Chapter 259
Usually in such cases, two options existed.
1. Confront. But to use force, Aphoom-Zhah's presence was essential.
2. Run. But if he ran from here now, he didn't know how the people outside would react.
The two options were fiercely competing in his head.
Meanwhile, he was even more scared because he didn't know what Yurik was thinking.
He wished something like an expression analyzer existed in this era too. If he took a picture of that face, it would automatically interpret it like 'happiness 0.01%, anger 89.00%, surprise 10.00%.'
No. What was the point of thinking such things? What kind of coincidence was this?
What were the odds of him being sealed with Shub-Niggurath, then the ice breaking and him coming out, showing a nude show in front of strangers, and then meeting Yurik at the place he was dragged to?
Actually, wasn't this all part of Hastur's scheme when he thought about it?
He eventually gave up thinking and stood up, dusting off his knees. Yurik had said nothing until then. He seemed to be pondering how to cook him alive.
What should he do?
Thinking of Cellinne and Bailies who would be outside, he hesitated then had no choice but to look at Yurik.
"...Can I go?"
"Where?"
"Just anywhere..."
"Sit."
"Yes."
When he sat obediently on the floor again, Yurik pressed and rubbed his own forehead repeatedly.
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like he was trying to calm his anger even a little, so he thought about whether there was anything he could say.
Let him try a simulation. What if he just gave a simple greeting?
-Haha, hey. Have you been healthy? Sorry I couldn't contact you. We didn't end on good terms. But now you've calmed down a bit, right?
-Didn't end on good terms? Just die here.
...No, let him just not speak.
As he sat obediently feeling like landmines were densely laid in all directions,
Yurik, who had been silent for a while, finally took his hand off his forehead and spoke.
"Get out."
"Yes!"
Thank you! Thank you!
He sprang up and rushed out of the tent without looking back.
Cellinne, who had been standing outside, looked back at him bewildered, but he couldn't explain to her.
Rolling into Cellinne's tent almost tumbling, he pressed his pounding heart firmly.
Anyway, since Yurik told him to get out, it meant he was letting him off for now, right?
Good. Then as Cellinne had said, he should get help to go to the nearest village.
There he could gather some information about how the world was going.
He should also collect some rumors about Aphoom-Zhah and Eibon.
Please let things go peacefully like this.
He believed in Aphoom-Zhah! He believed in Hastur!
But making his fervent prayers meaningless,
A few minutes later, Cellinne, who came into the tent looking for him, had a somewhat dazed expression,
And delivered the news that he had been hired by Yurik.
"Hired? Hired?"
"That person doesn't usually hire people so easily, how strange. Anyway, it worked out well, right?"
"What worked out well?"
"Weren't you here to make money? These days the world is rough and it's hard to find work easily, you know?"
"That's not the problem...!"
Why was Yurik hiring him!
And why at a time like this!
Let him think again. Cellinne and Bailies were the 3rd Prince's people.
And Yurik was here.
The three principles of 'keep your eyes down, kneel, and shut up' that Bailies had mentioned were finally starting to make sense.
No matter how he looked at it, it was because of Yurik!
Since Yurik couldn't possibly become someone's closest aide, he couldn't assume he was a high-ranking person's representative either.
It was natural since he seemed like someone who would never imagine a situation where he 'served' someone.
No, why was such a big shot out here in the first place?
Could this area be an important place or something?
More than that, earlier he had looked at him like he wanted to kill him immediately,
But now what was his intention in wanting to hire him?
Seeing him clutching his head with all sorts of complicated thoughts, Cellinne screamed.
"The masterpiece I braided with all my heart and soul!"
"That's not important right now!"
"No, it is important! Very important! You're Adonis, so if you do that, your pretty appearance gets ruined!"
"My name is Yesung! Yu Yesung! Yu Yesung!"
"Oh my. That name is also unique and exotic, truly forest fairy Adonis."
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Absurdly, Cellinne's words were true.
He had been hired by Yurik as an 'odd-job worker.'
She seemed to think that Yurik couldn't just let go of him, a country boy who had been robbed by bandits,
So he had shown mercy.
Moreover, for reasons he didn't understand, both Cellinne and Bailies considered him a subordinate.
Even though he was clearly at least 800 million years older than them.
But he couldn't voice such unrealistic complaints.
Thus he became an errand boy for Yurik's group.
"No, even if you're a worker, we won't make you do difficult work. Really. If Bailies acts rough, tell big sister right away."
"Why are you picking on me there, woman?"
"Is there anyone else here with a bad personality besides you?"
"You're talking nonsense again."
Four people sat huddled around the edge of the campfire.
Him, Evana, Cellinne, and Bailies.
Cellinne had arranged a meeting for him to get acquainted after his employment was semi-forcibly decided.
He sat glumly and raised his hand to ask a question.
"But what do you all do? Yu, I mean, who is that person?"
Cellinne and Bailies immediately shut their mouths and glanced at Evana.
Evana began explaining matter-of-factly without any change in expression.
"That person is a rich young master. You can just call him 'Young Master' too. You don't need to know his name. We'll say we're bodyguards who followed him."
So that was the setting.
When he nodded, Evana spoke kindly without smiling and extended her hand.
"My name is Evana. No surname. I'm the physician in charge of the Young Master's health management, so tell me if you have any ailments too."
"I'm Yesung. Please take care of me."
After they shook hands, Cellinne immediately grabbed his hand and smiled brightly.
"I mentioned it earlier, but let me introduce myself formally. I'm Cellinne, serving as the Young Master's conversation partner and dancer. For now."
"For now?"
"Never mind that, let's get along well, okay? Ah, my beautiful Adonis... I'm so glad you were hired."
Looking at Cellinne who was even shedding tears, he turned his gaze to Evana, who was shaking her head.
This was probably Cellinne's characteristic.
"Y-yes. Please take care of me."
"And this is Bailies. He's blunt and has a nasty temper, so you don't need to shake hands."
"Who's going to? Both of you don't talk to me."
He was mending the cloak that Cellinne had torn.
Somehow he thought he could understand his temperament.
Looking at him with pitying eyes, he suddenly became curious and asked.
"Aren't there other people?"
"Other people?"
"There are three big tents."
"Adonis, even your perceptiveness is beautiful... Of course there are other people. There are Walter and Dardin, but both are away right now."
"I see. When will they return?"
"Who knows? If early, they'll be back tomorrow. Dardin is like the Young Master's secretary, and Walter is in charge of security with Bailies."
Roughly summarizing, it meant six people including Yurik, and seven including himself.
It wasn't large, but it couldn't be ignored either.
Moreover, if seven adults gathered, the scale would become even bigger.
Then the scale of these tents made sense too.
When he nodded and repeated the names several times in his mouth, Evana spoke leisurely.
"You don't need to memorize names so urgently. You don't need to be too nervous. Our policy is that we do what we can ourselves."
"Really?"
"The Young Master does that sometimes too. So we're quite idle."
"Then what should I do?"
"Well, you could help with water procurement. Lighting fires, or helping pack luggage would be fine."
Just for such work?
It didn't seem like they needed to hire an additional person.
Yurik must have insisted and decided on his employment.
When he roughly stuffed the situation into his head and nodded,
Evana stood up with a faint smile.
"Dardin will tell you the detailed working conditions when he returns."
A small hand patted his head a couple of times and turned away.
Complete child treatment. How absurd.
*
Actually, there wasn't much for him to do.
After roughly chatting, lunchtime approached,
But Bailies, who was originally in charge of meals, told him to get lost because he was a nuisance.
So he couldn't do anything except fetch water from the nearby stream.
After about half an hour,
White stew bubbled in a pot hanging over the newly lit campfire, giving off an amazing smell.
Thanks to that smell, Cellinne and Evana slipped out of the tent and sat by the fire, looking into the pot.
"Doesn't it smell amazing, Evana? The only thing worth tolerating about what Bailies does is stew cooking."
"Don't eat it, woman."
"I'll chew thoroughly and eat two bowls."
"Both of you stop fighting. There's a child here, what are you doing?"
That child probably wasn't referring to him.
It was quite refreshing to be treated like a child after only receiving respect for elders.
As the four of them waited for the stew to cook,
Yurik came out of the innermost tent.
Yurik naturally sat on a wooden block used as a chair.
Everyone naturally greeted him as if they had some familiarity with Yurik and continued everyday conversation.
Only he was frozen by the sudden appearance.
While only he couldn't adapt and was glancing at Yurik,
The stew was completed and plates were distributed to everyone.
When his turn came, before he could say anything, Cellinne snatched his plate away.
"Our Adonis is pretty now, but if he becomes healthy, he'll be even prettier, so eat a lot?"
Cellinne, who served him twice as much as others, spoke with a sparkling face.
Moreover, three pieces of bread were served with the plate.
Seeing that Bailies received two pieces of bread, this seemed to be Cellinne's favoritism.
Normally he would have reacted happily, but he couldn't do that now.
Because naturally he couldn't eat food.
If it were soup, he might not know, but this was thick stew.
Especially since Cellinne had scraped the bottom of the pot and loaded it with plenty of meat and vegetables.
Should he steel himself to eat and later hide and vomit,
Or should he refuse now and shock Cellinne?
After pondering, he eventually picked up the spoon.
If he refused when someone had kindly shown goodwill, it might create an uncomfortable relationship.
Today he would just eat and vomit.
Later there would be an opportunity to separately ask for smaller meals.
It was the moment he was taking his first spoonful.
A white hand suddenly reached in and picked up a piece of bread that had been on the edge of the plate.
"Huh?"
Yurik distributed his bread to Evana, Cellinne, and Bailies one piece each,
Then poured all of his stew back into the pot.
Cellinne was holding the ladle and blankly watching the scene.
No, it wasn't just Cellinne.
At Yurik's sudden action, even Evana and Bailies stopped eating and were watching.
Yurik, who had completely emptied his plate, put the dirty plate down on the ground and said.
"What meal for an odd-job worker?"
...With that one sentence, the campsite atmosphere turned cold.