Chapter 8 – Chapter 1: Things Only I Didn’t Know – 3
Boom!
Uncle Posao put down the box of Rubes herbs roughly.
Then he took out a large handkerchief and began wiping away the sweat.
It was so sudden and absurd that I forgot what I was talking about with Tia.
The thought that immediately came to mind was that this situation was very dangerous.
Like a cauldron on the verge of boiling over.
As expected, the reaction came immediately.
“… Tsk, tsk…”
Tia clenched her teeth and shuddered.
In my opinion, that was a very restrained action.
After wiping off his sweat, Uncle Posao looked at Tia and smiled awkwardly.
“Ugh… T, there was Tia too…”
“-Don’t talk to me.”
“Boo…”
Tia drew a line like a knife with her cold voice.
He looked like he wanted to get out of this place right away.
There is only one person, Tiaga, whom even the cheesy Ruev calls his ‘close friend’.
There was one person in the village whom I hated and despised.
That’s Mr. Posao.
Tia avoided talking to Uncle Po Sao or even meeting him.
I still don’t know the reason, but I think it’s roughly similar to the disgust my aunts talk about.
It’s like the feeling of rejection felt by a man in a bad mood.
Anyway, it’s difficult.
She asked me to bring her rubes’ herbs today.
I didn’t expect Mr. Posao to come so early in the morning, and he happened to come while Tia was at the pharmacy, making the situation even more uncomfortable.
“Mister. Just leave it there for now. “I’ll come pick you up and give you the payment later.”
“No. “You have to get it now.”
“Yes? “Why?”
“… I have to go down to Taildon. Hehe…”
I need to send her away quickly before Tia becomes more uncomfortable.
She immediately opened the safe.
I had a lot to spend money on these days, so there was nothing left.
I searched her pockets. There is nothing but dust.
She quickly felt the touch of metal on her chest.
Ah. I have money right now.
A gold coin given by Tia.
For some reason, I didn’t want to write this…
It can’t be helped.
She quickly took Uncle Po Sao outside to finish her transaction.
“Here.”
“Goldfinch… ? Come on, I don’t have any change…”
“Are you okay. For now, don’t use this, just keep it. “I’ll come pick you up in a little while.”
“Ugh-. Okay…”
The moment the man receives the gold coin.
“Ugh?!”
Suddenly, Uncle Posao let out a strange groan and stumbled.
She was startled and tried to catch it, but immediately she let out a gasp.
“Whoa! Whoop-! Whoop-. Phew-.”
I had obviously wiped away all the sweat earlier, but sweat was still forming on my forehead.
“What’s wrong? “Where does it hurt?”
“Oh, no. Nothing… Hehe. Hee hee-. Then…”
The man walked out with an unpleasant laugh.
Hwiiing-.
I’m not in a good mood, but even the wind is blowing hotly.
After completing the transaction, I returned to the pharmacy.
Tia’s expression still wasn’t good.
“Ritz. That person… Why did you come?”
“I ran out of Rubes Herb. “I asked you a favor.”
“Can’t I just not do business with that person? “I don’t want that person coming into town.”
“Tia. I think I’m misunderstanding something, but Uncle Posao isn’t that bad of a person. He doesn’t need to be sensitive.”
“… Look at that. Ritz says that too…”
Tia sobbed and screamed.
“Luev isn’t a bad guy either… ! It’s not like that… ! “Don’t misunderstand!”
“Tia. That…”
Tia ran out of her pharmacy.
She tried to grab her arm, but the guy just shook it off and ran down the hill.
“Wait for a sec! Tia!”
Her red hair recedes.
Shit. My teeth inevitably ground.
She wondered if she should chase him, but she decided to just leave it alone.
Also, I felt like if I talked to her face to face, she would only fight more.
We need time to think calmly with each other.
“Tch.”
I picked up the box of Rubes herbs on the floor and went back to the pharmacy.
* * *
“You to want to go beyond the border… ?”
“Yes. “Chief.”
I took a deep breath and thought about it.
A long time passed in silence.
“Is it because of Tia?”
“Yes.”
“Tia caused an accident even though I gave her special permission. But does she think she has a reason to give you special permission?”
“I heard Tia hurt her leg jumping off a rock too hard.”
“Okay. Ruyev also said that.”
“… “I am different from Ruyev.”
The village chief’s black eyes are looking down at me.
Sigh.
Her dry hand stroked her armrest.
It took a long time before I could hear the voice.
“Ritz, what do you think of ‘faith’?”
“Faith… I think it is a wish that that will happen.”
“What do you think the opposite is?”
“… “I wonder if the trust has been broken.”
Geek.
The village chief lifted his upper body slightly.
The sound of the chair twisting sounded eerie.
“It is called ‘doubt.'”
A bony finger pointed at me.
“This world cannot always be trusted, always doubted… Since you were born as a human, you have to constantly alternate between those two standards… However, we humans have learned one very valuable lesson while living for thousands of years, so I think I should tell you about it.”
There was affection in the corner of the village chief’s wrinkled eyes.
“Doubt those who are far away, and trust those who are near even more.”
It was as if I could see right through it.
It felt like I was kneeling naked in front of the village chief without any clothes on.
The village chief knew everything.
Even though I haven’t even taken a single step out of this cabin.
He knew everything.
After a long breath and deep silence.
A firm voice was heard.
“It’s a responsibility you brought out with your own mouth, so you can prove it yourself.”
“I will take responsibility.”
Permission was given to go outside the border.
It was when I was about to stand up from my seat.
The village chief added once more.
“… Always trust and love those close to you.”
Clutter.
The cabin door was closed.
As I went down the hill, I reflected on the village chief’s words.
Surely… I myself didn’t understand why they pushed Tia so hard.
Could it be that the complaints that had been building up exploded all at once and became uncontrollable?
The more I think about it, the more I feel sorry for myself.
As I walked lost in thought, I eventually arrived at a general store.
It was to pay the payment promised in the morning and retrieve the gold coins.
Uncle Posao also seemed to have finished his business in the village below and was just opening the general store.
I thought they were buying something grand because they were in a hurry.
What I was holding in my hand was a small bundle.
“Mister. “I came to retrieve the gold coins I gave you this morning.”
“Whoa-. Yeah, yeah…”
We went inside the general store.
The man put down the bundle and took a deep breath.
When I handed him the money bag, he slowly started counting the price of the herbs.
Meanwhile, I looked around the shelves.
I saw a necklace set. It was a necklace decorated with minerals of various colors.
The gemstones are as small as powder, so it’s embarrassing to even call it a jewel necklace.
It seemed appropriate enough to be worn once during a baptism ceremony.
“I’ll buy you a ruby necklace. Please take it out of the change.”
I put on her necklace.
This kind of decoration is usually worn by women, so it was a bit awkward for me.
But I’m not going to use it anyway. I decided to just buy it.
“Ritz. Here’s the change… And gold coins…”
Uncle Posao held out a gold coin.
I can feel the texture of the scratched area. It was definitely the gold coin Tia gave me.
“Thank you.”
“Hey, come again next time…” .”
“Yes.”
I put the necklace in my pocket and was about to leave.
Tuk.
I ended up hitting the bundle and knocking it over.
Churrrr-!
A round object poured out between the loose knots.
The interior of the general store was dark, but as soon as I saw that familiar shape and color, I knew what it was.
“… Ginger biscuits?”
Not just one.
There seemed to be more than 10 spilled on the floor.
I went down from the village below and bought it… It was just a ‘ginger biscuit’?
Uncle Posao came running, pounding.
“Naaah! My biscuits… !”
“Oh, I’m sorry. “I will reimburse you.”
“No… Dog, it’s okay. Don’t mind…”
I was watching the man kneel down on the floor like a pig and pick up biscuits. I knew it was rude, but I almost laughed.
But are ginger biscuits so popular that even this guy is buying them now?
At this point, the seeds of all of Taildon’s ginger will have dried up, right?
“Mister. “Did you buy that to sell?”
“Ah… No, that’s not it…”
“You’re eating it all by yourself?”
“Yes…”
It’s a great appetite.
So that huge belly fat won’t shrink.
Well, it just turned out well.
“I’ll buy one. You need to lose weight. “I have less work to do if you are healthy.”
“Ugh-. Is that so… ?”
In the end, I bought ginger biscuits and left.
But I’m a bit picky.
At Taildon, it costs 90 copper each, but you get 3 silver.
Where in the world is there a businessman who sells biscuits at three times the price?
Still, I decided to think of it as an apology to Tia.
The rest of her time was spent leisurely in the pharmacy.
It was a day when the waiting time felt boring.
I met Uncle Marvin along the way and asked him what he was up to.
Ruyev was placed on probation for yesterday’s incident.
It was an unprecedented incident, but considering his contribution to the village so far, it was decided to only punish him for a week.
Marie seemed happy to be able to stay with her brother all day.
Tia received a mild warning.
It seems that Ruyev ended up doing everything wrong.
It is said that the main reason was that Ruyev himself strongly wanted it in the first place.
She went to have dinner after the sun had set, but Tia was nowhere to be seen.
She asked her aunt Sherry and was told that she had gone to rest early because she was not feeling well.
I waited for the night to deepen.
It wasn’t until it was deep enough for everyone to fall asleep that I was able to move again.
Rustling-.
It’s been a long time since I crawled through the grass on a dark night.
Even when I was young, I used to sneak out like this and go see Tia.
Now it has become a memory.
It was so dark I couldn’t see, but strangely, my body remembered.
I went up the hill, trusting the flow of the wind, and before I knew it, I saw Aunt Sherry.
I approached cautiously.
Tia’s room was a large protruding area.
She stood close to the wall, quickly turned the corner and glanced at the window.
“… “Wow!”
She almost died from shock.
Tia was resting her chin on the window sill and staring at me.
