12. New Family Member

On the way to Ariel Plaza by carriage.

Dolores's standard for 'it won't take long' was.

Truly, it was a story optimized for this world to an excessive degree, and.

I, who had prepared for about an hour, had to suffer from carriage sickness for 3 and a half hours.

'I feel like I'm going to die. It's so hard.'

"Hey, are you okay?"

"No."

Because my expression was really bad, Ruby asked.

"Hehe, you can't ride carriages."

As if she had found my weakness, she smiles, showing her small, sharp teeth.

'This brat... but since it was true, I had nothing to say.'

'I don't want to ride carriages ever again.'

'Should I make some kind of transportation or something?'

Just then, while I was lost in thoughts about whether a car production method existed in the Descendant of Fire manual.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the carriage window.

Before I knew it, we had arrived at the city entrance, and through the window, a soldier in armor was visible.

It was armor engraved with a golden lion emblem. It seemed to be a checkpoint.

A truly textbook fantasy world scene.

'When it happens so suddenly, my heart races again.'

"Identification check..."

The soldier trailed off and stopped.

It seemed his gaze met Dolores's inside the window.

"Duke."

"Hello."

Dolores smiled lightly.

The soldier corrected his posture and gave a polite salute.

"Confirmed. I will grant you passage."

The soldier placed his fist on his chest and saluted.

"Glory to the Empire."

Dolores lightly bowed her head in return.

"Glory."

'The procedure is incredibly fast.'

Even the salute angle is perfect. Dolores certainly seemed to be a celebrity.

'She's the Ruler of the 5th Floor and a High Ranker, so it would be stranger if people didn't know her face.'

It strikes me anew how much it means that Dolores took me in and is raising me.

Though it might also mean I have that much value.

The carriage ran a little further and stopped at the entrance of a wide plaza.

"Let's get off here."

Dolores got off first.

Ruby followed, and I stepped down last.

"......"

'What is this?'

'The ground under my feet is stone, flagstones.'

A neatly arranged floor paved alternately in white and gray. Until just now--no, until 3 hours and 30 minutes ago--I had been standing on an unpaved road, so it feels different.

And when I raised my head.

"Wow."

People everywhere.

People in armor, mages in robes.

Merchant carts loaded with goods, voices hawking, the smell of grilling meat.

Everything enters my eyes at once and rushes into my nose.

[Ariel Plaza. Resident population 200,000, 300,000 including transient?]

[Oppa, close your mouth, you look like a country bumpkin.]

'Ah, okay.'

'It's almost Shibuya-level.'

Ruby, seemingly unimpressed, held the hem of Dolores's skirt and walked calmly.

'She must come here often.'

'I'm really surprised, though.'

'Are there few things like this even in the world I lived in? No, there just aren't any.'

'If it's 300,000... it must be incredibly large.'

Dolores turned to look at me as she walked.

"We're going to the Weapon District. Follow me."

I nodded and followed behind the two.

Just then.

"Ruby."

Dolores stopped walking and looked down at Ruby with a smile.

"Shall we hold hands?"

Ruby's eyes widened.

"...Okay."

A small hand reached up and took Dolores's hand.

After Ruby took it, her eyes slowly widened, and then.

"It's warm..."

"Yeah, it's warm, isn't it?"

Dolores gently wrapped her hand around Ruby's.

And she turned to look at me.

"I couldn't hold your hand before."

"......"

"My hands were so cold that Ruby would be startled too."

Nine Yin Severed Meridians.

Dolores's hands were cold enough to freeze frost.

Even with gloves on, the cold would have been the same.

"But now it's okay."

Come to think of it, I don't think I ever saw Ruby hold Dolores's hand when walking with her.

She always walked holding her skirt.

Dolores slightly raised her gloved hand.

"Thanks to you."

"...For what."

Ruby, as if afraid to let go, gripped Dolores's hand tightly with both hands.

Just then.

Rustle.

Dolores's other hand swayed toward me.

"........."

Rustle.

Once more.

"...Me?"

"If there are many people, you'll get lost."

"......"

"Hand."

'Resistance is meaningless. In front of Dolores.'

I carefully took that hand.

It was a small hand, but perhaps because my hand was even smaller, it felt large.

'And, it's warm.'

Although she was wearing gloves so I couldn't touch bare skin, it was certainly.

'I'm proud, yeah.'

I almost fidgeted with it for a moment but held back.

Ruby in her left hand, me in her right hand.

The three of us walked through the crowd.

"......"

'I'm gradually feeling gazes.'

'At first I thought it was my imagination. There are many people, so eyes can meet.'

'But it's not. They're definitely looking at us.'

'To be precise, at Dolores.'

A passing merchant turns his head, and two men standing in front of a stall whisper.

A woman in robes recognized Dolores and nudged her companion with her elbow.

"...Isn't that Duke?"

"Huh? It really is."

'Well, it's probably not common for a noble and a duke to walk around a street alone so openly.'

'At least, according to my short web novel knowledge.'

'Because nobles either don't even get off their carriages or bring a lot of guards, one of the two.'

'This person, without any guards...'

'Ah, wait, she doesn't need guards.'

'I don't know how strong she is, but well, she's a High Ranker.'

"Ruby, want to try that?"

"Yeah."

'The person herself doesn't seem to think much of it.'

Either way.

Dolores bought chicken skewers for Ruby and me.

Red sauce smeared around Ruby's mouth.

And when we turned down an alley.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The sound of regularly striking iron could be heard.

From various places, each with a different rhythm.

"Weapon District."

Dolores said in a low voice.

This place seemed to be the street of blacksmiths.

But what I found puzzling was.

'Weren't most blacksmiths gone?'

[Humans are different.]

[They did continue to exist. It's just... after the Tower appeared, the gap became too wide and they were culled.]

[There are many humans who make it their living, but the level you can expect is about general soldier equipment?]

'Just about that level.'

'The sound of hammers is quite nice. Am I suited to be a blacksmith?'

Thinking that I would keep doing this from now on, I unknowingly let out a small laugh.

'Yeah, if you're a person, you should use your body. What kind of white-collar job is this?'

'I'll be burning my body in hot lava, so you guys...'

When I stood there blankly for a moment.

Dolores smiled brightly and stroked my head.

"I should have brought you earlier."

"...What?"

"Your expression has become noticeably better."

'Haha.'

'As if.'

She must have mistaken my hollow laugh.

We walked deeper along the Weapon District.

Among the shops lined up on both sides, there was one place that stood out.

A building with a shining signboard. It was quite large.

'It's not a metaphor, it's really shining.'

Blue light wrapped around the letters on a gold-leaf border.

It seemed to be about 4 stories tall.

'Aegir.'

Surprisingly.

'I can read the letters on the sign, but I don't know what they mean.'

[It means noble flame.]

[I think it's an ancient language.]

'It's quite stylish.'

I didn't know if there was plate glass in the medieval era, but the interior was visible through plate glass.

The displayed weapons and armor all sparkled.

'There are quite a few customers too.'

'I thought we'd naturally go here. It suits Dolores.'

But she passed by without even glancing at it.

"......?"

Passing Aegir, we turned down one more alley to the opposite side.

Right there, where the street narrowed and the light of the signboard disappeared.

Dolores stopped in front of a shop.

"Here it is."

'It's shabby.'

The signboard was just letters carved into a wooden plank.

What was visible through the window was shabby equipment; its exterior was such that comparing it to the previous shop was an insult.

'Wow, this actually appeals to me?'

'You know, that thing. A fated encounter in a shabby place.'

'I like that kind of thing.'

'Could Dolores be aiming for that? As expected, her sense is excellent...'

"Lionel?"

"Yes."

"Not there."

"...Huh?"

Dolores tilted her head slightly and pointed across the shop.

"There."

Across the street, there was a relatively decent shop.

It had a proper signboard, and the sound of hammers could be heard from inside. Its size was also moderate.

'It's ordinary.'

"......"

'There was no such thing as a fated encounter.'

We went inside as it was.

Jingle.

The bell attached to the door rang.

"Welcome..."

The man who raised his head from behind the counter stopped speaking.

A middle-aged man with a quite impressive mustache. His apron was stained with soot.

"...Duke!"

"Long time no see, Henrik."

Dolores greeted him naturally.

The man called Henrik hesitated for a moment, then bowed and showed respect.

"There are many other places, yet you always..."

"Because it's comfortable here."

Meanwhile, a woman came out from inside.

A woman around Henrik's age. She was holding something wrapped in cloth.

"Duke..."

She also bowed her head.

"Oh my, Ruby has come too?"

As soon as she saw Ruby, her face brightened.

When the little one bowed, the woman took out a candy from under the counter and placed it in Ruby's hand.

"Thank you..."

"No need for thanks."

'So this was a place she came often.'

I could tell because Ruby's movement of receiving the candy was so natural.

And the woman's gaze came to me.

"Oh my, who is this little gentleman?"

"A new family member. We'll be living together from now on."

Dolores answered calmly, but.

'New family member.'

'The nuance is really nice, I felt moved.'

"I'm Lionel."

The woman looked me up and down, and her eyes went round.

"Oh my, you're handsome."

Another candy came out from under the table.

"I'm fine."

'I need to manage my blood sugar in advance.'

In the end, the rejected candy was sucked into Ruby's pocket.

"Has anything unusual happened?"

"Thanks to you always... delivering good goods..."

'Delivering.'

'It seems Dolores is providing some kind of connection in the distribution process.'

'Is she pulling out equipment that comes from the Tower? Like the 5th Floor or something?'

'I don't know exactly.'

Dolores let out a small laugh and patted Ruby's and my heads.

"The hammer I bought last time. I need something better than that. Do you have one?"

Henrik's eyes widened slightly.

'So she really did buy it here.'

'No wonder it was strange that a shop of this size had something like that vicious hammer. If she was involved in the distribution, then.'

"Better than that?"

"Yeah."

Dolores pointed at me.

"This child will use it."

"So that's why you put such Weight Reduction magic..."

The man called Henrik seemed to ponder, resting his hand on his chin.

'It seemed good for me to open my mouth here.'

'Not for combat, but for forging.'

"I need a forging hammer."

"Yeah, right. Forging."

Dolores stroked my head.

"Ah... it was for forging."

Henrik let out a small laugh as if he felt let down.

'I understand the meaning of that laugh.'

"Yes, there are various kinds of forging hammers. However..."

Suddenly, Henrik went around the counter and walked inside.

There was an iron door that had caught my eye earlier, and he flung it open.

A little dust rose.

Inside, there were hammers hanging everywhere.

Filling the wall, each different in size and shape.

"Forging hammers are so rarely sought after. As you can see, we have plenty of stock, but..."

Henrik scratched his head.

"It's a bit disorganized. It will take some time to sort and check the condition."

And after looking down at me for a moment, he added.

"And this is an addition from my short-sighted view, but."

"Yeah."

"It's better to hold a forging hammer yourself."

Dolores heard that and smiled faintly.

"Will you give me some time?"

Henrik, with eyes shining brightly.

Looked at me.