Chapter 68
“If you go to this address, you should be able to meet her. The phone—.”
“I brought it.”
Reichen took a phone out of his coat. I’d heard he was the disciple of a stubborn great mage, so I thought he might not even carry a phone, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
By the way, the membership fee wasn’t paid by card—I just slammed down five million won in cash for the premium membership.
After sending the address to his phone, he gave a calm farewell.
“I hope it turns out to be a good meeting.”
“Yes, and thank you for going along with my unreasonable request.”
After wrapping things up neatly with no more and no less than necessary, Reichen walked right back out.
Strangely enough, just him leaving made it feel like the office had warmed up a little.
“Phew.”
Was this really okay?
I explained the situation to the woman I introduced him to, and she accepted, but my worry still wouldn’t settle.
“B-boss.”
Kim Yang approached from behind.
With trembling hands, she handed over the five million won.
“I, I. Th-this much cash. I’ve never seen so much before.”
“These days, everyone pays by card.”
Card payments, chip payments, and the like.
It really had become an era where cash was rare.
“A-amazing.”
Watching Kim Yang flutter the bills as she counted them, I could forget my worries about Reichen for a moment.
* * *
Hwayeong Flower Shop.
As soon as Reichen arrived at the address saved on his phone, that was the sign he saw.
In front, a brown-haired woman was watering flowers. Neatly tied hair, a green apron, and a soft impression.
She couldn’t be called stunning, but she had the sort of face you saw everywhere.
‘D-rank, was it?’
The flower shop was small but neat.
Compact, but not shabby.
As he approached without the slightest hesitation or pause, flower shop owner Kim Dajeong smiled brightly.
“Welcome. Looking for flowers?”
“I’m from the matchmaking agency Meracle.”
“Ah...!”
After hurriedly wiping the moisture on her apron, she brightly offered her hand.
“Hello! I’m Kim Dajeong!”
A lively, fresh greeting.
Just what you’d expect from a woman who ran a flower shop.
“I’m Reichen. I’m from the 4th Floor, and I’m Great Mage Gellerwind’s personal disciple.”
“Ah, oh...”
Since Reichen wanted to get straight to the point without beating around the bush, he quickly introduced himself.
But then it suddenly occurred to him that, to the woman running the flower shop, it might have looked like he was showing off.
“You don’t need to feel pressured. I’m proud to be the Great Mage’s disciple, but I have no intention of using that to gain any psychological advantage.”
“No, it’s okay. Actually, I’m not very interested in floors other than the 3rd Floor... I don’t really know who the great mages are, or how many there are.”
“......”
“But you’re a magician. That’s amazing. Can you do that kind of thing too? Like a watering can?”
“It’s not my specialty spell. But it is possible.”
“Wow, really?”
“Hmm.”
When he spread his palm wide, a droplet of water formed above it.
Seeing that, Kim Dajeong clapped happily.
“Wowww! This is the first time I’ve seen magic for real!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
After crushing the droplet in his clenched fist and lowering his hand, Reichen calmly made his proposal.
“Then, would you marry me?”
“...Huh?”
* * *
“So you run a café too.”
Right next to the flower shop.
A tiny café with room for at most two tables.
This plant-decorated place was Kim Dajeong’s second business.
Kim Dajeong brought coffee over in a mug and sat down across from him with a smile.
“Actually, an old lady I know runs this place, but she’s not feeling well, so I’m helping out. We’re kind of like close neighbors.”
Close neighbors?
You’re helping out?
“And the income—”
“Huh? No, what would I take? It’s just brewing coffee.”
“......”
She did the work, but didn’t take any money.
Reichen couldn’t make sense of it, and he was reminded again that she was D-rank.
“You can’t be all that well off financially, though.”
“Eek!”
Kim Dajeong laughed and acted as if she’d been stabbed in the chest.
“That’s true. It’s hard to make money with just one flower shop, and I run the café for her out of meddling goodwill.”
But.
“It’s nice, though. Isn’t this what life is about?”
He took a sip of coffee.
Slurp—that was his answer.
It meant he still wasn’t convinced, and Kim Dajeong knew it, so she took a sip of coffee without saying anything else.
“Then it would be even better for you to marry me.”
“Pffft?!”
Kim Dajeong nearly spat it out again, then hurriedly wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
“A-ah, no, you seem pretty anxious? I heard you weren’t all that old, either.”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“Y-you’re younger than me. Just a little—”
Since saying she looked older would be rude, I deliberately didn’t put it into words.
“Haa, let’s get back to the main point.”
Reichen felt a faint headache.
It felt like a tug-of-war over who would control the conversation. With a short breath, he opened his mouth again.
“I’m financially comfortable enough as well. You don’t need to sell the flower shop or the café right away.”
“Wow, that’s a line you hear in dramas.”
“For housing, I’d prefer the 4th Floor if possible, but if you want, living separately is also possible.”
“I want to live on the 3rd Floor.”
“There’s no need for us to have children.”
“Really? If I get married, I definitely want kids.”
“Lastly, the wedding as soon as possible. I’d like it within this week.”
“Oh...”
Kim Dajeong nodded and asked back.
“So what’s the main point?”
“Pardon?”
“No, we’re meeting to get to know each other. Shouldn’t the main point be something other than conditions?”
Looking at the woman who had pushed out her lips, Reichen pushed up his glasses. The conversation wasn’t going well.
“This is the main point. We state our conditions and see if they match. I’ll accommodate Kim Dajeong’s conditions as much as possible.”
“Really?”
Kim Dajeong smiled, holding the coffee cup with both hands.
“Then let’s talk a bit more. This is my main point. What are your hobbies?”
“Magic.”
“Oh, what are your special skills?”
“Magic.”
“What dream do you have?”
“Magic.”
“What’s your name?”
“Reichen.”
“You didn’t say magic this time.”
What was so funny?
Kim Dajeong laughed, patting the table.
A woman with an easy laugh.
Reichen added one more trait about Kim Dajeong in his mind.
“I like plants. Flowers are nice, trees are nice, and I love the smell of grass.”
“......”
“One day, a little pink-haired elf girl came by and suddenly said, ‘Mm! The children are singing!’ Ever since then, these little ones have seemed even more precious to me. I feel like they share the same feelings.”
Children?
Reichen glanced at one of the flowers decorating the café. Plants are just plants, aren’t they?
“Actually, I started the matchmaking agency because of my dad. He forced me to sign up, saying I was already thirty and should get married soon.”
“......”
“Hmm—but, well, you do seem to be in a bit of trouble.”
And then she went to the flower shop and came back with a small pot holding pretty white flowers.
“Here you go. It’s a flower called ‘Plinea,’ and it grows on the 4th Floor, your homeland.”
“Is this a gift? I’m not really one for things like this—”
“Plinea’s flower language is ‘protected love.’ Because this flower dies easily.”
“......”
“Just one week! If you can keep this flower alive for one week and bring it back, I’ll marry you.”
“...Really? That’s all it takes?”
Reichen knew he was being unreasonable. Even so, Kim Dajeong’s choice now would be a pretty major turning point in her life—
“It’s nothing. You look troubled, so I should help you.”
She shrugged and said it lightly.
A meddlesome woman.
Reichen added one more trait about Kim Dajeong in his mind.
* * *
“I’ll come again tomorrow.”
Saying that, Reichen returned to the Razesta Continent on the 4th Floor.
Still holding the flowerpot, he rode the tower elevator back.
Just going up and down a floor cost quite a lot in tickets, but Reichen’s vault was overflowing with gold coins, so it was no problem.
Back at the mage tower.
He knocked on Great Mage Gellerwind’s office door.
“Master, I’m back.”
“Come in.”
When he opened the door and went in, the Great Mage sat in a rocking chair with his white hair and beard neatly groomed.
The rocking chair was a rehabilitation device that let a mage who had trouble controlling his body sit still, circulate mana, and regain his sense of balance.
“How was it?”
“Today I went on what you’d call a date with a woman.”
At his disciple’s flat answer, Gellerwind laughed as if letting out a breath.
“Hoho, was it all right?”
“Yes, it was fine. We got along well, and she even gave this to me.”
“Plinea. That’s a fine flower.”
Reichen slowly approached Gellerwind. He placed a hand over the back of Gellerwind’s hand and checked the flow of mana for a moment.
‘It’s gotten worse.’
His expression darkened.
Gellerwind smiled at him.
“Even if you’re a mage, in the end you’re still human. You can’t beat time.”
“We’ve decided to have the wedding sooner.”
“Hmm?”
Gellerwind stared fixedly at Reichen. But he shamelessly spoke to his master in a calm tone.
“It was thanks to us getting along well. Would you be able to officiate, Master?”
“Heh—you really have found a use for this master right to the very end. Very well, if that’s what you wish, I shall officiate.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
“Haaahm.”
When you run a matchmaking agency, there are often times like this.
“Ah, this is boring as hell.”
Bored.
Especially in a small company like ours, there are more days when the flies are buzzing than there are customers.
“L-lately. I thought things were, w-well, going well.”
Hearing Kim Yang say our steep rise had only been temporary, I answered a little too sharply.
“It has to keep going well.”
“If it goes well, no, that won’t do.”
“Hey.”
“Whoa, slacker. Yang-honey.”
Just look at that—not “easy money” because it’s her own Yang, but “Yang-honey.”
Is that the style these days?
Renea had also gone to fill in at a convenience store part-time shift, so the situation was damn boring.
‘I wonder if Reichen is doing well.’
Two days had passed, and there still wasn’t any particular news, so maybe he was okay.
And whenever I sent Renea to scout the café, Kim Dajeong would just say she was doing fine as usual.
And so I spent the time having pointless little conversations with Kim Yang.
Knock... knock, knock.
A cautious knock that was almost off-beat.
For the record, among the people who came knocking even though we had a sign, there was exactly one I remembered.
“Huh?”
“N-no way.”
Kim Yang looked flustered too, clearly thinking of the same person I was.
When I hurriedly opened the door, I was hit by the damp paper smell of old books.
Her tousled blond hair had rarely been exposed to light, so the color had faded, and dark shadows lay under her eyes.
The book she clutched looked less like something precious than something she had to lean on.
The small girl looked up at me.
“H-hello... boss.”
A timid voice, barely audible.
She was one of the company’s dead-stock cases.
Beloa of the Infinite Library.
“Ms. Beloa? What brings you here? You hate leaving the library, don’t you?”
“I had something to do... It’s been a year since I came out. I-I came out a little early.”
Did she join our matchmaking agency last year and never step outside even once?
That was extreme.
“Since I’ve come out, I’m going to take care of everything I need to do.”
“......”
“Are you ready for the introduction...?”
The story continues off the page
Floaties for Everyone
Swim lesson at the water park, and she's demonstrating on you