CH 211

Chapter 211 : Green, White, And Green

「…Mm? Mmmm!?」(Deel)

After putting a cucumber stick that was covered in mayonnaise into his mouth, Deel opened his eyes and tilted his head.

Right after he took the second cucumber stick, dipped it deeply into the mayonnaise, and ate it.

「…….Thi… This is…!」(Deel)

He kept eating with a surprised yet curious-looking face.

All the cucumber sticks on the wooden plate were gone and the mayonnaise bottle was almost empty in a short time.

Deel closed his eyes as he ate the last cucumber stick as if he was concentrating to enjoy the taste of it.

「Wonderful… Kid, this weird vegetable is wonderful!! The crunchy yet slimy texture and rich, fresh scent of this green thing is superb, and the sweetness and sourness of this white bizarre sauce match perfectly with it and make it taste even more magnificent! The contrast between this green vegetable and this white sauce is great! These two complement each other like a canvas and paint that form one beautiful painting! Truly wonderful! Kid, give me more!」(Deel)

「A, Alright…」(Mark)

It’s weird to see someone react excessively like that over cucumber and mayonnaise…

Deel took out a bean from his waist bag and handed it to me.

No, wait… It’s not just one bean. This time, he gave me two! Two beans! Yaayy!

Ugh… Why am I even happy about it…?

Well, I don’t really mind.

But… Why does he think that he can trade a cucumber for a couple of beans? Is he a stingy person or… beans are quite precious in this village?

No… I don’t think so. If they are precious, then there’s no way Eclain would eat beans as snacks while drinking wine.

Hmm… Oh, well…

When I gave up on thinking about it, Deel quickly grabbed one cucumber that hadn’t been cut and a bottle of mayonnaise.

This time, he didn’t dip the cucumber into the mayonnaise but poured the mayonnaise on the cucumber instead and took a big bite of it.

Seeing someone in green clothes eating a cucumber reminds me of kappa…

*/TL : Kappa are half-human half-reptilian creatures in Japanese folklore. Folk beliefs claim that cucumbers are their favorite food.

「Mmmm!! Uwooohhh!! This is the best green vegetable I’ve ever eaten!!」(Deel)

Seeing Deel eating a cucumber while shouting like that, the surrounding people started to gather around him.

I don’t like this guy but I think I should thank him for attracting customers for me.

「Hey, Boy, can I have one as well?」(man)

Seeing Deel deliciously eating a cucumber, a tall and muscular man approached me.

「Of course. The ones that have been cut are samples. Feel free to try them.」(Mark)

「Free samples? Great! Thank you!」(man)

The man then quickly put a cucumber stick covered with plenty of mayonnaise in his mouth.

「Hoo! It’s pretty good! Boy, can I have another one?」(man)

「Hey, give me too!」

「Can I have one as well?」

「I want to try it too!」(villagers)

The surrounding people who saw Deel and the man’s reaction started asking for free samples.

Although their reactions were not as exaggerated as Deel’s, they said the same thing like “wonderful!” or “It’s really great!”

For the people in this village, cucumbers and mayonnaise are unusual vegetables and sauces that taste unexpectedly delicious, so it was only natural that they had similar reactions to each other.

When I stroked my chest, feeling happy that the people in this village liked my cucumbers and mayonnaise, Deel handed me three beans and asked for more cucumbers.

「Kid, I want more!」(Deel)

「Umm, I’m sorry but I’m out of free samples. You have to buy it if you want.」(Mark)

「Huh? That’s why I’m giving you these beans.」(Deel)

「Uhh… I’m sorry but I don’t think three small beans are enough to be exchanged for a cucumber…」(Mark)

「Wh, What!? It’s not enough!?」(Deel)

I didn’t say anything when Deel gave me beans earlier because the cucumbers I gave him were free samples.

However, now that I’ve confirmed that people love my cucumbers, there’s no reason for me to keep giving free samples.

「Oi, Deel, are you an idiot? There’s no way you can trade a few beans for these delicious vegetables and sauce. Boy, I’ll give you two loaves of white bread. Is it enough for one cucumber?」(man)

The tall and muscular man who tried my cucumber after Deel took two loaves of white bread from his bag and handed them to me.

「Of course. Thank you very much!」(Mark)

In exchange, I handed him a cucumber and a small bottle of mayonnaise. The man then tilted his head as he looked at the mayonnaise bottle.

「Boy, you give me the bottle too?」(man)

「Yeah, it’s all one set. I made these bottles with earth magic, and they’re pretty durable, so I think they can be useful for storing something else.」(Mark)

「Is that so? Then, I don’t think two loaves of white bread are enough. Here. I’ll give you one more.」(man)

The man was going to give me more bread but I immediately stopped him.

「No, no. It’s okay. These bottles are free. I made them to practice magic anyway.」(Mark)

「Hee~ You’re so generous for a kid. Alright, I’ll gratefully make use of this bottle then. I’ll come again next time. Thank you, Boy!」(man)

After the muscular man left, the other customers started to line up in front of my stall.

「Boy, give me two sets! I’ll give you my vegetables in exchange!」

「Hey, Kid, I’ll have two sets as well!」

「Me too! I’ll give you this meat!」(villagers)

I got various things from my customers.

I got vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and others. I also got a tablecloth that I could use for my table in my house.

Meanwhile, Deel looked somewhat shocked that people were giving me stuff with a higher value than my cucumbers. He probably realized how stingy he was for only giving me a few beans.

Customers kept coming, and I kept serving them. Some of them asked me to cut their cucumbers into sticks, and some of them asked me for extra mayonnaise.

A few minutes ago, I had nothing to do other than help Ester serve her customers, but suddenly I became very busy.

Luckily, Ester and Nicola helped me out from time to time when they were not serving customers.

I felt bad because I should be the one helping Ester, not the other way around, but Ester didn’t seem to mind it.

Because I was very busy, I didn’t even notice that Deel was no longer around.

I looked around, thinking that I might find him among the other villagers, but he was nowhere to be found.

Nicola, who noticed that I was looking for Deel, talked to me with telepathy.

『If you’re looking for that annoying man, he just left a few minutes ago. He walked away while looking down for some reason.』(Nicola)

『I see…』(Mark)

If he was that shocked, then he might not be a stingy person. He probably just has a strange sense of values.

I got so many customers thanks to him, so I probably should have given him a cucumber for free as thanks, but it’s too late. I regretted it a little. He may be annoying but he doesn’t seem to be a bad person.

About fifteen minutes later, I finally sold all the cucumbers I had.

When I stretched my arms after selling my last cucumber and mayonnaise set, Ester smiled brightly at me.

「Mark, your cucumbers are sold out! Congratulations! Well, It’s not surprising because I knew those delicious vegetables would be sold out no matter how weird they look.」(Ester)

「It’s all thanks to you for allowing me to join your stall. You even helped me serve my customers. Thank you, Ester.」(Mark)

「Fufu! We’re helping each other so you don’t need to thank me! Besides, I’m happy to help you!」(Ester)

Ester grabbed my hands as she said that.

Seeing Ester and me holding hands, Nicola glared at me and puffed her cheeks.

「Hey, Onii-chan, did you forget that I helped you too?」(Nicola)

「Oh, right. I’m sorry. Thank you, Nicola.」(Mark)

「You’re welcome~!」(Nicola)

People who don’t normally work will usually show off when they did a great job, and it seems to be true.

After a while, Ester finally sold all the onion soup and steamed white fish we brought from her home.

Today’s work was finally over.

In just one day, I managed to get a lot of food and other stuff. I think it should be enough for me and Nicola to survive for a while even without me selling cucumbers. I didn’t expect that cucumbers would be so popular in this village.

Because I normally eat lunch and dinner at Celine’s house, I think I will give her some of the stuff I got today.

While thinking about that, I helped Ester clean up her stall.

My debut as the cucumber trader in this village ended successfully.