meal. The bread with cheese and tomatoes from way back then were good, but I guess nothing really beats the chef’s stew. It was incredibly tasty.」

「It was so good!」

「....!!!」

The shopkeeper wanted to speak up, but the man sitting behind the woman stopped him from doing that, simply by putting his index finger to his lips.

For a brief moment, even though there were still customers in here, there was a complete silence, but almost immediately after that everything went back to normal.

「Now then, let’s go pay Ligurila a visit at her shop and ask her to make a uniform for you. Surely she’s going to be delighted to tailor it for you.」

「Yay! We’re going to the strange Onee-sama’s place!」

The man whose hair was the same color as that of the child’s bowed down slightly to the shopkeeper, then took the hands of his wife and child and casually exited the shop.

For a while the shopkeeper didn’t even bother with his regular customers, looking at the door and contemplating what just happened. His customers were more or less the same.

「.... Did you see?」

「.... Uhh.」

「There are not all that many people who have seen the very first special dish.」

「.... Uhh.」

「There was also a child.」

「.... Uhh.」

「Those are just gossips, mind you. Nobody know if it’s true.」

「.... Uhh.」

「.... You, you’ve been saying nothing but that for a while now.」

「.... Guess, I have.」

The shopkeeper hesitated, and then he turned towards his regular clients.

「Weren’t they talking about the exam? And that they would use some kind of magical instrument to cheat the system?」

「They sure did.」

「Want me to report this to the authorities?」

Certainly, it was a citizen’s duty to report any kind of misconduct or crime attempt to the local authorities if they happened to witness or hear about it.

While the shopkeeper was tending to his clients there was a long silence, but finally it was the shopkeeper that spoke first.

「.... It’s not like I’m trying to mock or underestimate magic, you know?」

「.... Oh, they are strictly punishing any kind of cheating during the exams, but if you can prove that you are innocent, you automatically get to pass.」

Some of the clients laughed in a naught manner.

「You know, my granddaughter was once lost and Dragon-san brought her back to me.... She also praised the taste of my stew.」

「To tell you the truth, my daughter is baking madeleines for some time now. I didn’t think they would sell all that well, so I tried to sneak in there to see how she’s doing.... She would never even be born if her grandmother wasn’t saved from the wandering monsters all those years ago.」

That kind of reason was more than enough.

「You always talk about this Dragon-san and how she helped you. But we’ve never seen her or heard about her at all.」

「Yeah!」

「Today is a special day, so drink as much as you like!」

Seeing how the shopkeeper took out his very best drinks made the eyes of the regulars shine with excitement.

Preparing the new cups and filling them with alcohol, both the shopkeeper and his customers raised their cups and had a toast.

「To the happiness of the Dragon-san!」

「Cheers!」

Then, some time later they heard from some travelers the story of ‘Dragon-san and the Great Sage’ and that their child was attending the magic academy.

The end.

***************************

This brings this arc to an end.

I would like to sincerely thank all of you for this dream-like time we spent together.

New arc is going to be updated together with the afterword.

Please give this one a look as well.

Thank you for staying with me in this story until the very end.