Husband and Wife

Author’s Note(AN) :

Thank you so much for helping me reach the first place in high fantasy category again this morning!

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“Nothing's changed, huh. Should I say it's nostalgic, or should I wish for things to have changed…”

“Indeed so, grandpa...”

Upon entering the magical city of Margard, Ferad and Elrika felt somewhat relieved to see the familiar scenery from their memories. However, that scenery included suspicious-looking groups of individuals wearing robes and hoods scattered around, making it far from ordinary.

This sight triggered memories of his younger days for Ferad.

"...speaking of which, a long time ago when I came to this city, there was a con artist advertising swords with transparent blades, but they were actually just handles without the blade."

"Hahaha! Oh, that brings back memories! If I hadn't stopped you, you probably would've bought it!"

"Yeah, that happened."

"The city of magic, as expected. To think they would sell things like that. It's quite a change from the naive young man from the countryside."

While Ferad frowned, contrastingly, Sazaki burst into laughter, lifting the bottle away from his mouth and started guffawing. Elrika also looked back on the past.

“Although it’s not my place to say about this since I wanted one, but don’t you think transparent blades would come handy for assassins. They sure had the guts to sell those openly including the fact that it was a fraud.”*1

“I wonder if the phrase good old days is appropriate here.”

“Well, there’s no doubt that during the war there was a lot of things going on.”

Ferad continued to frown, exasperated by the openness of the era he had lived in, and Elrika and Sazaki agreed with him while sharing a wry smile.

During the era of the Great War, ethical standards were quite questionable, and dangerous items were scattered all around. In stark contrast, the present time had seen a significant increase in regulations, resulting in a "moderate" reduction of past dangerous materials and crimes.

"They might start saying you can't even drink outside soon. Oh how dreadful..."

"You're probably better off that way."

"That's not necessarily the case."

"Hmm."

"Lu...ruuuugh..."

As Sazaki was about to jokingly retort and end the jests with Ferad. A faint voice reached his ears, causing his tongue to glitch in response.

"Lulu? You seem to have had a bit too much to drink if you've forgotten my name."

Emerging from the crowd, a straight-backed old woman appeared. The Witch of Annihilation, Lara, tilted her head slightly while looking at the inebriated man sprawled on the ground, sporting a grin.

"Oh, Lara! It's been a while!"

"Indeed, it has."

"Still as energetic as ever, Ferad, Elrika."

Ferad and Elrika exchanged smiles, rejoicing in the long-awaited reunion with their comrade-in-arms, Lara.

However, in the background, Sazaki remained fixated on the bottle, attempting to drink the remaining contents, which was quite pointless as the bottle was already empty.

"It's been a whileeeeeee, Madam Lara."

"Oh, yes, Sir Sazaki."

With Sazaki blinking repeatedly and trying to converse with his wife, his speech remained quite garbled.

(I wonder just what kind of letter Sazaki sent?

As Sazaki, the sarcastic and nonchalant one, appeared visibly discomposed, Ferad unintentionally exchanged a glance with Elrika. Especially if Sazaki's last disciple, the young boy named Carl, were present, he would probably be attempting to shove a bottle into Sazaki's mouth to sober him up.

However, Sazaki and Lara's distant son, witnessing such scenes many times, might have only concluded that men are such creatures that behave quite differently outside and at home.

"Drop by the shop. There's some alcohol there."

"Hooray! Much appreciated!"

However that very same Sazaki became lively upon hearing that there was alcohol available, he approached Lara with bouncy steps. He was undoubtedly being led around as she wished.

"Then, I'll take you up on that offer."

"Thanks for having us, Lara."

"Sure thing. But we're short on beds, so you might need to rent rooms at the inn. I’ll be borrowing this household head here."

As Ferad, Elrika, and Lara chatted, Sazaki, who had been left behind, seemed to have difficulties maintaining his pace.

◆

"I suppose you're wandering around to see familiar faces?"

"Yes. I thought I'd make my final farewells."

After moving her shop to another location, Lara checked the content of the letter and discussed it with Ferad.

"Well, most of the folks who were alive during the Great War are gone now. It wouldn't cause much of a fuss right now."

"True, very true."

Lara nodded as she recalled the commotion from the past.

The followers of the gods always tried to elevate Ferad, and in worst case, even gods on the brink of existence crisis were urging him to visit their realms after his death.

However, the reason Ferad and Elrika had withdrawn to the countryside was not due to such turmoil or political issues, but for an entirely different reason.

"So, in the end, you're heading to the neighboring continent?"

"I want to see the face of my great-grandchild. Isn't that right, grandpa?"

"That's right, grandma."

The cause of the past turmoil was this old couple's enthusiasm to visit their great-grandchild. They were delighted beyond measure.

"I'll go along then. Hic. Alcohol tastes good."

"Oh, I see."

(He's always been easy to follow others in a strange way.)

Lara managed Sazaki, who was in high spirits due to the alcohol, and sighed at her husband's behavior of simply going along with his friends' plans.

"Then... that sounds good. I'll join too. It's best to see my old comrades one last time."

"Oh, that's great!"

"Well, well."

Lately, seeing paintings of their former comrades had filled Lara with nostalgia. She thought it might be a good idea to meet them one last time, so she decided to accompany Ferad and Elrika on their journey.

Seeing the different smiles on Ferad and Elrika's faces they had for their great-grandchild, she welcomed them warmly.

"Well then, let's find a place to stay for now and come back to visit."

"Sure. The shop will be open."

Deciding that the conversation might go on for a while, Ferad and Elrika left the bookstore to secure a place to stay.

Leaving Sazaki behind.

"I'll only say this once, but your ears aren't damaged, right?"

"Uh, yeah?"

As Ferad and Elrika walked away, leaving Sazaki trying to take a sip from the bottle, he snapped back to reality upon hearing Lara's words.

"Me too."*2

Lara's quietly spoken words held no apparent meaning.

However, Sazaki remembered the final sentence he had written in his letter and pieced together an answer, considering that he was alone without Ferad and Elrika.

"Ah, right. Yeah."

Sazaki managed to respond, his effort clearly visible.

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Author’s Note(AN) :

If you find this interesting, please bookmark ncode.syosetu(.)com/n0528ii, and should you rate it with a star ☆ below, the author will cry from joy!

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TN:

1. Imagine selling fraud weapons to an assassin.
2. Damn, this is so sweet.