24 Hearts

16====================

To live in this world.

‘Then, does that mean I can teach this kid now?’ Gentia asked Kaseun.

‘Of course,’ came his reply. ‘But if you teach Judah, you have to do so properly.’

Gentia gave a bright smile.

‘Don’t worry. I will definitely teach you everything, kid.’

Kaseun nodded. ‘Okay, then. The matter that remains is this: Where are you staying? What are your plans in that regard? If you haven’t found a house yet, it won’t bother me if you stay here, in my mansion. There are a great many empty rooms.’

Gentia put the unlit cigarette back in her mouth, looking as if she was bothered by something.

‘Well… It’s a mansion. I don’t like it. It’s so … aristocratic. It will be hard for me to get used to the mercenary life again if I’ve lived in a mansion.’

‘I see. But as far as I know, there are no houses up for sale in the inner wall right now. I think you might find some near the outer wall, though. So what are you going to do, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Hahahah! Yes, sir, you can ask me. Even the houses on the outskirts of the city go for high prices, even if they are far from the castle.’

I listened to the conversation between the two of them and realized that Gentia’s accommodation was indeed a problem. There were many empty rooms in Kaseun’s mansion, but living here seemed to be a prospect that made her uncomfortable. Gentia seemed to want to live in a smaller house. After careful consideration, I decided to intervene in the discussion.

‘Hey, then you can stay at my house. I have plenty of room.’

‘Oh! Really? Will that be okay? I mean, won’t your parents bother me?’

Kaseun’s face briefly grew hard at her words. Gentia was still unaware that I was a child that lived alone, without parents. I didn’t have time to explain the situation to her, and I didn’t really know what words I would use to tell her. Gentia didn’t know that I had been orphaned, so she was still laughing.

‘Yes, it’s okay. Anyway, I’m the only one living there.’

‘Huh?’

Gentia was confused when she saw a bitter smile on my face. She knew that something was awkward. Kain, Riel, and Kaseun weren’t very comfortable either. It took her a moment to notice this, and she opened her mouth slightly in a silent “Ah!”

In that awkward silence, Kaseun gave a grave nod and broke the mood.

‘Very well, then your place of residence has been decided. You will be living with Judah.’

‘Alright.’

‘From now, Gentia will teach you a whole lot, Judah, just as I asked her to do. So, let’s stop the morning training sessions and your sparring with Kain for the time being.’

‘I know,’ came my response.

‘And let’s discuss some other details. If you live with Gentia, the stipend I pay you might not be enough for your cost of living. So as always, if you need anything, feel free to come to me.’

I nodded. I knew that it was better to have things in bounty instead of lacking them. That rang especially true where wealth was concerned. Kaseun had promised me his continued generous support, and I expressed my gratitude to him. Gentia put her hand under my chin and lightly tilted my head up.

‘Okay then, commander. I’ll live with this kid. By the way, I have something to talk with you about in the future.’

‘Yes, certainly,’ Kaseun said as he nodded happily. Kain and Riel had been watching the entire conversation. I saw that their faces had become bright, and I knew that they were happy that they wouldn’t have to take lessons from Gentia. Even so, I could see that they considered it a terrible thing that we would now be living together.

However, I was rather happy about it. True enough, my home was adequate as it was, and I didn’t even have the urge to live with someone else. But the fact that Gentia would be moving in was quite a welcome fact.

However, the one thing that worried me was that I didn’t know if she shared my good feelings on the matter. I wondered whether she had other intentions before I made my offer.

Hmm, in cases such as this one, it would be handy to see something like a status screen.

Until now, I had made every possible effort to view the status screens of those around me. Unfortunately, nothing had been displayed so far. I was unsure whether there existed requirements that I had to meet or whether the information was not viewable at all.

Such thoughts mixed with my happiness and anxiety of being with Gentia from then on. All in all, the feelings inside of me were strange, indeed.

As I stood there, I saw Gentia’s hand stretching out to me, and she then stroked my hair. I couldn’t believe that those thin, white fingers of hers had been the claws of a tiger minutes before.

‘Shall we go then, kid?’

‘Yes? Oh, okay,’ I replied as I took her outstretched hand. It felt warm. As I held her hand, I kept thinking about how to access people’s information. Of course, having lived for over twenty years in my original reality, I was used to not seeing people’s statuses displayed magically. I’ve been here three years, though, and still hadn’t figured out how to do it. I needed to know the stats of those around me, so I hoped that it would be possible and not too problematic to achieve it.

I nodded to Gentia and said goodbye to Kaseun. I held her hand as we left the mansion grounds. Only after she came onto the street did she light the cigarette by tapping it with her finger. There was a spark of magic, and the cylinder that contained the crushed and rolled leaves started to smolder, with a thin cloud of smoke billowing from it.

‘Tufooo,’ came the sound as she sucked the smoked in and soon slowly exhaled. As the smoke of her cigarette spread into the air, I looked at her with a regretful expression.

‘Tabacco,’ I said as we walked on.

‘Huh?’

‘Isn’t that bad for your health?’

Gentia stretched the cigarette out before her, looked at it for a moment, and took another puff. Her lips pursed as she sucked the smoke deep into her lungs, then exhaled, the smoke flowing out of her mouth. She answered my question as I looked at the dancing smoke.

‘Yeah, it’s harmful. But this is not tobacco leaf, it’s a medicinal herb, so it’s okay. It’s just has a strong smell. And … hah, even if it’s harmful, I can just go and get healed by a wizard or a priest. So why worry?’

Well… she did have a point. There existed many ways to bring the dead back to life in this world, so with such healing magics, cigarettes were just like a type of food. As I nodded, convinced, Gentia looked at me, and she was having fun.

‘Why, kid? Do you want a drag? Would you like to puff it?’

I quickly shook my head as she gracefully tried to hand the cigarette to me.

‘No, it’s okay. I … um … I don’t want to smoke that badly.’

‘Is that so? The taste isn’t bad…’

I was naturally reluctant, especially as Gentia was offering a cigarette to a child. And the body of Judah, which had never smoked, had an instinctual aversion to it. Even if it was only herbs burning, I did not have much of a desire to smoke.

Gentia didn’t offer it again and gave a cruel little laugh without saying a word.

We stopped conversing, and everything around us was quiet. Soon enough, we entered the busier quarters of the city.

More people began to appear on the streets, and our surroundings became filled with many noises.

Serenia was a place with a particularly large population, at least when compared to cities like it. Many people of different professions were mulling and moving about: Merchants other folk who were going about their daily business.

Gentia still held onto my hand as if she thought she might lose me and so get lost herself. In Serenia, this was possible. Her tightly grasping hand was warm and tender, but it had begun to sweat more and more as we walked. And while I led her on, she kept smoking.

‘I,’ she said, then paused. She had been the first one to speak, and as I looked at her, I saw that she was smiling. ‘I’m going to teach you many things, as the commander has said. Hunting and herb gathering; first aid and how to survive in the wilds, make fire, set up camp, and many other things the traveler and adventurer must know. How about it then, kid, aren’t you looking forward to learning?’

‘Wshooo…’ the white-gray smoke came out in a haze and melted away into the air.

‘Well, I’m not sure about everything. But I’m looking forward to hunting, even if I don’t know how to do the other stuff.’

Gentia narrowed her eyes and gave a smirk as one corner of her mouth rose slightly.

‘It will be fun. More fun than you can expect.’

I had finally led Gentia to my home. The empty house was silent as I opened the door and took off my shoes. Gentia followed me in, and when she noticed me removing my shoes, she did so as well, smiling.

‘This is fun! You’re following the Baekje Empire’s culture, right?’

‘Not really… it’s just comfortable. And my floors are clean, so don’t worry.’

It was hard to do chores and train every day, but at least every third day, I sweep and mop the floors and clean my entire house. Even the empty rooms that I never used were cleaned each and every time. I led Gentia to a room on the first floor, one which I guess my parents must have used. It had a bed, a dressing table, and a closet.

There was even a circular mirror mounted into the wall, so it would be an excellent room for her.

All the clothing that once had been in the dressing table and closet had been thrown away or burned. Regardless, it seemed that Gentia liked the room, for she smiled.

‘When you told me you had unused rooms, I thought I would have to clean it. But it’s already so clean! Can I really use this room?’

‘Yes, I’m the only one in this house anyway. There’s nothing to worry about, so don’t burden yourself uselessly.’

She gave a little snort. It was clear that she liked the room even more than she let on. It was clean and spacious and had all the furniture that she needed. She could fill it with all her own stuff. Gentia remained quiet, and I knew that she did not have a single problem with her new lodgings.

After showing her her room, I gave her a brief tour of the house. After she had snooped around and double-checked some of the rooms, Gentia stated that she was going out for a while to get the luggage that she had left at the mercenary guild.

The instant that she left the house, a system message popped up in front of my eyes. When I read the holographic text within the neon-green frame, I was surprised.

[—] You have obtained your first [temporary] companion. Due to this, you can use the status screen function from here on out [—]

[—]On the status screen, you can check the information of your companions. If you use this ability at the right times and in the right places, it will be very helpful in your quest to collect the fragments [—]

‘Aha!’

Finally- a screen where I could study the information of others. It would not be so helpful right now, but of immense aid later, once I truly left this place and went out in the world to seek Pernen’s fragments.

I immediately called up Gentia’s status screen, absolutely delighted at being able to do so.

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「Status Window」

[Name: Gentia]

[Title: Tracker]

[True Name: None]

[Level: 49]

[Occupation: Mercenary (C)]

[Race: Suin _ Tiger]

[Strength: 63(B) / Potential B]

[Health: 69(B) / Potential B]

[Agility: 79(B) / Potential A]

[Magic: 50(C) / Potential B]

[Magic Resistance: 51(C) / Potential B]

[Knowledge: 49(C) / Potential C] ◀ Special

[Luck: 55(C) / Potential B] ◀ Special

[Favorability: 10 (normal)]

[Reliability: 30 (faith)]

「Talent 4/5」

[Primary Instinct]-Rank: B

[Dragon Tiger Squad]-Rank: B

[Hunter]-Rank: C

[Present form]-Rank: C

「Skill 5/5」

[Watermark]-Rank: B

[Spear]-Rank: C

[Mercenary-style left-handed dagger]-Rank: C

[Concealment]-Rank: B

[Surprise Attack]-Rank: C

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So much of her true nature appeared before me. The insides of my mind started to feel a bit stuffy.

I felt a sense of extreme excitement as I closely studied the status screen that had appeared before me.

* * *

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Hint: The levels of reliability are 0 (normal) → 30 (faith) → 50 (friends) → 70 (trust) → 100 (friendship) and -30 (borderline) → -50 (danger) → -70 (distrust) → -100 ( betrayal).

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Hint: The levels of favorability are 0 (normal) → 30 (interest) → 50 (great interest) → 70 (lover) → 100 (spouse), and -30 (dislike) → -50 (hate) → -70 (hostility) → -100 ( abhorrence)

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Hint: The alignment of reliability and favorability is very important. If it suddenly decreases rapidly and enters a negative phase, you should become wary of a sudden betrayal. Prepare yourself or be caught unawares.

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