After leaving the guild, Izayoi and Yuka, having no particular rush, were taking advantage of the festival.
"That looks delicious!"
"Oh, look! Isn't that candy apple? They have it here too!"
"Roasted lizard... I wonder if it’s tasty... Try some."
They were a bit, no, quite excited.
Joyfully popping in and out of various stalls, their excited figures were akin to children brought to a festival for the first time.
In Yuka's hand was a roasted lizard, which certainly looked like a bizarre dish.
"Since we bought it as an experiment... taste it."
"There’s no point in rephrasing that."
Izayoi dodges Yuka, who is approaching with a roasted lizard in one hand.
"What’s the matter~? You’re going to make a girl eat this?"
"...A girl?"
Izayoi couldn’t acknowledge someone who could smash a table to smithereens with their fist as a girl.
"Did you say something?"
"No, nothing."
Yuka smiles innocently. If it weren’t for the clenched fist, she would be a lovely girl, which is quite a pity.
"You bought it, so deal with it yourself."
"By saying 'deal with it', you’re not looking at it as food, are you?"
"You’re one to talk."
"...Can it be eaten?"
Izayoi wanted to loudly say that if you doubt it, don’t buy it in the first place.
Yuka glared at the roasted lizard for a while and then decided to take a bite.
"Ugh, bitter..."
She sticks out her cherry-colored tongue and grimaces greatly. It seems quite distasteful, as she’s somewhat teary-eyed.
"Sigh... hand it over."
"Eh, what are you..."
Half in amazement, Izayoi takes the roasted lizard from Yuka. It doesn’t look delicious at all.
"What are you going to do with it? ...You're not going to eat it, are you?"
Yuka, for some reason blushing, watches as Izayoi shakes his head as if to say that’s impossible.
"I don’t have such courage."
"Don’t call it courage!"
Yuka bites back as Izayoi uses illusion magic to make the roasted lizard invisible and then incinerates it without leaving ashes. A splendid disposal.
"I feel like I just saw a huge waste of magic."
"Just think of it as your imagination."
"I will. But I want something to cleanse my palate now."
"The candy apple from earlier should be fine."
"That’s true. Let’s go!"
Yuka is about to grab Izayoi's arm and run.
"Wait, wait. The candy apples won’t run away, no need to hurry."
"That’s true, but..."
"You’re overly excited. It’s not your first time, is it?"
"That, that is..."
Embarrassed, Yuka hesitates. Izayoi frowns as if to say, "You can’t be serious."
"Were you only thinking about defeating me?"
"Ugh..."
It seems he hit the mark, Yuka groans. On the other hand, Izayoi has a stern expression.
"How much did you want to defeat me..."
"Shut up! I’m going ahead!"
Yuka, shoulders stiff, plunges into the crowd. After confirming she’s completely out of sight, Izayoi blocks out the surrounding noise and delves into his thoughts.
—Something feels off.
An indescribable, vague something. Like a chill creeping up from his feet, an eerie feeling. Izayoi doesn’t know what it is. A feeling of something stuck in his throat, like the pieces aren’t fitting together. It’s frustrating.
—Ah, it's irritating.
Izayoi scratches his head to hide his irritation at the answer that won’t come— and nonchalantly looks back.
Filling his vision are crowds and bustling stalls. A typical festival scene. Izayoi scowls as he surveys the constantly flowing crowd. Then, a light impact on his back, and when he turns his head, Yuka is standing there with candy apples in both hands.
"Why are you so intimidating? People around are scared."
"...Sorry, I didn’t notice."
Looking around, several people are watching Izayoi with pale faces, having been accidentally subjected to his aura. Although unintentional, Izayoi reflects that he did something bad. He puts on a natural smile, nods slightly, and moves away.
"Still, buying two shows you’re quite greedy."
Izayoi diverts the conversation before being asked why he was intimidating.
"I-I’m not! I’m not a glutton!"
As expected, Yuka vehemently objects. However, the candy apples in both hands make her argument unconvincing.
"Here, this is yours."
"...No, I..."
Izayoi doesn’t need to eat due to his constitution, which Yuka already knows. Still, she insists on giving him the candy apple.
"You don’t need to eat, but you can eat, right?"
"That’s true, but..."
"Occasionally eat something sweet and have some peace of mind. You’re always troubled and thinking alone."
"Peace of mind, huh."
Not persuaded, but reluctantly, Izayoi accepts the offered candy apple. Unlike the ones from his original world, it doesn’t look glossy or appealing, but it smells sweet enough.
Watching Yuka enjoying her candy apple, Izayoi takes a bite of his. A faint sweetness spreads in his mouth. The taste is decent. "What do you think of eating something after such a long time?"
"It’s neither good nor bad."
"You’re uninteresting, aren’t you?"
Yuka shrugs her shoulders in exasperation.
"Mind your own business. Anyway, what are we going to do next?"
"Let’s see~... Oh, darn!"
Yuka suddenly raised her voice, visibly panicking.
"I forgot to book a place to stay...!"
Hearing this, Izayoi also belatedly realized this fact, looking up at the sky that was beginning to turn crimson.
"At this hour, and on such a festive day, I wonder if there are any available accommodations."
"Oh no..."
Yuka droops her shoulders and hangs her head. Apparently, she really dislikes the idea of sleeping outdoors, as she mumbles complaints. The people around are slightly taken aback by this.
"We could just camp outside the city, right?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Then what do you plan to do?"
"That is... right."
Yuka claps her hands as if she had an idea.
"Why give up before we search? It’s not certain yet that there’s nothing available."
She clenches her fists with determination. Izayoi has a somewhat bad premonition.
"Let’s go. We’ll search every nook and cranny of Thermus and find a place!"
"Wait, calm down."
Yuka is full of energy and ready to run. Just as she’s about to dash off, Izayoi reaches out to grab her shoulder. However, his hand is instead caught by Yuka.
"Hey, wait―"
"I’ll outrun you!"
Despite his attempts to stop her, Yuka, the hero express, takes off running at high speed.
Yuka, demonstrating her heroic capabilities, moves through the crowd at an incredible speed, finding the shortest distance. Izayoi gave up resisting the moment she started running.
Izayoi thought.
Probably only Yuka would fully utilize the hero's capabilities just to find an accommodation. He hoped it would stay that way.
In the end, they were able to find a place to stay.
After checking seven inns, they barely managed to find one with a single room available just as the sun fully set.
Three silver coins for a night with breakfast and dinner included. It’s quite expensive for adventurers, but it seems Yuka didn’t mind. However, she was quite troubled that there was only one room available.
"If you don’t give up, things somehow work out... even though there was only one room available."
Yuka, with a somewhat dissatisfied look but a triumphant expression, wipes the sweat from her forehead and speaks. However, Izayoi feels uncomfortable under the indescribable gaze from the innkeeper.