Welcoming Summer (1)

And so my new life began, and Alvin started visiting my home even more frequently.

That said, he was a busy man himself.

His visits had merely increased from once every two weeks to once a week, but even that must have been a considerable burden for Alvin, given how busy he was as the lord of the territory.

However, when Alvin had said he had something in mind, he’d apparently been thinking of something truly outrageous.

“May I use the outbuilding?”

When he asked me that, I readily agreed, saying, “Of course. Make yourself at home.”

Our house, which had originally been a farmhouse, was quite spacious. In addition to the cowshed, stables, chicken coop, and fields, there was a sturdy outbuilding that had once served as both a workshop and accommodation during the busy farming seasons.

Alvin brought some craftsmen into the building and had them install a teleportation magic circle.

Teleportation magic circles required large quantities of magical materials, making them extraordinarily expensive to construct.

“What on earth are you doing? Didn’t this cost an absolute fortune?”

When I asked him in exasperation, Alvin puffed out his chest with what seemed like a hint of pride.

“It’s nothing particularly expensive. I collected most of the materials myself from the dungeon.”

“Even so, a teleportation magic circle is the sort of equipment they don’t even have at the fortress.”

Some of the guests who visited my inn were knights stationed at the fortress.

I knew this because they frequently grumbled about how much they wished they had a teleportation magic circle.

“Military installations like the fortress can’t simply install teleportation magic circles because of the risk of surprise attacks by the enemy. But this place has that black spirit and all sorts of fairies. If anyone suspicious tries to sneak in, they’ll alert us.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Besides, the fortress does install temporary magic circles when necessary, such as when large quantities of supplies need to be transported.”

“Really?”

Although we’d both worked as knights, I’d rarely been involved in supply distribution or equipment maintenance, so I found the subject fascinating.

The biggest difference between temporary teleportation magic circles and permanent ones was their durability.

The magic circle installed at my house was the temporary variety.

Temporary magic circles used magical blood instead of magic stones. Consequently, although they were cheaper than ordinary magic circles, they required regular maintenance.

That was the greatest weakness of temporary magic circles.

However, Alvin spoke as though it were nothing.

“It’s only for personal use, so the maintenance requirements are negligible. I can ‘jump’ myself, and I can use my own blood to repair it, so it’s hardly a problem.”

Magicians referred to using teleportation magic as being able to “jump.”

Drawing a temporary teleportation magic circle required magical blood: blood infused with the magical power of a magician capable of teleportation.

Incidentally, I’d also been able to “jump” during my active years, but now that I lacked sufficient magical power, I could no longer teleport.

Teleportation magic was notorious for being one of the most costly forms of magic in terms of magical power.

The reason magicians who could already teleport bothered using teleportation magic circles was that doing so reduced their magical power consumption.

Even so, I was worried about Alvin’s health.

For a magic knight, wasting magical power unnecessarily could prove fatal.

I was worried, but there was nothing I could do about it. Then, just as I was standing by helplessly, an unexpected savior appeared.

“Lydia-san.”

One day, while I was cultivating the fields near the forest, someone called out to me.

I turned around, but there was nobody there.

“…?”

“Down here, if you please.”

When I lowered my gaze, I discovered several little people standing there, each about as tall as the carrots I was currently growing.

They were the little people known as forest gnomes.

They usually lived in the forest or fields, and although I’d spotted them several times, they’d never approached or spoken to me before. Consequently, I’d refrained from initiating any conversations with them.

Those very gnomes now held out something resembling iridescent droplets and spoke to me.

“Lydia-san, these are called Drops of the Earth. They’re a restorative medicine that strengthens the body and stabilizes the magical power within it. If someone’s magical power is insufficient, they replenish it, and if it’s excessive, they calm it.”

“Magical power?”

“Yes. We heard from the brownies that you’ve been looking for a way to restore magical power.”

“Ah, yes, I certainly have been looking for one, but…”

Drops of the Earth were treasures said to be found only by fairies deep within pristine forests.

“Please accept these as a token of our friendship. They’re yours. The forest is delighted that you and the little magician are protecting the forest and grasslands.”

I accepted five Drops of the Earth from the gnomes’ tiny hands.

“Are you really sure I can have something so precious?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’d like to give you something in return. Is there anything you’d like?”

At my question, all the gnomes began fidgeting bashfully.

“Well, you see, the brownies told us about a very unusual and delicious treat called chocolate. If possible, we’d very much like to try some ourselves…”

…Chocolate really was something else.

It had completely captured the hearts of the fairies.

“Chocolate, huh? I only have five pieces I can give you right now. Would that be all right?”

“Five pieces! Truly? You would give us so many?”

“Of course. It’s a rather modest gift compared to the Drops of the Earth, but I’d be delighted if you accepted them.”

According to Alvin, cocoa bean production and chocolate sales were both progressing exceptionally well.

Perhaps the soil was particularly suitable, because the harvest had been a spectacular success, yielding enormous quantities of cocoa beans.

Alvin had begun selling chocolate made from those beans to the nobles of the royal capital.

He’d set the rather extravagant price of one gold coin per piece, but apparently, it was selling incredibly well.

“…………?”

When I heard that, something struck me as strange.

Chocolate was certainly delicious, but would an indulgence so expensive that even nobles might hesitate to buy it really sell so quickly after its introduction?

Alvin gave me a rather wicked grin before explaining the trick behind his success.

“In the royal capital, trading companies connected to House Giel were already leading an effort to market chocolate. House Giel’s chocolate costs three times as much as ours. At three gold coins per piece, ours is considerably cheaper by comparison, and it tastes better.”

“Wow…”

This man had swooped in and snatched away a market that House Giel had painstakingly developed.

Alvin continued cheerfully.

“Even taking into account the cost of importing cocoa beans from a distant foreign country, House Giel charges a ridiculous premium for its chocolate. What’s more, the trading companies they use haven’t managed to overcome that particular problem.”

“Ah…”

That particular problem was chocolate’s tendency to melt easily.

It was precisely why chocolate had originally been introduced to our country as a beverage.

It wasn’t as though Goran had solved the problem either, but since magic stones were abundant in Goran’s territory, we could package our chocolate in boxes containing ice magic stones and deliver it in optimal condition.

House Giel was furious that its market had been disrupted, but Alvin couldn’t have cared less.

At any rate, demand had increased considerably, making cocoa beans rather difficult to obtain.

“I’m sorry. I’ll throw in some madeleines instead, so I hope you’ll forgive me.”

When I apologized to the gnomes, their long ears stood straight up and their eyes widened into perfect circles.

“Madeleines, you say! To think we would even receive those sweets that are currently all the rage in the royal capital!”

They were absolutely delighted.

…Where on earth had they heard that rumor?

I sincerely hoped that madeleines really were fashionable in the royal capital.

The gnomes promised to provide me with Drops of the Earth regularly, and in exchange, I agreed to give them chocolate and madeleines.

And so we established a bartering arrangement.

Mornings at the inn began with preparing breakfast.

In addition to our overnight guests, some customers stopped by specifically for breakfast. Although the number varied considerably from day to day, I prepared approximately twenty servings every morning.

Once breakfast preparations were finished, it was time to begin cleaning the guest rooms.

Washing the bedding, in particular, had to be finished while the sun was still high in the sky.

Once the cleaning was done, lunch preparations awaited.

After lunch came café time.

Another wave of customers arrived, this time in search of sweets.

By the time café time was over and the dining room had emptied, the laundry would be dry.

It was a reasonably busy schedule, but ours was a small inn with only eight guest rooms, and both humans and fairies were always happy to lend a hand.

Indeed, while I was bringing in the laundry, Noah and the brownies offered to help.

“Lydia-san, I’ll take care of the laundry.”

“I’ll help too if you give me a cookie!”

“Thank you. In that case, I’ll take a little break.”

Leaving the laundry in their capable hands, I went upstairs to rest.

Beyond the window of my private room on the second floor stretched the fields, grasslands, and forest.

When I’d first visited this house, I’d fallen in love with the view from this window and decided to make this room my own.

As I gazed out at my favorite scenery, someone suddenly embraced me from behind.

“Lydia.”

I was startled for a moment, but I recognized his voice and the familiar touch of his hands without even having to turn around.

“Alvin…”