With the chief commander's recommendation, I have finally become Lucy's
adjutant, both in name and title.
A few days have passed since then.
"So far, so good. I'm getting used to my new job, and Lucy seems to be
doing good in her role as well."
Yesterday, there was another monster attack, and as before, Lucy has led the
troops to a victory.
Her command has changed drastically compared to the past, and now she is
adopting more and more aggressive strategies on her own.
At this rate, I'm sure she'll be able to handle most things without me
pushing her back soon.
"And when that time comes, my role will end as her motivator and we will
just be an adjutant and a commanding officer. Still, I couldn't help but be
happy for her."
Today's paperwork has been finished this morning. So as of the moment, I
have nothing else to do.
I am now relaxing in the office.
Also, having participated in fending off two monster attacks
simultaneously, our camp has been given a break, so it wasn't just me, but
the whole company is also in a state of relaxation.
"And now that I'll have a day-off too, I might as well use it to go out
somewhere."
The problem is, I don't know much about anything about this world yet, not
to mention this city.
As I was thinking about this, Lucy, who was also finishing out the
paperwork next to me, suddenly looked up and spoke to me.
"Yuushin, when this is over, why don't the two of us go to the city proper
for a change?"
"The city proper? come to think of it, I've never been there either."
I've been busy trying to secure my position... errr busy performing the
tasks I was assigned to in Lucy's unit that it never came to my mind to
gather information about the city.
Well, the main factor is that there is a store at the base camp which is
already providing the necessary goods I need, so I never gave much
importance to the act of going outside.
"But I think it wouldn't hurt, going out for once. Okay, Lucy. Let's go out."
"R-really!? I-I understand. W-well then, let me finish this paperwork
first...."
After I agreed, for some reason, Lucy's mood suddenly improved.
.
.
After finishing all the paperwork, we headed out of the barracks and into
the city with just the two of us.
"The way to the center of the city is over here. Please follow me."
Right now, I am following Lucy as she leads the way.
The area around the base was full of nondescript buildings like warehouses
and weapons workshops.
But as we walked along, the area became more crowded, with the
surroundings becoming livelier with bright voices as we passed by.
Eventually, we came to a road wide enough for several carriages to travel
side by side.
"This is the main street of Krasland. This leads to the castle in the center
over there."
Lucy pointed to the pathway going to the castle and the walls surrounding
it. If you are ab le to r ead this m ssa ge, you are rea ding from an unau hori
zed agg regate si te. R ead at my Word Pr ess at st abb ing with a sy ringe.
hom e. bl og to supp ort me and my tr anslat ions.
"Oh, so that's it. What a magnificent view."
Truly out of this world, in fact.
(Based on the information I have gathered, the lord of this city is residing
there. I believe his name is Marquis Krall.)
What's more, it seems that they've been the rulers of this city even before
the war between the Demons and the Heroes have begun in this world.
After the collapse of the capital due to the monster surge, they, as well as
the other surviving lords in the kingdom, started accepting refugees and
even people who previously tried to condemn them, thus immediately
boosting the size of his city to what it was today.
Of course, with refugees piling up in numbers, it would come a drastic
decrease in public order as well, much more if they were those who had bad
blood with the Marquis previously. But seeing the state of the city that
everything is still standing peacefully, it just shows how capable of a lord
the Marquis is.
"Yuushin, over here! Geez, how long are you going to stare at it?"
"Ah, sorry about that. W-whoah!"
I caught up with Lucy, who was already at a distance. But upon reaching
her, she suddenly grabbed me by the hem of my uniform, making our
distance become dangerously closer for the public to see.
"Don't stray too far, or you'll get lost."
"Hahaha, well, it's certainly embarrassing to be lost at my age. Still, I'll
make sure to follow you closely."
"T-then, h-how about this? This way, you won't get lost anymore."
From here, Lucy looked hesitant, then out of the blue, she took my hand.
I felt like wanting to tease her at that moment, seeing her blush like a
tomato while doing it, but I held back.
"Uhm, Lucy? Though I'm grateful for you caring this much, wouldn't it
invite misunderstandings if someone were to see us like this?"
"Y-you're mistaken!"
Lucy's face reddened even more at my words.
After all, it is easy to see what kind of misunderstanding I am talking about.
"I see. If it's fine to you, then so be it."
"W-waiit, not too much, not too much! We're too obvious!"
Still, Lucy didn't let go of my hand as she said that.
On the battlefield, she has now become a dignified commander that one can
rely on, but in a relaxed atmosphere like this, you would realize that she
was, in the end, a young maiden inside.
Smiling at this new change of pace, we switched our focus to sightseeing.
"There's a beautifully sculpted fountain in the square over there," Lucy said
as we started her tour. "Beyond that is a huge park."
"I thought it would be cramped, seeing we're surrounded by walls all
around, but this is quite spacious, isn't it?"
"True. And because of this, there's plenty enough room to accommodate the
nobles and citizens who sought refuge here."
As I have heard, the first design of the walls were supposed to be of much
less perimeter than this one, but the Marquis insisted to build the walls
farther, making it cover more space, but also making the perimeter of the
wall bigger instead.
Building the outer walls was already a hard accomplishment, not to mention
the cost, but to think they still left room for further development. Whoever
built this fortress must have been thinking a long way ahead.
"But with the sudden surge of refugees and immigrants from the other
regions, lately, the space around here began to dwindle drastically."
"It can't be helped. Now that we're in such circumstances, they should
already be grateful they are still being taken in."
I pat Lucy on the shoulder, whose mood has turned sullen.
After she recovered, she dragged me to a nearby café-like establishment
next.
"What can I get for you?"
"Two cold drinks and some snacks for one, please."
"Right away, ma'am."
After being guided to a seat by the window, a nearby waiter took our orders.
And after a while, two cold refreshments and a doughnut-like pastry on a
stick were brought to us. Th chapte r trans lat ion is ma de poss ible by stab
bing wi th a syr inge tra nslations. che ck onl y up-to -dat e transl at ions on
my W o rdpre ss si te.
"Miss Finlay, is that sweet good?"
"Absolutely. My mother used to make these when I was a child. Would you
like to try one?"
"In that case, don't mind if I do."
I took one of the stacked doughnuts and took a bite.
"Mm. It's good. it's a bit on the hard side, but it certainly tastes like
doughnuts."
"Not long ago, sugar was so hard to come by, making it a valued product.
But thanks to Marquis Krall expanding the agriculture sector, we now have
a stable supply."
"Is that so? It's nice to know that we don't have to worry about food in this
day and age."
Even more now that we're in times where monsters could attack us at any
time on the other side of the wall.
For this reason, the Marquis, who provided the people safe housing and
food, quickly gained many supporters, silencing those that opposed him.
As I was absently thinking about this, another doughnut was held in front of
me.
"H-here!"
It was from Lucy, and for some reason, she's...trying to feed me?
"What is it?"
When I tilted my head, she brought it even closer.
"S-say Aah. O-or you don't want to?"
"Eh?...Aaahhm."
I was stunned for a moment by Lucy's unexpected actions, but when I
understood that she really meant it, I immediately bit into the sweet that
was left hanging.
"Mmm. It tastes many times better than eating it yourself."
I also didn't forget to give praise.
"T-taste better? I-is that so? T-thanks."
Lucy is more agitated than before, perhaps because the reaction was more
than what she was expecting.
But I could tell she was happy because she was subtly smiling.
As for me, I'm also happy. After all, my boss' favorability of me is steadily
increasing.
After this, we left the store and went for another walk around the city.
This city of Krasland is said to have a population of 100,000 people,
making it not enough to visit everything in a day because of its size.
Nevertheless, it had a peaceful atmosphere around the city center.
"I want to protect Krasland so that we can continue our peaceful lives like
this. Will you help me achieve that, Yuushin?"
The girl walking beside me suddenly spoke, to which I immediately
nodded.
Somehow or other, I have grown quite fond of this city as well, over the
past few days.
And since it's my starting point right now, I have no choice either. After all,
my true home is already way beyond reach at this point.
As for Lucy,
"A-are you sure? If that's the case, then it was worth coming here with
you!"
She was delighted upon hearing my answer.
But seeing that smile that was as beautiful as an angel, I felt guilty that I
had been using her all along, but I quickly steeled myself.
I have no connections, no money, no power. I can't survive in this world
unless I do this.
"I think it's about time. Or would you like to go somewhere for dinner?"
I spoke as to change topics.
"Ah, about that, I have a restaurant reservation. Please follow me."
And so, Lucy took me by the hand once again, and we strolled through the
sunset-dyed streets of Krasland until we reached our destination.