Erkia, the City of Water
"Erkia, the City of Water, isn't it beautiful?"
Lois opened his mouth in response to Olivia's words.
"Have you never been to Erkia?"
"Um, no. It wasn't a place I needed to visit in the first place. It's prettier than I thought."
After all, it was a famous tourist spot.
Inside, there were both roads for walking and waterways for boats, and transportation was well-developed to the point where using the waterways was faster than walking.
The most striking feature was the balance between the two sides. When viewed from the center, the building structures on the left and right were identical, and the distance to the outer areas was the same.
That's why the person responsible for creating Erkia must have loved balance to a great extent.
Well, the possibility that it happened by miraculous chance and accidentally can't be completely denied, but currently, the hypothesis that it was deliberately constructed this way is more likely.
As befits a city where water flows, it was beautiful and felt pure.
The cool breeze made one feel good, but we couldn't stay in a purely tourist mood.
There were too many things to resolve to just casually observe.
"It's peaceful. Good."
"It feels like it won't stay peaceful for long, though."
"Don't say that. There's a saying that words can become a curse. Anyway, we should join up with Titania and Sylphy first."
"That's right."
"When is the Human Alliance Conference?"
"About a week left. If you're diligent, you might have already arrived."
"Really? I was thinking that if the human representatives have already arrived, it might not be bad to enter like a surprise attack at some point."
"That's definitely a method."
It was a rather violent method, but during the conference, no matter what, surprise attacks would be difficult, so instead, capturing Alex who might be in a lodging or something before the attack was one method.
But as I said, if we don't kill him at once, it could become a lot more troublesome.
At least, since we're in the form of humans now, if we shed Alex's skin who has discarded gentleness, we can't know what means he would use.
As I said, there were quite a few people in Erkia, the City of Water, and considering the damage that could be inflicted on the civilians, it was honestly not a good idea to ambush Alex here.
'In some cases, I was thinking of ambushing after leaving Erkia, the City of Water.'
I had also thought of ambushing Alex on his way back to the kingdom after the Human Alliance Conference ends.
It wouldn't be worrying about civilians, and there would be almost no one to worry about, so it was best to ambush around that time.
But here, there's the Red Dragon King, and if the kingdom side is targeting this place, it could lead to a serious situation depending on the circumstances.
By the time Alex returns leisurely, it might already be an irreversible situation.
Moreover, there are many people here. I might not have thought of taking them as hostages, but I would definitely think of using the fact that there are many people.
"But where is Titania? Is she in a very large inn?"
"I know."
"I heard, but did I forget?"
"No, since you wouldn't remember anyway, Titania told me to remember."
"Y-you're not that stupid!"
"Your memory for interesting parts is good, so I don't think you're stupid. It's just that your memory for uninteresting parts is somewhat... no, very regrettable, so it often shows."
"Ugh."
"And it's better if I know rather than you, Livy."
"That's right... I have nothing to say."
Anyway, first, I wanted to meet Titania and let her know that we had arrived here, and share as much information as possible.
The Goddess hadn't particularly ordered us to keep quiet, so telling her wouldn't be a big problem.
The problem was worrying if we could say that our common sense was all wrong from the very beginning of the creation era.
Information would be blocked to some extent.
Because there were things that didn't need to be known. If it leaked out and shook the foundation of religion, it would be troublesome in its own way.
Of course, the Goddess Grandia was actually benevolent and had abilities, and she was like a mother to humanity who created us, but
"This way."
"Oh, it was closer than I thought."
As we entered the inn, an elderly-looking staff member nodded slightly and said "Welcome."
Hmm.
Chose a smaller place than expected.
Of course, with a name like Titania, I thought she would choose the best inn in Erkia, but she chose a normal one.
Since we weren't bringing many people, we didn't need to book a large inn?
Titania wasn't the type to spend money lavishly, and Lilith probably wouldn't care either.
"Excuse me, but is Titania here? Could you tell me the room number?"
"Titania-nim is out. She went out with the other companions and said she would return in the evening."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Are they sightseeing?"
"I doubt it, but since there's nothing yet, that could be. Rest is important, after all."
Searching the surroundings, telling Sylphy or Lilith about the local geography, and enjoying it as a bonus might be okay.
Anyway, not returning until evening means that today we must return.
"What should we do? Go look for her? Or wait here?"
"Rather than accidentally missing each other, let's wait quietly. There's a bar here too, so shall we have a drink?"
"Livy, do you know how to drink?"
"I've tried, but I don't like it. But Lilith said that drinking with the opposite sex makes it easy to become lovers."
"Hide it from me."
"Since I'll be found out anyway, I won't hide."
"Ah, yes..."
Even if I don't know about alcohol, I can eat something.
It's a bar, but also a restaurant, so there were menus that looked good to eat.
"Personally, I think Lois's cooking is delicious."
"Thank you for the compliment. Livy can't do it either?"
"When I was traveling, there was no one else to cook properly, so I learned it. Once you learn, you can do it. Is a kitchen knife like a sword?"
With that kind of talent for cooking, it was said that it was enough to get by.
If I had learned it seriously, I might be better than Lois.
Anyway, it seemed good to fill up on food and wait here.
In the worst case, we'd have to sit for hours, but if we go looking around and miss each other, it could become troublesome.
"Shall we just eat a bit and look around a little to find her? Livy also needs to see Erkia first."
"Ah, is that so? Hmm... okay, let's do that."
Lois and Livy naturally walked towards the inside of the restaurant.
Oh, there are many people.
It's close to lunchtime, after all.
"So, what do we have to do until the Human Alliance Conference?"
"It's best to make contact as much as possible, but since you're not a fool, you won't give opportunities to contact."
"Ambushing is the best..."
"Why, Livy? Huh?"
As I was walking, Livy suddenly stopped and opened her mouth wide, so I looked in the direction Livy was looking.
At the edge of the window.
A woman was eating udon sadly.
But I, like Livy, had to open my mouth wide.
It was a familiar face.
I knew it too, Livy knew it too.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The other person, seeing Livy looking, stopped eating udon and looked at us with mouth open.
First, I didn't know why she was here.
She wasn't a human representative of the Human Alliance, but a noble with some fame, a member of the hero party, and publicly known as a saintess, so she could have gone to a more expensive place.
I couldn't understand why she chose this place, but she was eating udon here.
I wasn't sure if she had the Saintess Stigma, but she was the current saintess and a colleague of the hero party, a girl from the Bright family.
"Belita."
"Oh, Lady Olivia... and Lord Lois too...!"
Belita Bright was there.
Why was she there, eating udon alone sadly?
She should have been eating a course meal in a fancy place with money and honor.
Slurp slurp!
"She's eating so fast!"
After eating all the udon, she opened the window.
"Eh?"
In a moment, Belita escaped outside.
Belita running at full speed beyond the window, Lois and Livy watched for a moment.
"She's running away openly."
"Rather than that, tell her to go out the door."
"What should we do?"
"What are you asking? This luck is coming to us. We have to catch her right away."
"Yeah, probably because the Goddess is on our side, luck is coming to us."
We were thinking how to approach Alex or Belita.
Meeting like this.
We couldn't miss this opportunity.