The Abandoned White Magician’s Tea Life - Chapter 6 : In the Village (2)

Translator: Sunnyshies

Editor: Ryuubii

Chapter 6 : In the Village (2)

Taking Yugo’s hand, Amalia walked again towards the village. Yugo insisted that she didn’t need to hold his hand as he walked, but when she said, “We will look more like a real mother and son if we do this,” he accepted it more easily than she expected.

He now had his hand firmly linked with Amelia’s, while playing with a long thin leaf that he had pulled out somewhere in the passing, and kept waving it around using his free hand. If one looks at his gestures, no one will be able to tell that he is a dragon that can destroy rock just by shouting, “Yeah!”.

When they got to the village, they reencountered the woman Amalia met the first time and told her where the general store was. When she saw Yugo, she rolled her eyes and broke into a frown.

“Oh my, what a cute little boy. What’s your name, boy?”

“Yugo.”

“So you are Yugo. Your mother is doing a dangerous job for you, so you should listen to her.”

“Ah, that…”

The middle-aged woman bent down and reminded Yugo, appearing concerned about Amalia. He may look like a beautiful boy, but inside he is a powerful dragon. Amalia was recognized by him as his “Mom”, but she wondered if he would feel upset if some stranger treated him like a child.

As expected, when Yugo was treated like a child, he frowned a little uncomfortably. However, when he glanced at Amalia, he shook his head to indicate his intentions, and then he changed his attitude and nodded to the woman with a smile.

“I understand. I love my mom, so I’ll listen to her!”

“Oh, my goodness, you’re such a good boy… don’t overdo it and get along well with your mom.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your concern.”

Amalia bowed, relieved that she had managed to get through this. But her hands were sweating and her heart was racing. She was really glad that Yugo understood Amalia’s intentions.

“…thank you, Yugo. Thanks to you, I didn’t look suspicious.”

“Amalia would be troubled if she suspected our relationship, and it would make it difficult for me to observe the human world. This is nothing to be concerned about.”

He was speaking with a childish tone earlier, but only when giving Amalia an earful did he take on the pompous, old-fashioned tone he used when he was in the form of a dragon. It’s a huge difference, but it’s okay as long as he uses it properly.

There was an inn near the general store she stopped by earlier. The inn is small, probably because it is a village with a population of less than 100 people, but it also seems to be brand new and clean.

The young girl who was sweeping the front door looked a little surprised when she saw Amalia and Yugo, but immediately bowed with a smile and greeted them, “There is a vacancy in the room today.”

“Let’s stay here for today. You can also eat rice― that, Yugo. Are you okay with human food?”

“Hmm? I am a carnivore. I have little need to eat weeds and tree roots. As for meat, raw or roasted, it’s delicious.”

Weeds and tree roots ― probably vegetables in general. A child of this age wouldn’t look too suspicious if he ate a lot of meat, and if it was any kind of meat, any restaurant would be able to supply it. She was really glad that the dragon’s staple food was not giant spiders or demon carcasses.

The innkeeper looked surprised when he saw Amalia and Yugo. “I’m an adventurer and raising my son at the same time…” Amalia explained. Not only was she able to convince them, but they also gave her a discount on the accommodation. The same thing happened at the general store, and Amalia felt sick on her stomach because she was being deceitful. Amalia refrained from doing it too many times, but eventually she was forced to do so.

‘I’m really sorry, everyone. At least I’ll stay quiet so as to not disturb the villagers…!’

“I’m going to go gather some information, what about Yugo?”

“Mm-hmm.”

After going up to the room and explaining the set of equipment, Yugo only replied animatedly, holding the unglazed vase with both hands. When she peeked out from behind him, she saw him staring at the vase in his hand, his golden eyes glittering.

“Is there something special in it?”

“It’s valuable because the Demon Realm didn’t have it, and you can’t even hold something this small properly in dragon form… Oh, you are going out, are you? Me, accompanying you would slow you down, and I would like to study the items in this room.”

“Well, alright. I’ll see you later then… don’t break the equipment and don’t bother other people, okay?”

“Yes, I know. Don’t worry, go ahead.”

His voice was pleasant to hear despite his ostentatious tone, and he didn’t even look at Amalia as he seemed to be busy turning over empty vases and tracing patterns with his fingers.

‘…well, I guess Yugo doesn’t want to lose the opportunity to observe the human world, so he won’t cause any problems.’

Deciding to trust Yugo, Amalia left the room alone. “My son is asleep in the room, so please leave him alone”, she informed the innkeeper and went outside.

While she was doing this and that, the sun was going down.

Staring at the sun setting over the edge of the mountain, Amalia squinted.

‘…it was certainly before noon when we arrived at Dragon Mountain. So, by the time I was rescued by Yugo and brought back here from the Demon World, I guess it took longer than I thought…?’

It might only have been Amalia’s imagination that she thought that there was no village here before. With that in mind, Amalia caught a farmer who seemed to be on his way back from working in the fields.

“Excuse me. I just arrived in this village today, what is the name of this village?”

“It’s not much of a village, but it’s called Polk, and was established only about five years ago.”

The farmer stopped and wiped his sweat off his face.

‘I see…Five years ago, it made sense that the houses and fences were relatively new.’

…but that’s odd.

“Well, this is the foot of Dragon Mountain, and there must be a lot of damage from demons. From the looks of it, it seems that this place does not have a very strong defense force, but I wonder if they are prepared for demons.”

When they receive a request from the guild to kill a dragon, she heard before that the area around here was badly damaged by demons and was not suitable for people to live in. But the scene in the village was so tranquil that it didn’t even seem like there were any powerful vigilantes or magical guards.

However, when the farmer heard Amalia’s words, he rolled his eyes and pointed, with the tip of his thumb, at the Dragon Mountain that was towering behind him.

“What are you talking about, onee-san? Even after ten years since the golden dragon disappeared, it’s still peaceful around here.”

“Huh?”

“A group of adventurers named Nantoka defeated a dragon that was running rampant in that mountain. After that, the sweltering hot mountain regained its calmness and became nothing but a bald mountain, as you can see. We’ve been able to make a living here since the powerful demons have stopped appearing.”

“…”

Amalia stared speechlessly at the farmer who stated that so smoothly.

‘Ten years ago… a group of adventurers called Nantoka?’

Wait, calm down, she told herself, clutching her chest tightly.

Amalia tried to smile while feeling out if the worn out charm was still there.

“Well, I guess so. Sorry, I’m not familiar with the geography around here.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you’re wondering about the establishment of this village, just ask the innkeeper. He’s the first one among us to start living here.”

“I understand. Thank you very much.”

Amalia wiped her sweaty hands on the hem of her skirt as she bowed to the yawning farmer.

What exactly did the farmer say just now?

‘Ten years ago, a golden dragon was defeated by a group of adventurers named Nantoka― since then, the mountain has been calm and no powerful demons have appeared―’

She opened her eyes and looked around.

No way, she thought, but instead of the inn, she took a short run to the general store.

She didn’t think much of it when she first went to the store, but there was a wooden calendar on the counter of the general store.

“Huh? You’re the mother who came in a while ago.”

“I-I’m sorry, excuse me.”

“No, no, no. Come on in. How’s your son?”

“Yes, sir. I got him dressed, and now he’s resting at the inn.”

“Ah, I see, I see. If you’d like, you can come back later and show me your son’s face.”

“Yes, I’d be happy to.”

While having a casual conversation, Amalia quickly looked at the counter top. The calendar was in place, though its position had shifted a bit from the first time she had seen it.

…putting her hand on her chest, which is pounding hard, she looked at the calendar.

It showed a date about a month before Amalia left her last inn with Alphonse and others.

…her body wobbled, but she kept both legs steady, and Amalia pointed at the calendar with a stiff smile.

“Um, this calendar is really nice. Did you make it yourself?”

“Oh? Ah, yeah. My dad’s a carpenter. He made this for me when I was a kid. It’s a one-of-a-kind piece. Sorry, I can’t sell this.”

“Of course… this will give you the month and day. Let’s see, what year was it this year..”

“Is it the year 389 of the calendar? As expected, it was difficult to include it in the calendar.”

The shopkeeper picked up his father’s hand-made calendar and stared at it sullenly. Thanks to this, Amalia’s suspicious behavior of widening her eyes and backing away slightly was not noticed.

If what the shopkeeper said was correct, it is early autumn in the year 389.

But the “now” that Amalia remembers is the autumn of the year 379.

Which means―

‘Ten years have passed―!’

She didn’t think that the farmer and the shopkeeper were in cahoots to play a joke on Amalia. In the first place, there is no way that such a large village could have sprung up in a year or so in what used to be nothing more than an open field.

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