Chapter 51

Saturday.

No school, no dungeon exploration.

Mom and Dad went out early this morning to enjoy lunch at Shirahama using the meal vouchers they received from Hime, so I’m home alone today.

I had planned to spend the whole day watching Dragon Ball DVDs, but I got a call from someone unexpected, who said they wanted to come over and play at my place.

I happily accepted the invitation and welcomed her in.

"Umino-kun, I'm sorry for the sudden request."

"Welcome, Mizuno-san."

Mizuno-san had come over.

Her purpose, of course, wasn't to see me—it was to see Shiro.

Shiro seemed to remember Mizuno-san, and when she went to the garden, he ran over and jumped into her chest, licking her mouth.

"Shiro-chan, I'm glad you're doing well. Thank you for playing with Kuro-chan too."

It seemed Mizuno-san had really wanted to see Shiro for a long time.

But usually, she was busy with part-time jobs and housework. Today, she had a day off from her part-time job.

"I thought Mizuno-san worked part-time every day."

"Hehe, I'm not a workaholic, so I don't have that many shifts. Besides, it's illegal to make high school students work without a break, you know?"

"What about multiple part-time jobs?"

"I don't do that. On weekdays, I help out at the factory, but the production line is stopped on weekends. Oh, do you think my family is poor? We're not poor; we just don't have a lot of money."

Is being poor different from not having a lot of money?

Apparently, it is.

"Poor means not having any room for flexibility, either in money or in your heart. We have room for flexibility in our hearts, so we're not poor at all."

It didn't sound like she was just making excuses.

Mizuno-san seemed to genuinely believe that.

If you have room for flexibility in your heart, you're not poor—interesting way of thinking.

"By the way, since you're here, can I ask you to take Shiro and Kuro for a walk? I'll prepare lunch while you're out."

"I'd be happy to take them for a walk, but I can't let you prepare lunch for me."

"Look, see this amount of mushrooms? No matter how much we eat or give to the neighbors, we still have too many left over."

I showed her a plastic bag filled with delicious mushrooms.

We had been prioritizing the super delicious mushrooms, so we still had a lot of the regular delicious ones left.

"Wait, does Umino-kun's family grow mushrooms?"

"Something like that. Of course, I can guarantee their taste and safety, so please help us consume them."

"In that case, I'll take you up on your offer. I'll make sure to give Kuro-chan and Shiro-chan a good walk."

I attached leashes to Kuro and Shiro's collars.

I told Kuro to protect Mizuno-san and Shiro properly.

Now, should I grill the mushrooms on a hibachi?

I remember buying something for the PD, but I got scolded for using it because it made the house smoky, so it had been sitting in the shed in the garden.

I could use that to grill them.

I also wanted to grill some meat.

I checked my inventory.

Lizardman's tail, Sahagin fish, wolf meat... none of it was suitable. Besides, grilling wolf meat in front of Kuro and Shiro would be a bit much.

I decided to grill some sausages from the fridge instead.

Just as I was thinking that, it started raining.

I hurriedly brought the ingredients I had put in the garden inside, along with the hibachi.

It was a heavy downpour.

The weather forecast had only predicted a 10% chance of rain.

Looking at the radar on my smartphone, the area around us was completely red.

"Is this a flash rainstorm... It should clear up soon, though."

I wondered if Mizuno-san and the others were okay.

If they were taking shelter somewhere, I should go pick them up, but since I didn't know where they were, it would be faster to wait for the rain to stop.

And just as I thought that, the rain stopped.

The charcoal got wet because I was a bit slow in putting it away.

I decided to give up on grilling and use a frying pan instead.

When the food was ready, Mizuno-san and the others came back.

"Phew, that was some rain. We took shelter, so we got a bit late."

Mizuno-san put her glasses on the shoe rack and took out her braid.

"Welcome back. I have a bath towel for you to use. And some clothes... huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"Ah... about the clothes, I think it would be best if you changed into my tracksuit and dried your clothes in the dryer."

"Thank you, but I'm not that wet. Oh, I'll use the towel to dry Kuro-chan and Shiro-chan."

She gently dried Kuro and Shiro's wet fur, but I was more focused on her hair.

It wasn't that I was surprised by how beautiful she looked with her glasses off and her hair straight—cute girls are cute whether they have their hair in braids or wear glasses.

What surprised me was the color of her hair.

The top part of her hair was silver.

"What's wrong, Umino-kun... Oh..."

The mirror in the entrance.

She must have noticed the change in her hair when she saw it.

And she realized I had noticed too.

"Well, that's a problem. I didn't think the ink would wash out so easily."

"...Mizuno-san, you're an Awakened, aren't you? And you dyed your hair with ink?"

Mizuno-san was an Awakened.

From what I learned, she had awakened six months ago.

When she realized this, she decided to keep it a secret.

Silver hair is a sign of an Awakened blacksmith.

If she succeeded as a blacksmith, she could earn a lot of money.

However, she also knew that becoming a successful blacksmith came with the risk of losing her life.

If her family found out she was an Awakened blacksmith, they might expect her to live up to their expectations.

But she was afraid of dying.

So, she decided to keep her awakening a secret.

At first, she used her father's hair dye.

After that, she continued to dye her hair using part of her part-time job earnings.

However, hair dye isn't cheap.

So, she ended up using ink.

"Maybe I should have used oil-based markers."

She said this with a mix of seriousness and humor.

"You don't have to hide it, you know? If you don't want to, your family won't force you to become a blacksmith."

"I know, but... can I have some of these mushrooms?"

"Sure, let's eat them."

We ate the mushrooms together.

The delicious mushrooms were simply seasoned with soy sauce, but they were very well-received, and we consumed about 20 of them.

Even after that, we still had a lot left, so I gave her about 30 as a gift.

She said she would stop using ink to dye her hair and buy hair dye again.

Now, what to do about Mizuno-san.

I had just heard that she didn't want to become a blacksmith, so I didn't have the courage to scout her as one.

Should I consult with Ako or Hime?

After Mizuno-san left, I lay on my back, lost in thoughts without any clear answers.