Chapter 27
“Okay, that’s it. From now on, just get your food when I do. If we wait like this, everything gets cold.”
“…That’s why I said earlier that it was fine.”
“Right. If I knew you’d wait, I wouldn’t have given you yours first.”
Feeling guilty, I split my steak in half and placed it on Kaizen’s tray.
He refused at first, but he must’ve grown used to me by now, because he accepted it without protest.
We ate in silence for a while until Kaizen suddenly spoke.
“How much progress has the village chief made with lifting his restrictions? ”
“Well, since I’m even giving him dessert to take home, I think we can wrap it up in about a month and a half.”
I counted earlier—his restrictions totalled ninety-nine.
Considering he lost one at the feast after eating that churro, that meant he originally had one hundred.
And that one hundred must be tied to the number of regressions the chief has gone through.
If one restriction stacks with each regression, then it makes sense why he had so many.
Only one thing bothered me…
I’m on my 99th regression… so why are Hamma and the village chief on their 100th?
Could Kaizen also be on his 100th?
If only he could recover his memories and figure out how many times he’s regressed.
It was also strange that all the other beastmen retained memories of past lives—except him.
The stone god at the temple said the same thing…
Regain all of the hero’s memories, break the curse, and save the world.
Maybe the stone god already knew Kaizen wouldn’t fully regain his memories even after eating my food.
What if… even after erasing that skull icon, he still can’t save the world?
My back grew cold with unease.
Please… don’t let that happen.
As I quietly sighed, Kaizen rummaged in his pocket and pulled something out.
Wrapped in a square of white cloth was a small, round lump—about the size of a ping pong ball.
“What’s that?”
He silently held the cloth out.
I took it, unfolded it—
“…Huh?”
Inside sat a single tiny apricot—cute, bright, and absolutely out of place with Kaizen.
My eyes widened. Kaizen cleared his throat, flustered.
“There… was an apricot tree… in the forest…”
He scratched his neck and avoided my gaze.
“So you picked this… for me?”
“…You do so much every day that… I felt bad.”
He kept trailing off, eyes darting to the ground.
Why was he embarrassed over something so small?
But more importantly…
This thing is going to be sour as hell.
Its color was somewhere between green and yellow…
This is definitely not ripe.
Just looking at it made saliva pool under my tongue.
I didn’t think he knew what he was picking—and honestly, the awkward human side of him was a little cute.
It was a side of Kaizen I never expected to see.
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it. Let’s eat it together.”
“This tiny thing? Why bother? I’m fine.”
“Come on. Even a bean should be shared. This is nothing.”
If he picked this sour thing, he should taste it too.
Ignoring his refusal, I split the apricot in half and removed the pit.
It was ridiculously hard. Not ripe at all.
“Here. Try it.”
I held it out with my fork. Kaizen reluctantly accepted it.
Crunch. Crunch.
That sound should not come from a ripe apricot.
As expected, the more he chewed, the more his face puckered.
I quietly pushed a cup of water toward him.
“……”
Instead of drinking it, Kaizen suddenly reached over and snatched the half of the apricot on my plate.
“Don’t eat it.”
And then—he shoved the remaining half into his own mouth.
I stared at him, half shocked, half amused.
“Hey… how can you take it back after giving it? ”
“This is not something humans should be eating.”
What the—
He seriously ate both halves just to protect my tongue?
Watching him squint one eye in pain as he chewed made something in my chest twist.
I knew it was sour… but I still wanted to share…
Thinking back to when I first met Kaizen, I realized something.
He really had changed.
And somehow, my chest felt… ticklish.
Days passed like that.
The village grew more energetic, and once again I sat on the bench, watching the changes with satisfaction.
Just as I was smiling at the sound of construction all around—
“Romi-niiiiiiim!”
Hamma came sprinting from afar.
His already white face was completely drained of color as he stomped his feet in panic.
“Something awful happened!”
What’s with all this noise?
Still fanning myself lazily on the bench, I blinked in confusion.
“What happened?”
He knelt, gulping air for a full minute before pointing frantically toward the forest.
“The villagers— the villagers all collapsed in the forest!”
“…What?”
He thumped his own chest, forcing the words out.
“The beastmen who were carrying construction materials! They’ve been pushing themselves for days, and they finally collapsed!”
Collapsed?
What was going on now?
Suppressing a sigh, I stood up.
“Let’s go. We need to check their condition.”
We headed into the forest. Since the situation sounded serious, I brought Kaizen along too.
I still can’t trust him alone yet.
Luckily, he followed—complaining, but obedient.
Granted, his expression looked like he’d eaten another unripe apricot.
“This way! We’re almost there!”
After walking past rows of identical trees, we spotted them—five beastmen lying flat on the ground.
Cool cloths rested on their foreheads, their faces pale.
Did I push them too hard…?
“Romi, Hero. You’re here.”
“What happened?”
I asked the village chief, who hovered beside them with a grim face.
“As you know, it takes more than thirty minutes to walk from Hanak Village to the other side of the forest.”
“Yeah.”
“Rabbit beastmen are naturally weak. Carrying heavy construction supplies for long periods is difficult for them. They endured for half a month purely through willpower… but they’ve finally reached their limit.”
“What do you mean weak? Hamma’s insanely strong!”
He chops wood, lifts heavy things—he’s practically a monster!
The chief winced at my outburst as Hamma scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“I must’ve forgotten to tell you… Um, I’m actually the strongest in the entire village. The blacksmith uncle always tries to recruit me. I’m abnormally strong. Normally, rabbit beastmen are weak.”
Kaizen snorted.
Hamma shot him a glare.
So that’s it. I thought he was just a meat-eating super rabbit.
Turns out he was simply born exceptional.
And here I thought the villagers were exaggerating whenever they said they were tired.
Regret washed over me as I glanced around—and something caught my eye.
Huh? Aren’t those Power Berries?
Suddenly, a bright idea hit me.
In Tales World, you could combine ingredients to make stronger items.
Remembering the food I made during the fight with Hirata, I strode toward the tree.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“What do you think? I’m going to do what I can.”
If the issue was exhaustion, then replenishing their stamina was the solution. And the ingredients were right here.
“What if you fall—?!”
“Oh, Chief. Do you still not know Romi? She climbs trees better than monkeys.”
In moments, I was up the tree, picking several Power Berries and dropping them down.
Hamma caught them swiftly.
“Kaizen, see the purple mushrooms over there?”
He followed my finger and spotted them—raising a brow.
“You’re not telling me to pick those—”
“You know the saying? Assumptions kill people. Yes. Go get them.”
“……”
“Just five. Okay?”
He glared at me like he had a lot to say. I simply pointed to the unconscious beastmen.
With a long sigh, he turned away.
Good. At least he knows when to read the mood now…
“Hamma, go grab a pot, cutting board, and knife from home. And bring water.”
“Yessir! Leave it to me!”
While the two of them were gone, I gathered the last ingredient—Neutralizing Grass.
It grew only in Hirata’s habitat.
Right here.
Good thing the ingredients are all nearby.
Soon, Kaizen and Hamma returned.
They bickered the whole way… but somehow worked well together.
After blanching all the ingredients, I shaped them into small round balls.
Hamma watched with awe.
“These mushroom balls really restore stamina?”
“Yeah. But eaten alone…”
Crunch.
“…they cause hair loss.”
