Ch-81: Katarina (3)

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"The house's shabby."

That's what Cloud said while eating breakfast. It was so out of the blue that Katarina inadvertently responded back.

"What?"

"Cold breeze blows into the house through holes. Frigid breeze blew on my face for the whole night as I slept. Don't you guys feel the cold?"

When Cloud asked, the children complained in unison as if they had been waiting just for it.

"Cold, yes! The bed is sooo cold at night, and the blanket is thin!"

"I don't even have a blanket! Brenna noona always steals it."

"Wh, what.. when did I steal it?!"

"You pull it on yourself when asleep. Sleeping warmly all alone, leaving me without a blanket!"

"You don't get any warmth? You can roll yourself with the bedsheet… No, I didn't take it away!"

Brenna peeked at Cloud as she yelled in clarification.

Hearing the children's complaints, Cloud crossed his arms and nodded.

"As expected, I ain't the only one who is dissatisfied."

He turned his gaze to Katarina.

"…what."

"Your younger siblings have also voiced, shouldn't you think out plans, elder sis?"

"…Do you think I want to live in a house like this? What can I do if it's unaffordable for me?"

She mumbled and dipped her carrots with her fork, while Cloud tapped on the table with his index finger.

"Then can I help you? Calling a carpenter will solve the problem."

At Cloud's words, the children snapped their gazes at her with expectant eyes.

They finally won't have to fight over the futon while sleeping. They wouldn't have to worry about losing their blankets overnight.

That expectation did not last long.

"Nope. You don't have to do that. You'll be leaving in a few days anyway."

"I'm afraid those days will be difficult."

"Alright, talk's over. And, you're a guest, we'll solve our family problems ourselves. You don't have to spend your money trying to help. We'll figure it out."

They slept in the same house and ate the same food, but Cloud will always be a guest. Katarina didn't want to be obliged by a favor, she had handled the household till now and she also would.

So she clearly drew her line.

It hurt a little to see her younger siblings a bit disappointed, but it was better than having problems later.

But perhaps he understood her intention, Cloud smiled.

"You mean I cannot spend my money, right?"

"Yes..?"

"What you mean is that you don't feel comfortable with me spending money over your problems. Alright, I won't spend my money."

Cloud concluded Katarina's words and stood up.

"I'll be taking the sword."

""

And he left the house.

It happened so suddenly that Katarina couldn't even react.

She blankly stared at the door as he left.

'Did he leave?'

No.

Because he left his luggage behind.

Then where did he go?

'…I'm wholly confused.'

Maybe to spend time outside doing stupid things men do.

Katarina passed the day convincing herself she didn't care if Cloud returned or not.

Just when she was getting ready for dinner preperation, unable to overcome the whining of her younger siblings about being hungry—

A splintering sound was heard.

Turning her head, she saw that one of the wooden beams supporting the house had been torn away.

"Hell?"

Why? Who did that?

If Katarina was perplexed, her younger siblings were curious.

The children rushed outside.

"Guys?!" she yelled from behind. "Wait for me!"

Katarina hurriedly grabbed her saber she kept hidden away. She didn't know who was the perpetrator, but it was clear that it was some madman. A madman who could harm her younger siblings.

She jumped out of the doorway and declared threateningly.

"Dare you touch even a single hair on my brothers.. sisters…?"

The exhilarating voice gradually turned into a questioning one.

What the hell… was happening…

"Wow! Oppa's sword is shining!"

"I-I've heard of this before! You see that sword? I heard that only the greatest adventurers can use it!"

"Oh, stop. If you touch it wrong, your fingers may fly off."

The scene unfolding before her eyes was beyond her imagination.

Logs were neatly stacked in front of her house.

Cloud was trimming the logs into wooden beams, shaving the thick logs with his sword beaming a beautiful blue, as if peeling a fruit.

He cautioned the approaching children, saying he was preparing a surprise.

"What the hell is this…"

"Ah, it's fine. Just scaring them. Gotta be cautious when dealing with children."

"What are you doing?"

"Me? Fixing the house, of course."

"I guess I said I didn't need it."

"You only said I cannot spend money, yup?"

"Yeah, I did, exactly. Then what is that?"

Katarina pointed to the pile of logs. According to common sense, there was no way he could have obtained so many logs unless they had been purchased from a lumber yard.

However, Cloud's answer was far beyond common sense.

"I got it from outside."

"…What?"

"Freshly cut from outside the city."

Apparently, common sense didn't apply to Cloud.

Cloud grabbed the log and hefted it up in the air. The approach was as natural as Katarina lifting an onion.

Katarina's legs began to tremble little by little.

"Oppa! Oppa! Can you take more?"

"More? Why, of course."

Cloud lifted another log with his other hand as well. As he started juggling the logs, Katarina couldn't stand it any longer and flopped down.

"Ahhh…"

Wh, what had she done…

Bringing such a monster into her house for just a few pennies…!

Katarina clutched her head and resented her past self.

Regardless of her thoughts, Cloud diligently reassembled the ramshackle house. The shabby house was transformed into almost a brand new one, the fantasy world example of Theseus' ship.

Thanks to which, Cloud and Katarina's younger siblings were able to sleep comfortably without being exposed to the cold wind.

Katarina, on the other hand, could not sleep.

The ropes that bound Cloud's limbs seemed too flimsy to her.

'Chains. I need chains, thick chains!'

But a poor woman like her could not afford an expensive commodity like a pure metal chain, so she slept, resenting her own poverty.

* * *

Cloud's eccentricity did not end with renovating the house.

"The closet is small…"

A large chest of drawers was made.

"Wouldn't you like to have a garden?"

A sturdy fence now surrounded her house.

"Isn't it uncomfortable when cooking?"

A three-level wooden shelving was created.

If he felt uncomfortable with anything, he just hammered it up on the spot. Later, he even challenged himself with more difficult structures one after another.

Three weeks passed in such absurdity.

After dinner, everyone went to bed. As usual, before going to bed, the children talked excitedly about the time they played with Cloud. Katarina was normally the one her younger siblings asked questions to but today it was her.

Is Cloud Oppa that good?

The younger siblings replied without hesitation.

Veeery Good!

They wanted their Cloud Hyung to stay with them forever.

Katarina smiled bitterly at their words.

When he first came, she was wary of him. When he demonstrated the bizarre act of juggling with logs, she was horrified.

However, those negative feelings faded over time.

Because Cloud was always genuinely kind to her and her younger siblings.

'I wish he could stay…'

She also had a similar fantasy.

She hoped these ordinary pleasant days would continue in the future.

However, Katarina was not an unsophisticated child like her younger siblings.

She was fully aware that these happy days wouldn't last long.

After making sure that everyone was asleep, she changed into her dancer's clothes and went out with her saber.

She basked under the soft moonlight and removed the bandages.

Flexing her arm no longer gave pain.

'This is the end.'

In fact, her arm was healed a few days ago.

But she hid it.

Because she vaguely felt it.

As soon as her arm was healed, the lives of her and her siblings will go back to when he was not there, not a part of their lives.

Humans are social animals.

When adequate safety and happiness are guaranteed, they want to settle.

The same was for Katarina.

She lied with herself, wanting to continue the past three weeks of happiness. If she so decided and made up her mind, there was a chance.

But she couldn't.

Her memories of that day, stained red with her parents' blood, did not allow her to rest.

So Katarina danced, and danced.

To awaken her body that had been drowning in peace.

To avenge blood with blood.

And…

In order not to be discouraged by the happiness that would disappear.

[Segment 1: The Dance of the Butterfly.]

""

The caterpillar that hatches from the egg turns into a pupae, and when it breaks the hard shell it turns into a butterfly…

Her dance was interrupted.

Was it because of the three-week hiatus that caused my body to stiffen?

No. It can't.

The Dance of the Butterfly was a very basic dance. She had never stopped dancing on those moves since she was fully trained.

But what was happening now?

'I don't know.'

It just… felt as if she didn't have the motivation to dance right now. Maybe she would be able to after he left tomorrow. Katarina turned back to return to her bed.

And she stiffened.

"Why don't you dance for a while longer?"

Cloud leaned against the doorframe and looked at her.

"Weren't you sleeping?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I just had my eyes closed. Rather, why don't you dance?"

"I just… I don't feel like dancing today."

"Hmm…"

Cloud thought for a moment before approaching Katarina.

"Uh… uh…? What are you doing..?"

"Stay still."

Cloud put a hand on Katarina's back and made her follow him. He pressed on the bottom of her belly button with the index finger of his right hand, holding her close to him.

"Hey?! Wh, what are you doing?!"

Startled, Katarina tried her best to shake him off, but Cloud slyly avoided it.

"How do you feel?"

"What would I feel… uh…?"

Cloud's fingertips tingled.

""

Something strange started to flow through her blood. She trembled at the unfamiliar feeling.

"What's this..?"

"Mana, Ki, Ether. It's an inexplicable force with many names. From now, I'll control this to match your dancing. Remember the feeling."

"You want me to dance? In this state?"

"Don't mind me. I'll know how to dodge the blade."

"No… that's not the problem…"

Katarina, who had been biting on her lips, reluctantly started dancing at Cloud's urging.

"Katarina, focus."

Not long after she started, she was pointed out why her sword dance was so dull.

Katarina was embarrassed.

From an objective point of view, Cloud was a very attractive member of the opposite sex.

Not only because of his looks, but also because of his demeanor.

Besides, having seen Cloud's caring side for the past three weeks, Katarina has developed a crush on him.

She was close to him, and he was close to her.

How could she dance with composure?

Her heart was pounding, her head flaming, and her tactile senses were concentrated on the hand on her back.

But that was only for a while.

As Cloud began manipulating mana in earnest and mana began to dwell in her sword dance, Katarina's consciousness instantly fell into the sword dance.

In the past, even though she reproduced the movements perfectly, she always thought she was lacking something.

It was natural for her to indulge herself madly in finding the answer.

A caterpillar becomes a pupae, and a pupae becomes a butterfly.

[Segment 1: The Dance of the Butterfly] ended successfully.

Katarina dropped her arm without continuing her dance.

Closing her eyes, she recalled the feeling from earlier.

How was it different from the dance she used to perform before?

The energy around her was different.

To be precise, her dancing changed the energy around her.

After coming back to her senses and even indulging in the newfound answer, she opened her eyes.

Turning her head slightly, she found a smiling Cloud. Seeing his smile, Katarina inadvertently asked.

"Why are you staying at my house?"

A question she had been storing inside her for the past three weeks.

She was curious, but a feeling always tugged in the back of her mind, fearing that he would leave if she found out.

Yet, she took the leap of faith.

"Uh..?"

"Why are you staying at our house?"

"That's… as I said before, there are various circumstances…"

"Lie. The way I see you, you're not an ordinary person. You must be a famous adventurer somewhere. I don't think you would have problems staying at the inn just because you are a foreigner."

"…"

"Then tell me the real reason. Why are you with us…"

Katarina's words stopped.

For now she felt that something was touching her ass.

That something was hard, thick, and long.

And she, Katarina, was not a woman completely ignorant of the opposite gender.

Her eyes trembled.

"Y, you, you can't be…"

"Yes? Ah, this is a misunderstanding… No, it's not a misunderstanding when I think about it."

Cloud nodded as he crossed his arms. He said to her with a serious expression.

"I got an erection because of you, take responsibility."

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02