Chapter 25 – Port City
Leaving behind Merim and Roxia, who were conducting theory lessons inside the shop, Roden remained in the shop area alone, dealing with the adventurers who occasionally visited.
“Yes, each potion is 50 copper.”
The price tag of the potions was hung right next to the shelf, but in a world without compulsory education, there were not a few people who couldn’t read, so sometimes this explanation was necessary.
“People in the guild said they were selling it cheaply here, but it was true.”
“Wait a minute… I’ll get it out right away.”
The youthful man and woman who were talking to Roden were new faces, and the identification tag hanging around her neck was a white porcelain board that was still brand new.
In other words, he is a freshman in the white porcelain class who has recently registered as an adventurer.
Seeing that both of them were equipped only with swords and chest guards, it seemed that the wealth they had brought back from their home village was not enough.
As if to prove it, the adventurer who rummaged through his pockets put the amount on the counter mixed with grotesque fairy tales and fairy tales.
‘Let’s see… Two, four… Eight, nine… Hmm, one fairy tale is missing?’
When I checked the other person’s expression, it was not intentionally lacking.
Roden briefly pondered over whether to say that a fairy tale was missing, but he knew well what the new adventurer’s wallet was going to be like, so he just pretended not to know and generously decided to move on this time.
The young men and women left the store after taking each of the lowest-grade potions prepared by investing a large amount of money according to their standards, and a woman with a familiar face entered the store as if taking turns with them.
“Hello Mr. Roden, is Merim still inside?”
“Yeah, it’s time to finish in a while, so sit back.”
With the words “I’ll be happy”, The woman sitting in her guest chair is her younger sister, Marill, who has come to pick up her older sister, Merim.
Roden left to make tea as usual, and she saw Merim and Loxia at the table in the living room with a book open.
“Merim, your brother is here. Time is running out, so finish it properly.”
“Already~? Maybe it’s because it’s so much fun to teach him, time goes by so fast, right?”
“I see. I thought there was still about an hour left to learn from Merim’s older sister.”
Roden passed the two women while giving her brief words. Before long, she made tea for all four people, and the three of them headed to the seat where Marill was waiting.
The first person to approach Marill was Loxia. She greeted with slightly exaggerated body movements, as if she was proud of the cone hat she had received from Merim during lunch.
“Hello! Sister Marill.”
“Roxia gets prettier every time I see her, right? That hat suits you too.”
“Ehehe, thank you.”
Merim, who put her hand on top of Roxia’s hat, which had a flustered expression, and patted her for a long time, sat across from Maril and began to sip her tea.
“I prepared it with care, so of course it suits me~ By the way, Marilyn, you are the one who came over from another city with the captain today… Are you sure you were a prisoner? Anyway, was the collecting mission that the three of you started together worth doing?”
“Yeah, he said he was good at finding them with tweezers. He’s a beastman, so he’s really good at fighting. See you next time too.”
“Whichchacha… Did the beastman come to this city?”
Roxia moved one of her chairs from her counter to the side of her guest table and sat down next to her twin sister.
“Haven’t you seen Roxia yet? She’s of a different race with her frizzy hair.”
“I’ve only heard about beastmen in books, but never seen them myself.”
The conversation between the women is getting longer and longer.
Roden, who had been silently watching the girls from a distance, quietly walked to the window holding a teacup.
Roden, who inhaled smoke while watching the peaceful scenery outside the window, lived from the time he defeated the demon king to the time he settled in this manor… She recalled the journey of 14 years.
When I just got out of the Devil Castle, I was quite busy changing my name, dyeing my hair, and secretly using a crow on several people to get a new identity.
I remembered that he was in his early 20s at the time, and even though he had been thinking about tanning his skin as well as dyeing his hair blonde, he thought it was a bit over the line, so he gave up.
Anyway, the first new identity Roden chose was a silver-ranked wandering adventurer with decent skills. At that time, he used a completely different name than he does now.
In those days, in the name of adventurer activity, he also investigated the hidden ruins all over the world, and crossed the sea to various places on different continents.
There was only one driving force for Roden to continue his adventure. To find somewhere in this world a way to return to the original world, Earth.
‘Exploring the world to find possibilities… Now that I think about it, the things I did back then seem like adventures in the true sense.
If someone asks Roden why he went so far to return to Earth… He will simply answer that he wanted to step on the nostalgic land where he was born once more.
‘Now I can’t even see the faces of my friends, let alone the faces of my parents who ran an oriental clinic. I can barely remember their names.’
After 10 years of adventure, Roden, who gave up on returning to Earth, changed his identity once again, and after learning various knowledge and herbalism in the Eastern continent for the rest of his life, he crossed the sea again and set foot in this territory.
“Hmm, the sea…”
Roden, who muttered the most memorable word while searching for his old memories, approached Loxia, who was still chattering with his twin sister.
“Roxia, it’s already been over half a year since I’ve been here with you… Isn’t it frustrating to spend all this time looking at the same scenery every day?”
“Yes? Oh, no. Not at all. I am the happiest right now. Uncle.”
“Eh~? What is this man trying to say out of the blue?”
When Roden, who had been silent all along, spoke out, the eyes of the three women naturally focused on him.
“It’s not a big deal, I thought I’d take him to the sea for a change of scenery because I thought he was tied up too much. It’s summer.”
“The sea… ?”
“Oh…”
ㅡ clap! Clap! Clap!
“Oh my God, my God, my God, my God, my God!”
Roxia and Marill were speechless after hearing Roden’s words, and Merim shouted at her mother, clapping her hands like seals.
“Ocean?!! Where? Where? Where? Uncle Roden, where are you planning to go?”
Merim, who opened her eyes wide, asked a distracting question, and Roden, who had been searching for a moment, gave the direction that came to her mind.
“… I know there is a port city to the south of here.”
“Ah~ the one in Baron Marite?!”
“Is that a name… Have you guys ever been there?”
“I’ve heard of it. I heard that the seaside in that port city is quite famous as a resort because of its stunning scenery.”
Roxia, who was quietly listening to the conversation between the master and the master, blinked her eyes and then pursed her lips.
“I… ，What kind of place is the sea?”
Considering her background, it was not unreasonable to hear the word sea for the first time.
Roden, who knows a little about Roxia’s life history, and her twin sisters, who thought that people who don’t know the sea are not uncommon, told her each image of the sea that came to mind.
“It’s a place with sand in all directions and seawater that stretches endlessly.”
Hehe, even if you add all the rivers and lakes Loxia has seen so far, it’s not even half of half of the sea.”
“Hmm… And it’s all made of salt water. There are many strange-looking fish.”
Roden looked at Roxia, whose eyes twinkled with delight, imagining the sea the three of them shared, lowered her stance and met her eyes at the same height as hers.
“How is it? Aren’t you curious what the sea is like? If it’s okay with Roxia, she’s going to go to the sea with me on the next day.”
“After hearing the story, I am very curious… What about this store when we leave?”
“The shop just needs to take a break. People should travel and live a leisurely life.”
“Right! That’s right! That’s right! That’s right!!”
Merim, who was sitting next to her, clung to him as if she had become a devotee of Roden, and raised her hand.
Roxia, who saw that, inadvertently giggled—and nodded her head toward Roden even after laughing.
“Yes, Uncle! I also want to go to the sea.”
“Okay! Well thought out. I need to plan my vacation right away from today.”
Roden patted Roxia’s head after revealing her honest feelings, and thought about how many potions and herbs were left in her shop.
‘Hmm, considering the remaining inventory, we can leave in a week or so. And the things we need to pack… ‘
“Hey there, mister mister!”
What broke Roden’s concentration, which was lost in her thoughts, was Merim’s voice, which spoke to her like a shotgun.
“… I’m deaf, so don’t freak out and call me just once. What’s going on?”
As soon as Roden turned her head away, Merim smirked as he approached her sister and hugged her tightly.
“Let’s go together. The sea.”
“You too?”
“Yes, yes. When it comes to the beach, you play in the water. As you can see, Uncle Roden is a gloomy man who won’t go into the water and will lie flat on the sandboard and watch women’s swimsuits, but then there’s no one to play with Loxia in the water. That’s why you can’t enjoy the sea properly.”
“Now, subtly, very insulting words… “
“For such a Roxia, she needs pretty unnies to play with~ That’s what I mean.”
As Roden cut her words like a knife, Merim met her eyes with Maril hugging her.
“How is Marill? Doesn’t she want to go to the sea after a long time? In the meantime, we’ve saved quite a bit of money, so let’s enjoy this opportunity to the fullest.”
“If only Mr. Roden and Roxia were okay… To be honest, I want to go.”
“I’m OK! I think it will be more fun if we go together with Merim and Marill.”
‘… If I refuse in this situation, I’ll be the only bad guy. Except for that guy saying something about a swimsuit, honestly, everything is true.’
If she’s going to the sea anyway, thinking that it would be a more enjoyable experience for Loxia if she had someone to play with, Roden decided to take a vacation to the port city, not just with Loxia, but with her twin sister.
