Chapter 1 – Chapter 1: Brisden – 2
When I came down to the village below, it was already sunset.
Taildon.
This village, which we call ‘lower village,’ was named Taildon, meaning it was located at the end and tail of the Dragonez Mountains.
Even though it is sunset, people are busy moving around.
Every time I come, the scenery keeps changing.
It is a complexity that is clearly felt.
Taildon was close to the sea, so there were a lot of people there, and it was five times larger than Brisden.
So it was the largest village in this area.
“Oh, Ritz! “I guess it came down?”
When we arrived at the entrance of the village, little Vincent recognized us first and greeted us.
“Okay. “I have something to buy.”
“Brother, I always come to buy, not to sell! Hehe.”
Vincent raised her head, glanced behind me, and asked.
“What about Tia? “Are you coming?”
“No. “I came alone.”
“Eh? Did you fight?”
“No. “I just came alone.”
“No way-. Don’t do that. What happened? My older brother abandoned my older sister and came down alone! That can’t be possible!”
This kid is annoyingly asking questions.
I was a little annoyed, but I understand why Vincent asked that.
I, no, ‘we’… Because we always came down to Taildon together.
Tia was amazing in many ways.
With his incredible friendliness, he interacted with the residents of the village below without hesitation, played with the children, fought with drunkards, and last year, I was invited to the Thanksgiving Festival, so I was dragged there too…
As a result, as you can see, he has become a celebrity in Taildon.
Well, at the same time, our ‘relationship’ also became famous.
“If it wasn’t for your brother fighting with your sister, why did you come alone? We’re always close friends!”
“Actually, something happened.”
“What? Really? What is it, what is it! “Tell me!”
She smiled at Vincent, whose eyes were sparkling.
“Tonight. Tia wants to play at my house.”
“Oh!”
The startled guy hurriedly covered his mouth and looked around.
“No way… ?”
The little girl made a loop on one of her hands and pretended to put her finger into it.
This bastard. I immediately fed honey chestnuts to the top of my head.
“Aya!”
“I don’t know, but don’t do that in front of Tia. If you get kicked, it will hurt a lot.”
Ugh. A little kid already knows things like that.
When I meet that guy’s older brother later, I’ll tell him to educate his younger brother well.
“I’ll support you, bro!”
What is cheering?
I left Vincent rubbing his head and went inside.
If you walk along the village entrance, you will find the ‘Contact Center’.
This is a place frequented by mercenaries traveling to and from Deseo.
Deseo.
It is the capital of this country and a very large port city.
The merchants said it meant ‘you can take whatever you want.’
Deseo was located in the middle of the Central Sea and was a major hub where ships, goods, and people from nearby countries gathered.
That’s why it was called the best port on earth.
A city where all things in the world come together for a moment and then spread out into the world.
To borrow a derogatory expression from the village chief, it is a city that ‘sucks everything in and then spits it out’, and the ‘center of the world’ heard in Uncle Joseph’s impassioned speech refers to that place.
… The problem is that the center of the world is too far away.
It took a full 15 days to get from our village to Deseo.
It is a famous road called ‘Mess Road’, and the mercenaries of the liaison office traveled this road and made a living from the wages they received.
It is said that Uncle Joseph also worked at this liaison office during its heyday, so in other words, it is like a training center for fledgling mercenaries.
I opened the old tent of the liaison office and entered the shabby interior.
“Hello. “I came to say hello.”
Sitting inside was a middle-aged man with gray hair.
He is the manager of the liaison office and the teacher who taught Tia swordsmanship until last year.
The teacher greeted me warmly as soon as he saw me.
“Oh, it’s Ritz. A long time. “What about Tia?”
“I came alone.”
“So? It’s no big deal.”
“It just happened to be like that.”
“Okay. Go play. “How is the village chief?”
“Yes.”
“Haha. “I’m glad you haven’t changed.”
At first glance, it may seem like a good thing to say, but it is not in reality.
If I were to interpret what Teacher Bin meant directly, it would be like ‘that guy who never dies and lives for a very long time.’
Some of the residents of Taildon came down and settled after a conflict with the village chief, so it was difficult to expect a good evaluation.
“Oops. It came right at the right time. “I had something to tell Tia.”
Tuk.
A well-wrapped parcel was placed in front of me.
Although it was tied roughly, there was only one item that was tightly packed with such fine fabric.
“Book… Is it?”
“This is what Tia asked for. She ordered it last year, and it’s only arrived now. In any case, he also gave his teacher a hard time.”
“It’s thick.”
“It’s expensive so be careful.”
I know.
Even without opening the package, it was easy to tell that it was a fairly expensive book with this weight.
As a rough estimate, it would be about 10 gold coins. In fact, it is meaningless because it is a price.
Books were rare in Brisden.
That’s because the only people in our village who could read were the village chief, me, and Tia.
Since I grew up under the village chief, I was naturally able to learn how to read, and while Tia went with me, she just learned it on her own.
He is a so-called genius.
Honestly, if Tia had been in charge of her pharmacy, she would have been a much better pharmacist than me by now.
It’s because I hate being boring by nature, but I’m also pretty smart enough to read all the books in the medicine cabinet and remember the contents.
I knew she loved books that much.
Now I’m even thinking about ‘buying’ the book. This is a bit surprising.
“I will deliver it well. I think Tia will like it.”
“How is Tia these days? She still… “She was having a hard time because of that?”
“Yes. Not yet. But don’t worry too much because I’m watching over you.”
Teacher Bean tapped me on the shoulder.
“Yes, Ritz. I only believe in you. Please help Tia well. “She will definitely come with me next time she comes down.”
“Yes. Then…”
I left the liaison office.
What kind of windfall is this!
Suddenly, I was entrusted with a book errand.
Tia ordered it, but she brought it to me anyway, so it felt like a ‘gift’.
As a bonus, I can also read along with you.
I have a feeling that tonight will be somewhat fun.
She quickly took her steps and headed to her snack shop.
She didn’t have to worry about where she was.
If you see children making noise in the middle of the street, there is a good chance that there is a snack shop.
As she walked inside, smelling the fragrant cookies, she was greeted with a strong welcome.
“Oh my god who is this! “It’s a Ritz!”
“Hello, Aunt Lily.”
“Where did Tia go?”
“I came alone.”
“Ho Ho. She just sticks around and says why are you doing this? Has Ritz grown up now? Ho ho ho.”
Under…
This is already the third time I’ve been asked this question, ‘Where did Tia go?’
It’s starting to get tiresome to answer, so I promise again and again that we’ll definitely come down together next time.
I grabbed some snacks while briefly exchanging updates with the lady.
Since she was determined to live comfortably, she also picked up some expensive candy today.
The party must be full.
Fluffy pound cake and pickled strawberries with milk. I chose plenty without any regrets.
Now, there is the finale.
Left corner from center.
Every time Tia stops by Tail Dawn, she has to buy one of her favorite snacks, ‘Ginger Biscuits’.
About 5 would be enough, right?
No, should I just buy everything on the shelf? She went away with that thought in mind.
“Uh.”
There was nothing there.
“…”
That’s strange.
Ginger biscuits were a snack that remained until dinner because the children did not like them very much.
So we always bought biscuits for dinner and a snack to share and then went up to Brisden.
But I never thought I would see it all sold out.
“Madam. “Do you have any ginger biscuits?”
“Huh? Oh, that? It’s all gone. Even what I made today.”
Has it suddenly become a fad?
All kinds of things happen in life.
Why is there no time to have a snack party? No luck.
Tia will also be waiting for ginger biscuits, what should I say…
It was a moment when I was about to take a step back and turn my attention to other snacks.
Clutter.
A boy came into the snack shop.
“Oh my, even Ruev! What’s happening all of a sudden? You guys are all coming to buy bread. “Is there some kind of party going on in the village above?”
At Aunt Lily’s words, the boy also turned around.
It looks like he had the same thoughts as me.
The expression ‘Why are you here?’ Was clearly visible on the guy’s face.
“… “Is it you?”
“… Hello.”
He passed by me with a slightly tired look in his eyes.
Ruyev.
Bushy blonde hair, and slightly tanned skin that looks like she would be good at field work.
A friend who is friendly and has strong shoulders, so the village elders often use him… It was.
A friend.
Well, it seems like everyone calls Luev, Marie, me, and Tia together as ‘friends.’
Actually, Ruyev and I don’t get along that well.
No, it’s not that bad… It’s just a cider that ignores it.
Luev is a year older than me, but he is not from the village.
He was a war orphan brought in by Uncle Joseph a long time ago.
It is said that he came from a land far north, so he had a large physique and strong muscles.
I’m good at my job.
The problem was that he was a ‘twisted guy’ who was hot-tempered and had crooked thoughts about everything.
While he was polite to his elders, he was irritated or rude to us, who were his friends.
Tia seemed to get along just fine with Ruev, but I tended to keep my distance from that guy as much as possible because our personalities didn’t match.
Ruyev asked bluntly.
“Are you alone?”
Breaking a new record. This is the fourth time.
“Yeah, I’m alone. “What are you doing here?”
“… “I don’t need to know.”
Even that cheap guy who asks me questions and doesn’t answer himself.
I don’t even get angry anymore.
Since he was that kind of guy, it was good for his mental health to just give up.
If there’s anything wrong with it, it’s my fault for mixing things up.
Ruyev began to look around the shelves as if he was looking for something.
But he wandered around for a while because he couldn’t see what he was looking for.
In the end, the lady who was watching asked first.
“Ruyev, are you looking for something?”
“I’m looking for ‘ginger biscuits.'”
“… ?”
For a moment, I couldn’t believe my ears.
Aunt Lily clapped her hands and laughed.
“Oh my goodness! Did you come to buy that too? Sorry, but it’s all sold out. “Next time, the lady will prepare a lot more.”
“… All right. “Then.”
Luyev turned his head and walked out of his pastry shop.
What is it?
What is it?
Why is that guy looking for ginger biscuits?
No, in the first place, Tia and I were the only ones who often came down to Taildon and enjoyed buying ginger biscuits.
Why did Ruyev suddenly come down to Tailden without saying anything and try to buy ‘those snacks’?
“Ritz. Have you picked them all? “This lady needs to close her door soon.”
“Oh, yes. “Here.”
While I was calculating, I glanced back.
Ruev had already gone somewhere and was nowhere to be seen.
… I feel like something is unlucky.
