The Archmage’s Restaurant

# 57

Chapter.14 The sincerity of apples

“Would you like me to give you some more alcohol?”

“Aren’t you eating too much, Mr. Benen?”

“It’s okay. “There are still snacks left, right?”

Well, obviously the clam soup was still giving off steam. Soju and clam soup. It felt like I was seeing a street food stall in my hometown, but surprisingly, this combination was quite popular in this world as well.

Although people’s tastes vary from time to time in the world, the combination of alcohol and soup is popular everywhere.

First, I offer another bottle of soju. The man sitting at the bar table is a man in his late 50s named Benen, and he is the owner of an orchard at the entrance up the hill from the city. He grows apples called herolek in this world.

For that reason, Mr. Benen would hand out a basket of apples every time he came to the restaurant. It’s the same today.

Of course, I also provide service every time that happens. You can’t just receive.

I have known Mr. Benen since I first came to Gray City.

My original plan was to purchase all of the orchard land located at the beginning of the hill.

“I plan to end my life with the fruits of this orchard. “This is my house, how can I sell it?”

He offered a price that was several times the market price, but the answer was that negotiation was impossible, so he immediately gave up. No matter how much land you need, you cannot destroy the reason for living. Because it is at the beginning of a hill, it does not interfere with rare construction or ranching.

But perhaps he felt sorry for that, after opening the restaurant, he came to visit me often like this.

“Since we couldn’t sell the land, we should at least sell the dishes. Or is it not necessary? Should I go out? “Don’t you want to see this?”

“no. Is that possible? “If you come visit me, I’m welcome.”

“Then I’m glad. Hehehe, it’s delicious anyway!”

This was the line from the first day I visited. Since then, it has become one of my regulars.

Well, that’s good, but recently, it wasn’t unusual for people to come and drink like this. Why are you drinking so much?

“Turn around, turn around.”

Mr. Benen quickly drank all the added soju, gulped down the clam stew, and staggered out of his seat.

“Then come again.”

Mr. Benen pays the price and walks away. Well, since I’m just down the hill from home, there won’t be a big problem.

“This red guy is sour and sweet!”

Come to think of it, Lurin really liked Mr. Benen’s apology. Even now, Lurin was hunting for the apples Mr. Benen brought.

Crunchy!

Lulin’s face when biting into an apple always radiates happiness. It was so delicious that I wanted to eat it too. It seems that Mr. Benen looks like a red apple to Rurin, and he automatically looks for the apple when he goes there.

“Stay there too! “Come closer to me!”

He puts a bunch of apples in his mouth, rubs another apple with his sleeve, and holds it out to me. As soon as the customer was gone, I accepted an apology from Lurin, who raised her voice.

She says very little when guests are present. Don’t disturb. Just interfering very occasionally?

The dragon says that it is the most boring when there are guests, but he tolerates it. Ugh.

***

“Elena, try some of this. “It’s a fruit from a hillside orchard, and it tastes good.”

“Oh my, the color is pretty. I know that you have to put a lot of effort into growing this color to get it. “There are a lot of them in the elven forest, but they don’t have this color.”

Elena accepts the apple, still red as the sun, with a happy face.

The reason I’m with Elena right now is because I stopped by the clinic on my way down the hill to do the morning grocery shopping.

I am currently distributing the apples I received in abundance yesterday to some close friends.

“Anyway, how is the Count?”

“There is no relief. Since so much time has passed, it seems almost impossible to decipher… .”

“I heard that, but… These people are so pitiful that I keep asking questions. Phew.”

“Iknow, right. “Even though I only heard it roughly, I was sad.”

Elena distorted her white face. Drooped eyebrows convey sadness.

“But I still stop by every week and take a look. “I’m going to inquire about the Elven Forest as well.”

“That much? I think Great and Verna will like it. “No matter what anyone says, Elena is kind.”

“Not really. Because I think good people should be blessed! “I’ll enjoy this!”

Hearing Elena’s kind words, he started to squirm. While struggling like that, I spilled one of the apples I had picked up.

“Aaaah!”

Chasing the rolling apple. Then, he misses another apple and falls on the floor. This elf is so innocent.

In any case, there was nothing much to do about Count Gray right now. It’s not like dragons know recovery magic.

Dragons can use mental magic, but in the Count’s case, his cranial nerves were completely destroyed. It may be that the brain was manipulated by magic, but if the brain nerves were damaged by poison, there was no way to do anything with the dragon’s magic.

In this case, you should rely on recovery magic rather than mental magic.

However, dragons cannot use recovery magic at all.

Therefore, we had to rely on beings who knew recovery magic, that is, forest races such as priests or elves who worshiped gods, but even they seemed to have no other method.

It’s a shame.

After picking up the apples with him, I left the clinic and walked again. As I was walking, I saw a familiar person in front of me.

This is Mr. Benen.

As I was watching Benen, who was always devoted to growing fruit in the orchard, I found his behavior a little strange. I walk back and forth between the buildings in front of me, holding clothes in my hands.

As I sneaked closer, I saw Mr. Benen loitering in front of a small shop called Miel’s repair shop.

Then, he finally sighed and walked towards the hill and disappeared.

Out of curiosity, I looked inside the store where Mr. Benen was wandering around and saw a woman who looked to be in her 50s sitting inside.

I heard that Mr. Benen lived alone his whole life. I have never been married and of course I have no children. It seems like we are similar in age, but maybe we will start having unrequited love too late?

You can’t know anything just by looking at this.

Anyway, I returned to the restaurant after passing through Mr. Knoll’s butcher shop and vegetable market.

And that night.

“Will you give me the same thing as yesterday?”

Mr. Benen, who appeared as the first customer, was looking for alcohol as expected.

“Yes, of course.”

Mr. Benen begins to sigh as he drinks again. I think the reason Mr. Benen has been drinking so much lately has something to do with the lady at the repair shop I saw earlier.

So I took a quick look.

“I saw it in front of a repair shop on the street earlier during the day… . “Is that why you drink like this?”

“what? What are you talking about? Oh no. “It has nothing to do with that.”

“Unless it’s related to something.”

I don’t want to ask about something I don’t want to talk about. I quickly served clam soup in front of Mr. Benn, who was drinking soju. Steam rises from the clear soup.

Mr. Benen, who was thinking about something while looking at the steam, quietly spoke to me first.

“But then.”

“yes?”

“I’m just saying that I saw it… . “No, no!”

Then he lowered his head again and started drinking. Continue drinking. When I finished one bottle and was about to order another, I spoke again.

“I don’t know because you have a wife, but… . I’ve lived alone my whole life. I did… . Actually, there is a story there… .”

“yes?”

Maybe it was because I was caught hesitating in front of the repair shop.

Is it because of the alcohol?

I don’t know if it’s because of both or both.

Mr. Benen, who continued to ponder, finally began to open his mouth. However, there is one line that cannot be skipped. Here again, someone who sees Rulin as his wife appears.

Why does everyone who walks in and out of the restaurant see Rurin and me as a couple?

It’s amazing.

“So… Actually, the first time I met Miel was 50 years ago… .”

“Is this person named Miel the one sitting in that repair shop?”

“That’s right. I am a pathetic person. “I’ve been in unrequited love for 50 years since then, but I’ve never been able to confess it.”

“50 years?”

It’s a time when I feel dumbfounded as to whether I should call it large-scale or foolish.

“That was a childhood friend. The feelings I developed as a child stayed with me for the rest of my life. Usually they would laugh at it. It’s something to laugh at, but it’s true. I really only liked her for 50 years. Isn’t this really foolish? I’ve thought about wanting to get married and raise children like everyone else, but I don’t like other women, so what can I do? .”

“What about that Mr. Miel? “Are you married?”

“I understand she got married 30 years ago. I got married to a neighboring city. But it came back soon. Even though I knew I was married, I couldn’t do anything. When she found out that she had separated from her husband and returned to Great City, she was very happy, even though it was unfortunate for her. She herself said that their relationship was so bad that they got married but had no children. Of course, it’s a selfish thought, but I was happy. She has been good at sewing since she was young. So, I helped open a small repair shop that helped repair all kinds of clothes. And I was so happy that I tore off my normal clothes and ran in and out. That alone was good. I’m all old and don’t want anything bigger. It was just nice to be able to grow old together and help out in this way… .”

Mr. Benen spoke at length and then drank soju again.

There is no such thing as a purist faction. As Benen himself said, he is too single-minded. I definitely thought it was foolish. I guess I should at least confess.

“Oh, that doesn’t mean something wasn’t there.”

“Was there something?”

“I asked you to come visit me because I had something to talk about before we got married. No matter how much I was, I couldn’t just ignore the fact that the person I liked so much was getting married. So I made up my mind and told him to come out for a while. But I waited all day and she didn’t come. I felt like I was dumped because he realized my feelings and didn’t come back with an answer. But even so, I never forgot it and still don’t.”

That’s right.

It’s the feeling of liking one person so much.

I saw Rurin dozing on her stomach. What if it were her? If I were to disappear, would you be able to wait this long?

50 years is a short time for Lulin. I guess they’ll wait that long. So should Lurin be given 500 years?

I bit my lip. Because I wondered what he was thinking of out of nowhere.

I shook my head and focused on Mr. Benen’s story again.