Chapter 25: Market

“…”

Hamoyin looked down at the girl who suddenly threw herself into his arms, feeling puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing.” Nagu shamelessly hugged Hamoyin’s waist and didn’t let go. Given Hamoyin’s personality, he wouldn’t mind a hug and would, at most, ask if she was feeling unwell.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

See, she knew it! But before Nagu could answer and report her day’s events, Hamoyin lifted her out of his arms and laid her back on the blanket.

“Wait a moment.” Saying this, Hamoyin stood up and walked to a dark corner of the room. Soon, Nagu heard a couple of crackling sounds, and then the dim light filled the entire room.

Hamoyin placed the lit torch into a groove in the wall, then squatted beside Nagu. “Where do you feel unwell?”

“I’m not unwell anywhere…” With the torch lit, Nagu could see Hamoyin’s appearance clearly. He looked much more exhausted than when she saw him in the evening, covered in dust and mud, with several pieces of leaves stuck in his hair. “What happened to you?”

Nagu reached out to remove the leaves from Hamoyin’s hair. “How did you get into the village? I thought you went home…”

“I came in to find you.” Hamoyin stiffened slightly at Nagu’s close actions, but he didn’t stop her from removing the leaves. “It’s hard to get in during the day, so I waited outside until night to sneak in.”

“Wh-Why did you come to find me?” Nagu felt both touched and unworthy of Hamoyin’s effort. “You didn’t have to…”

Hamoyin seemed surprised by her words. “Why wouldn’t I? I was looking for you everywhere today.”

“The waterway you fell into connects to several lakes around here. I searched them all but didn’t find you. Finally, I thought of the branch of the waterway under Duogaluo’s sacrificial site.”

“But only the chief can enter the sacrificial site outside of the sacrificial season, so I came here in the evening to ask Duogaluo to help open the door and see if you were inside. It turned out Duogaluo had already brought you here.”

So that’s how it was. Nagu finally understood that Hamoyin appearing at the village gate wasn’t a coincidence. He had really been looking for her all along.

Seeing Hamoyin covered in dirt and exhaustion, Nagu felt a surge of warmth in her heart. “Thank you…”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“Because you came to find me.”

“Oh.”

Yes, that’s exactly how he responds!

Nagu felt tears of joy welling up. Even though they had been apart for less than a day, it felt like months. She looked at Hamoyin’s cold face under the light, finding it more endearing and adorable the more she looked. What should she do? She wanted to hug him again, even though it would be uncomfortable.

At this moment, Hamoyin watched Nagu kneeling on the fur, her eyes shining as she stared at him eagerly. Nagu’s face usually showed many expressions—dazed, happy, sad, lost in thought. Hamoyin felt that every emotion possible had appeared on Nagu’s face.

But this expression, which made him feel somewhat at a loss, was new. Not understanding it, he could only ask indifferently, “What’s wrong?”

Nagu hesitated for a while, then shook her head, suppressing her urge to hug Hamoyin. “So, did you come to take me back?”

“Look, there shouldn’t be anyone in Duogaluo’s village who guarded you at the execution ground, but there’s still a risk of being discovered.” Hamoin briefly explained to Nagu. “I should have told you before that Azuran and his brothers rule the fertile areas of the rainforest and grasslands. As the population they manage grows, they have built settlements in suitable places. There are seven in total, and the villages are not far from each other, with frequent movement of people.”

“And since Duogaluo brought you back, you naturally attract some attention. I think it’s only a matter of time before you’re discovered. Your fair skin is very memorable.”

Hamoyin said this to persuade Nagu to go back with him, but the girl just lowered her head without answering quickly. Hamoyin wasn’t in a hurry and quietly watched Nagu, waiting for her to decide.

He knew Nagu’s situation was unique. She had no memory of her past, not even of being tortured by monsters. Such a person would naturally lack a sense of belonging, as everything was unfamiliar to her.

Initially, Hamoyin had planned to heal Nagu’s injuries quickly and then send her away. But now, he felt that sending her to the sea people wasn’t a good idea, and staying in Azuran’s territory wasn’t a good solution either.

This change in thought was because Hamoyin found himself increasingly attached to Nagu. She didn’t know much but was always eager to help him. When she messed up trivial things, she looked as if the sky was falling. She constantly felt like a burden to him and persistently tried to talk to him, even without getting a response.

Hamoyin didn’t dislike this. He even found Nagu’s chatter amusing. Moreover, Nagu never showed disgust towards him being a ‘monster.’ It might be due to her amnesia, but he thought that even with amnesia, seeing his human-like appearance with scales on his back should evoke fear. But Nagu didn’t, and she was very concerned about others pulling out his scales. So Hamoyin thought it wouldn’t hurt to hide Nagu in his home for a while longer until she regained her memory or found a better, safer place. But Nagu’s response surprised Hamoyin.

“I still…” The girl nervously rubbed the fur beneath her, her voice cautious. “…won’t go back with you.”

Hamoyin hadn’t expected to be refused, but his face remained expressionless. “Why?”

“Because always hiding at your place will cause you trouble. Even though I haven’t been discovered before, what if one day I am? I’m always so unlucky…” Nagu said this with uncertainty in her heart. She was terrified of being discovered as a ‘fugitive’ and being dragged to the stone platform for bloodletting. But no matter how scared she was, this was her own problem, and she couldn’t involve Hamoyin. “So I think I’ll stay in Duogaluo’s village for now and figure something out later.”

“What if you get discovered?”

“…I’ll do my best not to be discovered.” At this point, Nagu finally made up her mind. She really couldn’t rely on Hamoyin anymore. Besides, she hadn’t given up on the idea of leaving Azuran’s territory with Hamoyin. Staying at Hamoyin’s place wouldn’t help her understand why he didn’t want to leave. “Hiding all the time won’t solve the problem.”

Hamoyin looked at Nagu’s serious expression and decided not to persuade her further. “I understand.”

Seeing Hamoyin stand up, Nagu, who had decided not to rely on him anymore, panicked and instinctively asked, “Where are you going?”

“Back.”

It was time to return, but she didn’t want him to leave. Nagu felt like she had no resolve. “Alright then… goodbye.”

Hamoyin noticed that although Nagu said goodbye, her eyes were still fixed on him. “…”

“Forget it,” Hamoyin said as he sat back down next to Nagu’s fur mat. “I’ll leave after you fall asleep.”

“You staying here for too long isn’t good either. What if someone comes?” Nagu was happy that Hamoyin said this, but she still had to worry about the potential risks. “You should go back soon.”

“This is the chief’s house; no one will come in casually.” Hamoyin shook his head to reassure Nagu. “Go to sleep.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…”

Nagu felt like she wanted to stand up and go home with Hamoyin, but she could only curl up on the fur mat. It felt awkward not to say anything, so Nagu started finding a random topic to discuss before bed. “By the way, Hamoyin.”

“Yes.”

“I feel like Duogaluo cares a lot about you.”

“…”

“…?”

Nagu thought Hamoyin’s expression stiffened for a moment, but she wasn’t sure because of the dim light. “Isn’t that the case?”

Hamoyin was silent for a while before slowly speaking. “I wouldn’t say he cares.”

“But didn’t that guard at the back door refuse to open it for you? After you left, Duogaluo reassigned him to patrol the swamp.”

Hamoyin didn’t respond to Nagu. At this point, Nagu realized she had chosen the wrong topic. “Uh, well…”

She awkwardly changed the subject. “We should still have chances to meet in the future, right? We don’t need to meet face-to-face. Just let me see you from a distance so no one will suspect you know me.”

Nagu thought that even if they couldn’t meet often, checking on Hamoin to see how he was doing occasionally was important. If he got his scales pulled out or got injured again, it would be troublesome if no one cared for him.

“It’s best not to meet. A normal human girl wouldn’t be interested in me.” Hamoyin’s gaze fell on Nagu’s face, and she happened to be looking at his eyes. For the first time, Hamoyin felt uncomfortable meeting someone’s gaze and quickly looked away. “It’s better to pretend not to know me.”

“I’ll just stand far away and look at you. I won’t come close or talk to you… Is that not okay?”

“…”

“I go to the market outside the sacrificial site every three days…” Hamoyin finally said. “You can come find me there.”