Chapter 108

Serena de Verchello tied her long black hair into a single ponytail.

She swept back the side hair that hadn’t been tied up and opened her mouth.

“Shion, when was the last time I was here?”

“Didn’t you come the day after I introduced you to Dussell and Yeni? You brought honey bread. It was truly delicious.”

I licked my lips.

The thought of the honey bread from a few days ago made my mouth water.

The bread baked at the Verchello mill was always good, but the honey bread from that time was on another level.

It was delicious.

It was because Serena had put in extra effort as a token of gratitude for introducing her to a good manager.

“Since then… hmm, five days?”

“Five days……”

Serena let out a deep sigh.

“…So you’re saying the gallery turned into this mess in just five days?”

“What do you mean, this mess? What’s wrong with our gallery?”

“What do you mean, what’s wrong? I thought a burglar had broken in!”

The woman with raspberry-colored eyes flared up in anger.

She was trembling with rage.

It had only been five days since she brought the honey bread and cleaned the place meticulously, but now, Art Gallery Lamponé was in a state that was truly… hard to describe.

To put it nicely, it was a mess.

To put it badly, it was a complete mess… it was just a mess.

It was so chaotically tangled up in one lump that it was impossible to figure out where the problems even began and ended.

Serena was confident she wouldn’t be surprised at all if one day a monster were to spontaneously generate in this gallery.

“How does so much dust accumulate in just five days!?”

When Serena de Verchello wiped the top of a bookshelf with her hand, a massive amount of dust came off.

It looked to be about a finger-joint deep.

Did you cast some kind of dust-gathering magic?

At this point, this was in the realm of mystery.

She grumbled but put a cleaning kerchief on her head and when she rolled up her sleeves, Amethus also rolled up his forearms without a word and helped with the cleaning.

‘Oh, Mr. Amethus, I put walnuts in the bread this time. I heard you like them.’

‘I’m always grateful, my lady.’

Amethus and Serena seemed to have become quite friendly.

That guy Amethus, he’s been tamed.

Watching the two engrossed in cleaning, I took out my metal case.

The raspberry hard candy, scented with mint, was still sweet and worth rolling around in my mouth several times.

As I rolled the candy, the raspberry-colored eyes shot a sharp glare at me.

“Aren’t you going to help, Shion?”

“I am working hard.”

“Liar.”

I shrugged.

I really was in the middle of cleaning.

I was using ‘Fantasy Finger,’ so to Serena’s eyes, it would look like I was doing nothing.

“By the way, Lady Serena, the Harvest Festival is soon.”

“Has it gotten to that time already?”

“Haven’t you heard the young folks? They’re all making a fuss about finding a partner to watch the festival with before it starts.”

“You know what? You sometimes talk like a very old person, Shion. Even though you’re eighteen at most.”

“Is that so?”

I smiled brightly.

My white face was unmistakably that of a boy.

Serena smiled back.

“Ah, the Harvest Festival, it’s nice. But I don’t have the time to think about it. It’s our busy season.”

Serena de Verchello, 19 years old.

An age where she could still be called a girl and wanted to be called one.

But she was the head of the Verchello family.

She had the duty to raise her collapsing family back up.

It was an excessively heavy burden for her age, but when did hardship ever check one’s age before visiting?

All one could do was let out a sigh and shake it off.

“Why did you suddenly bring up the Harvest Festival? Are you trying to invite me to see it?”

“Why do you think I’m not?”

“Uh……?”

Serena’s hand, holding a duster, stopped.

She glanced at me and I smiled with my blue eyes.

Amethus, sensing the rise in the air’s sweetness, did not hide his displeasure and moved away to give us space.

“…Well, I don’t have any particular plans on the day of the Harvest Festival, but……”

Her raspberry-colored eyes darted here and there.

She didn’t know where to look or what to say.

To say that one had a more mature side than others also meant that one had a more childish side than others.

Her cheeks began to flush a raspberry color, just like her eyes.

“…Uh, Shion, you’re like a younger brother to me. No, I’m not saying I don’t want to, it’s just that I’ve never thought about it……”

Watching the mumbling Serena, I smiled deeply.

Her face was completely red, a far cry from the composed figure she had been even after receiving Del Conti’s duel request.

‘…I am the head of the Verchello family, and to meet someone with a light heart is…….’

Serena, who had been mumbling with her lips, slightly raised her eyes.

I was still looking at her.

But why were those blue eyes so deeply beautiful?

Why was that smile so unwavering?

“Lady Serena.”

“…Yes, Shion.”

Her red cheeks only turned a more brilliant shade of red.

“Actually, it wouldn’t be right for a lady like you to go watch a festival with a guy like me.”

“…Excuse me?”

“If a rumor were to spread, wouldn’t it bring disgrace to the Verchello name?”

“…That’s right, you know well.”

Serena’s eyes sharpened.

They were so fierce that Amethus, who was watching from a distance, flinched.

Serena spoke, her voice filled with sharpness.

“Then why did you ask?”

“Are you angry?”

“Of course not!”

Contrary to her words, her eyes were fierce.

She did not stop glaring at me as if to kill me.

Even while receiving the blade-like glares, I remained composed.

“I was wondering if you were entering a carriage in this year’s Harvest Festival.”

“…Will I?”

“Doesn’t Verchello have priority right?”

“We only have the priority right.”

The flower of the Merion Harvest Festival, the Parade of Seven Carriages.

Entering a carriage was the same as declaring that you were a representative of this city.

It was a position that couldn’t be obtained through simple power alone.

There was no telling how much effort the Del Conti family had put in just to enter one of those seven carriages.

The Parade of Seven Carriages at the Harvest Festival was that difficult to enter, and that honorable a position.

However, Verchello had the priority right, the right to participate in the parade before anyone else, if only they could prepare a festival carriage.

“If we can prepare the carriage, that is.”

Serena let out a deep sigh.

In Verchello’s current situation, how could they prepare a festival carriage?

The carriage, the horses, the coachman, and to top it off, everything had to be first-class to be in the festival parade.

For Verchello, who had been struggling just to find a dueling champion, it was a story like a dream.

“Knowing our situation so well, why did you……”

Her raspberry-colored eyes were tinged with gloom.

I felt resentful.

Even if they had won the duel against Del Conti and the mill had started normal operations again, they still had a long way to go.

“Right, why did I ask?”

I swept back my blonde hair.

“My lady, if it’s alright with you, our gallery could offer some support……”

“Shion! Is Shion here!?”

Just as I was about to get to the main point, a gruff voice echoed.

The man with three scars burst into the Art Gallery Lamponé, not caring one bit about the atmosphere.

“There you are!”

“…Guild Master of Etceteras, what brings you to our gallery?”

“Save me just this once, Shion!”

It was Veranio.

The head of the Merion Mercenary Guild,Rogue Guild, Night-Workers Guild… no, was it the Gangster Guild?

Anyway, the man in charge of the back-alley Etceteras Guild.

“What’s the matter, Guild Master Veranio?”

“…Oh, Lady Serena?”

I scratched my cheek.

Come to think of it, did those two know each other?

It was Veranio who had introduced me to Serena.

It didn’t seem like there was anything to gain from treating Veranio coldly in front of Serena.

“What is it, Guild Master of Etceteras?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, come to our guild!”

“…Hmm.”

I let out a small sigh.

“Amethus, I need you to watch the gallery.”

***

Droea Street.

The back alley where the lower class of Merion gathered.

But since Merion was famous for being exceptionally safe, even its back alleys were on a trivial scale.

‘This street, it’s really still the same.’

I felt a sense of longing.

It was because I had once lived on Droea Street.

It felt like 20 years ago, but come to think of it, it was right around this time. It was a strange feeling.

To me, it was a very long time ago, but for a regressor who had turned back 19 years of time, this kind of strangeness often came visiting.

It was familiar.

The people from that time were still there in that place, so it was filled with a strange familiarity that was hard to put into words.

The only thing that had faded was what was inside my head.

The fact that it was time I couldn’t share with anyone was a bit sad, but I endured it as if it were nothing.

For someone living with the Seven Secrets, this much was nothing.

“What kind of job are you trying to give me?”

When I glanced at him, Veranio avoided my gaze.

Just the other day he was running away from me, what had changed his mind?

“To think you’d come looking for me first.”

“…Why do you say that? We’re on good terms, aren’t we?”

“I thought so, but I didn’t think you did, Guild Master.”

“…No way.”

Veranio whistled.

The man with three scars who ruled the back alleys strangely tended to become weak in front of me.

I stared intently at Veranio.

‘In a way, he’s a benefactor.’

Shion Pollinglight was human too.

Before I regressed, before I was called a hero, before I held the vain dream of bringing down the Empire, I lived on Droea Street in Merion.

‘I respected him… back then.’

It was a memory from over 20 years ago.

It has been 7 years since I regressed.

With nothing better to do, I wandered and ended up working as a mercenary, and naturally became acquainted with Guild Master Veranio and received various kinds of help from him.

‘Until I found out he was consistently skimming a tenth of my pay.’

He was a good person.

He just loved money.

I wondered if those two things could be said together, but it was really true.

He had also shown me many kindnesses, too many to make him pay the price for skimming my money.

He had even saved my life several times during mercenary work.

Our relationship was too complex to be summed up in a single phrase, so I would relieve my feelings by tormenting him once every time I thought of it.

Looking back now, I suddenly felt like giving him a flick on the head.

Using ‘Fantasy Finger,’ I threw a pebble, and Veranio let out a cry of, Owk, and covered his head.

He looked around trying to find the person who threw the stone, but there was no way he could.

“Something wrong, Guild Master?”

“No, some punk threw a stone……”

“You must be mistaken. This is Droea Street.”

“…I guess so?”

I just smiled refreshingly.

Veranio was convinced that it was I who had just thrown the stone.

He didn’t know how I, who was right in front of him, could have thrown a stone at the back of his head, but it was definitely this guy.

Still, he had to endure it.

Veranio was the one in need and Veranio was the weaker one.

Tonight, he desperately wanted a drink.

“Anyway, Shion, thank you so much for agreeing to help.”

“I haven’t agreed to help yet?”

“Ah, please!”

I chuckled and gave a nod.

It was a gesture that said, go on.

“…A very important guest has arrived. Hmm? I’m begging you, Shion! I’ll treat you to some good liquor, separate from the fee!”

“I don’t drink, Guild Master of Etceteras!”

“It’s just an expression. Then a good meal!”

“Just how important is this guest that you’re acting like this?”

“You’ll know when you see.”

Veranio threw open the door to his guild building.

“They’re already waiting.”

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