Chapter 62 – Rumors

She walked beside her father, who was pulling a cart loaded with luggage, looking down at the ground with a depressed look.

Her father spoke to her many times and smiled as if to encourage her. In those moments, she hid her own insecurities and smiled back.

Her mother also held tight her hand to encourage her. As with her father, she held it back.

As they walked through a group of villagers they knew, they soon saw horsemen.At first, they were happy to see them, but as they approached, the faces of the villagers and her parents were frightened and horrified, and the next thing she knew, her father and the cart had been pushed out of the way by an approaching rider.

◇◆◇◆◇

“…!”

Moonlight and cold air came in. Panting loudly after the nightmare, Seri Torque got up from the blanket she was wrapped in. She had been crying while dreaming, and her pillow was wet.

A dream from the past, one she had seen many times since the attack on his hometown.

Once outside the shed where she was staying, she drank water from a jar, moistened her throat and washed her face, which still had remnants of tears. Then she went back inside and adjusted her clothes, wrapping her hair in a thin cloth to cover her ears. Her ears, which were longer than those of a human, were proof that she had elf blood. The half-breeds were not hated in the imperial capital, but anything, even if slightly different in the group was likely to be expelled. Back in her village, thanks to his father’s ability to use magic, they hadn’t been mistreated, but in the city of Nest, where she went about her business, she felt a little avoided. Even when it was an elf village, she had been caged in a stone prison. Because of this, Seri lived in the imperial city, hiding her ears.

“Good morning.”“Good morning, Seri-chan.”

The one who responded to Seri’s greeting was Randall, the owner of the Wandering Bird’s Nest, where she lived. More precisely, she lived in a small shed in the courtyard of the inn. She had been given the opportunity to live and work here by a knight named Wynn, who also used to live in the shed (Seri did not know the difference between a normal knught and an apprentice knight).

When she was given it, it was a battered shed that could be compared to a hut, which also had a draught that came in at will, but somehow it had been restored and made as good as new thanks to the “Great Wise” Tiara, a High Elf who came to visit.

For Seri, who was of mixed race, it was incredibly amazing to live in a shed created by the Great Wise herself, a kind of noblewoman for the elves and a hero for humanity.

‘I cannot thank Wynn enough.’

“Can you fill the barrels as usual and then wash and peel the vegetables for me?”“Yes, sir.”

Following Randall’s instructions, Seri held the small empty jar and as she poured its contents into the barrel. Then she closed her eyes and cast a spell.

“I, who understand the way of water, create a stream of water. Grant me the blessings of life.”

Then the water gushed out of the jar in a copious flow and filled the barrels. After filling all the barrels in the same way, the vegetables were rinsed and then quickly peeled.

“Now it is ready. Do you want me to go shopping?”“You work fast, Seri-chan. Sorry Wynn, but in terms of efficiency, Seri-chan is better than you.”

Randall laughed. The speed at which she finished her work was the same as Wynn’s, but Seri was more efficient, for one thing only: she could use magic. That’s why she didn’t have to come and go to the community well.

“Oh, Seri. Give me a minute.”

Hannah, Randall’s wife, who worked with the customers, stopped Seri, who was about to go to the market to stock up on food.

“Oh, yes?”“Our costumer here wants to go into town. Please show her around.”

A tall woman in her twenties with short red hair extended her hand to Seri with a wild smile.

“Hello, are you Seri-san? I am Zinnia. Zinnia Reg.”“I am Seri Torque. Good morning, Zinnia.”

Was she a mercenary or an adventurer? She was dressed in a worn-out leather armor and had a sword at her waist. As she held the hand that was offered to her, she felt that her palms were hard.

“I just wanted to replenish my medicine for the wounds and other things before going to work. I could go to a store like that, but if there’s a place in town that has good, cheap medicine or something like that, can you let me know?”“That’s very good. The store I’m going to now also has cheap medicine that works very well.”“Really?! That’s lucky. I made a lot of money at my last job, and I’ve been very lucky lately. So, do you think you could show me around?”“Yeah, sure.”

After picking up her shopping cart, Seri escorted Zinnia out of the Wandering Bird’s Nest onto the main street where the morning mist filled the air.

◇◆◇◆◇

The morning market was held in the square in front of the east gate of the imperial city wall and the square in front of the south gate.

“Oh, Seri-chan, you look beautiful today!”“What do you think, Seri-chan? Isn’t the fish cheap today?”“Good morning, sir. I have a customer asking me to show her around today, so I’ll stop by next time.”

Seri’s face, which mixed the features of the beautiful elves, was very well defined. The men who were setting up their stalls called Seri one by one. Seri smiled back at them and greeted them as she walked by Zinnia through the market at the south gate.

“Seri-san, you are so popular!”

Zinnia told Seri, who had been approached quite often, in surprise.

“I am a frequent buyer in this market.”“No, it’s not just that. It’s because you’re beautiful.”“No, that’s not true.”

She laughed slightly at Zinnia for saying such a thing and dismissed her words.

“Zinnia-san, that’s the store, over there.”

Seri pointed to a woman in her thirties who was arranging vegetables and other items in a blanket.

“Good morning.”“Good morning, Seri-chan. What will it be today?”“Good morning, ma’am. Could you show me your vegetables today? Also, she would like you to show her some of your medicine.”“I need to get some medicine for the wounds and something for the stomach pain. I’d like to have something I can keep for a long time, if possible.”“Then how about this?”

While Zinnia and the owner of the stall talked about some medicines in the form of pills that she had taken out, Seri collected and examined each of the vegetables that she had been asked to buy.

The vegetables of the lady who grew them with her daughter on the outskirts of the imperial capital were very popular because they were very fresh and left a slight sweetness in the mouth. If you didn’t get there early enough, they often ran out.

“Thank you for everything.”“No, thank you for the vegetables. They are very fresh.”“Thank you for your help, Seri-san. I got such good medicine for so little money.”

Zinnia, who had paid for the medicine before Seri, said with a big smile.

They were able to get the medicine they wanted for less than their budget. Seri also put her chosen vegetables in the basket and paid for them.

“You seem to have gotten used to life in the Imperial City.”“Yes, thank you.”“But be careful. There are many ruffians in the Imperial City, you know.”

The store owner looked around as she gave Seri her change. And the young people around who had been stealing looks from Seri, looked around somewhat annoyed.

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

With a chuckle, Seri accepted the change. Although she felt very sad about her home village, she sincerely believed that she had met many kind people since she had arrived in the Imperial City.

“As I walked with Seri-san, I was surprised to see the eyes of all the men gathered together.”“Seri-chan is the princess of all the men in this city, you know? There are many of them who admire this girl.”“I don’t think that story is true.”“But they’re not saints either, although it’s been a little hectic around here, so you should be very careful, okay?”

The store owner said quietly to Seri, who in turn smiled a little embarrassed.

“There is a war about to start, so there are a lot of people coming in. Yesterday I was almost attacked by a thief too.”“What? Are you okay?”“A very strong swordsman passed by. I was lucky.”“Now that I think about it, I feel that our clients are more and more like mercenaries and adventurers like Zinnia-san these days.”

From the conversations she had heard among the clients, it seemed that the nobles who had territories on the border were fighting for mercenaries and adventurers. They would gather information from their respective guilds in the imperial capital and look for the boss who would offer them the highest price, or they would join a group of mercenaries. As the number of such people increased, fights and disputes increased in taverns and other places. This was no exception for the Wandering Bird’s Nest.

“I have heard that there have been many abductions of young girls and things like that. I’m worried about my daughter, too. You should avoid the streets with as many people as possible, Seri-chan, I suggest you stay away from crowded roads.”“Your daughter is a very pretty girl, isn’t she?”“When she is a little older, I think she should work in some store in town. I don’t know if there is a shortage of labor in many places today, or if it is only in some of the poorer areas that they are hiring on a large scale.”“Really?”“I wonder if it’s the war that’s selling. It’s complicated because a lot of things go up in price, but it also makes the goods sell better.”

The store owner said with a chuckle.

“Ma’am, and you’re not worried about me?”“I think you could easily turn the tables on that kind of situation.”“Hahaha, maybe! It’s more like, if you mess with the bull, you get the horns.”

‘I need extra income,’ said Zinnia.

“What about kidnapping?”“I’ve heard that several people have disappeared in the last few days, one after another. Most of the victims seem to be children from the slums, or people from outside.”“In places like this, there are a lot of people shopping and kidnapping, right?”

As a mercenary, Zinnia knew a lot about the situation in the slums. Because of the fact that it was a place where people did what they wanted, sold and traded children. Some kidnapped them and sold them to the slave traders and others.

“They say it’s happening more often, especially these days, that it’s already a rumor.”“Well, besides the mercenaries and adventurers who belong to a legitimate guild like me, there seem to be a lot of criminal savages as well.”“So, you better watch out when a young, beautiful girl like Seri-chan is around.”“I understand. Thank you very much.”

She thanked the store owner for her concern and took the basket full of vegetables. She needed to get home soon, or they wouldn’t be able to make lunch.

“I’m still going to look around the market a little bit. I found a stall that sold some knives that looked great.”“Well, I guess I’ll go back to the inn first, then.”

After saying goodbye to Zinnia, who still wanted to look around the stalls, Seri started heading back to The Wandering Bird’s Nest.

On the way back home, she paid close attention and saw that there were many men in the town who were armed and who said they were fighting for a living. They were probably here to replenish their weapons and needs, like Zinnia.

Suddenly, she noticed that some people were looking at her body in a lewd way. They were a trio of men dressed as mercenaries or adventurers. When their eyes met Seri’s, they smiled.

When she noticed the kind of look they were giving her, she turned around and left at a brisk pace. Some of the customers who visited the inn were like them, but to tell the truth, she was not good at dealing with them. She was not afraid of men, but of men in armor. After all, they made her relive memories of Torque Village.

However…

‘Huh? Is someone following me?’

When she turned around, she saw that the three men who recently were looking at her in a lewd way were walking in the same direction as her.

‘I’m sure they’re just heading in the same direction.’

She thought she was overthinking things, but she increased her walking speed anyway. She pretended to look at the stalls a few times while looking behind her.

‘They’re still there.’

The trio had also stopped on their way. Like Seri, they pretended to be looking at the stalls, but occasionally turned their eyes to her.

‘…Oh no, I’m scared.’

The anxiety of being followed almost brought her to tears, and she hurried back to the inn as soon as possible. But it was early in the market. It was not easy to walk because of the crowds. Even normally, the Seri who had grown up in the countryside had not yet become accustomed to crowds.

Even from the narrow alleyways, the residents of the neighborhood could be seen coming out into the streets.

But no one saw the tall mercenary appear again.