Even though we would never see each other again, I hoped Dirk wouldn’t get hurt and stayed healthy.

I thanked him and was about to part ways, but for some reason, he grabbed my arm tightly. When I looked up in surprise, my gaze intertwined with Dirk, who had a confused expression.

“Um, can I help you?”

“…. By any chance, have you ever lost your memory?”

“M-Memory…? I don’t think so…”

“I see. I’m sorry I held you back.”

I was puzzled by the strange questions he asked.

While wondering what it meant, I parted with Dirk and pretended to head for the town center at the foot of the mountain.

After passing through the town and returning back to the mountain, I hunted boars until midnight. I had a hard time finding the magic cores rather than defeating them, so I still wanted to have a cute magical beast with a good nose all for myself.

“…. W-Which one was it?”

And after that, no matter how much I searched for my potion-covered shoes, I couldn’t find them, and I returned home with an indescribable feeling of unease.

◇◇◇

A week later, Bruno visited my house.

I put the cloth bag full of magic cores on the table as if to say that I was waiting for him. Then, after looking into the bag, Bruno let out a hollow “Ha” sound.

“…. All of this, did you take them down all by yourself?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“No way, no, no, no, are you serious?”

Bruno covered his eyes with one hand and his shoulders trembled.

“I’m sorry, I came here to give you the money first, but it’s only half of what I owe you. I’ll bring the rest back tomorrow. I thought I had brought enough, but turns out, I didn’t understand you well enough.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience….”

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry for profiting off this.”

When I first received half of the money, I was quite excited about the amount. If I received twice this amount, it might be enough for a down payment on a house.

It was while we were having a leisurely chat, serving tea to Bruno, who said he would introduce me if he had another good job.

Suddenly, the bell rang to announce a visitor, and I declined Bruno’s offer and headed for the door. Thinking that Aunt Betty might have made me some sweets, I opened the door to find Erica-san and Theo there.

“Hello, Nina-san!”

“Hey, Nina.”

I didn’t think it was the two of them and was surprised.

“…. Saintess?”

“Oh, are you Nina-san’s friend? Hello!”

Bruno, who turned around in his chair, was also surprised to see that he recognized Erica-san’s face. It was a natural reaction if you saw the Saintess suddenly visit a house in the countryside like this.

I couldn’t let them wait outside, so I let them in for the time being. I felt that with Bruno, it wouldn’t make any difference if there were more secrets now.

Bruno, who also seemed to be very interested in Theo and Erica-san, took the liberty of guiding them to an empty chair.

I prepared tea for the two of them and took my seat.

“Sorry, we’re running behind schedule.”

“No, it’s all right.”

I had already thought that they would be late since they had said they would be here in a week. I even wondered if they might have stopped coming.

“I was suddenly asked to do a lot of work…”

“Work?”

I was a little curious about the nature of Erica-san’s work since she wasn’t supposed to be able to use magic, so I asked her.

Then she smiled as if troubled.

“Actually, it seems that the number of potions has increased in the city, so I was ordered by Alvin-sama to appraise them all. I don’t even know how much I’ve appraised already…..”

“Cough, cough!”

“…. Seriously?”

Wait, please wait. That was bad.

I spit out the tea I had just drank, and Bruno looked like he wanted a break.