Novice Alchemist Special Story part 2

 

Special Story : Lorea And A Suspicious Customer (part 2)

 

*TL : I’m using Lorea’s perspective for this part because it’s easier this way.

As usual, I was looking after the general store while my parents were absent. I remember it rained very hard that day.

Usually, I left the door open when the weather was nice, but I shut it back then because of the rain.

As always, not many customers visited on a rainy day, so I thought it would be another long day without customers.

However, I was wrong.

While I was looking at the dark sky through the window with an anxious feeling, the door of the store suddenly opened.

「W-Welcome to our general store!」(Lorea)

My heart skipped a beat and did the usual greet reflectively. I was surprised because I thought no one would come.

When I turned my eyes to the door, I saw a tall person in a black robe that completely covered their entire body as if they were trying to hide their identity.

The hood covered most of their face, so I couldn’t tell whether they were a man or a woman.

Even though I couldn’t see their face, somehow I could tell that they were not villagers nor Collectors who stayed in this village.

I immediately grabbed the emergency bell behind the counter. My parents told me to ring the bell in case something bad happened.

However, the situation was not good. It was raining heavily outside.

Normally, the adults in the neighborhood would rush over when they heard the bell, but thanks to the heavy rain, I didn’t think that the bell’s sound would reach them even if I swung it really hard.

Still, I decided to hold the bell and see what would happen.

While looking at the suspicious customer nervously, I was hoping that they were not a bad person.

Whether or not they knew that I was cautious, they slowly walked around the store.

Seeing their calm behavior, I began to think that they might not be a bad person. Soon after I thought so, my heartbeat, which was as busy as a rooster crowing in the morning, started to calm down.

I was guessing that they might be a Collector who just came from another region.

The Collectors who came to this region would usually stay in South Strugg, but there were also Collectors who chose to stay in this village sometimes, and this person might be one of them.

Besides, they were just walking around the store while observing the goods displayed on the shelves and tables, meaning that it was the first time they had been in our general store.

Thinking that they were probably not a bad person, I let go of the bell under the counter.

After walking around our not-so-large general store for a while, the person called out to me.

「Excuse me, Ojou-chan, I’d like to ask you something.」(mysterious person)

「Y, Yes…?」(Lorea)

「This is not an alchemy store, right? But, why do you sell potions? Do you make them yourself?」(mysterious person)

That person pointed at the shelf filled with potions at the back of the counter.

「Of course, we don’t make them ourselves. My parents regularly buy potions in an alchemy store in South Strugg and sell them here so that the local Collectors don’t have to go all the way to South Strugg to get them.」(Lorea)

「I see… Ojou-chan, can I ask you about this village?」(Mysterious person)

「Of course. What do you want to know?」(Lorea)

「Umm, it might be a weird question to ask, but… Do you think this village is comfortable to live in?」(mysterious person)

「Hmm… The villagers and the local Collectors here are nice people. As a resident here, I do think this is a good village. However, it’s not easy to make money as a Collector here because there’s no alchemy store here.」(Lorea)

To be honest, I would be happy if more Collectors were staying in this village since they would definitely buy potions in our general store, but I didn’t want to tell this person only the good side of the village because I felt like it was the same as telling a lie.

「I see…」(mysterious person)

That person then nodded at me and left the store without purchasing any products.

 

◇　　　　◇　　　　◇

 

*TL : Back to third person perspective*

「Hee… A mysterious customer, huh…? From the way they dressed, they indeed sounded mysterious, but what’s weird about it?」(Sarasa)

Sarasa thought it was a scary story, but in the end, it was just a story about a suspicious customer who came to the store on a rainy day and left without buying anything.

There were some elements that bugged Sarasa’s mind such as the long-lasted heavy rain and the customer’s suspicious appearance, but there were no particularly strange things other than that.

After Sarasa asked, Lorea slowly shook her head and continued talking.

「Sarasa-san, my story is not finished yet… After that mysterious customer left the store, I realized that… the wooden floor of the store wasn’t wet at all…」(Lorea)

「…Eh?」(Sarasa)

Sarasa opened her eyes wide. She got a chill down her spine after Lorea said something that was impossible to happen.

「The floor wasn’t wet at all…? Are you sure?」(Sarasa)

「Yeah… It was dry as if that mysterious customer who was drenched in rain had never been inside the store from the beginning…」(Lorea)

「That’s… Weird.」(Sarasa)

Sarasa was a bit scared, but at the same time, she was also excited as the story went weirder.

「Right? Because I was curious, I went to Diral-san’s inn the next day and asked her if someone with a black coat stayed in her inn last night.」(Lorea)

「And… what did she say?」(Sarasa)

「She said no. She hadn’t gotten any new guests since two months ago. I remembered all the Collectors who stayed in Diral-san’s inn back then, and that mysterious person was definitely not one of them.」(Lorea)

「Hmm… they might be the acquaintance of a villager here and stayed at their house?」(Sarasa)

「Actually, I had the same thought and asked the people in this village, but no one had such an acquaintance nor did they let someone else stay in their houses that night.」(Lorea)

「…Umm… Perhaps they camped in the forest?」(Sarasa)

「I don’t think so… The heavy rain and the strong wind kept going throughout the night. It would be very difficult to camp outside.」(Lorea)

「I see. Certainly, camping in the middle of the storm is difficult… If I were that person, I would have stayed in Diral-san’s inn…」(Sarasa)

「Right?」(Lorea)

Sarasa and Lorea fell into silence. They were trying to solve the mystery logically, but they couldn’t find the right answer.

「Lorea-chan, do you know their gender?」(Sarasa)

「The sound of the rain was quite noisy, so it was a bit hard to tell by their voice, but I think they are a woman.」(Lorea)

「A woman, huh…? Umm… This is just my wild guess, but… You were probably the only person who could see her…」(Sarasa)

「Wait… Do you mean she was a…」(Lorea)

Sarasa’s and Lorea’s faces turned pale at the same time.

They then grabbed each other’s hands and screamed.

「「Hiiiiiiiiiiyyyーー!!」」(Sarasa & Lorea)

They thought the mysterious customer was a ghost or something, but little did they know, that person was actually Sarasa’s master, Ophelia.

She once stopped by Yok Village when she was gathering materials in the Great Sea Of Trees.

She was wearing a special coat and special boots which were artifacts that could repel water immediately, so her clothes and shoes were not wet at all. Therefore, the floor of the general store remained dry.

The reason why she didn’t stay in Diral’s inn was because she already rented a room in an inn in South Strugg.

Since she was really good at body-strengthening magic, it didn’t take long for her to go to South Strugg from Yok Village. Moreover, thanks to the coat and boots artifacts, she was able to run through the hard rain very easily without worrying about getting wet.

 

TOC