Not a barbarian warrior.

When the secret that had never been discovered by anyone was exposed, Lorena couldn’t bring herself to lift her face.
It was revealed that a magician, who should be exploring all kinds of knowledge and wisdom, hidden mysteries and advanced magic, not only read erotic books but had even amassed a large collection of them.
Moreover, it was also exposed that she had been pretending to be sick for the past week, enjoying Eugene’s care while lounging in bed.
Not only was there a crack in the honor of being a magician, but her shame and embarrassment couldn’t be greater.
‘S-Still… At least the secret collection hidden under the bed wasn’t discovered… I g-guess that’s s-somewhat fortunate…’
As she tried to think positively somehow, Eugene smiled gently and dropped a bombshell.
“It would be quite troublesome if it became known that a magician named Lorena living in Carlisle has a large collection of obscene books in her mansion, wouldn’t it?”
Lorena was startled and looked at Eugene with teary eyes.
“…! B-But you clearly said last time that you wouldn’t blackmail me with rumors…”
“That’s different from this. Back then, I said I wouldn’t talk about what happened at the tavern.”
“N-No…! This absolutely cannot happen…!”
Eugene wanted to say ‘It can!’, but he held back. If he teased her any further, she seemed like she would really burst into tears.
“I’m joking. I won’t blackmail you, so you can stop whimpering now. In exchange, stop pretending to be sick from now on.”
“O-Okay.”
Eugene led Lorena, whose shoulders had slumped while letting out a small sigh of relief, out of the bedroom.
He sat with Lorena at the dining table and had a late breakfast together.
When Lorena made a very satisfied expression after emptying all the food without leaving anything, Eugene chuckled and said:
“Was it delicious?”
“Yes, yes… It was the twenty-third best meal I’ve ever had…”
Eugene tilted his head at the subtle ranking. Twenty-third wasn’t a bad rank, but it felt somewhat off. Was he feeling petty?
“…This twenty-third best meal ends today. From now on, take care of your own meals.”
“Ah…! Aah…”
As she expressed great disappointment, Eugene subtly requested her to re-rank it. However, she coldly insisted that twenty-third was correct and absolutely wouldn’t change it.
Eugene, putting aside his complex feelings, gradually moved on to the main point.
“…By the way, what are you going to do with the mandrake I brought?”
“Uh… Th-That can’t be used… I should say it lost its value because it screamed…”
“Then what happens to the request you gave me?”
“…”
As Lorena fell silent, Eugene felt uneasy.
‘It’s not my fault that the mandrake screamed, but will she readily admit this?’
She might demand compensation for the loss of the mandrake. For Eugene, who had questions about magic, Lorena was essentially in the superior position, so he would have to go along with most of her demands.
While Eugene was thinking about how to respond, she slowly opened her mouth.
“Um… It’s a bit awkward to say this suddenly, but it’s been bothering me…”
“…?”
“…L-Like before, I’d like it if you just called me by my name… Not ‘you’, but Lo-Lorena…”
“Ah.”
Eugene thought about when she meant by ‘before’. It was when he was trying to wake her up after she had lost consciousness from the mandrake. Come to think of it, he had been saying ‘you’ instead of her name except for that time.
“I’ll do so from now on, Lorena.”
At his ready agreement, she looked at Eugene with round eyes, then gathered courage to make one more suggestion. This time she stammered much more than before.
“A-And… You don’t have to speak so fo-formally… We seem to be si-similar in age… Wouldn’t it be o-okay to speak more ca-casually…?”
Eugene looked at her. Her shoulders were now hunched, and her eyes, which had been round, were now looking down.
He was grateful to her for making this suggestion. It felt like the distance between them had decreased a lot, perhaps due to taking care of her for a week.
“Alright, Lorena. Is this okay?”
When Eugene immediately switched to casual speech, the corners of Lorena’s mouth slightly lifted.
“Ah, that’s fine… Eugene…”
“…Lorena, aren’t you going to speak casually too?”
“I-I’m comfortable like this…”
“Hmm… Okay.”
After the two had redefined their distance like this, they returned to the main topic.
“Lorena. So what are you going to do about the mandrake request? You said the one I brought is useless now.”
“Umm… I’ll make the request once more… Ah, there are still mandrakes planted on the mountain, so please go and bring one.”
Lorena didn’t hold Eugene responsible for the mandrake at all. Rather, she said she would give additional compensation if he would go to the same mountain once more.
She gave the location of another hidden mandrake and earnestly implored:
“Th-This time, you must kill it before bringing it…! While it’s still buried in the soil, if you pierce the root with a sharp object, it will die.”
Eugene nodded and kept her words in mind.
After finishing the meal, he left Lorena’s mansion and headed towards the blacksmith district on the outskirts of the city.
When he visited the shop carrying his torn leather gauntlets and boots, the owner who had given him a discount before greeted him.
“Welcome! What brings you… No, how long has it been since you took these items and they’re already damaged? Let me see them.”
The owner carefully examined the gauntlets and boots, then said it was fortunate.
“Hmm, the iron plates inside and the rivets are fine. We just need to repair the outer leather.”
“How much will it cost…?”
“Not much. We’ll just sew up the torn parts or add new leather patches.”
“Won’t we need to replace the entire leather?”
“Of course, that would be better. But it’s too expensive. Anyway, even if the repaired parts tear again, the iron plates inside will protect you, so you don’t need to worry too much about durability.”
“Ah, I see.”
The owner asked Eugene, who was relieved, for thirty copper coins. As soon as he received the money, he started repairing Eugene’s armor right there.
“By the way, it’s torn all over. If it weren’t for the iron plates, your arms and legs would have been in tatters.”
“It was very sturdy indeed. Thanks to that, I wasn’t injured anywhere.”
“How on earth did it end up like this?”
“It happened while fighting goblins.”
“Goblins? Hmm…”
The owner thought while busily moving his arms.
‘Well… If all barbarian warriors were good at fighting, they would have conquered this land long ago…’
Unable to hide his pity, he said to Eugene:
“In my opinion, rather than good armor or weapons, shouldn’t you work on improving your skills first? If you struggle this much with just a few goblins, how will you make a living in the future? Don’t you think?”
“…”
Eugene didn’t bother to open his mouth and clarify that it wasn’t just a few, but over forty goblins.
In any case, since crossing swords with Marlon, he had been keenly aware of his lacking skills.
“…I’ve been thinking recently that I should learn swordsmanship, but I haven’t found a suitable place to learn yet.”
“Hmm, how about asking Sir Bernard for teaching? He might be able to solve your concerns. He’s an excellent person in both character and skill.”
“Where can I meet him?”
“The sir is staying at the swordsmanship guild in this city, giving teachings. Have you heard of the ‘Brotherhood of the Sword’?”
“I haven’t been in the city long, so I don’t know much.”
“I’ll tell you where it is later, so visit there sometime. Ah, of course, you’ll need to show proper sincerity to learn swordsmanship.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
Eugene bowed his head after receiving the carefully repaired armor and moved on.
Next, he had to repair his gambeson, which was on the verge of becoming rags. The owner quietly cheered on Eugene’s back as he moved busily, looking at him with pitying eyes.

The next day, Eugene got up early from his inn room and came down the stairs.
Seeing him fully armed, the waitress peeked out from the kitchen and spoke to him.
“Good morning! Ah, are you going to work?”
When Eugene nodded and answered, she asked him to wait a moment, went into the kitchen, and came out with something. It was a freshly baked pie, still steaming.
“…”
Although it smelled delicious enough to make his mouth water, Eugene’s complexion was turning pale.
She carefully wrapped the pie and kindly put it in the backpack he was wearing.
“Eat it later when you’re hungry. This time it will definitely be delicious!”
“Uh… Um… I’ll eat it well.”
Eugene couldn’t bring himself to say to her face, ‘I’d rather starve to death than eat this trash.’
Her eyes were too bright and hopeful to say such a cruel thing…
He left the city entrance and headed towards the mountain, seeing her off.
Finding the path he had been on before, he was able to climb the mountain faster and more smoothly than before.
Since traces of the path he had made through the thick undergrowth and trees still remained, he didn’t have to waste energy swinging his sword unnecessarily.
Thus, the journey was progressing smoothly.
After moving for a while into a deep area where light didn’t properly penetrate, Eugene felt something strange.
It was a completely different feeling from when he had encountered goblins last time. It wasn’t a chill on the back of his neck, but a sense of déjà vu.
‘Didn’t I pass through here earlier?’
Eugene left a mark nearby, just in case. Then he moved carefully, taking each step.
He was clearly moving straight ahead. However, not long after, the mark he had carved on a tree earlier reappeared.
“Ah, damn it…”
Eugene’s pace quickened. He moved his legs fast enough to make his breathing slightly rough. It looked as if he was struggling to escape from a trap.
However, the same mark appeared before his eyes again. This was the third time.
“Huff… huff…”
Eugene stopped in place, catching his breath, and looked around. Except for him standing alone in the middle of the forest, silence lingered as if there was no one else.
‘I know I’m going around the same place repeatedly, but I can’t perceive it at all. Is this a dream? No. The sensations are too vivid. Then I must be under some kind of illusion… What on earth is it?’
Time passed while he was sweating and unable to even grasp what to do. How long had it been like that when suddenly he heard something behind him.
“Who’s there!”
As Eugene quickly turned around, something resembling a person appeared.
“…You’re not human. What are you…?”
If he hadn’t looked closely, Eugene would have been fooled. The creature, dressed exactly like a farmer, even held a hoe and acted like a person. However, it could never be human.
The beard on its face was not hair but tree vines, its lips were blue, and its hair, eyebrows, and eyes were all leaf-green.
The creature approached Eugene slowly, wearing its shoes backwards.

“So you’re the one who trapped me here. Well, come at me.”
Eugene drew the sword from his waist. However, the creature slowly shook its head and just pointed at something with its finger.
“…What?”
Eugene stepped back and looked where the creature’s finger was pointing. There was his backpack that he had put down for a moment. At this time, the creature opened its mouth and spoke.
“Bread. Want.”
“…What?”
Eugene asked back in confusion, but the same answer came back.
“Don’t tell me… you mean this?”
When he took out the wrapped pie from his backpack, the creature slowly nodded.
“…This isn’t what you think it is…”
Eugene tried to dissuade the creature, saying it wasn’t fit to eat, but it just repeated firmly that it wanted bread.
“Then if I give you this, will you let me go quietly?”
The creature nodded to affirm. Eugene hesitated for a moment but eventually handed over the pie made by the waitress.
When he unwrapped the pie, a delicious smell spread. The creature took a big bite of the pie with an expectant face.
Eugene unconsciously frowned as he watched the creature’s reaction.
The creature, which had been savoring the pie in its mouth with its eyes closed for a moment, suddenly opened its eyes wide and looked at Eugene.
“…I clearly warned you.”
The creature’s eyes, which had become moist, were filled with confusion, anger, resentment, and sadness.