There was still no one in Claire's bakery this afternoon, but the old man was still making the jam for tomorrow, made from fresh and dewy strawberries she had bought from the morning market in the early morning, lemon and sugar from the Kore Peninsula two hundred miles from Guderis, and a bottle of old Fili honey. ??????·

Making jam seems like a simple thing, but in fact, it is very effortless, the proportion of ingredients, the heat of boiling, every tiny link will affect the final taste, so making a good jar of jam requires enough patience.

The fox masked man couldn't understand why Claire liked such troublesome things anyway, he was lying on the table, bored playing with two marbles, the temple's secret stronghold in Guderies had been removed, and Lois hadn't come to the store for the past two days because of the student council, in short, there was nothing to do lately.

So the Fox Mask Man proposed, "Claire, let's go to the hot springs this weekend." ”

"I had a friend for tea over the weekend. The old man was apologetic, "Why don't you ask Lois if he's free?" ”

"Eh~~~" The fox masked man lengthened his voice, and no longer cared about the two marbles, letting them roll off the table, "Claire, you've been so weird lately, and you're behind the last incident, anyway, it's a bit too much to secretly add condiments to my drink." ”

"You think too much, it's just a kind of tea that can calm the nerves and relieve fatigue, and I drink it every night. Claire unhurriedly drizzled lemon juice over sugar-curled strawberries.

"Is that so?" Claire's voice came from Claire's ears, startling the latter, and Claire found out that the guy had left his place at some point and came behind her quietly, and the old man's hand holding the spoon trembled slightly?

As a result, the next moment, I saw the fox masked man bend down and pick up a marble at her feet, "Ha, it's really here." ”

Claire breathed a sigh of relief, but the fox masked man didn't leave in a hurry after picking up the marbles.

"Beware, Claire, you're playing a dangerous game. The man across from her looked her in the eye and reminded.

The old man was silent.

"I know you see yourself in Lois, but you should also know that I don't want her to follow your path, and I may not be able to make up for the tragedy of the past, but at least I can prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future. The fox masked man blew the dust off the marbles and put it in his pocket.

"It's a pity that you're not me, you don't understand what I'm thinking, I have regretted many things in my life, but I haven't regretted that morning for a second. Claire finally spoke, but her tone was unexpectedly calm.

"yes, where have you been all these years?" the fox masked man sneered, "what attracts you to the Dagmar Desert, the cacti or those dumb lizardmen?" hehe, do you know what the most fucking interesting thing about this thing is, just half a year before you planned to say goodbye without saying goodbye, you deliberately told me that you liked those uninhabited islands in the Storm Sea, and said that you wanted to build a hut on it, and live a life away from the world without anyone disturbing you. ”

The fox masked man pointed to his nose and said, "And this fool in front of you believes it, I have been rowing a small boat and floating in the stormy sea for twenty years, rummaging through every island in that hellish place, every inch of the island, not even the rabbit hole, and you ended up drinking beer and eating skewers with your lizardman friends in the earthen kiln of the Dagmar Desert." ”

Claire's expression revealed deep guilt, "I'm sorry, I can't bear this, I thought I was strong enough, but in fact I can't, I can't stand my aging day by day in front of you, you don't understand how cruel this is for a woman." ”

"You also don't know how cruel it can be for a man to dig a rabbit hole in the stormy sea for twenty years. The Fox Masked Man sneered, "Forget it, Claire, there is no one in this world who knows you better than I do, and after forty years you are suddenly back in Gudris, I already know what you are up to when you bring that child to me." ”

"I didn't intend to hide it from you, because there is nothing in this world that can hide from you. The old man's eyes were full of tenderness, "From the first time I saw the child, I realized that the question I had been searching for had finally been answered, that child was very much like me, both in character and temperament, it was exactly the same as when I was younger, except that she was more youthful than me, and had more time. ”

"Hehehehe, Claire, I've always said that the older you get, the more confused you become, and you still won't admit it, so that's your answer? Get a trumpet that came out of nowhere and throw it in front of me, pretending that he has been with me for another twenty years, and then I guess, this trumpet probably has the same skills as you, I don't know when my brain twitches and I feel that I am old, I will sneak away, and find a random corner of the world for decades, and I don't plan to let me go before I die, and then bring a trumpet back to me, so what do you think of me, the village chief of the novice village who gave the artifact?" Of course, I'm guessing you're probably still feeling good about yourself right now, that you're great, that you're a noble woman who has the courage to sacrifice and get rid of jealousy. ”

"But you didn't refuse, did you, teacher?" Claire smiled, "I knew that the teacher would never bear to refuse my request." ”

"Less, I didn't refuse you because I really like children very much, but please don't get me wrong, this kind of liking is just a simple love between master and apprentice. The fox masked man scoffed.

"But that kid is starting to like you, too. Claire said softly, "If you're willing to take off your mask in front of her............"

The fox masked man unceremoniously interrupted her, "Isn't it normal for the little girl to like this today and that tomorrow?" Claire ......" the man sighed, "On the first day we reunited, I warned you not to be clever, I hate that other people make decisions for me, no matter what the purpose of that person, don't think that you can understand me after we have lived together for twenty years, you don't know what the real me is like." ”

The fox masked man's expression changed suddenly when he said the last sentence, there was not the slightest warmth in his tone, and the gaze he looked at Claire made the latter feel extremely strange, it was not like a human look at all, but an indifference above all things, as if he didn't care about everything in the world.

But this look only flashed away, and the fox masked man returned to his usual heartless appearance, "By the way, when I was looking for you at sea before, I accidentally found a small island, and I also met a group of bare-ass wild people on the island, tsk, the wild girl on the island is better looking than the other, and it seems that there is still half of the elven blood, and when Claire you hang up, I will go to that island to stay for seven or eight years." ”