The Villains I Taught Became Heroes

35 – The Silent Witch – 3

Fortunately, one thing worth mentioning was that the child was smart. It had only been a week since I taught her to read, and she had mastered it perfectly.

“Uh, hehehe.”

Of course, I had to take care of household chores during that time.

Perhaps because of the child’s exceptional concentration, once she focused, she couldn’t see anything around her.

Thanks to that, the teacher became the student.

“Is it good?”

“Uh, well, I’m sorry. Have you been, um, struggling all this time?”

“Not really.”

There was plenty to eat in the forest, and the money the little one gave when leaving the Eastern Highlands was quite substantial.

Taking care of one child wasn’t a difficult task with that much.

“I also built a new cabin while at it.”

“Wow, really.”

Next to the dilapidated hut where Lena stayed, she had built a reasonably livable wooden cabin.

It was reasonably livable compared to the hut Lena had been staying in; it was like a palace.

“Well, during that time, you built all this?”

“Your concentration is impressive. I made quite a bit of noise outside, but you didn’t even notice.”

“Hehehe. P-praise. I’ve been praised…”

Blushing with delight, Lena, whom I liked, took her towards the cabin.

“Wow…!!”

Exploring the cabin with excitement—two rooms, a living room, a kitchen, and even a bathroom and a bath—Lena’s eyes sparkled when she saw a small room.

“A bed!!”

“That’s your room.”

“My room…?!”

To be so fond of something so simple.

Lena alternately looked at the bed and the desk in the modest room, then hastily sprawled on the bed.

What is she doing?

“What are you doing?”

“I-I’m bowing in grati-gratitude pose.”

What pose?

“I’ll do whatever you ask!”

Why is this kid acting so lowly?

I looked down at Lena, who was panting like an exposed puppy, reached out my hand, and kindly said,

“Study hard, okay?”

That’s exactly what I want.

Lena, who had been studying writing for almost a week without properly eating or bathing, became even dirtier.

So when I told her to wash up, she tried to go outside.

I told her she could just use the bathroom, but she made a fuss, saying that someone as filthy as herself couldn’t simply use such a clean bathroom.

Winter has almost passed, but the weather is still cold.

What’s the point of acting like this when she doesn’t even know how to properly use her magic and might catch a cold?

I led Lena, who was whimpering, towards the village.

From Noble mtl dot com

There was definitely a public bath in the village.

“Umm, um. There. Ah. I, I can just wash in the river…”

“You said you would do anything I told you?”

“Even so, uh, I, uhh. Yes! I, I’ve never, never been to a bathhouse…”

Of course, Lena, who used to earn her living day by day, would have never been to a bathhouse.

But it’s also an experience.

You just have to try everything.

“Heeeng…”

“You said you would do anything, right?”

“Well, uh…”

Was it because of what I said earlier?

Lena quietly closed her mouth. As I arrived in the village with her, the merchants I had met in the past few days greeted me with laughter.

“Hey! Hyun! Are you out again today?”

“Mr. Hyun! What interesting things are you going to show us today?”

“Ugh! Mr. Hyun! Try this before you go!”

They’re really warm-hearted people.

Unlike the country folks who usually reject outsiders.

Receiving their greetings and jokes, I turned my head when I felt a tap on my side.

Lena, who was beside me, had a glimmer in her eyes.

“Why?”

“Great, great, amazing. I, I’ve been in this village for two years, but I can’t even greet properly. Uh, well, I’m not good at it…”

“Well… I like people, and I enjoy drinking. Isn’t it a pleasant thing to talk to people originally?”

“Ugh… It’s blinding…”

While Lena, with a puzzled expression, spoke, they arrived at the public bath in the center of the village.

Just as they were about to enter the bath, a middle-aged woman appeared.

They had talked before when she was the owner of the vegetable store, and they had become somewhat friendly.

“Miss Luceia!”

“Oh?! Who is this?! Isn’t this Hyun’s younger brother? Ohoho~! You came to bathe today too? I closed the shop today to come bathe with my daughter!”

“Mr. Hyun~!”

Luceia’s daughter, Lorian, ran towards me with a bright smile.

After lifting the adorable six-year-old girl a few times and giving her a ride on an imaginary airplane, I put her down and extended Lena, who had hidden behind me, forward.

“Eek!”

“Oh! She’s a silent sister!”

At Lorian’s exclamation, Luceia smiled playfully.

“A silent sister?”

“Yeah! Whenever she comes to the village, she always walks with her head down, avoids people, and friends call her that!”

What on earth has she been doing and going through?

Whether it was because Lena couldn’t withstand Lorian’s unbelievably bright atmosphere, she seemed to be shrinking more and more.

“It seems like it’s her first time coming to the public bath. Could you take care of her a bit?”

“Oh my, really? Then I should teach her everything from one to ten! But who is she? Your sibling?”

“My disciple.”

“Oh! Uh, um… hello…”

Stammering and crawling in with a hesitant voice, Lena fled back behind me.

As I pushed her forward again, Luceia grabbed Lena.

“Eek! M-Master! Master!”

“Well then, I’ll take care of my disciple… When will you come out?”

“It should take about two hours.”

“Well! Let’s meet when the village bell rings twice then!”

Laughing heartily, she went in, holding Lena with one thick hand and Lorian with the other. A moment later, from inside, a scream echoed, “Aaahhh, a bug!!!”…

“Well, it should be fine.”

“I should take a shower too.”

…

After soaking in the hot spring and washing thoroughly, about an hour had passed when they came out.

With nothing else to do for the remaining hour, they joined an old man who was playing chess alone.

“Check!!”

“Oh my~! Such a move?! But you wouldn’t have known this!”

“Ohoho! You’re going to use the knight there?! If you use the knight, I’ll use the bishop!”

“Um, excuse me.”

“Oh! Let it go! I’ve almost captured… huh? Is it out?”

Turning her head, Lena was standing there.

It was a completely different appearance from before.

Her silver hair, which had been tangled, now glistened in the sunlight after a proper wash and dry. Her fair skin was so flawless that it was hard to find any blemishes.

Considering her slightly slender figure, it would fit well if one thought she was somewhat lean.

Compared to when she entered earlier, Lena had changed so drastically that it was like night and day. She lowered her head deeply.

“What’s with you? You look better after washing.”

“Ugh… it hurts…”

“However long it takes!”

“Unni, a lot came out! I helped too!!”

“Hehehe. Shh! Shh!”

Ignoring Luscia and Lorian’s exclamations, Lena, pale as a sheet, tried to calm them down.

But what could a young girl, far removed from middle-aged women and such matters, possibly understand?

Eventually, after telling Lena everything about how much had come out, they all looked at Lena, who had become fluffy and smooth, as if observing a work of art.

“Maybe we should charge double for the bath!”

“Hahaha. Thank you for your hard work. Would you like a drink, Lorian? And you, Lena, do you want some milk?”

“Yeah!”

“Then shall we enjoy these~?”

They bought milk and juice from a store near the open-air bath and came back.

I handed the remaining bottle to Lena, who seemed embarrassed to death, after sharing it with Lucie and Lorian.

“Uh…?”

“Drink. It’s the custom to have a bottle of milk after a bath.”

It would be nice if there were banana milk, but unfortunately, there was none here.

Lena, holding the milk with both hands, hesitated for a moment before taking a sip.

It seemed her throat was quite dry after the bath.

Having finished it in one gulp, Lena, with pink lips adorned with white foam, waved goodbye to the departing Lucie and her daughter.

“Th-thank you…!”

“Goodbye~! Unnie~ See you next time~”

“Ho ho ho~! Let’s bathe together again next time~.”

After they were out of sight, Lena slumped onto the bench, looking completely drained.

Watching her, I bought a juice for the elderly man I played chess with earlier and handed it to him before sitting on the bench.

“You look much better after washing.”

“Hehe. Yes. Yes.”

Again, a sip. Lena, who had taken a sip of milk, began to stare at me with a blank expression.

Do I have something to say?

“Um, excuse me. Te-teacher.”

“Why?”

“Oh. Um. How do you… um, easily make friends with people?”

How do you make friends easily?

Just make friends, isn’t that the way?

Looking at Lena, who seemed to envy me greatly, I put down the milk bottle I was holding.

“Maybe because I don’t care about what others think?”

“Really?”

“It’s because I have confidence. I believe I can control every situation. That’s why I approach confidently, without hesitation, and have no qualms about making friends with people.”

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh… That’s, that’s cool.”

“You just tend to overthink things.”

I gently patted Lena’s head, who openly envied me.

It’s quite soft, probably because she washed it well.

“Not being able to easily make friends is not a fault. If you don’t like that about yourself, you can change it. To change, you just need to build up strength.”

“…Can I really do it? Can I… become like that?”

“You can.”

I looked straight into Lena’s eyes.

As she attempted to turn her head away after briefly meeting my gaze, I held onto Lena’s cheek, forcing her to make eye contact with me.

Her azure eyes trembled slightly.

“Absolutely.”

Because I will make it happen.