Chapter 25:
Departure and Morning after the Rain
THE MORNING DRIZZLE stopped, and the sky opened up. The west wind was calm. It was the perfect weather to set off.
As I prepared for my departure, Gol accompanied me to Chotos’s Mana Tool Shop.
Mr. Chotos, watching us, hesitated before opening his mouth. “Nemaki, are you really going? It’s no trouble if you want to spend a bit more time in Tibar…”
“Mister, can you please be quiet? You keep spoiling me, so my departure keeps getting pushed back, and now I’ve dallied here for like half a month already!”
Two weeks had passed since the little negotiation drama with the Paisley Company. The town of Tibar was comfortable, sure, but I couldn’t simply settle there.
After all, on my list of goals, “Find out stuff about the Sorcerer King of Destruction and his summoning” was first and foremost. Whether the answer meant discovering a method to return to my original world or finding a way to ensure my safety in this one, this investigation was of utmost importance.
At any rate, no institution in this region could enable me to conduct that investigation. In the first place, the Sadie territory, where Tibar was located, was considered to be the countryside. If I wanted to go to a library, I apparently needed to head farther west to a large city in another territory, especially if I wanted to go to a place on the level of an academic institution.
The largest library in this country was said to be much, much farther west, all the way in the imperial capital. But it would no doubt be a long, tough trip to make it that far, so I’d be satisfied if I found a regular library first.
In any case, Mr. Chotos didn’t seem to know much about the Sorcerer King, and I couldn’t thoughtlessly ask around because even basic lore about the Sorcerer King was considered taboo by the Church. Even if I stayed in Tibar forever, I would eventually be driven into a corner.
Despite that, Mr. Chotos kept delaying my departure, and Teru kept sobbing whenever it came up… I couldn’t just leave. What was with this parent-child duo?!
Moreover, I had failed to spend these past few weeks studying more about this world. Instead, I tended Mr. Chotos’s store and played with the five-year-old.
What else did I do? Hmm… Ah, right. Ginem Bari had fully recovered within a few days and finished repairing his jester golems. So, as a form of rehabilitation, we had numerous Gol vs. Clown Brigade golem-fighting game rematches. The loser had to treat the winner to a meal. Currently, Gol won by a landslide every time, so Ginem had to keep treating me.
Huh…exactly when had Ginem and I become so close? Almost like…I dunno, friends?
In any case, I was on a serious backslide. I felt like an elementary school student frivolously wasting his summer vacation. I hadn’t grown at all this past half month. The only skill I had acquired was knowing exactly when to stop wiping Gol before her eyes turned cloudy.
As a matter of fact, I had confirmed quite a few malfunction conditions beyond removing her extensions and her sniffing my underwear. For example, when I wiped various parts of her body—such as her inner thighs, chest, ears, armpits, or belly button—too much, her eyes instantly turned pink. In the beginning, I hadn’t known how to manage this, so it had been super difficult to clean her without the risk of breaking her.
Also, I worried that the number of locations on Gol that made her cloud up had been steadily increasing, especially when it came to her belly button. It seemed that because I had messed around too much when I stuck my finger inside it that first night, it had become a weak spot for her. Ugh, inexcusable.
Whenever I stopped wiping, Gol would look pained and stare me with her greedy, cloudy eyes. However, stopping was, of course, a necessary measure to protect her. Sorry, but please understand, partner.
Given all these pressing reasons to sally forth, we were at last being seen off on our journey west by the father-daughter duo in front of Chotos’s Mana Tool Shop.
Teru has been bawling her eyes out for some time already. This five-year-old usually could be surprisingly mentally strong, yet bringing up my departure made tears spill down her cheeks. Now that I was just about to set off, her crying had turned into a Biblical flood. As she sobbed, she tried with great effort to speak. “Deru, doo! Wid Mistuh Nemagi! Miss Gowedaru, doo! Goh twugehder!!”
No good. I can’t understand. This far exceeds the capacity of my strange translation ability.
“Wid Mistuh Nemagi!” Teru began coughing, having finally strained herself to the point of throwing up.
I patted her back. Gol also joined in by stroking Teru. Seeing this, my eyes widened. The way Gol’s palm lovingly touched Teru was practically the same as when she gently stroked me—and it was totally different from the way she usually clumsily ruffled Teru’s hair.
This farewell gesture convinced me: Gol really had become attached to Teru. I just felt it to be true.
Occasionally, Gol radiated homicidal intent and mishandled other people’s possessions, but she was unabashedly happy when she hugged this small girl. Gol’s carelessness with children had greatly diminished since she started combing Teru’s hair, putting her to bed, and such. She behaved like a real older sister now. Whenever I saw her like this, I felt like I was catching a glimpse of her true personality.
“Nemaki…” Even Mr. Chotos’s eyes had moistened, just like his daughter’s.
Hey, stop! I’ve told you, no one wants to see an old man do that!
“Jeez, will you be okay, mister?” As I let out a sigh at this pitiful man, I gazed up at the tool shop behind him.
This single-story, wooden shop looked a bit shabby, and it appeared slightly larger than the other shops on the street, so it reeked of a kind of half-baked elegance. I had spent most of my days there during my time in Tibar. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel sentimental about it.
But I wouldn’t need to worry about it anymore, management-wise. The once-scarce goods were being restocked, and in response, the customers were steadily returning. In addition, Mr. Chotos still had one remaining sorcery core, although he hadn’t found a buyer yet. This was the extra I had given him for the repair costs of Gol destroying his wall. Since he no longer had to worry about that malicious debt with its ridiculous interest, he didn’t need to rush to find a buyer.
Still, I was surprised when Mr. Chotos wrote up a kind of contract between us concerning the sorcery core, even though he was such an unreliable guy. I didn’t read the contents, so I didn’t know whether it was an investment agreement or a consumer-lending agreement or what. I tried to turn down that nuisance piece of scrap, but Mr. Chotos refused to yield. As you’ve seen, he was a stubborn man. His stubbornness was so hardcore that he’d managed to win over a beautiful and good-natured wife. At that level, it was like some kind of special skill. I was sure that no matter what I said, we would end up running in circles.