PTMH 09

Chapter 09

Adults are always right.
As the villagers predicted, the effect of the poisonous mushroom didn’t last long.
Unfortunately, Mr. Felix only stayed sane for half a day.
For the following week, he displayed even more erratic behavior than usual.
The villagers kept a wary eye on him, as if he were carrying a ticking time bomb.

“Hazel, why is your brother acting like that?”
“I don’t know. Does anyone?”
“I don’t smell alcohol. Is he sober and still acting like this?”
“Yeah. That’s what makes it even scarier.”

For over a week now, my brother has entered the monster’s territory more than a dozen times a day, fetching purification water by the bucket.
The villagers were dumbfounded by his madness, which knew no day or night.
The Golden General Store’s purification water storage barrels had long been full, yet my brother’s momentum showed no signs of slowing.
Since the day before yesterday, he’s been collecting empty alcohol bottles and filling them with purification water. Amazingly, he hasn’t asked me to help even once, from sterilizing the bottles to filling them. It makes stopping him awkward.
At least, from my perspective, it’s better than wandering around drunk.

It’s a problem that the general store is accumulating unsellable stock… but I’ve practically given up, resigning myself to selling it for the rest of my life.

I watched Mr. Felix, carrying a new bucket of purification water, striding boldly through the center of town, and murmured absentmindedly:
“If he sells all that, could he buy a house in the middle of town?”

Heh, probably impossible.
Maybe on the outskirts of town.

Sara, standing next to me, half-dazed, chimed in.
“Oh, a girl with a house is cool. Now you just need a guy to do the housework.”
“…Is that so?”
“There goes your future husband. No house, but seems good at housework.”

Sara pointed at Baron. As if waiting for me to notice, he approached the moment our eyes met.

“Oh my?”

Sara, the married woman who loves other people’s love stories more than anything, had eyes sparkling uncomfortably at me.
Slap, slap—her aggressive hands hit my back indiscriminately, and my limp body fluttered like a paper doll.

“Hazel, I’m off now. I’ll clear the way, so you handle it well.”
“Liar. You’re just going to watch from the alley across the street.”
“Anyway, I went.”
“….”

Let it go.
Anyway, women in this village are shameless by default.

I sighed tiredly, watching Sara walking away and Baron approaching.
This is the town center.
There are too many eyes on us besides Sara.
If I laugh while talking with Baron, tomorrow someone might start spreading news about our wedding date.

I greeted Baron as casually as possible.
“Hello, Baron.”
“Good afternoon, Miss Hazel.”

While I struggled to avoid misunderstanding, Baron’s face was far too cheerful.
Of course, his dangerously handsome appearance makes it slightly humanizing when he smiles, but the city-style smile is almost too much to handle.

“We meet often these days. Have you adjusted to village life?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
“I don’t think I’ve done much to help.”
“You’ve been very helpful.”
“….”

So… what is it?
Maybe it’s his ambiguous tone, or his unreadable gaze. Baron has many suspicious aspects.
Of course, I was grateful for the help he gave me that day, but my instincts told me to be cautious.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Go ahead with your work.”

I tried to leave quickly after the routine conversation, but Baron stopped me with an intriguing topic.

“Miss Hazel, does the general store have a set of magical tools?”
“We have some that aren’t charged with mana. They’re old models from about ten years ago.”

In other words, the store has useless antiques.
The city goods in our general store are divided into two categories:

• New models with mana charged

• Old models depleted of mana

Honestly, if you’re going to buy an old tool set, it’s better to use the regular hammers lying around the blacksmith’s.
It’s common sense, even if unspoken.
Apparently, Baron doesn’t know that.

“I’ll buy it.”
“Pardon?”
“What’s the price?”
“….”

Is this man a pushover?
It’s usual for villagers to get ripped off in the city, but this is my first time seeing a city man get tricked in the countryside.
I couldn’t bring myself to exploit his naivety and honestly explained.

“It’s better if you don’t buy it. Even though it’s been thoroughly cleansed with purification water, the performance is still worse than a normal hammer.”
“I know.”
“Pardon? Then why…”
“Oh, I have a mana charger. I brought a few when I evacuated.”

!!

A mana charger.
Once provided by the imperial family for citizens’ convenience.
It isn’t essential in rural areas, which rarely use mana-powered tools, but in industrial cities and the army, it’s indispensable.
It was even said that the emperor’s power came from mana chargers.
After the civil war began, the royal family stopped supplying them, and now they are extremely valuable.
Most remaining chargers are held by the army and nobility. It’s public knowledge that the 1st and 4th princes attract noble support using mana chargers.

And Baron plans to use one for a ten-year-old tool set.
‘Who is this Baron?’
If he evacuated to a mountain village, he’s probably not nobility—maybe a soldier?
But soldiers wouldn’t possess a mana charger privately… did he commit a crime and flee?

I gave him a suspicious look, and he continued, as if explaining.

“My parents stockpiled mana chargers early in the civil war. They’re very insightful people.”
“Oh…”
“After fifteen years of use, a few remain. Charging a tool set is no problem.”
“If that’s so… but why do you suddenly need a tool set?”
“I saw many things in the village that could be easily repaired with a magical tool set, but there’s no professional repairman here, right?”
“…Right.”
“I’m not highly skilled, but I can help. To settle in a village, everyone must contribute.”
“…My goodness.”

Baron is truly a good person.
I felt ashamed for ever doubting him.
Of course, I need to see if his actions match his words—Mr. Felix is a good example.

“I’ll give you a good price. Would you like to check the condition first?”
“Sure. Can we go to the store right now?”
“Of course.”

Wait—my brother is probably at the store now.
‘Is it okay to bring Baron to the store while my brother’s there?’
Putting that worry aside, I led him toward the store.
A customer willing to buy stock after a long time can’t be missed. No matter what, my brother won’t act completely crazy—probably.

“Baron, follow me slowly. I’ll go ahead and check the goods first.”

I walked a few steps ahead, keeping a 270-degree awareness, in case I ran into Felix.
But oblivious Baron closed the gap with long strides.
I noticed his shadow approaching and hurried ahead to widen the distance, but he didn’t slow down.

Odo-do-do.
Step, step.
Odo-do-do.
Step, step.

I tried swinging my arms to walk faster, but his relaxed pace soon caught up.
He even chuckled, seemingly amused.

“….”

What? Why are you laughing?