CH 183

Chapter 183 : Exchanging Stuff At The Village Square

-The next morning-

Yesterday, I overslept a little because I was tired after using the Resonance Stone, but this morning, I woke up early as usual.

While rubbing my eyes, I looked at the window where the morning sunlight came through. Then, I noticed Celine on the other side of the room.

She already changed her clothes, so I think she is going to go to the village square to exchange items with the other villagers.

She still seems a bit sleepy. She rubbed her eyes and looked at me.

「Mark, good morning~」(Celine)

「Good morning.」(Mark)

「Did I wake you up? You can go back to sleep if you’re still sleepy.」(Celine)

「No, it’s okay. I always wake up at this hour. You’re going to go to the village square, right? Can I go with you?」(Mark)

The village square seems to be the center of economic activity in this village. I need to go there and see what people are doing there if I want to live in this village for the next three months.

「Of course~ If you come with me, then I don’t need Mom to accompany me. I was about to wake her up but I think I’ll let her sleep a bit longer today.」(Celine)

「I’ll change my clothes first. Please wait.」(Mark)

「Okay~ I’ll go prepare the wine while waiting then.」(Celine)

After Celine left the room, I changed from my pajamas into my usual outfit.

By the way, Nicola is still sleeping like a log next to me. I better not wake her up.

I walked slowly toward the door and left the room. Then I went outside, washed my face with water magic, and did some exercise like usual.

Shortly after, Celine came from the back of the house with a cart loaded with several barrels of Gupul wine.

「Mark, are you ready to go?」(Celine)

「Yup. I’ll put these barrels in my Item Box so that you don’t have to push the cart.」(Mark)

「Ah, you don’t have to. It’s better if you show what you have when you exchange items with other people.」(Celine)

「I see. Alright then.」(Mark)

Certainly, it will be so much trouble if you have to take your items out every time you make an offer with someone.

Celine sure knows what she’s doing.

「By the way, what kind of item do you want to exchange with the wine today?」(Mark)

「Food, obviously. We will need food for a few days, and food for our trip to Fatia.」(Celine)

This is awkward… I haven’t told her that I’ve decided to stay in this village until she finishes her Portal Stone.

Well, I’m sure she will ask me to store the food for the trip in my Item Box, so I don’t think there’s a problem. Food won’t rot in my Item Box after all.

「Anyway, we will need a lot of food. That’s why I’m bringing more wine than usual today.」(Celine)

I bet Eclain will cry when she learns that many barrels of wine in her storage have gone…

After walking for a while, we arrived at the village square.

This place is larger than Tori’s backyard where he usually tests his magic tools.

Also, the ground in this square seems to be well-maintained. This is an essential place for all the villagers after all, so people must maintain it regularly.

I had only seen a few villagers yesterday when we went to Tori’s house, but now I see a lot of them.

This place is crowded with villagers. Some of them have pointy ears just like elf ears, and some others have rounded ears just like human ears, but they all seem to be half-elves.

Some people are standing by their carts, waiting for someone who wants to trade items with them. There are also people carrying baskets walking around the square, looking for items they want.

We passed through the crowd and stopped in front of a slightly fat woman.

Behind her, there was a large luggage carrier with a huge storage-type magic tool on top of it. There was a man with long ears standing next to the luggage carrier.

The woman looked at me and smiled.

There are a lot of young-looking people in this village because half-elves have a long lifespan. Even Eclain looks young for a mother of an adult like Celine.

However, this woman looks old. Even older than Tori, I think. Perhaps this is the first time I’ve seen someone this old in this village.

「Celine, is this boy the rumored child who came with you through the Portal Crystal?」(woman)

「Yes, he is, but he wasn’t the only one who came with me. I also brought his little sister to this village but she’s still sleeping in my house, so I’m only bringing him with me today. 」(Celine)

「My name is Mark. Nice to meet you.」(Mark)

I introduced myself and bowed my head to the woman.

「Oh, my~ He’s such a polite child. I wish my son were as polite as him… Anyway, Celine, what do you need today?」(woman)

「Hmm… I need some venison, sausages, and dried meat. As usual, we only have Gupul wine if you don’t mind.」(Celine)

「No problem. My husband loves them after all.」(woman)

After Celine ordered while pointing at the barrel of wine on her cart, the woman turned to the man who was standing behind her.

「Darling, can you pack the meat for her?」(woman)

「Gladly. Can’t wait to drink the wine~」(man)

The man with pointy ears nodded to the woman and began to pack the items Celine ordered.

So, this man is her husband, huh…? But… I wonder why he looks a lot younger than his wife…

I looked at the woman again and noticed that her ears are rounded. Could it be, this woman is…

While I was wondering, the exchange was done.

It seemed that both Celine and the married couple had already gotten used to the exchange. They finished the exchange without asking, “How many barrels do you want?” or “How many slices of meat do you need?”

By the way, Eclain’s wine can be traded at a fairly high rate. With only a few barrels of wine, Celine got quite a lot of meat.

As expected from the best wine brewer in the village.

After the exchange was completed and we left the married couple, I asked Celine something that concerned me.

「Celine, about the woman from earlier. She has rounded ears but she is a half-elf, right?」(Mark)

「Nope. She is a human. Her name is Matilda.」(Celine)

As I thought…

「Her husband is a half-elf. He left this village once to become an adventurer, but then he met Matilda and married her. Then, they decided to live in this village. By the way, Matilda’s husband is a great hunter. He hunts animals with the bow he used as his weapon when he was still an adventurer.」(Celine)

「Hee… I see. I thought Nicola and I were the only humans in this village.」(Mark)

So, that womanー I mean, Matilda-san is a human… That’s why she looks older than her husband because humans have a shorter lifespan than half-elves.

「Well, it’s rare but there are a few people who married humans in this village. Most of them were people who left this village once and then returned with their human partners. My Mom, on the other hand, married my Dad after she found him when he lost his way and wandered into this village a long time ago.」(Celine)

While saying that, Celine looked up at the sky. It seemed that she was reminiscing about her time with her father.

I see… So, Celine’s father was a human.

Perhaps the reason he is not in Eclain’s house is because… He has passed away.

Humans can’t live for hundreds of years like half-elves after all.

Marriage between humans and elves is a wonderful thing, but… It’s also sad at the same time…

I wonder how both parties felt when they decided to get married…

While wondering, I kept following Celine who was pushing the rattling cart through the village square, looking for the next person to trade with.