I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life… So Why Do Heroes Worship Me?

It began with soup.

Well, soup... and a knock.

A gentle one this time. Which, given recent experience, made Kreg almost more suspicious than the thunderous kind.

"I don't trust it," he whispered, stirring the pot. "No one polite ever shows up here without a plan."

Ellyn smirked. "Could be a monk."

"Or worse," Kreg muttered. "A critic."

Rei opened the gate himself. He already knew who it was.

"...Tairn."

The man standing there was taller than Rei, wiry but unmistakably dangerous. His cloak was patchy, his boots travel-worn, and his grin smug enough to wilt flowers. He carried no visible weapons, which only meant he was hiding three.

"Well, well," Tairn said. "The ghost finally stopped floating."

"You were always dramatic," Rei replied.

"I learned from the best."

Behind Rei, Lynna appeared mid-yawn—and froze.

"Who's that?" she asked sharply, eyes narrowing.

Tairn's smile widened. "Another stray, Rei? She doesn't look like the fuzzy kind."

"I'm not a stray," Lynna snapped. "I'm training."

"You just said yesterday that you weren't," Auron muttered from behind the herb rack.

She glared at him, then turned back to Tairn. "And you are?"

"Tairn," he said with an exaggerated bow. "Old companion of your peaceful host here. You might say we danced in more chaotic days."

Lynna blinked. "You mean… Rei had a life before this?"

Rei sighed.

"Oh yes," Tairn said, strolling in like he owned the place. "We tamed wild lands, shattered rogue sects, and once survived four assassination attempts over a card game."

Auron dropped his cup.

Kreg muttered, "I knew there was something off about him. No normal gardener makes that many perfect cuts."

Lynna looked like someone had just turned her worldview upside down and then offered her tea.

"He never mentioned—"

"He wouldn't," Tairn interrupted. "He always liked silence more than celebration. Used to drive the rest of us mad."

Rei turned to Fluff. "Can you please knock the smug out of him?"

Fluff blinked. And then—without moving—flung Tairn's travel bag off the bench with one swipe of his tail.

Tairn laughed. "Still the same welcome."

Ellyn peeked in from the side room. "So… are we feeding him, or...?"

"I brought my own wine," Tairn said, holding up a dusty bottle.

Kreg instantly changed sides. "Set a plate."

—

Dinner was crowded.

Auron tried to ask questions without sounding too curious. Ellyn interrogated Tairn with polite venom. Kreg kept making suspiciously rich side dishes.

Lynna, for her part, glared at her soup like it had betrayed her.

Tairn noticed.

"So, what are you? The student? The assistant? The doomed admirer?"

Lynna choked.

"I—I'm not any of those!"

"Ah," Tairn said. "So it's the third one."

"I'm not admiring anyone!"

"Sure," Tairn drawled. "That's why you turned purple when Rei complimented your wardlines."

Rei calmly chewed a dumpling.

"I did not—"

Fluff sneezed.

"—turn purple!"

Tairn leaned toward Rei. "You always attract the loud ones."

"I don't attract anyone," Rei said.

Tairn raised a brow. "You say that like it's true."

After dinner, the tension simmered even as the lanterns cooled.

Tairn pulled Rei aside near the greenhouse.

"You know it's not going to stay quiet forever," he said, voice low now.

"I know."

"There's whispers," Tairn continued. "People are watching again. Some of them just want answers. Others... want leverage."

"I'm not part of their game."

"No. But they'll still move their pieces through your garden."

Rei looked up at the stars.

Tairn stepped back. "Be careful, old friend. Still waters draw deep eyes."

He left at dawn.

Didn't say goodbye.

Just vanished like the old days.

Rei sat under the plum tree later that morning, tea in hand, Fluff curled nearby.

Lynna approached, arms crossed tighter than usual.

"So... he was your comrade?"

"Among others."

"And he called you peaceful with a straight face."

Rei sipped. "Because I am."

"You tamed a berserker beast with a whisper."

Rei blinked. "Would you prefer I shouted?"

She flinched.

Then, after a long pause, sat beside him.

Not close. But not far.

"He called me an admirer," she muttered. "Idiot."

Rei didn't reply.

But he did pour her a second cup.

And for a moment, the silence between them wasn't tense.

Just... comfortable.