Not a barbarian warrior.

The first place Daisy guided them to was her house.

“This is our house.”

Pointing to a modest building made of stone and wood, Daisy opened the door and went in. Eugene followed her footsteps.

Inside, a cozy interior unfolded, except for the slightly low ceiling.

A man lying in bed covered with a blanket in the corner looked at Eugene and Daisy. It was Daisy’s father.

His complexion didn’t look as bad as Eugene had thought. He was even conscious, with his eyes open.

However, it was clearly the face of a father who couldn’t sleep due to worry and anger about his daughter.

Eugene bent slightly and whispered quietly to Daisy.

“I heard he was badly injured, wasn’t he unable to get up?”

“That’s right. Even now, with a guest here, he’s lying down like that.”

“If I’m not mistaken, his eyes are open right now.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Literally, he can’t get up. His leg is broken. He has to stay in bed for a while.”

“Ah.”

The father, who had been looking at his daughter, let out a big sigh.

After not coming home all night, she suddenly brings ‘such’ a guest.

He spoke in a tired voice.

“Daisy, where on earth have you been wandering around to come back only now… Do you know how worried this father was? And who is that barbarian… no, guest next to you?”

In response to her father’s question, Daisy pulled out a handful of herbs from the bag she was carrying over her shoulder with a confident face.

It was an herb called comfrey that she had barely managed to find in the forest yesterday.

She said with a grin:

“I was out gathering these in the forest. And this person isn’t a barbarian, he’s Eugene. He’s also the benefactor who saved my life.”

“The benefactor who saved your life…? What on earth happened?”

Her father looked back and forth between Eugene and his daughter with wide eyes.

Daisy tried her best to vividly describe the incredible events she had experienced.

“While gathering herbs, I encountered three terrifying wolves. They were so huge that at first, I didn’t even think they were wolves! Anyway, I fled out of the forest on the pack animal, but the wolves kept chasing after me! I thought, ‘Oh, I’m really going to die now!’ But then Eugene appeared and dispatched the wolves in the blink of an eye. It was so amazing…”

After listening to the whole story, her father smiled brightly and opened his arms.

“You’ve been through a lot, my daughter! Risking your life to gather herbs for your injured father! I’m so proud of you! Come here!”

“Father!”

As Daisy innocently fell into her father’s embrace, her father’s face changed to one of fury as if nothing had happened.

He skillfully restrained Daisy even with his injured leg.

“F-Father?”

He mercilessly spanked his thoughtless and fearless daughter.

Every time he swung his hand, there was a smacking sound as if beating laundry.

“You rascal! How dare you! Going outside the village recklessly! What? Chased by wolves? What if you had died out there gathering herbs! Do you know how worried this father was! I can’t live because of you! I can’t live!”

“Aaah! Father…! Eugene, don’t just watch, help me!”

Eugene turned his head away, unable to watch such a touching reunion between father and daughter.

The emotional reunion continued until Daisy’s bottom turned bright red.

After a while, her father finished disciplining his daughter and let her go, then called Eugene who was standing far away.

“Eugene, was it? I heard you’re the benefactor who saved my daughter. I’m sincerely grateful. She’s my only family and daughter, I don’t know how to repay this debt.”

Eugene said to him as he sincerely expressed his gratitude:

“It’s nothing. It wasn’t a big trouble, so please don’t worry about it too much. Ah, by the way, could I get some salt? I need to salt the wolf meat and hide before they spoil. I’ll pay for it.”

“I won’t take your money. If it’s not enough, we can borrow from next door, so don’t worry and use as much as you need.”

“Thank you.”

As their conversation ended, Daisy took Eugene to a room. She said while rubbing her bottom:

“Since salting will take some time, we should apply the herbs first. Your arm is injured. The herbs I gathered should help.”

“It’s okay. I have something else to use. Use that comfrey for your father.”

Eugene took out a small wooden bottle from his bosom.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a first-aid medicine made from St. John’s wort and honeysuckle. There’s nothing better for preventing wounds from getting worse.”

“Ah, shall I apply it for you then?”

“I can do it myself. You should go to your father now. Go apply the herbs for him. And apologize too.”

“Okay. I’ll be back later.”

As Daisy left, Eugene carefully took off his clothes so as not to irritate the wound.

He pulled out the stopper stuck in the bottle’s mouth, tapped the bottom of the bottle, and white powder fell onto the wound.

Enduring the momentary sting, he finished by wrapping a clean cloth around his arm.

‘Come to think of it, my clothes must be torn too.’

Eugene picked up the clothes he had taken off and examined the bloodstained area.

The torn parts of the robe and tunic seemed to need stitching.

‘Where did I put the thread and needle…’

Eugene rummaged through his backpack for a while before finding them.

He skillfully threaded the needle and mended the clothes stitch by stitch.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have worn the gambeson even if it was hot. Then I wouldn’t have injured my arm.’

Thinking this, Eugene finished mending the tunic and moved on to sewing the robe.

Just as he was about to finish the repairs, Daisy wobbled into the room. She put down a large jar on the floor.

“I brought salt! I thought it might not be enough, so I borrowed some from next door, that’s why I’m a bit late.”

Seeing Eugene holding a needle, she said with surprise:

“Are you mending your torn clothes? You know how to sew?”

“I can do this much. And I’m almost done.”

Daisy picked up the already mended tunic and examined it carefully. Seeing how the torn part was sturdy and well-mended, she said with a surprised face:

“My goodness, I think you’re better at this than me! Why are you so skilled?”

Eugene continued sewing the robe and said as if it was nothing:

“I’ve done it a lot. My clothes get torn so often. It’s a waste of money to have them mended every time. So I learned to do it myself and got better at it.”

“Ah…”

Daisy thought for a moment. If his clothes got torn often… doesn’t that mean he’s been injured many times?

She quietly turned her eyes to examine Eugene’s body. Scars covered his muscular skin here and there.

The large and small marks allowed her to gauge how much pain he had endured.

How much must it have hurt?

Among them, there must be wounds from fighting monsters and beasts, and wounds from being mistaken for a barbarian like earlier.

Poor, pitiful person.

As her thoughts reached this point, tears welled up in her eyes and soon streamed down her cheeks.

For a girl in her sensitive adolescence, it was that shocking of a stimulus.

Eugene only noticed that Daisy was crying silently after he finished mending the robe.

He was just bewildered, unable to understand why.

“Why, why are you crying? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“It’s just… I feel sorry for you, Eugene.”

Daisy suddenly hugged him tightly. Eugene had to struggle to comfort her without knowing why.

The town hall in this small village was just a slightly larger building made of logs.

Inside the hall, the elders were continuing their conversation with serious faces.

“We’ve run out of grass to feed the livestock now. Feeding pigs with leftover food scraps is one thing, but at this rate, we’ll end up giving them food meant for people.”

“We can’t keep putting children on guard duty on the palisade forever. If a band of thieves were to come, it would be a disaster… Sigh…”

“The merchant who visits regularly will be here soon, but at this rate, we won’t be able to trade and will have to send him back empty-handed.”

“Instead of just sitting here, wouldn’t it be better to write a letter to the treasurer and ask him to send soldiers?”

“That won’t work. To get that lazy fellow to ask the lord to bring soldiers, we’d have to uproot the village pillars and offer them.”

“Then what are we supposed to do…”

“What else… We can only wait for an adventurer or hunter who can catch the monster to come…”

“When exactly are those people supposed to come?”

“Haa… They must be asking around not only in the neighboring village but all the surrounding villages, so it shouldn’t take more than a week, right?”

“How are we supposed to wait until then…”

“Well, do we have any other choice? It’s not like I’m enjoying this situation…”

“Aigh…”

Their conclusion was not much different from yesterday. They could only quietly wait for someone to come and catch the monster.

However, everyone here knew that this aimless waiting was slowly reaching its limit.

As the atmosphere became gloomy, everyone fell silent. The elders could only sigh.

Just when it seemed today’s meeting would end like this, someone came looking for them.

As a large man wearing a robe entered the hall, opening the door, the elders jumped up from their seats.

They could intuitively tell that he was the person who would save this village. It was thanks to the insight gained from years of experience.

“Why are you here only now! Do you know how long we’ve been waiting! No, thank you for coming even now! Thank you! Come, sit here!”

Eugene naturally sat down in a chair, guided by the elders.

Daisy, who was beside him, was surprised and bewildered, having never thought the elders would welcome Eugene this much.

No one was surprised even when Eugene naturally took off his robe and revealed his face. It didn’t matter who it was as long as they could catch that monster.

One of the elders, the oldest among them, stepped forward as a representative and spoke to Eugene.

“We don’t know what fate has brought us to meet like this, but thank you for coming all the way here from the Northern Continent. Please kill the monster that’s tormenting this village.”

“…You may be disappointed, but I’m not from the Northern Continent. However, it’s true that I came here to catch the monster.”

“…?”

Saying he wasn’t, with a face that left no doubt he was a barbarian warrior, the elder’s head tilted involuntarily. But how important was that anyway? What mattered was that he came to catch the monster.

Eugene seemed to think the same, as he immediately got to the point.

“It’s a monster called a lurehorn. I’ve caught one before. If I prepare sufficiently, I can kill it alone, so you don’t need to worry about that part.”

“That’s a relief then. Because of that devilish creature, we’ve been cooped up here, suffering no end of worry. Just bring us its head. We’ll give you twenty silver coins for it.”

This was the crucial point. Eugene shook his head and said:

“Twenty silver coins is not enough as a bounty for that monster’s head. I need to receive at least thirty coins.”

“…Are you saying thirty coins in silver?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm…”

Eugene spoke politely to the hesitating elder:

“I have no intention of negotiating further on this. The creature is more dangerous than you think, and if it’s a fully grown adult, I should receive more than thirty silver coins… but knowing the situation this village is in, I won’t ask for more even if the monster turns out to be an adult. This is the maximum goodwill I can show. If you’re not willing to pay, I’ll leave the village.”

“I understand. Could you step outside for a moment? We need some time to discuss this with everyone.”

As Eugene left the village hall, heated discussions could be heard from inside.

And after a while, the elder who called Eugene back extended his hand to him.

“We’ll be counting on you.”

It meant they would pay thirty silver coins.

Eugene grasped the elder’s hand and replied with a confident face:

“I’ll bring you the monster’s head as quickly as possible.”