Lily filled Kudo in on everything that had happened after his stormy exit, thanks to reports from her rodent friends back in the audience chamber. He hadn’t expected her to come, but was glad she did.
“…I do feel a little bad for the kid, though.”
“Her peepers sure lit up when she saw you,” Lily replied as they walked together down the main thoroughfare.
Absolutely everything about the town was beyond Kudo’s wildest expectations. The carriages they passed weren’t pulled by horses but by spheres floating through the air. There was not even a physical connection between the spheres and the vehicles─as the one moved, the other simply followed suit.
What’s a horse-drawn carriage without the horse, anyway? Isn’t that just a box on wheels?
The houses on either side of the street were all five or six stories high. Someone opened a sixth-floor door, and, before Kudo knew what was happening, the occupant flew up into the sky astride a thaumatherium. There were countless such beasts crisscrossing the sky above their heads, and just as many carriages rolling past them on the ground.
The first floor of every house on the thoroughfare was given over to a shop of some kind, with walls of seamless glass that meant everything within was visible from the street. And the goods for sale were so curious that neither Lily nor Kudo could even hazard a guess as to what they might be used for. The pair were so baffled, in fact, that they couldn’t muster the desire to buy anything.
“Can’t even walk around town without a guide ta explain everything.”
“Let’s go back to the ship. This place is so noisy, it’s making Lily’s ears tired.” She let her big mouse ears droop against her head.
“Want me to carry you?”
“You don’t mind?”
“Hey, I’m a big guy.”
“But you’re a lot smaller than Merce.”
“Everyone in the world’s a shrimp compared to the old man.”
Kudo picked Lily up in his arms. The tall lizard and the tiny mouse─they were such a mismatched pair that Kudo couldn’t help but laugh when he caught sight of their reflection in one of the glass storefronts. But he caught a glimpse of something else reflected there, too: glittering, gleaming eyes of red and blue, even more dazzling than the long crystalline horn that sat above them.
They were the same as Danna Ryl’s eyes.
Then that must be…
“…The old hag’s daughter?!”
Kudo spun around so fast it seemed his neck might snap.
“She’s been following us this whole time,” Lily said lightly.
“You coulda told me!”
“Why?” The little beastfallen seemed genuinely confused.
Fair enough. What’s it matter if the daughter of the big cheese is following us around…?
“W-What about Utsuwa…!”
“Huh?”
Upon noticing that Kudo had turned around, Utsuwa’s pale cheeks flushed crimson and she stuck out both hands toward Kudo like she was possessed.
“Utsuwa wants that too…!”
“Wha? Hanh?”
“She wants you to pick her up,” Lily interpreted.
“What for?!”
“Listen, Kudo, you don’t need a reason to want someone to hold you.” The way Lily said it made Kudo feel like a little kid, and there was nothing he could do to argue.
Utsuwa kept her arms outstretched towards him, but a moment later seemed to snap back to reality, and quickly shrank in on herself. “S-Sorry…! Utsuwa didn’t mean it like that… Um… It’s just that Utsuwa said something really rude, and…”
Look at her fidgeting and fretting… Pretty sure Danna Ryl said this girl was ten years old, but she seems younger. There’s nothing grown-up about her at all─that is, she’s more like a fairy from some children’s story.
“Utsuwa came…to say sorry.”
Her glittering eyes were fixed on Kudo. The mage was genuinely awful at dealing with the pure emotions of children; he couldn’t adopt his usual bad attitude to deal with the situation. Kudo sighed, and with Lily still in his arms, crouched down in front of Utsuwa.
“I accept your apology.”
“…!” A smile filled Utsuwa’s face like the sun rising above the horizon.
Lily looked up at Kudo, and pointed to the back of his neck. “That spot’s open.”
Utsuwa’s eyes opened wide, and she stared at Kudo nervously.
Why do I gotta give some kid a ride on my shoulders?
The words got as far as his throat, but seeing Utsuwa so filled with excitement that she might burst, he found they just wouldn’t come out.
“…C’mon. I’ll take you back to the tower.”
“Y-Yaaaay!” Utsuwa hooked her legs over Kudo’s shoulders and clutched the back of his head tightly.
Whoa, she barely weighs a thing. “…Huh? You sure there’s someone on my shoulders?”
“U-Uh huh, Utsuwa’s here.”
“You made of feathers or somethin’, Princess?”
“You sound like a prince, Kudo…”
It was only Lily’s interjection that brought home to Kudo what a princely cliché his comment had been. His scales flushed an embarrassed scarlet, provoking a cry of amazement from Utsuwa.
“Your scales are so pretty. Do they change because of your feelings?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Utsuwa’s so light because of wizardry.”
“Wizardry?” Kudo repeated. That’s right, here in the New World they call ’em wizards instead of sorcerers. “You don’t call it sorcery here?”
“Sorcery is the root of wizardry. They made sorcery better and easier to use, and that’s what wizardry is. Shoes and clothes treated with wizardry make your body all light and floaty. There’s no wizardry in the Forbidden Land?”
“Nope… I mean, we’ve got somethin’ similar…but we’ve still got horses pullin’ our carriages and all.”
Utsuwa smiled at him. “Oh, right! Wizard carriages! They float a little above the ground and move with the power of wizardry. They still have wheels, but even the passenger compartment is floating. And walking around all day is tough on your legs, right? That’s why Utsuwa floats, too. So does Mother. Basically all wizards float.”
“Wow. So how heavy are you actually, without the wizardry?”
It was an off-hand question, but Utsuwa couldn’t answer. Kudo caught a glimpse of her in the glass of a storefront, bright red and clammed up tight. He could feel Lily glaring at him, and, flustered, he took off walking as if nothing had happened.
Toward the tower.
No matter where one went in the town, that tall, imposing white rectangle remained in view. It was precisely the lack of any decoration that made it stand out so, like a great religious icon.
Utsuwa became agitated as soon as Kudo headed in its direction, flapping her hands against the top of his head. “Wait, please…! We don’t need to go back yet. Utsuwa wants to talk. Let’s get some snacks and you can tell Utsuwa your story.”
“You know that ain’t gonna fly. We don’t even have any money that’d work in this town.”
“Money?” Utsuwa laughed. “When Utsuwa goes to a shop, the shopkeepers are happy, because everybody else in town will come buy lots of whatever she chooses to eat. That’s why Utsuwa comes into town every few days for a snack. Today can be that day.”
“Thanks but no thanks. What’s that all about anyway, walkin’ around trumpetin’ that you’re the ruler’s daughter? If you think what they got’s worth payin’ for, then you should pay for it. Gonna draw the same crowd if you pay for the food as if you don’t.”
Kudo heard a strange “Hwaah…” come from above his head. He couldn’t see Utsuwa’s face, but Lily looked up at her and simply whispered, “Twinkling.” Kudo assumed she was talking about the little girl’s eyes.
“Y-You’re right! How could Utsuwa not realize that?!”
“’Cos you’re sheltered on a national treasure level…” Kudo muttered.
“Utsuwa has to pay! Utsuwa wants to pay! For everything I’ve ever eaten! Oh, but how… Utsuwa’s never even touched money before…!”
This time Lily whispered, “Dejected.”
Kudo sighed. “Look, Princess. Is there a place around here we could sell some stuff?”
“Hm…? Sell…?”
“No, I mean… Any shop run by a wizard’ll do. The fancier the better.”
“Utsuwa knows just the place. It’s that way!”
Kudo moved off in the direction she was pointing. He always kept four or five of Saybil’s mana potions in his bag as a backup, being the linchpin of restoration magic for the group and all.
They should be worth a fair bit if I can find someone to buy ’em. We are trying to start up trade relations with the damn things, after all. There’s a good chance the merchant might think they’re fake, but as long as we’ve got the leader’s daughter with us, that oughta take care of any doubts.