Chapter 235:
A Special Treat
“We’re finally done!”
“Good work. That was quite a lot.”
I was drying my laundry in a spacious area of the inn…and I definitely had plenty of it.
“Well, that’s because we didn’t do our laundry for weeks, and we also had the inn’s sheets to wash. Boy, are my arms tired.”
Druid could use cleaning magic, but since it didn’t work well with his physique, he lost a lot of magic whenever he used it. Because of this, I was helping him with the laundry. I say “helping,” but he couldn’t wash or squeeze out items with only one arm, so I was the one doing the washing while he cleaned out the dirty water and dried the rinsed items.
“Sorry I couldn’t help more.” There was gloom in Druid’s voice. He sounded really depressed.
“Oh, don’t worry about me.”
Since he lost his arm, Druid had been washing his clothes at the laundromat in Oll, whose owners were skilled in cleaning
magic. It cost money, but they owed him a favor, so he got
a discount. When I wanted to do laundry during the journey to Hatow, that was when I found out Druid didn’t use his cleaning magic. And when I asked him what he did about his laundry, that was when I learned of the existence of laundromats.
Hatow also had a laundromat, but Druid said we shouldn’t go there. It had a bad reputation for returning garments with rips in them. When he saw the sheer volume of laundry I had to do, he felt guilty and offered to send it to the laundromat after all. But since I didn’t really mind doing laundry, we gave up on that idea. In fact, I actually liked washing the dirt out of things—it felt good to me. Plus, I’d regret sending our things to the laundromat if they came back to us ripped up. Still, doing the laundry ourselves had been quite the ordeal, and Druid felt bad about it. I felt refreshed now that I saw everything hanging up to dry, though. It just filled me with a sense of peace.
However, Druid regretted making me take care of all the laundry. He usually didn’t let his negative emotions show, but he was so depressed then that I could tell at a glance. I was worried he would sneak out to the laundromat the next time we needed our laundry done.
Hmm…what should I do? Oh, I know! A treat!
“Hey, Mr. Druid…please take me to that bakery Mr. Dola recommended!”
“Oh, you mean the donut place?” He seemed a bit frazzled by my sudden suggestion, but I decided to just ignore it.
“Yes, that’s right. Donuts! As a treat!”
“A treat?”
“Yes, because I worked really hard!”
If insisting I was okay didn’t get rid of his sadness, then I would switch up my tactics and ask for a treat. That might make Druid feel better about everything. I hope… I know he’ll feel better.
“Okay. Dola did say their sweets were good.”
Yay, he smiled! What a relief. According to Dola, the sweets at that bakery were pricier than the others…but he didn’t say they were extremely expensive, so I thought we should be okay. Gee, now I wish I’d asked Dola what their price range was.
“He said they had twenty-five kinds, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to see what they have!”
“Okay, since this is a special treat, let’s buy all twenty-five.”
“Huh? All twenty-five?”
“Yeah.”
Twenty-five expensive treats? My special treat had gotten much bigger than I intended. I looked at Druid…and the gloom in his face was completely gone. He was now smiling with excitement. Well, I guess it’s okay.
“Let’s eat them together.”
“But it’s your treat, Ivy.”
“They’d taste better if we ate them together, though. I can always eat all twenty-five by myself some other time.”
“True, we don’t have to get all twenty-five of them today. We can buy them anytime.”
“Not just anytime. This is just a special treat. It has to happen only after a hard day’s work.”
“Oh? Okay, then…in that case, I’ll be counting on you next laundry day.”
“You got it!” I proudly pounded my chest…and immediately after that, my stomach growled. Ugh, how embarrassing! But, y’know… “Just the thought of donuts makes me hungry.”
I’d been wrestling with the laundry ever since breakfast. It had probably taken over an hour. So while it was still a little early for lunch, it made sense that I was hungry considering all the exercise I’d just done.
“Pfft—ha ha ha! Want to go right now?”
“Sure, let’s go now! Mr. Druid, we don’t want to keep those donuts waiting.”
This is great! It’s been ages since I’ve had sweets! I remembered back to when I used to buy myself something sweet as a little reward whenever I did some hard work. Even cheap sweets gave me plenty of joy. And yet, we hadn’t eaten any sweets since we arrived in Hatow, unless you counted that sweet soup we had the day before. But that wasn’t a proper dessert—it was sweet but not at all tasty. So, technically, I was starved for sweets. That was why I felt happier than usual to go eat some. And since Dola’s clothing shop recommendation was spot-on, I had high hopes for this donut shop.
We stopped by our room to pick up Sora, Flame, and Ciel, and then we went to the donut shop.
“Have you finished your laundry?” Dola asked as we were walking out. He was busy cleaning the entryway.
“Yeah, that’s why we’re donuting.”
“Donuting?”
Oops! I was so excited that I gave him a weird answer.
“I’m giving her a treat for doing all my laundry for me.”
“Oh, now I get it. Yes, those donuts are very tasty. You’ll love them.”
“I know; I can’t wait!” Agggh, I really can’t wait.
“About what time will you be coming back? Should we leave your bread for you in the dining hall?”
“After donuts, we’re stopping by the guild and then the clothing store to pick up our clothes, so we should be back by the evening. And yes, we’ll take our bread in the dining hall, thank you.”
“Right-o, Ivy. Be sure to go with cocola. That’s my favorite flavor.”
“Cocola? Okay. Thank you.”
We turned to walk down Main Street. According to Dola, the shop was nestled deep in the back.
“Okay, go to the third cross street…or was it the second?” I asked, trying to remember Dola’s directions.
“It’s the second right toward the gate,” Druid answered. He seemed to have the directions memorized perfectly, which was a relief to me. That way, we wouldn’t get lost on our way to the donut shop.
“Then, after the turn, it’s the third left,” he continued.
“Aye, sir!” I had listened to Dola give the directions to the donut shop just like Druid, but my memory was worse than I thought. Flustered, I let Druid lead the way.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just a bit upset that I didn’t remember the directions.”
“That’s not like you… Oh, maybe it was because you were focused on the donuts instead of the directions?”
Donuts over directions? You know, I was thinking about all the donuts I’d ever eaten before and… Oh, was I really distracted by the donuts?! Come on, Ivy, I know you said you were starved for sweets earlier, but honestly…
“Wait…was I right?”
“Hee hee!”
Arrrgh. I just hate it when somebody sees right through me. I’m so embarrassed.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login