Chapter 55: Royal Capital Main Street
Chapter 55: Royal Capital Main Street
「……we’ve arrived! It’s the royal capital! 」
A lot of people come and go as they pass through the big castle gate. Adventurers who have completed their commission, laborers taking a break, and people who pack their luggage into the carriage industriously. A little further away from there, calls from hawkers calling for customers from their stalls are making the place more lively.
The broad main street extending from the gate is paved with stones, and there are large buildings along the way that were lined up and made of stones.
And beyond all that is the towering and magnificent royal castle, as if overlooking everything and welcoming us.
That’s the royal castle, huh. It looked splendid even from here, so what would it be like when one comes closer.
Just like me, descend from the carriage near the castle gate and exclaim in wonder.
「Uwaaー! It’s really big! How should I put it, magnificent……Yeah, it’s kind of magnificent!」
Un, I at least understand that since Mina has less vocabulary than me.
Is it a familiar sight for Nord-tousan, Elna-kaasan, and Sara already. They’re watching our appearance with warm gazes.
「This is also the first time for Mina to go to the royal capital, huh?」
「Yes! It is! And this is the first time I was allowed to accompany you.」
Mina replies still with her excited appearance. If we leave her alone like that, then she will likely go somewhere arbitrarily without thinking *furafura*. 1
I wonder if there are also people like us who come to the royal capital for the first time, since there are occasionally a lot of people letting out voices of excitement. If I had to say, I think those voices are mostly female. As for the men, they let out sounds like 「Hou」 after being impressed and then they advance before long.
In the middle of all that, a wind blew over the royal capital.
Just like Mina, those women who got their attention stolen by the sight of the royal capital were just looking up while they didn’t pay attention to the things below. Because of that, those women’s skirt flapped greatly and high-pitched cute sounds 「Kyaa!」 can be heard from all around the place.
And most gentlemen will not miss such a moment, so many gazes were piercing under those flapping skirts. The look of the man who walked ahead and turned his head around is of wonder.
The beautiful sight of the capital caught the women’s attention, and those women’s skirts were stealing the attention of the gentlemen's. Could this scene clearly express the easy-to-understand example of men and women’s sensitivity…
『Hey, what are you guys looking at!』
『Come nowー, continue with your work.』
『『『Uiss!』』』2
『Oi you people!』
Voices of criticism can be heard from here and there. But those men leave to where the wind blows.
「………you take a quick look at it for instant right?」
「……it’s just your imagination.」
「No. Your gaze shifts unnaturally for a moment there.」
「If they hear a scream, then anyone’s gaze will shift.」
「Even so, you look down awfully a lot weren’t you.」
「……I’m sorry.」
「I’ll give your punishment later.」
Such was the conversation behind me between father and mother.
I wonder what’s the punishment will be.
「……such nasty wind.」
Listening to Sara’s voice, I rode into the carriage awkwardly.
After arriving at the royal capital, we went straight to a high class inn.
It seems to be an inn exclusive for nobles, there seems to be a big difference from the inn we saw down the street. Not only the place is clean, it even has a large bathhouse attached to the building, and the bed is also soft and fluffy. There appear to be a number of people standing by as guards, the security seems to be flawless.
From the perspective of the guests who stay at the inn, the safety is absolute, and it is properly guarded, so people place their confidence in the inn.
After taking the carriage and wagon to the inn’s garage, Rumba and Gates headed toward the Adventurer’s Guild.
They seem to have various places where they need to make an appearance somehow.
Oh well, the both of them were active as an adventurer in the royal capital anyway, so there’s no helping it.
Originally, Rumba and Gates’s main job was to escort us for three days during the way to the capital and at the time of the party itself.
The guards and knights are periodically patrolling the royal capital in order to maintain public order so the royal capital is safe, that is, unless you go to a suspicious section in the royal capital in the dead of the night. As evidenced by the many kids running around happily near the main street of the royal capital.
The current time is afternoon.
After having lunch at the inn and then taking a break, I was walking along the main street along with Mina.
Nord-tousan is not with me since he is currently facing punishment from Elna-kaasan. And just in case they need a maid, Sara stays nearby with them.
Inform me what happens later.
「The impression we get from seeing it from the carriage and walking and seeing the actual condition like this is so different.」
Maybe because this is mealtime, pleasant smells drift from the street stalls.
The large main street extends outward from the plaza encircling what is the center of the royal capital.
There are gates in each direction, and the main street from the south to the north, and then the main street from the east to the west are especially spacious, with the most number of people coming and going.
Hence, there are a lot of shops established on those two streets, and it appears that the competition among those is intense. Whether it’s a street stalls or a store selling foodstuff, second-hand shops, weapon shops, regardless of which, they all appear to be desperate.
「Yeah. It’s particularly amazing around here I think.」
I wonder if those men are selling vegetables. They can be seen frequently calling out to people who seem to be customers.
『Hei hei, welcome! We got a lot of fresh vegetables! The beautiful onee-san over there! How about making our vegetables part of you dish for dinner tonight?』
『Oh dear are you talking to me by any chance? 』
『Don’t bother onee-san. A shopkeeper with a scary face like that, you’d wonder what kind of vegetables are being sold. It’s almost certain that the vegetables are gnarled just like his face.』
『E,ehh……?』
『Haaー? Don’t be fooled onee-san! The vegetables over there are the same as that man, lack of nutrition and look frail! Why don’t you take a look at our radish! If you put a knee-high sock 4 on it, it will look like a human's thigh! 』
I don’t think that the shopkeeper’s appearance has anything to do with the condition of the vegetables. Also that radish and knee-high sock.
『What was that, radish? It’s mostly just water and uselessly big isn't it? Why don’t you please look at our radish! The firmness of the texture is just right, and the sweetness is spread throughout the whole thing. Look, if you just put the sock on!……areeh? Where is she?』
The onee-san from before, she ran away when the scary-looking shopkeeper put on the sock to the radish. Only the two shopkeepers holding radish with sock on it were left in that place.
『Okaa-san, look, there is someone who put on something on a radish!』
『Shh, no. Don’t look.』
A mother nearby who brings her child along and happens to pass by also ran away quickly.
The remaining people left who watched the scene were just Mina and I.
『『That radish』』
「……no, thank you.」
Mina and I escaped and left that place.
The Royal Capital vegetable’s shop is amazing isn't it.
Mina and I passed the vegetable shop earlier, we walked around the various stalls while joking, and when I saw something I like or curious stuff, I bought and ate it.
「Alfried-sama, this meat is wonderful! Everytime I chew on this, the springy texture and elasticity comes out and it’s delicious! 」
「Certainly, each time you chew on it, the meat juice oozes out and it’s delicious. It’s not pork or bird meat. The taste resemble that of a beef, but somehow it’s different……」
As I groaned while I looked at the meat skewer, the uncle at the stalls frankly called out to me.
「Oya? Young master, have you not eaten Wushi (ウーシー) meat before?」
「Wushi meat? What is that?」
「It’s a monster resembling a cow that often appears around the royal capital. Isn’t it delicious when you mix it together with this sauce?」
Since it was such an interesting story, I asked the uncle about this Wushi.
――Wushi.
A monster resembling a cow that often appears at the grassland area in the vicinity of the royal capital.
Having a muscular, bigger body than an ordinary cow, along with a coat like a horse, a ferocious monster that indiscriminately charges after any approaching creature.
If one were to underestimate the dull, repetitive charge, then one will meet a painful experience, and it is said that a lot of adventurers are defeated by the giant monster.
It is popular among children and adults of the royal capital for it’s chewy texture and the meat juice that oozes out of it.
Wushi’s body is big.
Owing to the big body it is difficult for a shock-based attack to pass through, and among the adventurers, word has it that whoever manages to cut a Wushi, then that person can be considered as a full-fledged adventurer. Heeー, I’ve heard that you can eat monster meat, but I didn’t think that it would be this delicious. There are few monsters around Koryatt village, and so far I haven’t eaten once before.
「I’ve heard that you can eat a demon’s meat but……nom nom6……I didn’t think it would be this delicious!」
Mina, I want you to either eat or talk properly. What if you spill some sauce to your maid uniform……really, still spotless. Such a mystery.
「It’s delicious isn’t it. Do you want another serving?」
「「Please!」」
Mina and I cheerfully swapped our skewer with a new one.
We got some recommended stalls from the Wushi’s meat skewer’s stall uncle, so then we went around several places.
And now that I'm tired of walking, I currently sit at the edge of the street while drinking fruit juice.
Since the street in the royal capital is long, there are many places where people can sit down so that they can take a break. Just like us, there are people who are tired and hungry, sitting down with food from the street stalls in one hand.
Even so, this fruit juice is really delicious. The sweetness and the right amount of sourness are really good for a tired body.
There were also a lot of other juices, but what kind of fruit did they use?
It feels like it will match perfectly with shaved ice. Have to check it out later.
As I was thinking about the schedule after this, a restless little girl came into my view as she moved across the street.
Her hair is halfway between light brown color and blonde split into twintail. Is she looking for someone maybe, she’s standing on tiptoe and hopping up and down*pyokopyoko*7 on the bench while making cute gestures as she looks around. Eventually, maybe she realizes that she wouldn’t be able to see, she went down from the bench and repeated the same thing.
Everytime she moves up and down, the red ribbon on her hair cutely sway around.
As for her age, maybe it’s about four years younger than me I guess. She wear a beautifully tailored white one piece, and unexpectedly might be a noble just like me
As I looked at the cute little thing moving around while drinking fruit juice, I suddenly felt that little girl's gaze met with mine.
I think it’s just my imagination, when I moved my gaze away and took a sip of fruit juice, I felt that the hem of my clothes was pulled.
I wonder what’s wrong. If she had something she wanted to say, Mina could just talk about it normally.
As I’m thinking about such a thing and turn toward Mina, she got cookies and fruit juice in her mouth as her cheeks slackened.
You’re always carrying cookies around with you, huh.
It doesn’t look like Mina is the one who pulled it since she’s still absorbed in enjoying the taste.
Then who is it?
Just when I thought like that, I felt my hem being pulled again. This time it feels stronger than before.
And when I looked in front of me, there was the girl with a twintail dazedly looking up while approaching me with her mouth slightly opened.
「Wha, what can I help you with?」formal
When I asked while feeling baffled, the girl answered cheerfully.
「Me, Ra-chan! (ラーちゃん)」
………I got a bad feeling about this.