"Haha, the sweet bread made by the bakery uncles is the best."
On a quiet path, a girl with long light green hair and a young boy wearing a colorful hat were walking side by side. The boy was holding a paper bag full of bread, and the girl was carefully holding a small piece of pale white bread with her hands and eating it with small bites. She looked very cute, just like a dear drinking by the stream.
Dickie, trying to come across as a "know-it-all," was describing the small town of Niailan to Bilan while occasionally stealing glances at her. In his eyes, this beautiful girl looked very cute while eating the bread, and even though the delicious bread that he longed for was now being eaten by someone else, instead of feeling unhappy, he felt very happy in his heart.
In his mind, being able to walk with such a beautiful girl like Bilan was more important than some trivial piece of bread, so he was secretly glad that he could use these loaves of bread to attract Bilan's attention.
Listening to Dickie's endless chattering about the local customs of Niailan town, instead of getting bored, Bilan actually felt more interested in Dickie's various performances. Of course, she could see that Dickie was deliberately trying to flatter her, but she was still moved as she never experienced this kind of innocent interestless flattering from all those noble male peers of her whom she had encountered before.
"By the way... Miss. Bilan, why did you come to this small town of Niailan?"
After endlessly sharing his "impressive" career as a bard and his "grand" ideals, Dickie suddenly realized that he knew nothing about Bilan and suddenly asked.
"...I come to visit my mentor. I am a mage apprentice~".
Bilan knew that most ordinary people kept a distance from professionals, so usually, when she wanted to talk to someone, she always concealed the fact that she was a mage, but for some unknown reason, she didn't want to lie in front of the honest Dickie. So today, she told all her information to this young boy, without knowing the reason for this abnormality.
"Maybe now he will be scared of me and leave quickly!"
Bilan felt a little sad in her heart. She had experienced this before too many times; her new maids, who just talked and laughed with her with joy, would show fear after hearing about her mage status. So she got used to the ordinary people's attitude towards herself, which was fear and distance. ...But did she really got used to this?
"Ohhh~ Miss Bilan is a mysterious mage? That's amazing!"
Dickie did not show fear and panic like ordinary people. On the contrary, he actually complimented Bilan.
In fact, in this regard, Bilan was just thinking too much. Dickie, although still young, but as a bard who had followed his teacher from an early age to chant poems everywhere, he had met many professionals, and because he learned much information from his teacher about many things, he didn't actually have the fear and prejudice that most ordinary people had toward professionals.
Bilan looked at Dickie in a daze. After becoming an alchemist, for the first time, she received a "good" compliment.
As in the indifference of the family elders, in the ridicule of the professionals of the same age, and the false flattery from the noble young masters, Bilan almost forgot what it was like to receive sincere compliments.
"Are you going to visit your mentor in Niailan Town? There is indeed a mage in Niailan Town... But! You are not going to visit the "one" on the eastern hills, right?"
Without noticing the girl's distraction, Dickie thought about the sentence "to visit my mentor" and then came to a conclusion that worried him in his heart.
"Yes...Yes, Mr. Punk is my mentor..."
Hearing Dickie's words, Bilan woke up from her daze and almost subconsciously answered Dickie's question.
"That mage is terrible. I heard that he would come out on the dark and windy nights to catch disobedient children and stew them into broth."
Despite his inner worries, Dickie did his utmost to lighten the mood. He struck a spooky pose, baring his teeth and nails and told Bilan the local story that townsfolks used to scare children.
"Pooh!"
Seeing Dickie, who, wearing his white robe, was awkwardly dancing around showing his teeth and nails, Bilan couldn't help but laugh again.
"What? Don't be a child? Mr. Punk is a great alchemist."
Bilan stretched out her hand and flicked Dickie's forehead.
"Hey, this is just a legend of this town."
Dickie smiled while rubbing his forehead.
After laughing, he tried to put on a serious look and said:"But still, you have to be careful. I heard that some time ago, creepy and terrifying roars often came from that hill."
Bilan stared into Dickie's worried eyes, and she could see that the young boy opposite her was really worried about herself, and this kind of deep care was not mixed with any intent.
"Relax, Mentor Punk might have just experimented with some spells. He is not as scary as you think."
Although she was a little uneasy in her heart, Bilan still put on a relaxed look and whispered some words that seemed like they were both to comfort Dickie and herself.
...
A soft breeze was blowing, and some light pink petals were rolling with the breeze. The tender season had come to an end. The flowers of many trees were competing to bloom for one last time. The soft petals fell from the branches and floated into the sky with the breeze....
The young girl and the young boy were now standing on a green stone slab, covered with scattered flower petals. Unknowingly, the faces of the two of them became slightly red. No one spoke anymore; a kind of peaceful natural atmosphere was created with the faint sound of the wind.
Bilan, who had mixed feelings in her heart, finally opened her mouth. She felt an unknown feeling surging in her heart, which made the girl feel panicked and, at the same time, also a little bit sweet.
"I...I'm going to visit my mentor now...otherwise, I'm going to be late."
For some reason, Bilan just wanted to escape this atmosphere as soon as possible. In this atmosphere, she felt her heart beating fast, and the surroundings became too peaceful.
"...Don't you wanna eat another piece of bread?..."
Dickie, who searched hard for a line to speak in his heart, finally opened his mouth. But, in the end, he just spat out such a strange question. In his heart, he began to curse himself fiercely,
"Where has my glorious poetic skills gone. Where is it?"~~~
"...No, thanks...bye".
Bilan turned around and walked quickly towards the direction of the White Tower. Now she was filled with that hard-to-explain feeling, and even the anxiety about meeting her mentor had disappeared.
Holding the paper bag in a daze, the young boy who had completely forgotten about the bread, watching Bilan's figure go further and further away, suddenly remembered something:"...I sing in the city square every morning, when you have time, come to listen..."
"...Got it".
Hearing Bilan's answer from a distance, Dickie was so happy that he had the urge to roll on the ground. After several deep breaths, the turbulence in his heart gradually subsided.
He carefully took out a piece of bread from the bag in his arms, hesitated for a while before slowly biting off a small piece, savoring the tender white interior. Dickie was certain that this was the most delicious bread he had ever tasted in his entire life.