“Um…”
The burly man was approaching me, his heavy presence overwhelming me entirely.
“P-please go aw—”
What was he planning to do, approaching so slowly like that?
Instinctively, I clutched my tail with both hands.
“No, I… I wanted to apologize.”
“Really…?”
Apologize, now of all times?
I was so startled that my eyes widened in surprise.
“Last time, I said some harsh words. I’m really sorry. I want to sincerely apologize.”
The man bent down towards me.
I knew his apology wasn’t sincere, but I couldn’t guess his motive.
“Okay, I got it. But please leave me alone…”
“Ah, okay.”
Just as I thought the man would do something, he bowed his head and then walked away into the distance.
His baffling behavior left me tilting my head in confusion.
“What’s that about?”
A new form of harassment?
Or was he acting on the girl’s orders to observe my reaction?
I didn’t know, but I had no intention of playing into his hands.
‘Playing with people like that.’
Such a cruel organization.
As I harbored these thoughts, a familiar woman appeared around the corner, holding more than ten shopping bags in her hand.
“Gyeoul, did I make you wait too long?”
“No… I just waited a bit…”
“Really? That’s good.”
The girl approached me quickly and showed me the shopping bags she was holding.
The clothes inside didn’t look as worn as I had imagined.
There seemed to be quite a lot of clothes, though.
I had only planned to buy two sets each of tops and bottoms.
The larger-than-expected number of clothes was overwhelming.
“Um, how many pieces are these…?”
“These? About fifty pieces, I guess?”
“Eh…”
At a thousand won each, fifty pieces would cost fifty thousand won.
The amount was burdensome, but I knew this was a forced sale.
They would try to squeeze every penny out of me no matter what.
Fifty thousand won was a lot, but I decided to just buy them.
After all, I had a fortune of three million won.
“Gyeoul, isn’t this pretty? It even has lace on it.”
Ugh.
There were clothes with lace as well.
Knowing my situation, she deliberately packed impractical clothes.
Typical witch-like thinking.
“Um, but I’m too weak to carry all this.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll carry it for you. That’s okay, right?”
“Yes…”
Using a high level adventurer as a delivery person for just fifty thousand won.
This was worth the money spent.
‘Hmph.’
How about that.
Not such an easy target, am I?
I looked up at her triumphantly and then grabbed one of the shopping bags.
Before wearing the clothes, I planned to adjust them to fit my body.
“I’ll just step outside for a moment!”
“Ah! I’ll come with you!”
She followed me as I dashed out of the building, all the way to the garden in front of the building, where trees, flowers, grass, and soil were.
“What are you going to do outside?”
“I’m going to adjust the clothes.”
“Clothes?”
Ignoring the girl’s puzzled look, I took out a garment from the shopping bag.
It was a character T-shirt with a white cat drawn on it.
I placed the shirt on the garden bed and scrubbed it as if washing clothes.
It was a pity to dirty the pristine shirt, but it was necessary for my survival.
“Gye, Gyeoul?”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing…?”
“Adjusting the clothes?”
Scrub scrub scrub-
As I rubbed the shirt on the garden bed, the pure white cat started to turn a dirt color.
Green stains from the grass appeared here and there.
It wasn’t enough, but since it was a clean shirt I had just gotten, I was satisfied with this level of modification and reached for the next one.
“Wa–wait a minute, Gyeoul!”
“Yes?”
“Do you really need to dirty the clothes?”
Need to dirty them?
Of course I do, why is she asking such a simple question, doesn’t a seasoned adventurer understand such simple logic?
I thought it was sad for someone that had been in this line of job not aware of this, so I decided to explain it for her benefit.
“It’s for camouflage.”
“Camouflage…?”
“Yes. It needs to blend with the natural colors, so animals and monsters don’t easily notice you. I also use grass and soil to mask the scent.”
I sniffed the newly taken-out clothes.
The artificial scent of detergent was fragrant, but it was definitely not something to wear in the woods.
The sweet scent would attract creatures like wild boars.
Just the thought made my skin crawl.
“Shouldn’t you have a few everyday clothes, though? For days when you’re resting?”
“Everyday clothes?”
“Yes. It would be nice to wear clean clothes on your days off, right?”
Days off?
When was the last time I had a day off?
I tried to recall, but couldn’t think of any specific day.
“I don’t have days off.”
“No days off…?”
“Yes. If I rest today, tomorrow will be harder for me.”
Was my answer strange?
The girl’s face turned pale.
As white as the cat T-shirt before it got dirty.
“What about, like, breaks…?”
“Well… I do have breaks.”
“Ah! You do?!”
The girl showed sudden joy.
Was she excited about what she could do to harass me during my break time?
Sadly for her, things wouldn’t go as she expected.
“Once a few months, maybe.”
“On, once a few months?”
Disappointed by the length of my rest periods, her mouth hung open.
“I ate a hamburger earlier. That was my break time.”
“Uh… That wasn’t a break, more like breakfast, wasn’t it…?”
“Ah, yes, but usually I finish eating in under five minutes and then go right back to work. But today, the burger was so delicious that I savored it for an hour.”
The burger was indeed delicious.
If I worked hard enough, maybe one day I’d get to eat it again.
And if I’m lucky enough, I can save enough money to eat it on my birthday.
As I recalled the taste of the hamburger and crouched down to adjust the clothes, the girl suddenly muttered to herself.
“What a world.”
Was she disappointed because she couldn’t harass me during my break time?
What a cruel witch