Time Healer Ceres
Chapter 32
<032>
“No… sir.”
…This is awkward. Extremely!
Trying to speak formally to none other than Kainel made her tongue feel like it was coated in lead.
Ceres clicked her tongue inwardly and turned back to bring out the stew.
“I’ll do it, My Lady.”
“It’s fine.”
After ladling the stew into a bowl, Ceres carried it out of the kitchen herself.
Jay reached out, offering to take it, but Ceres gave a light shake of her head.
Would she ever get another chance like this? A chance to see him this close.
‘Probably not, right?’
She didn't know how he ended up stopping by here, but she wanted to see him from as close as possible at least one more time while she could.
Clack.
“Please… enjoy your meal.”
As Ceres set the bowl of stew down in front of Kainel, he stared intently at the food.
Why? What is he looking for? Is something wrong?
‘Ah!’
This guy, don't tell me….
“Don’t leave the bell peppers.”
‘Hey, what are you picking out?’
‘Bell peppers.’
‘...I minced them as fine as grains of sand, you can actually see them?’
‘I see them.’
‘Just eat it.’
‘No. I’m not eating it.’
‘Starting tomorrow, I’m only making dishes with bell peppers!’
‘G-Grace? You don’t mean I have to eat that too, right?’
‘Of course you are, Artia, you dummy. Do you think Grace would leave you out and only give it to me?’
‘Damn it! Who do you think is responsible for this anyway?! Why are you looking so proud of yourself, you idiot!’
Kainel had been uniquely averse to bell peppers since they were children.
She had tried everything to get him to eat them, but it was all for naught.
“…….”
Kainel, who had been picking up his spoon, shifted his gaze back to Ceres.
“…Bell peppers?”
“Ah, do you… like them? Then that’s a relief.”
Ceres clicked her tongue repeatedly in her mind.
In the past, he would have picked them out immediately, but he isn't doing that now. Did his tastes change a bit?
Realizing she had let something slip out of habit while reminiscing about the past, she let out an awkward smile.
“…….”
Kainel watched Ceres for a moment before moving his spoon again without a word.
Then, as if to make a point, he began to flick aside the visible bits of bell pepper one by one.
‘Is this jerk serious?’
You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Right in front of me!
His personality has gotten even more twisted than before!
‘Sigh.’
What were you doing for three hundred years? You didn't even change your palate.
Suppressing the urge to grab the spoon and shove it into his mouth herself, Ceres let out a silent sigh.
Tinkle.
“Oh? What’s this? Why is it so quiet today?”
Just then, someone entered the shop. It was Cheion, the Magic Tower Master.
He tilted his head at the sight of the shop, which was unusually empty compared to its normal state.
“Well, at least it’s nice not having to wait in line today.”
“…Is that something you should say in front of me, the owner?”
“Hey, it’s just a figure of speech.”
As if he were in a truly good mood, the corners of his mouth curled up despite Ceres’s rebuke.
“Is the shop going to go out of business like this?”
“Speaking of which, isn't the Magic Tower the one that should be going under?”
She wondered if it was really okay for the Magic Tower Master to be away from his post every single day like this.
She had grown used to Cheion visiting almost daily, but she couldn't understand why he kept coming.
He didn't even seem particularly fond of stew like the other customers. Why do you keep coming back?
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Our Magic Tower actually runs better when I’m not there.”
“…….”
…Is that something to say with such pride?
‘Well.’
Despite being the Magic Tower Master, not many people seemed to recognize him.
Considering he even plastered his own face in his books, he wasn't particularly famous. Didn't that mean he hardly did any outside activities?
‘Well, I suppose our Yulia likes him.’
A Magic Tower Master who was only popular with children.
“Are you having stew?”
“Yes!”
Ceres looked at Cheion with a brief look of pity before heading back to the kitchen.
“Huh?”
Cheion, who had been watching Ceres disappear with a lingering smile, absentmindedly turned his head and finally caught sight of Kainel.
He tilted his head for a moment, his eyes gradually widening until he suddenly bolted upright from his seat.
“The Popsicle!”
At that shout, not only Kainel, who was eating his stew, but even Ceres, who was just entering the kitchen, looked back at him.
“Sigh.”
A sigh escaped Ceres’s lips as she lightly shook her head.
Did the Magic Tower have some kind of genealogical record that dictated nicknames?
‘Shut up, you Popsicle!’
A long time ago, Artia used to call Kainel that too. How was it that successive Magic Tower Masters used the exact same nickname?
“…….”
Had Kainel thought the same thing? He looked at Cheion with a somewhat strange expression.
“Excuse me!”
Cheion rushed over to Kainel in an instant, his eyes beginning to sparkle.
There was something he absolutely had to ask if he ever met him!
“By any chance, have you ever seen our Blue Stone?”
“…Blue Stone?”
Despite the look in Kainel's eyes that asked what kind of crazy nonsense he was spouting, Cheion’s questions didn't stop.
Kai, his palate is the same, but he’s certainly learned how to curse with his eyes….
Ceres was inwardly applauding her old friend's growth when she suddenly froze.
“No matter how much I think about it, that thing looks like it came from the North where you live. It looks like this…….”
Before she knew it, he was holding a Video Storage Stone in his hand.
The moment he tried to play it.
Thwack!
“Aaaagh!”
A hand quickly snatched the Video Storage Stone and hurled it to the floor.
“What are you doing?!”
It was Ceres.
Crunch! Stomp, stomp!
She didn't stop at throwing it; she stomped on it with her foot, completely smashing it. Cheion let out a piercing scream of despair.
“Ah, sorry. My foot slipped.”
“…Could you at least try to make the excuse sound sincere?”
Looking at the shattered Video Storage Stone, Cheion let out a hollow, dumbfounded laugh.
“What was that for all of a sudden?! Why are you doing this?! Ugh…….”
‘What was it for? It was to prevent a disaster.’
Ceres let out a short sigh, her foot still firmly planted on the remains of the Video Storage Stone.
She had no choice but to break it because she realized the video Cheion was trying to show Kainel was the footage of the Magic Stone she had tried to sell to the shop.
‘Why did this idiot suddenly pull that out and start a scene?’
What if Kainel had seen it?
‘Oh, boy.’
The mere thought made her dizzy.
“I’ll compensate you.”
“Compensate?”
“Yeah. But surely you aren't planning to charge me for a brand-new one? It was used. You aren't that shameless, are you?”
…It looked like she was going to get another earful from Colin.
Don't tell me this thing is incredibly expensive?
While Ceres furrowed her brows with an inexplicable sense of anxiety, Cheion stopped his fake crying and opened his eyes wide with a sparkle.
“Forget the money.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“No, no! That doesn't mean I’m not taking compensation!”
Cheion hastily grabbed Ceres as she immediately turned to leave after he said to forget the money.
“If not money, then what?”
At Ceres’s question, which carried a hint of disappointment, Cheion flashed a grin.
“Just do me one favor later.”
“No, I don’t want to. I’ll just give you the money.”
“Aw, why!”
“Because I feel like you’re going to ask for something weird.”
“I am not.”
“I’ll just find an identical used one for you.”
“But that one won’t have my Blue Stone in it!”
…That damn Blue Stone.
If it weren't for her restraint, she would have reached into her Subspace right then and there, pulled out the Blue Sto—no, the Magic Stone, and chucked it at him.
“Do whatever you want.”
“You mean it? It’s a promise.”
Promise, my foot.
If he asked for something truly bizarre later, she would just turn back time and fix the thing for him.
With that in mind, Ceres meticulously gathered the fragments of the broken Video Storage Stone.
‘It’s probably better to erase the video, right?’
She never imagined he would try to show that video to Kainel here of all places.
Her gaze flickered to the side.
“…Tch.”
She had expected it, but….
Seeing Kainel quietly eating his stew while they were making such a racket right next to him, Ceres gave a slight shake of her head.
*
“Have you… still not found my son and wife?”
“We are expanding the search area, but there are so few clues…. I am sorry.”
“Dave… Ugh, our Dave…….”
“Please wait just a little longer. We will find them for certain.”
Knox, Dave’s father, who had visited the guard station again early this morning, collapsed weakly to the floor and sobbed uncontrollably.
“If something happens to my wife and Dave in the meantime…….”
His voice trembled violently as if he were terrified by the mere thought, and those around him looked on with pity.
“We will find them. Please do not worry too much.”
“Yes. Please, I beg of you.”
After sobbing for a long while, Knox was helped up by others and left the guard station.
There was no one left who didn't know him, as he stopped by several times a day.
Everyone sympathized with him over the fact that his wife, who had run off with another man, and his son were being exposed to violence and even having their lives threatened.
The guards had rolled up their sleeves to help, but unfortunately for those desperately searching for the two, there were no results at all.
