Vol.4 Ch.71 - I Wasn’t Recognized

After handing in my letter to the local post office of Springwood early in themorning, I had realized that my plans have now deviated quite a bit fromwhat they were originally meant to be. Due to recent events, it appears I willbe accompanying Anna to go and find this mysterious and rare herb in orderto cure Arthur’s illness.But before we could rush into this, there were still many uncertainties withthe plan which I needed to deal with before we could depart. First of all, isMs. Harper even qualified to treat this mysterious illness?“I’ve read up on the disease quite a bit since our last meeting.” She said asshe drank the Latte I brewed up for her, “It does appear that Andolia Baoneiis a real herb. Not only that, but it is an actual remedy for some of the more‘out there’ diseases and conditions.”“Thanks so much for this.” I replied, “I know you’re busy at this time, so Igenuinely couldn’t thank you enough for helping me look into this a bitfurther. Whilst I did read a lot of books on modern medicine in my travels,I’m still quite inexperienced when it comes to this line of work.”She took another swig of her Latte, then flicked my forehead. “Heh, don’tworry about it. So you’re thinking of becoming a Doctor like me, huh? I’mgonna miss these Lattes of yours, though.”“W-Well, once I graduate from Simpleton’s MedArts, I’ll j-join you as yourhelper or something!” I suggested, “That way you can still enjoy my brewswithout a problem!”She was shocked at just how far I was planning ahead, blushing a bit at thesuggestion, then said “My my, you’ve certainly got it all figured out! But inany case, Simpleton’s University of Medical Arts, huh? My own AlmaMater… You’d go that far just to be with me?”“W-Well, I’d certainly like to.” I bit my tongue as I said, “B-But only if you’dagree to have me assist you in the future!”“Heh, haa…” She sighed, “Like I could say no to such an eagerunderclassman. But you’re gonna have to study your butt off, y’know? Stufflike knowing what each part of the body is called and where it’s located.”“I know that much!” I got up from my seat triumphantly so as to prove myknowledge, “This here’s my left arm, my right arm, that there is my left leg,then the right!”“Hahahahahah!” She chuckled at my little joke, “You’re certainly ready tolearn, alright! Then tell me, Mr. Doctor, what’s the most important part of thebody?”“The heart!” I yelled out for the world to hear, without any attention or carefor who’s listening, “We’d all die without it!”“Good answer.” She said, “But could you show me where it’s located?”“Of course!” I pointed to the top left of my torso.“No no,” She stopped me, “Could you show me where my heart is?”“Of course!” I went to show her before suddenly stopping, “I-It’s… rightthere…”“Where?” She cheekily asked, “Could you please touch where it is?”“I-I c-couldn’t possibly do that!” I said, “It’s, well… They’re in the way…”“Come on,” She gave a hypothetical, “What if I was dying right now and Ineeded heart resuscitation?”“Hmmm…” I thought long and hard, “A-Alright… Here I go…!”I slowly reached my hand over the table towards her, my mind going blankwith each millimeter that her chest grew closer. My breathing turned ragged,and I frequently darted my eyes back and forth between her face and chest.The moment I caught her gazing at me with a gentle smile, I was sure I waslosing it. A bit more… Just a bit more…!“Bzzt!” She made a loud jarring noise, “You took too long and now I’m dead.Too bad!”“Nooo!!!” I screamed in sorrow, but for a different reason than what she hadthought.“Oh come on, don’t cry!” She tried to calm me down, “I’m not really dead,haha!”“You guys gonna stop flirting this early in the morning or what?” Annajolted me back to my senses with this one simple phrase.“Oh, is that how it seemed?” Ms. Harper gave her a smug reply, “No need toget all jealous, Princess. We’re just enjoying a nice cup of coffee together.”“That’s the problem, wench.” Anna insulted my idol, “He’s supposed to behelping me around the restaurant, not enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee witha broad like you.”“Anna!” I reprimanded her harsh tongue, “If you want me to get back to work,just tell me! Stop badmouthing Ms. Harper, you do know she’s the one who’sgonna treat Arthur, right?”“Hell if I care,” She said, “Just get back to work!”As such, she gave me a slap to the back of the head and promptly went off tocontinue her waitressing. Her annoying attitude, mixed with the fact sheembarrassed me in front of Ms. Harper really got on my nerves, plus I nevereven said I’m gonna be working here! I’m just helping her part time whileArthur’s resting!“You should go help her.” Ms. Harper gave me her advice, “A maiden’s heartmay seem like a mystery to you, a boy, but just know that a little bit ofpatience will mean the world to her.”“…” I grumbled, “Calling her a maiden is a real stretch, y’know... Just‘cause she grew up a bit doesn’t mean she’s someone I should follow to theends of the world, y’know?”“Humu…” She hid her laugh with her hand, “But isn’t that what you’re doingright now with this trip?”I immediately realized my slip up and blushed a bit from embarrassment. Itappears Ms. Harper knows how to deal with me more so than I originallyimagined.“Now go,” Ms. Harper sent me away, “And do apologize to her as quickly aspossible. You will be spending quite some time together, so don’t get herangry now.”“…Will do…” I put my pride aside and went on my way.***“So,” I went up to Anna, “…I’m sorry for getting a bit too preoccupied withmy talk with Ms. Harper.”“… Apology…” She stopped for a split second, “Not accepted!”“WHY?!” I angrily shot back.“You think you can get away with it with just a few words? If that was thecase then there wouldn’t be any wars!” She commented, “You’re gonna needto prove you’re sorry to me by actions, not words.”“That logic doesn’t make any sense!” I tried logically refuting her, but to noavail, “…Grr, fine, what do you need me to do?”“Help me with the deliveries, would ya?” She finally stopped being sonaggy, “These boxes are way too heavy to carry around the entire town.”As such, we made our way into the residential part of town to deliver food tothe people who ordered it. This ‘Delivery Service’ was an idea Grimactually came up with back when we were in Great Hiana. It seemed like it’dget us more sales, so I casually mentioned it to Anna in one of the letters Isent her. Who would have thunk she would really go through with it?“Haa, hahh…” I barely finished the last of our deliveries, “Are we finally,hahh, done?”“Yep!” She said with a chipper tone, “All done! Thanks so much, Edward! Itmeans a lot to me.”We finally started seeing eye to eye, it seems. Not sure if it’s because wespent the day outside of the restaurant or just because we shared the pain ofwalking around town in the scorching Sun just to deliver some food, but itappears her earlier attitude has all but vanished.We decided to spend some time just walking around and getting a breather,when we were approached by a somewhat old couple. Usually, it’s thesetypes of people our parents told us to be wary of, but for whatever reasonthese two seemed… oddly familiar?“Hello, sorry to bother you,” The woman gave us a flyer, “Have you seen ourboy?”Ah, that’s it, now I remember.“Oh, isn’t that L-!” I quickly shut Anna up before she could say anything.“Sorry, ma’am, I haven’t seen him. Who is this exactly?” I returned thequestion back to her whilst feigning ignorance.“Young man, this is our son, Lune Grimheart.” The man said, “He left home acouple years ago, so he probably looks somewhat older than in this imagehere. He’s got me and my wife worried sick because of this stunt he’s pulled,so we regularly visit these nearby bigger cities to put up missing posters.”Anna finally realized I was hiding Grim from then, then after exchanging asingle glance she followed my lead, “I’m sorry to hear that, sir. If we seeanyone matching him, we’ll be sure to get in contact.”“Thank you so much!” Grim’s mother started to tear up, “He was always anoverzealous boy, eager to see the world, but to think he’d go this far…”After comforting his sobbing wife, Grim’s father took another glance at meand made a worrying face, “Now that I get a good look at you, could you beEdward Saint?”Obviously, he’d know me. We’ve been neighbors since I was born, plus myblond hair color is so rare amongst kids that it makes me quite noticeable in acrowd. If I confessed now, he’d surely make me spill Grim’s location tothem, but this can’t happen no matter what! Grim made it very clear to me atthe very start of our journey that if this situation were to ever occur, Iabsolutely MUSTN’T tell his parents where he is or what happened to him,and I intend to uphold my end of the bargain.“No, sir.” I made sure to answer him without pausing, so as to not arousesuspicion, “You must have me confused with someone else.”“…” He glared daggers at me for a bit before his wife interfered.“Dear! He’s not Ed, stop bothering them!” She then turned back to us andsaid something incredibly, “We’re sorry for interrupting your date, kids,please don’t mind us and have fun!”“WHA-!” Both Anna and I unanimously yelped in surprise, “W-WE’RE NOTDATING!”They looked at each other before laughing amongst themselves, “Suuure…Just be sure to keep it in moderation. Haa, if only our Lune was like you,young man.”Oh, you have no idea…“I-In any case,” I tried subtly steering them towards their goal, “Since it’sbeen a few years, couldn’t your kid have made it into some other country?”“Phah!” Mr. Grimheart burst out laughing, “Lune’s still wet around the ears,ain’t no way he’s got a passport before 18!”“R-Right,” I tried to nudge him a bit more, “But like, you never know right?”“Boy,” Mr. Grimheart gave me another deathly glare, “You seem to beawfully persistent with this idea, y’know? What makes you so sure aboutthis?”“…”“Alright!” Anna broke the silence, “I’ve decided! Since we have nothing todo for the rest of the day, we’ll help you set up missing posters aroundtown!”“Oh, you don’t have to do that!” Mrs. Grimheart said with a mercifulexpression, “Just go out and enjoy your youth, no need to burden yourselves.”“Don’t worry about it, ma’am!” I reassured her, “We’ll cover this entire townin flyers! And while we’re doing that, you could unwind a bit at ourrestaurant right over there!”They both sighed in relief and handed us the flyers before heading towardsthe Arthur’s. And just when we thought we were free of their antics, theysnuck in one final jab to poke fun at us.“They opened a restaurant together?” Mrs. Grimheart whispered audibly toher husband, “Is their relationship that serious?”“Shh!” Mr. Grimheart noted, “Can’t you see they’re keeping it on the downlow? Maybe he got that girl pregnant and they’re keeping it from their folks!”They turned back at us with these shit eating grins that most resembled that ofGrim’s, but since we were in the middle of the street, we couldn’t scream outany refutes to their bizarre claims. They had done us in…“Ooh, you think they have those ‘Hamburgers’ I keep hearing about?” Thewife asked her husband once again, “I’d like to try one, I hear they’re thenew fad!”“Heh, I’ll get you one if they have it.” Mr. Grimheart embraced her with hisright arm, “These two are young, I’m sure their establishment has it. Heh, youthink the kid’s gonna be a boy or a girl?”God damn you Grimhearts… I WILL NOT HAVE A KID WITH ANNA!Thank each and every God that exists out there that Grim didn’t get thischeekiness from either of you! I’d have quit this journey way earlier if thatwere the case…Vol.4 Ch.72 - I