novelraw Chapter 41: The Offering List
Chapter 41: The Offering List
“Thanks.”
Even someone as proud and tsundere as Haley couldn’t avoid thanking Leon after he saved her from nearly falling twice in a row.
But as soon as the word left her lips, she lowered her head, her cheeks flushed. Those two unexpected moments of physical contact had left her feeling strangely shaken.
His hands are nice-looking, not rough at all… Is he really a farmer?
With her head lowered, she couldn’t bring herself to look at his face, so she focused instead on the hand that had just steadied her.
“It’s fine. Just be more careful.” Leon shook his head, releasing her hand. Almost without thinking, he wiped his palm twice against his clothes.
That, of course, made Haley bristle. “What, is my hand dirty or something?”
“No, not at all. Just… you have a lot of hand sweat.” Leon decided to be honest. If he hadn’t grabbed her wrist instead of her palm, and if his grip wasn’t strong, she might have slipped right through.
Haley glared at him, ready to show off her pale, delicate hands in protest—only to notice, once they were raised, that tiny beads of sweat dotted her skin. She wasn’t sure if it was from being startled or from nerves, but either way, the evidence was there.
All her indignation fizzled out at once. Red-faced, she quietly lowered her hands and hid them behind her back, rubbing them against her once-beloved little dress in an attempt to wipe them dry.“I don’t know why you came in here, but this isn’t a safe place to explore. The lighting’s poor, there are spiders and mice around, and the floor’s uneven. It’d be easy to get hurt. If you came here alone and fell, there might not be anyone around to hear you call for help.”
Leon had been a little annoyed at her earlier, but after everything that had happened, he simply spoke seriously.
“Mm.” Haley knew she was in the wrong, so she responded meekly, head bowed like a student being scolded by a teacher.
“If there’s nothing else, you should head out first.”
Seeing that she wasn’t arguing back, Leon was a little surprised—but relieved as well. He urged her to leave the Community Center. The Junimos wouldn’t come out while she was inside, and that was slowing things down.
Haley nodded and turned to go, but her curiosity got the better of her. “Then why are you here?”
“Lewis asked me to check on the Community Center and drive out the mice. I had nothing better to do, so I came by.”
Haley gave him a puzzled glance but didn’t press further. She quietly left the old building.
Only once she stepped outside into the sunlight did her mood settle. She was grateful she had gotten out unscathed—but with a clear head, she remembered the source of her earlier scare.
Wait a second. It was just him and me in there… So that roar earlier must have been him! That guy!
She clenched her teeth in frustration. Still, she didn’t really want to confront him about it. Instead, she gave herself a reason to let it go.
Forget it. He sort of made up for it—and even helped me again later. I’ll let him off this time.
Comforting herself with that thought, Haley stopped worrying about whether she should thank Leon or blame him. She glanced back at the Community Center, then at the dust and sweat-soaked clothes she was wearing, and decided to head home for a shower.
…
Inside the Community Center, with Haley gone, the Junimos reappeared around Leon. He quickly noticed they seemed a little upset.
That puzzled him. Did they not like being disturbed? But that couldn’t be it—if they didn’t care about Haley, they wouldn’t have used their strange magic earlier to slow the flow of time around her so that he could save her.
It didn’t take long for the mystery to clear up. The little creatures lined up neatly before him, arranging themselves into shapes that formed words in their own language. The message made Leon rub his forehead in embarrassment.
We, the Junimos, are spirits, not mice.
“Alright, alright. So you understand human speech. Sorry—calling you mice was just to keep your existence a secret. And… thanks for helping earlier.”
Hearing his explanation and gratitude, the Junimos hopped happily around him, their mood apparently restored.
After a bit of cheerful commotion, most of them vanished again, leaving four little ones behind. They bounced back to the Crafts Room door, picked up the basket of spring forage items, and carried it together to the small hut in the Community Center’s main hall.
A moment later, the four emerged again, each with something on their head. The leader carried a sack bigger than its own body, while the others each held a rolled-up scroll. They brought them to Leon and set them down.
Leon picked up the sack first, and the moment he touched it, the System’s prompt appeared.
Spring Seeds ×30 (Seeds): Includes various wild spring seeds. Takes 21 days to grow.
The three scrolls, meanwhile, held offering lists for other rooms—besides the Crafts Room—namely the Boiler Room’s mineral list, the Vault’s currency list, and the Pantry’s farm produce list.
“No fish tank or bulletin board lists?” Leon muttered as he checked the scrolls, finding them close to what he remembered.
As if in answer, a light pop sounded and a sea-blue Junimo appeared beside him, dropping another scroll. This one contained the fish tank’s list.
But no bulletin board list came.
While Leon was still wondering why, the Junimos formed a line again and hopped to the right side of the hall, stopping under a wall with a blackboard.
When Leon followed, he saw a yellowed sheet of paper pinned there—and finally understood why the bulletin board list hadn’t been delivered.