I stared intently in front of the stationery shop, pondering.
‘Will customers really come after reading that newspaper?’
I checked the slushie machine and even verified the beer candies.
Not only that. I had also neatly displayed items brought from the antique street.
“I’m nervous…”
Who will be the first customer to come after reading the newspaper?
But no matter how much time passed, nobody knocked on my stationery shop’s door.
“Mel, don’t be too disheartened.”
As I sat down with a gloomy face, Dominic patted my shoulder.
“…”
“Someone will come tomorrow. The article was published today; it makes no sense for them to come right away -.”
Dominic stopped mid-sentence and looked beyond the door. After a moment. Clink, a sound was heard, and the stationery shop’s door opened.
“It’s not that they couldn’t come… They have.”
With Dominic’s words, a glimpse of blond hair could be seen through the door gap.
“Is this the place?”
A familiar child began to trot over.
“Mel! I’m here!”
The noble boy who had made slushies!
The lovely boy in his fancy academy uniform appeared before me, as if returning covered in glory.
“You…! You finally came. Are you feeling okay?”
His face looked plump and fair, reassuring me.
I waved at him with a bright smile.
‘But then… What was his name again?’
Seeing my puzzled expression, the boy opened his mouth with a happy smile.
“It’s me! Axion, the one Mel saved that time! I’m totally fine now!”
Thank goodness, this little guy! He introduces himself on his own.
He ran up to my side with a twinkle in his eye.
I burst into laughter at the sight of the small boy clinging to me like a sticker.
“I brought a friend too!”
“Friend?”
I looked at the boy in front of the stationery shop.
He seemed taller and more mature than his peers, as if he had been brought up well.
He looked at me warily and nodded slightly.
“Hello.”
“This is my friend Radish!”
Radish? Can someone be named Radish?
‘Besides, he doesn’t look like a radish at all…?’
The boy silently gritted his teeth in response to my puzzled look.
“…It’s not Radish. It’s Carat. Carat.”
Listening to their cute banter made it all the more real.
The children in front of me were Academy kids. In other words, precious customers.
‘Oh, this is fantastic.’
It felt as if a golden lifeline had been thrown down to me.
“Welcome, Axion, Rad… no, Carat!”
It was time to execute Kid Targeting Strategy 1: . I’ll dedicate myself to playing with them!
And after playing, casually and coolly hand over beer candy as a business move!
***
Carat stared intently at the woman who had introduced herself as Mel.
She seemed lively at first glance, and after greeting them, seated herself and Prince Axion at the counter, in front of a race round table.
‘Very, very suspicious.’
To the outward eye, she appeared quite ordinary. Apart from her distinctly unique and beautiful noble appearance, her proper posture that didn’t seem particularly maintained, her green eyes full of charm, and her dignified, graceful demeanor.
‘A lady of nobility like her eliminated the Red Priest Pirates? Was there a mistake?’
He cast a sharp glance around. That is to say, setting aside her beauty…
‘Rather, the man sitting over there seems more capable than this woman.’
He silently complied with the woman’s words.
The gaze he cast upon them seemed idle yet was quite intense.
“Dominic, quickly bring in the bounce balls.”
“Right. First in, first out, correct?”
“Yes!”
The young man with black hair silently did everything the woman asked.
Could he be a slave? But to dominate such a powerful-looking person as a slave? Perhaps she is an incredibly strong woman who has managed to gather all her energy.
‘It definitely seems suspicious no matter how I look at it.’
He observed the woman with a blunt face.
Mel, who had come up to the round table and looked down at the two children, opened her mouth cheerfully.
“Carat, Axion. What do you like?”
“I… I…”
Axion gaped wide-eyed, gazing at the items inside the stationery store with sparkling eyes. The boy seemed happy.
“Prince Axion… He’s completely enchanted.”
That foolish prince must have already been enchanted.
No matter how it looked, could it be that a love potion was used? As simple-minded as it is, how could the prince be so devoted to a commoner?
He formulated a hypothesis that Mel was a “dangerous and powerful witch” and began to follow her again.
“Mel, what is that thing the man has?”
“That’s a bouncy ball.”
“Wha, what? What’s a bouncy ball?”
At that question, the woman called Mel sneered.
“That’s definitely a threatening laugh.”
When Carat opened his eyes wide, Mel dropped the round ball onto the floor with a meaningful expression. The round ball bounced powerfully off the floor. Bounce, bounce, bounce, with the sound.
“It’s amazing!”
“Cough.”
Carat nearly widened his eyes in amazement but forced himself to look indifferent and coughed. He was clearly different from normal, innocent children.
He had infiltrated this academy with a purpose, under the command of his lord. Moreover, that woman was suspicious.
But he couldn’t stop his rolling eyes.
“What is this, Mel?”
“It’s a bubble blowing toy! I wanted to experiment with it, and this is perfect!”
“Yes! Experiment on me, Mel! I love experiments!”
Experiments, indeed. A sinister imagination crossed Carat’s mind.
That prince is out of his mind, just babbling anything!
Prince Axion was standing there without any thought, looking stunned, but the sharp-minded Carat was different.
Carat felt the grotesqueness of that woman from the word ‘experiment’.
‘There’s definitely something. She must be a dangerous woman.’
The hypothesis that she might have come to uncover the dangerous secrets of the academy became even more plausible.
He looked at Mel with an unabashed, wary gaze.
Despite his gaze, she blatantly smiled back. As if to provocatively say, ‘You’ll eventually fall for me.’
‘What confidence?’
But Carat was confident.
He possessed immense magical power. A power that wouldn’t lose to that woman. It was only natural. Carat’s mana and magical abilities were undoubtedly the best among his peers.
***
Axion, Mel, Carat, and Dominic, who had been silently arranging the items in the stationery store, all gathered on a small patch of grass right in front of the stationery store.
It was precisely in front of the store’s front yard, near the bench.
With Axion and Carat in front of her, Mel stood solemnly as if she was about to duel. It was a serious demeanor, as though a battle was about to commence.
Carat glared at the woman, his eyes wide open. After all, he had to keep his eyes peeled for whatever was about to happen.
“Shall we start now?”
“Yeah!”
Carat, gripping his small, bouncy-ball-like fists tightly, yelled at Mel.
“…Come on!”
Axion looked at her as if something was odd, but it wasn’t a significant problem.
Mel was holding a small bottle in her hand. The transparent bottle was uncapped, and a small glass rod was inserted inside.
Carat narrowed his eyes and looked at the small empty bottle the woman was holding.
The woman shook the opaque liquid in her hand, then lifted the glass rod from the bottle. The rod had clear, slippery liquid beading on it.
‘What are you going to do with that, Mel?’
“Hoo-.”
As Mel put her lips to the rod and blew a long breath, bubbles started blooming from the end of the stick.
Axion looked at the bubbles with a happy expression. The boy, whose mental age seemed a bit younger than his peers, soon burst into a bright smile and popped the bubbles coming towards him.
Then, something amazing happened. As the bubbles popped, magnolia flowers bloomed right before their eyes. The gorgeous flowers spread out magnificently in front of them.
Axion, buried among the flowers, opened his mouth wide and continuously popped soap bubbles with admiration.
“Wow, woah! What is this, Mel? It’s so fun!”
“Right?”
Mel smiled proudly.
She looked dazzlingly dreamlike as she moved through the falling flowers with a gentle sway.
Before they knew it, flowers were beautifully fluttering around them. It was a scene reminiscent of a masterpiece painting.
Carat found himself unintentionally gaping at the beautiful view.
“Carat, do you want to try blowing the bubbles?”
“…Me?”
“Yes!”
Somehow, his heart began to swell up like a fluffy cloud.
Blowing into the mysterious liquid inside that bottle would surely reveal whether it’s a dangerous magic or not, so he’d confirm it for sure!
He roughly snatched the glass bottle from Mel.
“Alright, I’ll do it.”
