TRHK Chapter 4

For a long time now, caring for my mother had made me tolerably skilled in one thing: herbalism.

It was because the physicians who'd given up on her no longer set foot in our forest cabin.

I had read, and reread, the herbalism books my sister Dana brought me, hunting for any knowledge that might help her. The forest, at least, had never lacked for plants.

"So here they call this herb Aterin."

Right now I was cleaning the study of the Count's household while sneaking glances at a herbalism book. It wasn't the sort of thing nobles took much interest in, evidently, since it had been shoved into the corner of a back shelf.

The herbs of my past life and this world had slightly different names, but their appearance and effects seemed almost identical. The problem was in the usage, but—

"Maylin! If you're done, get out here already!"

I flinched at the housekeeper's shout and hurried to the entrance.

"Dawdling! Get yourself to the Dowager Countess now! You said it yourself, out of your own mouth, you wanted to look after the old lady—you'd better not be changing your tune now."

The housekeeper seemed to think I'd simply had a whim. Her expression said she wouldn't stand for me going back on it, and she pointed toward the Dowager Countess's room. I went obediently in that direction.

"My lady. I've come. Did you sleep well?"

The Dowager Countess never answered, as always, but I knew by now that she wasn't ignoring me.

I was chattering on more than necessary while wiping her down and getting her to drink some water when someone opened the door and came in. A middle-aged man with a paunch, wearing a brown velvet vest.

"Who are you?"

Given his clothing, his manner toward me, and the fact that this was the Dowager Countess's room, there were only two people it could be. Count Coutner, or the steward.

But the steward, whom I'd crossed paths with a few times, didn't look like this. I stood up quickly and bowed my head.

"I'm Maylin, the maid who attends the Dowager Countess. My lord."

Something flickered in the Count's eyes when I gave my name.

"So you're that Maylin. Beautiful, certainly……"

That Maylin? I didn't know where he'd heard about me, but the way his gaze traveled up and down my body raised gooseflesh. Though that wasn't the only reason for it.

If things went as they had in the original story, this man and his wife would kill Maylin. All because she dreamed of marrying their son, Joel Coutner.

"W—wa—……."

The strange stillness left by the Count looking me over so relentlessly was broken by a sudden voice. Both of us—the Count and I—turned to stare at the Dowager Countess, startled.

"Water……."

The Dowager Countess was asking for water in a voice that sounded ready to break off entirely.

"Y—yes! One moment. My lady."

I brought the water glass to the Dowager Countess's lips where she sat in bed. Her thin lips moved in small motions, like a bird taking feed, drinking the water. The Count came closer and asked,

"Mother. Are you well? It's been so long since I've heard your voice—"

But what the Dowager Countess had said was all she had to say.

The Count tried speaking to her a few more times before giving up. Before leaving the room, he gave me an order.

"Continue looking after her well. If her condition improves, I'll give you gold coin as your reward."

If he was going to give me a reward, I'd rather he cut the servitude contract. Even as I thought that, my mouth spat out words like "Thank you." Because I wanted to live.

Once the Count had gone, a breath of relief escaped me on its own.

I looked back at the Dowager Countess. Her gaze, fixed on empty air, held nothing at all. Thinking back on it, though—she'd already had water once a little earlier, and it was strange that she'd gotten thirsty again so quickly, thirsty enough to force open her mouth with such difficulty. Had she perhaps been trying to help me?

"Thank you. My lady."

As always, no answer came back from the Dowager Countess.

"Huh—huh."

It was me heaving for breath now, not Seylon. Every step I took, my thighs felt like they were on fire.

"Why is my stamina, huh, so weak."

My face was exactly the same as it had been in my past life—truly, only the face was the same. The hair color, the stamina, everything else was different. What on earth had this body been doing when it belonged to a working maid—had she really been slacking off every day, the way the other maids said? Walking a bit too much and I could barely breathe.

"Ah, I really can't."

I sat down heavily on the ground. The owner of the cart, who'd made a strange face when I'd asked to be let off in the middle of the wasteland, might have already guessed I'd end up in a state like this.

"Still, just a little further……"

Crossing the territory's boundary was the first goal of today's outing. I needed to confirm, once, whether I really would start choking the moment I left the territory, because of the servitude contract.

If leaving Count Coutner's territory turned out to be no problem at all—then before long, I could escape for good.

With a grunt, I got back up and forced myself to start walking again. Just a little further from here, I'd been told, and I'd be in Baron Taeriton's territory.

Just then, the ground below my line of sight lit up bright. When I looked down, I found light circling my neck.

"What is th—agh!"

It felt like an invisible hand was strangling my throat. I clawed at my neck and thrashed against the slowly tightening pressure, but it was no use at all.

I have to go back!

The thought struck me suddenly and I ran back the way I'd come. Not long after, the force and the light choking my neck vanished like magic.

No—it really was magic.

"Hh—h……."

All of it was real. The servitude contract. Magic. The fact that this was the world inside a book.

I suppose, somewhere inside me, there had been a part hoping it wasn't so.

A fresh fear rose in me, the fear of someone dropped somewhere unfamiliar. It had already been nearly a month since I'd first opened my eyes in this world—it was strange, feeling this now.

I'd accomplished my goal of confirming the contract's effect, but I wasn't especially glad of it.

Once I'd steadied myself, I trudged back the way I'd come.

I walked a long while like that, and eventually a cart returning from a visit to a nearby territory found me and gave me a ride. The round-trip fare had already been paid. The driver dropped me off in town.

"Come ride with me again sometime, you hear!"

The boisterous driver disappeared. He made his living carrying goods from territory to territory, I'd been told; Hwirozen, Eifel's boyfriend, had introduced him. He'd turned out to be a great help.

I stood a while in the square, staring blankly at nothing. The aftereffects of being choked still seemed to linger. Magic, of all things…… So it really did exist.

"……."

I was about to head back to the castle, drained of strength, when I remembered the second goal of today's outing and turned my steps around instead.

With how badly I needed the red-haired knight's help, I couldn't just wait vaguely for us to become close. All the more so now that I'd confirmed this world was the one from the book.

Fortunately, it was still broad daylight, so I had some time to spare.

I passed through town and went into the forest. Even exhausted enough to collapse at any moment, the forest air, breathed for the first time in a while, was a welcome thing. Though when I'd actually lived in a forest, all I'd wanted was to leave it as fast as I could.

"Ah, there it is."

Even so close to town, this forest saw little foot traffic, it seemed, because I found the herb quickly. I dug it up with the small wooden trowel I'd brought and put it in my pouch.

But the herbs I most wanted to find were nowhere to be seen. If only I'd had more time. And, ideally, more stamina.

Unfamiliar world or not, I at least had the sense to know I needed to leave the forest before dark. Besides, something about this forest felt off. Too quiet, maybe? Past the outer edge, I couldn't even hear the sound of insects.

Just as I'd turned back, leaving my regret behind, I froze at the sight of some large shape ahead.

Not a person.

It was a monster with a build bigger than an ordinary man's and green skin. It held an axe in one hand, and unlike its muscular, human-like body, its face was close to a skull.

A monster.

I recognized immediately that it was the kind of thing I'd only ever seen in books. Magic, and now, right after, a monster. I wondered if this was some kind of payback for having failed to properly grasp, until now, that I was inside a book.

Grrrrrrrl.

A boiling sound leaked out as it bared its teeth at me. Just hearing it made my knees go weak.

I had to run. But could I turn my back? In my past life, when I'd crossed paths with a wild animal in the forest, I'd always avoided provoking it and backed away slowly before making my escape. The problem was whether the same held true for a monster.

I stepped backward slowly, on instinct. The monster kept up its low growl, watching me without moving.

Maybe I could survive this, I thought, feeling a flicker of hope—

"GRAAAAAAAH!"

The monster suddenly charged at me, swinging its axe. I gave up backing away any further, turned, and ran with everything I had.

THUHK!

The monster's axe buried itself in the tree I'd just passed. My spine went cold.

I'd only wanted to find a way to survive in the Count's household—I never imagined I'd end up crossing paths with a monster like this.

The Maylin of the original story died at the hands of the Count and his wife, not a monster. Which meant this situation was entirely my own fault for not being careful. I should have thought harder about why the herbs here had gone so completely untouched by human hands!

"Huh, ugh."

I was forcing myself to run for my life, but my body had already been exhausted before I ever entered this forest. Every time my legs gave out, the sound of the monster's breath chasing me seemed to draw closer, and gooseflesh rose on my skin.

Just as I thought I might really die here, I spotted a man standing alone in the distance, between the trees.

Red hair. A sword sheathed at his hip. But his hair was shorter than Seylon's, and he didn't wear it in a ponytail. Even through my vision, ruined and shaking from running, I recognized who he was at once. I screamed his name on instinct.

"Kahron!"

At the sound of his name, he looked in my direction. I couldn't make out his expression.

"Run! A monster—it's chasing me!"

Even at my desperate cry, the man didn't budge an inch. Had he not heard me? At this rate, he'd end up in danger too.

There were two red-haired knights. I still wasn't certain which one was the knight from the book, and if this Kahron wasn't the Sword Master, then something very bad had just happened. Besides, however strong a knight might be, that was still within the bounds of the human world—surely facing a monster like this was a different matter entirely?

I clenched my teeth and wrenched myself in a different direction. Fortunately, the monster didn't seem to have noticed the knight and kept close on my heels.

"Ah!"

Then my foot caught on a stone and I fell. The monster let out a great roar and lunged at me. The villagers, my mother, my sister, a life I hadn't yet had the chance to properly live. My whole life flashed through my mind in an instant.

……Right up until the monster's head came off.

THUMP!

The green head and body separated and hit the ground with a heavy sound. Green blood flowed from the monster instead of red.

The knight who had appeared behind the fallen monster flicked the green blood off his sword with a few short strokes. His expression went beyond unbothered—he looked, if anything, faintly bored.

Soon that dark red gaze met mine. Before I even realized it, I flinched, and he came slowly toward me.

He raised his sword, and I held my breath for a moment, but the smooth blade fell not to my throat but to my skirt. He scrubbed the green blood off his blade against my skirt, back and forth, like I was a rag.

"Did I give you leave to say my name?"