Side Story 31. Anemone Smiled Brightly (7)

"Ootcha!"

I came out of the cramped carriage and stretched.

"Aigoo, my body."

My body wasn’t all that hardy so it was the first time in my life that I had come out so far in a carriage. Of course, I've been to the capital, which was farther than here, a few times, but because I took the train every time, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Now, because of the Demons’ Territory, there were only the railroads that connected the capital and Asterium, but I’ll have to tell my father later to lay them all over the Empire. If the railroads were opened and I got the advantages from it first, the benefits would be beyond my imagination.

"Ah! The wind is so refreshing!"

I roughly organized my plans for the future and enjoyed the cool breeze. Perhaps because it rained yesterday, the smell of wet grass pleasantly tickled the tip of my nose.

"Oh! I've never seen such a wide field! What is it called when the flat ground and the sky contact each other?”

Doomstone seemed to be more interested in the wide horizon than the refreshing wind.

"You mean the horizon?”

Doomstone smiled broadly and clapped his hands. "Yeah! That's it. It’s the horizon.”

"Is it your first time seeing the horizon, Doomstone?”

He seemed slightly moved and nodded. "Yep! My hometown is in the mountains, so the surrounding area is full of mountain peaks. My grandfather always boasted that the sun setting on the horizon was very cool, so I wanted to see it once!"

"Really? Shall we see it tonight? Come to think of it, I've never seen the sunset on the horizon, either," I suggested.

His eyes glistened, and he nodded energetically. "Really? Let's do that! I'm sure it'll be beautiful!"

The way he was excited like a child brought a smile to my face.

"Miss, we have exited Asteria, so I shall take my leave."

I nodded at the carriage driver, who brought us safely here. "If you tell Sister Armand, my father will give you the money. However, it may be detrimental to you, so get the payment at least three months later," I advised.

The carriage driver shook his head. "No, it was all to repay Sister Big Mama's kindness. So I don't need money."

I guess she really is the godmother of the poor?

"But still take it. You can donate the money you received to the temple if it's really on your mind. Also, please say hello to Sister Armand for me."

"Haha, then it makes me burdened to receive the grace of Miss to do that. I heard that Sister Big Mama gives support that helps people like us. This is also a thank you that I haven't been able to convey with my words."

With that said, I couldn't suggest he receive money anymore.

"I wish you safety, Miss. Then, please be happy.”

With that, the carriage driver drove the horse to the Asteria Duchy.

"Anemone, you must have done a lot of good things?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal to me, but often it's a big deal for the other person."

"Ahahaha! Are you embarrassed?"

I took the lead with a dry cough at Doomstone's teasing remarks. "Ahem! Who is?! Let's hurry into the city. We should have lunch."

"Ayy, your ears are red."

Nonsense!

-o-

As I entered the city, I saw people walking around busily. As this was the capital of a count’s territory, it was not incomprehensible that it was crowded but much more people moved about busily than I expected.

"Where should we go first?" I asked.

Doomstone spoke vigorously, "Let's eat first!"

"Food? I guess we did eat breakfast too early. But it's still too early, so let's go around the market and eat what we can and then eat after noon," I suggested.

He readily accepted. "Sounds good! I wanted to try street food, too.”

Looking at Doomstone, who took the lead with a bright smile, I stood side by side and turned towarda the market. He looked around the streets of the market, finding it new and interesting.

"That looks delicious. What's that food?"

"It's a wheat crepe. I don't know how to make it. Ahjussi, give me two of these."

Doomstone and I each took a wheat crepe and took a big bite.

"Ayy, there's no meat at all.”

“But it's still quite refreshing."

"Next time, let’s have one with meat."

"Okay!"

We went around the market eating, but I didn't think I could keep up with the amount Doomstone ate, so I ordered only one serving starting half way through, and only had a taste. Still, I was quite full.

"I'm curious. Is there a market in your hometown?”

He nodded. "Of course there is. It's a place where people live, so how could there not be? There are two types of markets in my hometown: a market that is held every day and a monthly market that is held only when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs brings goods from the Empire and the Republic.”

"So the monthly market opens every month?”

"Yeah. Usually, in the market, they sell vegetables, slaughtered meat, and daily necessities that people make, and in the monthly market, they sell items from the Empire or the Republic.”

The explanation was more normal than I thought. There were strange fantasies about them because the Crow Tribe was found in fairy tales and legends, but when I heard his story, it made my heart beat fast.

"Then what about currency? Is there a department that prints money? Or do you use money from the Empire or Republic?”

"No. We usually use mana stones or dragon scales for money and we barter."

It wasn't bad. If the market was not large enough to use currency, bartering was normal. Mana stones and dragon scales that they used as a substitute for currency was a high-priced item on the outside and had dedicated customers, so it is also good for currency exchange. The Crow Tribe leadership circulated the economy by repeating the buying of external products with the exchange of residents' mana stones, and by-products.

In fact, remote villages of the Empire engaged in similar economic activities. However, although they had agricultural produce such as animal leather and potatoes, the Crow Tribe had much more by-products of demons and ultra-rare magic materials. Although I had roughly guessed, it meant that Doomstone was a young master of a very rich family. Honestly, his family might be wealthier than mine.

I looked up at Doomstone, munching with his mouth full of food.

"What?"

"Haha, it's nothing."

His swollen cheeks looked cute like a hamster.

"But if you eat like that, will you be able to eat lunch?” I asked.

Doomstone swallowed his food and smiled brightly. "Of course! Let's go eat something delicious!"

If I wasn’t careful, I might end up using all the money I brought and the money my father gave me on Doomstone's food expenses. While I was thinking about if we’d need to find a way to make money in the middle of our trip and heading out of the market street, I saw people gathered at the edge of the main street. I thought maybe they were there to watch a parade, but it was not a wide enough road to march on. In addition, the expressions of the people standing were not so good.

"What are they looking at?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I’m not sure."

At that time, as if Doomstone had seen something beyond the wall of people, he whistled.

"Whew~ Is that the full plate armor or something that I’ve only heard about?"

Full plate armor?

If it’s someone wearing such expensive armor, then was it a knight?

A knight wouldn’t be wearing heavy armor if he was walking alone, so perhaps a lord was traveling by. I looked around and found something that looked like something I could step on.

Then Doomstone hugged my waist and lifted me lightly.

"Ahh!"

"Can you see me well now?"

"Yeah, I can see it well."

It’d be nice if you spoke before acting. It's not good for my heart to be surprised all of a sudden.

As I mused, a lord was traveling.

The lord was traveling unnecessarily with 5 heavily armed knights and 15 soldiers, so the citizens probably felt threatened and didn’t like it.

Come to think of it, was the reason people looked busy when we entered the city that they were cleaning up anything that could seem dangerous in advance of the lord coming? The unnecessary behavior of a person of high status only bought hostility. Moreover, excessive escort was not a very wise act.

"All right. You can let me down now."

As my vision moved down, I saw a little child falling forward due to the crowds.

I tapped Doomstone's arm and asked him to raise me again.

The count, the owner of this territory, shouted out in anger. "What are you doing? My clothes got dirty!" Angry, he lifted his coat splattered with dirt.

"I- I'm sorry." The child trembled and apologized.

"Do you know how expensive this is?!"

The count's coat was supplied by the Asteria Market, which was operated by my family, and was not very expensive. About two gold coins? He could have thought it was a frugal outfit, but he probably couldn't afford to buy more expensive clothes. As far as I remembered, that count was incompetent and ruined every business he opened with his hands.

"You lowly punk!" The count sincerely got angry, went past the knights, and slapped the child.

"Ahh!" The child fell down

The count barked to a nearby soldier, still full of anger, "Take him away!"

"Yes!"

Then I heard a scary sound from Doomstone's fist:

‘Crack!’

I asked with a light smile, "Why? Do you want to hit him right away?"

"Yeah," he responded immediately.

"Are you holding it in because of me? Because you’re afraid I'll be in trouble if you go out recklessly?"

"Yeah."

At the firm answer, I laughed pleasantly and stroked Doomstone's head. "Hahaha! Okay, good job. Then as a reward, do whatever you want."

Doomstone’s eyes opened wide and looked at me with a gaze asking if it was okay.

"It's okay. I told you I'd let you fight as much as you wanted. And you're going to protect me, right?” I said.

Anyway, that count was a dog that wagged its tail for the Blood Emperor. It didn't matter if I removed him now.

Doomstone warmed up and smiled deeply. "Of course!" he declared aloud.

He put me down and moved forward, pushing through the crowds.

"You, who are you?!”

When they saw Doomstone suddenly step forward, the soldiers pointed their spears and got on guard.

He shouted proudly, "I'm Doomstone Blade!"

"What?!"

"And I don't like your face, so I'm going to beat you up!"

Ohh! Your confident look is handsome!

Doomstone lightly flicked the end of the spear pushed against him with his finger.

Clang!

With a sharp metallic sound, the soldier, who was holding the spear, lost hold of his grip.

"Everyone come at me."

The soldiers rushed in at Doomstone's provocative gesture, but when he swung his arm widely, the soldiers were flying away. It was not until the soldiers collapsed that the knights pulled out their swords, but it was too late.

"One! Two! Three! Four! Five!"

When Doomstone moved his hand as he passed by the knights, their armors were smashed in turn and fell on the ground.

"Argh!"

The count in front of Doomstone screamed and tried to run away, but the back of his neck was quickly caught.

"I'll hit you lightly, too."

Doomstone smiled and really hit him lightly. However, the degree of lightness thought by the count and Doomstone was different.

I thought he’d be lying down for the rest of his life. Doomstone smiled broadly at me, and I raised my thumb.

It seemed that there was a way to earn food expenses for Doomstone.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Is that where the count lives?