Chapter 71 · BMMAW

Chapter 71

The Way Back

As the sun rose high, the bell from the clock tower began to ring.
It was the noon bell.

When the bell rang, they had promised to finish their work and meet the Red Sword.

Lizzy was standing in front of a shop that sold chickens and eggs, thinking hard one last time.
It seemed like she wanted to buy a chicken.

Looking at the wooden boxes filled tightly with chickens, she asked,

“Juhwan, do you think we could make space for a chicken coop on top of or behind the wagon?”

“…”

Surely she wasn’t serious.

“If we had just two chickens, it would be enough. If we could get eggs every day, our meals would feel much more luxurious.”

She kept looking at the stacked boxes of chickens with regret, then asked the shop owner the price of a young hen.

…She really was serious.

“Lizzy, if we put them on the wagon, the chickens will die quickly.”

Lizzy knew that better than anyone.
Juhwan had never raised chickens himself.

She let out a sigh.

“I know, but it would still be nice to have them. It’ll take several days to get back to the village again, and we could keep eating eggs. And if we have a rooster, they’ll have chicks too… later we could even eat them.”

From her words, it seemed that when she was young, she had envied families who raised chickens.
To her, neighbors with many chickens looked like rich people.

Now that she had some money, that was the first thing she thought of.

Juhwan smiled bitterly.
Then Dorothy, who was in his arms, spoke up.

“Mom, I think chickens would be good. Oz can protect them.”

“Right? I think Oz would protect them well too.”

“Yeah, our Oz is smart.”

It seemed both mother and daughter wanted chickens.

Maybe, to the two who had lived in poverty, chickens were like golden eggs of dreams.

“It’s time to go. The Red Sword must be waiting.”

At Juhwan’s words, Lizzy nodded reluctantly.

But before leaving, she bought a bundle of 12 eggs tied in pairs with straw.

“Mom, is it heavy? Should Dorothy carry it?”

Dorothy held out both hands.

Lizzy hesitated for a moment, worried they might break, but soon handed the bundle to her.

“Hm, Dorothy… you’re helping Mom by carrying that, but you’re sitting in Dad’s arms. In the end, Dad is the one carrying everything.”

Dorothy blinked her round eyes and thought for a moment.

Then she nodded as if she had solved it.

“Dad is really strong. So it’s okay. He can beat the eggs.”

“…I see.”

Lizzy laughed at their conversation.
Dorothy laughed too.

The gloomy feeling from earlier at the guild seemed to disappear.

Most of the things they bought were carried by Juhwan on his back,
while Lizzy held the more fragile items.

The three of them walked together out of the alley and across the plaza.

Sometimes people whispered when they saw Oz, calling him a magical beast.
It seemed they recognized it more from the necklace than the horn.

People pointed at both the horn and the necklace.

“Oz is smart, Dad. Dorothy is his teacher.”

Dorothy said loudly on purpose, as if she wanted people to hear.

She seemed proud of Oz.

Even though people were looking at Oz, Dorothy lifted her chin proudly.

Then, for some reason, she raised the eggs she was holding a little higher, as if to show them off.

Maybe she wanted to show that they were not poor.

They had already paid for their room, but the wagon could stay there until today.

When they returned to the inn and went to the wagon area, there were signs that the horse had been given hay and water.

It was expensive, but the service was good.

As soon as they got on the wagon, Dorothy left Juhwan’s arms.

After loading everything, the three of them sat side by side in the driver’s seat.

It seemed Dorothy didn’t want to leave the city.

When she saw the city gate, she stood up on the seat and turned around on her knees.

Lizzy quickly grabbed her waist.

While being scolded, Dorothy waved at the city buildings.

She was saying goodbye.

Juhwan supported her back with one arm and made her sit properly, feeling slightly relieved.

She seemed normal again.

Maybe he had just been startled earlier because of the aide.

“Dorothy, don’t stand up in the wagon. You’ll fall.”

“Yes, Dad!”

Her energetic answer was the same as always.

* * *

The Red Sword was already waiting at the gate.

It had taken a long time to come with the merchant group,
but going back would only take a few days.

There were villages along the way, so they wouldn’t need to sleep outside.

They chose a slightly different route than the one used by the merchant group.

That route had been limited because of its large size.

But Juhwan and the Red Sword didn’t have that problem.

They chose safer roads between villages, trying to avoid bandits as much as possible.

According to Karine, even if it was a bit longer, this was the most common route to Moderni.

After traveling for a while, they took a short break.

Karine said,

“Please remember this road. Moderni is the place most adventurers go to. The Adventurer Village has many people too, but Moderni has the most jobs. When work becomes scarce, most adventurers go there. That’s why you need to remember this road. That’s also why we’re moving a bit slowly.”

People in this world didn’t use maps or navigation.
They memorized everything.

Honestly, Juhwan wasn’t confident at all.

They traveled almost nonstop, only taking short breaks.

They passed small villages and entered one around sunset.

It was much smaller than the Adventurer Village.

The streets were quiet, with barely any people.

Jesse said that most villages were like this in winter.

At the square, the village chief and a few men came out.

“Oh, are you adventurers?”

The chief smiled as he looked at their clothes.

“Yes. We’d like to stay for a night.”

“There’s no proper inn here, but we rent out houses or barns.”

The chief said a house cost 1 lina, and a barn cost one large coin.

Juhwan’s eyes widened.

That was too expensive.

The inn in the Adventurer Village was 1 lina for two days—and it was clean.

As Juhwan turned to leave, the chief quickly spoke again.

“Adventurer! If money is a problem, we’ll take just one coin!”

That was still expensive.

Juhwan frowned.

“Move. What kind of ridiculous price is that?”

The chief flinched and bowed deeply.

“S-sorry! We don’t know the proper prices here… How about one small coin?”

It seemed they were changing prices depending on the person.

Karine stepped in with a smirk.

“Looks like you got greedy seeing the wagon. Let’s do this properly. One small coin—for both the house and the barn. And give us two hot water bottles for sleeping.”

The chief hesitated, but eventually agreed.

They also asked for hay for the horse.

The chief looked like he was about to cry, but nodded again.

The house they were given wasn’t empty.

Someone had been living there and left for the night.

“This is like a side income for the village,” Marie said with a laugh.

The Red Sword went to the barn.

At first, Juhwan felt sorry, but when he saw the house, he understood why.

The house and barn were almost the same.

The barn even had more straw.

Inside the house, there were chicken and goat droppings.

The bed was old, and there were probably bedbugs.

At least there was a fireplace—but no fire.

Juhwan brought some firewood from the wagon and lit a fire.

Then he made stew with the ingredients they had.

He made a bit extra, and Lizzy brought some to the Red Sword.

Juhwan stayed outside.

He heard Karine’s voice.

“Thank you, Lizzy. But don’t do this next time. Even if we’re friendly, adventurers usually handle their own things. If you keep giving things away, people will start expecting it.”

“Still… thank you. We were cold, so this stew helps a lot.”

Karine’s voice was gentle.

Lizzy came back looking a bit down.

Juhwan patted her shoulder.

The stew in this world was simple—just everything boiled together.

Adventurers probably cooked and ate together.

Karine had pointed out that Lizzy shouldn’t give food separately.

Lizzy shivered in the cold air.

Juhwan opened his coat and pulled her close inside.

They walked under the stars.

After a while, Lizzy seemed to feel better.

Later, the village chief brought one hot water bottle.

But it wasn’t enough.

The house was too cold, and there were bedbugs.

In the end, Juhwan and Lizzy took Dorothy and slept in the wagon.

With the hot water bottle at their feet, it felt warm.

In the dark, Lizzy laughed softly.

Juhwan gently touched her short hair.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I like inns… but I also like sleeping like this, close together.”

“I see.”

Dorothy lay between them, with Oz near their heads.

The wagon felt full of warmth.

“I like it too, Lizzy.”

“Right?”

Her voice sounded truly happy.

Late at night, as Lizzy fell asleep—

Juhwan, half asleep, heard Dorothy’s voice.

“…Don’t throw me away… Dorothy… don’t throw me away…”

His eyes opened immediately.

Dorothy was still sleeping in his arms.

It was sleep talking.

Then she whispered again,

“…Dad…”

“…Could it be…”

Juhwan muttered quietly.

At last, he realized what had been bothering him since morning.

That small sense of unease