It is a workshop rhythm that makes me want to dance.
Itâs the store specializing in furniture and signboards made of magical wood that Ikuru was talking about yesterday. It was located at the end of the main street, a small child was enjoying watching the work-scene. The shop seems to have an open space next to it as a work area, and people on the street seem to enjoy watching them work. I couldnât help but be fascinated by the lightness of the work scene.
The man who working there was holding a hammer, which looked like it was made of wood, not stone.
âOh, are you a customer? Welcome!â
âOh, good morning.â
The worker seems to notice me and pauses to walk over. Iâm wondering how he knew I was a customer when there are also other people watching. I told the workman that I had come for the signboard.
âA signboard? Okay! Well then, you should go inside the shop and have everything explained to you. Just ask Pipika!â
âYes.â
I was prompted to go inside the shop, and when I entered, there was a catgirl!
The inside of the shop was not particularly new, but it was filled with a pleasant wooden aroma.
âWelcome, customer. Iâm Pipika and Iâm in charge of the design.â
âNice to meet you. Iâm Hinamiâ.
âYes. Nice to meet you. Well then, I see you want to make a sign.â
As I sit down in the chair, Pipika-san prepared a cup of tea for me. She then brought a few sheets of paper from the shelf and handed them to me. When I looked at them, I saw several designs. Where these templates? I thought it was a predictable thing that was made in the past because the name of the shop was firmly on it.
There were many cute and cool things to look at, and the designs seemed to take the magical wood into account, writing about the way it would grow. For example, the flowers bloom in the spring and the leaves turn orange in the fall, and so on.
âWe can do cute signboards, cool signboardsâŠand of course, simpler ones. What is the name of your shop?â
âThe shop is called âHinamiâs Miniature Garden.â It will be open tomorrow or later, after preparations have been made.â
âOh, thatâs a cute name. What kind of shop is it?â
âI deal with potions.â
Pipika successfully extracted the information from me and made a note of it on a piece of paper. She then nodded and went to the shelf again to take out some more designs to show me.
âIâd like to recommend something like these ones. They seem to reflect Hinami-sanâs image.â
âI seeâŠoh, this is cute!â
âLetâs seeâŠoh, I definitely recommend this one.â
The sign I held in my hand had a small tree branch, and to my surprise, a bird had built a nest in it. I didnât expect it to be able to not only grow but also to be able to house birdsâŠas expected of a fantasy world, it shouldnât be underestimated.
âBut you also need to be careful, because since birds live here, their droppings sometimes fall out, so you need to clean up frequently. And if youâre in town, youâll need to feed them as well. It would be a disaster if they accidentally ate the products of other shopsâŠâ
âOh, yeahâŠâ
Even though the bird is on the sign, it still looks like itâs a lot of work to take care of. Thinking about the future, there would be days when we wouldnât be able to open the shopâŠso I might just have to give up on the bird. But itâs so cute, though.
Thatâs right, âHinamiâs Miniature Gardenâ already has a mascot character named Maro. Taking Ikuruâs advice, I gave up easily on the bird.
âAs for the restâŠI would recommend this kind of signâŠat 15,000 Rill, itâs affordable.â
âOh, this is also very cute too!â
âSince youâre dealing with potions, you can change the flowers depending on the season.â
Oh, I didnât know they could do that. Magical wood sure is amazing.
Pipika-san showed me a design of a slightly larger flower in the upper left corner and a number of smaller flowers in the lower right corner, with ivy hanging down to make it look like a flower object. The sign was, of course, a tree, with the name of the shop in the center.
âI really like this one, so how do you like it?â
âIf Hinami-sama likes it, then itâs good, right? I donât know much about these thingsâŠâ
âYeahâŠ? Hmmm, well then, Iâll take this one.â
I guess girls like these kinds of thing better, after all.
I talked with Pipika and we worked on the design. At that time, I decided on the flowers that would bloom in different seasons. It didnât take me long to decide on the design because I went with my intuition. Yes, I think we worked for about 30 minutes. Thatâs fast.
Now that the the design had been decided, the only thing left to do was to have the signboard made. It would take about three days to make a sign, so we paid for it first. The finished product is heavy, so it seems that they would bring it to the shop and install it, which was a bit of a relief. As expected, Iâm would have trouble to installing a sign by myselfâŠyeah, I canât do that.
âAfter this Iâll look at the decorations and miscellaneous goodsâŠOh, and make a flyer.â
âThatâs right. If the sign can be done in three daysâ time, letâs open in the market for tomorrow morning.â
I said All rightâ to Ikuruâs suggestion and we left, leaving the rhythmic sounds behind.
***
âYou have no senseâŠâ
âUhâŠâ
Using the open space of the Merchantâs Guild, I had been hard at work on my flyers.
Itâs a good idea to give out flyers at the marketplace, but weâd need actual flyers to do that. And I had to make them. HmmmâŠitâs difficult. Iâm not going to be able to get these design-related things to workâŠall I have to do is write the words, but if I canât place them well, Iâm done for.
âBy the way, why donât you draw a picture of a potion?â
âThe hurdle is too highâŠâ
The flyer was written in black and white, so I couldnât use color to cover it up. Making a colored flyer would cost a lot of money, so we decided to use black and white. But it doesnât work.
I wrote the words tightly on a piece of paper of about B6 size. I wrote the kind of products and so on. Thatâs right, I should just write simply.
âHowâs this?â
ââŠI guess itâs better than the last one.â
âWell, this is it then!â
The last flyer I rewrote:
ââ
<Hinamiâs Miniature Garden>
We carry recovery potions, antidotes, and other items youâll need for your adventures.
We hope youâll stop by and check it out!
Coming soon.
Location: xxxx
ââ
Itâs a very simple thing. I wanted to add an illustration, but it was better without the challenge, so I gave it up. Since I was able to get Ikuruâs approval, I left the merchantâs guild and headed straight to the magicianâs shop to have the flyer duplicated. The number of sheetsâŠthere are a total of 100 recovery potion potions, 20 of each, so Iâll prepare about 50 sheets, half of which will be used.
The preparations are going pretty good, so I canât help but feel my face heat up a little.
***
âHuh. Iâm getting tired of doing all the shopping and stuff all day.â
âThatâs right. Iâm going to the market tomorrowâŠIâll have to leave a little early. The adventurers will be out hunting early in the morning.
I nodded at Ikuruâs words with a âYeah,â and looked forward to getting up early again, even though I was slightly depressed.
As I was walking down the main street to get back to the inn, a familiar face walked in front of me. The person who arrived just in front of the inn was Miruru-san! Beside her, Takuto-san was walking with a limp, borrowing Miruru-sanâs shoulderâŠInjuredâŠI wonder if heâs injured?
I run quickly to get to them.
âMiruru-san!â
âAhâŠHinami-san! It seems that Takuto got a little injured
ââŠUgh!â
When I looked closely, I could see blood oozing down Takuto-sanâs pants, which looked very painful. Ikuru also moved from behind me and said, âThat looks painful.â Itâs great that Ikuru doesnât panic in these situations, but what about his comments?
âExcuse me, but can you help me carry it to my room?â
âOf course!â
I tried to lend a shoulder to Takuto-san, but when I turned to the other side of Miruru-san, I was blocked by Ikuru. Ikuru supported. Takuto-san and lent his shoulders. âThank you,â said Miruru-san, gratefully, and took him straight up the stairs of the inn to his room on the second floor.
Itâs a very good idea to get a potion because sometimes the injuries might be so severe that healing magic wouldnât be able to help them, so Iâm going to get a recovery potion. Iâm sorry, but could you please watch me while I do that!
âOh, donât worry, thereâs a garnet potion in thereâŠ!â
âWhat?â
I swipe it over to Takuto-sanâs leg before Miruru-san can say anything else. In no time at all, the wound heals and is clean and closed. Iâm relieved to see that and tell him that Iâm fine now.
âAhâŠthank you very muchâŠ!Hinami-san!!
Miruru, who was thanking me, had beautiful honey-colored hair that was loosely put together and almost unraveling, and her clothes were stained with Takuto-sanâs blood. I soon found out that she probably couldnât pretend to bring him here.
When I saw Takuto-san, I noticed he was unconscious probably because he had been so injured. Now that he is recovering from his injuries, he will probably wake upâŠbut will he be okay?
âThe shock of the injury must have knocked him out. If it had been a little later, he would have lost his leg, wouldnât he?â
âWhat!? It was that badâŠ!?â
âThatâs right. What kind of monster could have done this?â
I was surprised at the words that Ikuru said, but Iâm glad I was in time! Because if it had been a little later, hr might have lost his legs or somethingâŠ! I canât believe it. I couldnât bear to see that happen in front of me or anything like that. Oh wow, Iâm in a cold sweat.
In the midst of all this, Miruru-san looks down at Ikuruâs question. What on earth kind of monster did that to himâŠIs it a hard wolf? Thatâs about the only thing I can predict.
âThat isâŠa slimeâŠâ
ââWhat?ââ
Hearing the most unexpected answer, I couldnât help but overlap my words with Ikuruâs. I mean, was a slime that strong a monster? When I fought them, Ikuru had easily stopped them in their tracks. I was surprised because I was aware that slimes were small fry and low-level monsters. Apparently, the monster situation in this world, should not be considered at the same level of strength as a game.
âI told you, Takuto is super weakâŠ!â
ââŠDid he really get hit by a slime?
âYes.â
Ikuru breathes heavily and lets out the words, âI canât believe it.â That means that my perception of a slime being the weakest monster must not be wrong. Miruru-san is also looking at Takuto-san with a depressed atmosphere, but her eyes also look slightly disappointed.
âOh, thatâs right. I have to pay for the garnet potion, Hinami-san. How much is it?â
âOhâŠum. Donât worry about it.â
âNo, you mustnât do that. Let me pay you properly!â
What should I do? Iâm slightly uncomfortable with claiming it since I used it on myself. Besides, my potions are expensiveâŠwhat should I do? If Iâm confused, I know that Ikuru, who I couldnât see, would help me out.
ââWhy donât you just go with the market price? About 1,000 Rill.â
âOh, yeahâŠthatâs right.â
I see, market prices are useful at times like this. I received 1,000 Rill from Miruru-san and put them away in may pouch. After being thanked again, I left Miruru-sanâs room. Although Iâve already healed, I canât stay in a room where an injured person is sleeping for so long.
I headed towards the dining room with Ikuru, ate dinner, and decided to take a rest for the day.