They looked around as they walked through the market. None of the stalls or stores seemed to have any shortage of food. The price of wheat, which was largely imported from Sindoria, had gone up, it seemed, but only by a little bit. It appeared that the kingdom’s preparations for war had gone surprisingly smoothly.
“This is such a busy city!” said Aisha. “And everyone’s wearing such nice clothes.”
“The ornamentation in the city is really something,” Nacht agreed. “It looks like their craftsmen have branched out to clothing and accessories too. Do you wanna buy something, Aisha?”
“Oh! No, thank you. The clothing you gave me is more than enough, Mistress.”
“I see. Well, if you see anything you want, don’t hesitate to ask.” Aisha was a servant by name, but her mistress Nacht hadn’t exactly been paying her a salary. This was her way of telling Aisha that she could always ask for things she wanted. But Aisha almost never asked for things. After all, what she really wanted was for Nacht to depend on her.
“I wish you wouldn’t treat me like a child...” Aisha pouted. “And besides, this juice you got me is super-duper good.” Aisha smiled happily, and Nacht decided not to press the matter.
“But it’s strange...” Nacht said.
“Hm? What is?”
“Win or lose, war is a tragedy that brings misfortune to the common people. The enemy is a longtime allied kingdom too. But everyone’s going about their business like normal. There’s something weird going on here...”
“I never heard anything about wars back when I lived in my village...” said Aisha. “Maybe they just don’t know that it’s happening?”
“Maybe if this was a pioneer village on the frontier,” Nacht said. “But this is the capital, isn’t it? Maybe the rulers are just really good at running a country. If people have enough food and clothing and shelter, you can get them to go along with pretty much anything.”
Euto Fia had no slums. Or to be more precise, it no longer had slums. A few years ago, the current prime minister had expanded the markets and made poverty relief a matter of official policy. The slums were destroyed and made into open fields, which they called the “special development zone.” The merchants had brought in a great deal of money, and a fresh workforce appeared from seemingly nowhere, relieving the people of want.
Then, there was a technological revolution. The textile industry was expanded, with new technologies raising production speeds through the roof and protecting the poor from the cold. The government built cheap housing for orphans and the infirm and created an employment agency to match residents of the city with appropriate work. They opened academies that taught commercial and military science to all, irrespective of background. And in the special development zone to the southeast, they built and built and built.
The people of the city had all the necessities of life. Some of them had come to call the special development zone a sacred land of mystery.
“I guess it’s good that the city is prosperous, at least,” Nacht said. “What about it, Aisha? You wanna see this special development zone of theirs?”
There were a number of things that put Nacht on edge about this city, such as the incident at the gate and the whole atmosphere of the place, but nobody had threatened them yet. As long as that continued to hold true, Nacht was happy to simply explore the city to her satisfaction and then head off on their journey.
“I do,” said Aisha. “But we’re just sightseeing, right? Promise we’re just sightseeing?”
“You make me sound like such a troublemaker,” Nacht complained.
“You are! You know you are, Mistress! You were attacked by the soldiers and you even fought back! Are you sure they aren’t going to arrest us?” Aisha seemed anxious, but Nacht didn’t see any problems with what she had done—that had merely been self-defense.
“They started it,” she said.
“I mean, that’s true...” Aisha admitted. “But didn’t you go a bit too far?”
A little too forceful was what Aisha meant. It was true that they had attacked Nacht, but Nacht had more than enough power to have simply laughed it off. Instead, Aisha had seen her mistress mercilessly attack an army of humans. But that was her mistaken impression.
“I didn’t attack people,” Nacht said. “Did you see those guys in black? They were shaped like humans, but they were just constructs. I didn’t sense mortal souls in them—or demon souls, for that matter. If I had to guess, I’d say they’re golems. I think they’re being used for labor in the city as well.”
Aisha’s eyes opened wide. “Weh?! They weren’t people?! You’re messing with me, aren’t you, Mistress?”
“Messing with you? I would never.”
“Then please stop embarrassing me in front of other people!”
“I don’t know if I can promise that.”
“Mistress!”
Hand in hand, the two cheerfully made their way through the city. The closer they got to the special development zone, the busier everyone around them seemed. Nacht looked around as she walked, keeping an eye out for an inn that might suit Aisha’s tastes. Then, suddenly, Aisha stopped in her tracks.
“Aisha?” Nacht asked. But Aisha didn’t respond.
Or rather, Aisha didn’t seem to be able to respond. Her face had gone pale white. She was frozen so stiff that it was like time itself had stopped moving. She wasn’t even breathing. Dumbfounded, she opened her eyes wide and closed them again. She shook her head, clutching it in her hands. “No...” she said, her voice wavering like the reflection of the moon on water.
Aisha was staring at a man with ferocious intensity. She showed no signs of movement. It was like she had been hit by an illusion. Nacht looked over at the man. His eyes, she thought, looked like Aisha’s.
“Oh, Aisha!” said the man. “You sure took your time! Welcome home!”
Aisha’s knees gave out and she fell to the ground. Her eyes shook. Her lips trembled. Her voice sounded pinched and scratchy. “How...?” she asked. “P-Papa? How are you...alive?”