After parting with Reinhardt, Jin, Reiko, and Elsa arrived at the commoners’ district.
Jin was more interested in this part of town. The nobles’ district, to him, felt sort of lifeless.
Elsa was eager to come too.
“I’ve wanted to go here before but no one would take me.”
That’s not unexpected. There’s not much in common in the lives of the masses and the viscount’s daughter. In the first place, it seems the way of this world is that a noble’s daughter wouldn’t be let to go out like that anyawy.
“It’s all thanks to Jin.”,
She said while looking grateful.
Jin thought that to others they surely looked like a noble’s daughter and her retainer traveling incognito. But had no idea what Reiko looked to be.
“Ah, that, what’s that?”,
Elsa pointed curiously at a street stall and asked Jin.
“Those are grilled skewers. Didn’t they sell those at Port Rock?”
“I only saw them from a distance. Neither Mine or grandpa bought any for me.”
They probably thought skewers aren’t proper for a fine lady to eat.
“Want to eat one?”
Elsa’s eyes sparkled and she nodded in agreement to Jin’s question. Jin said that he got it and asked,
“Reiko, could you go buy two of those skewers?”
Reiko grabbed Jin’s wallet.
She responded with yes, and moved towards the skewer stall. Soon she was back with two skewers in hand.
She gave one of them to Elsa, and one for Jin to eat. The restaurant’s meal was a bit too refined for his tastes.
“Hmm, I preferred the ones I had in Port Rock”,
Jin muttered his opinion while eating. At the same time, Elsa was elegantly eating the skewer one bite at a time. They kept walking on.
“But it’s still delicious. It’s my first time eating something like this.”
If nanny Mine saw Elsa eating a grilled skewer while walking like this she’d surely scold her, Jin thought. But it’s fine to once in a while enjoy yourself like this, he concluded.
At that time, someone’s foot pushed out where Elsa was going to step next. Elsa, engrossed with the skewer, trampled on the foot.
“Ow!”
The foot’s owner yelled in a loud voice. It was a young man about Jin’s age who gave off a lowbred impression.
“Oi, young lady! Watch where you’re walking, will ya?!”
He was over a head taller than Elsa. The hoodlum looked down at Elsa threateningly.
“I’m sorry. I accidentally stepped on your foot. I apologize.”
Elsa apologized in her usual tone. Seeing Elsa’s attitude seemed to annoy the man.
“Oh, is that it? It’s over with just an apology? Young lady.”
“What else can I do?”
Elsa was going at her own pace.
“The bones could be broken, ya know? I need money for the doctor’s bill.”
But Elsa’s response was different from what the man expected,
“If that’s the case, I’ll use [Soothe]. Show me the injury.”,
which seemed to confuse the man.
“N- no, uh, if you just give me the money I’ll go get treatment myself. Hey you! The small lad over there, you’re the attendant, right? What are you gonna to do about the young lady’s carelessness?”
The man turned his attention to Jin.
Wondering if this was the right time, Jin said,
“Elsa, let’s just go. This guy’s only trying to scam money out of you after getting his foot stepped on on purpose.”
But after Jin called it a scam, the man got angry.
“Don’t mess with me! Who did you call a scammer?!”
he shouted and started moving to hit Jin. But.
“[Barrier]”
“Ouch!”
The fist stopped just 30 centimeters away from Jin. It was the physical defense function of Jin’s bracelet. There’s no way a normal human could break the barrier that can stand Reiko’s attack (at 50% strength).
“Just quit it. Next time you’ll really get hurt.”,
Jin said to the man who glared at him.
“I- I’ll remember this!”,
The hoodlum left with a parting threat.
“Well, because things like this can happen, the old man and nanny Mine didn’t want to bring Elsa to a place like this.”
Jin explained to Elsa.
“You can find people like that anywhere. So, let’s head back.”
Thinking about Elsa, Jin suggested going back to the marquis’s estate for now. But she replied,
“I’ll be alright because I’ve got the ring Jin gave me. So I want to look around for a bit longer.”
Jin was fine with it as long is was just a bit longer. He looked at the surrounds, and there was nobody around because of the quarrel just now.
Let’s find a better place to walk about, Jin decided, and brought Reiko and Elsa with him back to the main street.
There were a lot of small shops on both sides of the main street.
Stores selling ready-made clothes, tools, and foodstuffs.
Jin was in a foodstore, looking at something he found.
“Isn’t this… a potato?”
He held it in one hand and looked. The color, the shape, no matter how you looked it it was a potato. He even stealthily used [Analyse] on it and it was unmistakably identical to a potato.
“Lad, are you going to buy it?”
The old man at the store asked, and Jin bought a pile of potatoes.
“Alright, 50 Torr for the pile of topopoes.”
It was unexpectedly cheap.
The total price was 70 Torr after also buying a sack to put them in.
“Jin, those… are you going to eat them?”
Elsa asked the delighted Jin with concern.
“Mm, that’s right. I’ll need to borrow the kitchen for a while this evening.”
“If I’m not wrong… aren’t those Devil Bulbs?”
“They’ve got a name like that? They’re genuinely edible though.”
“I’ll definitely not eat them.”
Afraid for some reason, Elsa took some distance to Jin. Seeing that, Jin handed the sack over to Reiko.
Only then did Elsa inch back closer to Jin.
Afterwards, they visited a store that sold cheap accessories, and a store that sold weapons for self-defense.
Elsa expressed some interest in a narrow dagger, but Jin stealthily used [Analyse] and found out that aside from its appearance it was a shoddy product.
Jin had to drag Elsa out of the store to explain.
“Is that so? Mother had a dagger like that, so I was a little curious.”
After hearing that Jin decided to craft a similar one himself when he got the chance.
＊ ＊ ＊
“I’m a little tired.”
About midway on the main street there was a plaza, and Elsa sat down on a bench. It’s no wonder, since they walked a lot.
After finishing the Citran juice bought from a nearby stall, Jin turned to Elsa and asked,
“Then, isn’t it about time to go back?”
Elsa agreed. The sun was setting and the wind was getting colder, so it was a good time to return.
“Elsa, aren’t you cold?”
“Mm, I’m okay.”
“But the wind’s only going to get colder, so I’m going to have to ask you to drape this over your shoulders.”
Jin said and put his overcoat on Elsa’s shoulders.
“Thanks. …It’s warm.”
“If you catch a cold, the old man and Mine will kill me.”
Elsa smiled at Jin’s remark, while Reiko replied with “I will protect father.”
The expected quarrel with a hoodlum didn’t occur, and the group headed towards the nobles’ district.
