure it’ll be fine.

“Guess I’ll wash up too.”

.

.

.

An hour had passed by the time I finished soaking in the hot spring water and washing up. Wondering what to do with the remaining hour, I saw an old man playing chess alone, so I joined him.

“Check!!”

“Hoho~! Making a move like that?! But you didn’t expect this!”

“Oho! Are you going to use the knight there?! If you use the knight, I’ll use the bishop!”

“U-um.” 

“Ah! Let’s see! I almost got… huh? You’re done?”

I turned my head to see Lena standing there. She looked completely different from before.

Her messy silver hair, properly washed and dried, shimmered in the sunlight. Her milky white skin was so clean, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single blemish. Her somewhat skinny frame could be called slender if you considered it positively.

Compared to when she went in, Lena was utterly transformed as if the difference was between heaven and earth, and she had her head bowed.

“Huh. You look much better after a wash.”

“Uuu… it huuurts…”

“She had so much grime!”

“Big Sis had lots of dirt! I helped scrub it off too!!”

“Hiiieee! Shhh! Shhh!”

At Luceia and Lorian’s shouts, Lena turned pale and tried to shush them. But a middle-aged woman who paid no heed to a young girl’s delicate feelings and a toddler who was far removed from such matters – what would they know?

In the end, the two described exactly how much grime had come off of Lena as they admired her as if she was a work of art.

“I’m thinking I ought to charge double for the bath!”

“Hahaha. You worked hard. How about a glass of juice? Lorian, you want milk, right?”

“Yup!”

“Well, in that case, I’ll treat myself~!”

I bought milk and juice from the store in front of the public bathhouse. After handing them out to Luceia and Lorian, I held out the remaining bottle to Lena, who looked like she wanted to die of embarrassment.

“Huh…?”

“Drink up. It’s customary to have a bottle of milk after a bath.”

It’d be nice if they had banana milk, but they didn’t have that here.

Receiving the milk with both hands, Lena hesitated momentarily before taking a sip.

She must have gotten quite parched while bathing. Eyes sparkling, Lena downed it in one go, a white mustache of foam still on her pink lips as she bowed repeatedly to the departing Luceia and Lorian.

“Th-thank you very much…!”

“Bye~! Big Sis~ See you next time~”

“Hohoho~! Let’s bathe together again next time~.”

Only after watching them leave did an exhausted Lena plop down on a bench. Gazing at her, I bought the old man I had been playing chess with a glass of juice before sitting on the bench.

“You look much more presentable after a wash.”

“Y-yes…”

Lena took another sip of milk before staring at me intently. Did she have something to say?

“U-um. T-teacher.”

“What?”

“Ah. Well… H-how do you g-get along with p-people so easily…?”

How do I get along with people easily? You just do. Is there some special method?

Glancing at Lena, looking at me with great envy, I set the milk bottle I was holding down next to me.

“Probably because I don’t care what others think.”

“Huh?”

“Because I have power. Because I’m confident I can control any situation. So I’m not afraid to approach people, which is why I have no qualms about getting friendly with them.”

“W-woooow… That’s s-so c-cool.”

“You just think too much.”

I patted the head of Lena, who was openly admiring me. Probably because she washed well, her hair felt quite soft.

“Not being able to easily befriend others isn’t wrong. If you don’t like how you are, then change. And if you want to change, then gain strength.”

“…C-can I do it? Can I… become like that?”

“You can.”

I looked straight into Lena’s eyes. As she tried to avert her gaze after meeting mine for a moment, I grabbed her cheeks and made her face me.

Her blue eyes trembled.

“Definitely.”

Because I’ll make it happen.