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n✾

nAs I sat on the sofa, looking through a book indifferently, I quickly closed the thick book cover.

n“Sigh…”

nI let out a long sigh.

nUntil I found this magic book in a bookstore a few hours ago, I was excited to go home and read it.

nPerhaps, because of the face that filled my head right now, I couldn’t concentrate on the book at all.

n“…I think it’s right no matter how much I think about it.”

nI sat drooping on the sofa and muttered, recalling the time I was in the square earlier.

n✾

nAfter teleporting from Yurgen’s office to the corner of the square, I immediately jumped into the crowd.

nThe noisy surroundings hit my eardrums immediately.

nThere were still a couple of hours left until dinner time, so I decided to stop by a shop and then go to the bookstore.

n“I should just buy Mary and Marilyn a present.”

nWhenever I find a place I like while walking down the street, I would go to such a store.

nI hummed softly and walked toward an undecided destination.

nJingle~

nAs the door opened, a gentle bell rang.

n“Welcome!”

nA bright-looking girl welcomed me. She was a cute child with a brave attitude, looking about five years younger than me.

nWhy was she suddenly reminded of Aaron’s words that I seem to like little children?

n“May I take a look around?”

n“Of course! If you need anything, please feel free to call me.”

n“Thank you.”

nAfter greeting me with a light smile, I slowly started looking around the store.

nWhen I saw the display case from the outside, I thought it would be a cute store.

n“Mary would love this.”

nI carefully picked up the cute design of the snowball. A pair of cute snowmen in a snowball was a perfect reminder of the end of this winter.

n‘Mary has a hobby of collecting snowballs, so I’m sure she’ll like it.’

nOn the shelf in Mary’s room, there are an estimated twenty or more of each snowball.

nSome contained green trees, and some had pretty hats.

nIn fact, about two-thirds of them were like a gift from me.

nTo be precise, most of them were things I bought from the top’s stuff.

nI’m the top’s owner anyway. Who cares? Yurgen also told me to take anything if I needed it.

nOccasionally, I even brought a limited edition version. Of course, I didn’t tell Mary on purpose.

nAfter looking around the store a little more, I headed to the cashier with a snowball and a notebook in my hand.

nI was going to choose Marilyn’s present at the bookstore.

nThe cynical Marilyn was surprisingly an avid reader of romantic novels, and sometimes I also borrowed them.

n“Please pack this.”

n“A snowball costs 30 silver, and a notebook costs 20 pennies!”

nAfter the little girl was sifting through the items, she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and read something down, and she said the price in a spirited tone.

nPerhaps this child has not been working here for a long time.

n“Here you go.”

n“Wait!”

nWhen I take a coin out of my pocket and put it on the counter, the child counts the money carefully.

nThen she turned her head and held out some of the money back to me.

n“The customer paid an extra fifty pennies.”

nI shook my head with a smirk at the child’s hand holding out exactly fifty pennies.

n“I’m giving it to the little girl. Use it later to buy something delicious to eat.”

n“But this is too much!”

nThe child, who was happy with what I said, soon hesitated. I usually tip, but in a shop like this it won’t cost more than 30 pennies at most.

nI thought about it for a while and spoke softly.

n“Well, then can I ask you to wrap this snowball too? Actually, I’m giving it to someone else as a gift.”

nOnly then did the child nod vigorously with a bright face.

nSoon after, I accepted a snowball wrapped in poor skill.

n“Thank you for wrapping it up nicely.”

n“Hehe, I’m thankful, too. Bye, pretty sister!”

nSmiling quietly at the shyly cheerful child’s words, I waved my hand and said my farewell before leaving the store.

nMoving on to the next destination was refreshing. I was walking down the street humming again, and then I opened the thick door of the bookstore and walked in.

nTurning to a quiet atmosphere.

nAs the most prosperous capital of the empire, the size of the bookstore was quite large.

nThe unique smell of the paper was wrapped around the nose.

n‘First, I have to choose a present for Marilyn, then…’

nI slowly looked through the books and headed to the romance section.

nJust in time, the next volume of Marilyn’s Favorite novel came out, so I was able to choose a gift without much consideration.

n“Oh…!”

nAnd unexpectedly, I found a present for myself.

n“It’s four silver thirty pennies.”

n“Here you go.”

nAfter paying, I left the bookstore with a light step, holding two books in my hand.

n“As expected, books are expensive. Maybe it’s because they’re a luxury item.”

nMumbling quietly, I shook off my thoughts under the weight of the heavy book I felt in my hands.

nNow that I have achieved some of the goals that came out, shall I stop and go home today?

nTo be honest, I couldn’t wait to go to my room and read the book in my hand.

n‘I’m going somewhere where there are not many people.’

nI tried to walk into a deserted alley.

n“Huh?”

nIf it wasn’t for Lian inside of the alley I was going to.

nThe alley without light was dark, but not to the point of not being able to figure out someone familiar. I thought I’m not seeing things right.

n“Lian…?”

nWas it purely my illusion that I felt that our eyes met at a moment?

nAt the same time as my lips pursed, Lian, who was caught in my sight, turned away from me.

nHis appearance disappeared only after a brief blink of an eye had passed.

n“…Did I see it wrong? It definitely looked like Lian.”

nI squeezed my eyes shut and looked forward again. There was still no one there in the dark.

nIt was obvious that our eyes met. To say it was an illusion, the eyes that twitched at my call were clearly vivid.

nFor some reason, I walked to the spot where I had just seen him, feeling uncomfortable about what happened.

nBut, of course, there were no traces left on the plain road.

n“…I don’t know. I guess I should go home now.”

nThe first thing I chose was to return to a comfortable space.

nSo I straightened my fingers and moved to my familiar room in an instant.

nIt was a fact that I didn’t know that someone stepped back where I left.

n✾

nSo back to my room…

n“…If it was the real Lian, why did he disappear? It was obvious that our eyes met.”

nI put the book down on the table, hugging the cushion, while sighing.

nBecause I was reminded of what had happened before when I went up to my room after dinner and was alone.

nThinking of the probability that I saw it wrong, I soon shook my head.

n‘I was tired, but not enough to see people who didn’t exist. How can I confuse that face in the first place?’

nThere’s no way I’ll ever mistake other people for my father or Aaron.

nThe conclusion that I saw it wrong doesn’t make sense.

n“Or did he avoid me on purpose?”

nAs I thought about it, it makes me feel depressed for unknown reasons. I tried hard to calm down my emotions.

nIn fact, even if the person I saw earlier was really Lian, there’s no reason for me to care like this.

nHe and I only met twice by chance, and all we know was a name and face that we both don’t even know if it’s real.

nIn the first place, there was no way to contact him, and he didn’t know where to meet me either.

nSo if he really recognized me and passed by on purpose, that’s where our relationship ends.

n“Oh, it’s frustrating.”

nBut why am I so annoyed?

nBecause someone I thought was a friend ignored me?

n‘…Yeah. I guess so.’

nWhen I decided to think so, I nervously tapped on the cushion.

n“Oh, I don’t know. Don’t worry about it. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

nI stood up from my seat, trying to calm my confused mind.

n“At a time like this, I have to work!”

nIf I make myself busy with the artifact, these thoughts would surely fly far away…

nShaking my thoughts for a bit, I arranged the cushions and picked up the books that were lying on the floor.

n“Oh, I have to read this book, too.”

nOn the cover of the thick book I bought from the store earlier, the title ‘Reestablish Magic Formulas’ was written.

nIn other words, it means that it’s a book with ways to improve the original magic formula.

n“Well, then should I read this first instead of working?”

nIn fact, mana improvement wasn’t a very popular field even among wizards because it was complicated and unlikely to succeed.

nSince I happened to come across this I tried it since I’m bored, I couldn’t concentrate earlier, but now for some reason, I thought I should finish the book.

nI opened the book militantly and began to read the letters one by one, engraving them into my head.

nFortunately, I was able to focus on the content of the book by trying not to think otherwise.

nIt was then…

nKnock, knock~

nA faint pounding sound rang in my ears from the door. It was so small that it could be considered an illusion.

nA sound I wouldn’t have heard if I had been a little more obsessed with the book.

n“What’s going on?”

nFortunately, however, I wasn’t fully focused on the book for some reason, and that made me aware of the weak sound.

n“…!”

nI turned my head toward the balcony from which the sound came, and I found a pine tree through the hood.

nCrumble!

nThe chair, which was pushed back because I jumped up without realizing it, shook and fell to the floor.

n‘Thane…!’

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