Sightseeing Secretly in Ville Zentra
「What? Huh? What?」
Deena couldn"t quite understand why he held her hand and started walking.
「I have a magic item that allows me to conceal the presence of someone as long as I touch them.」Hikaru said.
She wore a curious look. However, if she wasn"t careful, oncoming people would b.u.mp into her. That was when she realized they couldn"t see her.
「I-Is this the magic item you used to infiltrate the ship?」
「Something like that.」
After a bit of thinking, Deena spoke.「I see. So it"s a type of Spirit magic.」
「Nope.」
「What?!」
She looked genuinely surprised. Hikaru wasn"t lying, of course; it was simply Group Obfuscation. None of the crew onboard could use it, and barely a few even had Stealth. Perhaps their Stealth skills didn"t develop because they had their optical camouflage anyway.
Hmm…
Hikaru observed Deena. She seemed to be shaken that her hunch was off the mark.
「S-So why are we going sightseeing?」
「You"re here now on this side of the world. Don"t you want to see the sights?」
「Well, yes, I suppose.」
「As long as you hold my hand—well, it doesn"t really matter where as long as I touch you—you"ll be hidden. Let"s just go around town for now.」
Hikaru took Deena through the streets of Ville Zentra, a port city prosperous due to maritime trade, and as such, was full of life. Deena seemed to be curious about everything—the piles of barrel, house walls, signboards out on the streets, merchants hawking at pa.s.sersby, the aroma of grilled fish. Hikaru had to pull her whenever she was about to b.u.mp into someone. Perhaps the only thing familiar to her was the smell of salt.
「I-I"m sorry.」Deena apologized after Hikaru pulled her several times.
「It"s fine. Anyway, aren"t you exhausted? We"ve been walking around for an hour.」
「Now that you mention it, I am.」
Hikaru made his way to a restaurant—Kaglai"s subordinate told him about it—with private rooms. It was located in a back street, and as long as you had money, they didn"t mind letting in someone as shady as Hikaru.
「Are you hungry? Apparently the seafood soup here is incredible. I want some. You should try it too.」
「R-Really? But I don"t have any money.」
「No need to worry about that. We"ll just charge it to necessary expenses and let the bosses pay.」
Deena chuckled at Hikaru"s joke.
Good. She"s starting to relax. This Stockholm syndrome way of doing things kinda makes me feel bad, though.
A condition in which a hostage becomes sympathetic with their captor. It was already too late to be feeling guilty, however.
Hikaru was a little hungry as he had to leave early. Like the rumors said, the soup was indeed delicious, and he left the restaurant satisfied. After that, he showed Deena to the Adventurers Guild, the city hall, the harbor, and the shipyard.
「All these street lights are magic items too.」Hikaru said.
「Oh…」
Anything magic item-related seemed to interest her, even the ones that weren"t all that incredible.
「There"s so many…」she muttered.
「In terms of technology, these aren"t really all that great. They use small Spirit magic gems too, basically sc.r.a.ps.」
「You can get a lot of Spirit magic gems here?」
「Yeah. Dungeons are where you"ll find a whole lot.」
「Spirit magic gems in dungeons?!」Deena"s mouth hung open from surprise.「Ah.」
Realizing she blurted out too much, Deena closed her mouth. Hikaru pretended to not notice.
「There"s hotdogs over there. Wanna try some?」
「What?! Hotdog… you mean a light snack where a sausage is served in a bun?」
「Pond Hotdog is actually quite famous. Their sauce is especially good.」
Hikaru deactivated his Stealth and purchased from the hotdog chain he invested in. They sold in half sizes too, where one hotdog was cut in half. Hikaru ignored the super spicy option. Instead he chose the standard ketchup and mustard, and one with salsa sauce.
「Here you go.」Hikaru said as she handed Deena the standard flavored one, while he had the other.
「Th-Thank you. Hmm, this really is tasty.」
「Hmm, the sausage is average at best.」Hikaru said.
「Really? I think it"s delicious.」Deena said, a curious look on her face.
「I"m glad both our civilizations invented hotdogs.」
「Yeah, it"s amazing! The meat is different, though.」
There"s a chance that Grand Dream"s livestock industry hasn"t really developed that much.
Hikaru gathered information little by little. After that, they spent some more time going around town. Deena seemed to be getting exhausted past noon, so they decided to cut the sightseeing short.
「Let"s head back for now. Although, if there"s something you want to see, just tell me.」
Deena, seated on a bench under a tree, looked troubled.「There"s one thing I want to see.」she said with resolve.「Magic.」
She showed interested in anything magic item or magic-related. The people of the Ruined Continent couldn"t use magic. Hikaru believed these two were connected.
「Sure.」
But he pretended like he didn"t realize it yet and accepted Deena"s request. Hikaru had someone in mind when it came to magic.
「At times, we take out the wicked!」
「At times, we leave mysteries behind!」
「And sometimes, we incur grudges from people!」
「And sometimes, we act with no regard for others!」
「We move in the darkness of the night and see through the truth behind our mask!」
「We are—」Spreading both arms, Lavia and Paula brandished their staffs.
「Silver Face!」
Deena"s eyes opened wide. She glanced at Hikaru who was clapping. So they"re still going with this, huh? he thought. Once they started though, he couldn"t really stop them.
「So there are three of you?」Deena asked.
「There could be more.」
After calling Lavia and Paula, they arrived wearing new masks and cloaks. Lavia was especially ecstatic. She probably wanted a chance to actually use the disguise. It looked like they practiced their poses as well, as they were both in sync. Paula seemed to have overcome her shame, but Hikaru could still see red on the part of her face not covered by the mask.
Hikaru left Deena with Kaglai last night and went back to the hotel to sleep. That"s when he told the girls about her.
「All right. Time to show you what magic is like.」
They were in the outskirts of town, about an hour"s trip away by carriage. Firing spells in the middle of the streets was not an option.
「O" Spirit, heed my call. With the primordial flame, burn my foe to ashes.」
Lavia cast Fire Breath on a dead tree in the distance. Deena"s eyes grew wide as a magic circle appeared in the air, and flames came out of it. Deena"s mouth hung open.
「Oh, my.」Deena muttered as the fire burned the tree to the ground.
Okay, I get it now. Spirit magic doesn"t exist in the Ruined Continent.
It was the only explanation. Hikaru could see why someone would be surprised at Lavia"s powerful fire spells, but Deena expressed her surprise right when the magic circle appeared.
「I hope you"re satisfied.」
「Hmm? Ah yes, that was quite something.」
「That was just beginner-level magic, though.」
「Really?!」Deena looked even more amazed.
「Grand Dream doesn"t have Spirit magic. Instead, sorcery-based science progressed. Am I right?」
「What you"re after is something magic-related. You want to obtain knowledge about magic.」
「You want to take a Mage home.」
Deena gave a start.
「Oh, looks like I hit the mark. What are you going to make them do?」
「I can"t say anything at the moment.」
「That"s what Gorja told you, right?」
Deena was silent.
Hikaru gave a faint smile.「I"ll show you some other magic then.」