episode_0086

As the sun began to set, the shadows by the window moved quickly.

Night became morning, and then day.

A day passed in the illusion.

Tia appeared at the general store just like yesterday.

Fosao, who had been sitting, heard footsteps approaching from outside.

He quickly got up from his seat and opened the door before Tia could knock.

“Hehe. Ti, Tia. Hello?”

“……Hello.”

He greeted his guest with a bright expression, but the girl’s face was dark.

Even as she entered the general store and sat down on a chair.

Tia looked listless and depressed, as if burdened by some worry.

Fosao, who had been observing her, cautiously asked.

“Is something wrong? Uh, your face looks dark.”

“…….”

The frail angel hugged her shoulders tightly.

And then she spoke about what had happened today.

“…Ruyef has disappeared.”

“Ruyef? Wh-what do you mean?”

“They say he hasn’t been seen since morning. Ritsu said he probably ran away with Marie…”

“Th-that can’t be. Why?”

“Because of what happened two days ago.”

Of course, Fosao knew too.

Back then, he must have overheard Ruyef and Tia’s conversation in the underground storage room.

“Ruyef, uh, shouting at Ti, Tia?”

“Yes.”

Fosao approached Tia, who was bowing her head.

He spoke as if to comfort her.

“I, I… don’t quite understand what happened, but… I think Ruyef was wr-wrong.”

“…No. It was clearly my fault too.”

“But saying such harsh things to Ti, Tia… that was even more wrong!”

Tia pulled her knees up and buried her face.

After a long silence, she quietly called out to Fosao.

“Mister.”

“Uh, yes?”

“Tell me honestly.”

Her intelligent, shining eyes turned to Fosao.

“That incident… you didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

He swallowed hard.

And then he shamelessly nodded.

“Yes.”

“Back then, it was just me, Ruyef, and you, Mister. But everyone in the village knew about it. How could that be?”

“…A wi-witness?”

“Ritsu said he saw it, but I’m not sure. I think he probably made it up to protect me. Ritsu… he’s always been like that.”

Fosao cleared his throat and sat beside Tia.

And he wrapped his large hand around her small shoulder.

“Don’t wo-worry too much, Tia.”

“It’s all because of me. If I had been a little more careful… if I had stopped the soldiers before they came this far… Ruyef wouldn’t have had to be so anxious and angry…”

“Ti, Tia, you did your best.”

Fosao gently stroked the back of Tia, who was huddled and sniffling.

I could only stare blankly at the sight.

‘Those hands’… should have been mine.

I should have been the one to heal the wounded Tia before anyone else.

I should have understood and empathized with her feelings first.

But Tia was healing her wounded heart at a general store, not an apothecary.

My heart felt like it was tearing apart.

I reached out to stroke Tia, but my hand had no substance.

The hand truly touching Tia’s body was Fosao’s.

What good would regret do now?

What I was seeing was merely… an illusion of the past.

Unattainable, past events.

“Sob… sob…”

“Don’t cry… Ti, Tia.”

“Sob…”

“I, I’ll help you somehow!”

Fosao explained that thanks to running the general store for a long time, he had some connections in nearby villages.

No matter how far they ran, they wouldn’t have been able to leave the vicinity of Dragonez yet.

He said that if he wrote letters right now and spread them to each village, they might be able to find their whereabouts.

They were empty words.

If Ruyef had deliberately planned to run away, he wouldn’t have gone to nearby villages in the first place.

The talk of connections was also suspicious.

How could anyone believe that Fosao, who was ostracized even within the village, had connections outside it?

Tia probably wasn’t unaware of that fact either.

Whether Fosao’s words were true or not didn’t matter.

For Tia… what she craved more was just a single phrase: ‘I’ll help you’.

The girl, wiping away her tears, gave a weak smile.

“…Thank you.”

Fosao clapped his hands as if something had just occurred to him.

“Ah, ah! That’s right. I’ll gi-give you what Tia ordered.”

His huge body entered the storage room.

Rustling, he began to search diligently for something.

A moment later, what he brought out, claiming to have ‘packed everything remaining,’ was a thick bag of medicinal herbs.

Tia opened the bag and was astonished.

Inside, it was full of Mushulin.

At the unbelievable sight, Tia asked blankly.

“My goodness. How did you manage to bring so much?”

“Ehehe… Since Ti, Tia said she needed it. I tri-tried to pull some strings…”

Fosao went on and on about his adventurous tale of acquiring the rare herbs.

He proudly recounted how he had bought one bundle from Taildon as soon as he received the order, and then purchased three more bundles for a large sum from a peddler who happened to be at the market.

“That’s amazing… Mister.”

“Th-this much is nothing.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll give you the money right now. ……Oh.”

All that came out of Tia’s pocket was a single gold coin.

“I’m sorry. I forgot to bring money. I’ll bring the proper amount tomorrow, but will this be okay for now?”

“No, no!”

Fosao waved his hand dismissively, refusing.

“Ju-just take it! I… I don’t need the money.”

“……What?”

“I just want to help Ti, Tia. It’s re-really fine!”

“But Mushulin is incredibly expensive, isn’t it?”

“It’s nothing. Th-that much.”

Tia gazed intently at the bag of medicinal herbs.

It contained an estimated value of over 10 gold.

For Fosao, who had earned an enormous amount of money in Deseo, 10 gold was literally nothing.

But on the contrary, Tia had little money.

All she had brought from Deseo wasn’t ‘money,’ but merely a few drops of Dienbus, which disappeared when drunk.

“I feel so sorry to you, Mister. I’ve already borrowed a lot of money too…”

“Do-don’t feel burdened! I… I’d gladly give it to Ti, Tia.”

Seeing him giggle like that made a surge of anger well up inside me.

Crazy bastard.

Of course, he should give her the money.

No, he should vomit up everything he has and offer it to Tia.

Tia created everything.

The capital to start the business was what Tia had earned through hardship in the arena.

Even Aban, who had provided them with strong backing, had helped them, moved by Tia’s kindness.

Crucially, even inciting the nobles to draw in investment was thanks to Tia’s excellent eloquence.

All that pig bastard did was put a spoon on an already set table.

But why is he talking as if he’s doing her a favor?

When the owner of the money he possesses is clearly Tia.

……However.

My too-kind Tia…

believed that even that obvious right wasn’t hers.

Mistaking this for Fosao’s pure consideration.

She blushed and smiled.

“Really?”

“Th-that’s right! You do-don’t have to take the money!”

“Hmm-.”

Tia gripped the gold coin tightly.

It looked as though she was going to put it back into her pocket, but then.

Thump!

She suddenly snatched Fosao’s arm.

“Nngh—?!”

And then, she forcefully spread open Fosao’s large hand.

She pressed it firmly.

A small, pure white hand and a large, dark black hand briefly overlapped… then separated.

A single gold coin was deeply embedded in Fosao’s palm.

Tia grinned.

“But I want to give it to you, you know?”

The moment I saw her bright smile.

I remembered.

That single gold coin she had forcefully given to me when I came to borrow bandages.

That coin, as bright and warm as the morning sun.

That gift, which I had rolled around countless times when bored because the sensation of it touching Tia’s hand felt so good.

That memory, which I thought only we could recall…

was now in Fosao’s hand.

“Eheheh… O-okay.”

His thick fingers covered it.

Through the gaps of his dark black fingers, which had encroached upon Tia’s heart… the golden light vanished.

…It felt like everything I had was being snatched away whole.

Slung the bag of medicinal herbs over her shoulder, Tia prepared to leave.

“Oh, right. And I don’t think I’ll be able to come down to the general store starting tomorrow. It seems people are a bit aware of me.”

“Wha, what about the medicinal ingredients?”

“About that…”

She pointed towards the backyard.

“It might be a bit of an unreasonable request, but could you bring them to my house?”

“Tia’s house…?”

“Yes. You can come up through that path from last time. I’m often not home, so you can just leave the Mushulin inside the house.”

Fosao scratched his head.

“It’ll be tough, but I’ll tr-try.”

“And the password for the wooden door is… hmm…”

A momentary look of contemplation briefly crossed Tia’s face.

Right at that moment.

An astonishing remark came from Fosao’s mouth.

“It’s Ti, Tia’s birthday, isn’t it?”

“……!”

Seeing her surprised expression at how he guessed it immediately, he chuckled shyly.

“I just had a feeling it mi-might be… Is that the right answer?”

“Yes…… that’s right.”

“Then the password must be February 2nd—.”

“……A, anyway!”

Tia, with her ears flushed red, quickly opened the door.

“I’ll leave it to you!”

“Okay. Be ca-careful!”

Watching the girl run across the yard, he continued to smile.

Just as the red hair disappeared from his sight.

He turned his head and mumbled to himself.

“Spreading the rumor… I al-almost got caught… Heheheh.”

As expected.

I had been sure, but still.

It was him after all.

The one who spread the rumor in the lower village that Ruyef had trespassed into Tia’s house…

It was Fosao.

Somehow, it didn’t make sense that people from Taildon, not our own village, knew about it first.

Tia and I had been completely unaware and had suffered.

Whoosh-.

The memory illusion once again shifted to the next day.

Fosao, carrying the bag of Mushulin herbs slung over his shoulder, was climbing the secret path.

For the fat man, this steep path was an ordeal.

He repeatedly sat down to catch his breath several times along the way, groaning as he resumed climbing.

After a long climb, he arrived at Tia’s house.

“I’m tired…”

Sweat streamed down his neck as Fosao input the password for the wooden door.

Click- clack.

And the moment he went up the stairs and threw open the door.

“Aaaah—?!”

Tia, who was undressed because she was taking a bath, screamed.

“Nngh?”

“Ge-get out! No… don’t get out… Anyway, close your eyes!”

“Uh… uh!”

“Ugh-.”

While Fosao closed his eyes, Tia hurriedly dressed.

Naturally, this filthy and repulsive man wouldn’t have honestly closed his eyes.

Judging by his trembling eyelids and his mouth slightly parting.

…It was certain.

“Mister!”

Tia, fully dressed, scolded him loudly.

“When entering a lady’s house, you should at least knock!”

“Kn-knock? There was no mention of that…”

“There’s a signal that only we understand, you know. When I went to the general store, I called you with this signal—”

Tap. Tap-tap.

With a unique rhythm, Tia mimed knocking in the air.

“From now on, we’ll knock like this to let each other know. Okay?”

“Uh, uhm…”

“For now, please come in and rest!”

Tia’s light, welcoming gesture.

This sight of her accepting Fosao with an expectant face, just as she had when showing me her house.

…I could only watch.