Chapter 234:
Guess It Was a Dud
“Hello, you two.”
“Hi, ma’am.”
“Good afternoon, ma’am.”
When we got back to the inn, we were greeted by Salifa, the innkeeper.
“How did your shopping go?”
“Very well! Thanks for telling us about such wonderful shops. We managed to buy everything we needed and more.”
Salifa smiled back at Druid. “I’m sure you did. Dola knows all the best stores here in Hatow, so ask away if you need anything!”
Oh, maybe we should ask about the soup! “Um, has Hatow always had a lot of soup vendors?”
“No, a few years ago somebody started selling a soup sauce. They began popping up after that.”
A soup sauce? Does that mean all the soups are sweet?
“Did you try some while you were out? Dola says a lot of the newer vendors are duds. Was yours okay?”
Dud vendors? Could it be that we just happened to pick a dud? “Well, it had a very…unique flavor,” I said tactfully.
“It was a dud,” Druid said bluntly.
Well, he did make an awful face after he tried the soup. I could understand why he’d want to call it a dud.
“Oh dear. I’ve heard the dud soups are quite something. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah…for now.”
“Good to hear. Oh, that reminds me! Dola told me you two won’t be needing supper all next week. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
This morning, we told the staff we wouldn’t need supper for a week. Oh no! I just remembered we forgot to see what kind of groceries they sold here. I still have some ingredients in my magic bag, but we need to stock up on a few things before it starts snowing.
“Listen, I have a favor to ask of you both,” Salifa said.
“What is it?” Druid looked confused.
“I accidentally made too much bread. Could you take some off my hands? I’ll sell it at a discount. Please?”
Bread?
“Do you mean white bread?” I asked.
“Sorry, today it’s bread with a small amount of tree nuts mixed in.”
So it isn’t white bread…too bad. But bread with nuts in it sounds good, too.
“Mr. Druid, can I buy some?”
As a bread lover, I wanted it! And Druid knew about my bread addiction, so he laughed and nodded.
“I’ll take some bread, thank you.”
“Thanks. I don’t know what possessed me to make thirty portions.”
Thirty portions? This inn has fourteen guests, plus the couple who run it, plus me and Druid…huh, that’s eighteen people.
“I had my mind on something else while I was mixing the dough, so I messed up. It happens a lot. If Dola finds out, he’ll be mad.”
It happened a lot? Salifa did seem a bit ditzy, but I hadn’t realized she was that out of it. I actually think that’s kind of adorable.
“Salifa?”
“Yes?”
“We’d like to cook our own suppers, but could I ask for some bread every day?” Druid asked.
What? Just bread? If we could get bread from her, I’d be in Heaven. My heart raced as I stared at Salifa, waiting eagerly for her answer.
“Of course. We could do that.”
Yay! I get to have bread every day!
“Well then, thanks in advance.”
We parted ways with Salifa and headed back to our room in high spirits.
“Thank you, Mr. Druid.”
“Hm? Oh, about the bread?”
“Yeah. Having bread every day makes me feel like a queen.”
“Don’t forget ryce. I’d like to eat some of that, too.”
“Of course.”
Once we were back in our room, I let my creatures out of their bag. “Sorry we’re back so late, guys. I’ll just set your dinner potions out for you.”
While I set out Sora’s and Flame’s potions, Druid set up a bunch of items in our room, including the one that muffled our voices and the one that set off an alarm if someone else set foot inside. Then he opened the magic box we’d bought earlier that day and put our potions and other valuables inside.
“Ivy, come over here so I can register you.”
“Okay, kids! Don’t drink up those potions too fast.”
After I finished setting out the potions, I walked over to join Druid. The inside of the lid on the magic box was glowing faintly.
“Put your palm on this light, okay?”
“Okay. Wow, I feel kinda nervous.”
Druid laughed. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.”
I pressed my palm to the glowing area, and a beam of light shot from right to left.
“There. All done.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes. You’re registered now.”
I wasn’t expecting anything in particular, but I still felt a little disappointed.
“Ivy, is it okay if I register, too?”
“Huh?”
I made a face. Druid’s question felt quite strange to me because there was no need for him to ask it.
“Well, after all, you were the one who got these potions and magic stones.”
“No, Mr. Druid, we got those things together. So, I have no problem with you using them however you want.”
“Oh? Okay.”
It surprised me how restrained he could be sometimes. Where was that restraint when he was buying clothes for me earlier? It’s a mystery to us all.
“Okay, is there anything else you’d like to put in the box?”
“Nope.”
I looked inside the box. There were ten sparkling potions, as well as a black light that was probably coming from the black gemstone. Then we had several blackstones, plus the transparent red magic stone. The collection was breathtaking. I forced myself to look away and shut the lid.
“If it makes a clicking noise, that means it’s locked.”
Since just closing the lid didn’t lock it, I softly pushed on the lid. Then I heard the click, so I knew it had to be locked.
“Which brings us to the real issue at hand.” Druid held up the camouflage magic bag. I gave him a questioning look, and he answered, “Where should we keep it?”
“Oh, right! We need a good spot.”
Since it had a camouflage function, we could change its appearance. But if somebody touched it or put something else on top of it, they might notice.
“I guess it’ll have to go on the bookshelf if we don’t want anyone touching it by accident.”
The room had an empty bookshelf. It was thin and tall, so it was the ideal place to keep our bag.
“But that’s the sort of place anybody would think to keep a camouflage bag. If somebody saw just one thing in the bookcase, wouldn’t that draw attention to it?”
“You’re right…I hadn’t thought of that.”
But I was having trouble thinking of a better place for it. I opened the door to the cabinet. Piles of sheets and towels were folded up neatly inside.
“Mr. Druid, why don’t we hide it in here?”
“In that cabinet?”
“Yes. It’s not full, so we can easily fit the bag in here.”
But wouldn’t the cabinet also be a predictable spot? I felt like I’d at least have more peace of mind if it were somewhere with drawers.
“Oh, I know!” Druid cried, looking at Sora. “Sora, Flame, Ciel, where do you think is the best place for us to hide our magic bag?”
Sora had finished eating and was doing its stretches. Ciel was also stretching for some reason. Meanwhile, Flame was already half-asleep. All their eyes moved toward the bag Druid was holding. Then all three of them looked at the nightstand between the two beds.
“In there?”
The three jiggled in reply. I didn’t quite know what to think since it wasn’t on our original list of candidates.
“Since it’s three versus two, I guess we’re going with the nightstand.”
“Guess so.”
I put the magic box inside the magic bag and set it on top of the nightstand. I had to move the little lamp on the stand to make it fit.
“Okay, could you put your hand on the bag? I’m going to activate its function.”
When you wanted to use this magic bag’s function, whoever was touching the bag while the button was pushed would be unaffected by it, so I touched the bag and waited for Druid to push the button. This was a first for me, and my heart was racing.
“There!”
Huh? Over already? I gave Druid a questioning look. But judging by the expression on his face, the function had worked. To me, though, the bag looked no different.
“Is this bag really invisible to other people?”
I took my hand off the bag and looked at it from a distance, but I could still see it clearly. Well, that made sense because I was touching it when the switch was activated.
“Hm? Hold on, I’ll stop it for a minute.” Druid pushed the switch again. “You stay there, Ivy, and tell me if it’s been switched on.”
“Okay.”
Since I wasn’t touching the bag this time, I knew it should become invisible to me once the switch was turned on. The moment Druid flipped the switch, the bag vanished from my vision.
“Wow, how cool! Mr. Druid, it really disappeared!”
“You can’t see it anymore?”
“Not at all!”
“Then we’re okay.”
I walked over to the nightstand and touched the spot where the bag used to be. Even though I couldn’t see it, I could feel it. I cried out in awe, and Druid laughed at me.
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