I looked at Sua with a confused expression.
Her name felt familiar, yet no matter how much I wracked my brain, I couldn’t place where I’d heard it before.
It was like a thin fog clouding my memory, leaving me with nothing but a frustrating sense of unease.
“So, tell me where you need to go, Eve.”
“Uh… the market. I got separated from my group right after leaving the inn. Oh, and we left the inn because, well, we were heading to the market and…”
Flustered, my words tumbled out awkwardly, not even making sense to myself.
Ugh.
What’s wrong with me? I don’t normally ramble like this.
“The market, huh? Do you at least know where it is?”
“No… I know this is a park, but I have no idea how to get to the market…”
Fortunately, Sua seemed to piece together what I was trying to say. She smiled brightly and nodded.
“Alright, I’ll show you the way. But on one condition.”
“…Condition?”
“Yup. You have to hold my hand and follow me.”
“That’s the condition?”
“Yep.”
It was a simple condition.
But for some reason, the expression on Sua’s face was… oddly intense.
Like a predator about to pounce on its prey.
“…Fine, I’ll hold your hand.”
“Good.”
That strange look made me hesitate for a moment, but with no other options, I eventually nodded.
“Ta-da!”
“Ugh!”
The moment I agreed, Sua grabbed my hand firmly.
Her hand was warm yet rough, with calluses that told of hard work.
It was surprising—despite being a woman, her hands felt like someone who had done a lot of manual labor.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“…Okay.”
With our hands clasped, we wandered through various streets.
It didn’t take long for me to realize one thing.
“So, there was this guy who accidentally shared explicit illustrations of his own novel with his relatives…”
“Goodness.”
Sua talks a lot.
She chatted non-stop as we walked, spilling all sorts of random stories.
“I’ve lived around here for quite a while. I know the market, the park, and even the gates like the back of my hand.”
“That’s impressive. So, you’re from the capital?”
“Well… not exactly, but you could say I’m practically a local. What about you, Eve? Where are you from?”
“I’m from a small place called Maru Village. It’s very small and ordinary, so I doubt you’ve heard of it.”
“Hmm. Traveling all the way here from such a distant village must’ve been exhausting.”
“…Yeah.”
Sua smiled lightly, continuing the conversation as if she didn’t need to catch her breath.
“Eve, I don’t know how you ended up lost, but let me give you a tip—never wander the capital alone. It’s more confusing than you think.”
“You’re right. This time, it was really my mistake. I usually always hold Harp’s hand…”
“Harp? Who’s that? Someone you came with?”
“Yes. She’s one of the children I care for.”
“Wait… one of your children?”
Sua’s expression turned oddly thoughtful at my words.
She opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it, choosing instead to quicken her pace.
How long had we been walking?
“Uh, Sua?”
“Yeah?”
A strange feeling had started creeping over me.
While we had clearly left the park behind, the direction we were heading seemed… off.
Something wasn’t right.
The surroundings grew quieter and more remote, making my unease deepen.
“Uh… are you sure the market is this way?”
“Of course, we’re almost there.”
“Oh… okay.”
“Don’t worry so much. Trust me, I’m practically a local.”
“R-right… I guess so…”
Sua’s reassuring words didn’t ease the knot of doubt in my chest.
Something felt off.
It didn’t feel like we were heading toward a bustling market, but rather somewhere more isolated.
“Hey…”
“Hm? Still nervous?”
“No, it’s just… I was wondering about something.”
“Hmm. Funny, I’ve been wondering about a lot of things too.”
“…What?”
Sua suddenly stopped walking.
She turned around slowly to face me, her gaze sharp and focused.
Her lips curled into a faint, knowing smile as her eyes glinted with something unreadable.
“Hah… unbelievable. You’re exactly my type.”
“What?”
I stared at her in confusion.
What is she even talking about?
“My type? What does she mean by that?**
“Eve, you wouldn’t understand.”
“H-huh?”
“I’ve been waiting for you. Oh, the moment I saw you, I knew it was you. This has to be fate.”
Sua murmured cryptic words as she stepped closer, her eyes locked onto mine.
Then, without warning, she reached out and gently touched my cheek.
“H-hey! What are you doing?!”
Startled, I jumped back, putting some distance between us.
But Sua didn’t seem to care and quickly closed the distance I had tried to create.
“I mean, I’ve never in my life seen someone so soft and squishy.”
“Wh-what?!”
“Wow, even after touching it again, your cheek is ridiculously smooth. Is this the glory of a young body?”
“S-stop it! What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?!”
“What? Don’t like it? You can touch my cheek in return.”
“Wh-what?! No thanks!”
I tried desperately to push Sua away, but she acted like a child who had just discovered a new toy, continuing to poke and pinch my cheeks.
“Ugh, seriously. I’m about to lose it…”
“Huh?”
“Eve, you shouldn’t panic. You should embrace this. Having such an exceptional body is a blessing, you know.”
“What kind of nonsense—!”
I stepped back again, trying to put as much space between us as possible.
“Hmm… I’ve changed my mind. Eve, you’re too precious. You’re way too good for me…”
“Uh… goodbye!”
I let out a panicked yell and ran as fast as I could.
Taking advantage of the moment while Sua stood there muttering strange things, I bolted out of the park.
I thought I could hear her laughing behind me, but I didn’t dare look back.
“What is wrong with that woman?!”
My mind was a whirlwind of confusion.
All I’d wanted was simple directions, but instead, she’d started saying incomprehensible things, poking my cheeks, and babbling about my “body” and who knows what else…
“Harp, Ellie, Alex! Where are you?!”
I frantically looked around, desperately searching for my group.
Fortunately, not far ahead, I spotted Harp, Alex, and Ellie!
“Guys!”
I sprinted toward them without a second thought.
As soon as Harp saw me, she opened her arms wide and called out.
“Teacher! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
“Eve! Finally, we found you!” Ellie said, relief evident in her voice.
“We were worried sick…!” Alex added with a furrowed brow.
“Haa… I got lost. I ended up in a park, and there was this… really strange person who—ugh!”
Catching my breath, I hurriedly explained everything that had happened.
The strange woman who offered to guide me, then started pinching my cheeks and saying bizarre things.
“So, what was her name again?” Alex asked.
“Han Sua,” I replied, exasperated.
“Ah,” Alex said with a heavy sigh. “That’s the Hero.”
“…What?”
At his words, my mind, previously foggy with confusion, suddenly cleared as if someone had lifted a curtain.
Oh. Right.
Han Sua was the Hero.
And not just any Hero. The Super Eccentric Hero.
How could I have forgotten something that important?
“That strange woman was the Hero…?!”
Harp stepped closer, her face filled with concern.
“Eve, are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“I… I’m fine,” I replied, though my voice still wavered from the shock of it all.
“Yes… I’m okay. Luckily, all she did was pinch my cheeks,” I replied weakly.
Ellie let out a deep sigh of relief and pulled me into a tight hug.
“I’m really fine! Nothing bad happened!”
“Fine? What’s fine about this? You got lost, and on top of that, you ran into the Hero… You must’ve been terrified!”
Ellie’s voice was heavy with concern as she held me close, one hand gently stroking my hair.
“From now on, never wander off alone. Got it?”
“…Yes, I understand,” I murmured softly in her warm embrace.
At least this time, I didn’t feel like I was suffocating—Ellie had adjusted her posture to avoid that.
Harp chimed in, her voice firm.
“Teacher, you really can’t go off by yourself anymore!”
“Mm, I won’t…”
Alex added in his usual exaggerated tone, “I was so worried, I was about to tear the whole market apart just to find you.”
“Honestly, Alex, when you say it like that, it actually sounds believable,” I quipped.
“Because it’s true!”
Both Harp and Alex looked at me with such serious and concerned expressions that it made me feel both touched and guilty.
Just then, a familiar voice sounded from behind me.
“Wahhh.”
I froze.
Slowly turning around, I saw the last person I wanted to see right now—Han Sua, the Hero.
Why?! Why is she here?!
“Huh?”
Hearing the familiar voice, I slowly turned around.
Standing behind me was the strange woman I’d met in the park—the Hero, Sua.
But…
“What…?”
“Wahhh,” she said again, her voice smaller and higher-pitched.
There stood Sua, but in an incredibly tiny version of herself.
“Ta-da! Eve, I’m back! In ‘Baby Sua’ mode!” she exclaimed with a proud grin.
“What is this?!”
“I’ve realized something profound. The ultimate joke isn’t making a joke—it’s becoming the joke!”
My head spun, my thoughts tangling into an incomprehensible mess.
It felt like my brain might actually short-circuit.
With her hands on her hips and a confident stance, the pint-sized Sua stepped forward proudly.
“Being big was too overwhelming, wasn’t it? Sooo… ta-da! I’ve made myself smaller! Now you can adore me to your heart’s content!”
“This… this makes no sense at all…”
I instinctively took a step back.
But Sua didn’t care.
She closed the distance in no time and, once again, reached for my cheeks, pulling them with her tiny hands.
“Wow, so squishy! I think I can feel it even more now that I’m in baby mode. Amazing!”
“Eek!”
This was complete chaos.