WOSE Chapter 27

Deep night, so dark that not even the presence of people could be felt.

A woman who had gotten off work earlier than usual crossed the pitch blackness with quick steps.

Late night and early leave—it sounded contradictory, but it wasn't wrong since she usually came to work when night arrived and left when night was ending.

The woman let down her ash-gray hair that had been tied so tightly her scalp ached.

She wanted to change out of her clothes that seemed permeated with the smell of alcohol and food, but there was no time.

She proceeded from a street with few people toward an increasingly pitch-black and quiet direction.

The woman, who had finally reached the meeting place, checked the small scrap of paper in her hand over and over.

"Is this the right place?"

Perhaps because it had rained until just before, it felt even more gloomy.

On top of that, it wasn't far from where the 'darkness' was, which made her even more nervous.

She wanted to immediately return to her shabby but comfortable home, put her swollen legs up on a pillow, and rest deeply, but she couldn't.

From the moment she'd received this note, she'd been waiting only for this time.

Not only could she meet that person she admired in person, but it might be her only chance to perhaps turn her life around.

Until now, her life had been closer to enduring than living.

When her mother, who had been the head of the household, became unable to do blacksmithing work due to illness, all responsibility naturally fell to her. But despite being born a dwarf, she had little interest in making weapons. So despite her family's urging to learn blacksmithing, she worked refining crafts during the day and serving at an inn at night to earn money for her mother's medicine.

Days so hard that sometimes she wanted to just pass out, unable to sleep deeply or rest.

Still, she always tried to pretend to be fine, to seem all right, to look happy, but the truth was she was extremely exhausted.

How long could she hold out? Enough to have such worries.

'But if I follow this proposal, the worries and concerns will end.'

Perhaps she could finally achieve the dream she hadn't even dared attempt.

A precious dream she couldn't quite abandon even while carrying plates for a living. That was to travel all nine worlds and become an advisor who could stand proudly beside Lord Darun, who would become the next clan leader in the future.

'Thank you for always treating people kindly. Thanks to you, guests will be able to remember this Smidrhame fondly.'

For that person who had noticed her efforts—as unnoticeable and unremarkable as weeds, yet tenacious—she felt she could overcome any hardship.

'Of course, for someone like me to be helpful to Lord Darun, I'll need to work even harder from now on.'

Then, in the distance, she saw someone holding a light. The woman, spotting the familiar face, raised her hand high.

The moment she cheerfully greeted them—

Thwack!

With dizzying pain, the woman's body collapsed to the ground.

"Huk!"

Iyu, who had once again had a nightmare, snapped her eyes open. Unlike usual, it wasn't a review of past events. It was a very strange dream of being attacked by someone.

Unable to shake off the unsettled feeling, she ultimately couldn't fall back asleep and sat up.

Fortunately, Eila and Tamia were sleeping soundly with their foreheads touching.

She carefully got down from the bed, meticulously covered the two children with blankets, then left the room.

Perhaps because the territory was close to the desert, this place became chillingly cool enough to raise goosebumps on the skin once the sun set. Iyu tightly fastened the coat she'd thrown on and walked the silent corridor.

Planning to at least get some air, she went outside the building entirely and continued a light walk.

Even at this dark hour when 'day' hadn't arrived, quite a few people were awake. Especially near the back gate, cooks were busily carrying ingredients to the warehouse connected to the kitchen.

There were many priests offering dawn prayers, so breakfast preparations were correspondingly early.

When she lingered around the carts wondering if she could get even one piece of fruit, one cook who recognized her approached.

"Savior? It's not even daybreak yet—what brings you all the way here?"

"You're working hard from such an early hour."

"For us it's habit now. Is there something you need?"

'Was my ulterior motive that obvious?'

Iyu smiled awkwardly and looked around inside the cart. The bright green vegetables and glossy fruits looked extremely fresh, as if just picked.

"All the ingredients look very fresh."

"Don't they? Even though it's troublesome, we make a point of getting freshly harvested ingredients every morning."

"At such an early hour?"

"A dawn market opens below the temple."

"Really?"

It was extremely tempting news.

When the Savior showed visible interest, the cook kindly told her the dawn market's location and even the name of the vegetable vendor he dealt with.

'A dawn market—I'm a bit curious?'

With her interest stolen elsewhere, Iyu didn't disturb them further and vacated the spot.

'It doesn't seem far, so should I buy some snacks to feed the children when they wake up?'

She was seriously considering it while walking when she spotted platinum hair that shone like moonlight even against the pitch-black background, and a familiar broad back. It was Odynne.

Iyu reflexively lowered her head and quickly scanned her own appearance for inspection. Only after confirming there were no particular problems did she approach behind him, killing the sound of her footsteps.

She didn't particularly intend to startle him, but it wouldn't be so bad to see a flustered expression either. However, before her fingers could even touch his back, Odynne whipped around.

"Lady Iyu."

Today too, without a single speck of disorder, he called her name plainly. As always, on that handsome face was neither surprise nor fluster.

Deflated, Iyu opened her mouth weakly.

"Are you all right?"

It was half courtesy, half sincerity—but he widened his eyes as if he'd never heard such a question in his life.

"You got soaked in the rain yesterday."

'More because of me.'

Iyu subtly swallowed the rest. Yesterday, he'd gotten more thoroughly soaked than anyone else because he'd offered an arm to keep her from falling on the rainy path.

Moreover, he'd seemed not to care about his own condition while settling the children.

When she examined him thoroughly with her eyes, Odynne, having erased his agitation like magic, answered flatly.

"Celestials rarely fall ill. That seems more like a question I should be asking you."

"I'm fine, as you can see."

She spread both arms to appeal her health, but his reaction seemed closer to doubt than relief.

It didn't seem very convincing. Iyu cleared her throat with a ahem and subtly changed the subject.

"Where are you headed? Dawn prayers?"

Odynne nodded.

'He did say yesterday that he'd been to the temple before daybreak, but...'

The more she knew, the more he remained an unknown entity. Inwardly shocked, Iyu naturally walked beside him and poured out questions she'd long harbored.

"Do you have to do dawn prayers every day?"

"The time isn't fixed, but celestials usually have prayer time about twice a day."

"You seem to mainly pray at dawn... Don't you get tired waking up this early every day?"

"Celestials require short sleep periods for recovery."

"Still, there could be days you want to rest. Don't you have days like that, Odynne?"

"Celestials typically obtain joy and stability from the act of greeting the divine."

"Wait."

She suddenly stopped the Q&A that had been proceeding quite earnestly. It was because she hadn't liked the answers from earlier.

"What I'm asking about isn't celestials—it's you, Odynne."

He stopped in place, looking dazed, as if only now recognizing himself as a singular entity.

"Are you satisfied with this life?"

"I..."

The subject changed for the first time. He clumsily referred to himself, then closed his mouth.

Just asking about his own feelings, his opinions—a truly trivial question. Yet the silence stretched long as if he'd received a difficult problem.

She'd thought he was just an extremely devout person. The wrinkle-free clothes, the always-straight posture, the buttons fastened to the neck, even the prayers—could all of it simply be something like inertia?

Instead of rashly pressing him or withdrawing the question, Iyu silently tilted her head back.

Whether enough time had passed for day and night to swap, the sky was rapidly brightening.

There was no spectacle of the sun rising crimson, but this brief moment when the white curtain draped like a heat haze was magnificent.

While watching the dark night shift to day like spreading paint, a low voice reached her ears.

"...I don't know."

For an answer finally forced out after long silence, it was quite deflating.

Iyu slowly lowered her head and stared at the man now submerged in light. Eyes like the revealed sun repeatedly darkened and brightened in the shadow of his long eyelashes.

Between those changes, the emotion faintly surfacing resembled confusion. Iyu, recognizing it, parted her lips.

"I know why you can't give an answer."

"What is the reason?"

"You have no basis for comparison. People who've been alone their whole lives don't know loneliness either."

Like she herself once had.

Swallowing the rest, she firmly grasped his sleeve between thumb and forefinger.

A good idea had just occurred to her.

"In that sense, how about trying a different kind of life today? The bad kind."

Iyu pulled her lips into a dangerous smile.