Naro lived off the income he earned from running the apothecary, and he was the type to thoroughly plan how to use the money he made. First, after excluding the costs needed to operate the apothecary, he saved a portion of the remaining money, and then with what was left over, he bought things necessary for living.
Since Naro had virtually no material desires and lived simply, he wasn’t short on money. However, now there was one more person in the household. After picking up Ray, it became a life for two people instead of one, but that didn’t mean it would be a problem.
Naro’s apothecary had been gaining word-of-mouth recognition and receiving more orders, so his income was gradually increasing compared to before, making it not particularly difficult to take responsibility for Ray. However, the aftermath of recently having to temporarily close the apothecary because of Anton had been quite a significant blow.
Some of the orders he’d received had been canceled, so he’d had to refund money, and quite a bit of money had gone into buying replacement parts and repairing the apothecary. Perhaps if Ray hadn’t used his power to help at the very end, it might have been even harder than now.
In any case, not only had he been unable to do business for several days, but the costs spent on cleaning up here and there had been considerable, so these days it had reached a point where living expenses were insufficient. The reason he’d only bought half his usual amount when purchasing groceries earlier was also because his wallet situation wasn’t comfortable.
He had savings, but still, he didn’t want to break into those if possible.
“If I reduce my portion a bit more, I might be able to barely get through this month.”
The moment he said that, a gurgling sound came from Naro’s stomach. Naro was startled and covered his stomach, momentarily glancing at Ray. Fortunately, Ray was sleeping soundly with his tail curled up.
Just because money was tight didn’t mean he wanted to starve Ray. Nor did he want to share such a long-winded situation and needlessly share his worries.
“Is there any part where I can economize more…?”
Naro fell into thought while holding his pen. Now that he was planning to properly resume operating the apothecary, he had to tighten his belt until income started rolling in stably again.
Naro racked his brain earnestly, not even noticing the night deepening.
And several hours later, past midnight. Ray tossed and turned, then groped around the spot beside him with his tail. When he felt no warmth, he sat up abruptly and looked around the house. Fortunately, Naro was home, sleeping with his head down on the desk.
Ray got down from the bed and transformed into human form. Then he approached the desk and gently embraced Naro’s body as he lay sleeping face-down. Moving carefully so as not to wake him, just as he laid him on the bed and was about to cover him with the blanket, a faint gurgling sound came from Naro’s stomach.
“Mmm, I’m hungry…”
Naro muttered in his sleep. Ray brought his ear to Naro’s stomach.
“Of course you’re hungry when you don’t eat.”
Ray muttered as if reproaching him and stroked Naro’s stomach, which had not an ounce of fat, a couple of times. Then he slowly got up and approached the desk where Naro had been sitting all along, picking up the notebook that had been placed on top. Numbers were written messily here and there.
Not knowing what it was, he was just furrowing his brow in frustration when he saw writing at the bottom that said “Economize!”
“Economize?”
Ray tilted his head, then pulled out a dictionary from the bookshelf and went about finding the meaning while continuously muttering the word economize.
[Economize: To save by not using wastefully and only spending on what is absolutely necessary.]
“Saving is economizing… Human language is truly difficult.”
Ray closed the dictionary and stared intently at Naro, who had fallen fast asleep without a care.
* * *
Morning dawned once again. Naro was about to get up while stretching when pain as if one shoulder was stiff attacked him. Come to think of it, yesterday he’d been organizing the ledger at the desk when his eyes hurt, so he’d tried to close them for a moment, but it seemed he’d fallen asleep just like that.
Had Ray moved him to the bed? Naro naturally reached out to the side to embrace Ray, but it was empty with nothing to grasp.
“Ray?”
Naro sat up abruptly and lifted the blanket. But Ray, who had been sleeping here yesterday with his tail curled up, wasn’t there. Even when he felt around the bed, the warmth had long since grown cold.
“Where did he go again?”
Just as Naro was hurriedly about to get down from the bed, a memo that had been on the nightstand fell to the floor with a thud.
[I went out. I’ll come back, so don’t cry and wait for me.]
It was Ray’s handwriting. He could tell because he’d seen it when Ray was studying letters. As soon as he saw the memo, a heavy sigh of relief flowed out. He’d been frightened, thinking Ray had disappeared again without a word like last time. But it was still morning—when had he woken up and left?
Even trying to predict, no place Ray might go particularly came to mind. Could he have gone to find Garnet for business like last time?
“I should prepare breakfast before he returns.”
Just as Naro was about to start moving in earnest, he heard rustling sounds from outside. Had Ray returned?
“Ray!”
Naro called out brightly and flung open the door.
“Naro, I’m back.”
As expected, it was Ray who had returned. But Naro’s face, which had been smiling to greet Ray, gradually hardened. That was because bloodstains were spattered on Ray’s cheek, and he was carrying a limp deer slung over his shoulder.
It was a sight that would horrify anyone who didn’t know the situation.
“R-Ray. There’s blood… blood on your face.”
Naro ran to Ray in surprise. There was more than one thing to be shocked about, but still, first of all, the bloodstains concerned him the most. He was suddenly worried that Ray might be injured. Naro tried to wipe the bloodstains on his face with his sleeve, but the already dried blood didn’t come off easily.
“It’s not my blood. It’s this guy’s blood.”
“This guy” referred to the deer Ray was currently carrying slung over his shoulder. It clearly looked like prey hunted by a predator, and Naro knew full well who that hunter was.
Naro was flustered and couldn’t figure out where to start the conversation when Ray put down the cloth he’d been carrying on his other shoulder with a thud. Inside the bag made by weaving cloth, there were plenty of fruits that looked freshly picked.
“Ray, what is all this?”
“My food.”
Hearing those words, Naro stood frozen in a daze. Ray nonchalantly set down the deer he’d hunted to one side and busied himself brushing off his clothes.
“Food? But I make food for you.”
Naro was suddenly worried. Could it be that Ray had gone out to get food because the meals he made didn’t taste good? Since he didn’t know what dragons ate as their staple or liked, he’d just vaguely prepared the same things humans ate, but maybe that had been wrong.
“Does the food I make not taste good?”
Naro timidly approached Ray from behind. He tapped Naro’s cheek and shook his head.
“No. Naro’s food is delicious.”
“Then why?”
“Because Naro is starving because of me. I don’t like Naro being hungry.”
Naro’s eyes widened. How had Ray known that? He’d even told unconvincing lies trying not to show it.
“Naro shows it.”
“Ah…”
So was this why they say you shouldn’t do what you can’t do? Come to think of it, yesterday Ray had immediately caught his dark expression at the plaza, and had also noticed the subtle difference in portions when they ate together. Perhaps even if he’d tried to hide it, it certainly wouldn’t have lasted very long.
“Since I live with Naro, at least I’ll get my own food.”
“So you’re going to eat that, that?”
“Yeah.”
While he was at it, Ray wiped a fruit clean with his clothes and held it out to Naro.
“I’ll share with Naro too.”
The glossy fruit looked quite delicious. The freshness of having just been picked from the mountain could be felt through the touch. Ray knew that his financial situation wasn’t very good right now and had taken action himself.
And while doing so, he said it was to live together with him. It was the first time he’d heard such words.
In his previous world, Naro had been confined to the hospital and unable to interact with people, so he’d never once experienced what it was like to live together with someone. Conversely, no one had ever told him they wanted to live together with him either.
But Ray had said that. Even if it seemed like nothing special, a trivial action, he could feel too well what kind of heart Ray had when doing this. Seeing him make an effort to live together, he choked up without realizing it.
“Now don’t worry about my food and Naro can eat it all.”
Hearing those words, tears finally rolled down from Naro’s eyes. Ray, who had been taking a bite of the fruit, was shocked and dropped the fruit with a thud, his face stricken.
“Naro, why are you crying? You don’t like this fruit?”
“No. I’m just grateful. I’m happy that Ray thinks of me that way.”
“I’m not happy. I’m not happy when Naro cries, so don’t cry.”
Ray held Naro tightly in his arms and licked up his tears with his tongue. He’d done this last time too, so Naro had said that tears could be wiped with hands, but it seemed he hadn’t understood well. He tried to escape the ticklish feeling, but Ray didn’t easily release his arms embracing Naro.
“But Ray, you really don’t have to go this far. The truth is, I couldn’t buy a lot of ingredients because I have to save money right now, but still, I want to eat together with Ray face to face.”
