24 Hearts

[Saturday is approaching…]

17====================

To live in this world.

I had all of Gentia’s information before me: Her stats, skills, and characteristics. More than that, the information I really desired to see was clearly marked: Her favorability and reliability. I wasn’t nervous, yet the moment that the status screen appeared before me, it had felt like all of the energy had been sucked from my body due to pure joy.

‘Haha… Hahaha,’ a spirited laugh flowed from my lips. Gentia’s status screen lay before me!

It was real! And it was fun. It now felt as if I had truly entered my game. In this world, you become an adult at 15. My body at present was that of the 11-year old Judah, which meant I still had four years left. I had to use that time to learn more and more and train as much as I can so that I could prepare myself to recover Pernen’s fragments from wherever they might be in this harsh world.

It’ll be impossible to do this alone.

I knew that if I had obtained one of Lord Pernen’s fragments, -Russen Ardahan-, a golem, an autonomous construct, that I would be less desperate to gain the aid of companions like Gentia.

I looked at her status screen again.

──────────────────────

「Status Window」

[Name: Gentia]

[Title: Tracker]

[True Name: None]

[Level: 49]

[Occupation: Mercenary (C)]

[Race: Suin _ Tiger]

[Strength: 63(B) / Potential B]

[Health: 69(B) / Potential B]

[Agility: 79(B) / Potential A]

[Magic: 50(C) / Potential B]

[Magic Resistance: 51(C) / Potential B]

[Knowledge: 49(C) / Potential C] ◀ Special

[Luck: 55(C) / Potential B] ◀ Special

[Favorability: 10 (normal)]

[Reliability: 30 (faith)]

「Talent 4/5」

[Primary Instinct]-Rank: B

[Dragon Tiger Squad]-Rank: B

[Hunter]-Rank: C

[Present form]-Rank: C

「Skill 5/5」

[Watermark]-Rank: B

[Spear]-Rank: C

[Mercenary-style left-handed dagger]-Rank: C

[Concealment]-Rank: B

[Surprise Attack]-Rank: C

──────────────────────

It was not difficult to distinguish between good and bad companions. I could check their characteristics and skills by looking at the status screen, but I could also see whether they possessed a true name or not.

True names are unlike titles, which are a type of bonus trait gained whenever you obtain certain achievements or reach a set level of fame.

At the outset, the difference between those possessing true names and those that lack them is not so great. It basically means that the true-name holders have a greater potential for their stats, as well as a high probability that they would gain an A-rank or higher in any of their characteristics or skills as they progress.

The probability still remained somewhat low, and there was not such a great difference in their stats.

Unfortunately, Gentia did not possess a real name. Her skills and characteristics were pretty basic and not highly ranked. Almost all of their potentials have already been reached, and her level points were pretty evenly distributed between her stats. She had achieved most of her potentials as they were capped quite low.

In other words, she wasn’t that powerful a companion. Still, I couldn’t just grab anyone and tell them to go on an adventure with me. This reality was not like a game, where you waltzed into an inn and left your current companions by switching them out for others through two clicks of a mouse.

No… This was not a matter that should be decided through haste.

It was far better to have a trusted person by your side than accept a traitor as your companion. I decided that I would consider these matters and make my conclusions four years from now when I could finally go out on adventures.

I sighed as I dispelled the status screen that floated before my eyes. I went to sit on the living-room sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling. There wasn’t even a pattern to follow on it, so I was totally bored. If you lounge about like that, you just feel awkward rather than sleepy.

Why am I here?

What should I do if my desire to return to Earth becomes less and less?

In fact, do I even have to go back? I’m sure that I can have enough fun and a joy-filled life here. And even if I go back and have a few precious moments of reuniting with my family and friends, I will still be facing employment difficulties, working hard just to make ends meet in that … place … wait, what?

At that moment, a great many thoughts had passed so swiftly through my mind. There was no need for me to get an Earth job. I had received my initial payment for selling the rights to my game, and that payment had been enormous. If you see the number on an ATM screen, there might not be enough space for it to show. It’s the kind of amount that can keep me fed for 10 years straight while I play around, and I would still be entitled to receive royalties.

Still, I had to wipe my computer’s hard drive as part of the deal.

I have to go back.

I stood up, somehow motivated by the need to return to all my useless things. I didn’t stretch after standing, fearing that I’d pull a muscle. I was quite hungry. I checked the time, and it was indeed time for lunch.

The mercenary guild isn’t so far from my house, so Gentia, if she hadn’t gotten stuck somewhere, should soon return. I needed to prepare a meal for the two of us. I headed into the kitchen and took out some meat that I had stored in the fridge. The flat and dense cut of meat was frozen. While I left it out to defrost, ingredients I needed. Once gathered, I started chopping and slicing and grinding and dicing.

All the foodstuffs in my cupboards and fridge, including the meat, had been purchased by Kaseun. He visits the market every two weeks, purchasing it all and bringing it to me. And every time he comes, he prepares his favorite dish: His beef stew.

That had continued for near-on four years, so naturally, I had learned how to make stew. I was making one now because I figured that it would certainly be a treat for Gentia. And I must say, for a young boy of twelve, I could prepare my meals quite skillfully.

It is an unusual sight, a young child wearing an apron and wielding a cleaver.

‘I’m here! Little boy?’

I heard Gentia call to me as she opened the door. I checked that my stew was boiling well and then headed into the living room, still wearing my apron. Gentia had begun carrying her possessions into the house from outside. She seemed to have many things, and I wanted to help her, but I had food on the stove.

‘What? What, are you cooking?’ Gentia asked as she looked at me in my apron. Her face then pinched up, showing a little admiration as her mouth formed into a silent ‘Oh.’

Gentia covered her mouth with one hand and quietly muttered, ‘It’s cute.’

I gave a wry smile. She had figured that I wouldn’t be able to hear her, but I did. Whether it was cute or not, I was only 11 years old. So when she called me cute, she only meant that I was cute.

‘Can I help?’ I asked Gentia.

‘Huh? Oh, no, no. Do what you have to do.’

I nodded. Even though I really did want to help, I had to finish cooking. My question had just been out of courtesy.

Gentia had brought along a man from the mercenary guild, and he helped her move all her luggage from the foyer to her room. All the while, I tended to my stew.

When the stew was done, I cut the baguette that had been bought into suitably sized slices and placed them in a bowl. While the stew had boiled, I had also cooked the rice in the stew’s steam. Now the vapor coming from the pot showed that the rice was done.

I already had bread on the table, so I wondered if there had actually been a need for rice. Still, I knew how delicious a beef stew was with a portion of rice, so I scooped it into a bowl.

When the table-setting had been done, I headed to Gentia’s room. Her unorganized possessions were either still packed or scattered about the room.

‘Let’s eat. You can fix this place later.’

‘Is that so? Then, where shall we be eating this dish, little one? Oh… the scent has driven me to the point of starvation … Whoo.’

Gentia was clearly excited, for the smell had drifted through the house and into her room, so she promptly followed me into the kitchen. Her eyes stretched as she took in the meal awaiting her on the table.

‘Huh? This is a Yorin stew, the favorite meal of the commander.’

‘I learned it from him because he often comes here and prepares it. Thanks to his example, and his shopping, I always have stew ingredients at the ready.’

‘Huh, it’s such a nostalgic meal, then.’

As she sat down, she mumbled that she couldn’t wait to taste it. She raised her spoon and said that she would eat well. And after her first bite, my cooking wad was greatly admired.

‘What, is it delicious? Is it really delicious?’

The stew’s flavor was just salty enough, and it went well with the rice and the mixed grains of the bread. I knew that there would be bread left, which could later be eaten separately with jam – or soup if I ran out of rice.

Gentia savored her meal, almost gulping it down, but I guessed that she was hungry. When I told her that she should tell if it wasn’t enough, she immediately demanded another bowl-full.

Luckily, I had a lot of stew. Our meal went fast. I had been used to eating food quickly on Earth, and that habit had not gone away when I entered this world.

In Gentia’s case, her life of being a mercenary for so many years meant that it was only natural for her to eat as fast as possible.

‘Wow, I ate really well. I haven’t eaten such delicious food for a long time. Whoo,’ Gentia said with a chuckle.

‘I’m glad it was to your taste,’ came my reply as I smiled.

As she watched me smile, her face suddenly became wracked by doubt.

‘Aren’t you scared of me?’

I was momentarily embarrassed by such an absurd question, but the answer popped into my head swifter than expected.

‘Not yet.’

‘Okay…?’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘Just because. There’s no other reason, just that you’re the first kid I meet that isn’t afraid of me from the start.’

Gentia smiled, her eyes looking like upturned half-moons. I looked at her dumbly and blushed. She reached over the table and gave my cheek a pinch, as people tend to do when a child is cute.

‘Now, should I do the dishes? I’ll help you.’

Gentia gathered her dishes up, and then mine. Later, I tried to help her unpack her luggage after the dishes were done, but she refused. She told me to rest while I can because once we started training, there would not be a single day for leisurely breaks. I hesitated as she said this, but when she insisted that it was okay, I headed to my room and took a break.

And that was how I, a human, came to live with a member of the Suin race.

Teacher and disciple, living together.

====================================

Fortunately, there are still many people who say that this is fun.

In fact, beyond the initial mythology, I was worried whether people would be interested in my own worldview.

Everyone seems to have similar tastes to me. Haha.

Oh, of course, thank you very much for the coupon. I am a snob. Hahaha! <ol> By the way, what is the main character’s physical age? His current physical age is 11 years. </ol> <ol> Doesn’t the age appear in the status window, or did you forget to include it? I tried to put in the age, but I took it out because it became annoying, as some temporal skips occurred at the beginning. Actually, it’s not that important. </ol>