Please Don’t Come To The Villainess’ Stationery Store! - Chapter 21

Meldenique left her seat chicly and coolly to talk about the development of the beer candy inside the pub.

But the spectators who were left couldn’t do that.

Because they witnessed the glorious moment when the Red Diocese Pirates, the cancerous creatures that had plagued the merchants the whole time, were finally eradicated.

“Until now, even if we called security, they would receive money and close their eyes.”

“Even though it’s in front of the Academy, the aristocrats ride wagons, so…this business district is practically abandoned, and everyone ignored the report.”

“But she got rid of them.”

“It was really cool… saying ‘Don’t bother our business alley again.’”

Of course, Meldenique never said that.

However, a little seasoning was needed for heroization.

The man who talked to Meldenique, Astild, clenched his fist tightly and shook it passionately while listening to the merchants’ chatter.

“This must be documented.”

He was a passionate reporter who accused the absurd injustice in society. His newspaper was famous and promising enough to be distributed in the Academy.

‘That woman said it was just a mistake, but who would believe that?’

He thought of her sparkling eyes. And the chic words that she said while squeezing five or six people.

It was something that she did more than once. It was obvious that it wasn’t a mistake.

Astild was a man of his journalistic mission.

And at that moment, he felt obligated to spread something special to all mankind.

His eyes began to shine before he knew it.

“Okay. It’s a scoop.”

Mel’s stationary store will become huge.

‘And you said you had an item you’re developing with Lessa.’

His intuition as a reporter was prophesying.

He put more strength into the hand that was holding his pen.

This incident had to be thrown out into the open air.

After a careful and detailed interview, he was going to publish it.

We’ll have to prepare a huge extra for the Maltend Academy that’s right in front of the stationary store!

Unaware of the fact that everyone was impressed, Meldenique was working hard in the tavern to develop the beer candy.

***

Meanwhile, in the pub, Dominique and I were learning about the process of making alcohol in detail with Lessa.

“There’s bubbling foam on top.”

“That’s right.”

“Good, I got it.”

Dominique began to create a simple magic equation based on the talks.

We put a large oak keg and several ingredients on the table to make the candy.

Lily was amazed when she saw mana flow out of Dominique’s fingertips.

“How is it?”

“It’s so cool!”

“So this man is a beginner wizard?”

“Yes.”

I nodded in affirmation. To be exact, he’s a hero and a sword.

“Oh my God, a wizard! I-I’ve never seen a wizard before.”

It certainly was rare for a commoner to see a wizard, so Lily looked at Dominique with longing eyes.

“How can you do this! The magic also looks amazing.”

Dominique, who somehow became a beginner wizard, looked half happy and half sad.

His mouth began to flutter.

“That’s right, our Dominique is great.”

“I’ll admit that’s correct.”

Dominique’s arrogant words struck the three people who were gathered.

Rather than great, he looked rather cute the way he pouted his lips.

But…

We had a different problem.

The magic equation was perfect, but the shape of the beer candy was bizarre.

The beer candy was almost as big as a book, tasted sour, and looked indistinguishable.

“Why isn’t it working?”

I asked and looked at Lessa with a sullen look.

“The alcohol is perfect. But, the control of the force is a bit…”

Dominique scratched the back of his head.

After a short sigh, I shook my head at Lessa. I had to solve this problem somehow.

“We’ll discuss among ourselves. I think we’ve taken too much of your time, Lessa.”

“Yes, don’t overdo it. We’ll be with Meldenique as much as we can.”

Lessa left the stationary store with a gentle smile.

But even after Lessa left, Dominique’s magic still didn’t show signs of improvement.

The beer inflated to a great extent and became as hard as a diamond, destroying the lights on the ceiling.

…to put it simply, Dominique was a gel bottle for life magic. (I have noooo idea what this means. PR: Neither do I, tbh. PR2 (Akane): Dominique has a lot of life magic but has no control over them like a gel.)

“What could the problem be?” I asked while pulling my hair.

“…hm., I can’t control my strength. It’s because it hasn’t been long since I got out of the sword. We just need to wait a couple of months.”

Dominique replied while avoiding eye contact.

Sigh. We can’t help it.

I laughed quietly and stretched Dominique’s white cheeks like cheese.

No matter what, it was probably because he was a sword specializing in armed forces that he was weak in controlling his strength…

‘Even so, I can’t wait for a couple of months. I can’t leave it like this.’

Sitting down in the stationary store, I was determined.

“Dominique. We’d better find a new method.”

“A new method?”

“Yeah, so summoning the devils-.”

“-is impossible. There’s no trick in controlling the devils.”

I tried to push the method of summoning the devils, but it didn’t work.

Well, it was impossible to control the devils with the magic that was known, and there was a limit to Dominique’s knowledge.

“Why don’t I use the candy ingredients and cook?”

I smiled and spoke to relieve the heavy atmosphere.

Surprisingly, Dominique nodded as if I had a point.

“Hm… that’s not bad either. It’s the most basic of basic magic. Maybe even you can do it.”

“Magic? It can’t be magic though.”

“Why?”

“My blood is cursed, so I was born without mana.”

I answered with a perplexed face.

‘I didn’t know this story would come out of my own mouth.’

Mana was a force in the heart that was needed to use magic.

Basically, everyone was born with mana, but it took a huge amount of mana to become a wizard, making it unusual.

The Kinnoa family, including Meldenique, were famous for being born without mana for generations after being cursed by the dragon.

“Huh? What kind of curse? You don’t have mana because you’re cursed?”

Dominique asked while scratching his head with the look that he learned something new.

“You don’t have mana, that can’t be true though…”

I sighed and continued.

“Yeah. I tried to get into the Academy, but nothing came out.”

In the original novel, Meldenqiue didn’t attend the Academy.

To be exact, it would be that she couldn’t attend the Academy.

In order to attend the Academy, it would take a certain amount of horsepower that ordinary people don’t have. If you didn’t have enough mana, you’re disqualified in the entrance exam.

Meldenique became a joke again after it was confirmed that the amount of mana she has is zero.

“I wish I could use magic.”

He approached the counter where I was sitting.

Sitting on the chair, I looked up at him.

What’s with him?

Dominique frowned and put his hands on the counter.

“You’re saying you don’t have mana. That can’t be true.”

What’s he saying?

“If that was true, you wouldn’t have been able to accept my mana when you defeated the Red Diocese Pirates.”

“…huh?”

I spoke without even realizing it, “…that can’t be true?”

“You don’t believe me?”

“Uh…”

As if I was being a burden, Dominique hit his chest as if he was frustrated.

But I had a good reason not to believe him right away.

‘Does this make sense? Then what’s with the original novel? Meldenique isn’t supposed to have mana!’

My memory wasn’t wrong.

In the original novel, 『Lovers Caught in Magic,』 Meldenique without mana was outshined by Sheria every time, who was an outstanding wizard rich with mana.

‘A wicked woman with no mana and a daughter of a family with blood cursed by a dragon.’

So the saying that Meldenique Vaveloa had a feeling of inferiority to Sheria was spoken incredibly often.

But she couldn’t deny what Dominique said.

It’s a fact that those who did not have a single grain of mana in their body cannot accept mana. Mana shouldn’t be able to stay in a body without mana.

What if I was not lacking mana?

When Dominique handed over his mana, I shouldn’t have been able to accept it and it should have been rejected.

‘What’s going on…?’