Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

The owner lady walked steadily while carrying a basket weighing about a sack of cement on her left forearm.

Judging by her technique of striking with the carrot, she must have learned the mace.  

"Mom seems to like you."

"Doesn't it feel like she's taking in a beggar and raising him?"

"Hahaha, no way."

Sarah Ottomari, the owner's daughter. I didn't know, but the owner lady's name is Martha Ottomari. As we finished organizing the vegetables and sat down at the table to eat, Sarah sat across from me.

Of course, since I'm sitting in front of the desk, Sarah seems to just be keeping her seat.

With her deep brown hair, her round, lime-green eyes sparkled. She's the one who keeps making eye contact.

Surprisingly, she seemed to have already arrived this morning. I didn't know because I crawled in around 1 pm, washed up a bit, and went out right away.

"Sarah, have you had lunch?"

"Ah, not yet. May I dine with you?"

"Go ahead. I'm someone who's settled here anyway. You don't have to treat me like a guest."

"Hmm... I see..."

Listening to her, the repair of the firestone magic tool she had requested was finished, so she had to receive it herself since delivery would cost a lot.

Sarah, who came out from behind the desk and sat to my left, continued talking.

Firestone is a rock that gets insanely hot when you put mana into it, and they use it to heat the bathwater. So that's why the bath was lukewarm. I thought all the inns in this world just roughly used firewood.

"Calax is a labyrinth city. It's fine if you ride in a wagon with explorers... but it was dangerous on the way here, so I waited for a caravan."

"Caravan? What's that?"

Caravan.

What's commonly called a caravan in this world is like a train of merchant wagons going around the continent.

Merchants travel from town to town, buying local specialties and selling them in other cities. The biggest problem for those merchants is, of course, bandits and robbers. The bandits they encounter while moving between cities through forests or plains in wagons loaded with goods are no different from natural disasters.

If lucky, they'll just take the goods and money and leave it at that, but if unlucky, it was common to die or be sold into slavery.

Even if they hired mercenaries to protect themselves, it was expensive, and sometimes, the mercenaries would turn into robbers the moment they entered a dark forest and take their property.

So, merchants gathered together to increase their numbers and travel to cities in a long line.  

"Ah, so you waited for the caravan coming from that city to Calax."

"That's right. Mom went grocery shopping today because the caravan arrived and brought in a lot of goods."

It would be cheaper to buy directly from the caravan than from the market that resells them.

"By the way, is it okay if I ask you one thing I'm curious about?"

"Yes. As long as it's not my bank account password... No, I'll happily tell you if you want."  

"Bank account password…? I don't really know what you're talking about, but by any chance, those eyes. Have they been like that since you were born?"

"Ah, this?"

Unlike Lavi, Sarah kept making eye contact all day. No wonder she found it odd.

"These are cursed demon eyes. If you keep looking, your lifespan will decrease."  

"What!? Give me back my lifespan!"

"Just kidding, it's just... something incredible happened. They just changed yesterday."

"Oh my, really? Then were they both originally yellow?"

"No. Originally, they were both black. The yellow one changed."

"Huh, I see."

Sarah moved closer to my face, staring intently at my eyes.

I pulled my plate slightly to the right as her tied-up ponytail almost grazed my food.

"I like it."

"What do you mean?"

"The eye that changed. It's kind of... like a puppy's."

"Ack..."

As I choked while listening to her story, Sarah was startled and hurried into the kitchen to bring me a glass of water.

"Are, are you okay? You're coughing a lot..."

"Oh dear, something got stuck in my throat. I'm fine. It doesn't hurt."

"Eat slowly."

Her insight is remarkable. It's a bit different from a puppy, but since they're wolf eyes, it's roughly similar.

While I cleared my throat, Sarah brought her meal and sat beside me.

"I have a question, too. Why does the owner trust me so much that she can even leave the inn in my care?"

"I haven't asked yet. But I think I know."

"Why?"

I'm curious. In my eyes, the owner just seems to be a saint.

"Other explorers are rough. They have no respect for others! Even when I walk down the street... there are so many explorers who look down on people and hit on them. The men, I mean."

Certainly, if I were strong and capable... I'd want to approach a girl like Sarah.

Because she's noticeably pretty.

"Why not hit them?"

"Oh my, is that okay?"

"I swear on the owner's name that it's okay."

Baaak-

"Who are you to swear on my name."

"Ow, my head."

"Haha..."

The owner lady, who appeared out of nowhere, slapped my head with tremendous strength. It hurts even more this time, perhaps because it's a metal ladle.

"Hey, owner. You got soup on my head."

"What's a beggar being picky about. A ladle of soup is five copper coins. Be grateful, will you?"

"Goodness, really. It won't even come out to a ladle."  

After finishing the meal, I put down a copper coin engraved with the number 50 on the desk.

"What's this?"

"I still haven't fully paid you back, so I'm giving this after leaving some for myself."

"...Alright, go sleep like a log. You worked hard coming back."

"I'll stay for a bit. It's not polite to get up first while others are eating."

At those words, Sarah, next to me, looked at me with her cheeks full of meat. Can cheeks stretch that much without being a hamster?

"Politeness, my foot. It's not like I'm feeding you."

"Why, owner. Didn't you give me food because I'm polite?"

"Enough, you punk. If you have the energy to run your mouth, put the food waste in the barrel into the pit before you sleep."

"Whoa, I'm suddenly so tired. I should hurry and sleep."

I jokingly bantered and watched Sarah's meal beside her. Her bowl quickly emptied since she was focused on eating without a word.

She eats well. If she eats three meals a day like that, she shouldn't be this slim.

After Sarah finished eating, I poured the food waste from the barrel into the pit behind the inn, put in a few leaves, and closed the lid.

Those leaves are like peppermint leaves, and they eliminate the smell when food rots. Amazingly, it completely masks the stench.

"Ah! Good work... hey, what's your name.."

"Yoo Eon. Surname is Yoo, given name is Eon."

At my words, Sarah pouted her lips and turned her head sharply.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No. It's really my name. Where I lived, the surname came first, and the given name came after. Yoo Eon."

"Tsk, really? It sounds like a lie..."

"Why would I lie about my name? It's the truth. Don't you have a lie detector?"

Sarah, who looked at me with narrowed eyes beyond her turned head, nodded as if she had no choice.

"I got it. You said you just returned from the labyrinth? You must be tired."

"Well yes, I'll sleep a bit and wake up again in the evening."

"I'll wake you up. Go to sleep quickly."

"Much obliged. I'll get going."

* * * * *

"It's still..."

Even after sleeping like a rock and waking up in the evening, the eyeball is still the same. Well, what can you do? Anyway, I'm getting used to this half-color-blind vision after a day of activities.

But what is this?

"It's like wearing night vision goggles on one side..."

I heard canines have good night vision. Part of the dark 2nd-floor hallway looks bright.

Could this be considered bright...

"No, it's definitely bright."

Squeak-

I hear someone's footsteps on the old wooden stairs at the end of the hallway. Judging by how the floorboards aren't struggling, it's not the owner lady.

The footsteps are light, so it's probably Sarah. She must have brought a sunstone lamp to hang in the hallway. She came up to the 2nd floor holding a lamp in her left hand and a light wooden chair without a backrest in her right hand.

"Ah, you're awake? Oh my..."

"Sarah? What's wrong?"

"Your eyes.. to be exact, your left eye. It's glowing brightly even in the dark. It's kind of..."

"Ah."

That's a bit much, isn't it?

As Sarah hid the lamp in her hand behind her back, the rapid pupil dilation unique to beasts quickly led to dark adaptation. Seeing that, Sarah seemed startled and raised her hand to cover her mouth.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my..."

Sarah approached and looked at my eyes from side to side.

Is it that amazing? Well, I would be too.

"There's a... reason for this. It's not really something I can't say, but it's a long story, so I'll tell you later."

"Ah, yes... Then could you perhaps hang this lamp on that hook over there?"

"Sure."

Inside the lamp that feels like a small metal birdcage are randomly shaped broken pieces of stone. It's an ore called sunstone that absorbs sunlight when left in the sun during the day and glows brightly at night.

I took the lamp from Sarah's hand and hung it on the hook protruding from the hallway wall, then went down the stairs with Sarah.

"You're really tall. You don't even use a chair."

"That much is, well, yeah."

"Huh..."

I snatched the chair Sarah was holding. It's not particularly heavy, but I should carry it back.

I usually help with inn work in the evening. The owner said she would take me in and not charge me for about 2 weeks' worth of inn fees, but that didn't mean I cheerfully accepted it as my debt disappeared.

After all, the owner is practically my life savior. Even if I don't get paid, I helped with inn work in the evenings.

Like that, I spent a busy evening.

"Sarah. The work must be really tiring."

"Ah no, it's not."

"Your expression says it all."

"Th-that's not it..."

Sarah's expression doesn't look good. As expected, it must be hard to help with inn work after a month.

She's kind-hearted, so she doesn't say it's hard with her own mouth.

"Then why?"

"It's just... there are more female guests than before."

"Hmm, is that so? I wasn't here until now, so I wouldn't know."

Weird.