Chapter 10: Invitation
After foolishly exchanging “good evening” with each other, the house fell into silence for quite some time.
Alan had no idea what to say out of sheer awkwardness, and for some unknown reason, the mysterious ranger—who looked almost otherworldly and possessed formidable power—also remained silent.
They simply stood there, eyes wide, staring at each other.
For a fleeting moment, Alan even wished he were a mountain mole. That way, he could drop to the ground without hesitation, dig himself a hole, and bury himself deep in a dark, bottomless tunnel—never having to poke his head out again to face this awkward reality.
The silence made the already bare ranger’s cabin feel even more cavernous.
“I came to thank you—”
“I’m very sorry—”
In the next instant, Alan’s and Veles’s voices overlapped.
Then they both fell silent again.
“I brought some food—”
“I should have come back earlier—”
After a brief pause, they spoke at the same time once more.
Heaven knew whether this was because they had no rapport whatsoever, or because they had too much of it. Either way, Alan felt as though his face might burst into flames.
He saw something sway beneath Veles’s cloak—it was that tail he couldn’t help but pay attention to.
Alan suspected that Veles was probably in a bad mood. The silver-eyed man looked unusually tense now, and beneath the shadow of his hood, those silver eyes were razor-sharp, making Alan’s nerves prickle.
Alan didn’t know why, but he was always nervous around Veles.
Maybe it was because Veles was extraordinary in every sense. His spells, his origins, his strange temperament, and his abnormally powerful abilities—all of it easily created an overwhelming sense of pressure for someone as weak and insignificant as Alan.
Yet before this—back when he was still a clumsy extraordinary—he’d dealt with plenty of eccentrics too. Back then, he hadn’t been nearly this prone to making a fool of himself.
Alan’s thoughts became a tangled mess. He desperately told himself to stay calm, and then, at what he judged to be the right moment, he spoke.
“The food is meant to thank you for your help this morning.” He took a step forward, doing his best to sound composed.
But just then, one vine—one that had already loosened its hold on him when Veles returned—suddenly reemerged in an unwilling, sulky manner and lightly brushed against Alan’s ankle.
Caught off guard, Alan cried out and lost his balance.
He pitched forward heavily.
And then—well—he fell straight into someone else’s cloak.
Veles didn’t make a sound, but he reacted swiftly and caught Alan. In that instant, Alan’s entire face was unavoidably buried against the ranger’s chest. Even through the cloak, he could clearly feel the firm, taut muscles beneath—so solid they were like two stones wrapped in a thin layer of velvet.
Then there was that unusually clean, cold, frost-like scent.
It was a very faint scent, yet it carried an inexplicably powerful sense of presence, almost tangible, tightly enveloping Alan.
“Mr. Alan, my apologies.”
Veles’s voice came from above, a half beat slower than usual.
His movements also seemed a little stiff. Alan would bet every single eggplant in his garden that Veles had never, in his life, been embraced like this by another man.
“…I will discipline them.”
Veles helped Alan back to his feet, then said darkly.
(Oh God, listen to that terrifying tone!)
Alan groaned in despair in his heart.
In any case, Veles seemed to have forcibly suppressed his anger.
He had seen what just happened and was apologizing for the vines’ behavior.
“It’s all right—it was my own carelessness. These little ones, ahem, they’re magical creatures, right? Some magical creatures really do have lively personalities.” Lowering his gaze, Alan said rapidly.
‘I should have been a mountain mole! The kind that digs a hole and then hides inside it forever, never returning to the surface no matter what,’ he screamed miserably in his head.
Tripping over something and falling straight into another man’s arms—even in a backwater place like Green River Village, people had long since grown bored of such old, ridiculous slapstick.
Alan thought in chagrin.
“It’s getting late. I hope I haven’t disturbed you, Mr. Veles. I wish you an enjoyable dinner, and I hope the food I prepared will give you a pleasant day. In that case, I’ll be taking my leave.”
He rattled off, in one breath, the set of formal pleasantries he had planned long ago.
Then he started walking toward the door.
“Mr. Alan.”
Just as he was about to leave the ranger’s cabin, a low voice suddenly called out from behind him.
Alan stopped and turned around, looking at Veles with a trace of nervousness.
“What is it?” he asked.
That frightening aura still clung to Veles as he stared straight at Alan.
“…Together?”
It had to be his imagination, but Alan felt as though Veles had said that single, simple word with some difficulty.
He didn’t quite understand.
“What?”
“Stay and have dinner together?”
And just like that, Veles—bristling with intensity, as if challenging an opponent to a fight to the death—extended the invitation to Alan.
