Chapter 158: A Flourishing Town

Chapter 158 – A Flourishing Town

In my hand was the sweet bread I bought earlier . Sometimes I let it sit in my mouth as I strolled through the street .

[This is delicious . ]

[Un, tasty!]

Apparently both Roxy and Snow enjoyed sweets . Eris and Mimir also often bought some sweets for themselves throughout the journey to Hauzen . Women really like sweets, don’t they?

[Nn? Does Fai not enjoy these kinds of things?]

I was in the middle of thinking about something, so I probably unconsciously made a troubled face . And that sparked Roxy’s worry .

[That’s not true . I think the one with red colored jam was delicious . What jam was that again…]

[Raspberry jam . ]

[Yeah, that one . Thanks to the helpers from Heart territory, we were able to grow some grapes here . ]

Failing to remember the name of the fruit had caused Roxy to bulge her cheeks unhappily at me . So I quickly attempted to swerve the topic .

Greed who was listening to the conversation laughed out loud . It’s annoying to hear him laugh that much, I ended up tapping the black sword hard .

[Thanks to that, both grapes and raspberries could grow firmly on Hauzen . Again, without Roxy’s cooperation, all that wouldn’t be possible . I must thank you again . ]

[No no, I didn’t do that much . The praise should be directed to the helpers who were willing to come to Hauzen instead . ]

[I guess you’re right . ]

The orchard was a bit far away from here, so I couldn’t say hello to them today .

I thanked them in my heart, while enjoying the raspberries .

After Roxy arrived in Hauzen, she seemed to be intrigued by the cityscape since it’s very different from Hearts territory .

[Fai, what is that?]

Following the direction of her happy gaze, I saw a sign hanging on the wall of a shop .

[That’s magic technology to help attract customers . It uses paint that emits light in response to the amount of magic in the air . ]

It was something I learned from Seto . He always informed me in his letters whenever a new technology was used in Hauzen .

I was also drawn by the shining signpost, until Snow tugged on my hand .

[What’s wrong?]

[That person has been staring at us for a while now . ]

[ [ Eeh? ] ]

Looking at the direction Snow was pointing at, there was the innkeeper approaching us as he rubbed his hands together .

[Staying overnight? I’ll give a discount . There are special rooms for a pair of young lovers . ]

[We are not in that kind of relation! Excuse us!]

[Roxy!]

Roxy immediately took my free hand and dragged me away from there .

When we’re far enough to be out of sight from the inn, she smiled at me .

[Ah…that was surprising . I never thought that someone would tell me that this early in the morning…]

[I don’t really mind about that though]

[……we really should not . First of all!]

Roxy easily guessed that I was just joking . Pouting hard, she gently flicked my forehead .

[We have to find Myne’s whereabouts . But to find someone with her looks in this town is…]

[The number of the townspeople is really amazing . ]

[So many! So many!]

Even on a small alley, there were still people wandering around… .

It seemed to be the first time for Snow to see this many people, so she’s been bouncing on her feet excitedly . Her tail had been dangerously peeking from under her glittering white robe, so I hastily asked her to settle down .

She’s a Divine Beastkin after all . At first glance, she may look just like any other human…but her tail really gave her away . Some people might find it scary and make a fuss out of it .

That’s why I’ve been trying to teach Snow to act as human as possible all the time .

[Oi, this kid! Don’t get too excited!]

[Noo! I want to play with them . ]

Street performers were showing off the result of their daily practice . Snow must’ve mistaken them for playing a game .

[They’re not playing games . ]

[Mumuuu~]

Snow struggled strongly to release herself from my restraint .

As expected…her Area E power is not to be trifled with . If left alone, there’s no doubt that she’ll wreak havoc on wherever she goes .

I was reminded of the power that made us struggle when we fought her as the giant scorpion .

She kept wiggling her body like a caterpillar trying to escape from my grip .

[You little . ]

[Ahahaha . ]

I can’t hold her! At this rate she’ll charge toward the street performers!

Just when I thought so, Roxy put something in Snow’s mouth .

[Nn!?]

[How does it taste?]

[… . . tasty!]

While I was holding Snow down, Roxy went to buy skewered sweet fried bread from the nearby stall .

Snow was immediately engrossed in it . So engrossed she seemingly forgot about the street performers completely .

Thanks to Roxy’s quick wit, we managed to avoid Snow destroying the street .

I could finally ease up and release my grip on Snow .

[You’re a lifesaver, Roxy . ]

[No no, it is just a cheap snack! Moreover I have been studying on how to handle little kids!]

Despite her words, Roxy still put her hands on her waist and puffed her chest .

Back then, when I was still but a servant, we went out to the capital where we encountered a weeping lost child . Since then, apparently she’s been secretly studying on how to better handle kids .

Being able to befriend Snow had further bolstered her confidence .

When they first met, I remembered how Snow tended to keep her distance from Roxy . And Roxy would droop her shoulders every time her attempt to get close failed .

When I think about it, they’re so much closer right now . Roxy’s hard work had certainly paid off .

[Look, looky here . Here is another one . ]

[Oooooo!]

Did they get along well…because Roxy had been feeding Snow with food?

But looking at Roxy’s happy expression, I could only think that it’s her trying to take one step forward at a time . For me, who had always been charging ahead hurriedly, being together with Roxy gave me a sense of reassurance .

While watching the two smiling faces, I felt a sharp gaze from behind .

The gaze was only directed at me . Because no other people had sensed it, including Roxy and Snow .

To be able to do that, the owner of this gaze must be skilled .

[Greed…]

『Yeah, there is no mistaking it . That guy . 』

With Greed’s confirmation, I kept the feeling of that gaze in mind . No, I burned it into my mind to be exact .

The gaze belonged to a man who single-handedly vanquished the city-eating monster living under the oasis in the middle of the desert . With the benefit given by that monster, banished or lost people managed to group up together and make a living .

The city-eating monster provided a good environment to attract humans to come nearby . In the distant future, it would’ve emerged from its hideout to eat the descendants of these humans .

Perhaps there was still a lot of time left before that happened . There wasn’t any need to kill the monster right away .

But that man could care less about the people living in that oasis .

Because from his eyes, I sensed a strong unwillingness to forgive any form of evil in this world .

Looking back, a gentle smile certainly always decorated Libra’s face . But his eyes were terribly cold .

[Hi, Fate . We meet again . ]

The hem of his priest-like attire flipped around as he approached me . This time, Roxy and Snow noticed his presence, immediately became vigilant .

[Arara, am I really that scary to you all?]

[Obviously . That accident at the oasis is still very clear in my mind . ]

[Nn? Oasis…ah, that one . That’s nothing important . Rather than that, are you sure you can afford to act this relaxed?]

He approached even closer, then whispered into my ear .

[If you don’t close the door to his land soon, this town will end up just like that oasis . ]