AEPOB 10

Chapter 10

Even reading it again made my blood boil.

Before I opened the dialogue window, it had been spouting nonsense about how this wouldn’t work.

‘Who’s good at everything from the start?’

It’s just that I don’t know the strategy yet.

I pouted in dissatisfaction and scrolled through the open dialogue window.

**[Sub Mission!]**

**’True Friend Mission Guide’**

To begin this sub-mission, you need to ‘set a target.’ Please enter your target in the blank below.

—Target:

At this point, I had two candidates.

But the boss boy bullies others, so he’s out.

That leaves only Kiki…

According to my father, this is a mountain village, and the only children here are me and Kiki.

Even the boss boy who said he’d see me in town apparently only visits occasionally because his grandmother lives here.

So Kiki, who lives in the same village and can be met at our house every day, was the best choice in the current situation.

Plus, seeing how prickly he is, there seems little chance he’ll become obsessed with me later.

The only major obstacle was that Kiki was pushing me away.

“Hmm…”

Should I set Kiki as the target or not?

As the deliberation continued, I let out a groan. That kid only cares about my father and has zero interest in me.

Thinking in reverse, that means he won’t leave any lingering attachments to me later, so I can rest easy, right?

I tapped my toes and stopped.

‘In an obsession-angst story, safety comes first. Yeah, absolutely.’

Now that I’d decided, there was no reason to hesitate.

I walked to my desk. Then I took out the stack of papers I’d collected in the drawer and began writing down questions related to Kiki one by one.

If Kiki was wary of me, I just needed to find out what he liked and systematically win him over.

‘There’s no tree in the world that doesn’t fall after ten hits?’

Now was the time for me to get to work.

“Bell, do you really have to go? We could go together later…”

Anyone listening would think I was going far away.

It was just a walk around the neighborhood, but my father was making a big deal out of it.

As the standoff continued, the gaze of the grandfather waiting behind us grew more intense.

I mean, he’s glaring at us from behind so obviously… can’t you feel that?

I needed to leave quickly so my father could focus on treatment.

I threw myself into my father’s arms.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Be careful.”

After releasing me from his embrace, my father pointed to the center of the map in my hand. There was a fork in the road where the path split into two.

“Bell, see this fork? When you reach it, turn back. No further than that. Okay?”

“Okay!”

He worried so much until I left that I had to pinky-swear with him before I could finally step out of the house.

Holding the village map my father had drawn for me tightly in my hand, I followed the footpath leading out of the house.

At first, I’d thought about asking my father about Kiki. No one knew Kiki better than my father.

But my father, being close to Kiki, would inevitably give a biased evaluation.

So to secure objectivity, I decided to use the walk as an excuse to wander around the village and ask people.

I recalled the questions I’d diligently written on a full page yesterday one by one.

Things he likes, his reputation, and his relationships…

When I was about halfway through the list of questions, I found a path leading down the hill.

The fork was still far away, so I decided to walk a bit further.

*Clip-clop.*

After walking for a while, I saw three grandmothers working on recently harvested grain under a large zelkova tree.

Since this is a small mountain village, they probably all know each other, right?

Building a good image for the time being couldn’t hurt.

“Hello.”

I showed off my manners with another bow from my waist.

“Oh, Abeli.”

The grandmothers spotted me and brightened. Then they quickly gestured for me to come over.

I approached them and climbed onto the thick cloth spread out on the ground.

The smallest of the three grandmothers asked how I was doing first.

“Abeli, are you feeling better now…”

Then she noticed my hands and offered warm concern.

“Oh my, what happened to your hands…”

“I just had the bad luck to trip while walking.”

As I tried to brush it off with a joking tone, the plump grandmother spoke gruffly.

“You should have been more careful. Mr. Holtz dotes on you as it is. You must have worried him again.”

“…Yes.”

At the mention of worrying my father, I wilted.

Then the kind-faced grandmother behind her tapped the plump grandmother’s arm.

“That’s enough, don’t you think? Long-winded scolding isn’t good. Who likes an old nag?”

“I was just about to stop anyway!”

While the two grandmothers bickered, the small grandmother asked.

“By the way, Abeli. What brings you out alone today?”

“I’ve been cooped up at home lately, so I was just taking a walk around the neighborhood.”

“I see. You should come out often and keep us company too. It would be nice if there were children here for you to play with…”

She trailed off regretfully. The plump grandmother chimed in as if it wasn’t a problem.

“But my grandchild visits Abeli often enough.”

“Ah~ you mean Max?”

So that’s why he was so well-built—he’s from that family.

I cautiously asked the plump grandmother about the family I’d recalled.

“…Does your son run the grocery store?”

The plump grandmother looked at me as if to ask why I was asking such an obvious question.

“Why are you asking that now? It’s not like you’ve only known Max for a year or two.”

Even the answer was the same.

So the boss boy’s name was Max.

It seemed Abeli’s connection with Max was deeper than I’d expected.

“Of course I know. I was just… confirming.”

After barely salvaging my answer, I brought up today’s purpose as if I’d just remembered.

“Ah! By the way, grandmothers. Do you happen to know Kiki? A boy who lives in our village?”

“…Kiki?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure. Was there another child in our village besides you? I don’t really know.”

What was with this lukewarm response?

I was flustered.

My father clearly said he lived in the same village… but they don’t even know his name.

‘Is that even possible?’

I tilted my head in confusion.

But the grandmothers looked just as flustered as me.

They put down their work and began discussing Kiki among themselves.

“Hmm… was there a child like that in our village?”

“How should I know?”

Seeing they couldn’t figure it out at all, I gave them a description of Kiki’s appearance.

“He has black hair down to his shoulders, is a little taller than me, and very thin. Ah! He has long bangs that cover his eyes. Haven’t you seen him?”

Please remember, grandmothers. Every piece of information is precious!

I put my hands together and looked at them with earnest hope. Soon, the grandmothers gradually narrowed down their speculation.

“Are you talking about that child?”

“Do you know who?”

“I just remembered after hearing Abeli… you know, the one who helps Mr. Holtz gather herbs!”

I immediately responded to the word herbs.

“Yes! That’s him!”

As if understanding now, Max’s grandmother spoke up.

“If it’s that child, I see him sometimes. But you’d be much better off asking your father about him than us.”

The other grandmothers nodded in agreement.

I know that better than anyone. But I need as much information as possible.

Just then, one question suddenly occurred to me.

Earlier, the grandmothers had said, ‘The only child in our village is Abeli.’

Then what about Kiki?

I asked Max’s grandmother, who was sitting next to me.

“Grandmother, you said earlier that I’m the only child in the village. So Kiki doesn’t live in the village?”

“That child is…”

In an instant, the grandmothers rapidly exchanged glances.

Did Kiki have some hidden story?

I clenched my fists and waited for the grandmother to speak.