103. Things that happened
The morning dawned and it started to get crowded outside again.
“Ugh… I feel like my head is going to explode. I must have run too far.”
“Please at least drink the water here.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Would you like to buy something from outside? “I feel sick, so it would be better to eat something.”
Morian examines Stella, who is suffering from a hangover.
It seems like they have become friendly with each other.
“Huh? “Where have you been?”
“I came after taking a walk outside for a while. “I couldn’t do it for long because there were so many people.”
Arsel returned early in the morning.
When the morning sun rose, Little Alfred suddenly disappeared while he closed his eyes for a moment. Since he was planning to return in the morning anyway, he didn’t bother to look for him.
I will return when the time comes anyway.
“Whoa, anyway, you’re going back today, right? “It would be a shame to go right away, so let’s just take a quick look around and take a little more time.”
“That would be fine, since we have to wait until Alfred comes back anyway.”
“What, hasn’t that demon come yet? “Where on earth are you wandering around?”
She didn’t necessarily mention that she met Alfred at dawn.
Although it was Alfred, she had already realized a long time ago that it was not the Alfred that Arcel was talking about.
I thought about asking Alfred himself about the kid, but I didn’t think he would be able to find out any information just by asking.
I didn’t think Alfred would know about the kid’s existence anyway.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Then, please take care of the escort. Yesterday I was so excited that I played without thinking. If you think about it carefully, it’s the relationship between a young lady and a knight, right?”
“If you really want to play a noble lady, you’ll have to fix her gait first. The ones I know aren’t as quiet as you. “They make noise on purpose to get attention.”
“This is a habit and I can’t help it. “In the forest, if you step on a single fallen leaf, your location will be revealed.”
“You walk just like a cat.”
“It’s closer to a monkey than a cat, closer to a caterpillar than a monkey. “That’s how ears walk.”
“This voice…”
Stella frowns when she hears a familiar voice.
“Alfred, are you back?”
“Yes, I was just returning from sightseeing.”
Alfred, who looked like a crow, flapped his wings and said.
As soon as she arrived, she started a fight with Stella, which may have become a habit for Alfred.
If Stella is guilty, it’s that she was probably born an elf with long ears.
“But where did you go last night?”
“I guess he must have been playing with female crows somewhere. Or maybe you went to a princess bossam somewhere.”
I heard that because the festival was so large, major figures from other countries also came.
Of course, princesses are included among them.
“I took a quick look, but there wasn’t any princess worth fighting for?”
Alfred’s words were the truth without a single lie.
At that simple answer, all three people blinked and looked at Alfred.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I just looked around. “It’s a kind of occupational disease and habit.”
“What kind of job does that lead to?”
“If you have been bossed around by the devil since you were young, you will know.”
“I don’t really want to know about that.”
“Both of you, just leave the pointless arguing to an end. Alfred, we are thinking of seeing the festival a little longer, but what are you going to do? “If you’re going to rest here, I’m planning on wandering around for a while and then coming back…”
Arsel asked about Alfred’s schedule.
Anyway, it seems like I’ve been wandering around somewhere all morning, so if I’m tired, I might be tired.
Alfred doesn’t sleep, so it might be a good idea to get some rest.
“It’s okay, I can sleep on my shoulder as long as it grows.”
But Alfred climbs onto Arcel’s shoulder and cleans his feathers with his beak.
I wonder what on earth that behavior is, but if you think of it as the habits of birds, there is nothing too strange.
I wonder why Alfred also has that habit.
“Besides, when you’re done watching the festival, there are places to go, so go see as much as you want.”
“Where are you going?”
“Chicken coop.”
“…Chicken coop?”
Arsel was puzzled by the unexpected mention of a chicken coop.
A chicken coop, why a chicken coop?
“Did you come here to play with a hen, not a female crow?”
Stella next to me goes one step further.
He asks if he really came to play with the hens, and even takes Morian’s hand and hides behind Arcel.
Morian, unable to follow the direction and meaning of the conversation, was confused as he was being led around.
“Why, or should I come back and play with the birds that build nests in trees like you little ears?”
“Let’s just do our business and follow Alfred. “If you’re going to eat breakfast at the store, it’s better to move slowly.”
Arcel tells us to stop talking nonsense and go see the sights.
It seemed like it would never end if the conversation continued like this.
†††
In the end, to serve as hangover for Stella, who drank alcohol, we headed to a store she had often visited in the past to reminisce about her past.
When returning to the capital after defeating dangerous monsters and demons, while the banquet was in full swing, Arcel sneaked out of the castle and headed to the street.
I didn’t really want to participate in a banquet with many nobles.
No matter what, the nobles were bound to show unnecessary flattery when they saw them, and they tried all sorts of harsh actions when they saw that a monster had appeared in their territory, but they had long ago figured out that they were just doing it to save money and solve a problem.
“It must have been somewhere here…”
The banquet hall dishes prepared by famous chefs can certainly be said to be a first-class feast.
However, I did not want to indulge in such luxury at a time when many people were starving to death because there was nothing to eat due to the war.
Because of this, Arcel went out to the streets and ate alone, looking for cheap, plentiful food and a store where people could eat to their fill even if their pockets were light.
“It may have already closed and disappeared, because there are more than one store that closed down due to difficult circumstances.”
“Has Stella been here recently?”
“Yes, I was busy too, so I didn’t have time to come to the restaurant.”
But is it because time has passed?
No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find the restaurants that Arcel remembered as having already closed.
Most of them were new stores, and even those that sold luxury goods or daily necessities other than restaurants.
But if I went to another restaurant, it was already crowded with people because of the festival, so I felt like I would have to wait at least 30 minutes.
“Is my memory wrong?”
“It’s okay, anyway, breathing the outside air made my head feel refreshed. “I’m not really hungry.”
But it took a long time to get to the store.
Arsel’s memory was not wrong, but everyone had closed and disappeared, so no matter how hard he searched, there was no restaurant.
I was even starting to think that I was wasting my time.
“…Let’s take a last look at the alley over there. I’m sure there was one here somewhere.”
“Ah, senior. “There’s a restaurant open over there.”
Then I finally found an open restaurant in an old alley.
A small, old signboard in a narrow alley.
“Oh, I remember that too. “There’s still some left here.”
Stella also seemed to remember it and showed a happy response.
“Hero restaurant? Have you ever been there?”
The restaurant named ‘Warrior’s Restaurant’ seemed to have just opened and was getting ready to welcome customers.
Arcel traced her past memories and remembered the story about that restaurant.
“That place was a restaurant run by two old couples. They say this is a store that was also frequented by previous heroes in the distant past. “It’s probably been run for generations.”
“How about food?”
“It has a warm and comfortable taste. Although it is ordinary home-cooked food, I know it is a store loved by regulars. “It would be okay to go there.”
I felt like looking for more would be a waste of time anyway.
I was just getting hungry, so I went straight into the store.
“How many people are there?”
“There are three people.”
Fortunately, the old couple seems to have corrected themselves and the old man sitting at the entrance welcomes the guests.
I think I can’t see clearly because my eyes are blurry, but he guided the three people to their seats and brought them hot towels.
“The crow on the shoulder is…?”
“Oh, he’s a calm guy, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Then I am relieved. Honey, three young guests have arrived. “Since it’s breakfast, I’ll mainly ask for warm soup.”
Soon, delicious smells and rattling sounds start to come from the kitchen.
The husband cleans the store and welcomes customers, and the wife appears to be cooking in the kitchen.
“Are you not taking separate orders?”
“If I remember correctly, there is no separate menu here. “We will prepare dishes according to the number of people prepared that day.”
“I thought it was strange at first too, I thought, ‘Human stores have a strange culture.'”
“…Shh.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Stella blushes and looks embarrassed.
She seemed to have forgotten that she was currently disguised as a human woman.
“You probably didn’t get caught, right?”
“I don’t think you heard me.”
Fortunately, the old couple did not seem to have heard the conversation, perhaps because they were deaf.
A few minutes later, the old man brought a plate of bread that he thought was freshly baked.
“This is a service. “The store has just opened, so we may have to wait about 10 more minutes, so please understand.”
“No. “I can wait long enough to get that sorted out.”
Ordinary freshly baked bread sprinkled with salt.
However, even ordinary bread, freshly baked, was soft and warm, just as good as any high-quality cake.
Rather, the light taste seems to moderately appease the appetite.
“But are all the restaurants around here closed? “I remember that even about five years ago, there were many restaurants that opened early in the morning…”
Arsel asked the old man as he broke the bread.
Since she has been running this restaurant for so long, she may know why the restaurant in her memory has almost completely disappeared.
It felt strange to think that the business was simply closed due to difficult circumstances, but in fact, except for this place, everything had disappeared.
“I don’t know the details, but… I guess I should say that the commercial district has moved as more and more new residents have come to the city. “Things were already difficult because of the war, but since people stopped visiting, it seems like everyone left here.”
It seemed like there were many new people settling in Hermod’s capital city.
People who appeared to be from out of town were setting up shops in the main alley, and quite a few people on the streets were also from other countries.
Even considering that it was a festival, it was particularly noticeable.
“Is that so… Then is this place okay?”
“It’s okay here. At least it’s better than lying in bed waiting to die. Plus, regulars always come by, so it’s not a bad thing to do as a hobby. In the past, warriors also brought their comrades.”
The old man smiled kindly and said.
“…That’s a good thing.”
Arsel also smiled and seemed relieved.
This is thanks to the fact that all the memories of this place have not disappeared.
Soon after, the old man brought another plate of warm soup and salad, as well as some bread to dip into the soup.
The food tasted really warm and comfortable.
“I’m not sure if it will fit your taste.”
And there was also a small plate of nuts, perhaps to be given to Alfred.
At first, Alfred looked at the nut wondering whether or not to eat it, but without any hesitation, he picked up the nut with his beak and ate it like a real crow.
It looked so natural that it made me wonder if it was a real crow and not Alfred.
Of course, the old man, who had no way of knowing the identity of the crow, looked at it with satisfaction.
†††
“It’s delicious. “It’s my first time coming to a restaurant like this.”
After finishing the meal, Morian came out of the restaurant and seemed surprised, saying that it tasted unexpected.
“I also heard that travelers used to visit more often than now. Of course, things have changed a lot now.”
“Because humans change generations in the blink of an eye.”
I enjoyed the food.
I feel warm inside and at ease in my mind.
‘But it’s strange.’
However, Arcel felt a strange sense of discomfort.
I didn’t feel out of place in that place called the Hero’s Restaurant.
I felt like there was something I didn’t know about this entire city, the capital of the Kingdom of Hermod.
From Noble mtl dot com
Shops that suddenly disappeared within 5 years.
But it wasn’t just the store that disappeared.
Arsel did not see any of the people he had seen in this alley in the past.
Of course, you can’t remember everyone, but it was definitely strange that no one was in my memory.
Furthermore, only very few people were currently living in this alley.
This feeling of discomfort could not be explained simply by saying that everyone had moved.
Like the strange man I saw at dawn, something seems to have happened in Hermod Kingdom that I don’t know about.