Chapter 63: Um... you won’t be rough with me, right?
"Say it again? Again! Again!"
"No. Not happening."
Eiros let out a sigh. Erness spun around him, light and wild on her feet. Her face practically glowed with sheer delight.
By then, they’d already arrived in Clathria, with plenty of pedestrians passing by, glancing at the two of them in confusion.
Of course, Erness’s appearance was bound to catch their attention, and so was her behavior, genuinely cheerful and full of energy.
’...I’m never doing that again, I swear it.’
Eiros wasn’t sure how it had happened, but he’d apparently gotten so swept up in praising Erness’s appearance that he’d said something without even realizing it.
Embarrassing as it was, at least it had worked—Erness was back to being cheerful and delighted, so it hadn’t been a total loss for Eiros.
He just had to make sure he never did that again.
Ignoring Erness, who kept chattering away beside him, Eiros let out a small sigh and looked around at their surroundings.
’...This world really is different.’
How should he put it? The buildings here were constructed in a remarkably flexible style. Since attacks weren’t exactly rare, every type of structure was built to be easily rebuilt.
Even so, that same reason was exactly what gave this world its own unique aesthetic. Take the building Eiros was passing right across from, for instance.
The buildings in Clathria were made of neatly stacked, pale gray stone, rough and warm to the touch. Everything looked simple, yet genuinely pleasant to look at.
Every building was constructed with the awareness that it might be destroyed tomorrow. That was exactly why there were no intricate carvings or excessive ornamentation. Of course, things were probably different for those with money—the wealthy had far more flexibility.
Not just because they had more freedom in how they built things, but also because, once an attack occurred, they could dismantle their buildings entirely, and in some cases, fold them up temporarily and carry them off using specialized vehicles.
Thinking about how unique this world was made Eiros’s face twitch. This wasn’t a modern world, but in some ways, it was genuinely practical and comfortable, with a level of technology roughly on par with, or even better than, what he remembered.
While lost in that thought, Eiros felt a hand wrap around his arm. At the same time, something soft and yielding pressed against his shoulder, followed by that familiar wintry scent, making him jolt and force an awkward smile once he realized what was happening.
I mean, who else would ever do something like this to Eiros?
"Focus on me."
Erness looked at him with a small, sweet smile on her face, apparently noticing that Eiros had drifted off, paying more attention to their surroundings than to her.
"Alright... so, where are we headed?" Eiros didn’t argue either, since this was his first time ever leaving the academy grounds, so he found himself a little excited. "I’ll go wherever."
How could he possibly pass up a chance to gain such a valuable experience like this?
Not just reading about it in a book, but actually witnessing the process firsthand.
Eiros figured Erness would probably do something like a typical date—I mean, wasn’t that usually how she was?
But, unlike what Eiros expected...
"How about we visit the orphanage?"
"Sorry, what?"
"There’s a sweet little kid there, I’d like to go see them."
Eiros never imagined this was what would happen. He blinked a few times, staring at Erness as if looking at a total stranger.
And honestly, didn’t he basically not know Erness well at all, deep down?
’...What’s actually going on in this spirit’s head?’
Well, of course, even though Eiros was a little thrown off by Erness’s choice, he still nodded in agreement.
"Great! In that case, darling, let’s swing by somewhere first. I want to buy some liquor for the orphanage owner."
"...Huh? Did I hear that right?"
Erness looked at him, amused. "You’re not that old, are you? I don’t think so."
No, but seriously, was it even normal to give alcohol to an orphanage owner?
That was obviously not normal at all!
They were in charge of a bunch of small children at once, they couldn’t just let their guard down under the influence of alcohol...
"Darling," Erness seemed to notice his shock, so she let out a sigh and squeezed his arm even tighter. "You probably won’t believe this, but the old man genuinely prefers alcohol. Do you really think just because he runs an orphanage, that automatically makes him a good person...?"
Eiros’s expression scrunched up.
’Ah.’
His lips twitched slightly. ’So, this orphanage owner is actually a bad person, huh?’
In that case, giving them alcohol made perfect sense. But why...?
Why had Erness come bearing gifts at all? Was there some poor, pitiful little kid there who’d caught her sympathy?
As Eiros wondered just what kind of child could possibly be pitiful enough to catch Erness’s attention...
’No... if the orphanage owner really is that bad, then wouldn’t all the kids there be the ones who deserve pity?’
Eiros realized it all over again—he genuinely couldn’t understand Erness at all. It felt far more plausible that Erness had come here with some hidden agenda instead.
So, he just sighed and followed along as Erness pulled him into a bar.
The sound of a bell chimed as Erness pushed the bar door open. They were immediately greeted with the overpowering smell of alcohol and food, along with a crowd of burly patrons yelling their heads off in delight.
A pretty typical scene for the inside of a bar, whichever bar it happened to be.
The moment they stepped in, Erness and Eiros instantly drew every eye in the room.
"Little kids? Hey! If you two are looking for an inn, it’s across the street, this here’s a place for grown-ups!"
"Wow, saying where the inn actually is feels kind of..."
"Hahaha, you really think that scrawny little kid looks like the type to actually pull something with his cute girlfriend?"
"You lot better shut it, that girl looks like nobility. Watch your mouths or your heads might just go flying, haha."
Of course...
’Their mouths are absolutely filthy.’
Eiros glanced over at Erness without thinking, curious how she’d react to all those jeers aimed straight at them. But, just as he’d expected, Erness wasn’t even fazed in the slightest.
She kept dragging Eiros along, heading toward an empty table with chairs. Then, she told Eiros to sit down right away.
"Wait here a second, I’ll go get what we need."
Since it was Erness, Eiros didn’t hesitate for a second and just nodded. Of course, with Erness’s strength, who could possibly try anything shady with her around?
As for Eiros himself, well, he didn’t need to worry either. After all, no one here could actually kill him, thanks to his stigmata. Of course, he’d still rather avoid that possibility altogether if he could help it.
Ah, and besides, he didn’t spot anyone here who looked particularly dangerous.
Even though everyone kept running their mouths about this and that in the most vulgar way, Eiros could handle it just fine.
No point picking a fight he didn’t need either.
So, he watched Erness finally head back toward him, carrying something wrapped in a leather pouch, but just as she got close to Eiros, someone suddenly blocked her path.
"....?"
It was a man who’d lost every last strand of hair on his head, leaving nothing but a bald scalp lined with bulging veins. His body was roughly two and a half times bigger than Erness, muscles twitching, veins writhing across his frame.
He crudely showed off the lines of his physique, wearing nothing but a pair of pants, torn in several places.
"Hey there, gorgeous, mind telling me your name?"
Hearing his deep, gravelly voice, paired with a leering grin and a look that was more than a little inappropriate, genuinely made Eiros feel sick to his stomach.
But he just watched, figuring Erness could handle herself just fine.
"...That’s Erness."
Hearing that, the man burst out laughing.
"Erness? Haha! Alright then, I’m Glenn!" The man, Glenn, smirked, then glanced over at Eiros with a mocking look. "So, instead of hanging around with that scrawny little boyfriend of yours, how about you come play with me instead?"
"....?"
"Look, he doesn’t even dare come over here, hahaha."
The atmosphere in the bar turned even more raucous as the patrons clapped and cheered.
"Wwooo!! Glenn! You’re a total bastard, haha. Can’t believe you’d pull something that shameless on a couple of kids?!"
"Hey! But seriously, though?! Sweetheart! Is what Glenn’s saying true, what’s that scrawny boyfriend of yours actually good for?"
Insult after insult kept coming, and Eiros couldn’t help but smile despite himself.
A faint smile crossed his face, but he held it in check, his expression twitching slightly as his gaze landed on Erness.
’What is she doing? Hurry up and wrap this up.’
Eiros silently demanded that Erness finish this quickly, but after a few seconds of locked eyes, Erness looked away with a small huff.
That caught Eiros a little off guard, but worse still, Erness turned back to Glenn and smiled sweetly.
"Um... you won’t be rough with me, right?"
Glenn’s whole face lit up at that, and he burst out laughing loudly.
"Hahah! Of course! Of course not!"
Even the patrons looked absolutely thrilled watching the whole thing unfold.
"Wow! She actually said yes?!"
"Damn it, if I’d known it’d go like this, I would’ve made my move first!"
"Broo! This is Glenn’s lucky day, haha."
And Eiros?
"Ah."
He let out a hollow laugh.
He figured he’d finally gotten a bit of a grasp on what Erness was actually thinking. So he watched the man walk off together with Erness, and slowly, Eiros got up and took a step forward too.
’She’s genuinely impossible to understand.’
Then he paused for a moment, scratching the back of his head.
’Poor guy...’
That was genuine pity, honestly.
***