Nicole and the Apothecary Family Live Freely
Although the inn family tearfully lamented our departure, we couldn’t involve them in our affairs.
“If people from Hateno Village ever come seeking help, please at least give them something to eat.”
Dad handed an old man a cloth sack filled with gold coins.
“Oh no, we don’t need this!” Mom said flustered, but the old man accepted it silently.
“I’ll keep an eye on those old folks and the three daughters. You all take care now!”
That old man was truly someone special.
He took over where we left off, even though we wouldn’t be returning.
Overcome with emotion, I threw my arms around him and cried like a baby.
“I want to marry someone just like you when I grow up!!”
“EHHHHH?!!”
I shocked everyone around me.
Jane, who I could rightfully call my best friend, received many skin ointments for treating rashes.
“Use these with Mom. And here, don’t forget to pass along these stomach medicines too!”
“…Thanks. I’ll accept them.”
Jane casually acknowledged me while tightly hugging Alto.
“Alto! Don’t you dare forget about me!!”
“I won’t! I love you, big sis Jane!”
“Altooo~?!”
I got annoyed watching them cling to each other so tearfully!
Take back what I said before!
This girl isn’t my best friend anymore!!
We waved goodbye to the inn family with smiles, saying, “Let’s meet again someday!”
◆◇◆
Our family boarded a cargo wagon pulled by Rossy heading eastward down the road, endlessly onward.
Walking beside us were Uncle Arthur and Aunt Dahlia, as expected.
“We’re coming with you guys too!”
“That’s right! We don’t like those people from the goddess temple either!”
They seemed even angrier than we were.
Along the way, we gathered plenty of herbs and meat to our heart’s content in Almelle Town’s dungeon!
I even thought I might want to live there forever.
But since the kingdom strongly followed the goddess faith, we couldn’t stay.
Crossing fields and mountains—though we couldn’t cross valleys—we passed through many villages and towns.
The border town was huge, and Alto and I stood staring wide-mouthed at its towering gates.
When we showed our apothecary guild certificate at the checkpoint, we weren’t questioned further.
There might have been notices sent from the goddess temple here too, but the guard merely glanced at our documents and quietly sent us off with a small smile: “You’re free to go. Take care.”
Following the road east past the eastern nation’s checkpoint, Rossy continued forward steadily.
We didn’t really have a specific destination in mind.
But strangely enough, intuition kicked in.
It was that map—the reward we got after cleaning out the Magic Bag.
North of the Eastern Forest was marked as “Fairy Forest,” and near the edge of the vast woods appeared a place called the “Phantom Village”!
“Don’t you think this place looks fun?”
With just those words, we all became united in purpose.
We gave potions to Rossy , traveling slowly with frequent rests, and after a full year, we finally reached the “Phantom Village.”
Now, regarding this special map—it turned out that once we had a destination set, it would show us the safest route.
Whenever rumors spread about bandits appearing on roads or monsters causing landslides, this map displayed safer alternative routes faster than we heard the news.
We ended up taking quite a few detours because of it, but thanks to the map, not a single one of us sustained any injuries reaching our destination.
I believe this map became one of the treasures I’d leave behind for future generations.
All because I cleaned out the Magic Bag and dyed it with persimmon tannin!
Perhaps the small good deeds of previous owners remained within this Magic Bag.
Hehehe.
◆◇◆
Looking more closely at this mysterious map revealed legends of ancient ruins at the farthest reaches of the eastern land.
A dense forest swallowed these ruins completely, and it was said to be vast and still forbidding anyone from entering today.
At the forest’s entrance lay a remote village where humans lived harmoniously alongside beastfolk, elves, dwarves, and others.
The apothecary family and adventurer couple who arrived there were warmly welcomed, thanks primarily to their cheerful personalities.
Ordinary humans supposedly couldn’t even reach such a place.
“What? Want to buy land? Just cut it out yourself however you like! That land is yours!”
A stern dwarf village chief handed us axes.
Seriously? Isn’t that way too casual?
Well then, Dad and Uncle took axes into the woods—but came running back immediately.
“Nicole -sama! Please grant us special axes!”
Two grown men knelt before a little girl, bowing deeply, making Mom and Aunt laugh uproariously.
“Hmph! Then I shall bestow upon you the 【Dwarf Axe】and 【Dwarf Pickaxe】, which can cut through anything!”
“Hehehe~!”
After bowing deeply, they ran back toward the nearby woods and with a single mighty swing, felled a giant tree—then another powerful strike sent the stump flying high into the air!
“Dad sure is amazing!”
“You bet!”
Watching happily with Alto, a dwarf from the village approached shouting,
“Hey! Aren’t those the legendary axe and pickaxe!!”
“How did humans end up possessing our lost treasures from ancient times!?”
Even if they confronted us angrily, I had no idea why myself.
“I can lend them to you, but they belong to me, so I can’t give them away permanently.”
“Ownership rights, huh? Well then, nothing we can do about it! Lend them to us later, okay!!!”
The older dwarf men readily backed down.
“By the way, this 【Dwarf Hammer】can be lent out easily too.”
When I showed them the enchanted tool already perfectly suited to my hand, envious gazes followed—and soon formed a waiting line among the male dwarves.
Despite looking like grumpy old men, they somehow felt cute fussing over tools like that!
And it’s great they don’t fight!
I think we’ll fit in well here in this village.
After Dad and Uncle chopped some trees, older dwarves came saying, “We’ll level it out for you!” and started grading the land without being asked.
We thanked them by letting them borrow the axes and pickaxes.
They even left a loan notebook showing clearly who had borrowed what that day.
Mom volunteered to manage the lending system, so I left that responsibility with her.
Always thinking ahead, Mom also asked villagers about customs and forest safety tips in exchange for borrowing tools.
The dwarves shared various useful pieces of wisdom—from important advice to trivial trivia.
“We should be able to manage fine here in this village!”
Way to go, Mom.
When we said we didn’t need the fallen logs, strong muscular beastfolk effortlessly carried them off.
Elven mages dried the wood for us, which would become building materials and furniture.
They even took the stumps away to use as firewood or something else.
“Now then, let’s hold a family meeting about this spacious lot!”
I brought out the Magic Bag catalog and selected a suitable house to pull from inside.
Honestly, I doubted things would work when tiny toy houses the size of my palm emerged—but worrying wouldn’t help, so I simply laid them out on the ground.
There were all kinds of houses and huts in different sizes—too many to choose from!
We sat together in a circle, carefully examining each option.
“How about this one? It seems to have lots of rooms!”
“Mom prefers something smaller to make cleaning easier.”
“I want my own room and an alchemy workshop!”
“Dad wants a large potion-making room too!”
“We’re fine with anything as long as we have a place to sleep!”
“Well, we shouldn’t be too picky anyway.”
We discussed until sunset and finally decided on one house!
“Alright then, this one’s the winner! Let’s go!”
I tossed it onto the ground, and with a puff of smoke, the tiny toy house magically transformed into a beautiful triangular-roofed home!
“Let’s prepare a stable for Rossy next door and make a vegetable garden in the empty space!”
As my cheerful voice echoed, curious locals gathered, forming a crowd in front of our new home.
People from this village sure love coming to check out what’s happening!
Since it was getting dark, we tried shooing everyone away for tonight, but night-vision beastfolk insisted, “No problem!”
Ugh, annoying…
Better hurry inside for dinner!
“See you tomorrow!”
Bang! As I shut the door, I jumped when someone greeted us:
“Welcome back home!”
Three small fairies stood lined up before us!
“We’re housekeeping fairies! Leave managing this house to us!”
Their sparkling smiles made us smile in return!
This wonderfully convenient magical house was incredibly comfortable to live in!
Afterward,
I energetically ran through the forest every day, gathering herbs and nature’s bounty diligently.
“Yuck! This place is paradise! Daddddy, can I go exploring deep into the forest?”
“Wait, Nicole ! Why are you always acting like such a wild child?”
“I want to be called the Child of the Forest!”
These daily parent-child conversations kept our home lively and warm.
◆◇◆
How much time has passed since we left Tokaran Town?
Eventually, whispers began spreading across the kingdom.
The saintess and the national goddess temple had driven out the parents of the hero and a famous apothecary family.
The top-tier potions created by this apothecary were rare treasures sought even by high-ranking nobles.
As a result of losing such a rare apothecary, the goddess temple fell out of favor with aristocrats, becoming increasingly marginalized.
Later, worship of the god of harvest gradually grew in popularity.
The same fate awaited the selfish, arrogant saintess too.
Small rifts emerging within her inner circle gradually widened.
Of course, the tales of the hero’s exploits aren’t told here…