Chapter 258 (1/2)

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Sightseeing Secretly in Ville Zentra

「What? Huh? What?」

Deena couldn't quite understand why he held her hand and started walking.

「I have a magic item that allows me to conceal the presence of someone as long as I touch them.」Hikaru said.

She wore a curious look. However, if she wasn't careful, oncoming people would b.u.mp into her. That was when she realized they couldn't see her.

「I-Is this the magic item you used to infiltrate the s.h.i.+p?」

「Something like that.」

After a bit of thinking, Deena spoke.「I see. So it's a type of Spirit magic.」

「Nope.」

「What?!」

She looked genuinely surprised. Hikaru wasn't lying, of course; it was simply Group Obfuscation. None of the crew onboard could use it, and barely a few even had Stealth. Perhaps their Stealth skills didn't develop because they had their optical camouflage anyway.

Hmm…

Hikaru observed Deena. She seemed to be shaken that her hunch was off the mark.

「S-So why are we going sightseeing?」

「You're here now on this side of the world. Don't you want to see the sights?」

「Well, yes, I suppose.」

「As long as you hold my hand—well, it doesn't really matter where as long as I touch you—you'll be hidden. Let's just go around town for now.」

Hikaru took Deena through the streets of Ville Zentra, a port city prosperous due to maritime trade, and as such, was full of life. Deena seemed to be curious about everything—the piles of barrel, house walls, signboards out on the streets, merchants hawking at pa.s.sersby, the aroma of grilled fish. Hikaru had to pull her whenever she was about to b.u.mp into someone. Perhaps the only thing familiar to her was the smell of salt.

「I-I'm sorry.」Deena apologized after Hikaru pulled her several times.

「It's fine. Anyway, aren't you exhausted? We've been walking around for an hour.」

「Now that you mention it, I am.」

Hikaru made his way to a restaurant—Kaglai's subordinate told him about it—with private rooms. It was located in a back street, and as long as you had money, they didn't mind letting in someone as shady as Hikaru.

「Are you hungry? Apparently the seafood soup here is incredible. I want some. You should try it too.」

「R-Really? But I don't have any money.」

「No need to worry about that. We'll just charge it to necessary expenses and let the bosses pay.」

Deena chuckled at Hikaru's joke.

Good. She's starting to relax. This Stockholm syndrome way of doing things kinda makes me feel bad, though.

A condition in which a hostage becomes sympathetic with their captor. It was already too late to be feeling guilty, however.

Hikaru was a little hungry as he had to leave early. Like the rumors said, the soup was indeed delicious, and he left the restaurant satisfied. After that, he showed Deena to the Adventurers Guild, the city hall, the harbor, and the s.h.i.+pyard.

「All these street lights are magic items too.」Hikaru said.

「Oh…」

Anything magic item-related seemed to interest her, even the ones that weren't all that incredible.

「There's so many…」she muttered.

「In terms of technology, these aren't really all that great. They use small Spirit magic gems too, basically sc.r.a.ps.」

「You can get a lot of Spirit magic gems here?」

「Yeah. Dungeons are where you'll find a whole lot.」

「Spirit magic gems in dungeons?!」Deena's mouth hung open from surprise.「Ah.」

Realizing she blurted out too much, Deena closed her mouth. Hikaru pretended to not notice.

「There's hotdogs over there. Wanna try some?」

「What?! Hotdog… you mean a light snack where a sausage is served in a bun?」

「Pond Hotdog is actually quite famous. Their sauce is especially good.」

Hikaru deactivated his Stealth and purchased from the hotdog chain he invested in. They sold in half sizes too, where one hotdog was cut in half. Hikaru ignored the super spicy option. Instead he chose the standard ketchup and mustard, and one with salsa sauce.

「Here you go.」Hikaru said as she handed Deena the standard flavored one, while he had the other.

「Th-Thank you. Hmm, this really is tasty.」