The Abandoned White Magician’s Tea Life - Chapter 34 : Visitors

Translator: Sunnyshies

Editor: Ryuubii

Chapter 34 : Visitors

It was a sunny day in early winter.

In the morning, Amalia cleaned the house with great enthusiasm, prepared a lot of herbs and fruits for the tea, and hung the blankets for Leonardo.

“When will he come back?”

“He should be able to get back as early as mid-afternoon, or as late as sundown.”

Amalia answered in a good mood when Yugo, who was helping her dry the laundry, asked her.

This morning, she received a letter from Leonardo sent from the medium-sized city where the guild branch is located. He said that he had finished his job successfully this time and would be back after finishing up everything.

It had been two days since he had finished his work and returned to town. It would take him three days to ride back to Polk from that town, so it was expected that he would return this afternoon.

‘Leonardo was away for half a month― it sounds short, but it felt like a long time.’

Originally, although she and Yugo lived alone, everyone in the village came to visit every day for treatment and tea, so she never felt lonely.

But when she saw the traces Leonardo left behind, such as the blanket folded up in the corner of the living room or the teacup he used in the cupboard, she felt a faint sensation in the depths of her heart.

Expressing the word “lonely” in one breath feels a little different somehow. It was the first time in her twenty-one years of life to feel this way, so she couldn’t express it well or give it a name.

She decided to finish all the housework in the morning so that she can be ready when he comes back. She made sure the firewood for the stove and bath was well stocked, and she also swept up the fallen leaves in front of the front door. Leonardo has always liked sweet and spicy meat dishes since he was a child, so with the permission of Yugo, who doesn’t like spicy food, she started marinating the chicken in the sauce before noon.

As she did so, Amalia suddenly noticed that Yugo was trying to sneak out of the house. He was probably going on a hunting trip, but this was a very unusual behavior for a person who usually always asks for permission.

“What’s the matter, Yugo?”

“Eh!?… oh, um, I was thinking of going hunting.”

“Really? But I don’t know when Leonardo will be back. Aren’t you going to pick him up?”

Yugo seemed to like Leonardo, so she thought he would at least welcome him home from work, even if he didn’t stick around as much as he usually did with Amalia.

However, Yugo looked unusually embarrassed and fidgeted as he rubbed the floor with the tip of his shoe.

“…well, uh, since Leonardo’s coming back, I wanted to go.”

“…are you going to give something to Leonardo, by any chance?”

When she asked him what he meant by his words and behavior, Yugo’s pale cheeks quickly blushed.

Amalia couldn’t help but giggle at the fact that she had apparently hit the nail on the head.

Perhaps becoming increasingly embarrassed by Amalia’s smile, Yugo averted his gaze and spoke quickly.

“…you know, Mom. You always say that when you’re tired, you should eat something nutritious! That’s why I thought I’d go and get some delicious looking meat for you…I know we already have something for dinner already, so we can have it for breakfast tomorrow…”

“Oh.”

“So I’m going to go now! I’ll be back as soon as I can, so if Leonardo comes back before me, just forget about me!”

“Yeah, I got it. Have a safe trip.”

“…yeah!”

Although Yugo was in a desperate mood at the end, perhaps because Amalia had readily sent him off, he smiled shyly and departed in high spirits.

‘…come to think of it, could this be the first time that Yugo hunts meat for others and not for himself?’

Amalia suddenly realized as she closed the door.

Yugo goes hunting about once every few days and comes home with a full belly. According to him, “I can’t show my mom how I hunt,” so he probably eats his prey with gusto, leaving no bones behind.

Besides, it seems that he eats more than just birds and cows, so Amalia, as a human, would have a terrible time if she ate some of them.

Because of this, he did not bring home any of his catch and ate them himself.

But this time, for the first time, he will bring home his prey.

And that’s for Leonardo, too.

‘…whatever. After all, you two have become good friends.’

Amalia is happy that Leonardo, whom she trusts, and the cute Yugo are becoming good friends. At the same time, however, she felt that she had somehow lost to Leonardo.

Amalia breathed a sigh of relief and set out to clean the bedroom upstairs.

…

…

…

It was about an hour after Yugo’s departure.

While she was in the kitchen sorting through the herbs she had picked, she heard a knock at the front door.

‘…does someone need treatment?’

In order to make sure that Amalia has free time to make some tea for them, visitors will make sure to contact her ahead of time if possible. However, this is not the same in the case of injuries and illnesses, so it is often the injured who visit without a schedule.

Once the herbs were spread out on the miscellaneous paper, she set them aside and washed her hands, which smelled of various things. Then, wiping her hands with the towel she carried on her waist, Amalia went to the door and opened it.

―The moment she opened it, the breath she had taken to say “hello” had nowhere to go, and Amalia froze stiffly in place.

She thought that someone from Polk was standing there.

But there were three men in front of her who looked familiar. None of them were from the village.

No, far from the villagers, they―

The man at the front of the three men who knocked on the door looked at Amalia and gave her a suspicious look. What kind of face is he making when he comes to visit her?

“…you’re Amalia, right? You’re really alive.”

“Hey, aren’t you strangely young? You’re supposed to look a little older than this.”

“Hey, let me in for a second. We’re friends, right?”

They are men with their mouths full of things to say.

They were a little older than what Amalia remembered, and their voices were lower, but there was no mistaking it.

‘Why are these people―!?’

These three are Alphonse’s friends.

They were the same people who once traveled with Amalia― and abandoned her.

☼☼☼