Chapter 40 - The City of Richelle and the Departing Strangers
Today was a day off. Every day since coming to this world had been packed with something to do. It was a work schedule that would put any sweatshop to shame. I was walking with Mizuki, taking one last look at the city we were about to leave.
Fam had gone to the church to see Maira.
Cecily and Aira were out together as well.
"Do we look like a couple?"
Mizuki was walking with her arm linked through mine. Her line felt strangely familiar.
"More like a sugar daddy situation, isn't it?"
At the very least, it probably didn't look like a wholesome relationship.
"...I wonder if they have that in this world? Sugar daddies."
"The term might be different, but I'm sure it exists, right?"
There were probably far more sordid arrangements.
"Let's change the subject. Is there anywhere you want to go, Mash?"
"I want to drag you into an alley and do lewd things to you."
"...Don't say scary things like that. Why do you always say such perverted stuff?"
"Because you're perverted, Mizuki. You're the one who brought it up, weren't you?"
"I am not perverted, and I wasn't expecting that kind of answer."
Why was she getting so worked up? I knew for a fact that Mizuki was a pervert.
"You think so? Alright, let's have a contest. Whoever says something perverted first loses. And the loser gets a penalty."
This should settle who the real pervert was. I was one, sure, but I was convinced Mizuki was just as bad.
"Fine. But you're just planning on making the penalty something perverted, aren't you?"
It seemed like Mizuki wasn't so keen on steering away from lewd topics either.
"If I did that, you'd be the only one enjoying it."
"I would not!"
"Do you have a permanent marker?"
"Probably..."
Mizuki rummaged through a bag in her storage and pulled out a permanent marker. Keeping it in storage was great; no need to worry about it drying out.
"Alright, then the first one to say something lewd has to spend all day tomorrow with... no, not on the forehead, that's too much... with 'Nose' written on their, well, nose."
If you looked at the character for nose upside down, it would look like a guy with a mustache.
"Are you serious? Tomorrow we have to meet and greet the members of the caravan. If you're doing that, people will think we're all weirdos, so that's a problem."
It seemed Mizuki was confident in her victory.
"You're misunderstanding something. You're the one who's going to lose, Mizuki."
"...Fine. I accept your challenge. Tomorrow, I'll pretend I don't know you. And I'll make sure Fam stays away from you, too. If you're the one who has to do it, you'll probably just write 'Nose' on yourself anyway."
"So, is there anywhere you want to go, Mizuki?"
"I want to buy the underwear Fam has."
"Mizuki... Tomorrow, it's 'Nose' for you."
"Huh...? N-No, wait, underwear isn't a perverted word! The underwear they sell in this world is such bad quality. But Fam has this really nice pair, and when I asked where she got it, she wouldn't tell me, and when I begged, she said to ask you, so I had no choice! So it's not perverted!"
Mizuki rattled it all off in a single breath.
"...If you really don't think it's lewd, then try saying it again, slowly, in a loud voice so everyone can hear you."
She was already speaking quite loudly in her excitement, but I said it to make her realize.
"...Mash, please. I want another chance."
Her eyes were welling up with tears. I started to feel a little sorry for her.
"Alright. Best two out of three."
"Okay. Thank you."
Mizuki let out a sigh of relief.
"What you're talking about is probably the set she got from Racshell. So you can't buy it in this world."
"...You did something perverted to steal it, just like with my polka-dot ones, didn't you... Ah!"
"Mizuki, you're way too easy! One more loss and it's 'Nose' for you! Focus on the game!"
"Ugh... I'm not a perverted girl. This is so frustrating..."
We had arrived at Aidan's workshop. Mizuki received a rapier and a small shield to be worn on the arm. Apparently, this shield was called a buckler. The shield Mizuki had been using was destroyed in yesterday's battle, so the timing was perfect. When I held it, it was incredibly light for something made of metal. I wondered if it was made of titanium or duralumin, or maybe some special metal unique to this world.
"Let me see your sword. I'll sharpen it for you."
I handed my katana to Aidan. He gazed at the blade for a moment, then turned his back to me, crouched down, and began to sharpen it. Mizuki had gone out into the yard to test the feel of her new weapons.
"Aidan, I'm leaving this city tomorrow."
"I know," Aidan replied without stopping his work. He didn't even turn around.
"I want you to come with me."
He had this workshop, and he had apprentices. I knew it was an impossible request.
"Why?"
"Fam needs a role model. Both for fighting and for living."
Aidan stood up.
"She already has a role model."
I knew he was talking about me, but I wasn't worthy of that. Yesterday, when she gripped my sword to fight the Hekatonkheires, she had surpassed me. She, too, had a wealth of talent slumbering within her. But the Fam I saw in my mind was still the young girl who had panicked about her own bodily functions the day we met.
"Aidan, I'm—"
"You might think you're unreliable, but you're growing, too. You just have to grow together."
"But—"
"There's no need to rush," Aidan said, cutting me off. That sense of urgency I wanted to convey to Aidan—wasn't it the same as the feelings Fam wanted to convey to me? That's what it felt like. Aidan held out my katana, returning it. I took it. Then, he handed me another blade, a wakizashi.
"I'm entrusting this to you. The two are a set. Take care of Maira and Aira for me, too."
"Aidan..."
Please forgive me for not being able to say a simple 'thank you.' It's the kind of thing guys like us can't say out loud to each other. We can only convey it with the help of alcohol or by couching it in a joke. But right here, right now, we had neither. Still, I hoped he understood. I might not be a good role model for Fam. But I will protect her.
"What were you two talking about?"
Mizuki asked after we left Aidan's workshop.
"He gave me a wakizashi. As thanks, I decided to let him grope your breasts."
"Hmph! That's two losses!"
Mizuki puffed out her cheeks.
"...That's a lie, right?"
she asked, looking anxious. Had I teased her too much?
"Yeah. I wouldn't let anyone grope them."
"That's one more loss!"
"Wait, that was part of the same thing! That's not fair!"
"It's totally fair."
I didn't really want to see Mizuki with 'Nose' written on her face, so this was fine, but I still didn't want to lose the bet. Aidan's workshop was on the north side of the city. We came out onto the bank of the river that cut through the city from north to south. The area was like a wooded park. Cultivated trees lined the path, creating an artificially manicured landscape. The river flowed from south to north. A man was selling what I thought were roasted chestnuts. We bought some to try. They were overcooked and not very good. We walked through the park together. In the distance, I could see the stone bridge Fam and I had visited the day before yesterday.
"It looks like Florence."
That was it. Now I remembered. If I recalled correctly, that bridge also connected a palace to a government office.
"Have you been there before?"
Mizuki shook her head.
"I'd like to go someday. With you." She looked straight at me.
"What's wrong with this city?"
"We can't exactly go sightseeing, can we? We'd probably get arrested by soldiers just for staring at the palace..."
She had a point. The palace and bridge here were currently in active use. I wondered if, several hundred years from now, the buildings of this city would become tourist attractions like the palaces in my original world.
"So, what are you going to buy me?" she asked with a mischievous smile.
"...I had a feeling you were the one who put her up to it."
But I had to admit, Fam in her little devil mode had been incredibly cute.
"We read Racshell's guidebook together. I thought it would just be a hassle, getting something like that, but it was actually interesting. It made me realize how big the world is and how many different things are in it."
"Is that so? Was there a map?"
"I'm not the one who found it, but there was something like one of those old, simplified maps. But it was centered on the Empire, and the scale was completely off. Dragons and whales were devouring parts of it, elephants were trampling others... it was hard to make any sense of it. I think they were just drawing over the parts they didn't know."
I wanted a map. After hearing Maira's stories about the myths, I wanted one even more. But they weren't sold to the general public. Even at the guild, they only sold maps of the surrounding areas. And yet, one had been given to us from the start, buried in a mountain of data we couldn't possibly process.
"Let's go to that bench."
Mizuki suggested. We sat down together on the bench. She took out 'How to Walk the World' from her storage and showed me the page. My eyes were drawn to a large arrow pointing somewhere with the words 'Treasure sleeps here, ya know' scrawled beside it. It looked close to this city, but with a map like this, it was impossible to tell what the actual distance was.
"This is a pretty creative map... but doesn't it kind of look like Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa? This sea-like thing in the south looks like the Mediterranean."
For some reason, countless white hands were reaching out from the water. It was unsettling.
"That's not much to go on, though," Mizuki murmured.
"What about this river that divides the north and south?"
The river flowed from the southeast of our location in Richelle and stretched far to the east.
"Umm, what was that river that flows east through the middle of Europe? I think I learned it with some ridiculous mnemonic... but is this even a river? It turns into cat whiskers at the end."
The impact of her words was so strong I couldn't think of anything else.
"What kind of mnemonic is that?! I thought this must be the river we'll be traveling on by boat, since that was part of the caravan route. So, you still don't think it looks like Europe?"
"...Hmmm. But now that you mention it, it's strange how it starts to look that way."
Mizuki was peering at the map just as I was. I could feel her breath. Her lips were close. I tore my eyes from the map and looked around. The only other person was the man selling chestnuts.
"What's wrong?"
Mizuki followed my gaze and looked around, too. Her eyes also stopped on the chestnut vendor.
"Mizuki, let's buy some more chestnuts."
I bought more chestnuts from the man. A large amount, for souvenirs. It would be a nice gift to hand out to the caravan members tomorrow. The man left with a wide smile on his face. Now, there was no one in sight.
"C-Can't you wait until tonight?" Mizuki said.
"That's a loss for you, Mizuki."
Mizuki threw her arms around me. I hugged her back over her arms. She looked up at me with misty eyes, then closed them. I pressed my lips against hers.
"Are you sure I'm the one who lost?"
Mizuki smiled mischievously.
"...How about we call it a draw?"
As soon as I asked, Mizuki snuggled closer.
"So, what is it you want me to buy you?"
"You had a wristwatch, right? I want that."
"Are you serious? That's the same model as the first watch on the moon."
"You didn't have anything else to spend your money on, did you? So you bought it for yourself as a 'present,' right?"
Mizuki's words cut deep.
"...You're not wrong, but some people might burst into tears if you say things like that. Be careful. Besides, I don't have the tools to adjust the band to fit your wrist."
In the first place, the watch face was too big and wouldn't suit Mizuki's wrist. I took the watch out of my storage and handed it to her.
"I'll treasure it. Someday, I'll wear this watch to the moon."
There was still time. I gave her one more kiss, and then we walked along the river, arm in arm.
We were late getting back to the inn.
"You're late!"
Cecily shouted the moment we walked in. The dining hall, usually bustling, was quiet tonight. Looking around, I saw many of the familiar long-term guests sitting at their tables without any food.
"Did something happen?"
I asked as I sat down at the table with Fam, Cecily, and Aira.
"Since it's our last night, everyone was saying we should all drink together, so we were waiting for you," Fam said.
"I see. In that case, tonight's drinks are on me!"
A cheer erupted through the dining hall, and from there, a rowdy banquet of drinking and merrymaking began. Taking advantage of the mood, I handed out the roasted chestnuts.
"Master, you look so cool wearing two swords," Fam said.
"Y-You think so?"
I felt like it was the first time in my life someone had called me cool. I would have been happier if she'd said it while sober, though. I glanced at the mug of ale in her hand, half-empty after she'd taken what she called a single sip.
"Please let me try them on, too."
"It's better than with the wine, but your face is already red. You can hold the swords when you're sober."
"...Understood."
Fam's shoulders slumped.
"Mizuki..."
"Wh-What? Mash said he was paying, so I just had one, that's all."
She was back to her usual self. I shifted my gaze to Cecily.
"Can you hold your liquor, Cecily?"
"I think I'm about average, but..."
She said, glancing at Aira. In front of Aira, several empty mugs were already scattered about.
"It's a substitute for water. My stomach doesn't get upset when I drink alcohol."
It was true that the water in this city was far from sanitary. I had water magic, so I'd been able to get clean water early on, but I'd never seen a mage selling water. I had heard stories about people in the Middle Ages drinking alcohol instead of water, but I wondered if it was true. I'd also heard that drinking alcohol requires even more water to process it.
"Hee hee hee, I'll drink this inn dry and cause you a world of trouble."
Aira then chugged her ale in one go and gave a defiant laugh. It was a little unsettling; I wished she'd just drink cheerfully. I also wished she wouldn't forget that if I was in trouble, she, my slave, would be in trouble too.
"You're not drinking at all, Mash. It's your money, so don't worry about it and drink up!"
No, precisely because it was my money, I was worried about it. But, urged on by Cecily, I reluctantly took a drink.
"That's the spirit. If the person paying isn't drinking, nobody else can relax and enjoy themselves. Bwahahaha! More ale!"
It seemed Cecily was already well on her way. What a drunkard. And so, our final night in the city passed in a wave of boisterous celebration.
Thank you for reading this far. This concludes the Richelle arc. Starting next time, there will be a special arc (three chapters). It will be a story set a little bit in the future.
To everyone who has liked, bookmarked, and rated this story, I am truly grateful. Thank you to everyone who has given me motivation.