Ch. 44 The Two Witches (24)
by Afuhfuihgs
Witch – Chapter 44- The Two Witches (24)
The inside of the shop was cleaner than I had expected.
Whether it was because she cleaned every morning, there was no dust on the floor, windows, or display shelves.
The shelves were filled with potions that adventurers would find useful—stamina potions, healing potions, energy potions, vitality potions, and more.
The prices were also set at a level that wouldn’t burden adventurers.
When I first heard from Derrick that Beryl had opened a shop, I was skeptical… but it seemed she had the heart to run it properly, which was a relief.
With the recent increase in monster aggression in Venetia, many adventurer parties were getting injured. If Beryl put in a little effort to promote her shop to the Adventurers’ Guild, word would spread quickly.
But Beryl, being a shut-in, would never go through such trouble. Still, I couldn’t just sit back and watch my friend stay cooped up at home, fiddling with her chest and muttering to herself.
“Have you been outside recently? The city’s been bustling with festival preparations.”
“Festival?”
“The Harvest Festival that happens around this time every year in Venetia.”
“Ah. Ahhh, uhh, yeah! The festival! I know, I know!”
It was obvious she had no idea, despite having lived in Venetia for over 60 years.
What am I supposed to do with this hopeless shut-in?
It felt like I had gained another child besides Josie, and it was making my head spin.
At this rate, I wouldn’t even be able to ask her to take a look at Leo’s Holy Eye, let alone expect her to be of any use in 200 years.
I knew Beryl became more reclusive and passive when she closed her eyes, but I hadn’t expected it to get this bad.
Business aside, I wanted to get Beryl out of the house first.
And while we were at it, get rid of that hood she refused to take off.
If possible, I also wanted to help rebuild her shattered self-esteem.
“Estelle, what brings you here? You didn’t come just to see me, did you…?”
“What kind of sad talk is that? I came because I missed you. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“F-friends… Hehe. Yeah, yeah. Estelle is my one and only friend! Should we take a bath together and have a pajama party? I have a glow-in-the-dark dragon plushie. Let’s go under the covers and admire it at night!”
Damn, I can’t resist a glow-in-the-dark dragon plushie.
I almost fell for it but managed to snap out of it.
If this were the Beryl with her eyes open,
she would’ve started making inappropriate jokes and groping my chest the moment we met.
Compared to that, I much preferred this version of Beryl, who overreacted to the slightest tease and indulged in gloomy fantasies.
Yeah. It’s fine. It’s fine, but…
Her infantile behavior, which was hard to believe came from someone over 400 years old, was giving me cognitive dissonance.
“In return, could you take off that suffocating hood?”
“Ehh. That’s a bit difficult…”
“You’re not wearing it in the bath or when you sleep, are you?”
“W-well… no?”
Her hesitant response suggested she might’ve been planning to.
I felt bad for Beryl, but I had to use her gloomy personality to my advantage.
“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and I can’t even see your face. It makes me sad. Do you not consider me a friend? If you’re going to keep hiding your face, I’ll just put on a hood too…”
I covered my face with my hands, trying to sound as pitiful and sad as possible while keeping an eye on Beryl’s reaction.
“S-sad? You shouldn’t be sad… If Estelle’s not here, I have no friends.”
She probably knew through her mana that I wasn’t actually crying and was just acting, but she seemed too flustered to think that far. I watched her panic through the gaps in my fingers.
I shouldn’t get used to this.
Teasing her was more fun than I expected, and I could see myself getting addicted.
“Beryl, we’re friends, right?”
“Yeah! We’re friends.”
“Then, let’s take it off?”
“Huh?”
I took advantage of Beryl’s moment of distraction and grabbed the dark hood.
Even if she struggled to push my hand away, Beryl, with her eyes closed, didn’t stand a chance.
“You’ve shown me once. Doing it twice shouldn’t be hard, right?”
“B-but! I’m not mentally prepared…!”
Mentally prepared, my foot.
What is she even imagining…?
It’s not like she’s stripping naked. Does she really need to be mentally prepared just to take off her hood?
“Gently… please.”
Wait, should I just take it all off?
It seemed like she’d let me if I pushed a little.
I didn’t actually plan to strip her, but this wasn’t my fault. Beryl’s masochistic tendencies were to blame.
“Then, shall I take it off?”
“Yeah.”
Why was I so nervous just taking off her hood?
It was like opening a treasure chest I’d already seen before, but the excitement was still there.
“W-wait!!!!!!”
“Huh?”
What now? You said you were ready!
Just as I was halfway through pulling off the hood, revealing a glimpse of Beryl’s face from the shadows,
“A-a customer’s here! Let’s do this later, okay?”
What’s this, a situation where you’re flirting with a married woman and her husband suddenly comes home?
Beryl must’ve sensed a customer approaching the shop through her mana, as she was growing increasingly frantic.
“Estelle, it’d be best if you hid under the counter for now…”
“Do I really need to hide just because a customer’s here?”
“Just do it, quick…!”
Beryl, who had been helpless just moments ago, effortlessly picked me up and tossed me toward the counter.
If this were the Beryl with her eyes open, I’d understand, but how could she lift and throw me so easily now?
I used my mana to cushion the impact and avoid injury, but I was still stunned by what had just happened.
As if I wasn’t even worth her attention, Beryl pushed her hips against the counter with all her might and composed herself.
What kind of customer is so important that she has to hide me?
Footsteps approached the shop, and the customer’s voice reached my ears.
“This is the shop I told you about. The potions here are really effective, so I come here often. It’s where I buy the potions I need before heading out on quests. Other adventurers avoid it because they say the owner is scary, but… from what I’ve seen, she’s a good person.”
The endless stream of chatter and the voice of the boy I’d just heard this morning.
Nicks had arrived, bringing Josie and Leo with him.
The customer was Nicks?
The place Nicks had mentioned visiting often before heading out was Beryl’s shop.
“Nicks, you’re here? It’s been 5 days, 15 hours, 35 minutes, and 13 seconds since your last visit. I was worried you’d died somewhere! Y-you’re not hurt or anything, are you!?”
She remembers that?
I thought people said the owner was scary because of the hood she always wore, but with this level of obsession, I could see why they’d be intimidated.
If someone told me the exact date and time of my last visit the moment I walked in, I’d never come back either.
“Haha. I haven’t taken any quests lately. I’m starting again today.”
“You can always drop by even if you don’t have a quest…”
Nicks, seemingly used to this, brushed it off casually.
“Oh, this is Leo and Josie. They’ll be in my party for a while, so you’ll probably see them often.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Leo. Nicks recommended this place, so we decided to visit.”
“Hello. You can call me Josie.”
“Yeah, n-nice to meet you. I see. Nicks is a Stella-ranked adventurer, but it’s still dangerous to go alone. Yeah. Parties… are important.”
Stop it.
It’s better not to show too much interest in male customers.
I remembered switching stores after the owner of a clothing shop I frequented started getting too friendly.
“Are you here for the potions as usual?”
“Yes. Please prepare enough for three people.”
“Got it. Just give me a moment.”
While Beryl went to the storage to prepare the potions, I peeked out from under the counter.
Nicks was explaining the potions on display to Leo,
while Josie, who had been watching from a distance, noticed me and our eyes met.
“Sister?”
“Shh.”
I put a finger to my lips, signaling her to stay quiet, and she nodded vigorously.
Josie quietly approached the counter, keeping an eye on the others.
“What are you doing here?”
What am I doing here?
I don’t know.
I really don’t…
“The owner here is a friend of Mom’s.”
“I see. But why are you hiding?”
“I don’t know. She told me to hide for a bit. Anyway, you didn’t see me, okay? You know what I mean?”
Josie nodded enthusiastically, and I felt relieved as I ducked back under the counter.
Beryl returned, carefully carrying an armful of potions that looked like they’d be hard to hold without dropping.
“Thanks for bringing them. I’ll calculate the total now.”
“Just take them for free. And, uh, please come more often.”
Free? Not just one or two potions, but at least ten bottles, and she’s giving them away for free?
Potion prices aren’t exactly cheap. Does she even want to run a business?
From her tone, it didn’t seem like she was joking.
How much pressure is she putting on a regular customer who’s just returned after a long time?
“No, it’s fine. You need to make a living too. It’d be lonely if you closed the shop.”
“L-lonely? Hehe… Yeah. I can’t let Nicks feel lonely. Should I take the money, then?”
Beryl, who had been swayed by Nicks’ words, quickly softened. I sighed inwardly.
“I’ll come again tomorrow!”
“Yes. Take care. Are you really going to come tomorrow? Really?!”
There were so many things I wanted to point out.
First, I wanted to know why she hid me under the counter.
Lucent
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