I was quietly giggling to myself when the soldiers started exchanging looks and giving each other subtle signals.
Meanwhile, Madam Cecil was glaring daggers at them, practically screaming.
“Let me go! What the hell do you think you’re doing? You’re grabbing the wrong person here!”
“Whether you’re guilty or not will come out soon enough.”
The soldiers pinned both of Madam Cecil’s arms tightly and forced her to stand.
Even as they dragged her away, Madam Cecil desperately clung to her fake mother act, still hoping to wiggle out of this.
“T-Tania! Why are you doing this to your mother? Is it because I didn’t buy you candy earlier? I’m sorry about that, okay? Now tell them it’s all a misunderstanding so they’ll stop looking at us like this.”
The soldiers turned to me and the Merchant Guild Master, looking like they weren’t sure what to believe.
“This child is an orphan from the streets. Our guild’s had her run errands a few times, paid her with food—we know her situation well.”
“Ah, yup, what he said.”
I shivered all over and bobbed my head in agreement, playing right along. The soldiers clicked their tongues as they looked at Madam Cecil.
“Seriously… that’s such an obvious lie it’s not even worth hearing more of. Let’s go.”
One of the soldiers was about to lead me off with Madam Cecil too, but the Merchant Guild Master smoothly stepped in.
“She seems pretty shaken up. I’ll calm her down a bit first, then bring her to the guard post myself.”
“Oh, would you? Thank you.”
Looking at me still trembling pitifully, the soldiers gave me sympathetic looks and left without pressing the matter.
I gave a little wave to Madam Cecil as she was dragged away, muttering under my breath.
“Nice knowing you, but let’s never meet again.”
Feeling thoroughly refreshed to see her go, I turned to the Merchant Guild Master and gave him a big thumbs up.
“You’re better at this than I thought. I didn’t think you’d show up that fast.”
“Luck was on our side. Ran into some soldiers while I was on my way to fetch the guards, so I put on my own little show to make it sound serious.”
He tugged up one corner of his mouth into a grin and roughly tousled my hair.
“You were pretty quick on your feet yourself. When you started rambling about alleys near the central clock tower, it sounded so real I almost fell for it too.”
“Hmm? But that actually is where illegal Abiliter trades go down.”
“…”
“Hehe. That way she’ll be imprisoned as an accomplice.”
The Merchant Guild Master’s voice took on a cautious edge.
“…Is that something you knew thanks to your foresight?”
“Of course not. Just the sort of thing you pick up when you live at the bottom long enough.”
Hit by another round of my tragic life stories, he gave me a look full of pity and gently patted my back.
“How much must you have gone through at such a young age…”
As he kept patting me, his expression slowly shifted, like he realized our time together was about to end. He tried once more to make his offer.
“Tania, are you sure you don’t want to come with our merchant guild?”
“Unfortunately, yeah.”
“Ah, I see.”
Even though he couldn’t hide how disappointed he was, the Merchant Guild Master still thought of my comfort.
“If that’s how you feel, at least let me take you all the way to the orphanage. That’s alright with you, isn’t it?”
“Oh, in that case, there’s actually somewhere I’d like to stop by before heading to the orphanage. Would you mind taking me there?”
I’d already taken care of that small fry. It was now time to deal with what mattered most.
Seeing Unc Aiden again—five years after he’d died.
✦ ✦ ✦
It didn’t take long before we reached the neighborhood where I used to live with Unc Aiden in my previous timeline.
I turned to the Merchant Guild Master and gave him a polite bow.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
“No need to thank me. I got something out of it too, didn’t I? Like you said, it was a fair trade.”
“Oh, speaking of trades—remember how I told you I actually had two pieces of information? I think it’s time to give you the other one.”
“That’s alright. I’ve already gotten more than enough out of this deal.”
“You’re still going to want to hear this.”
I lifted one side of my mouth in a playful smirk.
“The first piece was that there’d be a major crop failure next year, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Well, the year after that, the Magic Tower is going to introduce a new farming technique that’ll cause grain harvests to skyrocket. So make sure you sell off everything you bought by the end of next year.”
“Ha.”
He let out a soft sigh, stroking his beard.
“So that’s why you told me you’d share the second bit of information later.”
“Exactly.”
Normally, when a famine hits, the damage doesn’t stop with just that year’s harvest. It usually takes at least a few years for things to bounce back. But this time was a rare exception.
Anyone holding onto a large stockpile of grain would naturally want to wait for prices to climb even higher. If the Merchant Guild Master hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have given him this second piece of information—then he would’ve ended up forced to sell off everything dirt cheap once the bumper crops flooded the market.
The thought seemed to hit him too, and he let out a rueful little laugh.
“The more I think about it, the more I regret not convincing you to join our guild.”
“Haha, who knows? Maybe we’ll run into each other again soon.”
I gave him the biggest, brightest smile I could and added,
“It was a good deal. I hope everything goes well for you and Ageratum.”
✦ ✦ ✦
[Overwriting Time Slot 2 with current point.]
After saving my current point, I found myself standing in front of the house where Unc Aiden lived, taking a quiet, steadying breath.
I knew for sure he was still alive at this point in time.
But maybe because it had been so long, my heart was pounding like crazy.
Wiping the sweat off my hands onto my clothes, I finally raised a hand and knocked on the door.
It felt like ages before there was the creak of rusted hinges and someone appeared.
Creeeak—!
The moment I laid eyes on the man who came out, I took in every detail like I was committing him to memory.
That sun-kissed skin that suited a mercenary’s life. The tousled black hair, sharp golden eyes like a beast’s, and the long scar slicing down over his left eye.
He looked a bit younger than the last time I’d seen him.
The instant our eyes met, I burst into tears and threw myself into his arms.
“I missed you so much.”
I felt his whole body go stiff with surprise, but I didn’t let that stop me.
“I worked so hard so we could live it up together this time. So please… don’t leave me first again.”
I couldn’t go through this twice.
Not because it was hard to turn back time—but because I didn’t think I could stand watching him die all over again.
So this time—
“And if anyone tries to ruin our peace? We’ll just take care of them, and then live a long, happy life together.”
With a shaky little laugh, I hugged him even tighter.
Feeling his warm body against mine again, something inside me finally relaxed.
“Dad.”
Unc Aiden always doted on me like I was his own daughter, but he absolutely hated it when I called him Dad.
Whenever I got the urge to say it, I’d blurt it out on purpose—then quickly rewind the point before he could scold me.
Suddenly curious about how he’d react this time, I tilted my head up to look at him.
He just stood there, staring at me like time itself had stopped.
I guess having some kid he didn’t know suddenly cling to him and call him Dad must’ve thrown him for a loop.
Laughing through my tears, I used my ability without a trace of regret.
I’d said everything I wanted to say.
[Time Slot 2 Loaded.]
Creeeak.
When Unc Aiden opened the door again, I forced a smile onto my face.
So that instead of being remembered with tear-streaked cheeks, our first meeting this time could start with a smile.
“Hello, Unc. Do you think I could have a piece of bread?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Unc Aiden looked down at me for a long moment before muttering for me to wait and disappearing back into the house.
I started to wonder if he’d forgotten I was still outside when—bam—the door swung open.
“Come in.”
He sat me down at the table and set out a steaming bowl of stew and a piece of fluffy white bread.
The ingredients were so good, they didn’t even compare to what Madam Cecil used to give me.
Just knowing I was about to eat Unc Aiden’s cooking again for the first time in ages made me grin as I picked up my spoon.
He sat across from me with an unreadable look on his face.
“…What’s your name?”
“Tania. And you are?”
“Aiden.”
Yeah. Aiden.
I seriously missed that name.
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