The farm after the typhoon was remarkably clear and clean. Dewdrops on each leaf sparkled in the morning sunlight, and the scent of moisture-laden grass carried on the breeze to every corner of the farm.

The damp earth released a fresh earthy aroma, adding to the refreshing atmosphere. The sky stretched out in patches of blue, resembling splashes of watercolor, with peaceful white cloud fragments drifting by.

It was a brilliantly clear day, seemingly announcing a new beginning. But,

“Haah…”

She sighed deeply, staring blankly at the clear sky. Her hollow eyes bore the unmistakable traces of last night.

“Did you not sleep well?”

The very cause of her sleeplessness asked with apparent concern. Rudis weakly waved her hand.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Was it… uncomfortable because of me?”

Seeing Iska’s face as he asked with flattened ears and a cowed expression, Rudis looked back up at the clear blue sky. Yes. Iska was innocent. The guilt was hers alone. Iska had merely fallen asleep carefully at the edge of the bed, while she had lain awake with all manner of impure thoughts.

She tried to purify her mind by gazing at the serene, peaceful scenery. Otherwise, she might slip back into those inappropriate thoughts.

“Not at all! I barely noticed you were there! Don’t worry about it. Shall we get started?”

Rudis spoke energetically, summoning all her strength, and headed toward the field. Iska followed her silently, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, unable to hide his amusement.

* * *

Rudis moved busily.

She cleaned up the fields wrecked by the typhoon, sowed seeds, and applied fertilizer. One advantage of the early typhoon was that she could plant expensive seeds that took longer to grow without worry. Rudis excitedly took out her precious seeds and scattered them.

She also visited the barn to check on the animals. Despite her concerns, they all looked plump and healthy, seemingly doing well as usual. Unfortunately, the golden sheep appeared unsuccessful in breeding. Rudis also reapplied KC48 and BF29 before heading to the village.

“Oh my, Rudis, listen to my story.”

“Rudis, have you heard the news?”

“How am I supposed to live now?”

When Rudis appeared, villagers swarmed around her like a flock of clouds. Though the typhoon had passed, residents sought Rudis out for various issues including damage repair and procurement of necessary supplies.

Whenever a typhoon passed, quests would pile up. Enormously so.

Even amid the dense noise, Rudis’s eyes were searching for someone.

“Has anyone seen Mr. Zimmer?”

Zimmer was always her biggest concern whenever a typhoon hit. She had forced a cabin key into his hands before leaving, but knowing his stubbornness, she still worried. Zimmer was one of those people who despised receiving help from others. Most of his quests involved simple environmental beautification or garbage collection. The only request he’d ever made for himself was for a single strawberry.

Zimmer was even picky about gifts. He preferred only easily foraged ingredients and would actually lose affinity points if given general goods or flowers purchased from shops.

That’s why she worried more about him. It was obvious that even if the typhoon blew away his hut, Zimmer would never ask anyone for help. The cabin she’d visited just before coming to town showed no signs of anyone having used it.

“Who’s Zimmer?”

“Isn’t he that homeless guy living on the outskirts?”

“Ah… that beggar?”

“Oh, Rudis, because of the typhoon I couldn’t work…”

After exchanging a few words in response to Rudis’s concerned question, the villagers resumed stating their own business.

Rudis sighed with a gloomy expression. Just then, a familiar figure appeared beyond the crowd.

“Mr. Zimmer!”

Rudis instinctively ran over in one breath. It was Zimmer. He appeared unharmed on the outside, suggesting he hadn’t been injured in this typhoon. What a relief.

“I came to return the key.”

Zimmer said gruffly.

“Did you go to the cabin?!”

“No.”

“Then where were you?”

“Don’t know. I think I passed out briefly yesterday, and when I woke up, I was in the forest. It was quite windy, but there was no typhoon. Stop making such a fuss and just take this. Don’t do this kind of thing again.”

Zimmer handed over the key, almost throwing it, then quickly disappeared.

Rudis stood dazed with the key in her hand.

Zimmer didn’t even know there had been a typhoon. She couldn’t understand how this was possible. But what mattered was that Zimmer was safe.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rudis returned to the villagers and calmly accepted the flood of quests. Without a moment to catch her breath, she headed to the tavern.

She wanted to ask about the Tarkar…

“Let’s do it one more time. Hmm? I’ll be gentle this time.”

How did it come to this?

The moment her eyes met Xenon’s, the situation began flowing in a strange direction. Before she knew it, Rudis had been led by Xenon down to the basement of the tavern. She couldn’t refuse. To be honest, she didn’t refuse.

“I-I need to go.”

Rudis pushed away the persistently pressing Xenon, panting. She had fallen for the “just once more” line several times, and it was already dark night.

“Why, is that bastard waiting for you?”

Rudis said nothing. Because it was true.

One embarrassing situation was enough. Staying out all night was absolutely out of the question.

At Rudis’s silence, Xenon covered her even more intensely. Rudis surrendered again to his desperate touches and kisses.

“Ah, I want to keep you filled up.”

Relentlessly and persistently, Xenon drove Rudis to the edge. Elastic-like moans burst into the air, and her small body, flushed with blood, shook helplessly.

Finally, only at dawn could Rudis barely escape the tavern.

He’s probably still sleeping, right?

It was 4 AM. If she went home now, Iska would still be asleep. She had failed to return early, but at least she would succeed in getting home before Iska woke up. That’s what she firmly believed.

“…Didn’t you sleep?”

Iska had been waiting. Right at the entrance to the farm. His silhouette under the moonlight somehow looked chilling. Rudis unconsciously swallowed.

“Eat this.”

He had already prepared the Purification Dish. The moment Rudis saw the steaming bowl, she realized everything.

He knows.

Iska had prepared this food with precise intention all along. The description of this dish—that it removes foreign substances—had always been considered merely functional. But at this moment, Rudis painfully understood what those foreign substances meant.

Xenon’s s*men.

Rudis bit her lip in embarrassment.

“Coming back from the tavern?”

Iska’s low voice cut through the dark night air. It was resolute yet infinitely deflated. It was difficult to tell whether he was angry or sad.

“…How did you know?”

“I can smell it.”

Iska answered with a hardened face to her cautious question.

“The smell of another male. Overwhelmingly so.”

Rudis scratched the back of her head with an awkward expression. Even though she had washed thoroughly before coming back, it was still this obvious. She had no idea a beast-person’s sense of smell could be so sensitive.

“And also…”

Long, thick fingers brushed Rudis’s nape. Red marks clearly indicated what had happened, visible at a glance. They hadn’t disappeared because she hadn’t drunk a recovery potion. Rudis wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. While there was nothing wrong with having a s*x life, she certainly didn’t want to advertise it so openly.

“Why did you do it?”

Iska’s question was simple but strangely sharp.

Why indeed?

Rudis asked herself. She had gone to the tavern to ask about the Tarkar. But she hadn’t asked a single word about that, and instead had spent the whole day rolling around with Xenon before returning. She felt pathetic. She could only think that she had truly lost her mind.

“Sometimes adults just want to do that kind of thing.”

Embarrassment made her blurt out nonsense.

“And?”

Iska’s gaze remained unwavering.

“When that happens, people help each other out.”

To hell with it. Rudis decided to be brazen.

Right. What’s wrong with healthy adults sleeping together by mutual consent? In a situation where everything was already exposed, flimsy excuses or pretenses seemed ridiculous.

Rudis straightened her back with newfound confidence. But that lasted only briefly. Just as she was about to become discouraged by Iska’s prolonged silence,

“I can help you too.”

Under the long black hair that seemed to dissolve the darkness, blue eyes steadily gazed at Rudis.

—

T/N: idk with yall but I’m team Iska all the way fr fr