Translator: Tseirp

  Two weeks had passed since Prince Sarius returned home.

  Zoltan’s short winter had already lost interest in the town. The past couple of days were consistently warm.

  I sat at the counter of the shop and occasionally dealt with the customers.

  There was some panic buying just a while back due to fear of war and insufficient materials so lately we were mostly free.

  Well, I had been busy so I was thinking of enjoying some free time like a Zoltan resident.

  “Thank you very much.”


  After sending the customer off, I sat down and dazed off.

  It was a way of passing time that I would never have dreamed of when I was trying to grow stronger for Ruti’s sake or busy with Knight’s work.

  Wasn’t it great like this as well?

  While lost in thought, I suddenly felt a soft sensation press against the back of my head.

  “Red, I’m bored~”


  Lit had hugged my head from behind.

  “I’m bored too.”


  “Uuu, I want to dump work aside and flirt.”


  “But customers still come by once in a while.”


  Lit hugged my head as she whined.

  But wasn’t this situation considered flirting?

  I was feeling happiness.

  “All right.”


  I stood up to respond to Lit’s discontent voice.

  “What’s wrong? Did you think of something?”


  “Lit, sit here.”


  “Okay!”


  I had Lit sit on the chair I was seating on.

  Then, I hugged Lit’s head from behind.

  It was just a reverse of the situation just now.

  I felt happy so Lit should feel happy too.

  “???”


  Lit had a puzzled look.

  But.

  “ …… Ehehe.”


  After a while, she covered her mouth with her red bandana around her neck and started grinning.

  Her face turned a little red.

  I knew that whatever would make me feel happy would make Lit feel happy too.

  “Then next is my turn again!”


  Lit’s cute voice echoed in the shop.

  And that was how we enjoyed our spare time.

  ☆☆

  Come noon, the number of customers decreased even further.

  【Pachin】


  A pleasant sound could be heard in the shop.

  “Woah, nice move.”


  “Fufu~”


  Lit had a proud look on her face as she played with the stones in her hand.

  White and black stones drew a complicated pattern on the board.

  We were playing a board game called ‘Encircling Battle’.

  A strategic where you take turns to place stones and surround the land to make them your territory. (TLN: Basically Weiqi or Go.)

  It was well known in the Avalon continent. The game was rather favored by the calmer older generation.

  Perhaps because of that, it was treated as an intelligent game and won’t be frowned upon when we play it in the shop.

  However, in terms of popularity, the Wyvern Race was favored by a wider audience.

  The Encircling Battle requires preparation of a large number of stones while you only need your own piece and three dices for the Wyvern Race.

  “What about this ……”


  “Then I will be taking this.”


  “Mumumu.”


  Lit was a master in Encircling Battle.

  We occasionally play like this but I have never won once without a handicap.

  Only if she lets me have a handicap of placing three stones first will we finally be evenly matched.

  This round the handicap was one stone.

  I was at a disadvantage but as Lit’s partner, I could not keep losing to her forever.

  “Here!”


  “Mu, that’s a bit troubling.”


  It seemed like my following move surprised Lit.

  This time, Lit’s hand stopped and she stared at the board while thinking carefully.

  This moment was the best when facing a stronger opponent.

  “Red improves so quickly.”


  After some consideration, Lit played defensively instead of launching a counterattack.

  I won the battle for that spot.

  “That’s because I get to play with Lit. When I understand the strategy behind the moves Lit make, I will naturally improve.”


  I placed a stone down with a clack.

  “Nhfufu, then I have to understand Red more too.”


  Lit said with a laugh.

  Even though our bodies weren’t touching, we played with our hearts connected.

  After a while.

  【Karan】


  The bell made a sound and the door of the shop opened.

  ““Welcome!””


  Lit and I stopped our game and greeted the customer.

  It was a woman with beautiful facial features.

  She had long shiny silver hair and unblemished skin.

  Her eyes were blue and she wore green-tinged sturdy Kiramin-weaved travel clothes.

  The most noticeable feature were her long ears that peaked out of her hair.

  “Eh!?”


  Lit raised her voice in shock.

  I was surprised as well and my thought process momentarily came to a halt.

  After all, we both knew that High-Elf.

  “Gideon! I finally found you!”


  That High-Elf showed a bright smile that shined as bright as her silver hair and jumped toward me.

  She didn’t even mind the counter that was between us.

  She lightly hopped over the counter and I somehow managed to catch her.

  “I’m glad you are all right!”


  “Yarandorara!?”


  The High-Elf was called Yarandorara.

  A 『Tree Singer』 who was once in the Hero party with me and had quarreled with the Sage Ares and left after I was kicked out of the party.

  “I was afraid that you might have been killed by that Ares …… !”


  Yarandorara embraced me tightly.

  She had a soft scent of flowers.

  “Calm down Yarandorara! The customer is watching!”


  The adventurer Charles, a regular of our shop, looked with wide eyes when he entered after Yarandorara.

  His hand was stretched toward the sword on his waist so he might have been angry thinking that I was cheating …… Charles was Lit’s avid fan after all.

  Lit was also at a loss as to what to do.

  “For now, please let go and we’ll talk.”


  I said it desperately but Yarandorara didn’t release her embrace.

  “I was truly …… worried ……”


  “ …… I guess you would. I’m sorry for leaving without saying anything.”


  I gave up and relaxed.

  Yarandorara’s voice was trembling.

  ☆☆

  “Umu umu, I see.”


  Charles nodded as he spoke.

  “In other words, she was dissatisfied that Red was chased out and came here searching for him.”


  Charles saw that scene so I had to explain the situation to him.

  I explained the situation roughly while adding in some lies.

  “In that case, I shouldn’t butt in.”


  Charles stood up.

  “I was about to cut you in half if you were cheating though.”


  “Are you serious?”


  “I’m half-joking. For the other half, I brought Yarandorara here so if she harmed Lit-san or Red in any way, I was ready to give my life to stop her.”


  “There’s no way it would reach that point.”


  Yarandorara glared at Charles.

  “I don’t know you well so you can’t blame me for that. At any rate, being the outsider, I should leave as quickly as possible.”


  “Ah, sorry for causing you trouble.”


  Charles laughed and shook his head to my words.

  “Don’t worry about it, I’m happy to be able to help this shop. I’ve come to like this shop.”


  After that, Charles politely greeted Lit and left the shop.

  I restrained myself from grinning.

  I was delighted to hear praise for Red & Lit Apothecary.

  “Fuuu~”


  Yarandorara looked fondly at me when she saw my expression.