The articles are becoming more and more outrageous about the village of Kemonomimi, and there are many mixed comments about Mae. It's impossible for a walking mushroom monster like her to have a business mind.
Of course, trouble will always find Mae and it won't stop there, for example right now, at her stall, the person in front of her is complaining about the price of a jar of honey. Her price is too expensive.
"Are you kidding me? If a small jar of honey costs this much, it can only be fake!" - Customer
Meanwhile, the neighboring stalls were looking on and feeling very depressed, but also somewhat sympathized with Mae because this customer was the third person that day to bother her. There is no one who does not know about the scandal about Kemonomimi village, many people were extremely dissatisfied with the recent article.
"Quickly give me back my money. Otherwise I will denounce you for selling fake honey!"- Customer
"Dear customers, before you do that, please taste our products, we absolutely never sell fake products" - Mae
"Hmph, I have no way of tasting your fake honey, what if there are addictive drugs in the test product?" - Customer
Mae looked at the customer in front of her and was about to throw the jar of honey this way when she closed her eyes. Before the honey jar could hit her hard, it stopped mid-air.
"What do you think you're doing?"
A familiar voice caught Mae's attention, when she turned there was a pink mushroom, it was none other than her daughter, Sophie, in her academy uniform, next to her. It was another female student.
"That's magician Chihaya and magician Sophie!"
"They are students of the magic academy!"
"It looks like they're on patrol."
Hearing everyone praising the two female students made the other customer leave, Mae was a bit surprised when the customer suddenly left. When the pink mushroom saw her mother, she immediately rushed forward and hugged the other person tightly.
"Mama!"- Sophie
"Sophie, why are you here?"- Mae
"Yesterday I received the title of knight mage, so I was allowed to leave the academy freely to go on patrol" - Sophie
Knight mage is a title that every student wishes to have, it is a title that has power comparable to that of noble nobles. So people with this title will be respected by many people. But getting this position is not easy. Even if a student comes from a family of mages, it is very difficult to get this title of Knight Mage.
Looking at the banner on Sophie's hand, feeling very proud, she patted the child's head.
"You did a great job, you are truly my daughter~"- Mae
"Mama, let me introduce to you, this is my friend, her name is Chihaya. She helped me a lot in studying at the academy" - Sophie
"My name is Chihaya"- Chihaya bowed her head
"Nice to meet you, I'm Sophie's mother" - Mae bowed her head in response
"It seems like you were in trouble just now" - Sophie
They went to the cafe together to talk, with rumors about Kemonomimi village spreading everywhere, Sophie couldn't help but be concerned.
"So did my brother say anything about this?" - Sophie
"Your brother has left the village for almost a week, it would be difficult if I didn't know how to contact him" - Mae
"A week?! So he didn't tell you where he went?"- Sophie
Mae's response to Sophie was a shake of the head.
Since the time Mae found the beehive and made a working contract with them, Heli left without saying a word, she knew her son was old enough to go out and find work. But not having a letter to contact her made her worried.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Heli will return soon. After all, your brother is an adult. Maybe he has important personal work to do so he can't come home early" - Mae
"But even so..."- Sophie
"Besides, don't we still have everyone in the village? They helped me so it's okay" - Mae
The atmosphere was a bit awkward. To escape this atmosphere, Chihaya came up with an idea.
"Sophie, don't you have something to say to your mother?" - Chihaya
"Oh, right. I almost forgot"- Sophie
Mae looked at her daughter who looked confused.
"Actually, I just received a commission from the academy, and it might take a long time for me to go on commission with the academy, so..." - Sophie
"Then just go" - Mae
Hearing that, Sophie looked up and was surprised to see her mother smiling at her. Mae gave her daughter the bag she usually carried.
"There's everything you need in here. The academy sent me a letter home a few days ago. So I've prepared everything you need" - Mae
"Mama, do you really allow me to go on a mission?" - Sophie
Mae nodded and Sophie happily took the bag from her.
"Lady Mae! Lady Mae!"
Maxim's voice rang out in Mae's pocket, she took out a small crystal ball with voice communication function.
"What's going on?" - Mae
"Booth! Your stall is being vandalized"- Maxim
Hearing that, the three of them abandoned their cups of tea and returned to the booth. There were many people surrounding where her booth was, pushing through the line to pass. In front of them, the stall had been vandalized, the goods had been stepped on carelessly, the jars were all broken, spilling a lot of honey and jam onto the ground and mixing together.
Not only that, the store also had all kinds of trash thrown on it.
"Lady Mae, I'm truly sorry for not being able to protect your booth" - Maxim
"It's not your fault, you tried so hard. Is everyone okay?" - Mae
"We're okay"
"Okay, let's clean up the booth early. That's all for today's sales" - Mae
When Sophie was about to run out to help, she was held back by Chihaya. The black-haired girl shook her head. Sophie opened her eyes wide then immediately understood her best friend's intention. It's time for them to go to the academy's entrustment.
Part of the reason is because Sophie is a special case of being chosen as a Mage Knight, so many opinions are dissatisfied with letting a monster have that noble title, this is no different than an insult to her. with magicians. To prove that Sophie is worthy of that title, she must not do the tasks assigned by the academy. When enough honor is given, she will be recognized as having that title
Seeing her mother and others cleaning up the debris, she had no choice but to close her eyes and leave.
After cleaning up, they returned to the village not long after. Mae returned to the inn in a depressed mood. But in front of the inn door, they saw Charlotte and Gina standing outside and the person talking to them was Heli, her son.
"Heli!"- Mae
"Mother..."- Helium
"You're back, why didn't you tell me anything!"- Mae
"I'm really sorry for making you worry" - Heli
As soon as they got inside, the two of them talked face to face. Mae almost dropped the cup of tea in her hand when she heard what her son had just said.
"What did you just say?"- Mae
"Actually, I was just invited to another country to work. They said they needed people there to help develop exchanges there. So I will go with my two wives" - Heli
"When will you leave?" - Mae
"On this day. But I can refuse them....!"- Heli
"This is...really good news"- Mae
"What? Really?"- Heli was surprised
"I'm very proud of you, my son. I couldn't believe that you would do such a big job with your own strength" - Mae
"I'm so glad that you understand and sympathize. I was very afraid that you wouldn't agree" - Heli
"That's nonsense, what parent wouldn't feel proud to see their children grown up" - Mae
Seeing her son so happy, Mae should have been happy. But why do she feel such pain in her heart?
Right after that, Mae helped her two daughters-in-law pack their things to prepare for the trip. She immediately gave the two of them new clothes, especially Gina, a new set of clothes that she had ordered from sewing shop. So that she doesn't have to wear an old thin white dress anymore.
Once the belongings were stacked on the carriage, Heli had to say goodbye to his mother one last time.
"I have to go" - Heli
"Good luck, take good care of yourself and your two wives" - Mae
"Okay, I understand. I'm not a child anymore" - Heli
"But to me you are always a child" - Mae
"Mother!"- Heli blushed
When Heli's carriage left, Mae waved to him until the carriage was out of sight.
The smile on Mae's face immediately disappeared, she returned to the inn. When Fifi and Belle tried to ask, they just remained silent because they saw that their lord was not in the mood.
She sat in her office, sat down on the chair and sighed.
It was still the office, but the atmosphere was empty and quiet.
Her son moved to another country to work, and her daughter was entrusted with an important mission. The children she gave birth to and raised, they have truly grown up. This is what Mae wishes best for them.
Mae knew that one day her two children would leave her to walk on their own paths, but she did not expect that came so fast.
Mae glanced at the photo of her and her two children and gave it a gentle swipe.
She's supposed to be a strong mother, but this feeling of loneliness just wants to overwhelm her.
Tears suddenly fell from the corners of her eyes.