The Story of Becoming a Married Man in Another World

050 Female Adventurer

Lizzy clutched the money pouch she was holding to her chest.

She climbed the narrow wooden stairs and walked down the long corridor. The room the landlady guided them to was at the end.

Among the rooms with two beds, it was the one with the best light. She said it was good because they had a child.

—

When I opened the door and entered, I saw two beds attached to the walls on either side. Even though it was daytime, the room was a bit dim.

In the corner of the wall, there was a small wooden shelf installed. It seemed to be a place to put personal belongings.

There was a small window with wooden shutters directly in front. The window was small, but it was positioned to receive direct sunlight. Beyond the open wooden window, a distant bell tower could be seen.

“Don’t leave important items in the room. There are no keys. When you sleep, just latch the bolt on the inside.”

The landlady said, standing at the entrance.

The door could be locked with a wooden bar. The wooden bar used as a latch was tied to the door with a string.

“Meals are served on the first floor. You can come down in a little while. The main menu is stew with meat and bread. There is usually one more dish that changes frequently. Today, it’s grilled herring. We also have beer. Wine costs extra.”

The landlady said this and patted Lizzy’s shoulder.

“Cheer up. My husband was also an adventurer, so he used to be away from home often. Here, it’s a bit less dangerous for a woman alone. Because I’m here. But it’s always good to be careful. There are bad people everywhere. If anything happens, tell me.”

The landlady seemed to think that Lizzy and Dorothy would be staying alone at the inn.

Lizzy shook her head.

“We will all be together as a family….”

Suddenly, she wondered if that was really the case. She hadn’t heard anything about it yet.

When she looked up at Joo-hwan, her husband smiled and looked at the landlady.

“We’re in the same party, so we’ll always be together. But if she happens to be alone, please take care of her.”

When her husband spoke in his now fluent manner, the landlady was surprised.

“Are you planning to take a woman and a child with you? That’s very rare. So, what will you do? Will you pay a month’s rent in advance?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Joo-hwan answered the landlady. Lizzy handed the money pouch she was holding to Joo-hwan. But he didn’t take it. When Lizzy looked flustered, Joo-hwan smiled.

“Lizzy.”

As if to say she should give the money herself, Joo-hwan glanced at the money pouch and the landlady.

‘I’m really doing this. From now on, I’ll be paying everywhere we go.’

Thinking that made her feel strange. It might not seem like a big deal to others. But paying such a large sum herself was something she had never done before.

Lizzy untied the string of the pouch and took out a silver coin. Spending such a large amount all at once made her heart pound. Her fingers holding the silver coin felt incredibly heavy.

She hesitantly extended her hand.

Until it disappeared into the landlady’s front pocket, Lizzy couldn’t take her eyes off the silver coin.

“Oh dear, is it that precious?”

The landlady laughed loudly and left the room. Next to the landlady’s figure, Joo-hwan’s face was seen silently laughing. Did she really look that strange?

When the door closed, the room quickly became quiet. Even Dorothy, who was always noisy, was silent, perhaps because the room was unfamiliar.

After tying the string of the pouch again, Lizzy looked around the room once more.

—

—

It was a small room, just big enough to fit two beds. The space between the beds was barely enough for a person to pass through.

‘This room costs 1 rina for two days.’

Suddenly, the money felt wasted again. But… Lizzie looked around the beds, the floor, and the room carefully. It was old but well cleaned. There was no strange smell or dirty filth.

The last time she visited this village, Lizzie was a bride being sold.

At that time, she didn’t sleep in an inn. She spent a night in a shabby lodging where many people slept huddled together. It was a dirty and smelly place.

She had just one meal a day, a bowl of cold stew. The stew was what the merchant had left, diluted with water, and given to her as her meal.

She wasn’t used to eating good food, but the merchant’s behavior gave Lizzie a severe sense of shame. She left the village feeling so miserable that she never wanted to recall it again.

Compared to that time, her situation had changed remarkably. She felt really strange.

Juhwan hugged her shoulders.

“Next time, let’s stay in a better room.”

It seemed he thought this room was shabby.

Lizzie shook her head and, in a small voice, told him a bit about her previous visit to this village.

She said that her situation was different now, so it felt a bit unfamiliar and surprising, but she liked this room. Juhwan’s face stiffened slightly.

“That merchant bastard, I’ll kill him if I meet him.”

He seemed very angry. Juhwan’s arm tightened around her.

Dorothy, who had been wandering around the room, ran to the window with a pattering sound.

To keep out the cold, most buildings had small windows. This place was no different.

Climbing onto the bed to look beyond the small window, Dorothy spoke with curiosity.

“There’s something pointy over there. It looks strange.”

There was no bell tower in the village where Dorothy lived. The child was probably seeing a bell tower for the first time.

“It’s a bell tower. When the time comes, the bell ringer will ring the bell from there.”

Lizzie explained, and Dorothy tilted her head.

“What’s a bell?”

Right, Dorothy had never seen a bell, so she didn’t know what it was. Dorothy, who had lived quietly in a mountain cabin, had no chance to know about bells.

As Lizzie was explaining what a bell that tells time was, ding, ding, the bell started ringing from the bell tower.

Dorothy looked at the bell tower and shouted.

“Is that a bell? The bell is moving! It’s shaking its body!”

The sound of the bell seemed fascinating. Dorothy put her hands to her ears and listened quietly to the bell sound.

Watching the child, Lizzie’s heart started to pound. Seeing the child marvel at something new overlapped with her own image. It felt like she had become Dorothy.

It finally felt real.

—

—

It changed. Her life has completely changed now.

Lizzy placed her hand on her pounding chest. Her heart was racing.

“Lizzy, what’s wrong?”

Joo-hwan asked.

Lizzy opened her mouth to answer, but her voice wouldn’t come out. Her throat was choked up.

Until now, she had been one of many women on the farm. From dawn till night, she fetched water, worked in the fields, tended to the livestock, or did sewing, just like her mother had done. It went on from morning till night, and then again tomorrow, and another month after that.

Such a life continued even after marriage. The only change was from being a daughter to a wife. As raising children was added, it only turned into a more difficult life.

But from now on, it’s different. She was walking a new path. Something new that she had never experienced before was unfolding before her eyes. She would live a life completely different from her mother, sisters, and siblings.

It was the first time she stayed at an inn, the first time she ate food prepared by someone else. It was also the first time she had so much money. She had hardly ever seen silver coins before.

But from now on, she would experience something new every day. Firsts would keep happening. Instead of sleeping and waking up in the same house every day, she would go to new places and see new things. She would do something with her husband every day.

She wanted to tell Joo-hwan how amazing and wonderful it was. But he probably wouldn’t understand even if she explained it.

Lizzy hugged her thick husband’s body tightly.

“Huh?”

Joo-hwan awkwardly patted her back, looking slightly surprised.

“Joo-hwan, I like you so much. I love you. Thank you for accepting me and marrying me. Thank you.”

These words couldn’t fully express her feelings. As she spoke with all her gratitude, Joo-hwan was silent for a moment before he opened his mouth.

“Lizzy, am I handsome?”

“…?”

Not understanding what he meant, she looked up at her husband. Joo-hwan asked again with a serious expression.

“Am I more handsome than before?”

“….”

Sorry, but that’s not the case. He still had the same face. The same slightly scary-looking face.

He seemed embarrassed by his own words. Joo-hwan covered his face with his hands and mumbled.

“Sorry. Forget it.”

His ears were bright red. Somehow, her husband seemed cute. Lizzy chuckled and hugged him again.

“You’re handsome, Joo-hwan. Always. You were the most handsome in the village. Even now, you’re the most handsome in this village.”

“….”

His ears and neck turned red.

She really liked this man.

Lizzy giggled and mumbled to herself.

—

—

“Before going down for dinner, I need to make a money pouch to wear around my waist. It would be a disaster if someone stole the silver coins.”

Yes, that’s the most important thing right now. Lizzie detached herself from her husband, clapped her hands together, and rubbed them lightly.

Alright, as the first task of the party agent with her husband, let’s make a money pouch.

*

The inn’s meal was delicious.

Lizzie and Dorothy widened their eyes after taking the first spoonful. After that, they didn’t say a word. They just ate silently.

As soon as their mouths opened, the spoon went in, and when their mouths opened again, food was hastily shoved in.

They had never seen anyone eat so diligently. It must have been incredibly delicious. They thought they really needed to earn a lot of money.

The next day, they planned to explore the village, but Lizzie and Dorothy had a slight fever. The fatigue from being startled by the goblin and being chased out of the village seemed to be catching up with them. The rattling carriage ride must have also taken its toll.

They cast a healing spell to bring down the fever, but they spent the whole day lounging around the inn.

Even without a fever, their faces were as red as peaches. Until Lizzie and Dorothy’s faces turned white again, they were constantly worried, even though they didn’t show it.

They also infused magic into the horned rabbit Oz every day as they had always done.

Strangely enough, even though Oz’s wounds had healed, he still begged Joo-hwan for magic.

If he didn’t give him magic, Oz would bite his fingers or chew all his hair off. It was so annoying that he had no choice but to give him magic.

When he gave him magic, the skin inside his forehead would occasionally glow faintly.

Oz begged for magic after Lizzie and Dorothy had fallen asleep, so they had never seen the light. They would be surprised when they saw it later. Somehow, he felt like a mischievous child, and he looked forward to that day a little.

*

On the day they went to the guild, Joo-hwan left the inn a little early. The appointment was around noon, but he planned to go a bit early to look around.

On the first day, he had only listened to the guild members’ chatter and ended up in a bloody mess, so he hadn’t had time to properly look around the guild office.

Moreover, Lizzie and Dorothy were too excited from the morning. Since they hadn’t properly explored the village, it would be good to take a look around before going to the guild.

As they walked from the alley where the inn was located to the central square, Lizzie looked around like a child.

Even so, she kept the money pouch tied around her waist turned to the front and held it tightly with one hand.

He couldn’t say it out loud, but he thought she looked like a country girl who had just come to the city.

Dorothy ran around like a little boss with Oz. When a peddler came to the previous village, she had timidly moved only in front of Joo-hwan and Lizzie, but with Oz, she seemed to feel invincible.

The child would disappear from sight in an instant, making his heart race. But he could stay calm because he trusted Oz. For some reason, he felt that everything would be alright with Oz.

From the end of the alley, the village square began to come into view. There were many people coming and going in the village square. Merchants, people dressed as adventurers, it was quite bustling. The village seemed even more crowded because its size was much smaller compared to a city.

Dorothy got excited and ran out as soon as the wide square appeared. Lizzie anxiously shouted for her to go slowly, but it was no use.

Dorothy, who had run ahead and gone out into the square, came running back. Her face was pale.

And for some reason, Oz was on top of Dorothy’s head. It looked like the child had rabbit ears.

“Dad! Dad! Three women are beating up a man!”

—

—

Huh? I think I heard something strange. Lizzy also had a puzzled expression.

Dorothy grabbed Joo-hwan and Lizzy’s hands and pulled them.

“Hurry! Hurry!”

I couldn’t tell if it was because the man was worried or if it was something amazing to see.

“It’s so cool! They’re hitting him! And it’s a woman!”

Ah, it seemed that women hitting men looked cool to her.

“….”

I had heard a bit from Lizzy about how Dorothy grew up. Dorothy, who grew up watching her biological father hit women, might have thought that women were just weak beings. It must have been fascinating to see the roles reversed, with a man being hit. A slightly bitter taste lingered in my mouth.

As we were led by the child to the square, we saw three women literally beating up a man in a corner.

All the women were holding knives. One was punching the man, another was kicking him. The remaining one….

“He might die like that.”

Joo-hwan muttered unconsciously. The remaining woman was hitting the man with a knife. Although it was in its sheath, if she accidentally hit his head, he could die.

People around tried to stop the women, but they seemed quite angry. Even when people dragged the man away, the women tenaciously followed.

Lizzy, who was being led by Dorothy, pulled the child’s hand. She hugged her tightly to prevent her from seeing the women hitting the man.

“You shouldn’t watch fights like that, Dorothy.”

“But! Mom! Those women, they’re adventurers! They’re stronger than men. They’re so cool! I want to be an adventurer too.”

Dorothy stopped talking and opened her eyes wider.

“I’m an adventurer! I was already an adventurer!”

Dorothy pulled her hand away from Lizzy and muttered as she looked at her.

“Mom, am I incredibly strong? Because I’m an adventurer? Are you strong too? Because you’re an adventurer?”

As Lizzy explained that it wasn’t the case, Joo-hwan quietly watched the women and the man. The man was completely covered in blood, no matter what he had done.

The gatekeeper we had seen at the village entrance a few days ago was standing in front of the man, trying to stop the women. He seemed to be persuading them.

But no one tried to arrest the women. Some people were criticizing the women, but they were just talking. No one tried to restrain them.

Even if they fought or died, did the law not intervene in individual disputes? Moreover, I heard that women’s rights were low, but were those women different? Because they were adventurers?

Joo-hwan watched Dorothy passionately talking about wanting to become an adventurer to Lizzy.

If becoming an adventurer was the way for a woman to live most freely….

Joo-hwan placed his hand on Dorothy’s head.

“Yes. I hope you become a great adventurer.”

Dorothy smiled brightly at Joo-hwan’s words.

“Right, Dad?”

But don’t beat the man like that.

Because hitting a person is a bad thing.