(EP-260.1) #2

260 – Fight Fire With Fire #2

At the entrance of the Angmar Palace. The weather was lovely, with some clouds, bright sunshine, and a pleasant breeze. It was a quintessential summer day, with cicadas and insects buzzing all around.

I was surveying the area from the shade of a pointed pavilion eave to avoid the sun.

“She’s late.”

Looking at the clock nearby, it was already close to eleven in the morning.

“Too late.”

Wasn’t the appointment time supposed to be ten?

Did something happen on the way?

Or had I been stood up?

As I was pondering these thoughts, I saw someone leisurely walking from a distance. Recognizing the familiar figure, I felt both relieved and annoyed.

I needed to say something.

As I was about to open my mouth, she spoke first.

“Have you been waiting long? It took some time to prepare for this rare royal outing. Sir Theo, a lady takes time to prepare. As a gentleman, you should understand that, right?”

Mirna seemed to have preempted my reproach.

Curious about what took her so long, I glanced at her and noticed that, unlike her usual school uniform, she was wearing a long black dress with a veil hat decorated with feathers.

Her face was lightly and subtly made up, and when she got close, a fresh and cool apple mint scent wafted over.

She looked pretty. This would undoubtedly attract the attention of people around us. Indeed, the people passing by were busy staring at her.

What caught my attention the most was the parasol Mirna was holding.

I wasn’t sure if it could be called a parasol, but it looked like she had stuck a stick into a blue cloud, and hid under its shade. She looked like someone holding an enormous cotton candy.

“… That’s a very fancy parasol.”

I complimented the parasol with half admiration and half jest. Mirna glanced up at it and gave it a shake from side to side.

Then the parasol made a peculiar sound.

━Kyuiiing.

It was a strange cry.

Mirna explained.

“Cloudlings hold a lot of negative mana, so they’re very cool. When they absorb water, they swell up and can even be used as a parasol like this.”

“Cloudling… that’s the name of this strange, cloud-like creature?”

“Yes. It’s a rare creature, appearing perhaps once in a hundred years. I was lucky to find it in the elves’ laboratory. I’ve heard they don’t usually follow people well, but Yingying does.”

Mirna and Narmi took care of the mysterious creature they had found in the lab, and even named it ‘Yingying.’

Maybe it was because of the name, but it did look a bit cute.

“I’ve heard that if raised well, an adult Cloudling can carry people and fly through the sky.”

“Like the Flying Nimbus?”

At my question, Mirna tilted her head.

“Flying Nimbus…?”

Ah, she didn’t know about the Flying Nimbus. I decided to tell her a story about mountain spirits flying on clouds. Mirna nodded and smiled after hearing the story.

“Exactly. It could fly around like that. But this one is still young and not big enough to carry a person yet.”

━Yingyingyaing.

“Anyway, if you’re ready, let’s get going. I’m looking forward to having Sir Theo personally show me around the sights of Monarch City.”

“Unlike Gracia, I know Monarch City like the palm of my hand.”

Mirna and I stepped outside the palace together.

Today’s goal was to show Mirna around Monarch City, as we had just discussed.

It might seem strange to introduce the capital to Mirna, a high-ranking noble of Angmar, but Mirna was in her early twenties.

When Mirna was born, the Draco family had already withdrawn from most of the Angmar Kingdom and lived in a villa in the church’s city of Gracia.

Therefore, Mirna Draco had little experience visiting the family’s main residence at Sinai Mountain Fortress or Monarch City, the royal capital of the Angmar Kingdom.

* * *

“There are so many people.”

That was Mirna Draco’s first impression. I couldn’t help but laugh, as I had been secretly looking forward to her evaluation.

Indeed, there were a lot of people.

As she said, Angmar’s Monarch City was quite crowded.

The world’s most powerful kingdom. A place where all kinds of goods and people’s desires swirled in like a vortex. That was Monarch City.

The church’s city of Gracia, where Mirna lived, was also quite large. But compared to Monarch City, it was relatively quiet.

At that moment, Mirna tugged at my arm.

“Then, Sir Theo, let’s visit the central market. I’ve heard it’s a must-see for anyone visiting Monarch City.”

“The central market?”

“Is there a problem?”

“It’s not that, but I don’t think it’s a place befitting Lady Mirna. It’s noisy, chaotic, and bustling.”

“But there’s no place where the spirit of the kingdom’s people is more alive. There’s a saying, ‘If you want to understand a country, visit its market first.’”

Was there such a saying? It wouldn’t be surprising if there was. It sounded plausible.

If Mirna wanted to go, there was no helping it. We boarded a rickshaw heading to Monarch City’s central street.

While a carriage would be fine, riding in a rickshaw offered a moderate pace and a quaint way to enjoy the atmosphere.

Rattle, rattle.

The wheels began to roll along the well-paved road. Feeling the pleasantly cool breeze on my face, my eyes started to wander to the various magnificent buildings.

“Sir Theo, is that Nels Patrdam Chapel?”

Mirna pointed to a building with an impressive tall spire. It was a landmark I remembered well.

“I suppose so.”

“Then that building ahead must be the Rosforina family’s labor office. I read about it in a magazine. It’s also called the Adventurers’ Guild.”

“That, I’m not sure about…”

“It seems I know more about Monarch City than you do, Sir Theo~.”

Mirna seemed quite intrigued by various aspects of Monarch City. As she took an interest in the buildings one after the other, we eventually arrived at the central market street.

─Bustling.

The market was as crowded as I had described.

There were people everywhere, from officially licensed shops to those illegally setting up stalls and shouting.

The items they sold, the cries of animals in all sorts of enclosures, and the sounds of musicians playing flutes and drums, along with elven bards’ harps, all mingled in a cacophony.

“It’s really crowded. The markets in Gracia can’t compare here.”

Edited by: faker