Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 24: The Hidden Village (2)
The old woman arranged several wooden boxes as seats on the house’s earthen floor, sat, and looked up at Elliot and Lloyd with pity.
“No matter how badly you want to go, it’s impossible.”
“What do you mean it’s impossible?”
When Elliot asked, the old woman gave him a confused look.
“‘Invited’ is only a figure of speech. It isn’t about a person asking you there; the village itself must invite you. I’ve heard some ancient magic was placed upon it.”
“Magic? A mage’s concealment spell, or perhaps a barrier?”
The old woman gave a wry smile.
“I’m sorry. I’m only a farmer’s wife, so I don’t know such details. I know nothing beyond old legends and stories, but I can tell you those if you like.”
“…Please do.”
More than anything, Elliot needed a clue. He restrained his emotions and waited.
“The village has no proper name, so people call it many things. Long ago, however, it was apparently known as the Village of Selfless Blessing.”
“Selfless blessing…?”
“Yes. Only those who possess a selfless blessing are said to be invited—people who put others before themselves and feel a powerful desire to do something for someone else or offer them help.”
The old woman pointed to farm tools propped in a corner.
“That hoe and plow were made for me in the village when I was young. I was desperate to raise my children then and thought of nothing but what was best for them. Now that my children and grandchildren have left, my own life takes all my attention, so I no longer have much connection to the village.”
She looked down at her wrinkled hands.
“Few people think nothing of themselves at all, of course. I suppose it depends on the balance and strength of their feelings.”
The old woman looked directly into Elliot’s eyes.
“There’s nothing wrong with caring about yourself. The village simply doesn’t invite people who can think only of themselves.”
Her tone was gentle, yet Elliot clenched his fists against an indignation nearly indistinguishable from self-loathing.
Hoofbeats sounded outside. A peddler’s wagon had stopped before the house.
“Hello, Granny. Could I have some water and some fodder? Also, I’ve got some tasty peaches in stock. Would you like some?”
“Oh my, that would be nice. I just got some guests over, so let’s have some.”
“I’ll give you a discount because I want everyone to enjoy them.”
While they spoke, the sun-browned peddler tethered his horse at the carriage stop, collected his goods, and joined them beneath the eaves.
“It was a big hit with the children in the nearby village. I can guarantee it tastes good.”
“A nearby village? Do you mean the Blacksmiths’ Village?”
“Yes, I am. I was there since yesterday, and now I’m on my way home.”
“Merchants can enter and leave the village too?”
The old woman laughed at Elliot’s question, faintly exasperated.
“What, do you think merchants can’t possess a selfless blessing? That’s hardly true.”
“Ah, I thought you looked unfamiliar. So that’s what you were discussing.”
The old woman nodded to the knowing peddler, then smiled at Elliot and Lloyd, deepening the wrinkles around her eyes.
“Yes, people occasionally come here searching for the village, just as you have.”
The group sat on wooden boxes arranged as makeshift seats and tables, and the old woman served peeled peaches and tea.
“You assumed merchants think only of their own profits, didn’t you? To be fair, many do. I don’t blame you for believing it.”
Unbothered, the peddler sipped his tea and continued.
“Even I can’t always enter. Yesterday, I happened to have an excellent supply of peaches and was thinking how pleased my customers would be when they bought them. That was how I found myself there.”
“More merchants than you might think care more about pleasing their customers and producers than about their own profit.”
Listening to them, Elliot questioned himself.
—When did I become someone who thinks only of himself without even noticing?
His lack of awareness frightened him. No wonder the village rejected him.
Beside the silent Elliot, Lloyd spoke.
“Hypothetically, could you lead us there?”
“No. Either I would also fail to enter, or we would become separated somehow and the uninvited person would be left behind.”
“I see. ……”
Lloyd’s shoulders fell. Abandoning that idea, Elliot asked another question.
“Then could you ask a blacksmith named Master Dolph to come out and meet us?”
“Oh, you came to see Old Man Dolph? That’s unfortunate…”
The peddler scratched his head, troubled.
“The old man left the village on a journey the day before yesterday.”
“…Where did he go?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. The village’s craftspeople travel from time to time, but they never say where they’re going.”
Elliot’s face went blank, as though darkness had been painted across his vision.
As the sun began to set, Elliot and Lloyd mounted their horses and started back toward the royal capital.
“We can’t enter, and now we learn he isn’t even there…”
Elliot gave no answer to Lloyd’s dejected words.
“…Still, a ‘selfless blessing’… Was it your father or mother who gave you that sword? Whoever it was must have cared for you dearly.”
Lloyd probably meant nothing by the remark, but Elliot couldn’t bring himself to admit that the giver was the wife he had so recently cast aside.
Though his mouth opened, no sound emerged.
—I can’t even remember Flora’s face at the time…
He had been so concerned with finishing the bothersome matter that he had seen nothing. He hadn’t even tried to look.
As the horse carried him onward, the emotions collecting in his stomach grew so heavy that he could scarcely breathe.