(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 9

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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 9

Adults’ words are always right.

As the villagers predicted, the effect of the poisonous mushroom didn’t last long.

Unfortunately, Felix maintaining his sanity lasted only half a day.

After that, for a whole week, he displayed behavior even more insane than usual.

The villagers watched Felix closely as if they were holding a time bomb in their arms.

“Hazel, why is your brother acting like that?”

“I don’t know either. Does anyone want to tell me?”

“He doesn’t smell like alcohol. Is he doing this sober instead of drunk?”

“Yeah. That makes it even scarier.”

Felix has been going into the Monster’s Domain more than twelve times a day for the past week, hauling back buckets of purified water.

Everyone in the village was appalled by his madness that knew no distinction between day and night.

The purified water storage containers at Golden Goods had been full for a long time, but Felix’s momentum showed no signs of breaking.

Since the day before yesterday, he’s been collecting empty liquor bottles and filling them with purified water. Amazingly, he handled everything from disinfecting the bottles to portioning without borrowing my help even once. So it was awkward to stop him.

At least from my perspective, it was better than him wandering around drunk.

Having bad inventory pile up at the general store was a problem, but… I’ve given up and resigned myself to selling it for the rest of my life.

I watched Felix energetically crossing the Village Center carrying a new bucket of purified water and muttered absentmindedly.

“If I sell all of that, could I buy a house in the center of the village?”

Hmm, is that too much to ask?

Maybe the outskirts of the town would be possible.

Sara, who was next to me, chimed in with a half-dazed tone.

“Oh, a woman with a house is cool. You’d just need to find a man to do housework.”

“…Is that so.”

“There goes your future husband. Someone who doesn’t have a house but seems like he’d be good at housework.”

Baron was caught at the tip of Sara’s finger.

As if he had been waiting for me to acknowledge him, he approached me as soon as our eyes met.

“Oh my?”

Sara, the married woman who loved other people’s love stories most in the world, had eyes that sparkled uncomfortably.

Slap slap, her harsh hands mercilessly struck my back. My frail body fluttered like a paper doll.

“Hazel, I’m leaving now. I’ll clear the way for you, so do well.”

“Liar. You’re going to pretend to leave and then watch from the alley on the other side.”

“Either way, I’m leaving.”

“…”

Let’s not talk about it.

Anyway, shamelessness is the default setting for women in our village.

I looked back and forth between Sara moving away and Baron approaching, letting out a tired sigh.

This is the Village Center.

There are too many watching eyes besides Sara.

If I burst into laughter while talking with Baron, rumors about Baron and my wedding date might be circulating by tomorrow.

I greeted Baron with as indifferent an expression as possible.

“Hello, Baron.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Hazel.”

Unlike me, who was desperately trying to eliminate any chance of misunderstanding, Baron had an excessively cheerful face.

Of course, due to his fiercely handsome appearance, he only seemed human when he smiled, but the embarrassingly bright smile typical of city people was overwhelming to handle.

“We’ve been running into each other often lately. Have you adapted well to the village?”

“Thanks to you, yes.”

“I don’t think I’ve particularly helped you with anything.”

“You’ve been a great help.”

“…”

So, what exactly?

Whether it was because of his evasive way of speaking or his unreadable gaze, Baron had many suspicious aspects.

Of course, I’m grateful that he helped me that day, but separate from that, my instincts tell me so.

“Well then, I’ll be going now. Take care of your business.”

After finishing the customary conversation and trying to leave quickly, Baron stopped me.

And with quite an interesting topic at that.

“Miss Hazel, do you happen to have a magic tool set at the general store?”

“We have ones without magic charge. They’re old models from about 10 years ago.”

In other words, we have antiques that are completely useless.

The city goods we handle at our general store fall into two categories.

New models charged with magic.

Old models whose magic has been completely depleted.

Honestly, rather than buying an old model tool set, it would be better to use the regular hammers lying around at the blacksmith.

It’s basic common knowledge that everyone knows without me having to say it.

Baron doesn’t seem to know though.

“I’ll buy it.”

“Pardon?”

“How much does it cost?”

“…”

What’s with this guy, is he a sucker?

Usually it’s said that country people get their noses cut off when they go to the city, but this is the first time I’ve seen a city person get their nose cut off coming to the countryside. Though he does have a high nose, so there’s plenty to cut.

I couldn’t bring myself to rip off an innocent city man, so I honestly confessed the truth.

“You’d better not buy it. Even though it’s been cleaned with purified water, a regular hammer would perform better than that.”

“I know.”

“What? Then why…?”

“Ah, I have a magic charger. I brought a few with me when I fled.”

“!!”

A magic charger.

An item that the Imperial Palace ‘used to’ provide for the convenience of the empire’s citizens.

While not essential in the countryside where magic-operated items aren’t used much, it’s an indispensable item in cities with concentrated factories and industries, and in armies that use magic weapons.

There was even a saying that the Emperor’s power came from magic chargers.

However, after the civil war began, the Imperial Palace stopped supplying magic chargers, and now they’re worth whatever price is asked.

Most existing magic chargers are divided between the military and nobility. It’s a well-known fact that the 1st Prince and 4th Prince use magic chargers to gather noble factions.

To use such a precious magic charger on a tool set that’s over 10 years old.

‘What does Baron do for a living?’

If he fled all the way to a mountain village, he probably isn’t nobility, so was he a soldier after all?

But soldiers can’t possess magic chargers as personal property either. Did he commit some wrongdoing and run away?

When I sent him a suspicious look, Baron continued as if to explain.

“In the early days of the civil war, my parents hoarded magic chargers. They were quite farsighted people.”

“Oh…”

“Even after using them for 15 years, we have several left, so charging a tool set is no big deal.”

“If you say so… But why do you suddenly need tools?”

“Looking around the village, I saw many places that could be easily fixed with a magic tool set, but there’s no professional repairman here, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“My skills aren’t exceptional, but I think I could be of help. If I’m going to settle in the village, I need to do my part.”

“…My goodness.”

Baron really was a decent person.

Baron’s thinking was so upright that I felt sorry for having been suspicious of him before.

Of course, I’ll have to see if his thoughts match his actions. Felix is also a good example of this.

“I’ll give you a good price on the item. Would you like to check its condition first?”

“That sounds good. Can we go to the shop right now?”

“Of course.”

Wait a minute, Felix is probably at the shop around this time.

‘Would it be okay to bring Baron to the shop when Felix is there?’

Apart from my worries about Felix, my feet were steadily guiding him toward the shop.

A customer who would buy my inventory had appeared after so long—I absolutely couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. No matter what, he’s still a customer, so Felix wouldn’t act like a lunatic.

Probably.

“Baron, please follow slowly. I’ll go ahead first to check the goods.”

I walked three steps ahead of Baron, worried I might run into Felix. I didn’t forget to maintain a 270-degree field of vision while looking around constantly.

However, the oblivious Baron approached with wide strides, closing the distance between us.

Even when I noticed his shadow getting closer and scurried forward to widen the gap, he didn’t slow down.

Pitter-patter.

Thud, thud.

Pitter-patter.

Thud, thud.

I tried walking faster while swinging my arms, but was quickly caught up by his leisurely pace.

He even chuckled with amusement, making his throat vibrate with laughter.

“….”

What’s this about? Why is he laughing?

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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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