*

　Night - Sherry chops vegetables inside the counter.
　The outlines of everything present in her vision are blurred, and she can't see well at hand.
　If you move your face close enough, you can see clearly, but to do so you have to be close enough to the object to kiss it.
　I couldn't cook with that, but I couldn't cook with it.
　So I practiced.　
　I cut my fingers many times, but my father watched over me.
　I think he was just trying to help me.
　He gave me a chance to learn some skills so that I would be able to survive in the event of my death.
　Thanks to this, I was able to do all the work at the inn.
　Among other things, his cooking skills were a secret pride of mine.
　I felt proud when someone was impressed that he could cook in spite of his poor eyesight.
　My father was a strong man.
　He stood up for what he believed in, even when he was told that Shelly's bad eyesight was due to a lack of faith, or that he couldn't marry her, or that he felt sorry for her to work.
　Whenever I look at the empty diner, I wish I could have inherited even half of my father's strength.
The Golden Fleece used to be an adventurer's lodge, but now there were no familiar guests.
　They are gone like the teeth of a comb.

"....Adventurer.

　A small murmur made my heart ache with a tingle.
　The bard who had once been in the shop sang the story to the tune of his lute.
　A heart-pounding adventure, a bloody struggle, a tragic love between a hero and a beautiful princess.
　Shelley was especially fond of love songs and had begged the bard many times for them.
　When did she realize the gap between song and reality?
　Was it when she saw adventurers who realized their limits and retired?
　Or the adventurer who was forced to retire due to injury?
　Or a sobbing adventurer who has lost his friends?
　Or when you see an adventurer who can't afford to pay for his lodging and has left his equipment behind?
　Either way, by the time I was ten years old, I think I understood the reality of being an adventurer.
　There's no such thing as a mind-blowing adventure.
　No blood-sprinkled struggles.
　There is no tragic love between a hero and a beautiful princess.
　There was no adventurer anywhere that made Shelly's heart throb with excitement.

'Ouch!'

　A small scream.
　I cut my finger.
　Blood seeps through.
　Shelley sucked her finger in her mouth, then held the wound with a towel.

'Oh my gosh, that's awful.'

　A harmonious voice stimulated my ear folds.
　I looked at the direction the voice came from and saw a small figure standing near the swinging door.
　I didn't have to squint to see who it was.

'Moira-san, what's going on at this hour?'
We are your neighbors. We sometimes visit you at this hour.

　The small figure - Moira laughed elegantly and took a seat at the counter.

'I'll get you some water,'
I told you.　I'm just visiting you today as a neighbor. Besides, you have an injured finger.
...this.

　Sherry hid her fingers behind the counter in embarrassment.

'It doesn't matter. Even professionals can make mistakes.'
I'm sorry.
You don't have to apologize.

　Moira chuckled.
　It makes me feel a little better.
　I feel at ease when I'm with her.
　She has such a strange charm.

'It's quiet today, isn't it? Where is that lovely adventurer?
Your husband would have been able to do it, Miss Makoto.

　Shelly clammed up.
　She couldn't bring herself to say that she had left.
　Gently, the wound tingled.
　Why did I hit Makoto?
　Regret surged through him.

''........Was it because of that man?
"-Oh!

　Shelly gasped in shock as her heart was grabbed.
　She had to say something.
　And yet, in her haste, she couldn't get the words to come out.

'Why?'

　Moira said quietly.
　It wasn't an accusatory tone, but it pierced my mind more than the yelling.

That man hasn't given me a call in years, you know?
Still, Alan, Alan is....

　Shelly pressed her fingers down on the towel.
　Did she hit Mako because she had said something bad about Alan?
　No, no.
　He had never been violent when anyone other than Mako said bad things about Alan.
　Why had he hit him?
　The questions swirled around and around.

''Well Alan came back, came back, and gave me

　I finally spun the words and the answer came down like a revelation.
　My father had died, my regular customers were gone, and I waited, almost crushed by anxiety.
　When Alan came back, I knew I had finally been rewarded.
　My anxiety had eased and I felt like the world had been illuminated.
　I felt like I had been denied my thoughts at that moment.
　So I slapped him in fits and starts.

''Well you regret it, don't you?''
....

　Sherry gave a small nod.
　If she remembered carefully, Mako was more emotional than ever.
　He always seemed pompous, even though he was a child, and he had a strange weariness about him.
　There were times when he and Yuka would argue, but he always seemed to pull back.
　He seemed to be in pain and was screaming as if he was about to collapse.
　No, he was trying to convince me.

'Then I must apologize.'
I don't know where he is.

　Shelly took her hand off the towel and held the corners of her eyes.
　'I can't even look for Mako with these eyes.

'Then I'll find him for you.
Are you sure?
Yes, we've known each other a long time.

　'Good,' said Moira, standing up.

'Nice to meet you.'
Yeah, just waiting for the good news.

　Moira turned on her heel and Shelly hung her head deeply.
　A moment later, a geeky sound was heard.

''...Moira-san?''
Shelly, it's me.

　I looked up and saw Alan standing near the swinging door.

'What's going on?'
Oh, yeah, I was hoping to see Shelly.

　Alan said in a somewhat feverish tone and took his seat - at the end of the counter seat.
　Sherry poured a glass of lemon water and placed it on the counter.

'Thank you, Shelly,'
It's okay.

　Alan picked up the glass and popped it in one go.
　He poured the lemon water into the empty glass.
　The wound throbbed and throbbed as he held the pot.
　Maybe the wound has opened up.

'Hey, what time do you close up shop today?
Yeah, I guess so.

　Shelly touches the wound behind the counter.
　After all, the wound seems to have opened up and I can feel the slipperiness.
　It seems the wound was deeper than I thought it was.
　If this is the case, I might as well close the shop.

''........Why are you asking me that?''
'Oh, uh, I need to be with Shelly tonight.

　My heart leaps with a thump.
　My whole body felt hot.
　But as soon as I thought about Mako, the heat went away at once.

'I want to keep my promise.
...it's

　Shelly let out a small breath.
　That was another promise she had made in parting.
　Until yesterday, I would have complied with it.
　But--'

'I'm sorry, Alan. It's just, you know, it's an impossible day.
Oh, yeah, you're a girl.

　Alan said dejectedly, and his heart ached with guilt for lying.
　But he thought he should apologize to Mako before he did so.

'Can I just stay the night?'
Yeah, that's all you need to know.

　Sherry left the counter.

'Are you going to close up shop now?'
Yeah, there's no point in keeping it open, you know.

　He didn't have any guesses for guests, and he figured that if he closed up the shop, Mako and Alan wouldn't be able to meet up with each other.
　I don't want them to get into a fight, he thought and chuckled.
　Somehow, he felt like it wouldn't be a fight.
　Sherry got out of the counter and closed the armor door.

'I'll help you,'
Yes, please.

　He split up with Alan and closed the armor door, closing the door one last time.
　He quickly reminded himself that if Alan had made the decision to take over the inn, this might have become a routine.
　He had never been able to fulfill his dream of becoming a top-notch adventurer, but back then Alan had a dream that was worthy of his age.
　Alan chose to chase his dream and he chose to wait.

'I'll get the key out--'

　A bang, bang, bang sound interrupted Shelly's words.

'I think our guests may have returned. Would you mind hiding behind the counter in case they're surprised?
Oh, yeah.

　Making sure Alan was hiding behind the counter, Shelly opened the door.
　No, I should say, she tried to open it.
　The next moment she twisted the doorknob, the door opened with great force.
　I hit my face hard and stepped on the tatara unbearably.
　What happened next happened in a flash.
　Three men broke into the store.
　One dragged Shelly to the floor, another leapt over the counter, and the last one closed the door.
　The flowing movement was enough to convince the three of them that they had committed a similar crime repeatedly.

'What are you--!

　Suddenly, a shock hits me.
　A man has struck Shelley.
　My vision is blocked by tears and the taste of steel spreads in my mouth.

'Be quiet,'
Oh, brother, you promised you wouldn't be violent.
Shut up!
Hee!

　Alan screamed as the man who was called his brother shouted.

'Alan!　This is--!
I told you to shut up!

　I was struck with shock again.

'Ugh, there's no such thing as a golden--!
I told you to shut up!

　As the third shock hit her, Shelly understood two things.
　One was that if she acted against her will, she would be beaten.
　The other was that Alan had betrayed her.

'I know that there are weapons and armor here that the adventurers left behind,'

　My brother - probably the leader - slid his body between Shelly's legs.

'I was wondering what kind of a dweeb you were, since you say you're Alan's girl, but you're pretty good-looking.
Brother, don't do this.
"Shut up!　I'm accumulating over here!　I'll kill you if you don't stop complaining!　Keep your arms down!
No, don't--!

　The leader raises his arms and reflexively shields his face.
　His arm was held down by the man who closed the door.
　The leader pulled out a small knife from somewhere and slashed at Shelley's clothes.

'Hugh, you have a good one! You look like you haven't used it for very long.

　The leader guffawed.

''--!''

　Shelly bit her lip and held on.
　If she didn't, she would be beaten.
　No, she might get killed.

'Oh, brother, Shelly's having a, you know, bad day.
I don't care!　If anything, it's supposed to make you slide better!

　The cold air touches my crotch.

'Oh come on, where's the bad day?　It's a beautiful thing, huh?
"...Shelly.

　Alan muttered dumbly and the man at the counter shouted.

'Brother!'
What!
Look at this!

　The man held up the magic stone that Makoto gave him.

''Haha~, I get it. This woman had a relationship with another man. She had a relationship with an adventurer and he gave her a magic stone. I don't need yours because I have a new guy.

　The leader said mockingly to Alan.

'Not true!　It's not, Alan!
You're a slut with a bad memory!
"-Oh!

　The leader hits me.

'Shelly, why?'

　Alan said in a shaky voice.
　He sounded as if he was the victim.

'Keep quiet, okay?　If you get out of control, I'll slit your throat.

　The leader fell to his knees and pulled down his pants.
　Just then there was a knock on the door.

'You make a sound and I'll kill you.'

　The leader puts a knife to Shelly's neck and looks at the man at the counter.
　The man leaps over the counter and smiles.
　I wonder if he's going to pretend to be related and fool me.

''I'm sorry. I'm already full--!

　The next thing you know, the door is blown open and the man is blown away.
　He was blown horizontally and crashed into the stairs.
　It was only a blur, but the man's face was reddish-black.
　The three of them, except for Shelly, were staring at the door, stunned.
　A bang is heard from the window and the three of them turn their gaze towards it.
　The next moment, the wind blew in.
　The wind snapped the leader's neck in an instant and caved in the head of the man who was holding his arm.
　It happened in a flash.

'Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

　Alan screamed and the wind stopped moving.

'Are you okay?'
Yeah, mister!

　Shelly raised herself up and rolled her back to cover her chest.
　The wind was Mako.

'Fene, Liv!'
Are we on?
You're on!

　Fene and Liv darted into the store and just stopped moving.

'What the hell, it's already over,'
"Ribs, clothes.
No choice.
It's a leather jacket, not a pareo.

　Mako runs into the ribs as he tries to remove his paleo.

'It's a bit of a joke,'

　Mako took the leather jacket from Liv and put it directly over Sherry.

'Fene, potion.
Okay.

　Makoto took the water potion from Fene and stopped moving.

'I'd better hang it up. Don't drink it because it tastes bad.''
Ouch!

　Shelly let out a small scream as the water potion was sprinkled on her.
　But the effect of the water potion was so great that the pain receded in a flash.

'You can come in,'
Charge!
It's over.

　The guards collapsed into an avalanche of guards, and Mako plunged in.

'Yeah, is there one left?'
Be quiet!
All right. Okay, okay, don't be rough with me.

　I looked at the direction of the voice and saw that Alan was about to be lassoed by the guards.
　Shelly stood up and scratched herself.
　The guards took Alan away.

'....Alan.
"...Shelly.

　Alan turned over painfully--

'Why did you betray me!　I, I worked so hard for you!　I was thinking about you even when I was living a shitty life!
"-Oh!

　Shelly was shocked by the cursing and the shock of being hit with a blunt object.
　More cursing followed.

'You traitor!　You're having it with that man!
Quiet!

　The guards struck Alan to silence him.
　Suddenly, his strength slipped away and Shelly bent to his knees in place.
　She should have been sad, but she didn't cry.