Chapter 70: Al and Eric
Chapter 70: Al and Eric
――Inside the residence of Duke Ringrande.
In the shade of a tree in the garden, Alicia casually said 「What a good weather」.
Basked in the pleasant sunlight, Alicia narrowed her eyes
The wind blows, as if caressing her skin, causing her glossy red hair and her red dress to sway.
「I think I can safely observe it safely if it’s from here.」
When she muttered like that, the maid that was waiting nearby started to prepare tea.
There will be interesting things happening.
Alicia fixed her gaze on Bram, who was standing in the middle of the garden, while she thought of such things.
At the end of Alicia’s gaze, is Bram who was standing with a wooden sword in hand.
Bram patiently waits, for the sake of the formidable opponent that will appear.
The time is currently when the bell rings for the second time.
As the appointed morning came, it’s about time for Alfried to come.
Bram waits patiently, suppressing the beating of his restless heart.
Although the boy is still seven years old, he was still Eleonora’s brother. Bram thought that even if he looked like that - if it was him - then he must have some ability.
Anyhow, Eleonora personally nominates him, so he doesn't think that the kid will have superficial ability. Maybe not as much as Eleonora, but he must have the ability unsuitable to his age. So he can’t be careless.
Bram closes his eyes, and visualizes the image of the duel clearly in his head.
While Bram is sharpening all of his senses to be as sharp as a sword, as for Alfried…
――he was still sleeping comfortably on his bed at the inn.
× × ×
Since then, the couple beside me is having a scuffle on the bench, so I stood up for fear of getting involved with their fight.
In the first place, why are you doing a bear hug move while lying down in public like this!? And the people who watch the couples fighting while cursing at each other, were now looking away as if feeling relieved. It seems like curious onlookers were watching the couple.
From the people whispering in the surroundings, I was mistaken as the couple’s kid, and they looked at me as if feeling sorry.
And after some time, Eric came late as the woman strangled the man.
「Sorry. I’m late.」
「You’re too late, I’m hungry.」
Eric shrugs his shoulders as he breathes out heavily. Somehow it looks as if he’s been running? And he’s sweating a lot.
It feels like he’s been doing an intense workout or something, not just running from the inn.
The inn where the nobles stay is in the northern part of the capital. Even if it was located at the edge, it’s by no means far.
「Just now, I met a troublesome fellow. I’ll treat you with a Wushi’s meat skewer as an apology.」
「Ehー, I want something more expensive then.」
Wushi meat is around one copper coin I guess.
Anyhow since it’s going to be free, might as well have something more expensive.
「Expensive foods, then what do you want to eat?」
「Then, I’ve heard a rumor of a Neo-Wushi’s meat, let’s eat that.」
「Oi, isn’t that a rare ingredient that was sold once in a while? Moreover, it cost one silver coin, unlike the ordinary Wushi’s meat. Gimme a break, let’s just buy Wushi’s meat skewer」
「Oh well, fine then, Wushi’s meat skewer is also delicious anyway.」
I ate one Wushi’s meat earlier, but I think I can still eat five more.
It can’t be helped that I’m feeling hungry, maybe because I haven’t finished eating it.
I started walking as I simply gave in to my hunger.
At that moment, there were sounds of cheering from our surroundings…
「………what is that?」
Looking at the source of the sounds, Eric asks while feeling puzzled.
In the middle of those cheering crowds, was a woman raising a roar of victory and a man lying down on the ground showing the white of his eyes.
「……well, I have no idea. More importantly, let’s quickly go to the food stall.」
「O, oh. Speaking of which, you, what about your duel?」
「……ahー, it’s over already. It ended smoothly.」
Since he won by default, please fight with Eleonora-neesan as much as you want.
And take her as a bride while you’re at it.
Ah, I don’t want that kind of person to be my older brother. I want them to be a better person.
「You'll understand if you look at the person without any wounds on them. Shall we go then」
There are pleasant and fragrant smells drifting around, in the vicinity of the royal capital southern main street.
Many of the shops, food stalls, and restaurants were lined up in the southern main street, it might be because currently it is lunch time, but there are countless people that come and go.
At a nearby stall was a big meat with plenty of spices, grilled carefully as the meat juices oozed out. On the other side, there are a lot of vegetables put inside a pot and stirred.
There’s a person rolling all sorts of ingredients into what look like naan.
Something was being kneaded and then baked. Steamed food. Stir-fried food. All sorts of foods are being sold.
Those uncommon foods that I have never seen before, were they foods from another country…
Since it’s the royal capital where various people from different races mingle together, then it’s not unusual.
「What a good smell.」
When I turned to Eric who was walking next to me, he was looking around as he walked.
His gaze towards the food stalls seems to be different than before, he looks solemn as he looked around the surroundings as if being vigilant.
「What’s wrong?」
「N, no, it’s nothing. Just checking something. There’s no problem.」
Somehow, Eric is behaving strangely, but since Eric being strange is something common, I don’t think deeply about it.
「…………nn?」
But then, I suddenly felt a suspicious presence from behind, and I looked back.
It appears that there are people who have been following us from a certain distance.
Ever since I was able to use Space magic, I have become more sensitive in regards to spatial relations. At any rate, if I can’t grasp a sufficient understanding of space, then an unexpected accident will occur when I use Teleport.
If it was a safe location, then experiencing a little bit of shaking, or falling on your butt is still fine.
However, in places where the foothold is bad, even that much is out of the question, so I practice Teleport magic regularly. And since it consumes a large amount of magic power, it also served as a practice to increase the amount of my magic power.
That is to say, I think the fact that I notice this strange event is due to the result of my daily training.
I want to think that it’s not due to me sensing Eleonora-neesan’s presence and kept running away day after day.
To have such an ability because of that kind of reason……I don’t want that.
「Wha, wha, what’s wrong!? What’s going on?」
Eric fearfully overreacts. Is he being chased by someone?
As I was thinking like that, that suspicious presence went away and disappeared.
「……no, it’s nothing.」
「Is, is that so.」
As I walked along the street for some time, when I found a stall that was giving off a particularly strong smell even among the other stalls, I muttered.
「That meat is so bright red.」
A man with a good body build and tanned skin color, is kneading plenty of spices and herbs into a big meat.
Even though it’s quite a distance from the stall, the smell is this strong. Just what does it taste like…
「That would be Lazur Kingdom’s cuisine, a country in the west. The food has the characteristic of strong seasoning and spiciness.」
Lazur Kingdom. One of the countries in the far west of Misfrit Kingdom.
It has a vast territory, but most of them are said to be desert. I heard that the temperature is hot and the land is dry.
I know the outline and the country name mostly by studying, but I’ve never eaten the actual foods.
「Heeー, that looks spicy.」
「It is spicy, but it has an addictive flavor. Do you want me to treat you to the most spicy food of those?」
Eric said while grinning and his eyes are also smiling.
Thi, this is quite a dangerous one.
Even though the normal one is already red colored, what will it become when it’s the most spicy.
I guess the taste will already taste like the spices itself.
「N, no I’ll refrain from that. You promised that you would buy me a Wushi meat skewer right? Look, let’s go over there.」
「Che……you gutless guy.」
I ignored Eric’s words as he clicked his tongue, and hurried to lined up to the Wushi’s meat skewer tall.
× × ×
The third bell resounded throughout the royal capital for some time.
「………he’s late!」
Bram shouted in the garden.
「Oi oi! It’s already past noon! The duel should have been done in the morning! Yet morning had passed already! Miss Alicia, has that person not come yet?」
「Ara? It’s already noon, huh. I completely forgot about the time when I play with this spinning top.」
Bram with a bright red face and loud voice, and Alicia who sounds exceedingly carefree.
The current Alicia is completely ignoring Bram.
Rather than that, it’s more like his existence has already disappeared from her perception.
At first, she was curious about what kind of fight would Alfried show against Bram, thus she went to the garden to watch, but that would be unlikely since the main character - Alfried - doesn’t come.
While she was waiting leisurely while thinking that he would not come, something came instead.
It was something the Lazareth’s had started to publicize recently, the spinning top.
By chance, Alicia’s subordinate comes across the thing and purchases it.
It’s interesting since anyone can simply play with it. Even though it was something plain, and you can easily make it just by using thick paper and a long piece of wood, Alicia thought that the idea itself is wonderful.
She wondered, who would have thought of the idea of playing with a thick paper with a skewer stabbed through it by spinning it.
Whether it was the Reversi, or Shogi, Alfried really has an unusual way of thinking.
The force of knocking one spinning top against another is somewhat lacking, but based on this, it can be easily overcome. But, even that had already been thought up.
The recent hurried movement of Lazareth Firm shows that. The day when the spinning top will be on sale is close.
She thought that even this might just be a small part of the things inside that person's head. So then, she wonder what other interesting things or stuff were there that he had thought up.
Just thinking like that has made Alicia’s daily boring life more brightly colored.
「………young lady.」
As she was thinking such things, she could hear a voice from the place where the spinning top was being colored.
It was a woman dressed in black. She appeared suddenly as if she was assimilated with the shadow.
At least that’s how it feels to Alicia.
「Lim, what is that person doing now?」
「……he’s currently strolling along the Southern Main Street with Eric Sylford.」
「…………what about the duel?」
Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise due to Lim’s unexpected report, and she made a voice appropriate for her age.
Here, Lim looks as if there’s something small stuck in her throat, as if she was reporting something inexpressible.
「………either he overslept, or he just didn't have the intention to go, it seems that he abandoned the duel. He left of the inn before the third bell rang, and the first thing he did after that is to head toward the plaza.」
Alicia was at a loss for words for a moment hearing that, but then she started to laugh as if she can’t endure it anymore.
「Pu……ahahahaha! To break the promise for a duel and going out to play instead, such an amusing person. You really can’t regard him using normal way!」
「He went out to play and abandoned the duel!? What’s that supposed to mean! No, what do you mean by that!?」
Hearing Alicia’s words, Bram furiously rushed over towards Alicia.
It appears that he still has not lost his reasoning yet, though his momentum is such that he was about to grab at Alicia at any moment.
Lim who was acting as a shadow, blended into the shadow of a tree and her presence disappeared.
「Apparently, he’s currently strolling along the Southern Main Street together with Eric you know?」
「……wha, what did you say!? That bastard! Then, I’m going now!」
Bram’s shoulder shook as veins also bulged out on his forehead, however maybe he managed to immediately regain his composure, Bram bowed to Alicia and then ran out of the garden.
It is obvious where his destination is.
「It’s going to be interesting again.」
Alicia, who was left alone in the garden, smiled beautifully.