“Was it delicious, Nigel?”

Noah spoke with satisfaction as he looked at Nigel’s spotlessly clean plate.

“Well… it wasn’t bad.”

Nigel replied nonchalantly, unaware that he had cream smeared on the corners of his mouth from eating as if entranced.

Noah touched the corner of his own mouth, holding back a laugh that threatened to burst out. Following Noah’s action, Nigel’s fingers touched the sticky, sweet cream on his mouth.

Startled, Nigel quickly snatched a napkin and wiped his mouth. Seeing this, Noah let out another light chuckle.

“…Beselion. Stop snickering and get up already. We have a long way to go.”

Nigel abruptly stood up and quickly left the store. Noah got up a beat later, paid the bill, and followed Nigel out.

Ding-a-ling~

At a magic tool shop in the capital.

“Hehe, finally got rid of the remaining inventory… Gasp!”

Swindle’s eyes widened in surprise as he gleefully counted the money from selling off the long-accumulated inventory. It was because he spotted two familiar and dreadful faces at the end of the alley.

Not knowing what to do, Swindle floundered as the two approached closer, and eventually bent his waist deeply.

“Sir Nigel, you’re here!!”

“It’s been a while. There’s no need for such formalities.”

At Nigel’s words, Swindle quickly raised his head and grinned sheepishly.

Noah tilted his head, noticing the clearly different atmosphere between the two compared to before.

“Did something happen between you two?”

“Ah, that’s because Sir Nigel gave me Repa…”

At that moment, Swindle felt a terrifying gaze that seemed like it would pierce his throat at any moment.

Swindle quickly understood Nigel’s situation and obediently shut his mouth.

If this boy found out that he had received Reparo from Nigel, it was obvious that he would also ask Nigel for the precious Reparo. Yes, indeed.

Nigel glared at Swindle and spoke.

“It’s nothing much. I just gave Swindle some reward money because I was grateful for this and that.”

“Ah, I see.”

When the silver-haired boy smiled and let it pass without further comment, the gaze that had been suffocating Swindle was finally withdrawn.

“S-so, Sir Nigel. What brings you here today?”

Swindle rubbed his hands up and down, grinning from ear to ear.

As if waiting for that question, Nigel immediately placed a rather heavy bundle from his bag onto Swindle’s hands.

Could it be Reparo again? Nah, you don’t have to give me any more.

Just as Swindle was about to have expectations, Nigel opened his mouth.

“These magic tools, I think their spells might be broken. Can you take a look? Your signboard says ‘magic tool repair and inspection’ in small letters, so it should be fine, right? Ah, of course, free of charge.”

“Ha, haha… I under- I understand.”

No matter how generously he counted, there were at least 10 magic tools, and he was being told to inspect them for free out of the blue. Was he telling him to close up shop for the day, and on a weekend at that?!

…Although he wanted to blurt that out, the amount he had received for free Reparo was so substantial that his tongue felt like it would melt. So, Swindle closed the store and led the two to his workshop in the back of the store.

“Since this is my personal space, the workshop is quite shabby, right?”

Nigel looked around every corner of the three-pyeong workshop and opened his mouth.

“…It’s better than I expected. The herbs are well-preserved, and the machines are in good condition.”

At those words, Swindle’s face lit up with delight. The effect of someone who usually treats you poorly suddenly complimenting you once is greater than someone who always treats you well continuing to do so.

“R-right? As expected of Sir Nigel! You have an eye for it!!”

“I used to frequent an acquaintance’s workshop.”

Nigel slightly raised the corners of his mouth as he recalled Zeronin’s workshop.

Nigel knew best how much power Zeronin’s modest workshop, converted from an orphanage warehouse smaller than this place, held.

Swindle, who had brought tea leaves and cups from the small kitchen next to the workshop, put on the monocle attached to his shirt.

“Then I will inspect the magic tools, so you two can rest comfortably in the back for a while.”

From behind Swindle, the sound of sipping tea was heard a few times before fading away. Then, footsteps were heard from various parts of the workshop.

Worried that they might touch expensive ingredients, Swindle was about to ask them to stay put when-

“Nigel, don’t touch things carelessly!”

Noah’s urgent voice was heard.

Swindle turned around, praying that Nigel had not touched the Black Daisy of all things, with an uneasy heart.

“Ah, sorry. I acted out of habit without realizing it.”

Black Daisy. A precious color, a precious efficacy, a precious and difficult herb to handle that briefly appears for a week or two at the end of spring and disappears without lingering.

That precious herb was held in Nigel’s hand. Moreover, in a perfectly prepared state without any damage.

Grab!

Swindle grasped Nigel’s hand. That hand trembled with excitement.

“…What are you doing now?”

The same sharpness from earlier was felt in Noah’s voice. But it didn’t matter to Swindle.

“Sir Nigel, please, I beg you to prepare the Black Daisy!”

A man who can bend his waist like paper if it means achieving his goal, Swindle bowed his head to Nigel once again.

“…It’s all done.”

In less than an hour, Nigel dusted off his hands and stood up.

Swindle, receiving a basket full of perfectly prepared Black Daisy, grinned greedily.

“Nigel, where did you learn how to prepare herbs?”

“Tillin.”

Nigel answered Noah, recalling the times he had prepared herbs at Tillin’s apothecary and Zeronin’s workshop.

At this point, the Tillin in Noah’s mind seemed like a village that had everything, except for the heat, of course.

“To prepare this precious herb with almost no damage…! As expected, Sir Nigel, you are a noble person!”

Swindle was still immersed in his amazement.

Nigel folded his arms and interrupted Swindle’s amazement.

“So, how are the magic tools? Is there anything that can be fixed?”

“No, the ones I made all have broken spells that can’t be fixed, and the remaining one has intact spells but won’t open no matter how much mana is injected.”

“The remaining one?”

When Nigel asked back, Swindle immediately placed a familiar silver object from the workbench into Nigel’s palm.

‘…It’s Locket.’

Surprised by the unexpected identity, Nigel just held Locket as he received it, unable to reach out and touch it.

It seemed that Locket had been stored together with the magic tools in the drawer, and had gotten mixed into the bundle.

“Is this really a magic tool?”

Swindle nodded.

“If you really can’t believe it, try detecting mana.”

He had Locket with him since childhood, which he couldn’t remember, until now. But he had never once thought that it might have some hidden function.

Nigel enclosed Locket in his trembling fingers and slowly closed his eyes.

“…?!”

“Nigel, how is it?”

Swindle’s words were true. Although faint due to the long years, mana could be felt.

Nigel slowly nodded to Noah and looked at Swindle with urgency.

“You said… the spells here are intact? What kind of spells were engraved on it?”

Swindle scratched his head as if troubled, then took off his monocle and handed it to Nigel.

“Rather than me telling you, it would be better for you to check it directly, Sir Nigel.”

Following Swindle’s guidance, Nigel sat at the workbench and placed Locket under the mana detection microscope.

He had to bring his monocle-wearing eye close to the microscope lens, but his body wouldn’t move easily.

Wondering what kind of spell could have made Swindle’s expression so strange, his thoughts kept branching out in various directions.

…Thinking there was no point in agonizing over an object given by someone he would never meet again, Nigel steeled himself and peered into the microscope.

Clunk!

Nigel hurriedly removed his eye from the microscope after seeing the spell and stood up from his seat. He looked at Swindle, hoping for an answer.

“Well… it’s common to honestly engrave spells on magic tools, but if you have enough money and time, it’s also possible to engrave spells in the form of letters. I’ve only heard about it, and this is my first time seeing it like this.”

It was something Nigel already knew from reading books. However, the feeling of reading it in a book and realizing that the subject was directed at him was clearly different.

The trite words ‘To my beloved child’ engraved in cursive handwriting stirred a huge wave in Nigel’s heart.

Unless one attended the magic department like Nigel or made magic tools their livelihood like Swindle, ordinary people would have no occasion to see the spells on magic tools.

These words engraved on Locket could have been forgotten without ever being known in a lifetime. Nevertheless, what was the reason for deliberately including this phrase…?

It was a warm-colored meaning that Nigel couldn’t dare fathom the depth of.

A feeling similar to the exhilaration of seeing a seed that had been buried in the cold ground all winter sprout and emerge in the spring after time had passed.

A breeze, warmer and more ticklish than the stinging sunlight of the capital, swept through Nigel’s heart.

“You said it was an assignment to identify the spells of magic tools. Then identifying the spells of this locket would also be a great method.”

Swindle smiled brightly, unlike his usual self, without a hint of greed.

Nigel smiled back at that light smile that resembled the spring breeze.