Publishedat 30th of January 2019 04:14:49 PMChapter 24
Maki and Chiharu were invited into the children’s house, and their eyes wandered around with interest . The ceiling and doors were low, much like old j.a.panese houses, but not too low for Maki and Chiharu . The plastered walls were bright, and the furniture was relaxing and made of wood . They could see a large oven in the kitchen where the mother stood .
“Many travelers have been coming through here recently, because of the Saintesses . Things have only just calmed down, but they will probably be taking return trips starting tomorrow . So it will be quite lively again . ”
The mother said as she served them some cold meats . It was served with thinly sliced bread . The steamed meat looked like chicken, and it was also sliced and served on a plate .
“See, you put the meat on the bread and pour this dressing on top . ”
This slightly sour ham sandwich was very delicious .
“So, how old are you two? Human children are so much taller, I just can’t get a grasp on their ages . ”
“Oh, I am 14 and my sister is 12 . ”
“Hmm, so you can drink apple wine then?”
“We can!”
“We can!”
“Oh, my . Well, I just happen to have a special, homemade apple wine . Would you like to try it?”
“Of course!”
“Of course!”
The homemade apple wine was much sweeter than the one at the inn .
“I use apples that are from a relative in a neighboring village, and they are much sweeter . However, the alcohol is also stronger, so you can only have a little . ”
“The cider is much better . Here, have some cider . ”
The children said as they shared some of their drink . It was a very pleasant lunch .
“Oh, but the air really has improved . I feel like it started ever since the Saintesses came . The miasma seems to have almost vanished . There should be less trouble in the town now . ”
“There was trouble?”
“Dwarves are tough people, but you know, half a year without a Saintess will do it . But humans are much weaker, and the effect of miasma is stronger in them . Pa.s.sing adventurers become troublesome . I heard that there was a lot of fighting in Gromble . In fact, I would have stopped you two from going if things hadn’t changed . ”
“I see . Thank you . ”
“Don’t mention it . It is a rare thing to be able to play with the birdfolk . Thank you for that . ”
That wasn’t exactly something that they could take credit for, and so they felt a little bad . But still, considering how much the birdfolk had troubled them up until now, they felt that accepting this grat.i.tude was nothing .
“Another house is serving the birdfolk some lunch right now . ”
“Thank you . ”
“Thank you . ”
They did no more flying that day . Instead, they spent the time checking out the different shops in the village . According to the shop owner, humans especially liked to buy bags that used the levitation stones . And that the bags sold near the capital had large varieties of designs and functions .
“You two were flying, weren’t you? Then you should have one of these pouches, and not a shoulder bag . That way, it won’t move around . ”
They were recommended a pouch that had two belts that crossed around your waist .
“See, normally it would be positioned in the back, but you can turn it to the front so it won’t get in the bird person’s way . The birdfolk should use pouches like this too . ”
Come to think of it, they had never seen them carrying any bags .
“Orne, Puel, come over here . ”
“What?”
“What do you think about this bag?”
“I don’t like having things dangle under me . ”
“What about this one?”
The one with two belts was pretty cool looking .
“Hmm . ”
“You could move it the front when you are flying . ”
“Hey, you . You can try putting it on and flying . ”
“Fine . ”
Orne put it on with glee .
“You try this one . ”
Puel was given a yellow pouch . The two of them flew around and adjusted the pouch to the front and back . Eventually, they came back down with satisfied expressions .
“It’s good that our hands can be free for small luggage . ”
“Now I can carry Maki and Chiharu while carrying something else . ”
Hey! We’re Norfe and Chouze! Chiharu frantically signaled to them . The birdfolk looked surprised for a moment . Hmph .
“Old man, I’ll take this . ”
“Really! This one happens to be an original of mine . I hope that you’ll tell the others about it . ”
“Sure . ”
Maki and Chiharu could already imagine the bird people flocking to this store .
“How many do you have in stock?”
“After selling two to the bird people, and another two if you buy these, there should be four left . ”
“You might want to make some more in a hurry . The bird people are really sensitive to trends . I think . ”
“Really? These weren’t selling at all until today . ”
“I think they’ll be bragging about these to the others a lot in just one day…”
“I, I see . The bag itself is ordinary, so I just have to ma.s.s produce the belts…”
“I’m sure people will be imitating it soon, so you should sell as many as you can . ”
“Thank you, young lady . ”
And then from the remaining pouches, they asked him to reserve a red one and a green one, and to give them to Sauro and Saikania when they came . After all, they were guaranteed to come .
He also gave them some advice about the merpeople scales, saying that they could be sold at a high price at the capital . Scales that have not been processed were quite rare, and they were in high demand by craftsmen . They would sell for an even higher price in the elf country . And so they would have to visit this capital soon .
At the same time, in Arthur’s country of Midland, there was one person who was preparing to go on a journey as the guests started to leave .
“Aeris, wait!”
“No, I will not . ”
“What use will it do, for you to leave? We do not even know where in the dwarven territories Maki and Chiharu are . ”
“No, the birdfolk definitely know . ”
“But do you really think that Miragaia will tell you?”
“Perhaps…”
The birdfolk and elves were rivals in a way when it concerned the Saintesses .
“And people will recognize you . ”
Aeris was about to refute Arthur . But he really was much too famous . Not only had he lived for many years, but while elves were supposed to die with blonde hair, he had lived past 300 and his hair had turned to silver . Still, he had maintained his youthful appearance . And what’s more, he had helped create new things, such as the airship and become well known in just about any country as the White Philosopher .
“I will use a disguise . ”
“Aeris . What if we find her first, you will not be able to meet with them if you are off on your own . ”
“But I am worried…”
Aeris clenched his fists . Chiharu . Maki too . Perhaps they had endured something else and were now crying . What if they had encountered trouble in an unknown land . He could not just stay here and do nothing .
“Oh, well . I had wanted to keep this quiet for just a little longer . ”
“Grudo?”
“I had a feeling that they would do this, and I had a.s.signed guards to protect them, a while ago . I believe they should be with them right now . So I wouldn’t worry . Aeris, I would be much more concerned about you than Maki and Chiharu . ”
“Grudo, you knew about this? And you said nothing?”
“I did not lie . All I am saying is that I considered the possibility that they would leave . ”
Arthur ma.s.saged his temples .
“Aeris, we will have to send soldiers to the dungeons eventually, when the elves and dwarven territories request it . I will send you to go with them then, so please wait a little longer . ”
“So the six months of absence really did take its toll . ”
“There are apparently more monsters than ever before . They say that Adventurers are not enough to deal with them now . ”
It could not be helped . Likely, they were all headed for the same place . Aeris could only pray that they would stay safe until then .
Maki and Chiharu were invited into the children’s house, and their eyes wandered around with interest . The ceiling and doors were low, much like old j.a.panese houses, but not too low for Maki and Chiharu . The plastered walls were bright, and the furniture was relaxing and made of wood . They could see a large oven in the kitchen where the mother stood
.
“Many travelers have been coming through here recently, because of the Saintesses . Things have only just calmed down, but they will probably be taking return trips starting tomorrow . So it will be quite lively again . ”.
.
The mother said as she served them some cold meats . It was served with thinly sliced bread . The steamed meat looked like chicken, and it was also sliced and served on a plate
.
“See, you put the meat on the bread and pour this dressing on top . ”.
.
This slightly sour ham sandwich was very delicious
.
“So, how old are you two? Human children are so much taller, I just can’t get a grasp on their ages . ”.
“Oh, I am 14 and my sister is 12 . ”.
“Hmm, so you can drink apple wine then?”.
“We can!”.
“We can!”.
“Oh, my . Well, I just happen to have a special, homemade apple wine . Would you like to try it?”.
“Of course!”.
“Of course!”.
.
The homemade apple wine was much sweeter than the one at the inn
.
“I use apples that are from a relative in a neighboring village, and they are much sweeter . However, the alcohol is also stronger, so you can only have a little . ”.
“The cider is much better . Here, have some cider . ”.
.
The children said as they shared some of their drink . It was a very pleasant lunch
.
“Oh, but the air really has improved . I feel like it started ever since the Saintesses came . The miasma seems to have almost vanished . There should be less trouble in the town now . ”.
“There was trouble?”.
“Dwarves are tough people, but you know, half a year without a Saintess will do it . But humans are much weaker, and the effect of miasma is stronger in them . Pa.s.sing adventurers become troublesome . I heard that there was a lot of fighting in Gromble . In fact, I would have stopped you two from going if things hadn’t changed . ”.
“I see . Thank you . ”.
“Don’t mention it . It is a rare thing to be able to play with the birdfolk . Thank you for that . ”.
.
That wasn’t exactly something that they could take credit for, and so they felt a little bad . But still, considering how much the birdfolk had troubled them up until now, they felt that accepting this grat.i.tude was nothing
.
“Another house is serving the birdfolk some lunch right now . ”.
“Thank you . ”.
“Thank you . ”.
.
They did no more flying that day . Instead, they spent the time checking out the different shops in the village . According to the shop owner, humans especially liked to buy bags that used the levitation stones . And that the bags sold near the capital had large varieties of designs and functions
.
“You two were flying, weren’t you? Then you should have one of these pouches, and not a shoulder bag . That way, it won’t move around . ”.
.
They were recommended a pouch that had two belts that crossed around your waist
.
“See, normally it would be positioned in the back, but you can turn it to the front so it won’t get in the bird person’s way . The birdfolk should use pouches like this too . ”.
.
Come to think of it, they had never seen them carrying any bags
.
“Orne, Puel, come over here . ”.
“What?”.
“What do you think about this bag?”.
“I don’t like having things dangle under me . ”.
“What about this one?”.
.
The one with two belts was pretty cool looking
.
“Hmm . ”.
“You could move it the front when you are flying . ”.
“Hey, you . You can try putting it on and flying . ”.
“Fine . ”.
Orne put it on with glee
.
“You try this one . ”.
.
Puel was given a yellow pouch . The two of them flew around and adjusted the pouch to the front and back . Eventually, they came back down with satisfied expressions
.
“It’s good that our hands can be free for small luggage . ”.
“Now I can carry Maki and Chiharu while carrying something else . ”.
.
Hey! We’re Norfe and Chouze! Chiharu frantically signaled to them . The birdfolk looked surprised for a moment . Hmph
.
“Old man, I’ll take this . ”.
“Really! This one happens to be an original of mine . I hope that you’ll tell the others about it . ”.
“Sure . ”.
.
Maki and Chiharu could already imagine the bird people flocking to this store
.
“How many do you have in stock?”.
“After selling two to the bird people, and another two if you buy these, there should be four left . ”.
“You might want to make some more in a hurry . The bird people are really sensitive to trends . I think . ”.
“Really? These weren’t selling at all until today . ”.
“I think they’ll be bragging about these to the others a lot in just one day…”.
“I, I see . The bag itself is ordinary, so I just have to ma.s.s produce the belts…”.
“I’m sure people will be imitating it soon, so you should sell as many as you can . ”.
“Thank you, young lady . ”.
.
And then from the remaining pouches, they asked him to reserve a red one and a green one, and to give them to Sauro and Saikania when they came . After all, they were guaranteed to come
.
He also gave them some advice about the merpeople scales, saying that they could be sold at a high price at the capital . Scales that have not been processed were quite rare, and they were in high demand by craftsmen . They would sell for an even higher price in the elf country . And so they would have to visit this capital soon
.
At the same time, in Arthur’s country of Midland, there was one person who was preparing to go on a journey as the guests started to leave
.
“Aeris, wait!”.
“No, I will not . ”.
“What use will it do, for you to leave? We do not even know where in the dwarven territories Maki and Chiharu are . ”.
“No, the birdfolk definitely know . ”.
“But do you really think that Miragaia will tell you?”.
“Perhaps…”.
.
The birdfolk and elves were rivals in a way when it concerned the Saintesses
.
“And people will recognize you . ”.
.
Aeris was about to refute Arthur . But he really was much too famous . Not only had he lived for many years, but while elves were supposed to die with blonde hair, he had lived past 300 and his hair had turned to silver . Still, he had maintained his youthful appearance . And what’s more, he had helped create new things, such as the airship and become well known in just about any country as the White Philosopher
.
“I will use a disguise . ”.
“Aeris . What if we find her first, you will not be able to meet with them if you are off on your own . ”.
“But I am worried…”.
.
Aeris clenched his fists . Chiharu . Maki too . Perhaps they had endured something else and were now crying . What if they had encountered trouble in an unknown land . He could not just stay here and do nothing
.
“Oh, well . I had wanted to keep this quiet for just a little longer . ”.
“Grudo?”.
“I had a feeling that they would do this, and I had a.s.signed guards to protect them, a while ago . I believe they should be with them right now . So I wouldn’t worry . Aeris, I would be much more concerned about you than Maki and Chiharu . ”.
“Grudo, you knew about this? And you said nothing?”.
“I did not lie . All I am saying is that I considered the possibility that they would leave . ”.
.
Arthur ma.s.saged his temples
.
“Aeris, we will have to send soldiers to the dungeons eventually, when the elves and dwarven territories request it . I will send you to go with them then, so please wait a little longer . ”.
“So the six months of absence really did take its toll . ”.
“There are apparently more monsters than ever before . They say that Adventurers are not enough to deal with them now . ”.
.
It could not be helped . Likely, they were all headed for the same place . Aeris could only pray that they would stay safe until then