“Sun, are you all right?”
“……Yes.”
As wind users were ventilating the city, by making wind blow the foul stench of burnt human out, Yuusuke, worried about Sun, asked the girl about her condition while a city guard, skilled in healing type water arts, was healing him. As they wanted to quickly change out of their torn clothes, they needed a place where they could change.
According to the game that Yuusuke’s power was based on, if you customized a piece of equipment, it was automatically unequipped.
Sun was currently wearing a mantle of the fire guard corps, which princess Violet had provided for her, over her torn clothes. [“That’s unexpected”], thought Yuusuke, as he was looking at them.
“Ahahahahah—Krielov, why are you down there?~”
After ordering the city guards to heal Yuusuke and free Sun, Violet was rolling on the ground, laughing, as she was peering into a huge hole in the gate plaza. Krielov was the only member of the fire guard corps that was swallowed by the ground, as he was the first to respond, in an attempt to restrain Yuusuke, when he broke his shackles.
The hole was about 2 meters deep. It ran through the pavement of the lower district, down until the city foundation. Even if the hole was not deep, it was somewhat difficult for the armored soldiers to crawl out of it.
These walls were not [produced] or [materialized] by Yuusuke’s power – he [created] them by customizing the stone pavement and the city foundation.
“It is not befitting of a princess to laugh with an open mouth”, replied Krielov, staying true to his professional duties, as Violet, looking at him from above, was clearly enjoying herself. He was standing at the bottom of the hole, with his back at the wall, thinking about the divine art that could create such pitfall.
He did not fall into a pitfall. It was as if a wall suddenly appeared before him, when, in reality, he appeared at the bottom of the hole. For a moment, he saw beads of light dancing around him, but they vanished almost instantly. [“What in the world is this divine art”], he thought, as he could not comprehend the phenomenon. While he was in the hole, several more people fell into it by themselves.
[“A combination of every kind of divine art, eh….?”]
Krielov, and everyone else who were in the hole with him, suddenly were made to leave it. After being surrounded by faint beads of light, they were suddenly standing outside of the hole. Moreover, it felt like they did not move a step, and the bottom of the pitfall itself moved, until it leveled up with surface of the gate plaza.
After clearing up the holes and the walls, and returning gate plaza to its previous state, Yuusuke, protecting Sun behind him, stood in front of Violet. He asked Violet about the circ.u.mstances of the current incident. Soldiers stirred, as Yuusuke breached the etiquette again, asking member of the royalty directly when her aide was nearby. Yet, this time, Krielov overlooked Yuusuke’s actions.
Soldiers of the fire G.o.d corps and the city guard, who had to prostrate themselves and lower their eyes when speaking with the royalty, were calmed down by a simple gesture by the princess, meaning:
[“Everything is fine, ignore it”].
“You truly are a terribly rude man. You should show at least some respect to me, a royal princess.”
“Respect is not something you can simply get from others.”
Violet smiled, agreeing to the comment, and explained that this situation was caused by the complaint of the man, who was apprehended, after being cooked to medium rare (burnt) a little while ago.
Violet told Yuusuke, that her party came to Rufk village after a complaint that there was someone collaborating with a Blue Garden spy. As Yuusuke was listening to this, for a brief moment, he remembered Reifold. Yuusuke was suspicious of why Reifold showed himself in the forest back there, letting Yuusuke know about the events, that were happening in the village.
“Well, in the end, it turned out to be a fake complaint. He obviously did that with the intention of making up to me.”
Hearing how Violet planned to visit the village incognito to look for information about Zeshald, but after receiving a complaint from that man, an official order was given to the city guards, and having been a partic.i.p.ant in the later events, Yuusuke muttered in shock:
“So, after all, you are the main cause. Moreover, the false charges… This is no joke!”
“Hmph, I told you that I had no intentions of treating any of you roughly.”
“I wonder about that… That aside, shouldn’t you at least take us back to the village?”
Going with a simple wagon, Rufk village was half a day’s distance away from Sanc Adiet. As Yuusuke looked at the setting sun, he decided, that it would be unlikely for them to return to the village like this today. Thus, he attempted to get Violet to make up for the troubles, she had caused earlier.
“That man’s story was fake and the charges will be dropped. Still, Yuusuke, your violent actions have caused injuries to the city guard.”
“Eeeeh?”
As he did not remember fighting anyone, but the wind user, Yuusuke let out an awkward sound. Violet, with a huge smile appearing on her face, then explained to him that several people fell into the traps he created during the fight.
People, standing where the pitfalls used to be, have also confirmed princess’ words. Those that stood where the holes appeared, only reported “Suddenly seeing a stone wall before them and receiving no harm”, however, some of the remaining people, who were near the holes, have slipped and fell down, receiving various contusions.
“Eeeh, is that really my fault?”
“It’s not that I don’t understand your feelings, but did you really have to start fighting there?”
Placing all the blame on the apprehended man, and leaving him to the city guards, Yuusuke did not expect his actions would cause such an uproar .
It was the truth that in his anger, he did not consider the feelings of the guards, and, as he had no trust in Violet or the guards, he decided to fight alone.
“Although you should be punished for this, it would leave me with a heavy conscience… so, what should I do…?”
“…”
Violet glanced at Yuusuke from over her shoulder, waiting for his reaction. Sun, who was standing nearby, looked at Yuusuke with a worried face, and then shifted her eyes towards the princess. Not wanting to look threatening or childish, Violet issued a strange condition:
“Oh, that’s right, I order you to have fun with me.”(NOTE: might be ‘entertain me’, but Yuu’s response fit ‘have fun’ better)
Because of her social position in the city, Violet had the authority to write such crimes off. According to Zeshald’s theory, Yuusuke held the divine arts (or blessings) of all four great G.o.ds, so he had the qualifications to be together with someone of the fire G.o.d caste.
In the rare cases that someone had the ability to use two divine arts, they usually preferred the social status, the higher tier divine art ent.i.tled them to.
Violet was captivated by Yuusuke’s divine arts, capable of creating holes in the pavement and erecting walls, and she had no intention of punishing the black haired youth in the first place. She was enjoying herself, thinking of how it would inconvenience everyone in the city if Yuusuke could create endless walls, turning Sanc Adiet into a maze.
“Eh, saying such things… I don’t have such experience and… I think, it’s not possible to do it with someone, you don’t love.”
For a moment, Violet was engrossed by Yuusuke, as he acted like a shy young girl (NOTE: nervously wriggled while appearing to shine … something like:goo.gl/vMjln6)… but after a moment, she realized the meaning of what she said a minute ago…
“Yo-you IDIOT! I did not mean it like that!”
“It was a joke anyways~”
Yuusuke casually replied Violet, whose face was red, as she was trying to object that, saying:
“I am not that kind of a loose woman”.
“Y-you! Are you asking to be burnt to cinders?”
Yuusuke surveyed the gate plaza behind Violet, as she was trembling, tightly clenching her fist. Since the apprehended man was already taken away, some of the soldiers appeared to be resuming their patrol. As the onlookers also started leaving the plaza, it became a s.p.a.cious and quiet place.
“Can you get the soldiers and the bystanders to move a little bit, towards that side?”
“Hm? What are you thinking of doing?”
Violet was trembling from the excitement, thinking of what will Yuusuke do, as she sensed an activation of a divine art, when Yuusuke started moving his finger in the air. She ordered the divine fire corps to clear the requested s.p.a.ce of city guards and spectators.
Krielov, silently watching the events unfold, could not believe the change princess has shown compared to the pathetic mood she was in since morning. Thankful for this, he allowed Yuusuke to do as he pleased, for now.
As he had various divine arts mixed within him, for the time being, treating him equally to a fire arts user seemed to be a good decision. Krielov decided to overlook as much as he could for “Princess Violet’s entertainment”. In a short while, he has come to regret not stopping Yuusuke, when he had the chance.
“Copy-paste, copy-paste… Stairs should also have a handrail… like this?”
As he was customizing it, the structure still had only a rough shape, and was in no way usable, as small details still needed precise adjustments. After thinking by himself, Yuusuke has come up with a customization that would provide the princess with the entertainment she sought.
“After I helped him to clear the plaza, what in the world is he doing over there?”
“I wonder … I don’t understand Yuusuke’s divine arts that well myself.”
Sun could only explain that Yuusuke was moving his finger like this every time, he seemed to use his divine arts. She stayed true to her promise and did not say anything about things, she saw Yuusuke do this before, like changing the flavor of the food, redesigning tables or chairs, or creating new clothes from worn out clothes, shoes, and fabric.
“Okay. Check… there seems to be no problems. With this be all right?”
After using preview function to check the customize data for errors, Yuusuke confirmed, that his creation will not fall down, collapse under its own weight, or, possibly, sink. He then started walking towards the center of the plaza and called the two girls.
“Sun, come here.”
“Okay.”
After being called with a gentle voice, [tap tap tap] Sun ran towards Yuusuke’s side with light trot.
“You too, come over here for a bit.”
“Hey! What’s with the different treatment here?”
Being called out so rudely again, Violet shook her hands while perking up her shoulders, yet she still stood in front of Yuusuke with a slightly amused appearance. The three of them, standing leisurely in the middle of the gate plaza, were looked at by the city guards and remaining onlookers, who were expecting something to happen.
Yuusuke pushed the [execute] b.u.t.ton while basking in the attention along with the two ladies.
“Execute!”
The scenery before their eyes changed abruptly. The middle cla.s.s district, which was surrounded with a tall wall, followed by the n.o.ble’s district, which was surrounded by the even taller wall. At the top of the city, a palace towered above the districts. In an instant, all of them disappeared, and all, that could be seen, was the empty sky and the Fonclank plains, stretching off into the horizon. Cold wind, peculiar to high places, was blowing through the three people.
“Whooooooa! Whaaaaaat happened!!!!”
“I tried to create a viewing tower.”
The tower was around 80 meters high. “I was right, you actually enjoy high places”, thought Yuusuke, looking at Violet, who gasped from admiration, overlooking the scenery from the edge of the tower that was towering above the palace.
The tower looked be made from stone, but the actual material was customized to be as durable as steel. The necessary material was taken from the stockpile of the nearby quarry that was used for city expansion.
Bystanders in the plaza froze for a while, mouths agape, everyone’s eyes directed towards the tower that suddenly appeared in the gate plaza, which seemed to be piercing the heavens.
“Y-Your highness! Are you aaall riiight?!~~ Princeeess Viiioleeet?!”
Coming back to his senses, Krielov shouted towards the top of the tower, from where he heard his princess’ voice. Violet responded by poking her head over the tower’s railing and waving her hand. Krielov felt the chills, seeing Violet lean out so far from the tower of such height, that he could barely recognize the red haired girls figure.
“Heeyy! Kreeeiiilooov! Look at this, it is sooo taaaall!”
“Heeey beee caareefuuul! Don’t leeaan oouut soo muuch!”
Finally seeing Violets face, Krielov was able to calm down. He started thinking about the problems that the building, which was higher than the palace itself, would cause after being built in the commoner district. Still, Yuusuke’s divine art, capable of erecting such a building in an instant, weighted on his mind above all the other problems.
[“Why did Zeshald leave a man of such strength behind?”]
As the amount of spectators in the gate plaza increased, so did the depth of the wrinkles between Krielov’s eyes, more and more of which appeared on his face every day.
“You’re the best! Will this building continue to stand here forevermore?”
“Well, I created it to be durable, so there is no danger of it falling anytime soon.”
“Right… I had a lot of fun. Your divine arts are really interesting.”
“Thank you for the flattery.”
Resting areas have been created at every fifth floor of the staircase, connecting the viewing platform and the tower base.
Violet was in a good mood, listening to Yuusuke, who was explaining in simple terms that these resting areas, along with the small windows, were necessary to provide the illumination, without which the staircase would be pitch black.
Before long, sun started to set, so Yuusuke and the girls began their long trip down the stairs.
“Ah, my legs are so stiff.”
“I have to say that going down is pretty tiresome. Are you all right, Sun?”
“Yes, I am perfectly fine.”
As Yuusuke and Violet were catching their breath, Sun did not seem tired at all. The [artless] girl blushed slightly at the two people, who were admiring her stamina that she gained from her life in the countryside. As it became completely dark, a carriage from the palace arrived to escort them.
“Stay at the palace for tonight. I will order the servants to prepare a room.”
“That sounds too formal… It’s all right, we will stay the night at some inn in the city.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Even if you say that …”
Despite not knowing the proper manners of the palace, the two were brought there by Violet for the night.