<Author’s Note>
I- I’ll clearly tell you what happened today.
I had done some solid writing earlier in the day and went out with great enthusiasm, thinking that I was good to go for today’s update. Then, I came home at night, opened the file to post today’s update, when I realized……
What I had written in the morning wasn’t an update, but “the setting of a story about an incomprehensible sport called RINGTOSS”.
It was definitely not me having some sort of misunderstanding, some random guy just decided to hypnotize, or any such nonsense. It was more like that frightening “Alice-chan Robo Revisited” all over again.※ The Afterword is twice as long as the main story.
As I was walking through the night market lined with daily necessities, the atmosphere around me suddenly changed. The number of food and beverage stalls on either side of the street had increased.
[It looks like this is the area that deals with foodstuffs.]
[Yeeees. There are some staaaaaalls where you can eat and walk arouuuuund, and there are aaaaaaalso stalls that sell pre-processed food produuuuucts.]
[I see. By the way, what did you come here to buy?]
[Bloodberrieeeeees. They’re suitable for making jaaaaaam, so you can use them in various situatioooooons.]
[Ahh, you mean that bright red jam that we use for breakfast……][That’s riiiiiiiight.]
There’s a very tasty jam that is often served with bread for breakfast…… It looks like strawberry jam, but it tastes a little different, and I was curious about it, it seems that it was bloodberry jam.
[Is it a very rare ingredient?]
[I can’t say that it’s raaaare. Howeveeeeer, it’s an ingredient that isn’t found in the Human Reaaaaaaalm, so you have to come to the Demon Realm to buy iiiiiiit.]
[Fumu…… I suppose it’s not something you can just buy at the night market huh.]
I thought she was talking about an ingredient that was only available at the night market, but from the way Illness-san spoke, it sounded like these could be bought outside of the night market as well.
[That’s riiiiiiight. I was also looking for ingredieeeeents that could be bought only at the night markeeeeeet, such as the fruit called “Evernight Drop” over theeeeeeere.]
[Evernight Drop? That’s a very impressive sounding name, isn’t it?]
[It’s a difficult fruit to grooooow because its taste deteriorates signiiiiiiificantly when exposed to sunliiiiiiight. Of couuuuurse, since they must not be exposed to sunlight when selling theeeeeem, they are sold at night markeeeeets and other stores that are open at niiiiiight.]
[Fumu fumu, is it delicious?]
[It tastes good when made into juuuuuice. It’s sold right over theeeeere.]
I looked in the direction indicated by Illness-san and saw a stall with a sign Evernight Drop Drinks. An Evernight Drop was being displayed on the front counter of the store…… a quick glance at the display shows that it looks like a fig, but completely black in color.
Moreover, it’s human nature to want to taste it when you hear that it can only be bought here…… so since we’ve come to visit, let’s try it out.
[Since there’s an opportunity, I was thinking of buying some…… but do you also want some, Illness-san? I’ll buy some for both of us.]
[I suppoooooose. Howeveeeeer, a cup is already too much for meeeee, so if Kaito-sama shares a few sips with meeee, it will be enouuuuugh.]
[I see, I understand. Well then, I’ll go buy one.]
Nodding at Illness-san’s words, I was about to head to the stall with great enthusiasm…… but I stopped along the way.
[……Errr, I’m sorry, Illness-san. I think I may have misheard you, but did you just say something about wanting to share a few sips of my drink?]
[If Kaito-sama is alright with iiiiiiit.]
[……N- No, it’s not that I don’t like it…… but is that alright with you, Illness-san?]
[What do you meaaaaan?]
[N- No, it’s nothing. I’ll go get one.]
Wouldn’t that make it an indirect kiss? As I had such a thought in the moment…… I realized that the drink isn’t necessarily served with a straw.
Illness-san seemed unconcerned about this, so it’s probably the type that you can directly drink from a cup. If that’s the case, we can just avoid where we sipped and we’re good to go!
[Excuse me, can I have one?]
[We have different sizes, small, medium and large, which would you like?]
[I’ll have a medium one then.]
[Alright. That would be 4 R…… Here you go.]
[Thank you very much…… It comes with a lid huh.]
[Unnn? Is this Customer-sama’s first time trying Evernight Drop Drink? It may not be as bad as sunlight, but the taste is slightly reduced when exposed to light, so they’re placed in a container with a tight lid. You see the hole over there? You put your mouth on it and drink from there.]
[I- I see…… Thank you.]
The cups that the drinks came in were the kind I see in convenience stores and coffee shops, where the lid and mouthpiece are integrated into a single cup.
What should I do…… This container makes me feel more conscious about the indirect kiss than when drinking from a straw…… Moreover, isn’t this lid fixed with the cup? With the mouthpiece so small, how in the world did they even get the drink inside? Did they use magic?
Returning to Illness-san’s side, I took a sip of the drink I had just bought to quench my thirst.
Its taste kinda resembles a ramune, having a refreshing and invigorating taste. Unnn, I like this taste a lot. It’s delicious…… Well, putting that aside……
[E- Errr, Illness-san? Would you like to drink?]
[Thank youuuuu. Well theeeen, please allow me to have sooooome.]
When I timidly held out the cup to her, trying to see her reaction, she thanked me and accepted it, and without any hesitation, she put her mouth on the cup and began to drink.
I- I wonder why? I know it’s already too late for me to get embarrassed from an indirect kiss, but was it because Illness-san wasn’t my girlfriend? I was very conscious of her lips as she drank.
[Thank youuuu. This is enough for meeeee. Please drink the rest, Kaito-samaaaa.]
[Ah, yes.]
……Ah, I blundered. If she just wanted a sip, should I have given it to her first? No, even if I did that, I wonder how that would change the outcome…… What’s with this strange embarrassment, I’m not a high schooler anymore…… Illness-san herself doesn’t seem to mind, and I’m just being too conscious about this.
Don’t mind it, stop being weirdly conscious about this, keep a normal state of mind……
[Kaito-samaaa.]
[ ! ? ! ? Y- Yes! What is it!?]
[Oyaaa?]
[N- No, I’m sorry. I was just a little bit surprised…… What is it?]
[Yeeees. Bloodberries are being sold a little further down the streeeeeeet, so would it be alriiiiight if we go through along the waaaaay to purchase them?]
[O- Of course, it’s alright.]
T- That surprised me. It’s not that I did anything wrong, but I felt as if my heart would jump out of my chest. F- For the time being, while Illness-san does her shopping, let’s just try to put my mind at ease.
