NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter-160 Star Map
Airadian Hub Stratum, ‘Brewed Awakening’ shop.
“Did you finish reading the notes?” Ewan asked, sorting out the potions in the storage room and tallying the sales. Soft creamy light from the mounted lamps slid off the ivory walls and complimented the homely arrangement of the crates to enkindle a cozy undertone. Compared to the shop’s main hall, Ewan preferred this room better, and Nana too joined him in his sentiment.
“I did, but I think I should practice a bit before,” Nana said, helping him categorize the potions. “What if I make a mistake?”
“It’s the basics, you’ll be fine,” Ewan said. “Just mind the structure, you need to etch it on the sand grains.”
“What if I fail? What if it’s destroyed? Don’t you only have one more portion?”
“Don’t fret it so much, it’s just Varos. Don’t overcomplicate it, and follow the points I wrote,” Ewan said. “Even if you do destroy it, I’ll create another share for you with my spell.”
Nana jerked and peeked at the gate that led to the shop’s façade. “Don’t say it out loud,” she whispered. “What if someone hears us?”
He looked back at Nana. “I didn’t say anything concrete. And you’re more suspicious than me, stop freaking out over it.”
“It doesn’t hurt to be more cautious,” Nana said, shrinking down. “Especially with something like this.”
“Keep that up and you’ll become paranoid like me.” Ewan exhaled. “It’s exhausting, and now I have to learn to differentiate between paranoia and being cautious. One is enough, don’t follow in my footsteps,” he said. “You continue your usual innocence, let me worry about the rest.”
“I don’t want to do that…,” she murmured.
Ewan chuckled. “Then become stronger and share my burden.”
“Who else knows about it?” she asked.
“Most likely my dear mother,” he said. “Pa developed the spell, so he must’ve told his wife, I was just continuing our family’s tradition by telling you.”
Quiet dawned on the storage room, and only the rustles of the boxes and the beeps of the automated workers echoed; Nana turned around and fidgeted with the sale records.
“Don’t go red on me. If you keep reacting like that, I can't even bring up the topic anymore,” Ewan said. The embarrassment hit him too, but he braved it for the sake of their relationship—unsaid words could lead to doom, and a talking couple was a happy couple.
“I haven’t decided that I’ll marry you yet,” Nana said.
“Ah, is that so? Forget it then, I’ll just marry that Ensil girl, she started baking me her salted cookies again recently,” Ewan said, turning his back to Nana.
A crack went off behind him and a potion bottle imploded, the cerulean potion inside splattering on the tiled floor. Nana glared at him when he looked back, crushing two potion bottles to smithereens with her Ryvia.
“C-Calm down, it was a joke,” he said. “D-Don’t be impulsive, that costs over a hundred Novas.”
“Did you like the cookies?” she asked, sarcasm oozing out of her tone, and another potion became a victim.
“No, no, no, what cookies? There’s no cookie,” Ewan said. “She hates me now; she doesn’t bake me anything.”
“Are you disappointed then? You sound disappointed.” Another potion bottle floated before her, ready to become the next sacrifice.
“No, no, never, I don’t care about her, I even forgot her name,” he said, almost slurring his words. “N-Nana, not that one, that’s expensive, our future depends on these!”
His persuasion fell on deaf ears and the potion bottle shattered, the potion pooling on the floor.
“Nana! You bitch! That took me hours to brew!” He yelled, and Nana scuttled away, her spirit blob dissipating.
In the end, with the fading figure of her blob, Ewan’s anger devolved into a helpless sigh—they were just too far away to even fight. Basking under a sunny afternoon or weathering a stormy night, he endured his status quo and remained resolute. His determined steps took him forward. Yet, when he let his guard down, he missed her…
A few breaths later, Nana spawned back in the storage room, carrying a rolled parchment with her.
“I-I forgot to give you this,” she said, handing it over to Ewan. “It’s the star map you wanted me to draw, but I’m not sure if it’s accurate.”
“As long as it points a general direction, I’ll find you,” Ewan said under his breath. “I’m almost done with Drarith, I’ll depart soon.”
“How far will you have to travel…we don’t even know how far the island is from your city,” she said, her voice dimming.
“Doesn’t matter, I’ll take the Warship if I have to, but I’ll find the island.”
“Will you join the expedition?” she asked.
“If everything goes well, then yeah, eventually in the future,” Ewan said. “But if I can't find you with my ship, I’ll have to look for the island from the Warship, so I’ll join now.”
“I’ll join too,” Nana said. “It’ll be better, I’ll just have to wait for the Warship to pick me up.”
“They won't go there unless the island has a refueling station, and it probably doesn’t,” he said. “You just stay put and mind your safety; I’ll find a way.”
“I don’t want to….,” she murmured.
“Then become stronger and share my burden.” Ewan repeated. “That aside, these potion bottles, I’ll have my revenge for them,” he said. “One strand of hair for one bottle, prepare yourself, I’ll rip them off when I get there.”
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