Chapter 196: Searching for a Model
Last night, Ash and the others returned. The gates were closed, so ordinary people couldn’t enter, but Kanum was lenient with adventurers and merchants.
If you had the right qualifications for the side gate, curfew didn’t really matter. Even for outsiders who could only enter through the main gate, adventurers of Silver Rank or higher, or those accompanied by a number of Silver Rank adventurers up to half their party, were allowed. Merchants had their own rules based on their status and the goods they brought in, which often came with extra fees.
Ryokuen was moving differently than usual, so I asked if they had arrived, and he nodded up and down in affirmation.
It felt a bit awkward to visit so late at night, so instead, I prepared some bread. I woke up early to start the fire in the oven, and after a walk with Rishu, I adjusted the charcoal and began baking the bread.
From the field, I gathered basil and spinach; from the orchard, cherries; and from the chickens, eggs. I had ham and fresh cheese ready, along with a stew sealed in pie crust. Even though it was out of season, I made cream puffs filled with strawberries.
All set!
And so, I knocked on the door of Dinoss’s house bright and early. Well, I always delivered the bread at this time.
“Hey, good morning!”
“Good morning, Jean.”
“Good morning, this is breakfast. Dinoss.” I handed a basket filled with bread, vegetables, and eggs to Shiva and pulled Dinoss out from behind the door.
“What’s up?”
“Ash and the others came back last night.”
“They made it back safely; that’s good to hear.”
“Yeah. So, how should I greet them upon their return?”
I asked Dinoss in a quiet alley where the distant sounds of vendors echoed faintly.
“Just be normal, I guess.”
“What’s normal?”
“Just greet them with a smile. What’s the issue?”
“I sent them off feeling like we were more than friends but less than lovers.” I had no idea what kind of expression to wear, and I felt quite unsettled.
“…Are you a coward?”
“Don’t underestimate my shallow relationships.” I had never had a reunion with friends where I just waited around.
I should have thought it would be normal to reunite until yesterday, but I hadn’t really considered what that would look like. And now, I was stuck in a loop of anxiety.
“For now, I came to ask you since you have a wife.”
I realized that many of the people around me were single.
With Kanum being a treasure-seeking adventurer and many merchants around, the town had a high ratio of single men, but it was strange to have acquaintances with not just wives but also romantic partners, you know?
“I’d be troubled if you asked me again… I fell for Shiva when she tried to kill me, and since then, I’ve been pushing forward. That doesn’t apply to your case. Until then, I was just pleasing other women casually—wait, that doesn’t apply to you either.”
Dinoss looked at me as if to say, “You can’t push forward, can you?”
Wait a minute. Don’t mix in information I want to poke fun at during this tense moment. Why is your wife trying to kill you? And didn’t you say Shiva was a former noble lady!?
Shiva seemed happy to be called “wife” and had asked me to call her that with a cheerful smile. What kind of past do these two have?
“For now, just greet them with a smile and say welcome back. Come on, you’re going to deliver it, right? I’ll go with you.”
Before I could make a retort, I was literally pushed toward Ash’s house.
Is there a model, a model, anywhere?
“Jean.”
As I passed through my own house and into the alley, there was the model I was looking for.
As soon as Ash and I met eyes, he had a somewhat expressionless face but opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, looking a bit pleased.
“Please reverse that.”
I placed the basket of treats down and opened my arms wide in welcome.
“Hmm?”
Ash remained with his arms wide open.
“Seriously, you two look like animals trying to intimidate each other, so one of you needs to move.”
Dinoss’s voice was filled with exasperation.
“Stop inching closer to each other without changing your poses! Don’t rotate clockwise!”
I was serious, but Dinoss had too many demands.
Without a touching reunion, I called out to the butler from the back door, and we had breakfast with Ash at home. The butler was absent since there were still guests sleeping in the house. Dinoss returned next door.
I handed the butler everything except the cream puffs, so we could have breakfast again.
I cut thick slices of bread into squares, stuffed them with melting cheese, bacon, and spinach, and cracked an egg on top. I ground black pepper over it, stuffed more cheese inside, and used the cut-out piece as a lid. I adjusted the charcoal and cooked it on low heat.
“How do you want your eggs cooked? Firm?”
“Yeah.”
I prepared a salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, and arugula, and at staggered intervals, I placed my portion of bread into the fireplace.
“Was the journey tough?”
I tossed sausages into the frying pan to sear them.
“Yeah. Kanum’s house was comfortable, but staying at inns along the way was a bit painful.”
“Yeah, aside from the big cities, villages can be rough.”
“If it was sunny, it would have been better to camp with your sleeping bag, Jean.”
Even if there was a bed, it was just a bundle of straw, and the terrifying reality was that rooms were usually nests for fleas and lice.
By the time I had prepared yogurt with milk and berry jam, along with fruits and cherries, the bread was just right.
“Here you go.”
“Ah, really. I’ve been looking forward to this.”
Ash looked genuinely happy.
I was happy too.