Chapter 7

"Good morning, Tiara."

"Good morning, Rain. Have you gotten used to this life yet?"

"Yeah. It's surprisingly easy to get used to."

It had been a few days since Rain started living in Tiara's nest. There were no particular difficulties, and he even found it enjoyable.

The food was mainly the meat of the magical beasts Tiara caught, but it wasn't much different from what he ate in the human world. The only cooking method was a hearty roast, so the taste didn't vary, but he didn't get bored and could continue living this way.

"I haven't lived with someone in a long time, so I was wondering how it would go... but there were no problems at all."

"...Tiara, you've been living alone all this time, right?"

"Yeah. I never felt lonely, though."

Tiara had a look on her face as if she was recalling the past. It had been several years since Rain met Tiara, and she had always been alone. She didn't interact with anyone, and Rain remembered that she was quite wary when they first met.

Now, they had become close enough for Tiara to temporarily take care of Rain, who had no family. This was a rather special case. Rain himself wasn't entirely sure how they had built such a strong trust. The truth was that as they continued to trade, Tiara seemed to take a particular liking to Rain.

"But, wasn't it inconvenient living alone?"

"...To be honest, it was. That's why I'm grateful to you, Rain."

"I'm grateful to you too, Tiara. You provide me with a lot of rare materials from magical beasts."

"I can give you as many as you want. They're just a waste to me."

Until now, Tiara hadn't expressed her gratitude. To her, Rain was someone who turned the inedible parts of magical beasts, which were like trash to her, into treasure. To Rain, Tiara was the only one who could provide him with rare materials from magical beasts that were hard to come by.

It was rare for two people to need each other so much.

"Ah—Rain, you were exiled from the human world, but can you still work as a merchant?"

"Of course. In fact, without the laws that restricted trade, it's even easier now."

"Really! That's a silver lining! I'll count on you from now on!"

Tiara showed a beaming smile after hearing Rain's words. It seemed she had been worried about his ability to work as a merchant, but her concerns were unfounded.

In fact, Rain's exile had created an ideal situation for Tiara. Now, she could obtain items that were previously restricted by the country. The thought of it made her excited.

"Well, now that we've heard this good news, I'm going hunting."

"Okay. I'll wait here."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you—hmm?"

Just as Tiara was about to leave the nest, she twitched her ears and stopped.

Rain didn't understand what was happening.

"...It doesn't look like I can go hunting today."

"Why not?"

"Look outside."

Rain looked outside as Tiara suggested.

There, he saw hundreds of humans completely surrounding the nest.

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