Flap—flap—

The mackerel thrashed violently in my grasp, to the point where It actually slipped away from my hand once, but thankfully, I managed to catch it again mid-air with my extraordinary reflexes.

However, the mackerel still kept on struggling.

‘I had to do something.’

After pondering for a moment, I picked up a nearby stone and struck the mackerel’s head with it.

Thud—!

With a violent last struggle, the mackerel finally stopped its movements, blood trickled from its slightly cracked open head , staining it red.

“…how wild.”

“What is?”

“Nothing.”

Sophia, leaning on her cane, said two words that I didn’t understand before returning to the tent.

I followed Sophia, the dead and bloody mackerel still in my hand, and for some reason, the woman who introduced herself as Jung Yu-na followed me.

“…….”

Why is she following me? What’s planning to do?

I gave her a few glances, and when I did so, I unintentionally rubbed the mackerel against my cheek like a teddy bear.

The damp, slimy sensation felt odd against my cheek.

“Oh dear, this little one.”

Sophia grabbed my hand and pulled it away, causing the mackerel on my cheek to slide down, revealing a trace of fishy liquid that smeared on my face. The lingering smell of the fish caused me to be hungry.

“Who hugs a mackerel like that?”

“I’m–I’m sorry…”

It was my first time seeing such a large fish in this life, so maybe I got a bit too excited.

“Oh dear. How to deal with this fishy smell.”

Sophia took out a tissue from somewhere and began wiping my face.

I wanted to do it myself, but since my hands were occupied with holding the mackerel, I had no choice but to stay still.

‘This is strange.’

It’s just a mackerel, after all, yet why does it feel so precious?

Lost in this puzzling thought and staring at the mackerel, Sophia spoke up.

“So~ what do you plan to do today?”

“Uh, I was thinking of picking up a few pieces of furniture for the housewarming.”

“Hmm… Then after getting the furniture, if there’s time left, let’s do some mana training.”

“Uh—! Yes—!”

Mana training, huh?

Being able to do it is one of my lifelong dreams.

So, when I heard that I was going to learn that, I nodded my head at an incredible speed, completely forgetting that Jung Yu-na was right beside me.

“Hey.”

“Yes…?”

At the woman’s call, Sophia and I simultaneously turned our heads.

Jung Yu-na, shedding her usual fierceness, seemed uncharacteristically hesitant.

“Um, should I help too…?”

“You want to do it together?”

“Yeah. It might be dangerous if kids are left alone without any supervision, and the furniture could be heavy…”

“Uh…”

I wanted to refuse, but I was too scared of Jung Yu-na to do so.

In my indecision, I just fiddled with my fingers while holding the mackerel, and suddenly Sophia raised her cane high into the air.

“You little–! I’m not a child!”

‘That’s right. Sophia is not a child, she’s a grandma…’

Well done! Scold her more!

I Inwardly cheering for Sophia at that moment.

Thwack

As if sensing my thought, Sophia struck the top of my head with her cane.

She must have controlled her strength well, as I felt no pain.

“Cough.”

It was only after being hit on the head that I remembered Sophia’s admonition not to call her ‘grandma.’

I couldn’t argue since it was clearly my fault.

All I could do was rub my head with a sense of injustice.

“Do as you please, follow or not is your decision to make.”

Sophia grumbled and sat down on a nearby chair.

She seemed upset about being called a grandma, as seen by how she would occasionally poke the ground with her cane, causing a loud thud every now and then.

I watched the grandma tapping the ground in anger and decided that I needed to eat the mackerel first, before she took it forcefully and began to stress eating.

✧✧✧✧✧

As I walked along together with Sophia and Jung Yu-na, I savored the taste of the mackerel I had just eaten.

‘Come to think of it, was fish always this delicious?’

This is the first time I ever ate a mackerel after being sent to this alternate world, and the taste was shockingly good.

I didn’t do anything special when cooking it. It was simply cooked over a fire, without the use of either salt or oil, yet the flavor was incredible.

The taste of mackerel still seemed to swim around my mouth.

Perhaps, like my improved sight and hearing, my sense of taste had enhanced too.

I resolved to check this later, and just as that thought crossed my mind, I felt Jung Yu-na tapped my shoulder.

“Is this the right way?”

“Yes.”

“It’s strange. There aren’t any furniture stores around here.”

Right now, we are in the middle of an apartment complex with dozens of buildings.

This Jung Yu-na girl kept turning her head around, yet she didn’t notice the numerous usable furniture lying around the nearby recycling area, how weird.

“There’s plenty of furniture here.”

“This? At the recycling area?”

“Yes. Everything here is free.”

Free, and thus fiercely competitive.

After that, I hurried towards the recycling area.

There was a good-looking bookshelf nearby, but since I had no books, I decided not to take it.

The rule of this recycling area was to leave things for those who truly needed them.

“You really are…”

Tsk

Sophia clicked her tongue and approached me.