Ch.61Promoted to a City (6)

# The Evaluation Continued for Three Days

The evaluation continued for three days.

The application we sent to the royal palace was a book’s worth of documents. The evaluation forms brought by the committee were another book’s worth.

It’s more surprising that they completed the evaluation in just three days.

The evaluation committee diligently toured the village from dawn until past midnight, meticulously checking everything.

Accompanying them was naturally my responsibility, so for all three days, I couldn’t even enter my shop and had to take short naps on the community center sofa.

There was an administrative officer at the community center, but fortunately, he didn’t bother me.

That’s because the magician stayed constantly by the administrative officer’s side.

The magician was truly close with the administrative officer, not separating for all three days and doing everything together.

I heard that people avoided the administrative officer due to depression and the magician due to his broken personality, but they uniquely accepted each other as friends.

I can understand that.

Anyway, the three-day evaluation finally concluded. It was late evening.

“Thank you for your hard work, Acting Administrative Officer.”

“And to all the evaluation committee members as well. I apologize for any shortcomings in hosting you.”

“Not at all. We had a very comfortable stay.”

While the evaluation committee and I exchanged pleasantries, the magician held the administrative officer’s hand, repeatedly expressing his reluctance to leave.

“Now that I’m leaving, I don’t know when we’ll meet again, Bellamy.”

“It can’t be helped… Magicians are always busy…”

“I’ll come visit again when I have time. Take care of yourself until then, okay?”

“Yes… I will… You should go now…”

When the magician opened a dimensional gate, the committee members filed through it one by one.

After the last committee member passed through, the magician suddenly grabbed my wrist firmly and pulled me into the dimensional gate.

“Huh?! What are you doing?!”

The place we emerged was in front of the capital city’s gate.

Incredibly high and sturdy walls stretched endlessly to the left and right.

Beyond those walls, towering spires and high-rise buildings filled the skyline, while capital guards with stern expressions maintained vigilance from atop the walls.

They were all armed with gleaming heavy armor, and defensive installations including ballistas bristled like a hedgehog’s spines.

“What is this about?”

When I shook off his grip on my wrist, the magician grabbed me by the collar.

“Listen well, potion shop guy.”

Pulling my collar tight, the magician whispered in a low voice.

“You’re going to marry Bellamy. Got it?”

“What…?”

“You two promised to get married, right? If you break it off or hurt Bellamy’s feelings in any way, I’ll kill you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Build a happy family and have children like Bellamy wishes. I’ll be checking on you soon.”

What nonsense is this crazy magician spouting?

But before I could object, the magician pushed me back through the dimensional gate.

As I was thrown back to Starting Village, the dimensional gate closed and disappeared. I stood there dumbfounded for a while.

“Jack…”

The administrative officer quietly approached and took my hand.

“Thank you for your hard work during the evaluation…”

“You worked hard too, Administrative Officer. The committee’s response seemed good, so I think we’ll successfully upgrade to a city.”

“That’s good news… So now… shall we return to the community center…?”

“I need to go to my shop. I haven’t been able to check on it for three days.”

“Ah… of course… you need to go to your shop…”

The administrative officer seemed somewhat disappointed but released my hand with a gloomy smile.

After saying goodbye to the administrative officer, I returned to my shop.

The inside of the shop hadn’t changed much from three days ago.

“Mirella. I’m back. Mirella.”

She wasn’t on the first floor, so I went upstairs and knocked on her door.

“Are you in there?”

There was no answer. I turned the doorknob and it opened, but when I looked inside, she wasn’t there either.

Where could she have gone?

I wondered if she was wandering around somewhere, but suddenly had an ominous feeling.

Mirella has been acting strange lately.

According to Liberone, she’s probably upset about something related to Alreina.

That was definitely my mistake. But I couldn’t help it.

When a mountain suddenly disappeared, of course I had to find Alreina first, since she was directly involved.

I understand that Mirella considers Alreina her rival, but still…

Anyway, for that reason, I’m worried she might have run away or even left the village entirely, trying to be like Alreina.

But Mirella is different from Alreina.

They’re similar in age, but Alreina was a protagonist from the start with incredible potential buffs.

Plus, she has my strategy guide, so she’s bound to succeed. But if Mirella tried to follow that path, she wouldn’t last a month.

Mirella isn’t stupid, so I doubt she’d do something so reckless, but I still feel uneasy.

“Excuse me, have you seen Mirella?”

“No, I haven’t.”

I stopped some kids passing by and asked, but got no helpful answers.

“Captain! Was Mirella at the training grounds today?”

I asked Adelheid and the 2nd Squad Captain who were just returning to the shop.

The 2nd Squad Captain positioned herself between me and Adelheid with an extremely wary look, while Adelheid shook her head.

“I haven’t seen Mirella.”

“Sigh, where could she have gone…”

“She’s not in her room?”

“No. Thank you both for your hard work. Go inside, wash up and rest.”

I passed the instructors and continued searching around the village.

However, everyone I met said they hadn’t seen Mirella.

“Hey! Brasya! Have you seen Mirella?”

“Mirella? Huh? Huh? Where did she go?”

Brasya, walking with a bouncing gait, tilted her head side to side.

“I don’t see her. Don’t know where she went. At this late hour.”

“Hmmmm? Where could she have gone? Hmmmm, ah!”

As if something had occurred to her, Brasya snapped her fingers.

“You know what? Maybe she ran away?”

“Ran away?”

“I saw her walking alone and crying a while back. I asked what was wrong, but she didn’t answer. So maybe she ran away because something was bothering her.”

“Really? Tell me more about that.”

After hearing Brasya’s explanation, I realized that day was when Alreina appeared and blew up the mountain with the Mountain Worm.

That kid Mirella… She must have been really heartbroken. Did she really leave the village?

If so, this is serious trouble.

Brasya, reading my expression, asked with concern:

“Shouldn’t we go look for Mirella?”

“I think we should.”

* * * * *

At that moment, Mirella was on the hill north of the village.

It was a place with a large tree where Mirella used to practice with her opener. It was also where she first met Liberone.

From here, one could see the entire village and its surroundings at a glance, so she often came up here when her mind was troubled.

Even now, Mirella was standing on the hill, hitting the tree with all her might.

The tree, which used to not even budge before, was now gradually losing its bark and getting damaged from the aura-infused opener.

It looked like it would break soon.

“Phew…”

After striking the tree numerous times, Mirella wiped the sweat from her chin and sighed.

It was now full summer. Even after sunset, the weather was humid and stuffy.

Despite having a slim build with little fat that normally didn’t sweat much, Mirella’s entire body was drenched in sweat.

It seemed like this summer would be insanely hot, just like last year.

Leaning against the tree and sitting down, Mirella fluttered her sweat-soaked shirt and looked down at the village.

The sprawling village was lit up with lights everywhere, making it as bright as day despite being evening.

Just half a year ago, this backwater village would be plunged into darkness after sunset, but that village was gone now.

Instead, there stood a soon-to-be-upgraded city with tall palisades and numerous buildings.

This was all Jack’s achievement.

One day, he suddenly started giving out potions for free, then performed all sorts of miraculous feats that rapidly developed the village.

What kind of person is he really?

Trying to recall what Jack was like before he started distributing potions, Mirella was slightly surprised at how hazy her memories were.

Despite living in the same village, it wasn’t easy to recall Jack’s past.

It felt as if some opaque barrier existed between them.

It wasn’t just that they hadn’t been close before—it seemed like the memories themselves were somehow obscured.

What is this? I don’t understand.

But one thing was certain: Jack wasn’t an ordinary person.

He wrote that strange book called a “strategy guide” for that girl Alreina, and accomplished all sorts of things with just potions.

Perhaps, as the Holy Knight said, he might be an angel or something similar.

Maybe he descended to earth, hiding his identity from humans because he felt sorry for Starting Village. And when the village upgrades to a city, he’ll return to heaven.

That’s why he pushes me away despite knowing my feelings.

Because he’s an angel, he has no interest in a young human like me, and he’s going to leave anyway.

What will happen to me when he leaves?

A life in the slums since before I can remember.

No real family, no comfortable home where I can relax.

It’s only thanks to him that I’ve been able to stay at the shop and form relationships with various people.

But if he leaves, or if Alreina comes, all that will end.

Mirella will have to leave the shop and live alone.

Because Mirella never had a family or home to begin with.

Everything was borrowed. Something that would eventually need to be returned.

Really… what a miserable life I have.

“Mirella!”

Just then, she heard Jack’s voice from the bottom of the hill.

Looking back, she saw him panting as he climbed up the hill.

“Jack?”

“Mirella! What are you doing here?!”

“I was just here. Why are you…”

“I was worried! How could you stay out this late!”

“Home…?”

“Oh my, I’m dying.”

Following behind, Brasya came bouncing up the hill on all fours, then plopped down.

“So you were here… If I’d known you hadn’t run away, I would’ve just gone home and taken a bath… Phew, I’m exhausted.”

“Run away?”

“He thought you’d left the village, and the Guardian Angel was very worried.”

Liberone, who had climbed the hill with long strides, looked down at Mirella and said.

“What trouble am I going through because of that crazy redhead?”

The 2nd Squad Captain grumbled and shouted at Mirella.

“Hey! You! You should tell someone where you’re going! The potion guy was foaming at the mouth, and I couldn’t even rest—it’s so annoying!”

“Miyumi, be quiet.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Mirella… hic… don’t commit suicide…”

The administrative officer, drenched in sweat with hair sticking to his face like seaweed, ran up and hugged Mirella tightly.

“We found Mirella! She’s here!”

Behind them came knights with torches.

“Why… why did everyone come all the way up here?”

“The whole village was turned upside down because you disappeared! And you were just idling around here without knowing!”

The 2nd Squad Captain squawked.

“You… came looking for me…?”

Dozens of people surrounding her.

Mirella’s lips quivered, and suddenly she began to cry.

“I’m sorry…”

“Huh? She’s crying. Why are you crying?”

Brasya tilted her head in confusion.

“She’s crying from happiness, Brasya.”

Liberone said quietly.