Awakening from darkness and confusion, Katarina blankly looked at her arms — padded with a splint, and neatly bandaged.
She continued to look at her arms.
She had no sense of reality at all.
From her point of view, it was ludicrous.
She was on her way home happily after receiving her daily pay.
At the crossroads, she bumped into something that suddenly popped out, was knocked away, fainted, and when she opened her eyes, she was in this condition.
“Aww…”
She felt exhilarating pain as she moved her arm slightly. At this point, she had no choice but to admit — her arm was broken.
‘Now what?’
Katarina, the sole breadwinner of the family, had five younger siblings to look after.
She was a third grade dancer and with the meager wages she received, it was barely enough, she could hardly feed her siblings full.
But now… for now… that didn’t look possible.
Who the hell would hire a dancer with one of her arm dangling?
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Katarina was about to accept the bleak reality.
“That… I’m sorry.”
When the man who bumped into her apologized.
Katarina narrowed her eyes and looked at the apologizing man. He was handsome, beyond handsome, but to her, the present her, he was her enemy.
“No, why in the alley… ha… no no no.”
She tried to shoot something and stopped.
‘It was an accident, not an intentional one.’
And he was very sorry, wasn’t he?
She tried to erase everything about Cloud from her head and go back to her real problems.
“Here… I know it’s nothing for what I did, but please take it.”
A small pouch appeared in her vision, Cloud holding it.
Katarina tilted her head, took the pouch and opened it.
There was money in the pocket.
She snapped her eyes and counted the coins in the pouch.
‘T, This…with this the young’uns w-won’t have to starve!’
No, she might even be able to save a little.
Will she finally be able to have something called savings for the first time?
Katarina, who had a bright expression on her face, froze. She came back to her senses and corrected her expression with a line coughing.
“Ahem. What is this money?”
“You look like a dancer, but because of me, you won’t be able to find a job for a while. I’m taking responsibility for what I have done. Please do not decline by all means. This puts my mind at ease.”
Was the word responsibility originally such a sweet word?
Katarina nodded her head, fighting back her lips from wobbling.
“Then… I, I will take it. Thank you. You don’t have to worry about my arm. It will heal…”
Just as Katarina was about to turn her back with a smile.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Cloud’s voice caught her.
Should she have said more? Katarina stopped, half turned and waited for him to speak. With a shifting expression, he spoke.
“This is a little sudden but the circumstances, well… can I stay at your house for a while?”
“Yes?”
Katarina wondered if her own ears had taken some serious injury.
But Cloud’s voice was sincere.
‘Is he crazy!?’
They didn’t know each other and had met for the first time today. Why would he request to stay in her house?!
Nonsense.
She will refuse…
“It’s small, but I���ll pay the price.”
Cloud pulled out another pouch.
Katarina’s eyes fluttered slightly.
* * *
If a stranger you just met today asks to stay in your house for a while, how many would accept?
There would probably be very few.
Especially if they have a family to take care of.
Therefore, the process of convincing Katarina was quite arduous.
I described what I went through and how harsh the inns in Oulheim was for tourists.
I also proved that I was not a dangerous person.
She accepted it only after I accepted her’s — terms — confiscating my weapons, helping with the housework, and paying for the stay.
“It’s a pretty shady place.”
The place Katarina and I were walking through was a slum in Oulheim. She strode down the ominous dark street, unaffected.
“Isn’t it dangerous to stay in a place like this?”
Katarina chuckled at my question.
“It may look like that from the outside, but it’s a lot better place to live than you think. Quite a lot.”
“Quite a lot, huh?”
I looked around.
Yobs spitting and squabbling on the streets; and beggars with broken bones.
Seeds that would turn into robbers given the chance and a sharp knife.
Admiring her courageous remark, I made my way through narrow streets. Soon we came across a shabby house in the corner of the street, her footsteps towards it.
Katarina pulled the doorknob of the shabby house and the hinge holding the door fell off.
“Ah, here we go again. Still usable… after I borrow a hammer from the blacksmith?”
Katarina, in a manner dangerously familiar, picked up the hinges and nails that had fallen off.
“It’s quite shabby, but please come in.”
“Excuse me.”
I followed Katarina into the house.
Contrary to the shabby exterior, the interior was quite nice. Brazier, pot, bed and so on. Everything was there. Old, but clean.
“Sister!”
A small child, barely reaching my waist, ran up to us and hugged Katarina. Starting with that child, two other children ran out and hugged Katarina tightly.
Not joining in on the embracing session were the older siblings who seemed to be going through puberty, and the elderly pair who looked like a couple.
The old couple looked at Katarina’s arm, eyes wide.
“Katarina, what happened to your arm?!”
“Which bastard hit you?!”
Katarina smiled awkwardly and shook her head.
“No one hit me. I just missed a step and fell, causing it to sprain.”
Katarina hid that I had bumped into her.
Maybe because she didn’t want me to feel discomfort during my stay here.
“I have someone to introduce.”
“Who would you like to introduce? Huh?! Is he your boyfriend?! Hey, it’s too sudden! You never told us before!”
“It’s not like that! Grandma, see Grandpa, he’s over fussing again.”
“No no, my dear, it’s worth a fuss! You don’t know, but all men are wolves, wolves! Add a guy with a smug handsome face like that. How many girls must have cried over that face? Never fall for that!”
Smug..?
“It’s not like that, really… he’s Cloud, and he’s a tourist who came to witness the festival, but due to some circumstances, he has to stay in our house for a while.”
“Wh, What?! Katarina, you are an unmarried young woman, you cannot sleep under the same roof with another man, try to understand.”