I Thought It Was a Healing Farming Game Chapter 18

“No, that’s not true!”

Seeing Priam try to blame himself, I immediately raised my voice.

“I… I don’t want to do anything you dislike! No matter how trivial it might seem…”

To me, the villagers here—my friends—were incredibly precious.

They had been my support, helping me endure the hardest times of my life, and a place of comfort for my heart.

“Miel…”

Priam reached out to me, looking unsure of what to do.

I clutched the hem of my clothes tightly and stepped back. I barely managed to suppress the emotions welling up inside me as I spoke.

“I just… want you to feel comfortable and happy when you’re with me. I don’t want you to feel guarded or have to worry about anything when we’re together…”

I lowered my head, staring at the ground.

I wanted to become that kind of person for the people here, too. Just as they had given me so much.

“Miel.”

I flinched at the sound of Priam’s approaching footsteps and slowly lifted my head.

“Thank you.”

Priam smiled brightly at me.

Priam’s Affection +30

When I roughly rubbed the corners of my eyes with the back of my hand, Priam took out a handkerchief and offered it to me.

“I never expected you to care about me this much. I’m happy.”

The corners of Priam’s mouth lifted into a smile that conveyed his sincere gratitude.

I was relieved that he didn’t seem burdened by what I’d said. Carefully, I revealed a little of the affection I felt for the villagers of Node.

“To be honest, I want to become friends with everyone here.”

“Everyone?”

Priam couldn’t hide how happy my answer made him.

“It seems you’ve grown fond of our village, Miel. I’m glad.”

Of course I had!

I couldn’t explain all the reasons to him since he had no memories of me, but still…

“Oh! Miel, why don’t we take this opportunity to look around the village? I’ll show you around.”

Priam made a tempting offer.

“I’d love to, but didn’t you say you had work to do earlier?”

“I can do it later. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Friends?

I hesitated because Priam seemed busy, but that irresistible word made me change my mind in an instant.

“Okay!”

After happily accepting his offer, I began walking alongside Priam.

“There’s an apricot tree over there. The little fruits are about to start growing, so I’m taking care of it. These are peach trees. They bloom beautifully in spring.”

“They really do have pretty flowers. They bear fruit in summer, right?”

The scenery was so dazzling that it couldn’t even compare to what I’d seen on the tiny screen.

Watching the deep pink petals flutter through the air, I wandered around the village as though I were out on a leisurely stroll.

“This is wonderful…”

After scurrying around here and there, we took a break on a nearby patch of grass.

An inexplicable sense of freedom washed over me.

“Are you having fun, Miel?”

Priam suddenly leaned into my field of vision while I was lying on the grass.

“Yeah!”

The most satisfying and enjoyable part was that Priam was now the one approaching me first.

I picked up a pale green leaf that had fallen onto the grass, held it beside his eye, and exclaimed in delight.

“Wow, they’re exactly the same!”

Priam burst into a refreshing laugh that was pleasant to hear.

Then he pointed to a flower blooming in the grass and said,

“Miel, your eyes are the same color as these yellow petals.”

“Hehe.”

“But…”

Priam stared intently at something before asking,

“What’s that doll in your pocket?”

“Oh, this? It’s cute, isn’t it? Do you know about it, too? The Town Hall gave them out, and…”

I stopped mid-sentence, hurriedly pulled out the cat doll, and exclaimed,

“Look! It changes like this!”

“What changes?”

“Its color. It was white originally, but now it’s orange… Huh?”

The ginger cat had already turned back into a white cat.

Maybe white is its default color?

Priam gently stroked the cat doll with his finger, saying how cute it was.

“Miel.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re staying with Siad now, right?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

Priam rested his head on my knee and turned his face toward me as he asked,

“What kind of person do you think Siad is?”

“Siad is…”

I closed my eyes and thought carefully.

From the moment I’d woken up in Node until now, Siad had…

As I recalled his actions one by one, the words slipped out of my mouth as though I were under a spell.

“An angel…?”

“What did you say?”

I smiled brightly at Priam, who stared at me in a daze.

“I’ve never met anyone as kind and good-hearted as Siad in my entire life. Isn’t he amazing?”

“Kin…”

Perhaps my words had moved him deeply, because Priam struggled to continue speaking. I kept praising Siad without hesitation.

“Of course, I mistook him for an angel based on his appearance alone when he first rescued me! But the more I get to know him, the more I wonder if he really might be an angel.”

“In what way…?”

“His gentle personality, how considerate he is… Normally, if you found a complete stranger collapsed somewhere, you wouldn’t think to take them home and look after them, would you? And he even told me I could stay at his house for as long as I wanted. I couldn’t do that, even if I were given another life.”

“Sounds like Siad is taking… good care of you.”

“Very, very good care! Yesterday, when I came home, he’d even made a meat pie for me to eat. It was so delicious. I ate half of it by myself, and he still encouraged me to eat more.”

Priam quietly murmured, covering his mouth with one hand.

“I see…”

“That meat pie was truly the best. I hadn’t eaten one since I was little, so it was even more… Ah. I’ve been talking about myself this whole time, haven’t I? I’m sorry.”

I hurriedly apologized to Priam, who seemed to have a lot he wanted to say.

“No, not at all. I like listening to you talk, Miel.”

“I really like talking with you like this, too, Priam! By the way, what are the other villagers like? I don’t know them very well yet.”

“The villagers? There’s a ranch near my orchard, and the people there are all energetic and kind. They should be easy to get along with if you approach them.”

“You mean Grandma Mael’s ranch, right? She’s already helped me a lot.”

“That’s right. She’s passed it down to her daughter, Mrs. Day, so it’s called Day Ranch now.”

“Does Grandma Mael not work at the ranch anymore?”

“She still does. She just gets tired too quickly to handle everything on her own like she used to.”

“I see…”

“Then there’s Mr. Tom at the general store and Mr. Kenny, who runs the grocery market. They’re both very kind.”

Then Priam brought up the topic I was most eager to discuss.

“And there are a few young villagers you might get along with, too. There’s me, Siad, and a friend named Kais who manages the village.”

“Yeah!”

“There’s also a mansion in the western forest where a pair of twins live. They look… pretty young. Even younger than you, Miel.”

My eyes sparkled as I eagerly fired off questions.

“What are they like? What do they enjoy? I want to become friends with them!”

Seeing my expectant expression, Priam gently closed his mouth.

“…Rather than that.”

“Rather than that?”

“Maybe it would be better if you… became friends with Siad…”

“Siad?”

After much deliberation, he finally spoke, as though he’d been struggling to decide what to say.

“Getting along with Siad might be the best… option…”

I burst out laughing.

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

I could understand why he hesitated to talk about Kais and the twins, given their unusual personalities.

But Priam looked as though he were facing an extremely serious problem, and I couldn’t help laughing.

“You might get hurt, Miel.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Ah, I mean, they might be difficult to get along with—”

“I’ve found you.”

A soft voice, as gentle as cotton candy, settled over our conversation.

I tilted my head back.

“Siad!”

I sprang to my feet and scampered over to him.

“Wow! How did you find me? Speak of the devil, and he shall appear—”

“The devil?”

“Oh, it’s a saying from the village where I used to live. It means that when you’re talking about someone, they suddenly show up.”

“Were you talking about me?”

“Yes!”

Siad glanced briefly at Priam, then turned back to me with a gentle smile.

“I woke up and couldn’t find you anywhere, so I was worried.”