45 45"External story: Jack and the Wonderful Bean Tree 1" (2/2)

The woman who had refused to apologize to us at first, but finally smiled and nodded her head, probably because she was defeated by our meddling.

The woman - who identified herself as Est on the way - gave each other a name. I came to the house where Est lives, but it's a little far from the city, near the entrance to the forest.

The house was not quite as old as Kyou's brother's ramshackle house, but it was a small house made of wood.

Come on in. It may not be very welcoming, but please allow me to repay you in any way I can.

No, you don't have to be so attentive.

As we are not really expecting anything in return, we thought we would return early, but as we entered the house, a question arose in our minds.

It was obvious from the size of the house from the outside, but there was only room for one person in the house, with a desk and a bed for one person, and no one else seemed to be living there except for the woman.

Mistress Est. Do you have any family here other than your daughter?

”...... yes

She replied to my question with a moment of silence, Miss Est.

Then, with some sadness and hatred, she continued.

”My parents were killed by a monster.

I listened to his indifferent mutterings in silence.

As you can see, I'm blind, right?　But we were always poor and didn't have enough money to buy a cure. So my father and mother both registered as adventurers and went hunting for demons to earn money to get the cure for me. But the demons killed both my father and mother during their several adventures. When my father returned to the house with his last ounce of strength, he found this in his hand.

And there, out of the desk were a few small seeds.

They were probably bean seeds.

Are they intact?

”Yes. I couldn't sell them, but I couldn't get a purchase price for these mere seeds. Even if you want to bury them in your garden, you need a special environment and ability to grow demons, and it's impossible to grow them with my eyes. If these fruits come to fruition, we may not need to go deep into the forest to get foodstuffs.

Then she clutches the seeds.

I see. It's true that if an edible monster grows wild in the garden, it won't be in as much danger as it was before.

After a moment's thought, I'll make a suggestion.

Hey. Would you be willing to leave that kind of stuff with me?

”Huh?

Miss Esto turns to you as if surprised at your words.

I know a brother who can grow demons. I want to ask him to try and see what can be grown from those seeds. Of course, when it grows well, I'll send you the ingredients from those seeds, Mistress Est.

I'm holding the seeds in my hand as if I were thinking about my words, Miss Esto.

That's probably right. I can't just hand it over to someone I just met today, can I?

I was just reflecting on whether I said anything out of line.

Okay. I'll give the seed to you, Jack.

She casually held out a seed in her hand to me.

”Are you sure?　You don't even know who I am. You don't even know who I am, so you can't trust me with this.

That's fine in its own time. It's true that I didn't have it anyway, and if it's a thank you for saving my life, that's good enough for me.

She smiled at me and took the seed from the hand of Miss Esto, and seeing her smile even though she was blind, I made a promise to her.

”Don't worry, Mistress Est. I will make this thing come to fruition.

With that assurance, I put the seed she gave me in my mouth and walked out the door.