Scritch scritch.
The girl sitting at the desk busily maneuvered her pen.
Every time her hand moved, the black ink dashed wildly beyond the neat square lines.
She paused for a moment, dissatisfied with the letters that had escaped the confines of the box.
But when her hand started moving again, it didn’t become particularly more careful, and the letters birthed from her hand, like her siblings before her, broke free from their square prison and ventured into the vast world.
Da-eun gently stroked the pink hair of the girl and conversed with Selin.
“…So that happened.”
“There were a lot of things while I was away. If I had known you’d struggle so much, I would have gone with you….”
“Oh, no~ Thanks to Kana, I didn’t have any troubles at all. Of course, there was that moment when I was riding on Kana’s back and thought I might be leaving for Edel’s side, though.”
“Gufu. Now that you mention it, I’m feeling tempted to experience it myself?”
“Oh! You shouldn’t say that even as a joke!”
After joking around, Selin responded with another tease.
With an unexpected reply, Da-eun was taken aback and tried to dissuade her.
That… that’s not something a person should do.
When she was first carried on Kana’s back, Da-eun imagined a romantic scene like a male and female lead walking on air hand in hand, but she painfully realized that reality and movies are different.
‘Reality….’
Da-eun pondered those two words silently.
If the viewers had heard this, they would surely tease her for being a game addict.
But unless she spoke up, the viewers wouldn’t know her thoughts.
‘Well, even if they did hear….’
“It doesn’t really matter.”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, I was just talking to myself.”
Da-eun dismissed Selin’s question as something trivial.
Even if she spoke the truth, Selin wouldn’t understand due to her filters.
No, she probably wouldn’t hear it at all.
‘….’
Da-eun shook her head and brushed off her bitter feelings.
“Anyway, I think we should stay in Baltora for about another week.”
A week. The time it takes for Brondin to make magical tools.
Not just any magical tools, but those made with the Dragon Orb as material, and that time was quite short for custom work.
Ashie, who heard Brondin’s words, was worried about it too, but the dwarf merely laughed heartily, waving his beard.
‘What’s a few sleepless nights, right?’
Despite the worries it raised, nobody dared to refute his words.
Which clan could argue against a dwarf, known as the master craftsmen?
If there was a problem, it was the absence of Max, who made an alliance with Brondin, meaning there was no one to engrave the magic.
‘…Am I supposed to do it?’
‘Don’t want to?’
‘No! I’ll do it! Please let me do it!’
That issue was resolved by forming a new alliance with the magician who helped find Max.
Additionally, during the work period, there was a request to show the ring that Kana wore, but since it wasn’t too difficult, she readily accepted.
“Well then, it seems the two of you have successfully achieved your purpose for coming to Baltora.”
“Um… Yes, that’s true? But the process was a bit frustrating.”
“Don’t worry too much. Even the kind-hearted Edel doesn’t forgive those kinds of people.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. Still, the fact that you think like that shows that Joanie is indeed kind-hearted.”
“Oh, why are you making me blush?”
Faced with Selin’s sudden words, Da-eun’s face turned red, and she fan herself.
It wasn’t quite like she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole, but feeling embarrassed, Da-eun found it hard to meet Selin’s eyes and finally spotted a paper that Kana was scribbling on.
And on the paper danced the ink that was closer to a drawing than letters.
“Ah! Kana! You have to write to fit in the boxes; how can you write like this and let it spill out like that?”
“…It’s a hassle.”
“Just sloppily writing because it’s a hassle won’t make your handwriting look pretty!”
“Who am I writing this for, anyway? It doesn’t matter.”
“…B-but you should write neatly to focus better, and it’ll be easier to read…”
“Hmm.”
She provided a thoroughly considered reason, but Kana remained indifferent.
Finally, Da-eun pulled out her trump card.
“If you write like that all crooked, it looks like a child wrote it. Right, Selin?”
“Pardon? Oh, um, that’s right. Joanie is correct.”
“…How foolish.”
With Da-eun’s spirited claim, Selin nodded in agreement without knowing what she was saying.
Kana, looking pitifully at the two, sighed and resumed her writing, which had been interrupted.
This time, the black ink stitching the white paper was neatly confined within the square boxes.
*
A week later.
As the day brightened, we packed up and headed out of the church towards Brondin’s workshop.
“Wow…!”
The moment Da-eun’s mouth opened, cheers erupted.
“What do you think? Do you like it?”
“Of course!”
Who could see this and not like it!
Seeing Da-eun smile blissfully seemed to lighten the fatigue that had been etched all over Brondin’s face.
I examined the ring-shaped magical tool that Brondin had given to Da-eun.
To be honest, having no sense of aesthetics, I thought, ‘It’s pretty, but is it really that amazing?’
‘As long as the recipient is happy, that’s what matters.’
Nodding my head while watching her jump with joy.
It’s not like I was going to wear it anyway.
“Thank you so much, Kana…! I’ll make good use of it!”
“…Why are you saying that to me?”
“Well, because if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have gotten it! You paid for it too… I could at least pay you back. …Should I do it now?”
“Forget it.”
I’m taking her to the perilous Raxia because of my stubbornness, so I should at least do this much.
Though honestly, I figured that Da-eun would have followed along anyway, even if it weren’t for my insistence.
“You’re shaking your hands while saying that; how can I take your money.”
“What? I… I was shaking? No way…! Of course, it’s true that I’m a bit tight on cash…!”
“Ha, I’m just joking.”
Taken aback, Da-eun looked down at her hands and pouted.
The distance between us had significantly shrunk since we first met on the mountain.
As I reached out my hand to her, the bracelet hanging from her wrist jingled.
“This is a thank-you gift. …I realized I hadn’t thanked you for it.”
“…I didn’t give you anything great for you to receive this.” Just a bracelet from a street vendor.
“Uh, no.”
I shook my head against her words with a faint smile.
“It was something great to me.”
After listening quietly to my words, Da-eun’s eyes sparkled with an unknown light.
In an instant, anxiety crept down my spine.
If this pattern continued, surely….
<Squeeze!>
“Kana…!”
“Ugh.”
Once again, I found myself embraced by Da-eun, accepting the hug with resignation.
…As expected, it turned out this way.
I’m getting used to these scenarios now.
But—
“It’s suffocating….”
I’m not saying not to do it, but can you please be a little gentler?
However, Da-eun’s arms, which held me, didn’t loosen; instead, they tightened even more.
As I resigned myself to her embrace, I heard a murmured voice from above my head.
“…I’ll cherish it, really, really cherish it.”
“…Do as you wish.”
…This kind of ticklish atmosphere isn’t really my style.
I carefully lifted my arms, which had been hanging uselessly, and patted Da-eun’s back.
Carefully, so I wouldn’t accidentally burst or break anything.
As if it were a signal, her arms slowly unwound.
When I looked up at her face, which had a moist voice, I wondered if she was crying, but there were no tear marks on her face when she freed me from the hug.
Her nose was red, and her eyes were glistening as if she were on the verge of tears, but still…
“Ahem!”
Looking back at the sound of a cough, I saw Brondin wearing an awkward expression.
“Such a close sisterly bond. It’s really nice to see.”
But, is it alright to explain now?
Da-eun took a step back from me, smiling a little embarrassed.
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
“I completely understand your feelings. However, I haven’t been able to sleep for several days and feel like I might collapse. Honestly, explaining this should be done by the magician instead, but since I passed out right after finishing the work, what can I do?”
Brondin rubbed his bloodshot eyes.
With each passing day, his eyes had become redder, beyond just being bloodshot.
Having visited him daily, I noticed his change vividly.
His gaze landed on the ring I wore.
“…Honestly, I do feel a bit regretful. If only my skills had been better, I could have made it even nicer.”
When I asked Brondin for the magic tool, I hadn’t specified any particular design.
So, the fact that it was made in the shape of a ring for Da-eun was entirely decided by Brondin.
If he hadn’t gone wild with inspiration upon seeing the grace of Gracis I possessed, it might have taken a different form.
“I still can’t wrap my head around how such an artisan could make that item…”
With a tone that sounded a mix of jealousy and awe, he spoke, and I shrugged.
I never told him that it was made by a dragon and not a craftsman.
Not because I thought he wouldn’t believe me.
Rather, I knew he would believe what I said.
I wouldn’t tell someone who was bragging about buying the Dragon Orb while drunk.
Brondin didn’t seem to expect an answer from me either; instead of probing further, he shifted the topic back to the ring.
He discussed the design, durability, and the magic inscribed within it.
As Brondin excitedly rambled on, he yawned loudly, his mouth stretching wide open.
This happened when the conversation started to drift back to his childhood.
After wiping at the tears stuck at the corners of his eyes, he rubbed his bloodshot eyes one more time.
“Now, I really need to get some sleep. There’s still a lot I haven’t shared with you.”
“I’m really grateful for you making such a wonderful item! You must have gone through so much, so please get some good rest!”
“That’s right, Master. You might collapse if you keep this up.”
After going through the previous events, Ashie, who had officially become a disciple thanks to Da-eun, joined forces with Da-eun to push Brondin’s back.
“If it’s exhaustion, I can heal you—”
“-Shhh.”
If I let Selin speak her mind, something bad would happen.
I felt it instinctively, so I covered Selin’s mouth.
“Huh?”
“Haha! It’s nothing.”
Despite trying to resist strongly, Brondin ultimately couldn’t fight against the two and disappeared into the bedroom.
Finally, with the peace that arrived, we all let out a collective sigh.
“You looked really tired…”
Except for one person.
Selin gazed at the bedroom door, reluctant to let go, while we looked at her with exasperation.
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