บท 46: A day at the market
Being a member of the mercenary guild didn't mean you could only accept missions through the guild. As long as one could find a job, they could take it. Doris was aware of this fact when Miss Doctor was briefing her about the situation, but...
'This isn't any different from back home!'
She didn't expect her first mission to be working in a restaurant for a whole day!
Picking up the plates and bringing them to the kitchen, Doris couldn't help but sigh at the sight of her high hopes crumbling down. Seeing her like that, Eleen drew her face closer to her.
"Don't expect too much. This place is near a jungle and doesn't have much population, so we can't find any exciting and well-paying missions."
On the other side of the kitchen, the cloaked man briefly paused his spectacular performance of masterfully wiping the floor.
"Even if there are any good missions, our group is too weak and inexperienced to take any; so it's a no."
He then went back to his job, cleaning the whole place like an expert.
"...."
This man. Didn't they say he was a slave? That young master's servant? Yet, the short time she'd joined these people was enough for the girl to understand that the cloaked person was the actual leader of this group. The reason was a mystery as he neither had the status nor the power to boss these people around.
And why was he always hiding his face? Was he ugly?
-Master, I think you should've done the cooking part... Aren't you super great at cooking? Look over there, Weird Alaric can't pull it off!
Ian barely controlled the corners of his lips from rising up.
-It's okay. Let him suffer.
-Ah?
The wolf pup gave a tilt to his neck, causing his fluffy ears to flop around. After staring at Ian for two seconds, the child turned around and rushed to Alaric, who was struggling to help out the chef. Judging from the way the two peeked at each other, they must be having a conversation; but strangely enough, Ian couldn't hear them.
'Well, it's okay. It's alright. It's not like he's something in my possession or is solely owned by me! Lior is an independent individual! It's natural for him to be so excited to finally converse with someone else. I'm actually glad for him. Yeah.'
"Hmph!"
The speed at which the floor was being wiped increased rapidly. Ian couldn't care less about the others' startled looks.
He and this strange Aether Creature have been together for so many regressions, for such a long time. What if some weirdo pupped up all of a sudden? The child will be excited for one week or two before growing tired of him. Yeah.
'He's just playing around with him. It's not like he'll choose that potato-lookalike dude over me!'
Of course not... right?
The mop's highspeed motion came to an abrupt halt. It wasn't until someone bumped into him that Ian snapped out of his daze. Seeing the face of their employer, Ian couldn't help but go back to cleaning. They were hired to assist this restaurant till the evening and were being paid a great deal for this job, so they had to work hard.
"With this, we have enough budget to buy our necessities. Let's go shopping tomorrow!"
Eleen's comment wasn't a mere suggestion but an actual order that no one dared to disobey. The group of five found themselves in the market early in the morning, regardless of their actual willingness.
"Don't you need anything? A sword, a set of clothes, or some tools?"
Kieran didn't even glance at the stalls as they walked.
"No."
"Hmmm..." Ian scanned the man from head to toe, "Do you intend to always wear black? That's not really cool, you know, you're not some teenager."
Ian could remember how this dude enjoyed clothing all black even when they were kids. Back then, it was mostly inspired by his father's uniform, which was mainly black to show off his rank in the court. Little Kieran would do anything he could to reassemble his outstanding dad.
Even though it was guaranteed that he'd inherit that man's position as the king's number-one knight, things didn't turn out that well and as it was clear to all, they weren't in the palace anymore. So, what was the point of mimicking that dead man?
"Black hides the blood well. It's impossible to wash all those stains clean. It's better."
"..."
The answer was... somewhat out of Ian's expectations.
He still held doubts about the real intention but decided not to comment on this person's style anymore.
"But I'll need a sword once I reach mastery in aura."
"Hmm, right. Normal swords won't withstand aura for long."
Thinking of the various specialized blades he'd seen in his previous lives, Ian made a mental note to find this man a suitable sword once he fully awakened his sword aura.
-Master master look at these! Aren't they pretty?
Turning to the side, Ian found Lior atop some golden-haired dude whose face was too ugly for him to bear looking at. The due was scanning a stall which was filled with colorful papers and writing utensils. That young master of his was examining the merchandise one by one.
"I didn't think I'd find such material in this place. The price is also not bad."
"What's that? A blank notebook?
The nobleman picked up a notebook and held it in front of Ian's face.
"Look, this sketchbook is a nice one. The paper quality is also good. It's not too thin nor too thick. Not just it, but the pencils are also of decent build."
A sketchbook? What was that needed for?
Ian scanned the whole thing, but there was nothing noticeable about it.
"So what?"
"Um... I thought I'd buy one."
"You want to waste money on this stuff?"
"W-waste? Uh, I want to try drawing in my spare time. You know, like a hobby."
"If you have spare time, just study magic."
"That's not spare time!"
"Why do you want to draw so hard? Are you a kid?"
"Ian, please! It's called being an artist."
Yeah yeah, an artist. Who? This dude who's never done anything besides studying to become the future count?
'Right, he doesn't want to be a count anymore!'
Being reminded of that fact, Ian felt a hot steam rush up in his head.
"You have a pen and some paper with yourself. Sketch with them."
"...They are not made for drawing. Hey, I'm paying with my own money!"
-Master... but I want to see what he can draw...
-....
"Tsk!" There was no helping it. Ian tossed the notebook aside. "Do whatever you want."
'IF you want something, you can directly ask me for it!'
He stumped his feet in frustration as he rushed away.
'Huh! That child is taking his side! The audacity!'
There was no doubt that Lior was the best child one could wish for. There wasn't a need for a second of consideration for this Mister Regressor to understand how adorable that kid was. There wasn't even room for comparison; Lior was the best out of the best and he never did anything wrong. So if he was starting to act up against his master, it must be some nasty guy's influence!!
'Huh! Maybe I should just regress!'
Then he could easily deal with this nobleman and rid himself of any future worries.
'All I need to do is kill myself.'
Ian discharged the thought after a brief reflection.
He was truly wicked, wasn't he? What rights did he have to steal that child's joy? What a scumbag! Being jealous about a little kid's newfound friend? Such a filthy man he was, loaded with dirt and sin from head to toe. The only thing he cared for was himself all the time; not an ounce of consideration for others was in his heart, not even for a child. A very nasty, worthless being, indeed. Probably that was why even death refused to accept him; because he was just too evil.
"Sir Ian, haven't you seen Doris around?"
"Ah?"
A young woman's gentle remark scattered Ian's cloud of thought. Jolting awake, he looked around, only then realizing how far he'd walked from the rest of the group.
"Um... Is something the matter?"
Despite holding various large bags in each hand, Eleen's expression looked pretty refreshed. She really enjoyed shopping, it seemed. She went as far as threatening the three men not to interfere in her purchase of traveling necessities as she didn't trust their taste.
"No. Why? Wasn't Doris with you?"
"Hmm..." The girl gave Ian a suspicious look but didn't harp on her ignored question. "She said something about checking out the clothes, but she's not around here. Could you look for her? I'm afraid she might get scared all alone in a place like this."
Eleen took special care of Doris; probably because she was the one who insisted on her joining the group or maybe because she'd finally found someone of the same gender. It was actually amazing how she managed to convince that girl to join the group, as she was on guard against the three male members of the team. Ian found her caution natural. There were many scumbags out there in the society who wouldn't refrain from doing any shameful deed, especially in this area.
With a slight nod to his head, Ian turned away and began walking around the market, looking for a young girl. Luckily enough, he managed to find her after only a few minutes. Her tall figure made it easy to spot her among the crowd.
Doris had a hand on her hip and the other, rubbing her chin, as she gaped at the items being displayed at the window of a male clothing shop.
"Why aren't you hanging out with Miss Eleen? One can get easily lost in places like this."
The girl instantly expressed a helpless face.
"That was so boring. She thoroughly scans six huge shops only to buy the item from a random stall! I might've lost my mind at that rate."
Was that so? He'd assumed that Eleen would be picky when purchasing their necessities, but it seemed he'd underestimated her quite a bit.
Ian's grieving over the possibility of their trip to the market taking longer than he'd imagined stopped when he took a closer look at the young girl's face. Peeking at her and then at the simple male clothing on display, a thought surfaced in his mind.
"Do you want to buy them?"
"...."
"For yourself? Or as a gift."
"...Who would I gift them to?"
So it's not for someone else.
"Go on and buy them then. Don't you have the money?"
"I..." The girl stroked the wallet in her palm. "I have the money but... I don't think it's right."
"Hmm?" Observing the shirt and pants clothes, they looked to be of decent material; not too high quality but not of poor fabric either. The price was also reasonable. "Why wouldn't it be right?"
"...You do know that I'm a girl, don't you?"
"Well, yeah? Why would that matter?"
"Why would that-"
Doris turned around, giving Ian a skeptical look. Her height, which was just a few centimeters shorter than Ian's, made her eyeliner nearly at the same level as his, thus her reddish-black pupils bore directly at Ian's face. A shudder ran down Ian's back. He rushed to explain in fear of getting burnt to death.
"People might find it strange, but why would it matter? It's you who should feel comfortable in them, not those people. You'll see that no one even cares about your style once you leave this cramped region for a larger city."
He, with his infinite time, had traveled far and seen many different cultures and heard various stories of north and west. The people of some lands lived a carefree life while some needed to work day and night to carry out with their lives. Some countries were ruled by religious heads while some didn't even have a set main faith in their laws. Some places had great oppression against women while some viewed them as sacred and blessed. It was all about the place one was born and lived at. In countries like Loyatou, women faced great restrictions. Even Elaria, who was a count's daughter, couldn't inherit her father's title due to her gender; so how stricter would things be for those of the lower status?
'The city she was born at, as well as this whole region, was once a part of Loyatou. They were just recently added to The Empire around 10 years ago, so it's natural for the old traditions to still be the main lifestyle here.'
"Hmm... My brother also said something similar when I told him that skirts are too uncomfortable. But still..."
Her face seemed somehow brighter, but her grip over the wallet had tightened as well. Wasn't that her hard-earned savings? Ian could understand why she couldn't spend them so easily. Letting out a sigh, he grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her inside the shop. This was a gift because of her joining the group.
. . . . . . . . . .
Their "small" trip to the market came to an end, or rather, was forced to end when the shops began closing their doors in the sunset. It was only then that the group was allowed to return to their inn for a meal and rest.
Ian was quite relieved after checking the purchased items. It was a great decision to leave the shopping to Eleen. Well, of course, they had no choice but to leave things to her...
They planned to leave the city for the jungle early in the morning, so everyone went to sleep as soon as the packing was done. The shopping, although tiring, was a refreshing time for everyone. Even after walking through the streets for hours, their expressions were bright and beaming.
'Hmm... Good for them.'
Covering himself up with the blanket, Ian tsked at the noisy youngsters. Why couldn't they just go to sleep?
-Master master, maaasterrrrrrr!!!!! look at this! Look at this! Looook!!!
Poof! A little creature landed on Ian's lap and began hopping up and down, shouting.
-Look look look look!
Before the confused Ian could grab a hold of the situation, a notebook was pushed in front of his face. Ian's body froze upon seeing its contents. His mouth gaped.
"How is it? You like it?"
Delicate imprints of pencil and its soft trails gathered together to form a picture of an adorable wolf pup resting atop the head of a thin young man. The child was wagging its tail, and the young man had a smile. The sketch's shading made the tiny creature's face seem like a spark of light glowing inside the man's pupils.
"....."
-It's us! It's us! It's us! Us! Us! Us! Me and masterrr me and masterrrr~~~~~~
"....."
Alaric pulled the notebook away and rubbed his nose.
"Fufufu! I told you I was great at drawing. Actually, I'm still not good enough. Digital art made me lose so much of my traditional skill, But I'll be back at my prime with a little bit of training~"
-You'll draw Lior again! Again! Again!
"Of course!"
-Yaaay! Yaaayyyyy!!! Yiiipieeeeeee~~~~
"...."
Blink blink blink
"...."
It took Ian a while to recover and finally be able to speak.
"C-can I have it?"
"Nooope!"
The nobleman hurried to rush to his bed and hid the notebook inside his baggage.
"Look at the person who wasn't allowing me to buy a notebook as if he's my mom! Heh! Deserves you well!"
Alaric didn't hesitate to turn his back on the due and crawl under his blanket.
"....."
Hop! Hop! Hop! Hop!
-Us! Us! Us! Us!
"....."
Ian put a hand over his palpitating chest. How was he now supposed to fall asleep?
-Master master master! Today was fun! Today was really fun! Let's do it again!
"..."
Was it fun?
He'd spent most of the day alone, though.
"Yeah, it was."
Pulling the child with him under the blanket, Ian wrapped his arms around the creature, forcing him to calm down his excitement.
"You can play a lot more later."
It seemed better this way. After all, it was all about this kid's happiness, and Ian was never able to make this child as happy as today in his whole life.
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