Chereads / The Incredible Scholar / Chapter 5 - A Unusual Quest.

Chapter 5 - A Unusual Quest.

For the next few weeks, Vivillian behaved normally at the orphanage, he didn't do anything too bad, after all, he was waiting for the night of the full moon to come again.

When finally it was a full moon again, Vivillian felt a familiar power return to him, and as Elva went to sleep, he took flight once more, but this time as a raven.

Flying to the highest room he could find, he landed on the little princess's room window ledge.

Inside, the princess slept soundly on the bed.

He entered the room, transforming back into a human and made himself comfortable on a chair, eating a plate of custards that had the name tag, 'For the Angel' sitting beside it.

 After eating more than one, Viv thought it was too sweet to eat any more, as he looked at the room around him.

 Suddenly, the girl on the bed began to stir.

 "Angel? Is that you, Angel?" She asked excitedly in her half awakened state, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

 "It is me." He answered simply.

 "Do you like the desserts I prepared? I didn't know when you would come back so I asked the chefs to make them every day." The Princess smiled, shyly looking at him for praise.

 "It's okay."

 "That's good then." She hummed and sat up on her bed. "Can I ask you a favor, Angel?"

 "Depends."

 "I want to go outside to the town."

 "Rejected." Viv frowned, too much work to carry a child around and chaperone them.

 The girl pouted, before asking slyly. "Then, can you go to town and buy me something?"

 "..?" He tilted his head.

 "I heard recently from my maid that village kids like to play a game called Aranka, and it uses this cool wooden thing to play it..." The Princess asked shyly. "Apparently it looks like a little thing that slowly gets bigger at the top. It's very unusual looking..or so I heard, so you can't miss it!"

 "...And do you have money for it?"

 "Yes, would this be enough?" The princess held a sack of coins, and opened it slightly.

 "..." Viv was almost blinded by the sharp golden glare that flashed him. "I'll do your request, but I'll take a gold coin as compensation."

 "Alright." The little Princess happily handed the golden sack to Viv, and tucked herself into bed. "I'll be waiting for good news."

 "Kay."

 With a breath, Viv jumped off the ledge and turned into a bird, holding the sack with his beak as he flew towards the town below.

Flying over the crowd of night shoppers, over the street kids having fun, and over the grand central fountain, Viv found a corner to land in, and soon a boy emerged from the alleyway.

"Hm.." Vivillian walked along the street, scanning the various shops. Cake shops, toy shops, clothing boutiques, you name it. It seemed he had landed in a well developed area, with luxury goods surrounding him.

Viv entered the toy shop, looking around for anything that could match the description of whatever the princess described.

The old shopkeeper noticed the beastmen looking around, and went over to help.

"Anything you looking for in particular?" The old man's eyes eyed the uniform around the boy, it was an orphan from the main church. The kid must has snuck out somehow, and came to enjoy himself.

"..Aranka." Viv said shortly. "Do you have it?"

"Ah, the street toy?" The old shopkeeper rubbed his mustache. "This is a novelty toy store, you can find Arankas at normal toy stores for way less than here."

"Do you sell it here?"

"Why yes, but you see it may be out of your budget for a kid like..."

"Where."

"Huh?"

"Where is the Aranka." Viv frowned, crossing his arm.

"..It's over on that shelf." The old man pointed to a shelf in the corner, feeling wronged. He had just wanted to politely guide the boy away, but he had unintentionally made the kid mad..

Viv went to the shelf, and raised an eyebrow. In front of him, were just a bunch of different colored tops.

 How strange, even in a video game children like to play with little toys like these.

 Vivillian threw a gold coin onto the counter, and took an Aranka.

 The old man stared in disbelief at the gold coin in front of him, biting it to see if it were authentic, he was amazed to see it was.

 "..." Maybe this old man shouldn't say anything next time.

—-

 "Angel? Are you back?" The Princess woke up, as the curtain whistled through the open door.

 "Yes." Viv entered, and placed the Aranka on the bed.

 "Woah..!" Her eyes lit up with sparkles, examining the delicately crafted Aranka, she quickly put it on the ground and spun it with her finger.

 Zfweet-!

 It quickly spun around with a twist and bounced off the luxurious furniture.

 "Wow! Wow...wowowowow!" The Princess couldn't stop saying wow as she fiddled with the colorful top, almost beaming with joy.

 Seeing the scene, Vivillian took a gold coin and prepared to take his leave, when he was suddenly tackled from behind.

 "Thank you thank you! Angel, you're the best!" The Princess exclaimed, hugging Viv tightly, who was somewhat shorter then her.

 "..." Viv's eyebrow twitched, as he hesitated, and then pushed her off. "Don't touch me."

 "Hehe, too soon? Come again next month~!" The princess giggled as she waved him off, seeing how he turned into a bird and flew away magically.

 The stars that night seemed brighter for the princess, and with her new toy, it seemed as if maybe for today, her illness was on the back of her mind.

 Shortly after the Angel left, the princess went to the ledge of the window where she looked at the world below.

 "It's so beautiful..." She breathed out, almost breathless as she reached her hand into the sky, trying to grab a star.

 "Hehe, what am I doing? Your a big princess now...!" She huffed, joking rebuking herself as she stared at the town and all the people having fun.

 "If only I could be like them...or like Angel, who can fly to wherever he wants..." The Princess looked down, playing with her hair. "Once I get better, I'll definitely go on an adventure!"