Chapter 59

A week passed. A week passed. It bears repeating. Romancing with Daniela had made the time fly by really quickly. We lived off of the money I had made from Lord Wyvern, and then the week was over before we knew it. As for specifics, it will be omitted here, as it is private. What I will say, is that Daniela was very cute. That is all.

Well, perhaps a week full of romancing was enough to help Daniela calm down. Because we no longer moved arm in arm all around town, and she no longer refused to leave my room after returning to the inn. We were now used to the reality, I guess. I tended to feel bashful at times, so a little distance made me feel better. I suppose she must have been very lonely all those years by herself. I understood that feeling too, to an extent. Working at night put you in contact with lots of customers, but your interactions were only on the surface. I would smile good-naturedly to complaints and give the answers written in the manual. And I could only bow and apologize to customers who were drunk and angry. Even my interactions with the other workers there were just ‘good morning’ and ‘goodbye.’ There wasn’t much opportunity to make friends when you woke up at night and slept during the day. Ultimately, what I had met was store robber and that was it. It made me wonder who was really the happier during this past week.

But, just thinking about the happy days ahead of us brought a smile to my face. It made me want to bury my face into the pillow and flail my legs. I consider doing just that, as my buried face smells the scent of her hair. I really couldn’t help how it had an effect on me.

“Hah….ha…

I would lose myself in that scent. The scent of someone you loved.

And so it also couldn’t be helped that I didn’t notice that I was late in meeting up with Daniela for a trip to the armor store.

I didn’t even realize that the door had opened.

“Ahh, ahh, Daniela…”

“Um…Asagi.”

“Ah, ahhh…!”

The sudden voice forced me to pull my face out of the pillow. Daniela was standing in front of me with a forced smile.

“Le-let me explain…”

“That is not necessary. I know. I know.”

“Listen!”

“I will give you ten more minutes…no, you will likely only need five. Meet me in front of the inn in five minutes.”

“Wait! Daniela!”

I could not persuade her, and Daniela shut the door and left. But what did she mean by five minutes? In any case, I better get dressed and go after her…

I got dressed in five minutes and left the room.

□ □ □ □

“Hmm, right on time.”

“Um, Miss Daniela.”

“Let us go then.”

Apparently, she was not going to listen to me today, and no matter what subject I brought up on our way to the store, she brushed them aside. Just when I was feeling incredibly defeated, we arrived at the Paw Armor Shop. We went inside and down to the back. We were now very familiar with the place.

“Hello.”

“Ahh, Asagi. It is ready for you.”

We were led to a room in the farthest back. And there, in a security case, was my lovely set or armor.

“Yes…fantastic.”

The hooded poncho made of magical fibers from a green wind dragon. The trousers. The waist mantle. The chest armor made of platinum scales and black iron from an ice dragon. The gauntlets. Leg guards. It was a beauty.

“A set worthy of the name ‘Silvergreen’!”

It was true. Ultimately, this set had those very colors in them. Though, it was a complete coincidence.

“Will you try it on here?”

“Of course.”

And so I borrowed the changing room and put on the new set of armor. The leather armor had served me well for a long time. It was a pre-owned set that had been sold at an armor shop. Leather really was quite durable. It had sentimental value to me, so I decided to keep it in the hollow bag for now. This was part of my origin. Even my old iron sword was kept in there. And though I had lost the tip of the steel sword, I kept the blade and the sheath. I just found it difficult to throw things away.

Now it was done. I opened the curtains and stepped outside. Daniela’s eyes were sparkling, the clerk assessed me with folded arms, some other female clerk sighed. Who was she?

“I knew it, it is so much better with the waist mantle…”

“Ah, are you from the clothes store then?”

“Oh, yes! And as you can see, I was not wrong with my judgment!”

She gave me a thumbs up. You could tell that she really took her craft seriously. In fact, she must have been incredibly talented, as she had finished this embroidered mantle in one night. It was hardly believable. I remembered that my friend Yasuda had said ‘the difference between professionals and amateurs is speed.’ Anything could be made well with enough time. It was pros that did it quickly.

“I like it very much. Thank you.”

“Do not mention it! I just did it because I wanted to. It was nothing!”

What a generous person. I thought, just as Daniela stepped forward. She looked at me hard before nodding with a big smile.

“Very dashing! I am smitten all over again!”

She was nice enough to say. That made me happy. It was a great smile that almost made me forget about the incident this morning. I wanted so bad to hug her then, but I had to control myself. I would be able to do that as much as I wanted come nightfall. Cough-cough.

“Hmm, maybe I’ll do a little questing now.”

I say, allowing myself to get carried away in the moment. Knowing when to do this was the trick to living while having fun doing it.

“Then I will escort you outside.”

The male clerk said, and so he went with us to the entrance. On the way, I saw a certain empty case. I was sure it was the case that had contained the AGI x 2 t-shirt.

“Ahh, the shirt you are thinking of was put on auction. And it was a great success. It sold for one thousand gold pieces.”

Wasn’t a wyvern only about a hundred gold with all materials from it combined? So that’s the equivalent of ten wyverns… You wouldn’t be able to make that kind of money unless you raided a nest of them… It was not a sum I would have any time soon. Well, I wasn’t confident in my ability to use it well, anyway. With the shirt, plus the AGI enhancements from the wind dragon materials, and ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf’ on top of it all, I was sure I could break the sound barrier. But that would likely result in my body exploding in all directions

“Most of it went to the enchanter, but I received some as a commission as well. Indeed, things have been going very well for me of late. I could not be happier.”

I had a feeling something horrible would happen to him soon, but I wouldn’t mention it. We continued to walk until we were out of the store. Several passersby looked at me. It was slightly embarrassing, but I couldn’t exactly hide.

“Thank you for your purchase. It was great doing business with you!”

“It’s I who should thank you. And I’m sure that your store will be even more successful after it is advertised across the land.”

“Oh, I do indeed hope so!”

We firmly shook hands and parted. The way that he waved until we had turned the corner reminded me of my grandmother who lived in the countryside.

The city was as lively as ever. Everyone who walked the streets seemed to be smiling and enjoying the peace here. The smells from the street stalls whetted your appetite. You could hear the loud cries from merchants as they competed on the main road. I saw a young boy running with a wooden stick, saying ‘I am Silvergreen!” While another shouted, ‘No, I’m Silvergreen!’. Damn it. I was very susceptible to verbal assaults.

“It sure is peaceful here…”

“It is… The city is alive. The food is delicious. And I have you by my side, Asagi.”

She wrapped herself tightly around my arm. She seemed very happy as she then leaned her head against my shoulder. While she had calmed down now, she would sometimes almost convulsively cling to me. I could feel eyes being drawn towards us, but it couldn’t be helped. She was so adorable. There was a lot I would forgive.

“Peace is good Asagi, but I wish to go on an adventure.”

“Haha. Right. We are Adventurers, after all.”

She declares, then tangles herself in me even further. It was an almost impossible feat to remove yourself from those plant-like arms. I could not do it.

Walking the streets with Daniela was always fun, regardless of where we were. Even when we were headed for the Adventurer’s Guild, it was at least fun until we reached it. The closer we got, the more Adventurers appeared around us, and their stares sometimes felt like daggers. But I couldn’t be bothered by them. And so we entered the guild. And then the most dangerous stare of the day caught me.

“Asagi, it has been a while.”

Fiona stood with her hands on her hips. Her face had the biggest smile, but it did little to hide the blue veins that were popping out of her forehead.