Lingchuan drew a check mark in his notebook with his pen and said, "Next, I'm going to buy a sesame flatbread. The stall near the village entrance makes really good ones. You should try one too."
"You do all this every day?" Nagato took the notebook and found all sorts of little things recorded inside. The scattered notes covered what to eat today, which shop had the lowest prices, what the shopkeepers liked, and what to say for a chance at a discount. There were also notes about which children had improved their grades and what gifts to bring them.
"Not necessarily. Sometimes, if something unusual comes up, I'll take a walk outside the village."
"Something unusual?"
"Want a sesame flatbread?"
"..."
A vein throbbed on Nagato's forehead. This man kept leaving things half-said, as though he were deliberately toying with him. Nagato wanted to punch him, but reason reminded him that now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Still—he was so damn irritating.
When they reached the flatbread stall, Nagato couldn't tell whether he was imagining it, but the people around him seemed a little more lively than the last time he had seen them.
Just then, something suddenly blocked his view. "Want some? Smells great."
A freshly baked sesame flatbread appeared before him, sprinkled with sesame seeds, its fragrance washing over his nose in waves of heat.
Nagato frowned and knocked it aside with his hand, his expression cold. "I'm not hungry."
Well... Lingchuan might have believed him if he hadn't caught the slight movement in Nagato's throat as he swallowed.
"Really?"
Lingchuan crouched in front of Nagato, took a bite of his flatbread, and smacked his lips, breathing out hot air as he said, "That's a real shame. If you don't believe me, just smell