The next morning, I gathered my belongings meticulously.

  I always make sure to pack the essentials in my backpack each morning so I can leave at a moment’s notice, given the uncertainty of when enemies might appear and the unpredictable events that could unfold.

  If there is even one person similar to my mother, it wouldn't be a challenge for them to completely demolish a building, burying my precious items under rubble.

  Among my possessions, I always carry the most important items like money, my axe, and oddly enough, some unidentifiable beast teeth that my mother had packed for me. For some reason, such items were at the very bottom of my pack, not in a pouch but just lying at the base.

  Well, I’m not sure why she packed them, but there must be a reason if she went to the trouble. Maybe they’re charms for good luck or something beneficial if ground and ingested.

  Surprisingly, they might even have properties to ward off attacks from certain creatures.

  I could instantly recognize some as teeth, but there were others whose identities were completely obscure to me.

  Perhaps they are some kind of dried animal organs, good for health like a tonic.

  "Ah, I'll have to show these to Tatiana."

  They seem utterly useless to me but could be valuable to a witch.

  I'll show them to her when we have some time.

  "She might surprisingly be pleased."

  Tatiana does possess quite an array of bizarre items, including dried parts of animals.

  That was a bit frightening.

  Since I always keep my gear in order, it didn't take long to finish packing.

  I placed my large backpack in the corner and glanced over at Tatiana.

  She was meticulously organizing her things into her backpack as well.

  Perhaps it was a habit she picked up during her time as a dancer, as she neatly arranged what she needed daily and separately stored items that could be problematic if lost.

  In case of an emergency, she made sure the really important items were always hanging from her waist.

  Her priorities as a witch seemed slightly different, as even dried animal organs were kept in small chunks in her waist pouch.

  Watching her, I noticed Tatiana's ears gradually turning red.

  She must have noticed my gaze.

  I moved and sat beside her as she was tightly securing her backpack.

  "All done?"

  "Yes. Did I take too long?"

  "No, you finished just in time."

  It's delightful to watch one’s beautiful wife at work.

  I could watch her forever.

  Now I understand why my mother always watched my father.

  If one has such a cute and lovely partner, naturally, you'd want to stare unabashedly.

  "..."

  Though my father was beautiful, he was certainly not cute.

  "Tatiana."

  "Yes?"

  "..."

  I had inadvertently called her while thinking of her and my father.

  I had nothing to say.

  Or rather, I did have something to say.

  I spoke sincerely.

  "I really like you. I think I've liked you since the first time I saw you at the guild. It felt like being struck by lightning. Now I like you even more. You’re really beautiful, like an angel descended to Earth."

  "..."

  I'm not usually one for such sweet talk.

  But having died once, I know life should be lived without regrets.

  If I don't speak when something comes to mind, I'll regret it when I'm dead.

  Life is once only.

  Although it's my second time, still, this life as this person is only once.

  "Uh..."

  Tatiana seemed uncomfortable receiving such compliments.

  She covered her face with both hands.

  In doing so, the leftover string from tying her backpack got tangled around her fingers and pulled towards her face.

  It must have looked funny.

  Rella, who had been lounging on the bed, suddenly leaped at the string.

  However, her jump fell short.

  "Peep!"

  With a loud noise, Rela fell back onto the bed.

  How exactly does it manage that, making the bed creak and dip?

  The straw mattress is much firmer than modern beds, which is quite fascinating.

  "Rella!"

  Tatiana exclaimed in surprise, reaching out her hand.

  But there’s no need for worry.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Being a phoenix chick, a fall onto the bed won't even scratch it.

  As I thought this, Rela popped up with a chirp.

  she fluttered her wings noisily.

  Though still small and unable to fly, he seems to be growing a little during our time together.

  Her wing strength has definitely increased.

  Lately, she sometimes zips around with just a flap and jump, like a bullet.

  Watching the air currents disperse around, her flapping doesn’t seem like ordinary bird wings.

  Perhaps she’s not far from truly flying.

  Tatiana, startled by Rela’s fall, held her breath and scooped him up in her palms.

  "Be careful, Rella. You nearly stopped my heart."

  Rella, perched on her palm, seemed uninterested in her concerns.

  she pecked at the string still caught on her finger.

  Clearly, a phoenix is a strong bird, as a few pecks nearly severed the backpack string.

  It could undo the tie, causing the backpack to open again.

  While I was concerned about the backpack string, Tatiana was checking Rela for any injuries on her head and wings.

  She fiddled with Rella with her fingers, examining him from different angles, then suddenly tilted her head.

  "Uh... Rafa, here... Rella's feathers."

  "What's wrong?"

  I tensed a bit, thinking perhaps she might have been hurt when he fell.

  she’s sturdy, but still a baby.

  Leaning in to look at Rela, a hint of orange-yellow was visible among his dark ash-gray feathers.

  "What’s this?"

  My eyes widened involuntarily.

  Tatiana seemed a bit excited.

  She leaned in close to Rela, inspecting her feathers and spoke excitedly.

  "Looks like phoenix colors are finally showing. So this is how their color emerges when they’re chicks. Wow, so small. Really pretty. The feathers are the size of fingernails. So cute."

  The feathers seemed very small, not quite like feathers at all until you notice how densely the down clings to the quill.

  They were indeed real bird feathers.

  "That’s quite amazing."

  "Isn't it? So adorable. I wonder when these new feathers came in. I had no idea."

  Well, with her darting about, there wasn't exactly time to calmly stare at her feathers.

  As Tatiana bubbled over with excitement, Rella seemed to sense something.

  Though she couldn’t possibly understand why, she strutted proudly, puffing out her chest and chirping.

  The mother, perched high on a shelf, gracefully descended.

  She folded her wings and started to nudge her beak between Rella’s feathers, fussing about.

  After a moment, two small ash-gray feathers fell to the floor.

  Perhaps she was clearing out the old to make way for the new.

  Tatiana carefully picked up the fallen gray feathers and placed them into a parchment envelope.

  "Why? Do chick feathers have some medicinal use too?"

  I asked, and Tatiana laughed.

  "I’m not sure about that. Whether chick feathers are used in medicine. I just want to keep them as a memento. No more gray feathers will come in, after all."

  Cute, Tatiana murmured at the end.

  The small feathers are indeed cute.

  "But they’re ultimately just trash."

  Honestly, I couldn’t understand and internally shrugged.

  Come to think of it, my mother also kept things like my baby teeth and the remains from my first successful hunt.

  "Do women like such things?"

  Maybe Tatiana will keep things too when we have a child.

  ‘Our child.’

  Nice.

  That sentiment.

  Somehow, it feels really good.

  "But this might be a problem..."

  I muttered, looking at the proudly strutting Rella.

  "Ah... Yes."

  Tatiana’s expression grew serious.

  "It’s easy to hide the mother’s colors, but Rella is a bit..."

  "Probably so."

  The mother’s colors can be perfectly hidden with just a touch-up every few days.

  But Rela ends up covered in saliva from other creatures.

  Even if dusted with powder to color her, it would easily wash off.

  Just having Rella alone would draw suspicion due to his uniqueness, let alone with the mother present; anyone with keen eyes would easily suspect they’re phoenixes.

  Phoenix, the panacea of all ailments.

  Once discovered, settling down in one place would be difficult.

  "We wouldn’t be able to settle anywhere else either."

  Soon we might have a baby, and we can’t keep wandering forever.

  This is a serious issue.

  My face involuntarily frowned.

  "What to do?"

  The first real challenge of married life had arrived.

  Tatiana smiled reassuringly.

  "It’s okay. Rumors might spread, but if we keep moving and working, we’ll find jobs, and we have the feathers, so making a living won’t be too difficult. I think it might actually be fun to travel around."

  A lie.

  She had always wanted to save up to live in a house, not an inn.

  Settling down somewhere, raising children, and living an ordinary life mingling with neighbors was probably her dream.

  Carrying Rela around, such an ordinary life would be hard to dream about.

  "When I first picked up this little guy, I thought about releasing him back into the wild once he could survive on his own."

  But now, she wouldn’t be left alone.

  Who could have known that the bird would follow by scent?

  Tatiana stroked Rella’s orange feathers a few times, then dabbed some remaining color powder on them.

  My feelings were complex, but she seemed happy to see Rella growing a bit.

  "Let’s head to the guild. Times like these, we need to work hard to earn money for the future."

  "Right."

  My wife isn’t just beautiful; she’s realistic, hard-working, optimistic, and forward-thinking, which is adorable.

  For such a wife, I’d knock down anyone coming for the phoenix and create a fortress of bodies if necessary to ensure we settle down.

  "Tatiana, I’ll make sure you never regret marrying me."

  "Uh, yes, thank you."

  Tatiana tilted her head, somewhat overwhelmed by my determination, but she managed a vague smile.

  "Peep!"

  Rella flapped her wings above, as if he understood too.

  Little guy, now’s not the time to proudly puff out your chest. You’re the reason we’re in this mess.

  Filled with determination, we headed to the guild, but there was no suitable work for two mages.

  Requests were plentiful, but nothing for us.

  "Sorry, but we can’t just hand over high-level adventurer parties wholesale. If living was tough, it’d be another story, but that’s not the case for you. Working jobs that match your ranks is important for your own value too," Jenny continued apologetically.

  "Monster hunts would be fine, but since the hunting festival was just recently, there won’t be such requests in this area for a while."

  If we really wanted work, we could hunt monsters that the guild buys regularly.

  But that pays less than commissioned hunts.

  Tatiana looked at me as we listened.

  "Um, Rafa, shall we go foraging for herbs? I saw some rare herbs before we arrived here. I’d like to search that area again."

  "Oh, Tatiana, you’re well-versed in herbs too?"

  Jenny leaned forward.

  "Are they herbs that grow in winter too? That’s rare. We buy rare herbs regularly. They can be quite pricey. We have a specific manager for that, but if they’re really rare, they might fetch a good price."

  "Um, it’s nothing special. I just happen to gather them occasionally when I see them."

  Tatiana seemed a bit frightened that her identity as a witch might be exposed.

  She smiled awkwardly and hunched her shoulders.

  It was unclear how much she should reveal about her knowledge of herbs.

  Tatiana didn’t seem to want to prolong the conversation, so I promptly ended our stay and stood up.

  Adventurers glared at me resentfully.

  Their piercing eyes targeted me from all directions.

  "Let’s go, Tatiana."

  I took her hand.

  Ugh...

  Someone groaned suppressedly from a corner.

  Grumbling sounds came from various places.

  Mostly cursing me.

  Thief, plunderer, scoundrel, that sort of thing.

  Yeah, I get it.

  I flashed a grin at the crowd.

  Someone banged a fist on the table.

  "You’ll pay if you break the guild's property!"

  A staff member shouted from behind the counter.

  Talk about a tense atmosphere.

  "Rafa."

  She seemed embarrassed.

  Tatiana softly called me, trying to pull her hand away.

  But no, I was showing off on purpose.

  I tightened my grip slightly.

  The wedding ring I received a few days ago seemed to sparkle brilliantly.

  Someone sighed long and resignedly.

  "You don’t need to be so defensive. After all, even a hundred of us wouldn’t be a match for you. No one here would dare touch your wife."

  I think so too.

  Tatiana herself is quite a powerful mage.

  But this isn’t just about being cautious.

  It’s 80%, no, maybe 95% bragging.

  Feeling people’s anger and envy, I walked out of the guild holding Tatiana’s hand.

  Hehehe. Jealous, aren’t you?

  I’m jealous of myself too.

  The herb site Tatiana had noted was about a 30-minute walk from the city gate.

  Surprisingly close to the road.

  As we passed through the city gate and walked a bit, it happened.

  Still within sight of the gatekeeper, a man heading towards the gate suddenly stopped.

  Our gazes met.

  A torrent of hatred poured over his face.

  "Ah, this."

  An enemy.

  Even without him shouting "Helga," I knew.

  It seemed the results of the recent hunting festival were beginning to manifest.

  "The rumors really have spread."

  I had wondered.

  Perhaps it would just blow over vaguely.

  Being called a "Dragon Slayer" and such a strange title, I had hoped it might overshadow my mother’s reputation, but it seems not.

  In any case, I only move if they come to kill me.

  That’s the rule.

  "Get on with it then."

  I sighed as the man walked determinedly towards me.

  Mumbling, he seemed to be chanting something.

  With every step he took, the ground seemed to rustle like dirt.

  A magic I hadn't seen before.

  Well, that’s peculiar.