After realizing that she was not hurt, the girl stopped shaking and looked at her own body. She realized that she had been cleaned with magic, which made her shiver again as she bowed even more than before.
"Th-Th-Thank you for cl-cleaning me, sir mage, b-but I don't have an-anything to gi-give in return."
"You don't have to worry, he did it as an apology," Ophilia reassured the girl while stroking her head.
"Bu-Bu-But-"
"If you insist on paying, why don't you show us where the inn is?" Ophilia suggested.
"A-All ri-right!"
Although Sian thought it unnecessary to have the girl guide them, he preferred not to say anything and remained silent.
"Then let's go!" Ophilia said, holding the girl's hand.
"Y-Yes!" She replied, "I-If we go down that street, w-we can get there in a sh-short time."
The three of them headed towards the inn while Ophilia kept talking to the girl, trying to calm her down.
Along the way, they discovered that the girl's name was Emma and the reason she was being surrounded by those guys on this almost deserted street.
Apparently, those three guys had arrived in town a few weeks ago. Although they caused some troubles for the ordinary people, they never went too far because of the town lord, who was a retired Knight.
But that changed recently when they were recruited by a noble. Barloc, the one called boss, became more and more arrogant. He began to harass some women he was interested in.
This led to today's incident when they were pressing Emma and ended up messing with the wrong person.
After hearing the whole story, Sian took a long breath and looked at the sky. Listening to a story from someone he didn't care about was a nuisance, especially when the person telling it repeated the first syllable of every word.
Although he thought that, he spoke carefreely, "Well, that guy must have been more convinced and arrogant because he probably won a title from that noble."
"Do you say the title of Exemplary Warrior?" Ophilia asked.
"Yeah, this type of simple-minded person usually gets cocky after receiving a title."
"You make it sound simple, but isn't it an incredible thing to get a title?" Ophilia asked doubtfully.
"Nah, these titles are just a way for nobles to please people and give as a reward, after all, these titles only give fame."
"But to win the title of Exemplary Warrior isn't it necessary to have at least a minimum of control over magic?"
"Well, yes, but who guarantees that the nobles will grant the titles properly? That guy, err... What was his name again... Bardock, I think that was it-"
"Barloc." Ophilia reminded him.
"Whatever," Sian said as he shrugged. "Back to what I was saying, he had at most the strength of a soldier, with the little amount of mana he had, it is impossible to receive this title from a noble of high rank, he was probably a new noble trying to win some followers."
"Do you have a title?" Ophilia asked.
"I do, but it's not as good as you think."
"How not? From what I have seen, you are far beyond being normal, perhaps an Epic Warrior, since you broke that man's arm just by tightening your hand and can also use magic with shortened enchantment," she said.
"These warrior titles are not that important. More important than that, the weather today is great, don't you think?" Sian said, trying to brazenly change the subject.
"Ohh, trying to escape like that, now I'm more curious." Ophilia said.
Even the shy Emma seemed curious.
Even though he had a few titles, they weren't something he wanted to go around spreading openly. But as if to help Sian escape the situation, some sounds came from an old house that they were passing by.
From the sounds of the woman's voice, a couple was enjoying their intimate moments together.
"To do 'exercises' at this time of the morning, they know very well how to enjoy lifes" Sian said carefreely.
With just a glance at the old house, Ophilia remained silent, not caring about the moans that came from it. But Emma had an extremely red face and looked uneasy at the floor. Although listening to her talk was torturous, her current appearance was pleasantly attractive, like a cute pet.
*Kruuuuuuooooooonnnnnnn*
Amid the moans that echoed down the street, the fierce roar of a hungry belly sounded.
Sian and Ophilia immediately turned their heads towards the place where the sound came from. Feeling their gaze, Emma blushed even more and seemed to shrink into herself, almost wanting to hide her head on the floor.
"It reminds me that I am also starving," Sian said, putting his hands on his waist bag and taking out 3 apples, "Since there's no open place to have a meal, let's at least eat something."
Ophilia took the apple, but Emma hesitated to accept.
"You can take it, it's free, don't worry," Ophilia urged her.
"Th-Then I'll ta-take it, thank you!"
Though reluctant, Emma devoured the apple with voraciousness.
"Ummm... It's delicious and sweet," Ophilia commented after taking a bite.
"Yes, ve-very tasty."
Sian proudly said, "That apple was picked from my plantation."
"Your plantation?" Ophilia asked.
"Yes, I own some land where I grow various fruits and vegetables, but it's a little far from here."
The time it took them to distance themselves from the moans was the same time it took Emma to finish eating the apple. She seemed to be very hungry.
Sian took out another apple and offered it to her, "No need to worry, just accept the apples as a form of payment for taking us to the inn."
"Th-Th-Than-Thank you," she accepted gratefully.
In the blink of an eye, she devoured a total of 6 apples. Not even the seeds were left behind.
Sian handed her another apple and said, "It looks like you were pretty hungry."
"S-S-S-So-S-Sorry!" Emma spoke hurriedly, lowering her head.
"You don't have to apologize, eat as many as you want. I'm just curious because, with your physique, you don't seem to suffer from hunger despite being so hungry," Sian said.
"Nor-Normally i-it's not like this, i-it's because of t-the war, the no-nobles need su-supplies fo-for the army," Emma replied quickly.
"Ohh, I had forgotten that. When I came, I met with Edrorian's army coming to the border. But I don't think we need to worry about Edrorian attacking Poutis," Sian said casually.
"I think it's best not to be so carefree. Solaris is very close to the border, and now that Tarodel has gone to war with Praza, Edrorian won't miss this opportunity," Ophilia said worriedly.
"You shouldn't worry about that. If the worst happens, we can just leave the city," Sian reassured her as he handed another apple to Emma.
"How did you manage to fit so many apples in that tiny bag?" Ophilia asked as she looked at the small bag on Sian's waist.
"This is a magic bag, despite its small size, it can hold a lot," Sian replied.
"Magic bag?" Ophilia said in surprise, "I heard that only very wealthy merchants and nobles owned one. The more time I spend with you, the more mysterious you become."
"Oh, really? I don't feel so mysterious. I think any high-level monster hunter has a magic bag to carry useful parts of the monsters."
They continued talking until they finally arrived at the inn. Since Emma liked the apples so much, Sian gave her a basket full of them before saying goodbye.