Episode 49: “Fiine Can’t Refuse”
Stepping down from the carriage and looking around, she found the road solidly paved with cobblestones, lined with a row of large houses.
The royal capital had plenty of apartment buildings, but Epfel Village consisted almost entirely of standalone houses.
Fields spread out around the village’s edges, encircling it on all sides.
Among the people walking through the village, some wore work clothes, while plenty of others were dressed neatly and well.
(Since it’s close to the capital, I bet a lot of people commute there for work, or go to school there too.)
The air was clean, and it seemed like a comfortable place to live. It made sense that Adam loved his hometown so much.
Plenty of merchants from the capital had come to sell food and everyday goods, and stalls lined the roadside.
While she found herself momentarily distracted by the sight, Adam spoke up, sounding proud.
“The merchants who come here to sell things from the capital usually buy vegetables grown in our village on their way back too!”
“…I see.”
It was true — buying up fresh goods for the return trip was probably more efficient than just going home empty-handed.
“Actually, I heard about the magic doll shop from a merchant too. I heard even the head of the Hofmann Company relied on the magic doll shop!”
“The Hofmann Company… you mean Max-san?”
The Frontier Hero Conrad’s childhood friend. She’d known he was a merchant, but hadn’t realized he was quite that well-known.
“Yeah! Not many people can build a company that big from nothing, in just one generation. Oh, and my family’s vegetables get used at all kinds of restaurants through the Hofmann Company too!”
Adam puffed out his chest with a full, beaming smile — endearing, certainly, but it made her want to sigh, learning that word of the shop had spread through Max’s connections as well.
(I’d heard it spread among the nobility because of Marquess Heinz, but now it’s turned into merchant gossip too…)
She had no wish to stand out at all, so why had things ended up this way?
“Isn’t that great, though? Word of mouth matters.”
Yuria whispered it into her ear. What she said was certainly true, but it left Fiine with complicated feelings all the same.
“My house is this way.”
Following after Adam, she found herself greeted by all sorts of people almost immediately.
“Hey, Adam. What’s with the two lovely ladies you’ve got trailing after you?”
“Adam-chan, your mother’s been looking for you. Don’t worry her too much, now.”
“I was waiting to play with you, big brother Adam!!”
“I made some sweets — I was thinking of bringing them by your house.”
Old and young, men and women alike, called out to him one after another. Each time, Adam stopped to respond warmly and cheerfully.
Because of that, it took a while to actually reach his house, though it stood close to the carriage stop, right along the main street.
“This is my house.”
A large house, distinguished by its red-brick roof.
The moment the door opened, a woman came rushing out, footsteps loud against the floor.
Almost certainly his mother.
She shared Adam’s same flaxen-colored hair, with gentle, downturned eyes. Seeing Fiine and the others, she tilted her head, clearly puzzled.
“…Adam, who are these people?”
“They’re from the magic doll shop.”
“The magic doll shop?”
“Yeah.”
Nodding, Adam pulled a crumpled flyer from his bag.
The very same flyer Yuria had gone around distributing everywhere before the shop’s opening.
“…This is…”
“I want them to bring Dad back to life. Then I want him to teach me how to deal with monsters. That way, I can join the night patrol too, right?”
His mother fell silent for a moment, staring at the flyer, then slowly shifted her gaze toward Fiine and the others.
“Um… is this actually true?”
“Of course it is! The owner of the magic doll shop, Fiine Fellner, is a genius who graduated top of her class at the magic academy!!”
“H-hold on, Yuria…”
“…What an amazing person you must be.”
Her eyes widened, and then, flustered, she bowed her head.
“I’m so sorry for the delay in introducing myself. I’m Adam’s mother, Helena.”
Holding the hem of her dress, Helena bowed with elegant, practiced grace.
Judging by her bearing, she’d likely been born into a wealthy family herself.
“See, Mom, it’s fine, right? I want to make the request. I don’t need my allowance for a while, so…”
“Now, Adam. That’s not really the issue here.”
“But…”
Without Helena’s approval, the commission couldn’t be accepted at all.
Just as Fiine was thinking this might be the end of it, a small girl came out from a room in the back.
Her features closely resembled Adam’s and Helena’s. She looked to be around four or five years old.
“Big brother, you’re home?”
“Yeah, I’m home, Mary.”
Adam ruffled her hair, and Mary’s face relaxed into a happy, contented smile.
“Mary wants to see Daddy again too, right?”
“See Daddy? But Daddy went far, far away, and we can’t see him anymore, right?”
“Yeah. But if we ask these big sisters, they can let us see Daddy again, just for one day.”
Blinking her large eyes repeatedly, Mary stared at Fiine and the others.
Then, suddenly, she threw herself into Helena’s arms.
“That’s great, Mommy! You get to see Daddy! Mommy always cries because you miss him, right?”
“Mary, that’s…!”
“I know! I’m always watching you, Mommy!”
Mary puffed her chest out proudly, but in stark contrast, Helena buried her face in both hands.
As if worried about her, Adam gently rubbed her back.
Adam’s back, in that moment, looked far bigger than his actual size.
(He said their father died a month ago, right…)
A month since losing someone precious. There was no way that alone could be enough to come to terms with it.
Even trying to stay strong as the mother of two children, Helena surely had her own limits too.
“Um, Fiine-san.”
“Yes.”
“Could you give me just one day to think it over? Of course, we’ll cover your lodging expenses for tonight.”
Asked in a trembling voice like that, there was no way Fiine could possibly refuse.