The moment they took their first step through the gate and into the city, Myuke and Marie stopped dead in their tracks. They looked around with their breaths held and their eyes twinkling with amazement, stunned by the magnificent cityscape before them. The buildings towering far over them on both sides of the wide road, and the crowd, denser than any they had ever seen, amazed them to their cores. Almost every building in Barjyo greatly overshadowed Garaat’s tallest building: its Hunters’ Guild.
“So tawl! Wooooow!”
“Seriously, just wow. Are these all Hunters’ Guilds?”
“No,” Shaer explained. “Most if not all of the buildings here are inns.”
“Inns? All of them?”
“Indeed. The buildings close to the gates are mostly inns used by travelers. In other words, the other gates are similarly surrounded by these sorts of tall buildings.”
“Wow, there are even more?” Myuke let out a deep sigh of admiration. “Well, that makes sense, I guess. This city is big on travelers and merchants, after all. Still, with so many of them, at least one of them’s gotta have a free room.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.”
“What do you mean? Are you saying that all the rooms get rented sometimes? Like, literally every room in all of these gigantic inns?!”
“Indeed, they do!”
Shaer seemed to have enjoyed Myuke’s awe-filled response, as she was getting excited about their discussion as well.
“Daddy’s pace’s good to seep!” Marie added. She probably meant that if they couldn’t get a room, Anima could just make another house for them to sleep in.
“Thank you, Marie. I’m really glad you like the houses I make.”
“I love them too, but I doubt they’ll just let us make a dirt house in the middle of the city. We’ll probably have to leave if the inns are full and we have to use your magic. Maybe we could walk to the nearest town?”
Myuke worriedly alternated her gaze between Anima and Luina. Given her excitement for the market and fishing, leaving the city so early would have been devastating news for her.
“W-Worry not!” Feeling sorry for potentially letting Myuke down, the fidgeting Shaer opened her mouth and tried to calm her down in a soothing tone. “Not many people visit here from Garaat, so we shouldn’t have any issues with getting a room!”
Reassured, a huge smile appeared on Myuke’s face, followed by a sigh of relief from Shaer.
“Yaaay! But we can’t risk it! I wanna get a room before we explore!”
“Good idea,” Luina said, lauding her. “We should set our luggage down and take a quick rest before we go to the market.”
The group entered a nearby inn and requested a room. Luckily, there were free ones, so the family rented a corner room on the fourth floor while Shaer got one of her own.
“Lord Anima, do you have a moment?” Shaer asked in a hushed tone. Judging from her expression, she must have wanted to talk about the monster. In response, Anima nodded.
“Go to the room. I’ll join you later.” He gave Luina the key then descended the stairs with Shaer until they found a corner they could talk in. “What did you want to discuss?”
“The monster.” Just as he’d thought. He nodded, urging her to start speaking. “During our short trip together, I had the pleasure of witnessing the harmonious, lovely relationship you’ve built with your family. Henceforth, I don’t believe you should face the monster.”
Her words caught Anima completely off guard.
“Why’s that?”
“I have no doubt in my mind that you defeated Lord Merkalt. However, even if you’re stronger than him, there’s no guarantee you’ll defeat that monster and come out unscathed. I would never be able to face Lady Luina, Miss Myuke, and Miss Marie again if... anything were to happen to you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t lose to that monster.” Anima assuaged her worries with a smile. “I’ll make sure to defeat it—not only for my own sake, but for yours as well.”
“F-For my sake?” Shaer’s eyes widened.
“Yes. I’ve taken a liking to you. You genuinely care for my family, and for that, I’ll defeat the monster that’s giving you trouble.”
Even if that weren’t the case, he needed to be deemed a person of high value if he wanted to be pardoned for what had happened between him and Malshan. For that, he needed to rid the bridge of the monster terrorizing it. His confident, reassuring words dispelled all the doubt from Shaer’s eyes.
“Then just as we discussed, I’ll trust you with defeating that monstrosity.”
“Right. But I’m going to spend today with my family. I’ll deal with that monster tomorrow, after sunrise.”
If he ran at full speed, he would reach the bridge in no time, giving him the opportunity to deal with the monster before his family woke up. Then, he could return to the inn and resume their honeymoon as though he’d never left.
“Understood! I’ll accompany you to the bridge. Please come to my room when you’re ready to depart.”
Anima nodded, then they each left for their own room. After a bit of walking down the carpeted hallway, he arrived back at his family.
“Daddy’s back!”
“Look, Daddy! A bunk bed! Me and Marie can have the top, right?”
His arrival was met with the excited cheers and sweet smiles of his girls.
“Of course you can.”
There was a bunk bed next to the wall, big enough to comfortably accommodate four people. The room wasn’t overly spacious, but they were only planning to use it to sleep in, so it didn’t bother them. The majority of their time during the day would be spent in the city.
Myuke and Marie climbed the ladder and, after setting their bags to the side, threw themselves on the bed to try it out. It must have been pretty comfy, as they stopped moving shortly after.
“We should get some rest too.”
“You’re right.”
With a faint blush on her face, Luina laid down, and Anima joined her shortly after. They were both lying on their backs, staring at the bottom of the bunk above them. Just as Anima glanced to his side, Luina did the same. Her cheeks turned an explosive pink color as their eyes met.
“This is the first time we’ve been all alone in the same bed...” she whispered joyfully, a hint of anxiety in her voice.
“It is. Are you nervous?”
“A little bit. But more than anything, I’m happy.” Luina turned toward Anima and snuggled up to him. The tips of their noses almost touched, and her sweet breath gently caressed his cheeks. “I’ve always wanted to fall asleep in your arms.”
“And I’ve always wanted to fall asleep holding you.”
He loved sleeping in the same bed with all three of them, but he’d always wanted to sleep alone with Luina, and that wish had at long last become a reality. Their tiny whispers faded, and they silently gazed into each other’s eyes until Luina slowly closed hers.
During their three months together, Anima had begun to understand women slightly better, and because of that, he knew exactly what Luina wanted from him. After taking a moment to appreciate her beauty, he planted a kiss on her glossy lips. It was their first kiss in a while, and they made sure to enjoy every single sweet moment of it to the fullest. When Anima finally pulled his head back, he was met with Luina’s slightly moist eyes.
“Are we done already?”
Enticed by her sweet voice, Anima planted another kiss on her soft, warm lips. The sweetness of their kiss permeated his mouth, making him long for more and more, but Luina quickly pulled away when she felt a bit of squirming from above. Moments later, Myuke and Marie descended the ladder.
“I wanna go into the city!”
“Sidy!”
“Th-That sounds good. Okay, let’s— Ouch!”
As Luina jumped up from her bed, she hit her head on the bottom of the bunk above.
“We can switch beds if you want. You’ll have more privacy up there.”
“That’s okay; don’t worry about it,” she answered bashfully, blushing at Myuke’s snarky remark.
The four then left the room and set out to explore the city, relying on Luina’s memory. She led the way, walking away from the inn, and they soon arrived at the main street. The spectacle before their eyes left them speechless. The number of people walking the main street was like nothing they’d ever seen before; if one wasn’t paying attention, they could easily get separated from their loved ones in the crowd.
“Where martet?” Marie’s sparkling eyes darted around the crowded street.
“It’s this way.”
“Daddy, Daddy! Issat way!”
She tightly grabbed Anima’s hand and pointed in the direction Luina was facing. They carefully made their way toward the market, being extra careful not to bump into anyone, and reached a big, open square before long.
They had arrived at the market, a place that, from the outside, seemed to be incredibly chaotic. Touting more stalls than one could reasonably visit in a day and even more customers clogging the pathways, it bustled with the sounds of people making purchases and stall owners shouting about their selection of goods to attract customers. Witnessing such pandemonium for the first time, they couldn’t even begin to imagine the place without all of the stalls and people. Judging by the wheels on each stall, however, they were most likely rolled home by their owners when there were no customers around.
“I can’t SEE!” Marie grumbled while Anima stared in amazement at the state of the market. She was stretching herself out, but couldn’t see a thing due to the sea of people passing in front of her. The moment she caught the slightest glimpse of the stalls, her view got obstructed again.