After our meeting at the Adventurer’s Guild, our party decided to take some time for ourselves. We were free to prep for the dungeon, eat a nice meal, or maybe just rest at the inn.
What do I want to do...? Walking through the streets of Bahal on my own, I was looking around for something that piqued my interest. I was open to anything that might be interesting: food, items, equipment...
“Is that...?!” What ended up catching my eye was a fruit stand that sold Tropicallo—a fruit that kind of looked like a small apple but supposedly tasted like a mix of mango and peach. Ever since I’d seen vendors selling piles of them in the game, I’d wondered what they would taste like. I bet Lulu is buying them up by the stall right about now. Knowing that much to be true in my bones, I decided to secure my own share.
“Ten Tropicallos, please,” I said.
“Thanks,” said the vendor. “Mine are so good and sweet that you’ll be back for more before you know it,” she joked with a jovial expression.
I thought about it—the fruit wouldn’t go bad in my Bag, so I could afford to take some extra. “Can I do twenty, then?” I asked.
“That many? Of course, sweetie. Thank you. I’m happy to clear the shelves quicker!” The vendor laughed heartily.
“My friends and I are looking forward to them.”
“Enjoy!”
Taking twenty Tropicallos, I threw them into my Bag that I kept disguised as a Magic Bag. Even though the Adventure Bracelet was becoming better known to the public, too much of the population still remained ignorant about it for me to risk showing mine off.
“Thank you,” I said as I finished packing my fruit and left the stall.
Now, where to next? I wanted to take the opportunity to do some sightseeing while I was in Bahal. Now that the world of Reas had been made real, I couldn’t just go wherever I pleased—not in the same way I had when playing a video game. I’d get arrested for trespassing in no time.
“Oh! There’s a spot with desert wildflowers,” I remembered. How could I forget about that view? I continued my stroll through the city, but now heading straight for the outskirts.
There, the desert sand shimmered in the sunlight, broken up by various boulders here and there. The shade of those boulders had been a popular photo spot where you could take in the view of the cacti. At the border between the city and the desert, stunning cactus flowers bloomed all over. Plenty of players in Reas used to come to this spot—dubbed the Cactus Vista—for dates. The aroma of those cactus flowers hung in the hot, dry air.
“Look at those huge cacti! It hits different when they’re real!” I exclaimed. Plenty of cacti towered over my head so high that I had to gaze up to see their flowers blooming like adorable pink crowns upon their heads. “Now places like this, you can only see in a video game.”
While I was standing there taking in the cacti, I suddenly heard a familiar voice exclaim, “Wow!”
Instinctively, I hid from the source of the voice...for some reason. I peeked around the cactus to confirm whom I’d heard—Kent, with Cocoa beside him. They were alone, without Tarte or L’lyeh. Oh? Could they be on...a date? A grin spread across my face.
“These are way taller than I am,” Kent said.
“I didn’t know cacti could grow this tall,” Cocoa marveled.
They continued their conversation as they stood side by side gazing at the cactus flowers. As cute as they were, it was a little frustrating to watch. Come on, at least hold hands...! From what I could see, Kent was the nervous one while Cocoa looked relatively relaxed.
She pointed at the top of a nearby cactus. “Those flowers are pretty. What do you think they’d look like if we rode our Dragons and viewed them from above?”
That was such a cool idea that I made a mental note to try it myself. We rarely rode our Dragons around cities lest we scare the local citizenry. Unlike Kent’s Dragon—which looked like a Dragonrider’s mount and wouldn’t cause any concern—my Dragon could be mistaken for a wild monster flying in to attack the city. That wouldn’t be a problem if we popularized Dragons as a mode of transportation, but that was easier said than done. Acquiring a Dragon Whistle required defeating the dungeon boss Black Dragon.
While I was thinking about Dragon transportation, a middle-aged drunk guy bumped into Cocoa, spilling a bit of his drink on both himself and her. Ugh. There are stupid drunks even in this world.
“Dammit! Watch where you’re going!” the drunk snapped.
“Oh... I’m sorry,” Cocoa said.
I’d watched the collision, though. The drunk guy hadn’t been watching where he was walking, while Cocoa had been standing still and looking at the cactus. He was one hundred percent at fault. I should step in, right? If that drunk dirtbag wanted to mess with our precious Cocoa, I’d give him something to complain about.
“Hey,” Kent said, stopping me in my tracks.
Of course. Kent can handle this. I decided to keep watching quietly.
“You got something to say, kid?! That girl right there got my shirt soaked! How are you gonna make up for that, huh?!” the drunk guy barked.
“You bumped into her. Let’s go, Cocoa. Don’t worry about him,” Kent said, turning to leave with Cocoa.
“O-Okay.”
But then, the drunk guy grabbed Kent’s shoulder. “Wait a minute.” He must have been using quite a bit of force, but Kent wasn’t budging an inch. The drunk guy looked surprised about that for a moment but chose to continue talking. “Where do you think you’re going?! Hmm, let’s see... Maybe I’ll let this slide if she’ll pour me a drink nicely, huh?”
“Ugh...” Even Cocoa looked exasperated now. The drunk guy had a loud bark, but Cocoa could bite a lot harder than some drunk rando. Not to mention that her white knight, Kent, is protecting her, I thought with a smirk on my face.
The drunk guy then dared to reach for Cocoa, which must have taken her by surprise. Seeing her body jerk in response, Kent slapped the guy’s arm away—very gently, by our standards, but it sent the drunk guy tumbling, splashing the rest of his drink all over himself.
“Dude. You should really grow up,” Kent said.
“I’m done going easy on you, kid! You’ll regret that!” The drunk guy tried to grab Kent, but he effortlessly tossed the guy into the air and let him slam back to the ground.
It’s gonna take a lot more than that to lay a finger on our frontline fighter, I thought with pride.
Then, a group of onlookers—who’d been watching the interaction tensely—broke out into cheers and applause. Evidently, they had no sympathy for the drunk guy.
“Good job, kiddo.”
“A guy’s gotta protect his gal.”
“That was so cool!”
“He’s amazing!”
“That must have earned you some brownie points. You guys are a cute couple.”
Other comments came from the crowd, some of them even sounding like they shipped Kent and Cocoa together.
Kent blushed and scratched his head. “Well... Let’s get going,” he said a little dismissively and began quickly walking away from the onlookers. Even though his face was bright red, he seemed to have a little pep in his step.