CH 336

Words : 953 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

Liza did not recognize Mr. Ekenhart “Hmm? No, we haven’t finished. It’s not as if we could decide on everything at once.” “That’s true. Selecting the people to hire, the size of the land… A lot of it will have to be discussed with the chief of Range village as well.” After sitting down at the table, I asked how their talks were going, and it turned out that they hadn’t finished. It was no wonder. This wasn’t something that could be decided in just a few hours. “The chief…Mr. Hannes?” “Yes. We have to talk about the wine and about the land that you will be using. And so I have sent a messenger.” “Things can’t move ahead until we talk…and so we sent a messenger on our fastest horse. We should receive a reply within a few days.” Apparently, they had sent a letter to Mr. Hannes that explained the situation. I wonder, would they want to make the wine? Mr. Hannes had seemed like he regret ignoring the children and being so focused on making wine. And considering where they would get the grapes from, they might not be enthusiastic about the idea. But then again, they might find it difficult to refuse, since it was Mr. Ekenhart who was suggesting it. While Mr. Ekenhart didn’t use his position like that, it didn’t mean that others found it easy to turn him down. Of course, both Mr. Ekenhart and Ms. Claire understood this. When I do go to Range village later, I would have to explain everything to him, and perhaps even apologize. Also, once I start working near the village, I will not be able to hide my Gift from him completely. “Hey, papa?” “Hmm? What is it?” As we talked about Mr. Hannes and Range village, Liza, who had been eating her food quietly, began to tug at my sleeve. Was there something that she was interested in? “That person… Who is he?” “Huh?” “Hmm?” Liza was pointing at Mr. Ekenhart. But he was the person who had been with her, ever since we found her in Ractos… “Uh, Liza? He was with me when I helped you?” “Huh? But he isn’t wrapped up? Though, he does smell similar…” “Hmm… While she isn’t scared of me because of my beard anymore, she doesn’t even recognize my face either…” “Hah…hehe… Father, is that why you shaved it? You never cared about growing it out before. And so I was wondering why.” “I haven’t seen father like this in a long time.” “Hehe…hehehe…” Apparently, Liza just saw Mr. Ekenhart as the man who had the cloth wrapped around his face. She had been scared when she saw his beard at the orphanage, and now that he was shaved, she thought he was a different person. Well, since he had been disguising himself so people wouldn’t know who he was, I suppose it was a success. Also, apparently Liza could differentiate people by smell… I suppose it was something that beastkin could do. Even if her nose looked the same as humans, her sense of smell might be more highly developed. In any case, as everyone looked at Mr. Ekenhart and laughed, Ms Anne alone seemed a little strange. She was laughing like some kind of villain… “Liza. We were together the whole time?” “Hehehe…” “Liza, he is the old man that was with us the whole time. We traveled to this house together. Though, he just looks like that now…” “Mr. Takumi, how rude. In fact, even at this age, I am quite popular with the ladies, you know?” “Father, I do hope you have no intention of bringing home a new mother?” “N-no.” Indeed, Mr. Ekenhart was quite a handsome middle-aged gentleman. Though he had sharp eyes, through shaving his beard, he no longer looked like an intimidating bandit, and seemed like a proper nobleman. According to Mr. Ekenhart, he did well with the ladies, but Ms. Claire did not want to hear about that. I had assumed he was joking at first, but… Now I wondered if he had caused some trouble in the past? “Hmm. His eyes do look similar to that man…and the smell. Oh, I see.” “Yes, that’s right.” “Yes, it is. Also, Liza, you should avoid smelling people like that. It might be considered rude.” “Really?” “Yes. Because some people might be self-conscious about the way they smell.” “Okay. I’ll be careful!” “…” “Wuff?” “Kyau?” Liza had gotten off of her chair and moved closer to Mr. Ekenhart so that she could see and smell him better. Mr. Ekenhart didn’t look like he minded, but I had to warn her against doing this suddenly with other people. After all, he had let his hair and beard grow out so long before, so he didn’t care about such things. As I watched Liza nod, much to my relief, I noticed that Ms. Anne and Ms. Claire were fidgeting in the corner of my vision. I wondered what they were doing, and then realized that it was probably what Liza had said… They were now anxious about their own smell… But they had never smelled bad as far as I was aware, so there wasn’t anything to worry about… But it would be rude to say that as well, so I didn’t. Leo and Sherry were watching Ms. Claire and Ms. Anne with puzzled expressions. Well, they weren’t exactly women…or the same species. Still, it made me realize that I hoped Liza would see follow Ms. Claire’s example instead of Leo’s…

CH 336

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