Chapter 27- Fragment of A Jewel

This was about 10 years ago, when I was earning coins with recovery magic.

It’s a cheerful early spring.

The endless blue sky is dotted with fluffy clouds.

Cordelia and I were walking along a footpath between fields that smelled of greenery.

「Nee, nee, Lute? Are you looking forward to it?」

Cordelia is 5 years old, just before receiving the Hero’s Oracle.

She has long, silky, crimson hair and clear white skin.

Her face is perfect and looks like a humanized western doll.

But, she is still five years old. She looks innocent no matter what… especially since one of her baby front teeth is missing, so that kind of aura is coming out.

「Nee, nee? Are you looking forward to it, are you listening?」

「Yeah, I am. I’m looking forward to it.」

Today is the day when a peddler will come.

In the village square, peddlers will sell rare products from various countries at a high price… that is probably a bad way of saying it.

If you sell in-demand products that you’ve collected using your feet from around the world, you would add a small fee. That’s what I’m talking about.

Naturally, the countryside is the damned countryside, so it’s a bit of an event if a peddler visits.

I’m supposed to be a genius at playing in the mountains.

And so, as I brought home valuable medicinal herbs and so on, I received pocket money from it.

With that kind of thing, I have quite a lot of pocket money compared to other people of my age.

Well, I’m actually doing recovery magic that has a low profit but high sales, so even if you compare me to an adult, I’m ridiculously rich, but I’ll leave it there.

For that reason, everytime a peddler visits the village, I’m attacked by Cordelia.

Cordelia loves honey candy, but… they are expensive.

Actually, the price is more than half of my pocket money.

From a stranger’s point of view, I look like a pitiful boy whose childhood friend takes the majority of his pocket money.

As evidence, everytime time the peddler old man sees my face, he half smiles.

「Hey, hey, won’t Lute’s family come today?」

「The impact of last year’s poor harvest is reverberating, so it’s a place of modesty and frugality.」

「Modesty and frugality?」

「It’s like living by being stingy and without extravagance.」

「I see.」

My family grows beans, but last year, the weather was the worst.

Other bean farmers are making ends meet by selling their own sons and daughters to slave traders.

Well, as I am a genius at looking for medicinal herbs… though I’m embarrassed to say it myself. Well, I’m here, so it’s barely manageable.

As expected, my parents are beginning to think that my ability to find medicinal herbs is abnormal…

Then, Cordelia asked me.

「Hey, hey, Lute? Try saying sunburn(hiyake) 10 times?」

「Sunburnsunburnsunburnsunburnsunburnsunburnsunburnsunburnsunburnsunburn.」

「And then, and then? What does mr. chicken give birth to?」

Cordelia grinned.

That’s a face that’s plotting something really bad…

「Egg.」

The original intent was probably to make the respondent answer with “chick(hiyoko)”, and then the questioner would say “egg” with a nasty smile… What a useless trick.

However, I’ve experienced a lot of trick quizzes like that in Japanese elementary schools.

Sorry for being immature, future hero-dono.

「Gununu.」

「You’re 10 years too early to trap me.」

Seeing me full of triumph, Cordelia’s face turned to tears.

「But, but, maybe you can’t answer the next one, can you?」

「Hou… fine, let’s see it? What kind of question is it?」

「Then… can you say “like” like you really like something 10 times?」

I wonder if she is going to trick me with hoe or some other like farming tools?

With that in mind, I do as she said.

「Likelikelikelikelikelikelikelikelikelike.」

「…」

Cordelia’s cheeks blush harder every time I say I like her.

And finally, her long eyelashes looked down as she flushed like an apple.

As she stared at the ground, her knees stiffened and froze on the spot.

「…then?」

「…」

Cordelia went silent for a while.

Then, embarrassed, she said,

「I was so happy when you said you liked me… that I forgot what kind of quiz I’m going to give.」

Oh my, this child is very cute.

As expected, this managed to sink me.

So, I tried to organize my feelings toward Cordelia.

She is my childhood friend, sometimes feels like my younger sister, sometimes also feels like a daughter or a niece.

Putting that aside for the time being, I knew her up until the age of 15, but… even so, if I was asked if she was a romantic interest or not, I would say no.

ーBut, there is no doubt that I treasure this girl…

It’s a proposition that I’ve thought about many times, but I still don’t quite understand it myself.

At that time, Cordelia and I arrived at our target square.

She smiled like a blooming sunflower at the same time.

「Is the usual honey sugar confectionery okay?」

「Wait here for a bit, Lute!」

Saying that, she ran off alone to the peddler’s stall.

「Oi, Cordelia?」

It was still early, so there weren’t many people around.

Cordelia said something to the peddler, then she handed him something.

And after receiving a sachet from the peddler, she came back to me again.

「…?」

Cordelia thrust a small bag at me.

「Today, I’ll buy Lute some sweets, okay?」

「Eh?」

「Etto ne, etto ne. I’ve been saving my allowance for a long time.」

This candy should be quite expensive.

I don’t know how much this girl gets every month, but… at least from this girl’s point of view, it shouldn’t be cheap.

「…Why?」

「Today… um… it’s Lute’s birthday, right?」

「Ah…」

I completely forgot.

Every year, my mother would get strangely enthusiastic at this time of the year…So… I forgot because we didn’t have that seasonal tradition this year.

But, that mother who loves her son so much… Why… Why didn’t she throw a small birthday party?

No, she probably didn’t even bring it up in a  conversation… and that’s when I came to the realization.

ーLast year’s bad harvest, huh. It seems like it is affecting the household budget to a really dangerous place.

Next time, I need to put a large amount of money into the house enough that it doesn’t stand out in a bad way.

I almost let out a sigh because I had another headache, but I desperately held back.

Throwing a sigh immediately after receiving a present is definitely lacking in politeness.

「Are you happy? Is Lute happy?」

「Yeah. Thank you Cordelia.」

I smiled and stroked Cordelia’s head.

「Ehehe.」

An innocent smile with outstanding destructive power attacks me.

For some reason, whenever I look at this girl’s smile, my cheeks would naturally loosen up, it’s a problem.

「Then, shall we go?」

Cordelia showed a blank expression.

Furthermore, she tilted her head and puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

「Eh? Why are you leaving already?」

「Hm? You already bought the things you wanted to buy… so aren’t you done with your errands here?」

「My part…」

「Eh?」

With an expression on the verge of tears, Cordelia said,

「Honey treats… I… I haven’t gotten them.」

Ah, so this is a present for me, and for the sweets for herself… this is this and that is that huh…

In the future, this girl will definitely… the kind of person who says he doesn’t like sweets.

I shrugged my shoulders and started walking towards the peddler with my wallet in hand.

ーBy the way, it can’t be helped that I bought a lot more than usual…

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