Great O’Browns⑥
Meat skewers, or skewered meat? Which is it?
Meat cut into cubes, skewered with vegetables and the like, then grilled.
Seasoned with things like Salt and Pepper while grilling.
Once grilled, some stalls brush on sauce.
There are also grilled seafood skewers, not just meat. Or is it skewered grilled seafood?
In the end, which is it?
“Hafu, hafu, yummyyy—”
Narcissus-san is eating with a skewer in hand, looking satisfied.
The food stall old man said, “You sure eat well, missy,” and gave her another one for free.
Narcissus-san, who accepted it saying, “What a kind gesture,” is wearing her hood pulled down low.
Her eyes aside, her purple hair is conspicuous. There are Legendary or Legacy items to disguise it.
But I figured she dislikes wearing the hood.
“Hafu, hafu, nom nom, yummyyy—”
“Sauce. It’s around your mouth.”
“Wipe it.”
“Eh?”
“Ura has skewers in both hands, so Ura can’t wipe it, right?”
“…”
“Wipe it.”
“…Yes, yes.”
I reluctantly wiped the sauce around Narcissus-san’s mouth… with my handkerchief.
By the way, I’m the one paying for all these skewers too.
Well, regarding this, I obtained money whose owners were gone, so my wallet isn’t hurting.
Actually, there’s a custom called Spirit Money, where you bury their possessions along with them when they’re interred.
But since they were erased without a trace, there’s no Spirit Money or anything. There’s no option to erase it along with them.
There’s a part of me that thinks looting corpses is questionable.
But it’s being useful like this, so perhaps their sins will be somewhat absolved.
Still, those kinds of things really don’t decrease, huh.
I get that they’re increasing because it’s a festival.
Can’t something be done about them? They’re like ticks or cockroaches.
After visiting two, three, four stalls, Narcissus-san wore a satisfied smile.
“Common Fare isn’t too bad, is it?”
She says that, but she ate quite a lot. More than me.
After eating that much, I wonder what she’ll do for dinner.
Well, I ate a fair bit myself, though.
Looking at the stalls other than the food ones, oh, a Knife.
“Oh, welcome.”
A street vendor with a turban wrapped around his head called out to me.
Goods were lined up on a tattered carpet spread on the ground.
Scrolls. Small stone statues. The Horn of some Monster. Several rings, necklaces, and Bracelets.
All of them were intricately crafted, and the Bracelets, in particular, had various shapes.
Not a single one had the same shape.
“…Hm?”
Among them, there was a single Knife.
This Knife… it’s silver and has an unusual cross shape.
“You’ve got a good eye. That’s a Knife found in a desert Dungeon.”
“…May I pick it up and take a look?”
“Sure, take a good look all over.”
I took the Knife in my hand.
I don’t feel much weight. It’s single-edged and well-maintained.
“Do you like that one?”
“It’s a bargain. How about 4000 Oro for it now?”
“4000…”
That’s not too bad, I guess.
Then Narcissus-san said haughtily.
“Too expensive. Ura commands it. Make it 2000.”
“Hey, half price is a bit much…”
“Still, 4000 is too expensive.”
“…Then how about 3500?”
“3000.”
“…How about 3200?”
“3000.”
“…Alright, alright. I’ll sell it for 3000 Oro.”
“…”
“Here, hurry up and buy it.”
“Th-Thanks.”
I pay 3000 Oro.
Narcissus-san’s eyes are captivated by the next food stall. Are you still going to eat?
Suddenly, the old man vendor gives a wry smile.
“Well, I’m beat.”
“S-Sorry.”
“No, no, this kind of haggling is part of the fun.”
“Ah, in that case, um, I’ll buy all these Bracelets.”
“All of them? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please. Actually, these were what I was most interested in.”
I feel a bit bad, but it’s not a lie.
I also thought their various shapes and colors were just right.
They’re perfect for something I’ve been thinking about for a while.
“In that case, 3… no, 1000 each is fine.”
“Are you sure?”
The vendor laughed.
“Didn’t I say? This kind of haggling is part of the fun. It’s a bulk discount.”
I thank him and pay the money.
“Thanks for your business. But what are you going to do with so many?”
“As a small token of gratitude, I’ll give them to the people who usually take care of me.”
“…Actually, about those. Those Bracelets. They’re all handmade by yours truly.”
“Is that so?”
“Hahaha, my main business is making things like that. So, well, I was a little happy with your words.”
“Wof. What are you doing? We’re going to the next food stall.”
“Y-Yes! Well then.”
“Ahaha, thanks again.”
I gave a light wave and parted with the vendor.
I made some good purchases.
After that, Narcissus-san continued to buy and eat from the food stalls.
The money from six people also safely fulfilled its purpose. (Completely empty.)
We entered a park. There were food stalls inside the park too.
“Oh, that looks delicious.”
“Are you still going to eat?”
“How rude. That makes Ura sound like a glutton.”
“You can’t beat Fairial, though.”
“I’m not competing! How rude.”
I give a wry smile.
“What are you going to do for dinner?”
“This is dinner.”
“Ehhh… Not for me, it isn’t.”
“You always have a comeback, don’t you?”
Narcissus-san sat on a bench. Without missing a beat, she looked at me and patted the spot next to her.
I understood and sat down. From under her hood, Narcissus-san’s purple eyes gleamed.
Somehow, the atmosphere is different.
“What’s wrong?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, she bowed her head and apologized.
“Wh-What’s wrong?!”
“About trying to kidnap you… About Alveld.”
“Ah, ahh.”
I had completely forgotten.
That’s right. She was the main culprit.
It’s hard to believe, but she was.
“I’m truly sorry. Ura was in the wrong.”
“It’s alright now.”
“So, please stop trying to fight Alveld.”
“That’s…”
She raised her head.
“Ura is entirely at fault, and Ura can’t complain no matter what you do to Ura.”
“I have no such intentions. I won’t do anything.”
“Please stop trying to fight Alveld.”
“Why?”
“Because you will lose.”
“…”
I couldn’t say anything.
Narcissus-san looked at my expression and seemed apologetic.
“It seems you haven’t given up.”
“Even so… I am.”
“I can see that you’ve certainly gotten stronger. But Alveld is stronger than Ura.”
“Even so.”
“Why do you want to fight Alveld so much? It’s presumptuous for Ura, the cause of it all, to ask this, but I still want to know.”
Why, why is it?
I think. At first, I was frustrated.
It was the first time I had been completely defeated, no matter what I did, even using [Generous].
Because of that frustration, I desperately want to win. I can’t accept that I lost.
There was that kind of murky feeling.
“I couldn’t accept that I lost, I was frustrated, so there was this desire to win.”
“I understand that. But if you fight him again, you’ll just experience that again.”
That’s probably true. I know it too. As I am now, I can’t win.
Even so, that’s precisely why. No, that’s somehow different.
“I want to fight.”
“Eh?”
I’m also surprised by the words I unconsciously muttered.
I see. So that was it.
“I want to fight. I don’t really like fighting, and even after becoming a Seeker, I thought about avoiding it, but even so, I wanted to fight.”
“And that’s Alveld?”
“—Yes. I want to fight Alveld.”
“Even if you lose?”
“I think it’s wrong to fight expecting to lose from the start. If I’m going to fight, I’ll fight to win. Besides, I don’t think Alveld would want that either.”
“That’s true. That guy is… —“
She starts to say something but stops her words.
“Narcissus-san?”
“…You’re right. One does want to win, after all…”
“Yes.”
“In that case… there’s also the apology… but… there’s no time… in the first place… that Witch… this is… yes. It’s better to confirm it……… yes.”
She’s muttering something. What should I do?
“Wof.”
Narcissus-san stood up.
“Y-Yes.”
“Sorry. I just remembered I have something to do, so I’ll be taking my leave here.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Wof. Ura misunderstood many things. You’re a good person. Also, it was fun. Ura didn’t dislike this kind of thing. It was so-so, though.”
“That’s… good to hear.”
“Well then, I’m in a hurry. Goodbye.”
“Y-Yes. Goodbye.”
Narcissus-san ran off. She disappeared in an instant.
She was kind of like a storm, wasn’t she? And she felt younger than me.
“She wasn’t a bad person…”
I’m glad I understood that.
Ah, I forgot to ask various things about 【Vanish】.
I’ll ask next time we meet. I lean back on the bench and look up at the sunset sky.
In the sky, stars are beginning to twinkle faintly.
“…Win. I want to win… but… I’m just one step away.”
The last piece of the puzzle is missing.
Just one more.
I reach out my hand.
Because it felt like I could reach that star.
Night.
A deep, black night with no stars or moon.
I hold my breath.
“Now, now, come over here, won’t you?”
The Witch, wrapped in a single black Sheet, smiles gently and beckons.
This isn’t my room.
So those three aren’t here.
It’s just me and The Witch.