Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear

150 – The Paradox of the Wind

The festival continued to radiate heat.

The more that happened, the more people were looking for something to cool off.

Drinking glasses collide all over the place, and they soon break up.

While the bonfire and wooden cups reflected in the candlelight shone softly, the sound of beer being spit out could be heard from everywhere.

It was the same for our table, where the average decibel was lower than elsewhere.

Tak.

It was Priest Rien who put the glass down first.

A beer glass that was completely empty inside, and the foam slightly smeared around her brightly smiling mouth showed her satisfaction.

“It’s been a while since I drank alcohol!”

“I didn’t know the priest would like to drink so much, but if he had known it would be like this, he would have set up a place for us a long time ago.”

“Ahahahaha, I almost had a drink with you in the central part, but I missed it once so I never had a chance!”

In the middle of thinking about when that was.

One late night. I remembered the time when the priest was holding a bottle of wine.

“When you stayed at the Countess of Barrington’s villa?”

She nodded her head.

Then, with a bright smile, she ran her finger over her glass and added a word that sounded meaningful.

“To be exact, it was when the G-House mercenary entered my bedroom!”

“Excuse me, others may misunderstand you if you say that. Priest.”

I went in to catch the thief, but if I could shorten it that way, it would be nothing more than ‘a playboy who broke into the priestess’s room at night’.

“I will tell you, I do not misunderstand the actions of the mercenaries.”

The young lady, who had just put her mouth on the cup and removed it, opened her mouth.

“It must have been because of something.”

Yes. Something happened.

However, it was obvious that what she was thinking and what I was thinking of was very different.

“To be more precise, it was to catch the guy who broke into the priest’s room.”

“It’s true that something happened. Then, can you hear a more accurate story than that?”

At that curious tone, I made eye contact with Priest Rien and Prianian for a moment.

They just looked at me as usual.

A smile and a warm gaze.

In response to the tacit agreement contained in it, she opened her mouth after carefully selecting only the contents that could be revealed.

“It was when I was at the Barrington Manor. It was unusually dark that day, and it was dark again. It was time to go to the kitchen, walking down a hallway without even moonlight.”

“Why did you go to the kitchen at night?”

“After drinking, I went to clean up the car. Anyway, on the way back, a robber broke into the priest’s room.”

“So what did you do?”

From here on, both of them did not know each other well, so the gaze of the party was focused.

I recited very briefly what happened that day.

“I beat him with a teacup and knocked him down.”

“…Does that make sense?”

Young Ae asked as if it were ridiculous, but what could she do by lying about something like this?

“Oh, there was something else written.”

“Then yes-“

“I also used the apron I brought from the kitchen. I’m not some kind of monster, how could I have taken down a guy with a dagger with just a teacup?”

“…Ah.”

“Young lady, I don’t believe it either, but Mr. G-House doesn’t lie about things like that.”

“I don’t think it’s a lie. I’ve been watching the mercenary’s skills for a while. But I can’t help but wonder if that makes sense.”

“The G-House I know would have wanted the facts to be reduced, not exaggerated.”

Seeing that even Priest Rien, who had been quietly listening to her, nodded her head, he asked in a puzzled way.

“Excuse me, what kind of person am I in your perception?”

The answer came faster than I expected.

“Well, a walking joke?”

“Mercenary who is kind to others!”

“A different person. A mercenary.”

Listening to the different answers, I just nodded.

No matter what it was, it was a step forward rather than being treated as a pervert.

“Now then, ask the mercenary!”

Perhaps it was to lighten the mood, Priest Rien asked me.

“Mercenary, who was the strongest enemy you’ve ever faced!”

The answer came out instinctively before I even thought about it.

“The leader of the mercenary corps I was in.”

“You mean Hwar’an?”

At Priyanian’s question, I shook my head.

“It’s amazing that there are people that even mercenaries can’t win.”

“…Should I see him as a person?”

That was a serious question.

Should we consider that a person?

“Okay, another question then!”

Seeing my tired expression, the priest continued with another question, and thanks to that, his drinking party was ripe.

***

The two left for a while.

I felt that only the lady at the table was the man, and the priest who led the atmosphere had a bigger vacancy than I thought.

Everywhere was filled with the sound of high notes and musical instruments playing, but only silence lingered here.

The two things that should never be present at a drinking party are a snack killer and silence.

So, I have the duty to stop the young lady who silently murders the sweet and greasy Anju in front of me.

“Your young lady doesn’t seem to like alcohol.”

“I neither like it nor hate it. But if I had to share it, I’d say I don’t like it.”

Young lady answered with a slight smile.

“Someone said that alcohol has the medicinal effect of turning people into beasts.”

There was a little mischief in her purple eyes, quoting what I said earlier.

“There’s nothing good about drinking too much alcohol. Great choice.”

I shook my head and sipped the remaining beer in my glass.

“Drinking after hearing that. Do you want to become a beast?”

“Everyone has a moment when they want to go back to the old days of crawling on the ground on all fours. It’s like going a little too far.”

Then, for some reason, the young lady put the glass in front of her to her lips again and drank it down.

With that expression as if he was drinking poison, for some reason I wanted to hear his thoughts.

“How does it feel to go back in time?”

Instead of answering, the young lady cut the meat she had placed in front of her and put it in her mouth.

Gulp. After passing the piece of meat well marinated in her sauce, Young lady gave her impressions while slightly sticking out her scarlet tongue.

“Write…”

“There is a saying in my hometown that life is hard when alcohol tastes sweet. I hope that the alcohol you drink will continue to taste bitter.”

“Thank you. I hope the mercenary will also enjoy the bitter taste.”

“Thank you. The reality is bitter, but if you use the taste of alcohol, your life will be twice as hard.”

As she shook her head, the young lady burst into laughter.

“The mercenary must have been more fun when he was drunk.”

“I’m just grateful you didn’t tell me it’s a funny beast.”

“That’s too harsh.”

While we were talking like that, the young lady asked me.

“Anyway, what will the mercenary do after the request is over?”

“What is the purpose of a mercenary without a commission? Just find the next commission and follow the wind.”

“Follow the wind, I’ve heard it before, but it’s such a beautiful word.”

As he repeated those words, there was an unknown longing on his face.

“Young lady, do you like wind?”

“I like it.”

The young lady picked up the fruit in the corner and said. It was a ripe apricot.

“Because you can go anywhere. Isn’t it quite attractive to be able to hear all the stories and do anything if you want?”

After saying that, she looked up at the sky.

Before those brilliant eyes of hers became her star, I decided to rescue her from her firmament of her imagination.

“The wind won’t always be free.”

The young lady looked at me.

She borrowed her 6th level in Earth Science 1 and her 1st level in Korean, and recited to her the paradox of her wish.

“To affect everyone, you need to be close to everyone. So while the wind gives you freedom, you are not free because of your obligations.”

Then she gave her one word.

“Then you must be the wind.”

“Yes?”

I was momentarily speechless.

“You defeated the villain who tried to break into the woman’s bedroom with a single teacup, saved me from being captured by the assailant, saved the university, and saved the town.”

Young lady smiled and said.

“And yet the world is quiet, and you wander the world. So if you are not the wind, what is the wind?”

“I am a human. Lady.”

As she said that, she swallowed the words that almost came out in an instant.

‘How can an existence that cannot go anywhere be called wind?’

There was nothing good about thinking too deeply about other people’s jokes. Especially if the other person has blue blood.

That’s why I was just trying to drink a free beer.

“Come on.”

The young lady held out the apricots she picked up from the plate.

“I get upset when I drink alcohol.”

“Thank you.”

I can’t refuse what others give me, so I took a bite and took a bite.

It’s sweet, but the aftertaste is slightly sour, covering the bitterness left by the beer.

The young lady, who was watching that, cautiously opened her mouth.

“Just in case you didn’t know, I don’t mind if my travel itinerary is a bit longer.”

“But there are people who are waiting for you, Lady.”

At that question, she nodded her head.

“I guess.”

The young lady lowered her head slightly and let out her salivation.

Judging from the longing for freedom I was talking about earlier, it may be because I feel sorry for the end of this strange deviation approaching.

“Your family must be waiting for you.”

“…I will.”

My throat chokes on the sudden perfume.

Young lady, slightly darkened as if she remembered her family, raised her beer glass and said.

“My family will be waiting for you.”

The tone is as if you are going there because it is your home.

Seeing that, I held out my glass to the young lady who was about to drink beer.

“…I’ll try to get to Fedian Manor as slowly as possible, young lady.”

She stared blankly at the cup she held out,

Tak.

I bumped into a glass.

***

“I’m back, Mr. G-House.”

“We’re back!”

The two of them returned to their seats and pointed at the young lady who was sleeping.

“Mercenary, why is the young lady sleeping?”

At that question, I shook my head.

“Your young lady suddenly had a taste for beer.”

I couldn’t bear to say that I fell asleep after drinking that one cup.