episode_0384

It wasn’t an easy task to build a friendship with Mr. Negi while giving him work.

Because the situation was different, if I pushed too hard, it could cause misunderstandings, so I needed to maintain an appropriate line and build up goodwill, but keeping that line wasn’t easy.

‘Basically, I’m on high alert.’

Even out of caution, I couldn’t just try to make a good impression.

‘There’s nothing I can do about it, even if it’s tricky. Even if I’m innocent, there’s no answer if they misunderstand, so I have no choice but to be careful.’

Being suspicious in that way can be a bad thing in itself.

What do you think of people and make such misunderstandings?

But considering her appearance, it was not surprising that she was wary.

‘He was a commoner with that appearance, so he must have suffered a lot.’

So, even though he was a commoner, he was taken by a nobleman and gave birth to Fran.

There must have been so many tricks that I was sick of it, and the memories of being treated like that made me show excessive caution.

I couldn’t laugh at Negi’s way of surviving.

‘Tsk, did we add another person?’

Look at it now.

It’s not like I’m going around dressed up, but aren’t there already men snooping around the general store?

I gave Damon a glance.

Damon, who was waiting near Negi, flew into the sky.

‘How many people did Damon deal with?’

Attaching Damon to Negi was the best choice.

As I expected, problems arose with her wandering around alone.

Even if you hide your appearance, your beauty shines through the dirt. Wouldn’t it be great if you walked around clean-washed?

It was natural that more men were attracted to her looks.

‘I guess it’s because I went through a lot of hardships, or should I say, I have a sense of sorrow. It has a unique atmosphere that is hard to find, so it attracts attention.’

That unique atmosphere seemed to add to Mr. Negi’s charm, making men follow him in awe.

“It’s delicious today too! “How are you so good at cooking?”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

If I have a new preference after meeting my kids, it’s that eating together tastes better than eating alone.

“I don’t know if I can be this strong.”

“What kind of luxury is this? “I’m just eating.”

Negi liked my food.

I’ve often been praised for my cooking skills, so it’s a bit like that, but I feel proud that my mother-in-law (presumably) likes it.

“It looks like things have been sorted out today. Yes?”

“yes. “Now I just need to sweep and mop the floor.”

“The general store will open when the academy starts school. In the meantime, you can live freely.”

“Is there anything else you want me to do?”

As if he had grown tired of working, Mr. Negi kept looking for the next thing to do.

“We worked hard for three days. The staff was so diligent that the cleanup was completed much faster than expected. “Now all we have to do is rest.”

If I had done it alone, wouldn’t the cleanup have been completed by the time the academy starts?

In the first place, there was nothing urgent, so I tried to do it leisurely.

“I have received so much from my boss.”

They gave me a place to stay, and paid me a salary in advance so I could buy daily necessities.

Because of that, Mr. Negi is taxing himself to repay the favor right away.

“Once school starts and you start a business, you can work hard from then on.”

“I will repay you as much as you trusted me.”

My mother-in-law is so sincere that I feel burdened.

Since he was so sincere, it was okay to pay him a high salary, but unfortunately, Mr. Negi did not just sit by and watch.

‘Even so, these two people are not in a mother-daughter relationship?’

Doesn’t that foolish appearance really resemble someone else?

Strangely enough, the ridiculous situation happened several times where Mr. Negi, who was paid, tried to reduce his salary, and I, who had to pay it, tried to increase it by any means possible.

At least in exchange for signing a confidentiality agreement, they were able to insist on a salary higher than that received by commoners.

“Aren’t you curious about the secrets of the general store that need to be kept hidden?”

It wasn’t the right thing to ask someone who was eating, but I was surprised that they weren’t curious, so I asked.

“I’m curious, but I think it’s important if you’re willing to keep it a secret while giving me money. “If you don’t need to tell me, I thought it would be better to wait until you tell me.”

As expected, people are fine.

“If you work as an employee, you will naturally have no choice but to know secrets.”

“If I find out, I’ll just do it without asking.”

It will probably be easier to understand if you see it with your own eyes rather than having it explained to you.

I nodded to her words and then said.

“If anyone approaches us to pry into our general store’s secrets, tell them. “I can give you dozens of times more here.”

“I won’t betray you!! “Then I’ll tell you what I’m keeping secret.”

You want to exchange secrets?

It was a welcome thing to hear, but when I saw that he was willing to do something he didn’t have to do, I wondered if there was something he wanted from me.

“It’s Negi’s secret, isn’t it interesting?”

“ah… “It’s not as great as you expected.”

I guess I made a mistake with my words.

Even though he said it with his own mouth, it seemed like a mistake.

To calm her down in confusion, I pretended it was no big deal.

“So, should we both get a little closer and share things?”

“yes! great.”

Mr. Negi, greatly relieved by my words, sighed softly and then smiled brightly.

She looks like a girl, making you wonder if she is a 20-year-old woman with a grown-up daughter.

It was just a pity that two people with similar good hearts broke up due to an unintentional mistake and had to miss each other for the rest of their lives.

Although he has grown up well enough now, I think it would have been better if Mr. Negi had raised Fran to the end.

‘If that were the case, at least I wouldn’t have been swayed by a cult.’

For the saint Franc, being from a cult was her only weakness and constraint.

Fran had already been brainwashed into the cult and could not escape it.

If it weren’t for the cult, she might have been officially recognized as a saint.

※ ※ ※

We both said we should postpone revealing our secrets until later, but there were some things we had no choice but to know as we spent time together.

“who are you?”

“I came from the top… “Are you my wife?”

“yes?! no! “I’m an employee.”

Before I could explain about the top, the top employee and Mr. Negi ran into each other.

Mr. Negi couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked questions as he watched the upper level staff take a huge amount of combat rations from the warehouse.

“How did this happen? Why are combat rations coming out of the warehouse?”

“I run a small merchant jointly with a friend. So sometimes, the top will come to pick up items like they do now. Mr. Negi’s job is to open the warehouse door when a top employee comes and then lock the door when all the items are taken out. “It’s easy, right?”

“It should be easy, but you’re not talking about the small company you run that supplies combat rations, right?”

“It’s the one that sells combat rations.”

“!!!”

Negi’s eyes widened to twice their usual size, as if he was surprised.

“Why do you deceive such a great top into thinking it’s a small place?!”

“It’s still a small place.”

It is true that the scale of the top is still relatively small compared to other tops.

The only difference is that the inside of the top is completely filled.

“Not at all!!”

Negi seemed to be more shocked than expected.

I wondered if it would be such a shock that the merchant I run was ‘the merchant’ famous for its combat rations, but there was a reason for such a reaction.

“Does that matter?”

“It’s important! “Oh my god, where did I come in?”

I’m sure you’re not saying you’ll leave because it’s burdensome.

“The merchant and the general store have nothing to do with each other. “Mr. Negi is a general store employee, not a top employee.”

“That’s not the problem. I was able to come here safely alive thanks to the combat rations sold at this merchant. “If they hadn’t sold me that, I would have starved to death a long time ago.”

“… “Did something like that happen?”

It was a moment when all the bad things that happened while selling combat rations became irrelevant.

I think this is why people should live good lives.

Didn’t we do something good for some other reason and then luck rolled in and created this butterfly effect?

“Because he was that kind of person in the first place, he probably accepted someone like me as an employee. I thought it was strange because he did it so well, but now I understand. I didn’t even know he was a great person… . “I don’t know how to apologize for this.”

He suddenly apologized, probably remembering the time when he was wary of me in the beginning.

Although we had become very close, it felt like the wariness that had been maintained to some extent had almost disappeared.

I didn’t know that just by telling me what the upper management was running, I would be able to relax my guard.

“it’s okay. “It is true that you are beautiful enough to warrant caution.”

“Oh, how old am I? Don’t say things like that. “She’s a wrinkly woman.”

That’s a bit much.

Who would look at that and say that she is a wrinkly old lady?

“So there are no longer any problems with me running the top?”

“yes. “I was just surprised.”

“thank god.”

If you’re just surprised, I don’t think you’ll run away because of the burden.

‘Still, you have to be careful.’

I thought it would be more shocking to let people know that I made the products I was selling rather than running a business, so I thought I should hide this carefully.

“I’ve filled my stomach, what should I do now?”

The problem was that Mr. Negi showed great motivation for work.

‘It’s a big deal.’

With bright eyes, he strengthened his resolve to work harder in the future, but honestly, I felt burdened.

‘I’m thinking of doing that because the store isn’t open right now, but…’

There are no customers in our general store.

Even when the academy opens, no customers come.

In other words, it is a general store where there is nothing to work at even if you want to work hard!

I can’t imagine how Negi will react when he finds out.

It was something I would find out about once school started, so I decided to keep it quiet for now.