The group gathered after their 2 hours was up at the front where they first came from.
When Kaze showed up last with Lunaria and her friends, it was expected they would be the last. Shoko and Rena gave Kaze a hell of a teasing on their way back, which was worsened by the fact Lunaria didn't seem to mind it and stuck close to Kaze.
Thankfully, the rest didn't seem to mind the change in attitude as much as the trio did. They only smiled seeing Kaze walking close to Lunaria again, knowing they have made up from whatever argument they had before. It was comforting to see their friends without conflict again.
"Alright, everyone. Hope you had fun exploring the market street," Luniel called out to them. "Now, it's time for lunch!"
"We will be walking to the place itself, w-which is about half an hour away from here," Lunaea stated. "The reason is so e-everyone is able to experience what it's like walking around Aravel."
Walking together in a long string, Kaze and the rest took a different road to where they were headed right now. Just as Lunaea had said, the walk was what they needed to take in the overall feel of Aravel. Just exploring the market area wasn't enough to get a good feel of the culture that Aravel had since walking through the streets and pass houses gave a wider view of the personality the nation had.
More importantly, it had an orthodox feeling that made the group feel as if they were at a countryside rather than a populated town. This was due to how the houses were made. In Tristania, each were constructed next to each other in a terrace house feature to maximize the space used to construct houses for people as well as making the city management easier. It was neater that way too.
As for Aravel, it had already been known that there was no such displacement of houses. City planning wasn't its main concerns, seeing that there were areas where houses were concentrated next to each other while also having areas where houses were scattered differently. Space wasn't a problem for Aravel, which likely gave those who constructed the houses before their own discretion to make it as they see fit as long as it was approved by the Council. This went back to what the royal family were doing to govern the state of their nation, but Lunaea and Luniel did not dive too much into that topic when explaining to the group since it was something they weren't familiar with.
While the group walked together, Kaze and Lunaria chose to walk at the very end of the pack unintentionally. It made it look like they wanted to have their own private talk without being bothered when it was really just something they had in common. Kaze felt the need to walk beside Lunaria, with Lunaria intentionally following after him. This made them lag behind in pacing compared to the others, who were enthusiastically sight-seeing.
Kaze found himself constantly looking back at Lunaria, whose ears now wore the earrings he had gifted her. A constant smile appeared on her face, seeing that she was satisfied with the outcome of their previous interaction. Needless to say, Kaze was happy that she was happy. It was a very soothing feeling to get to be by her side, something Kaze never thought he would enjoy.
"…. Oh?"
Lunaria widened her eyes and looked down, feeling her hand being taken by Kaze. Turning to look at his face, she blushed lightly when Kaze smiled back at her in response, causing her to squeeze his hand.
"Sorry, do you not want me to do this?"
"… No, keep holding onto me. As embarrassing as this feels, I don't want you to let go."
"Hehe… then my intuition was correct."
"What do you mean? Did you expect me to want to hold your hand?"
"No, I just had a feeling you would be alright with us doing this, even if it makes us look like a c-couple."
Kaze choked a little at the end of his sentence when saying the embarrassing words, with Lunaria looking away quickly in response. It was true that they acted and looked like a couple right now, but it was very cynical at the same time because there was no direct confession between the two. It was like they acknowledged each other's actions, yet they weren't able to come to terms with their feelings.
Time seemed to past faster than Luniel had initially stated, for the group arrived at the restaurant already.
The place they were at was located on a small elevated area, overseeing a part of the nation that they walked past to get there. It reminded them again that they were not on flatland, and buildings could be built anywhere as long as it was approved and safe. To make it all the more baffling, the restaurant they were at was quite big and already had so many people waiting in line for their turn.
"Wait here, I'm going to check on our reservation," Luniel told them and walked in first, greeting several customers along the way since they recognised her.
"This is… a meat shop?" Yuuji looked at the menu and murmured.
"Yes, one of the super famous places in Aravel," Lunaria nodded, answering Yuuji. "We had to book ahead of time to reserve a spot."
Just then, Mitsui and Irene began giggling at Kaze, prompting the others to react with smiles and laughs. Kaze knew what they were looking at and sighed, gently releasing Lunaria's hand from his grasp to not make it look like he was doing it because they were teasing him for it, but because they arrived at their location already.
"When's the wedding?" Chris asked Kaze, causing Lunaria's face to turn red at the question.
Darting his eyes to Lunaria, Kaze felt pressured because the look Lunaria had was that she was expecting an answer of sort but at the same time did not want to hear what he had to say.
"Depends when you propose to Irene," Kaze rebutted calmly, causing him and his girlfriend to blush and stammer instead.
"Good luck going after that," Albert mockingly patted Chris' shoulder and sighed, with Mitsui poking Irene's puffed cheeks.
With a sigh, Lunaria looked satisfied by what Kaze said since his reply neither answered nor denied Chris' question. It could be implied that Kaze truly did plan to propose to Lunaria if Chris proposed to Irene, but it could be interpreted that there was no way he was doing it too. The ambiguity in his words deflected the attention to Chris instead, making it a smart reply from Kaze's end.
Luniel led the group in after confirmation with one of the waiters, taking them to the second floor of the restaurant. They were instantly hit with the delicious mouth-watering aroma of meat and the sizzling sound of a grill upon entry. This caused the group to finally feel hungry after all the previous excitement they had.
Once they were seated, Luniel made an announcement as an introduction to the restaurant they were in.
"Everyone, please welcome the owner of the place you are in: Yerva Rigmond!"
A middle-aged wolfkin male stepped in front of them on cue, the group applauding at his entry.
"Iya, it's only Yerva now. No need to make my introduction so grand, Hime-sama," Yerva scratched his wolfkin ears in humility at this before placing a hand on his chest. "The name's Yerva, pleased to meet everyone here. I'm a wolfkin from the west who migrated here a few decades ago with my family. Now, I run the humble restaurant where we serve the finest wolfkin cuisine to our local guests."
"Thank you Yerva, why don't you introduce us to your menu then?" Luniel grinned. "In case you didn't know, we have guests from outside."
"Of course I do, Hime-sama. I may be old, but my nose works just fine," Yerva laughed at this. "Reminds me of my old days acting as an agent… but enough said. Guests, huh? Where from?"
"Czech, sir," Yuuji politely replied. "Specifically Tristania, the capital city. My name is Yuuji, prince of the nation. This is Chris, Irene, Kaze, Mitsui, Noel and Albert."
"I see, I see, nice meeting you lot," Yerva shook hands with each of them. "Last I remembered, humans were forbidden from entering Aravel."
"Yes, sir. I was the one who invited them," Lunaria greeted Yerva, whose eyes lit up at this.
"Oho… for our crown princess to have invited these guests herself, you must all be pretty special! Without further ado, leave the food to me. I believe the princesses will do a splendid job of explaining while I prepare lunch for you young'uns."
Watching Yerva walk away, the group smiled in respond because of the attitude he had. Yerva might not look the age, but he certainly acted like a grandfather would when meeting people from the younger generation. Yerva's charisma and strange way of talking had affected everyone positively.
"Alright then, as Yerva had stated, this place serves wolfkin cuisine," Lunaria started explaining first. "If you all didn't know by now, traditional wolfkin cuisine involves meat. A lot of meat, cooked in any way you can ever imagine."
"Please, don't worry about Sera and I," Rena told the group. "While we might be elves, we do eat meat. We just don't choose to eat for convenient sake, but Yerva's cooked food is the best."
"What sort of meat being prepared are typically cattle or livestock, being chicken or mutton," Luniel gestured to the menu to illustrate her point. "It is listed under the type of food here how it is served and the portion you can expect."
"I'm actually more curious how Yerva is able to prepare such large quantity of food," Kaze pointed out. "I mean… not to sound rude, but dragonkins are big eaters."
"You're right Kaze, which is where Aravel supplies him with the products," Sera nodded at this. "There are a few other races living in Aravel that specialize in farming and rearing, so it should come to no surprise that we are able to self-sustain for everyone here."
"But that is only the common dish. Here, we have monster meat as well," Luniel grinned, causing some of the people in the group to gulp nervously. "Aw, don't fret about it. How would you know monster meat is delicious if you haven't tried it?"
"To keep up with the massive demand for food, Yerva's parents have referred back to the dragonkin palate of food and explored the alternatives," Lucentia took over the explanation. "He told us this story many times before, being that us dragons are pretty much open to eating anything as long as it is edible."
"Through that, we have a system in Aravel where every monster killed would be split into the consumable category or the general category, which would be slightly different from how Czech operates," Lunaria pointed out and looked at Yuuji. "Yuuji, as the crown prince, you should be pretty familiar with that."
"Yeah. While I may not be part of it, I have often inquired with father before. There are certain places that offers such services regarding monster meat, but it is not very popular in Tristania," Yuuji smiled. "Still, we have very popular places serving monster meat that are not as weird, mainly being the calves and muscles where all the meat is. I would expect Aravel to be able to utilize cooking more specific monsters."
"Do you mean the Adventurer's Guild?" Chris asked his friend.
"Essentially, the Adventurer's Guild in Tristania functions to not only help with maintaining the monster population around Tristania and the travelling roads to not interrupt trade, but they also supply the monster corpses to the Guild," Yuuji continued. "Lunaria, the ones in charge of the barrier during our examination at the forest received helped from the Guild to secure the perimeters and safety. They also played a big role in capturing the bandits."
"Ah, that," Lunaria sighed at the horrible memory of the two unfortunate events. "Yes, Yuuji is right. The Adventurer's Guild in Tristania does play a huge role in this area as well."
"For instance, would trade between Aravel and Czech be influenced that way?" Mitsui, being the foreign trade enthusiast, added on her point. "My guess would be that in exchange for all the disposable monster meat requested by Aravel, Aravel would sell weapons to Czech."
"It is an interesting proposal, but it is not practical," Lunaea smiled apologetically at Mitsui. "There are a few factors why that has not been proposed. One, killing monsters tactfully for cooking purposes are not widely practised in Tristania because safety and quick disposition becomes the priority. Two, monster corpses rot quickly and their meat would become tough if not immediately processed or butchered. Three, there would be a grey area between determining the hunting grounds of Aravel and Czech."
"Isn't there already a law around that?" Noel asked them. "During a hunt once, my father told me that we already have designated areas where we are not able to cross over because that is territory guarded by Aravel. It is also why dragons are frequently spotted flying in the sky at the region."
"Possible. While we don't study all sorts of agreements made between foreign nations, it could very well be the case since I have taken part in a few of those hunting sprees as well," Lunatea thought about it and slowly nodded.
"The reasoning behind that agreement, if existing, is simple to understand then. Dragonkins would have a much larger hunting ground around the unreserved forest area since we need that large supply and we have expandable fighting power," Luniel listed off a few reasons why the agreement would work. "We can fly to shorten travelling time, we can transform into dragons to pick off the huge loads of monster corpses, we have more endurance in fighting, we can take on bigger packs of monsters."
"Basically, the benefits are there because both nations would profit from it," Yuuji concluded. "Albert, why don't you enlighten us some of your thoughts? Your family is involved in business, so you should know a thing or two on this subject."
"Hm, I would concur with everything being said so far," Albert agreed with Yuuji. "On the business side, the reason why Czech would provide a bigger space of hunting for Aravel where we can't intervene is because the dragonkins are much more capable at exterminating the monsters and they have a use for the monster corpses where Czech doesn't. It doesn't matter if Czech loses a few more hunting grounds as long as the monster threat is kept thin. At the same time, we have enough land that the Adventurer's Guild wouldn't lose business or attract more people to be adventurers since we are still reliant on ourselves to keep our land safe."
With their talk proceeding, lunch was soon served for their table. Stacks upon stacks of meat and dishes were being brought to them, emitting an irresistible scent that made everyone instantly hungry again.
"Don't worry, I know what you all are thinking," Yerva chuckled at their gawking expressions. "You think that it would be crazy for you to eat only meat. Don't worry, not all races can eat pure meat alone. We have free-flowing vegetables for you with a huge variety to choose from to pair with your meal."
"This is amazing!" Chris declared, stuffing his face with a chicken leg. "How is it so different in taste?!"
"Didn't I mention that this is wolfkin cuisine? Of course the way we cook it would make it seem so different! For example, we use a lot of butter to grill and fry the meat when cooking to give it that oily yet nice texture you are tasting instead of pure oil. There are also certain spices and secret sauces we have to enhance the taste when letting the meat soak up all the juices during the cooking process," Yerva laughed once more. "Dig in!"
"H-Here's some water for you all," a small wolfkin girl in a waitress outfit walked over to them timidly with a jug in hand, filled with iced water.
"Thank you," Kaze took the jug from her and patted her head. "How old are you?"
"Ehehe~ I'm only 11," the girl giggled from his touch. "Don't worry, Yerva-oji has permitted me to work part time for fun."
"She's Yerva's adopted daughter," Lunaria said upon realizing who Kaze was talking to. "Her name's Linea."
"I see. Do you study here Linea?" Kaze asked her.
"Mm! There's a school not far from here where I have many friends from different races," Linea pointed out the window. "Though most are dragonkins."
"That's good. I was worried you weren't receiving education and working only," Kaze sighed at this. "It is important to listen to Yerva-oji and be a good girl, okay Linea?"
"Mm!"
- - - - - -
After lunch was over, the group rested for a bit for the food to process before heading out once again. There was still a lot planned for the day that the group could look forward to.
Before leaving, Kaze and the rest said goodbye to Yerva and Linea, respectively the owner and the adopted daughter with him. It was surprising that Yerva had not married at his age given his personality, but it made sense that he would adopt a daughter to keep him company. After all, Yerva was the kind of person who would not hesitate to take in another wolfkin who had no parents to rely on for the rest of her life.
For the rest of the afternoon, they lounged around other parts of Aravel that was worth mentioning and had great historical value for the group to indulged in. Time quickly flew by, with it soon being the evening.
"As promised, the Cathedral."
Luniel declared, opening her right arm to gesture to the huge building in front of them.
Right now, they were standing at the pathway leading down to the Cathedral, a place of worship to the gods and goddesses. When coming right in front of it, the group was able to feel the scale of the impressive structure. It was almost comparable to Tristania's palace from size alone, not including the workmanship dedicated towards the details that shaped the Cathedral itself.
"Please stay close to us after crossing the arch, we don't want you snooping around," Lunaria told all of them with a serious impression. "This place is both sacred and holy to us for several reasons which we will explore later, so do take note that this is an exception we managed to request of my mother for your entry."
Complying to the instructions, they followed the dragonkin princesses pass the huge grounds paved of marble and smooth granite ahead to the temple. On the way there, broken statue pedestals could be seen on both sides of the walkway, giving a hint of the age of the place. Despite there being signs of reinforcement magic placed around the area, it did not seem like the dragonkins wanted to restore or give the place a makeover.
They then entered through the main entrance, a huge door entry point leaving an impression on them already. After stepping foot into the building itself, everything went deadly silent, as if entering a separate space from the town behind them.
The contrast between the holy silence was astonishing, especially when they realized the inside was absolutely wrecked. From the main hall alone, there were signs and traces of the building dilapidating, as if at any moment it would collapse right on top of them. Yet, it was also majestic such that it looked like time had intervened to transform the place into one filled with ambience and the glory of a time beyond their age.
Plants were seen growing out of cracks on the wall and floor, tiles were broken, glass windows were smashed in and broken, the damage done was extensive such that it would be better to call it a ruin. The evening sun illuminated the place from gaps in the ceiling, causing it to be filled with orange rays descending from the ceiling. Candles were seen lit on the wall, placed on candle stands where appropriate.
"The state of this place might shock you, but we have left it untouched as a reminder of the past," Lunaria explained to the group solemnly. "This was, before being a Cathedral, one of the halls where the soldiers of the past had gathered for the war."
"You mean… that war?" Irene widened her eyes at this revelation. "T-The war from 500 years ago?"
"Yes, the one my father and mother participated in," Lunaria nodded. "This place was used as both a gathering to discuss the war plans, to place the sick and wounded, to celebrate our victories, and most importantly, to honour the gods and goddesses."
Lunaria continued walking, leading the group down the hallway. With each step they took, they were careful not to step on any plants or broken tiles. Once they realized the historical significance of this place, every step they took suddenly mattered.
Leading down through another room and one more hallway, they arrived at the supposed prayer's room.
It was a huge rectangle room with equally as much damage as the other rooms and hallways they have passed. Pillars stretched to the ceiling to hold the place up, with the central area stretching all the way up as far as the eye took them. Broken chairs were seen placed at the side of the room against the wall, making way for the emptiness of the place.
Right in the middle, towards the end of the room, stood a familiar figured dawned in white. It was Laevia, standing on an elevated platform where the light shone on her from a hole in the sky. Candles floated around her, hovering ghostly to illuminate whatever scripture she was reading right now. Other than the sound of Laevia's chanting, there was nothing but absolute silence and dust specks that filled the room whenever walking past the countless beams of light filling the room, forming and merging without pattern.
"What is Laevia-sama speaking?" Kaze was the first to break the group's silence in a soft voice. "It sounds… like a language I have never heard before."
"Like a song," Yuuji added.
"As if speaking a sentence that sounds distorted enough to not be words, but the growl of a monster," Chris gulped.
"Yet so gentle and filled with meaning…" Irene muttered softly.
"… despite us not understanding it," Mitsui concluded.
"That, is our ancient dragonkin language," Lunaria revealed to her group of friends. "This is your first time hearing it, and probably the last, unless we have a formal event you are all attending somehow."
"Ancient dragonkin language, also our native tongue, has become a part of our lives where only used in specific venues or events, such as weddings, prayers, swearing ins," Lunatea elaborated on this. "We all speak it, we learn how to read and write it, but we don't use it on a daily basis. Our mother, who received the Saint title a few hundred years ago when the war ended, has been here every day to pray for the safety of our nation and people."
The group stood in silence while listening to Laevia reciting her prayers. With her voice being the only thing echoing in the room, they felt mesmerised with the atmosphere around them and how stories of the past resounded with it. It was almost like they were taking part in history right now, something that trembled each of them greatly in their heart.
"Kaze, you're a devout of Goddess Tiel, right?" Lunaria asked him. "Anyone else came from a religious background? Do say a prayer or two here, whether or not you believe in any gods, out of respect for yours and our ancestors, who worked together to defeat the forces of evil."
Without a word, everyone closed their eyes and began praying. Whether it was a silent prayer or allowing the sound of Laevia's voice emptying their thoughts, they obeyed Lunaria's words and paid respect to the past. It was because of what had happened that they could enjoy their current lives, especially towards the fallen soldiers of the war.
After several minutes, Laevia's voice had stopped. On cue, they all opened their eyes. The candles around Laevia had disappeared and she had stopped reciting. Laevia turned around and met them with a gentle smile on her face.
"Thank you. I am sure that whatever god or goddess you have prayed to would have received your prayers," Laevia told them, walking up to the group. "Thank you for showing respect to our sacred dragonkin culture."
"N-No, Laevia-sama, it was mesmerising," Kaze admitted. "While not as grand, this rivals everything I was taught about worshipping the gods."
"Follow the doctrine you were imparted with, and you will understand that the gods and goddesses have been watching us this whole time," Laevia nodded at his words. "As the Saint, it is my duty to ensure that Aravel prospers and deliver the word of the people."
"L-Laevia-sama, can you communicate with the gods?" Irene asked nervously, feeling curious about a few things. "Because you are a Saint…"
"Hehe, you know we can't talk to gods, dear. They exist in a different plain from us," Laevia giggled and patted Irene's head. "But who knows? I don't receive oracles or advises from the gods; I just think of them as someone whom I put my trust into."
"Mother, thank you for allowing us to listen in on your prayers," Lunaria and her sisters all got on their knees in front of Laevia.
Helping her daughters up, Laevia simple smiled at this. All that mattered was that the human friends Lunaria had invited appreciated and understood the significance the place was to the nation as a whole. If that was accomplished, then allowing outsiders to listen on something so sacred was worth it, even to the point of exposing their dragonkin language to them.
"Right, it's getting late. Shall we leave?" Laevia asked the group. "Let's return to the palace and get washed up. My husband and I would be delighted to hear about your tour today."
Nodding in agreement, the group collectively followed after Laevia as she picked up her scripture from the altar out the room. They still had several questions to ask about the place and what she was doing, leading them to politely ask her a few things and slowing down their place to take in what would be their first and last time being in the Cathedral.
"… Kaze?"
Lunaria stopped and turned around, seeing Kaze standing still where the group were earlier. With him still facing the altar where Laevia was, Lunaria felt curious to why he didn't move.
"… Sorry, I was too engrossed in my own thoughts," Kaze apologised and turned around, hurrying to Lunaria's side. "There was a lot to process in such a short time."
"Do let mother know what you think. She would be interested to talk to you about the goddesses," Lunaria nodded at this, feeling relieved Kaze was okay.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he suddenly caught a figure standing from behind Lunaria, located at the corner of the room. In that split second that the figure entered his vision, he felt as though he had seen a woman with robes wrapped loosely around her body. He was unable to make out how she looked from her face being hidden by the shadows, but was able to loosely make out a mysterious smile.
Blinking his eyes, Kaze tried to get a closer look at the figure, only for her presence to have completely disappeared.
"Kaze?"
"… Nothing. Let's leave. I can't wait for dinner."
"Guess what we're eating."
"Well…"
Not thinking much about this, Kaze dismissed it as his imagination and left the room with Lunaria.