(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 40

 

“Did you enjoy your lunch?”

 

Baron glanced at the lunch box and asked.

 

I answered, conveying all the emotion and shock I felt during lunch.

 

“It was the first time in my life I felt guilty eating fruit.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I thought the animals were still alive.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“Really, so, incredibly, very beautiful and delicious.”

 

Baron covered his mouth with his large hand and burst into laughter for a while.

 

Seeing him laugh until his shoulders shook, it seemed my praise pleased him.

 

Good thing. My head hurt a bit from straining my limited vocabulary.

 

But since I had such a wonderful lunch, I should provide this much service.

 

I was proud that I could feed Felix Baron’s ultimate ham and cheese sandwich instead of Hazel’s mediocre ham and cheese sandwich.

 

Baron’s face, which had been laughing breathlessly, turned red. Looking closely, even his fingertips were bright red.

 

He covered his face with both hands and answered in a voice tinged with laughter.

 

“I’ll make it for you again.”

 

“Oh, no, it’s fine. It seems like it would take a long time, and food prices have gone up lately. You don’t need to do that.”

 

“What if I said it was my hobby? Would you still refuse?”

 

“Really… is it?”

 

“If Miss Hazel won’t accept it, I’ll give that lunch box to Gwen’s distant nephew who started working at the candy shop three weeks ago.”

 

Oh my.

 

That nephew happened to come to the shop around 4:20 PM today, spent over 20 minutes just looking at city goods, then bought one bottle of purification water and left.

 

By the way, all the candy that nephew left behind is in the lunch box.

 

“Are you close with him?”

 

“Not at all.”

 

“…?”

 

He had returned to his neat, expressionless face, but his eyes curved prettily.

 

“I’d like Miss Hazel to eat it. Felix too, of course.”

 

“If you put it that way… I’ll gratefully accept. But please only make it occasionally on leisurely days.”

 

The village elders said that continuously refusing kindness isn’t polite either.

 

I’m Hazel who listens well to adults.

 

I definitely didn’t accept because I wanted to eat those lively fruit pieces again, but to support Baron’s hobby.

 

I returned the lunch box to Baron and casually asked.

 

“Um… Baron, do you like sweets?”

 

Baron seemed to understand my question’s intent and gently shook the lunch box.

 

Rattle rattle-.

 

The chocolate, candy, and jelly collided, making the sound of a toy filled with marbles being shaken.

 

“Are you giving this to me?”

 

“Yes, I didn’t know whether you’d prefer chocolate, candy, or jelly, so I put in everything for now.”

 

“I like them all.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, anything.”

 

His red eyes sparkled more brilliantly than glass filled with sunlight.

 

As if they were real gems.

 

If I’d known he’d be this happy, I would have bought them sooner.

 

“I didn’t know you liked sweets this much. I was worried you might not like them.”

 

“Ah, in my childhood…”

 

He started to speak then firmly closed his mouth. His wistful gaze swept over the lunch box.

 

I easily guessed what he was going to say.

 

“Did your mother not let you eat many sweets?”

 

“…She was like that.”

 

“Everyone’s like that. You had a good mother.”

 

Though I don’t remember what our mother was like at all.

 

A brief silence fell under the setting sun.

 

I was about to say goodbye and head home when-.

 

“This.”

 

Suddenly the bookshop door opened and Albert’s hand popped out through the gap.

 

In his hand was an old cookbook as thick as a brick.

 

“It’s precious. You can’t get it even if you try.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I can tell just by looking that you’ll need it. Just give me half a silver coin. I’m selling it at cost.”

 

“Thank you, Grandfather.”

 

Passing by bewildered me, Baron took the book.

 

He placed two silver coins in the grandfather’s palm as payment. Baron must have a hobby of buying things at high prices.

 

Albert burst into hearty laughter.

 

“That fellow’s quite likeable. Come again if you want to hear the love story between me and my old lady. I’ll tell you that for free.”

 

***

 

Benu, the most peaceful ‘city’ in the Abraksia Empire.

 

The center of the Merchant’s Union that maintains strict neutrality in the power struggle between princes.

 

Even the Black Magic Rebels don’t touch Benu, which handles the empire’s finance and trade.

 

Thanks to this, the city’s employment rate is 110%, and rumors spread that refugees and vagrants become diligent workers the moment they set foot in Benu.

 

A city where women can safely walk alone at night, and where the elderly and children don’t starve to death.

 

However, Benu’s peace wasn’t obtained for free.

 

Lucas Aden.

 

It was the achievement of a genius who became Benu’s mayor at age 16.

 

He was the legitimate son of Count Aden, who died in the early civil war, and became Benu’s lord following his father.

 

And he himself cut away half the lord’s authority and gave it to the Merchant’s Union. It was from then that he called himself ‘mayor’ instead of ‘lord.’

 

Provide maximum protection with minimum taxes.

 

Hearing this news, trading caravans from across the empire flocked to Benu. Lucas Aden sold his territory to scrape together and buy magical charging devices from across the empire.

 

It didn’t take long for Benu, once a small provincial city, to grow larger than the ruined capital.

 

Thanks to this, Benu’s mayor suffers from chronic fatigue and insomnia, two ailments that represent city dwellers.

 

Lucas put down his glasses and massaged his eyes firmly.

 

There was a mountain of documents to process by today, but his vision kept blurring.

 

It would be nice if he could recover from fatigue by taking even a short nap, but unfortunately, the moment his head touched the pillow, all sorts of random thoughts rushed in and he couldn’t sleep well.

 

So he had no choice but to force himself to work while tired.

 

Each day was an ordeal, but he couldn’t stop.

 

If he stopped, Benu would stop, and if Benu stopped, the empire’s logistics would stop.

 

That pressure was something only he could understand.

 

When he opened his eyes after taking a brief rest, two bottles of drinks on his desk came into view.

 

New products from Bashar Merchant Guild, gifts from Kaiden Goldenhands.

 

Sleep Away and Sleep Well.

 

“Ha.”

 

A chuckle escaped without him realizing.

 

‘Should I try them, pretending to be fooled?’

 

For over ten years, he had taken all sorts of medicines and supplements said to be good for fatigue recovery and insomnia, but they had little effect.

 

Strong medicines that worked on him inevitably came with side effects.

 

The white claw grass stems and lamp flower calyxes drawn on the beverage bottles had been tried long ago, but their effects were minimal.

 

This was because the medicinal herbs had weakened in potency during transport from their place of origin to Benu, though there was no way to know the exact reason.

 

“The design is excellent.”

 

After offering this simple observation, he first opened ‘Sleep Away.’

 

Instructions were kindly written on the back of the medicine bottle.

 

‘First drink the Purification Water, then chew the remaining stem thoroughly for 3 minutes.’

 

With a skeptical mind, he drank the Purification Water and chewed the stem thoroughly.

 

At first, it seemed to have no effect—

 

His hazy blue eyes suddenly opened wide, emitting their natural brilliance.

 

His vision cleared as if by magic.

 

‘How is this possible…’

 

For the first time in a long while, he immersed himself in work with a clear mind.

 

What he thought would take three hours was finished in just one hour.

 

Next, it was time to test the efficacy of ‘Sleep Softly.’

 

Sitting on the edge of his bed, he opened the potion bottle without hesitation.

 

‘Remove the calyx, insert it into a blood vessel, then drink the Purification Water.’

 

With a stinging sensation like an insect bite, his memory faded away.

 

The next morning, he ran to the Bashar Merchant Guild with his shimmering navy blue hair flowing.

 

The dark circles that had covered his fairy-like handsome face were subtly lighter.

 

“Kaiden, can I meet with Kaiden now?”

 

Kaiden greeted Lucas as if he had been waiting.

 

“What brings you here, Mayor?”

 

“This, please give me more. Everything you have.”

 

Lucas suddenly thrust forward the ‘Sleep Away’ and ‘Sleep Softly’ beverage bottles.

 

‘He looks like someone who witnessed a divine miracle.’

 

Golden Hand praised his own judgment and suppressed his inner laughter.

 

Once again, he had been right.

 

Golden Sundries Shop’s new products would soon become hit items for the Bashar Merchant Guild.

 

“Unfortunately, they all sold out yesterday.”

 

The owner of Benu despaired.

 

“Oh no, that won’t do. Where can I get them?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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