Chapter 26: Square 21: The Girl Who Loves Tomatoes
"Hey, don’t get any closer! Spirits are dangerous!"
The intruders kept their distance and attacked with long range magic instead.
"One thing I’ll mention, don’t attack Necrolyze... though, guess it’s too late for that."
What followed could only be described as horrific. When an attack hit its wings, the man who’d cast it was torn in two. When an attack hit its chest, the caster’s whole body burst with blood. An attack to the right arm left the target charred, and one to the left arm left the caster’s body riddled with holes until he died. The worst of it was the muscular one who attacked the iron maiden. Caught by chains that lashed out from within it, he was slammed repeatedly onto a bed of countless needles. While pinned like that, he was spun and shredded apart. The screams that lingered afterward weren’t something I’d be forgetting easily.
It was truly over in an instant. Ten hardened men, shouting threats mere seconds earlier, had been reduced to lifeless heaps of flesh. The smell of blood hanging in the air made me cover my mouth with my hand.
"Elizabeth, it’s done."
"Yes, I can see that."
Elizabeth gently pulled Rick’s hood back over his head. The moment she did, his sharp expression instantly softened back into something meek.
"Um... where should I bury these people?"
His voice and manner of speaking had returned to their nervous, timid state. Like some kind of split personality. People in this world really were a little off, somehow.
"Master Rick, we’ll take care of the bodies from here."
"S-Selva! Ahh, th-thank you... so much."
"That’s right! Since you came all this way, won’t you stay for some tea?"
"Oh, I’d love to! Thank you, Elizabeth."
Watching this, he really did look like a completely normal person... Thinking that, I quietly slipped out of the mansion so as not to get in the way of the body cleanup.
"Wait just a moment, please!"
Just past the mansion’s main gate, someone called out to stop me. Turning around, I saw Tender running toward me carrying something.
"Hm? Did I forget something?"
I checked through my bag while Tender caught his breath in front of me.
"No, no, Lady Elizabeth asked me to bring this to you."
It was a fairly large bundle, just barely small enough to fit in my bag. I opened it up right there.
"This is... clothing?"
Unfolding it revealed a robe. Beige overall, with a pegasus embroidered on the back. Simple, but a pretty sharp design honestly.
"You sure about this? Looks pretty expensive..."
"Yes, please, take it. Besides, walking around looking like you’ve got money on you makes you an easy target for criminals, doesn’t it?"
"I’ll take it gladly then."
I was done with fighting for a while. If I kept getting jumped that easily, I wouldn’t have enough lives to spare. Even though right now I technically did have a few extra lives to spare.
"Do take care, then."
I waved back at Tender and started walking toward Old Man Beard’s house.
"Old Man Beard’s house, ...so far!!!"
I checked the map again. On paper it had looked like it was pretty close by.
"...This is one of those maps that just says ’go straight down this road’ and skips over a ton of detail, isn’t it."
I kept thinking I should’ve rented a carriage at some point along the way, but I had no idea how to even go about renting one. I was really starting to appreciate modern taxis.
"Um... no way, seriously, don’t tell me..."
There was a T intersection blocking the way, or more accurately, there was technically a path straight ahead too. But the road directly ahead was barely even a road, just a dim gap between buildings. Following the map meant heading straight through what looked like an extremely sketchy back alley.
"Seriously, come on, give me a break..."
Nothing scarier than a back alley in a rough part of town. I’d already gotten more than my fill of back alley initiation ceremonies for one lifetime. But going around meant weaving through the shopping district on either side, with no idea where I’d need to turn next.
"Alright... time to put this to use already."
I pulled the robe out of my bag and wrapped it around myself, covering my whole body.
"Is one robe really gonna cut it? Guess I could keep detouring around... no, if I get lost doing that, it’ll be way worse."
Once I started thinking that way, it was a losing battle. Stop overthinking it already!! Just charge in!!!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
After charging through for a few minutes, I made it out of the alley safely and realized something. I should’ve just bought normal clothes in the shopping district.
"Damn it, missed opportunity!!"
Tired from all the walking, I took a break at what looked like a park. I’d already taken off the robe and stuffed it back in my bag.
"That robe’s kind of itchy for some reason. Wonder why, is it just because it’s isekai clothing or something?"
Muttering to myself, I dug through my shopping bag. Munching on a tomato I’d bought nearby, I watched some kids playing happily by a small fountain in the middle of the park.
"...Guess scenes like this don’t really change no matter what world you’re in."
While I was enjoying the warm little scene, something unpleasant caught my eye, disrupting the mood. From a distance, it was obviously bullying. Five kids were crowding around one girl, hurling insults and occasionally hitting her with a wooden stick. They all looked about elementary school age, but they weren’t holding back at all. As an adult, I couldn’t just look away, but yelling at them outright would probably just mean they’d repeat the same thing later. Thinking it over for a second, I rushed over and crushed the half eaten tomato against my chest.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Y-you kids!! Help me, please!!!!!"
Legs shaking, breathing ragged, shoulders trembling, I stumbled toward the kids. Red liquid dripped down from my chest.
"Please, help me!!!!! I’ve been stabbed, stabbed, staaaaabbed!!!!!!"
The kids erupted into chaos. Crying, tripping over each other, crying some more. And then they bolted at full speed.
"Heh, the old fake near death technique. Works every time."
"...Did you save me?"
I was surprised. The girl who’d been bullied had apparently seen right through my flawless performance. As someone who’d been drama club president back in high school, that stung a little. But well, at least she seemed okay.
"Yep, hero of justice, at your service. You alright?"
"Yeah, thanks."
I reached a hand out to the girl slumped on the ground. As I did, her white hair, shoulder length, brushed against my fingertips. Her fine features, almost Slavic looking, made it hard to believe someone this striking would get bullied instead of becoming the class idol. Blood seeped from the marks on her body where the stick had struck her.
"Hold still for a sec."
"?"
I applied bandages to her wounds one by one. I used up all six I had on me, but figured that was fine.
"Does it hurt?"
"No, I’m okay now."
An oddly composed kid. Despite everything that had just happened to her, her eyes weren’t even welling up. Out of nowhere, the girl pointed at my chest.
"Hey, do you have any more tomatoes?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, I do..."
"Can I have one?"
...Did she really like tomatoes that much? Well, a kid who likes vegetables from an early age is a pretty good thing. Since I had them anyway, I handed her the biggest, best looking one.
"Thanks."
She must have been hungry, because she took a huge bite and ate it eagerly.
"Good?"
"Yeah."
She ate with such a blank expression that it was hard to tell if she was actually enjoying it. I wiped the mess the tomato had left on my clothes with a tissue and kept talking.
"A lot of kids hate tomatoes, but you can actually eat them, huh."
"Yeah."
"...You like tomatoes?"
"Yeah."
"...I see."
"Yeah."
Man, this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. I didn’t have a ton of experience talking with kids to begin with. If she were more like Yu, chatting on her own, this would be a lot easier. Dealing with a quiet kid like this is tough for a single guy.
"...Thanks for the tomato, mister."
"Hm, you good now? Want another one?"
"No, one’s enough."
The girl shook her head and immediately stood up, running off somewhere. On a whim, I called out to ask her name before she got too far.
"Hey, what’s your name, by the way?"
The girl stopped, her white hair swaying as she turned back.
"I’m Shiran. Shiran Clover. Just Shiran’s fine."
That was the first time she smiled. Kids really do suit a smile.
"I see. Take care, Shiran."
"Yeah, see ya."
I watched Shiran run off, then got back on my feet.
"Alright, guess I should get going."
Munching on the last tomato, I started walking toward Old Man Beard’s house. Little did I know at the time that this walk was about to take another three hours.
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