Basked in sunlight, Lacey stretched on the bed. The spot beside her was empty.
She looked around the room in surprise and spotted Dana from behind, who had apparently already risen. Dana opened her hand and closed it, repeating this several times. When she turned around, she had a shocked expression on her face.
“Hey, my body feels really refreshed! I haven’t felt like this in ages!”
Lacey patted her chest in relief when she heard this.
“Although...” Dana continued. “I think the foot bath did most of the job, but I think part of why I feel so refreshed is that I got to talk a lot with you.”
Lacey was bewildered by this. As she pondered how to reply, her gaze darted to the left and right—but then her eyes went wide open as she was caught in a tackle hug. “Eek!”
“Please keep being my friend. Thank you.”
“Ah, um...” Lacey didn’t know what to do. Still, she stretched her hands gently around Dana’s back. “Okay...!”
The body embracing her tightly was soft, smelled nice, and made her heart pound just a little.
∗ ∗ ∗
Although Dana had said her whole body felt refreshed, it was still just a temporary remedy. Lacey gave Dana lots of her special medicinal herbs and warned against using them too much. Relying on medicines all the time would still put a burden on her body.
Once Dana finished packing, she put on her large cloth hat to hide her face and went down into town. Lacey went along to see her on her way.
“Hey, Dana, are you sure this isn’t too much?”
“Didn’t you say you’d let me decide? I may be a cheapskate, but I hate not paying for things I need. Besides, it’ll come back around to me, so don’t worry.”
Hearing this, Lacey’s eyebrows turned upward in distress. “Too much” had been Lacey referring to the fee she’d received for this job.
While they were eating breakfast, a hushed battle had unfolded between the two of them.
First, Dana had asked Lacey how much her fee would be for the job. Lacey had responded saying that the mana stone was misshapen and she didn’t have any other use for it anyway, and the coconut had grown in her backyard voluntarily, so she didn’t mind not getting paid. But since she’d gotten money from Brooks for his problem, it would be unfair not to charge. Thus she apprehensively said that she’d charge just for the cost of the mana stone. That was when Dana erupted with anger.
She started by lecturing Lacey on how it was a sin to not accept wages that one was owed, clashing with Lacey insisting that this was the price she thought was fair. Ultimately, they decided that as the client, Dana should determine the price of the work done. They wouldn’t have been able to quarrel like this when they first reunited, so this was also a testament to how much closer they had grown.
The price that Dana settled on was three gold coins.
In Lacey’s opinion, this was an eye-popping amount. That being the case, Dana amended the terms and asked if she could take some insulated thermal bags as well. Lacey naturally agreed and gave her as many as she could stuff her luggage with.
“I’ll use these for my own purposes. The fee includes them, all right?”
“I guess that’s okay...?” Lacey wasn’t sure what Dana’s “purposes” were or why she was chuckling.
“Anyway, these insulated thermal bags certainly are curious. What did you make them out of?”
“I use fylachtó bark. I received a lot of it.”
“Oh, the stuff that shares its name with Duke Fylachtó, the lord of this area?”
“Yes. Maybe. I hear it can only be found around Plume Village.” Lacey remembered Duke Fylachtó’s name. She recalled that he was a man with a sleek, majestic beard.
With Dana’s luggage in tow, the two of them strolled along toward the village’s exit.
“It’s really been a long time since I slept as well as I did last night.”
“I’m glad. But don’t overwork yourself.”
“Yeah. I know. Also, weirdly enough, my legs feel incredibly smooth. Is that maybe an effect of using the coconut shell?”
“You might be right. Maybe I should try making soap and ointment out of coconuts.”
“Tell me if it works.”
“Of course.”
“...”
“...”
The farther they walked, the sparser their conversation became. Tee, who had tagged along to see Dana on her way, seemed to be acting considerately. Nesting in Lacey’s arms, it stayed quiet and primly kept its beak shut.
“Um, Lacey...” As she walked along the firm dirt road, Dana made up her mind. She lifted her face and stopped in her tracks. “I’ve been wanting to thank you for the longest time. I only learned once our quest ended and I got back to town. I didn’t hear about it in time, and I figured you’d done it without mentioning it on purpose, so I was at a loss.”
“Dana?”
It must have been something she’d been mulling over for a while. Dana’s words spurted out in a deluge.
Lacey was confused. She blinked repeatedly and wrinkled her brow. Thank me? For something I didn’t mention? Lacey had no clue what she was talking about.
“Um, I...!” Dana’s shoulders tensed up and she gripped the cord of her luggage tight. She was close to saying it.
“B-Big sis Laceeey! Lady Danaaa!” A voice shouted toward them. “Heeey!”
Allen ran up to them huffing and puffing. When he caught up, he lowered his hands to his knees and tried to catch his breath. He gave a long exhale. Then he took note of Dana’s big bag of luggage and glared at the pair. In fact, he was scowling at them with discontent.
“I went to the mansion, but there was nobody there... I thought you’d be here. At least let me see her off!” he exclaimed at Lacey. Then he turned to Dana. “Ah, I mean, please allow me to see you off!” He hurriedly changed his speech register.
Dana had a completely astonished look on her face, but then quickly burst into laughter.
“Did I say something weird?!”
“No, not at all. Thank you, I’m just happy to hear it.”
“I guess it’s all right then. Hey, Cedric! You’re late!”
Allen turned around and shouted to the cook in an apron, who was approaching at a pace somewhere between a power walk and a stroll.
“Allen, it’s not nice to overwork the elderly,” he replied. The distance made his voice hard to hear.
“You’re not elderly! You’re middle-aged at best!”
A long-distance argument unfolded between the pair.
“Why is Mr. Cedric here too?”
“Huh? Cause I thought the more people to see you off, the better it’d be! Should I not have?” Allen’s facial expression said that he thought this was a totally normal expectation.
“Well, I suppose you’re right, but...”