Akira: Oof… This sugar is heavier than it looks.
Heathcliff: Are you going to be all right? If you’d like, I can help you carry one of those bags.
Akira: Ahaha. It’s just two bags, I should be fine. But even though I came to help you out, I ended up making you carry a bunch of stuff for me…
Heathcliff: Oh, please don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you came! Actually, this is the first time I’ve been to the shop we’re going to, so I might’ve gotten lost if I was by myself…
Akira: Heath, do you guys usually take sugar to the shops like this?
Heathcliff: Yes. Since only wizards can make this sugar, if there are people who need it or ask for it, we share it with them.
Akira: Oh yeah, sugar made by a wizard has a lot of special properties, doesn’t it? Kind of like a protective charm.
Heathcliff: It can be used to ward off evil, to heal fatigue, and to prevent colds. It can also be used as a protective charm, like you said.
Akira: (If we had this kind of sugar back in my old world, I’m sure businessmen would love it.)
Heathcliff: Oh, I see the sign. That shop over there is the one.
Akira: …Huh, there’s a long line in front of it. Seems like it’s only girls too.
Heathcliff: Is there some kind of special event today?
Akira: A special event? Is it a promotion like Ladies’ Day?
(No, that’s probably not it. I haven’t heard of anything like that in this world, after all.)
Heathcliff: What’s that…?
Akira: Ahaha. Sorry. You probably wouldn’t know about it.
Riquet: Master Sage!
Akira: Riquet?
Riquet: Look, Nero! They’re here!
Nero: Hey, don’t just start running off! You’re gonna trip and fall!
Riquet: Oh, it’s okay! I’m not holding the eggs we got.
Nero: No, that’s not what I was worried about.
Heathcliff: Both of you had to come here, too?
Nero: I just came to pick up a few ingredients. Riquet wanted to see the market, so he came along.
Did you two come to drop off sugar?
Akira: We did, but I was wondering why all those girls were lined up.
Nero: Wow, that really is a long line. Do you think it’s because of that rumor?
Heathcliff: What rumor?
Riquet: I heard about it at the last shop we went to. Lucky charms seem very popular lately.
Riquet seemed a little triumphant as he told us what he’d heard.
Riquet: If you speak the name of the person you love on the night of the full moon while eating a wizard’s sugar, true love will be granted to you.
Girls seem to be spreading that rumor among themselves.
Akira: Really…! Charms like that exist?
Heathcliff: So that’s why they’re all going to buy sugar?
Nero: Seems like. I’m really not sure whether to think of this as way too persistent or kinda cute, actually.
Riquet: Do they really need to be that serious about something like this? I think they should save their prayers for more important things.
Nero: You mean they should be praying for dessert?
Riquet: No, more important than that! I’d just ask you if I wanted dessert, Nero.
Nero: You sure have an answer for everything.
Ah, crap, you guys are in the middle of a job, right? How about we join you, then?
Our destination was a general store called “Melitro.”
When we went to the back door, the shopkeeper greeted us as if they’d been eagerly awaiting our arrival.
Melitro Shopkeeper: Glad you made it! You’ve got great timing—we were just about to run out!
The accounting books said we still had stock left, but… Ah, I must’ve been too busy and updating them slipped my mind.
The shopkeeper was striking up a friendly conversation with us, and Heath gave a slightly nervous nod in response.
Heathcliff: I’m glad we could help. But, um, has it been like this since morning?
Melitro Shopkeeper: Oh, it’s been like this for a while, and all because of that rumor. We sell out in a blink of an eye, so make sure you keep bringing that sugar!
If they knew it was made by beautiful wizards like you, business would be even better. We’re counting on you!
Heathcliff: Haha…
Nero: Well, we’ll come back when we have more, then.
Riquet: Let’s get going back to the Manor! We have to make more!
Heathcliff: …
As we were about to leave the shop, Heath suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Akira: Heathcliff? Something catch your eye?
Heathcliff: Oh, sorry, I just…
As I followed Heathcliff’s gaze, what I saw was a proud white castle, so large I had to crane my neck to see it fully.
It was only a model, but its white walls were so elegant it could almost be mistaken for the real thing. The light coming into the shop reflected off it with a glittering, dazzling shine.
A scene as beautiful as this felt like a dream had come to life, and I couldn’t help letting out a gasp at the sight.
Nero: …It’s pretty amazing how this is made of sugar.
Riquet: This castle is made of candy? I can’t believe it…
Heathcliff was gazing at the castle with a spellbound look.
Heathcliff: I’ve never seen such amazingly delicate work before… How remarkable.
Even these tiny doors have been painstakingly worked on, all the way down to the little details. Tell me, how was this made?
Akira: Oh, Heath, are you curious about candy making?
Heathcliff: No, not exactly… That’s not the part I’m wondering about. I’m just interested in the quality of this craftsmanship.
Akira: (Heath’s pretty anxious, so it feels special to see him be so intensely interested in something like this…)
Riquet: Oh, there are people in the castle. Are they made of sugar too?
Nero: Wow, they really were thorough. …Hm? This one looks a lot like Heath.
Heathcliff: Wait, me? …Now that you mention it, it really does.
Riquet: What about this one here—doesn’t it look like me? Ah, Nero’s here too!
When I counted them, there were eight figures: Heathcliff, Nero, Riquet, Cain, Oz, Owen, Lennox, and Bradley.
They were all just as detailed as the castle itself, and resembled us so closely that with one glance at them, I could recognize who they were supposed to be.
Akira: Um, excuse me, this castle…
selenocentrism translations 