No desire or caution
Chico joins Clarice’s life, which usually consists of commuting between her workplace and her apartment.
Everything about him is adorable, from the way he frantically munches down on meat with his little mouth, the way he follows Clarice around, the way he sleeps at Clarice’s pillow, and the way he rubs his fluffy fur against her for affection.
When you talk to it, it will respond with a cheerful “Kyu!”
There is always trust in the round eyes that look up at Clarice.
For Clarice, who had been living alone since her mother passed away, it was a joy to have someone to say “good morning” and “good night” to.
Clarice’s smile naturally increased, and she was grateful to Melvin for introducing her to Chico.
Meanwhile, Clarice didn’t think Melvin would bring her any material.
Clarice’s medicine is different from the medicine provided by the military, but it doesn’t have any special effects.
When you actually try using it, you’ll see that it’s not a big deal.
No one would want to go to the trouble of buying such medicine.
Clarice had assumed, without any basis for it, that she would never see Melvin again.
So, one night about three weeks later, there was a sudden banging on my door and I was so shocked that my heart nearly jumped out of my mouth.
“Hey, Clarice! Open up!”
Clarice and Chico looked at each other when they heard the familiar voice.
“It’s me! Melvin!”
I hurriedly opened the door and saw Melvin standing there with a bright smile on his face.
“It’s been a while, Clarice.”
“Oh, it’s been a while…”
Melvin tilted his head at Clarice’s subtle reaction.
“What’s wrong? You knew I was coming, right?”
Come to think of it, I think I overheard a rumor about a division returning home today.
I wasn’t interested so I didn’t ask for details, but was that the division to which Melvin belonged?
“Well… I really didn’t expect you to come on the day I returned, so…”
Melvin gave a wry smile as Clarice stammered.
“I came back with a lot of material, so I wanted to show it to Clarice as soon as possible.
May I come in?”
Did they really bring the materials?
I was simply happy that he kept a promise that I had thought he would definitely break.
When he let him into the room, Melvin burst into tears when he saw Chico on the table.
“Chico, was it?
You seem to be doing well.”
“Kyu!”
A large black wolf appeared at Melvin’s feet.
“This is my partner Kurt. Do you remember him?”
Kurt and Chico brought their faces close to each other and sniffed each other.
Then Chico hopped off the table and landed on Kurt’s large back.
“Kyuu!”
Even though they are both servants, the wolf Kurt and the weasel Chico are completely different in size.
If Kurt’s fangs caught Chico, he’d be cut in half in an instant.
Clarice was petrified by Chico’s boldness in doing something like climbing onto Kurt’s back, but Kurt merely licked Chico.
“Look, Clarice.
Kurt and Chico seem to have become good friends.”
“Is that so?”
“This guy, despite how kind he looks,
I guess that was conveyed to Chico.
“Kyu!”
Clarice’s cheeks also relaxed as she saw Chico riding on the back of the big wolf with a smug look on his face.
Looking at him like this, isn’t Kurt also cute?
The two types of fluffy stuff stuck together create a cute synergistic effect.
“Fufu, cute.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I blurted out what I was thinking, and Melvin nodded in agreement.
Then Melvin’s stomach growled.
“Have you finished dinner yet?”
Clarice rolled her eyes and Melvin looked a little uncomfortable.
“I came in a hurry… and besides, it smells nice.”
Clarice, who has lived alone for a long time, finds it troublesome to cook just for herself, so she cooks a large amount at once and stores it in a storage box, then takes out one portion at a time to eat.
When Melvin arrived, I had just finished a large pot of stew and a huge bowl of salad, and was boiling a chicken for Chico.
If Melvin hadn’t arrived, they would have started eating by now, which meant that Clarice was hungry too.
“Um… if you’re okay with just a plain old stew and salad, would you like some?”
“Eh? Is that okay?”
“Yes. I made a lot.”
Melvin’s face lit up.
“Well then, I’ll be grateful and enjoy the meal.”
“got it.
I’ll get it ready, so please wait a bit.”
As Clarice headed for the kitchen, she felt a tug on her skirt.
When she turned around wondering what was going on, Kurt was looking pleadingly at Clarice with his eyes looking up.
“Are you hungry too?”
“Kuuum.”
It’s also adorable to hear the big wolf snort modestly.
“Hey Kurt, didn’t I just feed you magic power a while ago?
Don’t bother Clarice.”
When Melvin scolded him, Kurt lowered his ears, let go of Clarice’s skirt, and hung his head.
Clarice was completely attached to Kurt.
“I have some boiled chicken for Chico… can I feed it to him?”
Clarice said, and Kurt’s ears perked up again.
“No, but I can’t be of that much help.”
“It’s a shame that Chico and I have food, but this child has nothing.
Chico, can I share some of your meat with you?
“Squeak!”
Chico replied cheerfully from behind Kurt.
“Look, Chico said the same thing.”
“…Then I’ll leave it to you. Thank you.”
“won!”
It seems Kurt also said thank you.
So cute.
After some hesitation, and not knowing how much Melvin would eat because he was a big guy, I decided to put sliced bread, a pot of stew, and a huge salad on the table and let him help himself to just what he wanted.
Melvin didn’t complain, but ate it all up, saying how delicious it was, with such gusto that Clarice was left stunned.
I thought to myself, there was so much food, but it was also nice to know that there were people who ate my home-cooked food and said it was delicious.
After finishing his chicken, Kurt lay on the floor with Chico on his back, a satisfied look on his face.
It’s nice to see that they’ve really become good friends.
“Oh, it was delicious… You’re a good cook too.”
“I’m glad you said that, but this is normal.”
“Not at all! It’s been a long time since I’ve had something this delicious.”
When Clarice stood up to clean up, Melvin carried his empty dishes into the kitchen, and the two of them naturally ended up washing dishes side by side.
Clarice’s heart started pounding as they were closer than when they were eating across from each other.
When was the last time I got this close to someone of the opposite sex my age?
However, it seems that Clarice is the only one thinking about such things, as Melvin continues to put the dishes away in the cupboard with a completely normal look on his face.
Melvin must be an excellent knight, since he was able to make Kurt his servant.
She has good looks, so I’m sure she’s popular.
He probably wouldn’t be interested in a woman with looks like Clarice.
When she thought about it like that, she felt quite depressed, and Clarice herself was confused by this.
“I don’t know much about materials, so I’ve been collecting them while asking people who know more about them, but what do you think?”
After he finished washing the dishes, Melvin took out the ingredients he had collected from his pack and arranged them on the table.
“Wow! Is this, by any chance, a rabbit’s horn?”
「Ah, that’s right. This time it was an expedition to destroy the swarm of horned rabbits.
And then I was told this was good material, so I picked it up.”
“Striped walnuts! I’ve never seen one this big before!”
Melvin smiled in relief as he saw Clarice’s eyes shining.
“That’s good. It seems that you were pleased.”
“Of course!
Neither of these materials are rare, but they can’t be collected near the royal capital, so they’re expensive to buy.
What’s more, they are larger and seem to be of better quality than those sold in stores.
Do you really want me to have it?”
「Of course. In fact, I’d be in trouble if you didn’t accept it.
Your medicine really helped me.
The healing potions were great, but the medicine for insect bites was also very much appreciated.”
“They don’t provide medicine for insect bites.”
The pharmacy where Clarice works also makes the medicines provided to the knights, so Clarice knows that they do not contain any medicine for insect bites.
I’m glad to hear that Clarice’s special medicine helped.
“That’s right.
Even when insect bites make me itchy, I’ve always just left it alone because I knew it would go away after a while, but it inevitably reduces my concentration and makes it harder for me to fall asleep.
This expedition made me realize that having medicine and not having it makes a big difference.
I have just asked the division commander to consider providing medicine for insect bites as well.”
“Eh? Is it really worth going to such lengths?”
Clarice was shocked to discover that this had become such a big deal.
“When defeating demonic beasts, even the slightest carelessness can result in loss of life.
It’s definitely better to have that possibility as low as possible.
Thankfully, our current division commander isn’t the type of stubborn person who would tell us to just do something about it with sheer willpower.
I’m sure they’ll figure something out.”
It is thanks to the knights’ hard work that everyone can live safely.
Clarice also thinks that if this life-threatening expedition can be made even a little more comfortable, there’s nothing better than that.
“Oh, of course I’ll keep your medicine a secret from the division commander, so don’t worry about that.”
Melvin gave a wry smile as Clarice looked obviously relieved.
“You have no greed.”
“I’m satisfied with my life now.”
With a job that is almost like an extension of her hobby, Clarice is able to live independently without relying on anyone.
Don’t ask for more than this.
That was a decision Clarice herself made when she took the job as a pharmacist.
“You’re not even cautious.”
”Eh?” Clarice tilted her head and then her hand was enveloped in a large, warm one.
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