Changing

Recently, several shops had begun lining up in Tree Village too.

The place I had come to was the first café ever built in Tree Village.

Since the house being used was a House Tree, it was not exactly a stylish café terrace like in the royal capital… but apparently, it had become one of the date spots visited by young couples in Tree Village.

Outside, there were proper terrace seats, with chairs woven from bark and wooden tables lined up.

Perhaps because it also targeted people coming from outside, the prices were a little high.

And every item on the menu that came out used fruit.

Since the sweetness of the fruit was intense, most of the menu consisted of desserts.

I ordered a peach tart, while Val-san ordered mango juice and apple pie, and we savored them. Watching Val-san drink made me envious, so I ordered grape juice too and tilted the glass.

“Now that I think about it, White Silver Wings moves in a pretty unusual way, doesn’t it?”

“Do we? I’m not really conscious of that myself…”

“To begin with, adventurers don’t like coming to the desert, do they?”

“Ah, I see…”

Understanding what I was trying to say, Val-san gave a smile that resembled a wry grin.

White Silver Wings had been a party that mainly operated in this desert region since before Tree Village had even been created.

They basically did not accept profitable gathering or subjugation requests, and aside from escort requests from Ran-san, they had almost never completed any requests.

Ran-san had been moving while running a deficit.

It was only a guess, but the amount they had been receiving was probably quite low compared to what an ordinary C-rank adventurer could earn.

“Our group doesn’t really care much about money, you see. Of course, we wanted to update our equipment at least… but we managed somehow by borrowing Ran-san’s help there.”

“Oh, I see. True, you’re practically her exclusive guards.”

“Well, the fixed salary was barely anything, though…”

Val-san made a bitter face while looking somewhat into the distance.

Even so, the reason there was no tragic air about him was probably because recently, he had been able to receive proper wages.

At present, Ran-san should have been in quite a profitable state thanks to the sale of World Tree Fruits and the export of Wenti fruit.

I would have thought it was normal for a merchant to try to earn even more money… but Ran-san herself really did not have much greed.

My relationship with him had become quite long by now.

Compared to when we first met, I felt like he had become much more sunburned.

His features had become sharper too.

His body, which had been somewhat thin, seemed to have filled out a little… but that was surely a good change.

“Well, we owe Ran-san a lot, after all.”

“You do?”

“Huh, I never told Woody-sama about it?”

“No, I don’t think I’ve heard it.”

Apparently, he had no intention of saying anything more than that.

In that case, I decided to change my approach, and opened a bottle of wine at my expense.

Wenti’s wine industry, with Keep-san serving as the leader of brewing, had only just begun. He had told me he wanted at least a year before it got on track.

As for wine, branding had already advanced in various parts of the kingdom where grapes could be harvested, so it seemed difficult to break into that market.

By dividing the brewing periods, Keep-san had succeeded in developing several kinds of wine.

This was one of the relatively inexpensive ones among them, made quickly with a short brewing period and a lower alcohol content.

Wenti’s wine, which we had begun making in our village, was characterized by an intense sweetness almost like juice.

Adult men who preferred the alcohol to hit more directly apparently judged it as somewhat lacking, but it seemed to be fairly popular among young men and women and couples.

I took a sip too and nodded firmly.

I did not understand the deliciousness of wine, but I did understand that it was fruity and easy to drink.

“Man, this is good…”

Val-san kept pouring the wine and gulping it down.

Before I knew it, he had opened the second bottle.

Val-san liked alcohol, but he did not seem to be especially good with it, and he gradually began getting drunk and talkative.

I kept myself restrained enough that my head would work properly, but Val-san kept feeling better and had already moved on to the third bottle.

“Well, Big Sis herself isn’t really the type to open her heart to other people…”

Val-san, whose face had already turned bright red from being completely drunk, drained the juice he had ordered.

Apparently, Val-san was the kind of drunk who laughed easily, and he was always smiling faintly.

“Is that so? I think Ran-san is surprisingly friendly.”

“She’s not exactly bad at dealing with people, but when push comes to shove, that person tries to solve things with power.”

“Power as in economic power?”

“Not economic power, physical power! I still haven’t managed to score even one win against Big Sis!”

“Huh, Ran-san is that strong!?”

“Of course she is. I mean, Big Sis used to be an A-rank—ah, crap.”

Val-san realized that he had let something slip and shut his mouth.

Perhaps because he was imagining being punished by Ran-san in the near future, his face had gone pale.

Unexpected information had come out, and I was quite surprised too.

(Ran-san was… a former adventurer!? And A-rank at that!?)

I desperately thought while my head felt like it was about to burst from the information I had never expected.

I see… It seemed that Ran-san, who was apparently trying to hide her former background, had her own circumstances too.

Maybe I should have a frank discussion with her once.

The next day, after promising Val-san, who kept insistently warning me, “Please absolutely don’t say I told you!”, I decided to have a meal with Ran-san.

The place I designated for our meeting was the same café as yesterday.

But unlike yesterday, today we would talk without putting in even a single drop of alcohol.

“—And well, that is about it for the report.”

Information on how much Wenti fruit had sold for, at what kind of prices, as well as price changes and adjustments based on sales.

The scale should have grown larger, but Ran-san, who was more on the side of supporting the lives of the people living in Wenti, had not changed at all from before.

She faithfully told me even information that, as a merchant, she would probably be better off keeping silent, such as the contents of what she had purchased using the money from sales and where she intended to wholesale those goods.

Thinking about it now, her lack of mercantile spirit might also have been related to the fact that she was a former adventurer.

“Well then, I should be going…”

“Could I have a moment, Ran-san? If you do not mind, I would like to talk a little more…”

“…Sigh. I do not think I can meet your expectations, Woody-sama…”

Ran-san lowered herself back down after she had started to rise.

I had spent a day thinking in my own way about where exactly the reason for her reluctance lay. I hoped I was right…

“Ran-san, do you still have no intention of entering service, the same as before?”

“Of course. I am grateful that you invited me, but to be honest, right now I have my hands full with my own work…”

“Then how about becoming the manager of the general store?”

“I have repeatedly said that I must decline that as well.”

Ran-san gave me no opening at all.

From the way she lightly bowed her head with her eyes lowered, I felt a firm will that was unimaginable from her usual self.

Until now, I had been troubled because I had not understood the reason at all.

At present, we had no one we could rely on other than Ran-san.

Or rather… I wanted her to do it.

Because I thought there was no one more suited than Ran-san, who had run around for everyone until now, sometimes even sacrificing herself.

So I decided to cut into one matter.

Even if this changed our relationship, I did not mind.

“Does that have something to do with the fact that you are a former adventurer, Ran-san?”

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-where did you hear that!?”

She, who had been looking downward until just now, lifted her face, and her eyes opened wide from surprise.

I gave her an evasive answer.

As Val-san had told me, I did not mention his name.

I had to properly keep my obligation there.

Ran-san, who had stood up, opened and closed her mouth in a fluster before beginning to tremble…

Then she heavily sat back down at the table.

At that moment, the atmosphere surrounding her changed.