Chapter 6: Romi's Bar

　In the store after closing time, I am working on my magic.

　For about a month now, I have been able to magically produce rice oil. The raw material is rice bran.

　The rice is said to be grown in an area further south of the capital. After being transported to the capital and polished, the bran produced during that process is sold as fertilizer.

　I shot magic power toward a wooden box full of rice bran. Imagine the rice oil that I at one time used, and a little later rice oil appears in the bottle. No matter how many times I watch the transparent oil growing inside the glass jar,  it always seems like magic. It really is magic, though.

　The rice bran contained much more oil than I had expected. When I first took the oil out of the jar, it overflowed at an alarming rate. I remember exclaiming, “What a waste!”.

　Later, I weighed the rice bran before and after extracting the oil, and to my surprise, 20% of the rice bran was oil. That’s a lot of oil to use as fertilizer.

　The fried food made with rice bran oil is light and popular with customers. Dressings, marinades, and stir-fries  all have the flavor they  like.

“Okay, shall we go out?”

　Lately, I’ve been going out more at night. No, to be honest, I go out every night.

　When I first started living here, I was cautious and stayed indoors, thinking that “it was dangerous at night.”

　But when I am alone in a house with no sound at all, I am reminded that I am a lone foreigner in this world.

　I have no one to exchange messages with, no one to chat with over tea. I have conversations with customers, but they are not the kind of conversations I am looking for.

　I miss TV and radio so much that my heart almost breaks, and I panic to myself, “This is not good. If I get sick in this world, I have nowhere to cling to.”

　Eventually, I realized, belatedly, that I was missing people. That is when I started going to bars.

(If I get attacked on the street at night, I will use water magic to blow them away. If that doesn’t work, I’ll use fire magic.) I went out with a determination, and the nightlife was really fun. Since then, I have been going out every night.

　I put the hood of my coat over my eyes so that no one could tell at first glance that I'm a woman. On my first outing, I looked around for a place that looked safe for a woman alone. I found a brightly lit place with many hanging lamps, run by a female owner. The name of the place was “Romi’s Bar.” I am now a regular customer. Romi is the name of the owner.

　As I was heading to Romi, cats appeared from all over the place. Cats in the royal capital freely roamed inside and outside the house. These cats looked up at me with a look that said, “Can you give me something?”  They have been like this since the first time I met them. I wondered if the smell of food had been absorbed into my body.

“I have something good for you. Just wait a bit.”

　I take out a chicken breast wrapped in a large leaf from my pocket, and the cats that had been watching nearby appear in a flurry. When I tear apart the meat little by little and offer it to them, the cats try not to bite my fingers, but they quickly grab the breast meat in their mouths and lower it down, hugging it and eating it on the spot

　The breast meat is soon gone. Some of the cats lick my hand, unreservedly, and I get plenty of healing. I say, “Bye-bye, see you tomorrow,” and get up to head back to the store.

　As I enter the store, Romi, the owner, approaches me with a smile.

“Mai, what’ll you have tonight?”

“A distilled barley wine. And some dried meat, and some boiled green beans, if you have.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Wait a minute.”

　When I come here, my loneliness subsides for a while.

　Occasionally a drunken person will approach me, but Romi knows I am not looking to meet anyone, so she protects me by calmly telling them, “This person is just here to enjoy a drink.”

　While I was leisurely sipping my spirits and refilling, a group of gawking and bustling men came in.

(It's high time. Let's go home.) Just as I stood up, I heard a voice call out to me from behind.

“Mai-san?”

　Do you know me?　I turned around in surprise and saw it was Henry.

　He is usually dressed in his civilian uniform and cloak, but now he was wearing a simple white shirt, gray jacket, and black pants. He was not wearing a cloak either. His hair, which is usually neatly combed, was a little disheveled. He looks more like a young man than when he was in his uniform.

“Mai-san, are you by chance here alone?”

“Yes, I am. I always come here by myself. This is my favorite shop.”

“I see. ……”

　Then Mr. Henry tilted his head. He looked at the dried meat and green beans in front of me and whispered to me with a serious face.

“Are the snacks here that good for you to come?”

"I wonder. I don't know about other restaurants, so I don't know. But I do like the snacks here."

“I see.”

　Mr. Henry replied with a straight face, and he was called over by his companions. “Sorry to bother you,” he says, returning to his companions. I left the bill on the counter and left the bar.

　Shortly after I started walking, I heard footsteps running behind me.

(Huh?　Did a bad guy spot me?) I thought to myself, but when I turned around, I saw Mr. Henry running toward me, illuminated by the lights of a row of stores. The way he ran was very beautiful. His form is supple, lean, and graceful.

　Even when he was running in front of me, his breathing was not irregular at all. Wow, that’s amazing.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll escort you to the Hideaway.”

“No, no, no. I’m fine on my own. Please go drink with your friends.”

“No, I can’t. It is not safe for a woman to be alone at night.”

　Would it be offensive to refuse when he came running over to help out of concern for me?

　

“Thank you very much. Then let me take you at your word.”

　After Mr. Henry said, “Please do so,” we both walked in silence for a while. I was lightly drunk and in a good mood, so I did not mind the silence, but Mr. Henry, who had not yet had a drink, seemed to be uncomfortable. He started talking to me.

“Do you always go to that restaurant?”

“I go there. I go there several times a week.”

“Many times. ……”

“Yes.”

　The truth is that I go seven times a week, but as expected, I was embarrassed and lied a little. From there, there was silence again. Henry thought about something and then spoke to me again.

“Do you love to drink, Mai?”

“I don’t mind not drinking, but I don’t like being alone at home at night. I like to soak in the presence of others, even if it is only for a short time.”

　I looked up at Henry, who was looking down at me with questioning eyes.

 “Wouldn’t your family be worried if something happened to you?”

“I live alone and my parents passed away when I was a child. I used to stay with a farmer in Orb village, but the couple there decided to move, so I came out to the Royal Capital.”

　I must be drunk. I’m even talking nonsense.

“I see. I am sorry for asking such an intrusive question. I’m just surprised to find that it’s not at all what I expected. I thought for sure you were born here in the capital and was the daughter of a wealthy family. ……”

　A young lady from a wealthy family?　Where did you get that idea?　I purposely kept my “Hideout” simple because it would be dangerous for a woman living alone to be thought of as wealthy. I try to keep my appearance clean but modest. But now that I am drunk, I feel like I’d be digging my grave if I was asked that question.

　We walk in silence again. I notice that the cats don’t appear. Usually on the way home, there were always a few that would come for me to pamper. It was unusual, so I looked around as we walked.

“What’s wrong?”

“The cat didn’t come out. They always comes by here on my way home. I wonder if they are having a gathering tonight.”

“Do you like cats?”

“I love cats!　I often think about living with a cat, But I can’t take the plunge. If I lived with a cat, I would get attached to it that I would not be able to bear it if it ended up dying or disappearing.”

“I see.”

　As usual, Mr. Henry is expressionless, but he talked more than ever. I wonder if he liked cats, too. I hope he does. I need someone to talk about cats with.

　The “hideaway’’ came into view up ahead.

“Henry-san, thank you for bringing me here. I’m sure your friends are waiting for you, so I’ll leave you here now.”

“Now that I have seen you this far, let me open the door and see you into the house.”

“…… Yes.”

　This man is more concerned and caring than I might think. I stopped in front of the door.

“Good night, Mr. Henry. Thank you for the escort.”

“Good night. Don’t forget to lock up.”

　I saw off the tall silhouette and took a shower in the clouds before sitting down in a chair in front of the fireplace. When I release fire magic into the store’s fireplace, there is a bopping sound and the dry wood burns up. Next, I send a weak breeze from my fingertips. The flame grew bigger with crackling sparks.

　I didn’t get to meet any cats on my way home, but I enjoyed chatting with Henry.

“I think I’ll have some ginger ale to sober me up.”

　Magically fill an empty wine bottle with cold water, make sure there’s honey and ginger, and cast a transformation spell. You can use carbon dioxide found in the air.

“Ginger ale.”

　The water in the empty wine bottle turned into ginger ale by conversion magic. Lots of tiny bubbles are being created in the bottle. I should reduce the amount of honey and ginger used.

　These days, I can produce exactly the capacity of the jar. I guess I have a knack for magic.

　The ginger ale is refreshingly sweet, with the carbonation stimulating the throat as it slides down.

　I am alive and well today. I’ve become a wizard, no way. Little by little, I am getting to know more and more people in this world. Every day, my customers tell me how delicious my food was. That should be enough to make me happy.

　But the nights are so quiet in this world that I feel lost.

　I watched the fire in the fireplace for a while and then went up to bed. Even though I am a sorceress, nights alone are lonely.

　I miss people even more on cold nights, so I hope the first winter in this world won’t be too harsh.

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