It was almost noon. Graham and his team had left with packed lunches, but the others would come home soon, and Belgrieve needed to prepare for lunch. After the dough was kneaded and left to rest, he added more wood to the smoldering fireplace. Water and various ingredients were added to bolster some leftover soup; then, he sliced green beans and stewed them with their pods. That was it for preparation. Just before lunch was to be served, he would roll out the dough and cook it in a skillet.
After all of that was handled, Charlotte went to Kerry’s house to check up on the sheep. Apparently, she’d been especially fond of a young lamb lately.
For want of anything better to do, Belgrieve busied himself with mending a sack with a hole in it. Satie, for her part, used the downtime to inspect the bottles and boxes of dried goods and pickling pots on the shelf. They silently worked at their respective chores until Satie spoke up.
“It’s so strange... I left my homeland because I hated this sort of thing. But now, it’s so dear to me.”
Belgrieve smiled. “I see... To me, this is just my everyday life.”
“Heh heh... That sounds nice. When I was young, I guess I just didn’t understand how important it was.” Satie chuckled as she dusted the bottles. “When do you think Ange will be back?”
“She said she’d return before the autumn festival, but...she might end up being too busy. She’s an S-Rank adventurer, after all.”
“I hope not. For some reason, I really, really want to see her...” Satie caught her breath. “You know, I feel like there’s something special about that girl.”
“Perhaps... But Ange has always been special to me.”
“I don’t doubt it. It’s thanks to her that we all got back together. Hee hee...” Satie returned the final bottle to the shelf and took a seat beside Belgrieve. “Winter will be here soon... Do you think Ange will spend the winter here?”
“I couldn’t say. It’s quite likely though.” Though she had developed peerless strength and attained fame as an adventurer, Angeline was and always would be a pampered girl. If she could spend the winter in Turnera with her parents, family, and friends, she would be all too happy to do so.
Even so, she was certainly growing, little by little. Her nature was unchanged, but she was working towards independence in her own way. Whether she said she wanted to spend the winter with him or if she planned to leave Turnera after the festival, Belgrieve would accept whatever she chose.
They fell into companionable silence again for a time, broken only by the quiet crackling of the fireplace or the occasional rattling of the windows in the breeze. If he really strained to listen, he might be able to hear the bleating of goats and sheep off in the distance. Satie leaned against him as he worked to darn the sack. Her drowsy eyes closed and her breathing became shallow and rhythmic. Did she really fall asleep? Belgrieve wondered, stealing a glance at her.
“Satie?”
“I’m awake...” Her eyes fluttered open to meet his gaze. “Ahh,” she groaned, stretching. “Sigh... Will they be back soon? Ah, that’s right. We still have a few of those pickles left over. We should use up the last of them.”
Satie went to grab the pickle jar from the shelf and set to work finely mincing the contents. Belgrieve watched her from behind, yawning.
○
Maria’s house was a little ways off from Orphen, so Angeline couldn’t just casually drop by whenever she wanted. But now she had something to talk to her about, so she was doing her best to make the trip today. She had yet to meet Ishmael, who was apparently renting a room at an inn in the city. Although he had told her he was going to work to pay for his daily needs during his stay, she had asked Yuri about him and learned he hadn’t taken on a single guild job since he had been in Orphen. In fact, no one she asked even knew where he was staying.
It was already past noon by the time she reached Maria’s retreat. As she sluggishly disembarked the stagecoach, she descended into an awful cloud of dust. For once, she had come alone. There had been a rather large-scale fiend hunt request and a demand for their party to assist with it, and so the other three had gone off to help. Angeline was not in any state to take on jobs, but the others were in perfect condition. It also seemed like they were working especially hard to make up for her condition. High-ranking adventurers could take on whatever job they pleased, but when high-difficulty jobs came around, they were expected to prioritize them.
Angeline hoisted her bag over her shoulder. The early autumn sun was blinding to her eyes. She licked her dry lips and slowly trudged on. Soon, she had passed through the small town and passed by the large white structure, and she now stood before the small wooden home where Maria dwelled. The last time she had come here, there had been all sorts of folks loitering around, but there were none today. This was explained when she saw Maria out in front of the house, sitting peacefully in a rocking chair.
Generally speaking, Maria did not welcome any visitors. Her abilities and her reputation had earned her great respect, but she was just as feared as revered. If she turned her sharp eyes and ill humor on an uninvited guest, even most half-wits would beat feet. Anybody who carelessly tried to call out to her would be on the receiving end of a merciless tongue-lashing. The most obstinate might even be driven off by a spell or two.
Maria cracked open one eye as Angeline approached. “Hmm, Ange, huh...”
“Are you having an afternoon nap, Granny?”
“Yeah, the sun hasn’t been too bad these days. Cough...” Maria covered her mouth. Angeline walked over to her and rubbed her back.
“Are you alone?” Maria asked quizzically, looking around with eyes squinted against the sunlight.
“Yeah.”
“That’s rare... Are you feeling sick or something?”
“Yeah...” Angeline said with a sigh.
Maria wearily lay back in her rocking chair. “Good grief. Your health’s pretty much all you have going for you... So what brings you here?”
“I can’t sleep. When I do, I have nothing but strange dreams, and I only wake up more tired...”
“Even that stupid cat could have thrown together a sleeping potion for you.”
“Merry made one. It didn’t work...”
“Tsk, that stupid disciple... Come in.” Maria stood up languidly before walking to her door, bidding Angeline to follow. The house was dusty, as it usually was, but the door and windows had been left open while Maria basked in the sun, so the wind had aired it out some.