CH 227

Chapter 227 : It’s Been A Month

「Fwahahaha! Kid, I came to buy your cucumber again today!」(Deel)

As he said that, Deel took out a small bag from his backpack and threw it to me.

I caught it and opened it.

There was a small number of beans in it.

I think it’s barely enough to be traded with a cucumber.

「How’s that? It’s enough to buy one cucumber, right? Right!?」(Deel)

「Well… Yeah, I guess.」(Mark)

「Fwahahaha! That’s great! Alright then, I’ll take this one. Good luck, Kid! Fwaaahahaha!」(Deel)

Deel took a bottle of mayonnaise and the biggest cucumber on the table and then left while laughing like a lunatic as if he just won something.

He seemed to be in a good mood today. I wonder if something good happened to him.

By the way, this is the first time he has paid for my cucumber at a fair price.

It’s barely enough, actually, but it’s better compared to the other day when he paid with only three little pieces of beans.

According to Celine, Deel is an ignorant person who doesn’t know how things work in this village enough though he loves this village.

He is a child of one of the elders, so you can say that he’s like a pampered boy from a rich family.

He rarely goes to the village square in the morning to barter things with other villagers because someone usually goes in his stead when he needs something.

Celine said that she never sees him bartering with other villagers in the village square.

It seemed that he just started going to the village square in the morning recently.

I wonder if he just wants to impress Celine. I don’t think Celine would care though.

Anyway, thanks to the villagers teaching him how to barter things properly, he paid for my cucumber at a fair price this time.

I don’t think I will use the beans he gave me to cook something but there’s no problem since I will give them to Eclain. She loves to eat beans while drinking wine.

After Deel left, customers kept coming and it didn’t take long until all of my cucumbers were sold out.

I looked up at the sky, raised my hands, and stretched my body.

Stretching your body like this after you finish your work feels really good. Moreover, the morning sky in this village looks beautiful. I don’t get tired of it even though I’ve seen it many times.

I’ve been in this village for about a month.

I join Tori-san’s class once a week but the only friends I have in this village are still Ester and Signa. I haven’t been able to make friends with anyone else.

When I told Delica and the others about it via Resonance Stone the other day, Delica said, “Why do you always make friends with girls!?”, Pamella said, “They must be cuter than me…”, and Nei said, “That’s great! Are you going to make them your underlings?”

I didn’t know what Nei meant but Delica and Pamella sounded a little upset for some reason.

By the way, Nei is now working in my parents’ inn with Delica.

She said she gets a better salary there than when she worked at the inn in Sadola Town. She wants to save money to open her own blacksmith shop someday.

My mom said that they didn’t have enough manpower since Nicola and I are absent, so she decided to hire her.

The problem is that Nei’s father seems to be unable to make a living from his blacksmith shop alone, so Nei asked Biyan-san, who came back and forth from Sadola to Fatia once in a while to sell his glass products, to send half of her salary to her father.

Nei always yells at her father as if she hates him but actually, she’s a gentle girl who cares about her parents.

While I was remembering our conversation via Resonance Stone the other day, Ester called out to me.

「Mark, have you sold all your cucumbers?」(Ester)

「Yup.」(Mark)

「I’ve sold out my food too, so let’s go shopping together!」(Ester)

Ester smiled at me, grabbed my hand, and pressed her shoulder against mine.

I can feel that we have gotten even closer after we took a bath together.

In my previous life in Japan, people said that bathing in an onsen with your friends can deepen your friendship. Well, I don’t think it applies if your friend is of the opposite sex to you, but… let’s not worry about the details.

『Gunununu…!! Why!? Why is it always you!? Onii-chan!!』(Nicola)

Behind Ester, Nicola was glaring at me with eyes full of grudges.

『I want to hold Ester-chan’s hand too!! This is not fair!』(Nicola)

『Well, even though you’re complaining to me, there’s nothing I can do…』(Mark)

『Gunununu!!』(Nicola)

I didn’t feel comfortable being glared at by Nicola, so I thought of an excuse so that Ester let go of my hand.

「Umm, Ester, before we go, I think we should clean up first so that our stall doesn’t get in the way of other people.」(Mark)

「Aa, you’re right! Let’s clean up then!」(Ester)

While still holding my hand, Ester grabbed a rag and started wiping her table with the other hand.

「Umm… Can you please let go of my hand? I can’t clean up like this.」(Mark)

「Eeeehhh… Alright then…」(Ester)

Ester let go of my hand with a disappointed expression on her face for some reason.

『Kuuhhh!! What are you, a lovey-dovey couple!?』(Nicola)

『We’re not a couple, okay?』(Mark)

『Yeah, yeah… Dammit! I want to be in a lovey-dovey situation with Ester-chan too! This is not fair! This is not fair!!』(Nicola)

『Uhh… I’m sorry, I guess…』(Mark)

『Gunununu!!』(Nicola)

I started cleaning up my stall while trying my best not to make eye contact with Nicola.