To restore the exhausted magical power of the man in front of me, I offered him the same tea I made her drink.
I wondered how heâd react, but it was mostly as Iâd imagined.
He grimaced in disgust.
I could say itâs the average reaction.
âYou donât have to drink if you have any complaints. I wonât force you⊠Well, that child drank it without saying anything or hesitatingâ
â⊠Iâll drinkâ
As a test I tried comparing her to him, and his expression moved with a twitch in an easy to understand way.
With hesitation he picked up the cup.
That alone is an achievement.
âThis is amazing. Is it really a drink. Even the highest grade poisons I dealt with in the guild didnât have such a nasty colorâ
âYou are being annoying. Decide whether you want to drink it or notâ
Being told so cruelly he scowled unpleasantly, still I received a clear positive reply.
â⊠Iâll drink. If she had drank it, so will Iâ
Looking inside the cup the man complained, but he stopped as if having resolved himself.
Then, he drank it in one gulp.
âGuha⊠uoeeeee. Fucking disgustingâŠâ
Right after vigorously drinking it, the man pressed his throat and groaned.
Looking at me with teary eyes, he requested water.
âNo good, it got caught in my throat, crap. Please, water, give me waterâ
âYouâre a man and yet youâre so pathetic. That child was braverâ
Astounded, I gave him water, but deep down I was impressed.
It was the same for her, but I truly didnât think heâd drink it.
I recalled the customer whoâd come before her.
It was a few years ago.
The customer wished to obtain medicine, and while at it asked for a medicine to restore magical power.
Because he wished for a quick effect, I prepared the same tea as now, but seeing it the customer screamed.
âWhat is this color! Such poisonous thing cannot be a medicine! You tried killing the innocent me with poison! What is your aim! Is it my fortune! Or after all you donât want to sell the medicine!â
The man threw the cup on the floor. The cup broke with a loud noise and its contents spilled.
Looking at it silently, deep down I felt dejected as it was a tea from quite valuable medicinal herbs.
âHa⊠haha. Serves you right. You devil! I wonât be fooled. I paid the money to get medicine. Hmph. I was nearly poisonedâ
ââŠâ
After hurling abuse to his satisfaction, the customer⊠the man finally left.
I slowly collected broken fragments that fell on the floor.
âI knew, butâŠâ
I finished cleaning and sighed.
Even before I became a witch, I got used to being misunderstood.
Kindness being rewarded with malice is the usual thing.
Even so, that doesnât mean it doesnât hurt.
â⊠Should I strengthen the barrier a littleâ
For some time I donât want to see people.
To not have to experience that malice, I decided to strengthen the barrier so that nobody can find me.
Then as planned, the customers stopped coming.
Until then, the shop could be visited once every few months, but it changed to nobody being able to find it.
And after a few years, she came.
Using the rarely seen neutralization ability, she invalidated the barrier and entered the shop with a friendly smile.
A lady of prestigious noble family.
As soon as I saw her, again, huh is what I thought.
Honestly, I didnât feel like selling her medicine.
But, despite her appearance of a noble lady, the inside was nonsensical.
Feeling itâd be interesting, it didnât take long to think I wouldnât mind having a connection with her.
She always exceeds my expectations, the previous time too, but this time she readily drank the tea I served her without calling it disgusting.
I guess she doesnât know how pleasant that was.
But, thatâs fine.
Returning my gaze to the man in front of me, he was shivering with teary eyes.
âKuaa, this was truly bad. Couldnât anything, even a little, be done with this taste? Certainly though, the effect is outstandingâ
âThat child also said it, but effective medicine is like thisâ
âI thought Iâd dieâ
I said mixing a joke in, but I think he did well to drink it.
From his appearance it feels like heâs not being honest with himself.
Itâs because she drank itââââ. Thatâs why I said.
âDid you choose that child as your master?â
When I tried asking as a test, the manâs expression turned into one of surprise, then he scratched his head.
âAh, I see, youâre aware of the circumstances of my family⊠Honestly, I donât know yet⊠But I think I can tryâ
Lidi hasnât refused me even once ââââ.
With downcast eyes, the man told me that filled with longing. Seeing this, I noticed he was the same.
In a different meaning, this man also led an unacceptable life.
A person whoâs feared and continues being misunderstood.
On the other hand, a detested man from the hated cursed clan.
The meaning is different, but both of us are fellow rejected people.
I think itâs natural to be charmed by her who easily accepted him with a smile.
Even Iâm like that.
âI see. Well, itâd be reassuring if you protected that childâ
â⊠I still donât knowâ
âAh, thatâs rightâ
Although he replied so, I felt his answer was decided.
Despite his gloomy outlook, I think Iâd be a little relieved if he could protect this rare child.
I surprised myself with such thoughts ââââ and laughed that it wouldnât be so bad.
Is it just me, or did the old WordPress editor just got worse? Aside from the slight color change, I can no longer see horizontal lines like the one right above, and more importantly, it removed the double spacing between paragraphs when copying the chapter into it. Sigh.