"Right now, you're asking me to give you Endymion...?"
"The moment he enters my farm, he's mine. Do you think my farm is a daycare center? That you can drop him off and pick him up when the time comes? There's no such thing."
My condition was for Paladin to completely give up his partner, Endymion, and hand over all rights to me.
If he accepted my terms, not only would Paladin have to face future battles at a severe disadvantage without a partner, but he would also lose all the effort he had invested in him thus far for nothing.
Paladin hesitated. 'Even so, that's...' His thoughts were glaringly obvious.
I didn't give him an opening to object and kept pushing.
"You want to save him, don't you? But you're handing him over because it's beyond your capabilities and you can't handle it anymore, right? No matter what you try, you can't stop Endymion from self-harming, so as a last resort, you want to put him in a subspace and hope a change in environment will do the trick."
"..."
"You're begging someone you've never even met before, who is also a competitor, simply because we're both gamers from Korea."
Paladin was much calmer than I had expected. His agitation was only momentary; a calm, expressionless mask quickly concealed it.
"The person you are looking at has attempted suicide dozens of times."
Spitting out each word clearly, Paladin asked, as if testing my resolve.
"Are you confident you can handle that?"
Before answering, I paused to choose my words carefully. After some thought, I replied.
"I'm not going to do anything. I know jack shit about psychological counseling, I don't particularly plan on acting sweet, and I don't have the time to comfort him over every little thing. I can't empathize with or even imagine what it feels like to fall apart because you lost your god. I'm an atheist."
Even though I said it so bluntly, Paladin didn't get angry. I thought he would show at least a little hostility, so this was unusual.
Or maybe he was just that desperate.
"Just imagine that your family has disappeared from this world. That's the closest comparison. Rather than dying in an accident or something, they have simply vanished from this world entirely. Without leaving a single trace."
"I don't have a family either. I was an orphan."
"..."
I don't know if I came across as unlikable or not, but I knew one thing for sure: just how incredibly calculating I must look in this man's eyes right now.
And yet, I naturally stated that I would take Endymion, and Paladin wasn't saying he wanted to cancel the deal even now.
Why?
I knew the reason.
"You're the one who thought and obsessed the most over how to help and raise Endymion back up, and you ultimately chose me. That means there's no better option out there than me. You came to me without even knowing my personality. You weren't looking for a psychological counseling expert. You came looking for a 'farmer with subspace abilities'."
For once, I spoke with complete confidence.
In that split second when he stared at me with those sapphire-blue eyes, Paladin's normally majestic presence looked just like that of any ordinary, desperate person.
"You're telling me to abandon my partner and fight alone while others fight in pairs. If I do that, I have nothing left. Do you think this is a fair trade?"
"Change the premise and imagine leaving him to me without such conditions. Wouldn't you constantly be suspecting whether or not I'm harming Endymion?"
Perhaps caught off guard by the unexpected rebuttal, Paladin shut his mouth.
He and I had only exchanged a few words and were strictly competitors. If I had accepted Endymion under different conditions, Paladin would constantly be on edge from then on. What if I was intentionally ruining Endymion further? What if Endymion was suffering more?
Wouldn't giving up ownership of Endymion and handing him over to me entirely solve that? If he became my person, I would naturally treat him well.
This deal depended on Paladin's final decision.
Would he still think of his own standing in the competition? Or would he act solely for Endymion's sake?
It was a heavy dilemma to decide on the spot. Even so, it seemed Paladin had made up his mind.
"If you take him, how will you treat him?"
I smiled slightly.
"First, I'll put away anything sharp."
"And?"
"I'm not confident it will have an effect on Endymion, but my farm is basically a sanctuary for plant therapy. The space isn't huge, but the view beyond the barrier is set to show green mountains and hills, so it's good for his eye health."
"And?"
"He has to earn his keep. I don't know if he has the dexterity for farming work... but surely the guy can at least manage sweeping, laundry, and doing the dishes, right?"
The back-and-forth volley of questions and answers ceased. For a moment, silence flowed between Paladin and me.
I looked at him, as if waiting for the answer he needed to give.
"...Please take good care of Endy."
Paladin bowed his head to me, his expression a mix of dozens of different emotions.
I received Endymion's body. Paladin turned around from his piggyback posture and carefully settled Endymion into my arms.
I held the priest in a princess carry for a moment, but soon changed my posture. I hoisted the priest's body up and slung him over my right shoulder.
Paladin frowned seeing the priest draped over my shoulder as limp as a dried weed, but I easily ignored him. Paladin opened and closed his mouth a few times, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to say anything.
"For the record, you don't need to pay me or anything. He's my person now, so I'll feed and support him."
Paladin thought for a bit before speaking.
"...No. I will give you a certain amount. They say that even a dog, if adopted for free, won't adapt to its new home and becomes a nuisance. So, please accept a little."
"He's not a dog, though."
Well, there was no reason to refuse if he was offering it.
Paladin handed me a pouch containing a thousand gold.
Seeing him hand over such a considerable amount so willingly, he must have earned quite a bit by hustling here and there. The priest, Endymion, had zero foundation, so there was no way he had any financial backing to rely on.
Paladin quietly stared at Endymion, who was hoisted on me, his eyes carrying a deep, heavy look that was hard for me to interpret.
...Sorry. Because I had him slung upside-down over one shoulder, he probably only got a view of Endymion's butt during their final farewell.
Paladin turned away as if he had no lingering attachments. I watched his retreating back, and when he had completely disappeared among the trees, I turned around.
I already knew the ultimate outcome of this trade.
It was different from how it appeared. This was a trade where I took a loss no matter what. Even though I received money and gained a subordinate, it was still a loss.
'If you consider the Hunter abilities of the Priest and the Paladin, that is.'
However, that didn't mean Paladin scammed me. Paladin probably didn't even realize that this was highly advantageous to him.
And, Paladin's eyes had been sincere.
He swallowed his sense of failure, gritted his teeth, and gave Endymion up. Because that was the best path for Endymion's sake.
I had thought this before, but for someone I met through a game, Paladin was an incredibly rational and polite person. Even for me, if someone like him bowed their head and pleaded, it was hard to flat-out refuse.
Besides, the existence I could save was no longer just a game character, but an actual, living person.
I gave the back of Endymion's thigh, who was slung over my shoulder, a squeeze. Even though my hands aren't very big, his thigh easily fit into one hand.
'He's nothing but skin and bones, totally living up to his scholar look. If I make him do farm work, his food and herbal medicine will end up costing more than whatever he produces.'
"Heave-ho."
With a light grunt, I adjusted Endymion on my shoulder. When I opened my free hand, a key materialized. Ping! I flicked the key.
[Returning to the farm.]
[Guest: 1]
'This is a first. Bringing an outsider into the farm.'
Since Belsus, who had a copy of the master key, was recognized as the farm's co-owner.
Belsus happened to be punching a training dummy. Seeing me, he stopped all his movements, and his eyes widened. the second widest I had ever seen them.
I tossed the priest's body onto a pile of straw with a loud Thud!
Strands of straw poked out from his holy-looking blue hair. Watching his bloodless cheeks, which looked as fragile as glass ornaments, get smudged with straw dust and turn grubby made me feel incredibly refreshed inside.
Belsus's complexion turned deathly pale.
"Did you kill him?"
"He's perfectly alive."
I deliberately acted aloof toward Endymion, acting as if I had brought home a massive nuisance.
Belsus approached and placed his hand under Endymion's nose to check his breathing. Even though he realized it wasn't a corpse, Belsus still looked pale as he alternated his gaze between me and Endymion.
"His situation is pitiful, so I ended up taking him in starting today. He's our house servant. He's not like you, so there's no need to treat him nicely. Feel free to treat him roughly too."
It was something I had heard somewhere. When adopting a second child, you should pretend to be as uninterested in them as possible so the first child doesn't get shocked. If you walk through the front door coddling the second child, the first one feels the shock of being abandoned.
"From now on... is he living with us?"
Even though I had been careful, Belsus still seemed quite taken aback.
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