“Hmm...”
It was hard to believe that the coconut tree had been conjured completely out of thin air. It was more likely that seeds dormant in the soil had quickly reacted to Lacey’s mana. The village had monster wards, but Lacey’s mansion on top of the hill wasn’t within the perimeter. Over the years, monsters had probably left behind all kinds of seeds from whatever they’d been eating.
She thought about it. “Well, as long as it’s just in this patch, it should be fine...” The plot of land surrounding the mansion also belonged to Lacey.
There were also obviously out-of-season plants growing, but since nobody was coming by the mansion anyway, she decided to ignore them. Overhead, the clustered coconuts rustled in the wind. A very bizarre ecosystem was taking root, but she could ponder that more later.
“I’ll put it aside for now,” Lacey said out loud to herself. “All right, time to tend to the herbs.”
Lacey averted her eyes from reality and turned her back on the coconuts. Tee followed behind her, chirping “Kwee kwee.” She watered the garden and checked the soil, as was her daily routine. Just as she was wiping the sweat from her forehead, the tinkling of a bell came from the dark brown bag at Lacey’s hip.
She’d adjusted it so that the pinky-sized bell would ring when there was a knock at the mansion’s front door. The mansion was large and Lacey was often in the garden, so she’d made it in case any unexpected visitors dropped by.
When she had been preparing to open up her anything shop, she’d been worried about what she would do if lots of clients came. Half anxious and half hopeful, she’d painstakingly created another magic artifact. But in hindsight, it was rather depressing.
“Is that Allen?”
The artifact was meant as a practical tool, but it was always the same people visiting anyway. Well, still, it wasn’t a waste to create this bell. I think. Right? Her confidence rapidly dwindled, as was usually the case. Her mood dropped and her shoulders hunched up as she stared at the ground.
But this time, she straightened back up and looked forward. “St-Still, I think the insulated thermal bags...were a really good idea!”
They were something that Lacey couldn’t have invented independently. She had created them in order to fulfill a specific request, but would never have come up with the initial concept on her own. As for the visitor bell, she’d only thought of it to save Allen some trouble whenever he came with a crate of vegetables.
In short, I’m just not creative. Lacey sighed. The same thing had happened with the sachets. She would never have even thought of them if not for Brooks.
She was skilled at killing and maiming hordes of monsters, but doing the opposite and creating rather than destroying was much harder. It was frustrating.
No.
If someone besides her was around, she felt like she could see a glimmer of light even on the darkest of paths. It was slight—like a few grains of sand piled together—but it made the bleak and scary path feel almost gentle.
Lacey slowly closed her eyes and calmly put a hand to her chest.
When she remembered the words of gratitude and the smiles that Allen’s family had given her, she felt warm from the bottom of her heart. It was like she was being held in a firm grip. Every time she recalled it, the back of her eyelids became hot and her chest felt tight. But this feeling was probably...happiness.
“Kyew-wee!”
“A-Ack!”
Tee had zealously flown on top of Lacey’s head. It spread its wings and puffed out its chest in a full-point landing pose. Lacey had involuntarily yelped when it dropped its weight on her. At the same time, the bell on Lacey’s bag rang again, reminding her that there was somebody at the door.
“Oh no! Thank you, Tee. You’re really heavy, though...”
The visitor had to be Allen, but since it was hot out, she didn’t want to keep him waiting. She stretched her hands up to Tee on top of her head, grabbed it, and then hastily ran through the green field.
Nevertheless, she was newly reminded of how convenient artifacts were. She could live without them, but was grateful to have them around.
So far in her life, Lacey had been like a marionette. Remembering this made her feel a little sad. She’d always suppressed her own feelings.
She wanted to live independently.
She hated her own empty self, so she wanted to fill herself full of some kind of meaning. That was all she had wanted, but now that she was Lacey Aster, another wish was starting to take clear form within her.
I want to make artifacts.
Not something that would suppress feelings, but something that would put a smile on someone’s face. Something that would make someone happy. Something that would bring happiness to more and more people.
“Sorry to take so long!” She burst out panting, holding Tee in her arms. Then she realized in surprise that the person who had knocked wasn’t Allen.
The person’s face was hidden by a large cloth hat, but she seemed to be a woman. She was taller than Lacey and wore a pretty white dress. Lacey had been convinced that the only people who would come knocking on her door were Allen, Wayne, or possibly Brooks.
I-Is this a client?
Tee writhed in Lacey’s arms. She hugged it tight.
“A red cockatrice? No, that can’t be right. Is it a phoenix?” came a voice that chimed like a bell.
Lacey instantly blinked. “Dana?!”
“Long time no see, Lacey. Thank you for that lovely letter.”
Dana took off her white cloth hat, letting loose tresses of perfectly straight, light green hair that flowed past her shoulders and went down to her waist. Her slight, relaxed smile was just the same as when they had traveled together.
Lacey looked up at Dana in a daze. No matter how many times she blinked, it was still Dana there. Lacey wasn’t mistaking someone else for her, and it couldn’t be someone using transformation magic. Lacey’s eyes went as large as plates and her jaw hung open.
Dana placed a hand to her mouth in mild concern and chuckled. “Lacey, I know you’ve always had big eyes, but if you keep them that wide open, they’ll pop right out of their sockets!”
∗ ∗ ∗
A spotless white tablecloth was laid out in front of her. On top of it were two teacups resting on saucers.
I’m glad I just cleaned. Lacey, sitting down in a chair, felt a wave of relief sweep over her. Then she stiffened back up and timidly peered up at Dana, who was sitting across from her. Underneath the table, Tee was fervidly pecking at herbs, as it happened to be around its lunchtime.
“Nn-kyew, nn-kyew, nnnnnkyew!” Absolutely scrumptious! It expressed with great delight.
Tee could eat anything, but for some reason, its favorite food was medicinal herbs. Lacey was starting to zone out, but its chirps brought her back to reality.
Dana’s slender fingers pinched the handle of the teacup and lifted it. The tea moistened her lips, and there was a gulping sound as it went down her throat.
Lacey’s fists tightened atop her lap.
“It’s very tasty,” Dana smiled broadly.
It wasn’t until she said this that Lacey felt like she could breathe again. Why do I feel so anxious? Lacey herself wasn’t sure. But actually, she did know. This was the first time that the two of them—well, three of them, including Tee—had been alone together. There was always someone else around during their quest.
Dana had told Lacey that she’d made a special trip to the village after receiving her letter. Dana’s town and Plume Village were too far from each other to walk all the way, so she must have used a teleportation shrine—but even then, it must have been a long journey.
Lacey had been dumbstruck when she first saw Dana, but she quickly realized that that could wait and hurriedly invited her into the mansion. Then she’d anxiously brewed tea.
Wh-Why did she come...? Lacey couldn’t help but wonder, despite being distressingly aware that she’d written a letter asking for exactly that.
She’d sent the letter with her heart in her throat, and then what came next was a complete blank in Lacey’s mind. She hadn’t imagined Dana coming, and certainly not like this, so she was bewildered by the reality playing out in front of her eyes.
She tried to distract herself by stirring the tea in her cup with a spoon, but she kept clinking it against the edge. She was breaking out in a cold sweat.
“I was surprised to hear that you moved. Tell me, does Wayne know?”
“What? Yes...and Brooks too. I sent a letter to Rosie also, but I don’t think I’ve gotten a response.”
“I doubt Rosie’s even noticed that she got a letter. I can’t picture her checking the mailbox. Anyway, I expected Wayne, but Brooks too? Hmm.”
It felt like the temperature of the room dropped a few degrees.
Even Lacey, who was hopeless at interpersonal communication, had noticed that Brooks and Dana were often in conflict with each other. To be more specific, Brooks was more likely to get scratched up fighting on the front lines, and as the party’s holy woman, Dana had to heal him each time and therefore flipped out at him a lot. Dana was usually quite mild, but she was very scary when she was angry.
Although, “conflict” might not have been the appropriate word—Brooks just loudly laughed off everything with a devil-may-care attitude, which made Dana erupt with anger even more. Lacey had always watched from the sidelines, but just remembering these moments gave her a jolt. The surface of the tea in her cup rippled.
“That aside, I really am sorry.”
“Yes ma’am! Er, about what now?”
“For dropping in out of the blue. I’d hoped to send you a letter and ask about your plans first. I’m glad I caught you.”
“It’s okay, that’s not a problem at all.”
“That’s a relief to hear. I had wanted to go as soon as I read your letter, but I just couldn’t get time off. I kept scheduling it, but then things just kept getting in the way, so I had a limited window of opportunity.”