Chapter 18

"Here, Shia~ This is an Ice Bullet~?"

Bang!! Kyakkyak!

At that time, Owl was showing magic to Shia, and Shia was also delighted to watch it. Owl was gradually leading Shia down the path of magic, and the results were steadily showing.

First, Shia stopped being afraid of magic. Moreover, she finally managed to activate Light... Yes, she had already started using magic.

Owl had partly been joking, but as he showed her magic and circulated mana, she gradually began to use Light.

Her parents were surprised, but they were also moved that their child could use magic at such a young age.

In this world, blessings are considered one of the factors that shape a person, but there is an unspoken rule that they are not publicly acknowledged.

Shia, who used magic without such blessings, showed considerable potential. ...In reality, it was due to Owl's training and the environment he provided, but no one knew that.

"Still, Owl, are you going to run a stall at this year's harvest festival?" her father asked.

"Yeah, it's unexpectedly popular, and Mirei is also helping, so I thought I'd do it. This year, I'll do the usual bacon grilled over an open flame and pita bread sandwiches, but since Rebrant hasn't come recently and I can't get glutinous rice flour, I'm thinking of making cookies for the sweets. I've made a lot of sugar, though."

"I see. You don't have to work so hard; with the profit from the pita bread, you get a lot of money every year, so you could just enjoy the harvest festival normally."

"No, I won't run the stall all day, and Mirei also wants to save money to play at the harvest festival. Besides, I enjoy business!"

"Hehe, you're a born merchant, Owl. Who do you take after?"

The harvest was always finished quickly with magic, and while at it, she also finished the harvest for Mirei's family. Then, with Mirei's help, she prepared and stored the items to be sold at the harvest festival. These days, Mirei had become skilled at cooking, and her catchphrase was, "I can't cook if I want to be Owl's wife!"

Moreover, recently, Mirei also joined in when Owl showed or taught magic to Shia. Not only did she help take care of Shia, but she also wanted to learn magic herself.

Thanks to her efforts, she could now use simple magic. Although she only had an aptitude for water magic, she said, "Life has become easier!" which made Owl happy.

He also taught her attack magic, but she didn't learn it very well, only managing to learn Water Bullet, Aqua Lance, and Aqua Cutter. Owl had studied and learned countless types of magic, but this body seemed to be a special creation of the creator god.

On the other hand, her defensive and healing magic were impressive, and Owl practiced with her as well.

Her mana capacity, thanks to training, was slightly more than the adventurers who delivered the Four-Eyed Rampaging Bull to the village every year.

"Okay, Mirei, let's call it a day today."

"Sure, thanks, Owl. See you, Shia."

Shia has also become quite attached to Mirei... Mirei is 11 this year and is becoming more and more adorable. Being with her makes me really nervous. She's such a good girl that I feel unworthy. But I want to leave the village and see the world when I grow up... Will she come with me?

Well, there's no point in worrying about it now. Still, I'm finally 10 years old. I'll be an adult in just 5 years, so I need to think about what I'll do in the future...

There are many things to think about, but before I knew it, the day before the harvest festival had arrived. Recently, Owl's stall at the Oren village harvest festival had become a kind of attraction. It started as a small stall, but because it couldn't handle the crowd, the village adults made a makeshift tent and stall for him. Moreover, the reputation of his stall spread to neighboring villages, and people came just to visit. Mirei alone wasn't enough to help, so girls of the same age also helped. Boys of the same age didn't help. Once, a boy who had a crush on Mirei challenged Owl to a fight, but he was beaten up because he said something to anger Owl.

Well, that's a story for another time.

So, there were many girls around Owl. While his parents watched happily, Mirei wasn't feeling good about it, but Owl didn't notice.

---

"Mr. Albus, we've arrived. This is Oren village. We need to deliver the Four-Eyed Rampaging Bull to the mayor. What do you want to do?"

"Yes, if you don't mind, I would like to accompany you."

"Well, the people in this village are all good, so I think it's fine. Let's go, then."

The cart loaded with the Four-Eyed Rampaging Bull arrived at the mayor's house, and as usual, the mayor welcomed them.

"Mr. Glen, thank you as always. This year's work is perfect, as always."

"Mayor, it's been a while. I need you to sign this, please."

"Sure, sure. By the way, are you going to participate in the harvest festival this year? If you are, please stay at my place tonight as usual."

"Oh, sorry. I'll participate this year too! I'm looking forward to that monk's food. I even bought a small item pouch to buy a lot of it. Hahaha."

"Ah, you mean Owl's stall. His food is really delicious. Oh, I see you're new here. Nice to meet you, I'm the mayor of this village, Murga."

"Thank you. I am Albus, the butler of the Duke's family."

"Duke's family?! A butler of such a noble family is visiting this remote village? What brings you here?"

"Hehe, the Duke's daughter has become fond of a food called cookies. I'm here to buy them."

"Oh, I see. I've had them from Owl too, and they are really delicious. I believe he said he would sell cookies this year."

"That's wonderful. It was worth the trip."

"Please stay at my place tonight. Unfortunately, there are no inns in this village."

Thus, Albus was able to reach the maker of the cookies in Oren village. Buying cookies was not a lie, but the Duke's daughter's request was to meet the maker, which made Albus hesitate.

"If it were an adult, it would have been easier, but I didn't expect a child... I couldn't ask how old they are, so what should I do?"

He couldn't just take a child back, so Albus decided to meet them the next day and think about it then.

---

"Jimon! Is that true!? The butler of the Duke's family has entered Oren village!?"

"Yes, it's true."

"Tomorrow is the harvest festival in Oren village, right? I'll go too."

"Understood. I'll prepare accordingly."

Jimon, the butler of the Randolf Margrave, reported to Lady Myle as soon as he heard that Albus had entered Oren village.

---

And so, the day of the harvest festival, blessed with clear skies, arrived.

I'll update a little at a time.

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