Magic Tools Are Selling Too Well

People, nature, buildings.
The common point of these three is that they are equal under the sunlight.

The warm spring sunshine was equally illuminating all creatures under the sky.
The cloudless clear sky and the windless peaceful ground announced the arrival of a new season.
Even the birds hiding among the trees were singing about spring.

From the rooftop where this beautiful scenery could be seen at a glance.
I took a deep breath and said.

“This is just~ the perfect weather for sleeping.”

If it weren’t for the cigarette in my mouth, I’d be lying down and sleeping right now.

“Lazy Sacher.”

A familiar voice pierced my ears from one side of the rooftop.

Brown wavy hair with red eyes.
Distinct features with a slightly sharp impression.
It was Ruen.

She was elegantly eating a sandwich without even glancing at me.

“No. Sacher is diligent. He’s smoking even while on a picnic. Nom.”

Next to her, Shunika was adding words while biting into a sandwich as well.

To call eating lunch on a blanket on the rooftop a picnic.
That guy must have been quite overworked in his department too.

This morning, Shunika suddenly suggested eating lunch on the rooftop.
She said she wanted to create a picnic atmosphere because the weather was so nice.
So the three of us came up to the rooftop with a blanket and food.

Thanks to this, I couldn’t enjoy two of life’s pleasures today.
One is having time to think while smoking alone, and the other is eating cafeteria food.
I could tolerate the former, but I was still angry about the latter.

A day without cafeteria food was as good as a dead day.

“Shunika. Don’t you think you’ve stolen my smoking time with your picnic?”

I put away my pipe tobacco and approached where they were.

Shunika seemed uninterested in my words, making a happy expression while eating her sandwich.

“Nom. Sacher says he doesn’t want to go on a picnic, but he actually wants to go more than anyone else.”
“Bullshit! That’s the most unpleasant nonsense I’ve heard this year.”
“Hehe. Sacher, you don’t have anyone to eat with without us.”
“Shunika. That’s a really insulting misconception. I’d really like you to correct it.”

Shunika turned her head, grinning as she handed me a sandwich.

“Want a sandwich?”
“It’s not tasty!”
“My mom made it.”
“Ordinary sandwiches aren’t tasty, but! This looks really delicious. Somehow the toppings are different from the start. The appearance is different. Do you have any more? I’ve been hungry for a while.”

Before I knew it, I was sitting on the blanket aggressively eating the sandwich.

You said out of the blue to eat lunch boxes, so you had a plan all along….

And unlike the prank, the sandwich was really delicious.
I’ve felt this before, but Shunika’s mother is really good at making these kinds of lunchbox foods.
There was a reason she always sang about wanting to go on picnics every day.

“Don’t you have exams? It’s midterms.”

It feels like the semester just started yesterday, but already the semester was entering midterms.
The library was bustling with students day after day, and the upper-year students often visited the training grounds for practice.

Of course, business wasn’t good at the alchemy shop either.
At times like this, should I make something like a concentration-enhancing elixir?
I feel like I’m becoming more of a merchant than a student as time goes by.

“Nom. All done. My classes are concentrated on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. What about Ruen and Sacher?”
“…Finished.”
“I had 2 left today but I overslept and couldn’t take them. One is for the Magic Department so I should take it, but ugh. What if I get another F…”
“Hehe. That’s so like Sacher, so Sacher-like.”
“Lazy Sacher.”
“I’m not lazy, I just sleep a lot.”

I threw my tired body onto an empty space on the blanket and lay down flat.

I thought it would be hard, but surprisingly it was quite thick and soft.
It was more comfortable than I expected, and I felt like I might fall asleep like this.

Maybe because it was exam period, the academy was quiet, and the wind on the rooftop was just right.
From beside me, I could only hear the rustling sounds of my friends eating.

After staying still with my eyes closed for a while, I suddenly opened my mouth.

“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“What do you think it would feel like if your parents suddenly got sick?”

Shunika’s eyes widened at this sudden topic.
Ruen also seemed to be listening to my story, even though she pretended not to flinch.

“Hmm… I don’t know? Both my parents have never been sick and are very healthy, so I don’t know? You know me. Being healthy is my strength. This is hereditary.”

Indeed, health was Shunika’s strength.
In the year and more that I’ve known her, I’ve never heard news of her being injured or sick anywhere.

If that’s hereditary, then her parents must be the same.
Especially Shunika’s father, from what I heard before, was a retired hero.
It was hard to imagine someone who could probably still take down a wild boar right now getting sick.

I turned my head to look at Ruen.

“I’ve never thought about it.”

…I didn’t expect much anyway.
Should I be grateful that she didn’t ignore me and answered?

That’s because I had never really heard stories about Ruen’s parents.

To begin with, Ruen doesn’t talk much, and she especially doesn’t have deep conversations like about parents.
Only, since Ruen was studying abroad from the Kingdom of Denver like Professor Melaine, I just guessed that her parents might be in the Kingdom of Denver… but it was just a guess.

“But why suddenly that? Is someone’s parents sick?”
“Yeah. A junior said his parent is a bit unwell. It’s bothering me.”
“Are they very sick? Can’t they just go to the church?”
“It seems like they haven’t seen much effect even after getting treatment there.”

When not holding services, churches performed hospital duties, treating citizens for a certain fee.

The church near Morphine’s house was small, so lower-ranking clergymen with insufficient abilities were assigned there, and their holy magic was not enough to treat his mother.
Of course, even if there were high-ranking clergymen, the price would have been too expensive for Morphine to afford.

The conversation stopped for a while after that.

I lay still, looking at the sky.

The sky always looked similar when viewed from below.
Similar weather and similar sunshine.
As if unrelated to everything happening on the ground, above was always free and peaceful.

Couldn’t we reverse this relationship?
Couldn’t the sky be troubled and the ground peaceful instead?
Couldn’t they share just a little of the overflowing freedom they’ve enjoyed?

I think I’ve been having such thoughts since I was very young.
And I thought that feeling wouldn’t change even as time passed, as years went by.

As I was lost in thought for a moment like that, Shunika put something in my mouth.

“Nom. What’s this?”
“Hehe. French fries. I made them~”
“It’s tasty but. Why is there so much sauce?”
“Because I gave it to you dipped in sauce?”
“No, why are you pouring sauce on french fries? You should dip them.”
“What are you talking about? Since I dunked the french fries in the sauce container, isn’t this also dipping?”
“…You’re silly.”

After that, I argued with Shunika a few more times before declaring surrender.
Ruen added a word or two just when we were about to forget, while eating her sandwich.

I laughed lightly and looked at the sky.

The sky was still the same.
Only I who was looking at it now had changed a lot.
Is it my thoughts that have changed, or my surroundings?

What’s certain is that this was clearly the third pleasure of my life, following cigarettes and cafeteria food.

“Senior!! I’m here!!”

It had been about three days since the incident at the workshop.

Morphine quickly regained that light atmosphere and came to the alchemy shop.
With Delia, who now seemed like it would be boring without her, accompanying him as a set.

“You’re here. Did Foxtail do well too?”
“It’s been a while, Senior…!”
“Senior, Senior, Senior! I’ve brought incredibly joyful news!”

I asked with my pipe tobacco in my mouth.

“What is it?”
“It’s that! The midterm replacement report that Delia and I jointly produced got first place! Since Delia is Professor Bluecliff’s daughter, our report was publicly evaluated in class, and most of the students in the class that day gave it the highest rating. Isn’t that amazing? This is all thanks to you, Senior. The golden explanations you gave us in the workshop were a big help.”
“…Take a breath when you speak, take a breath.”

I feel like my ears might bleed again.
Why did I ask out of curiosity about this?
I hated myself for a moment for asking “What is it?”

Still, it was fortunate that Morphine had brightened up again like before.
Although he talks a lot, this suited him better than whining.

“How is your mother? It’s been about three days since I gave you the potion.”

I threw out the question casually as if making ordinary conversation.

Both of them hesitated slightly at this somewhat sensitive matter, but soon Morphine answered in a bright voice.

“She’s much better. Thanks to the intermediate health potion you lent me, Senior, she was able to walk around for over two days. Thank you again, Senior. I’ll definitely pay for it by this month…”
“Ah, forget about that. If it’s over two days, is she lying down again now? How are her symptoms?”
“There are no symptoms yet. She’s just lying down. I think the symptoms might come back after about four days.”
“Hmm… So even the intermediate potion is just a temporary measure, not a cure…”

I tapped my hand on the desk, thinking for a moment after hearing Morphine’s explanation.

A temporary measure is just that, temporary.
In the end, what Morphine and his mother needed was a cure.

And to make that cure, an accurate diagnosis of the patient was necessary.
Even if I made a diagnosis, I couldn’t be sure if I could make a cure, but it would be foolish to give up without even trying.

I finished making my decision and stood up.

“Let’s go. Business is over for today.”
“What? Where are we going?”
“Where else? To your house, Morphine. Let’s try making that cure.”
“…?”

Morphine looked at me with a blank expression, seeming not to understand well.
Delia also had the same face, not knowing what was going on.

For some reason, I felt like laughing, so I messed up both juniors’ hair with my hands.

“Foxtail, you come along too. It’s an extension of the group project.”