89 - drugstore exploration

"To-chan!"

It was Moe, whom I had expected to be out of sight, who was shouting with such laughter that it echoed through the small hall.

He was calling Thor's name and waving his hand at the staircase landing.

Then he suddenly jumped on the railing at the side of the stairs.

The child, who had mounted the railing backward, slid down with great force.

Thanks to this, her skirt is billowing up, exposing her pumpkin pants.

After sliding down to the bottom, Moe hit her buttocks against the round protruding decoration at the end of the platform and came to a stop.

The child turns around and waves with a big smile on his face.

"Did you see that?

"Well, that's quite something. By the way, didn't Tor-chan say you shouldn't play in unknown places without permission?

"Umm, I might have said that. But this is too much fun!

Thor lets out a wry smile at Moe's completely unapologetic reply.

Beside him, it was surprisingly Yuril who suddenly burst out laughing.

The silver-haired beauty, who was laughing out loud in a rare moment, approached Moe, who was still straddling the railing, and pulled her skirt back up.

She then picked her up and put her down on the floor and slowly stroked her head.

"I have missed you so much. When I worked here, there were many children who were scolded for playing like this.

"Did you do this, too, Grandma?"

"Actually, I wanted to try it, but I was teaching, so it wasn't possible."

"Even though it's so attractive?"

Moe strokes the railing with a fascinated look on his face.

Compared to when we first met, he has become much more expressive.

"Yes, they are very attractive. Let's try ............."

Ulil makes a sudden declaration and runs up the stairs in a rhythmic fashion.

When he reached the landing, he leapt lightly up and placed his buttocks on the railing.

Sitting on her side, her tight skirt was pulled down, exposing her thighs halfway.

But the woman did not seem to mind and slid down the railing in a single breath.

Just before she almost hits the bottom ornament, she lands with a flutter.

Moe's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands.

Yuril comes back with a small gasp and nods to Thor with a proud smile.

His expression was more radiant than I had ever seen it before.

"Shall we go, Thor and Sora?"

"Yes, I'll go with you. Come on, Moe, let's go.

"Can't we go for another run?"

Maybe another time.

"Mwah!"

We proceeded down the corridor on the opposite side of the temple, and at the end of the corridor was a door leading to the outside.

Beyond the corridor, a strange house with a cloth-covered roof can be seen.

As soon as we stepped out of the building, Sola, who had remained silent until then, let out a deep breath.

Then, she exclaims in a disappointed voice

"Oh, I wish I could have skated too!

"Hey, that was a good one!　Sora-chan."

"You're really pushing me over the railing. By the way, why didn't you say anything the whole time?

"I'm not allowed to talk in the presence of God!"

As it turns out, Sora was the only daughter of a shrine dedicated to the Gods of Time and Sky.

Her grandfather, who was a priest, must have trained her well in the etiquette of the shrine.

The girl stretches out as she walks, her eyes sparkling as she speaks.

"Whew, I can finally speak! There are so many questions I want to ask you, it was hard to keep quiet. I had so many questions already, it was hard to keep quiet... about the treetops, the ranks of the trunks, and whether or not I should just put the furry tails back in... Oh, and that necklace looks great on you, Mr. Euril.

"Oh, thank you."

"You said it was a ritual article, but it's quite different from the one we had at home."

"Is that so?　I would love to tell you all about it and more. ......"

Ulil stopped and shrugged his shoulders ruefully.

We're already here. This is Audre's medicine cabinet.

"Yeah!"

This was not an option, since the place was right in front of us.

The building was a one-story house, which, upon closer inspection, looked oddly shaped like an ordinary house with a semi-circular room attached to it.

The protruding part of the house was covered with a white translucent cloth on the top.

"Your house looks like a white bread, To-chan.　

"Won't that thing leak when it rains?"

"That cloth is woven with water-resistant swamp spider silk, so I've heard it's surprisingly safe."

While explaining the situation, Yuril knocked lightly on the door, and a voice that sounded like a reply came back from inside.

Upon receiving an invitation, he entered the room, which was surprisingly spacious and clean.

In the center of the room, there is a round table surrounded by chairs, and a waist-high counter can be seen in the back.

The wall on the right was filled to the ceiling with shelves and lined with pots and baskets of various sizes.

To the left are two hearths.

Near them was a small table for working, a stand with a disk with a handle and a small bowl.

Thor grabbed Moe by the neck as he was about to jump onto the table and looked toward the back of the room.

Behind the counter, there were shelves full of small drawers without any space between them and a small door at the end of the shelves.

It suddenly opened and an ash-eared woman with short hair emerged from the back.

She said, "Welcome. Please take a seat at your leisure. ...... Oh?"

The woman who was holding a tray with a steaming cup in her hand lifted one eyebrow a little when she saw Moe fluttering.

"Is that the girl who was playing on the stairs just now? Do you know him?"

"Yes, he's a dear friend of mine."

"Heh. How's that railing working out for you?

The woman asks happily as she sets the cups on the table.

Moe, who was sitting on Thor's lap, immediately clapped his hands in agreement.

"Yes!　That was a good one. Hey, you old man..."

Thor casually pressed his hand over the mouth of a child who was about to ask for an unnecessary agreement.

But he was too late, as the woman raised one eyebrow again and turned her head toward Yuril.

"Well, did you enjoy it too?"

"Yes, it was surprisingly good."

Hearing her response, the woman now lifted the edges of her lips in a broad, colorful smile.

With a smile on her face, she sat down on a chair and offered Thor and the others sweet-smelling tea.

"Please enjoy it before it gets cold. Oh yeah, you didn't tell me your name. I'm Aurindor, the apothecary here.

"My name is Thor. This is Mummeme. You call him Moo.

Nice to meet you, Grandma O!

"Hello again, my name is Ulil. My grandmother was a great help to me.

I'm Sola. This room is beautiful.

With the nonchalance of a country girl, she glanced around the room.　

"There are so many strange things here. What do you use those for?"

"It's a tool for grinding dried herbs into powder. That one is for hardening them into pills.

"Heh!　Oh, what is that door?"

Sola nodded her head in admiration and pointed to a door a short distance away from the hearth.

It was a different door from the one Aurindor had just come out of, and light was leaking in through a small window at the top.

"That one is a greenhouse. I can't let you in, but you can see inside through that window. Would you like to take a peek?"

"By all means!"

After receiving permission, Sola quickly gets up from her seat and rushes to the door.

The girl peeked in through the small window as if she was stuck to the door and let out an innocent cry of joy.

Moo started to wriggle in response to her happy voice, and Thor picked up the child and approached the door.

Up close, we saw that the small window was made of a transparent glass plate, which is rare in this area.

It was not only the glass window that was unusual, but also the view beyond it that took my breath away.

The canopy covered with a thin white cloth seemed to let all the sunlight pass through.

The interior of the greenhouse is as bright as midday.

In the center of the room, there was a tall tree covered with lush green leaves.

Here and there, golden round fruits hang from the branches.

Surrounding the tree are low trees with oddly shaped leaves.

Vine-twined trellises along the walls are crowded with potted plants and brightly colored flowers in full bloom.

What caught Toll and the others' eyes even more was the sparkling jewels flitting about the room.

Butterflies with colorful wings fluttered across the room.

It was a scene that could be called a paradise of flowers and grasses.

"Wow! Butterflies everywhere, Thor!

"Hey, Tor-chan, can we eat those things that are growing?"

I don't know. But it's a beautiful thing."

Behind them, the owner of the medicine cabinet and Yuril were sitting opposite each other, slowly sipping aromatic herb tea.

Neither of them speaks, and they only glance at each other occasionally.

After a while, as if deciding to do something, Yuril drank from his cup and opened his mouth.

"Where should I start?　Mr. Aurindor."

"Hmmm, are you going to keep doing that?　As always, just oodles and oodles."

Aurindor smiles a mischievous smile and continues to speak to Yuril, who has fallen silent.

"I guess it's because of him there, is that right?"