"Kazumaaaaa..." Lily lazily called out from her spot on one of the couches.
"Yes?" Kazuma replied just as lazily.
"I'm booooored..." She complained.
"There's not much we can do at the moment, we can't go on a quest right now." Kazuma said, recalling what happened recently.
After the three took down the Skull-Dragon, they managed to reach Lorm where they turned in all the loot they found, earning them a nice sum of 3 million eris, split evenly. Unfortunately, the guild was not pleased with a group of adventurers taking on an unrated dungeon that could've been life threatening to them. They recieved their money with no issue, but were banned from taking any quests for two weeks as punishment. This also resulted in Dale being forced to work overtime at his post at the Einshard/Belzerg border once he recovered.
"This is soooo boring!" Lily cried.
"Shouldn't you be resting? You're still recovering from that fight." Kazuma said.
Just like Dale, Lily had sustained some injuries from the battle, and even managed to drain up her mana reserves. Dale took the most damage as he was the main defense. Luckily Kazuma wasn't very injured, so he was able to freely move, whereas Lily was unable to be extremely active, like take on a quest, that is to say if she could even go on one.
"I know! Let's go out to the northern part of the city!" Lily said as she sat up.
"What?" Kazuma responded.
"You haven't explored the northern part of the city yet, right?" Kazuma nodded in response.
"The north is where most of the rich or noble people live. They have quite a lot of interesting things there that isn't common in the rest of the city. We got a lot of money from the dungeon, so why not go spend some of it?" Lily explained.
Kazuma was curious, he hasn't really explored the north side of Lorm as he felt way out of place when he was there by himself, but it definitely beat doing nothing than staying home all day.
"Alright, sounds like a plan."
"Yay! Finally, we get to do something today!" Lily cheered as she got off the couch and went upstairs to get ready.
Eventually she returned and the two left. Despite the fact that it has been almost a month since Kazuma arrived in Lorm, he still couldn't help but enjoy the city. It felt really alive and full of energy. Since Lily lived in a more residential focused area, there was often children running around playing. He would see parents walking with their children, and in the parks he'd see the elderly just relaxing in the peacefulness. It was a bit of a contrast to Axel where despite there being residential areas, the place was absolutely packed with adventurers, living up to its name of "The Town Of Beginning Adventurers."
The two eventually passed the central area, walking towards the northern part of the city. True to Lily's words, the buildings slowly shifted from what they were used to, to buildings that seemed to reflect that the area was for the more wealthy.
"Say, should we get something to eat? We didn't have breakfast yet, and there seems to be some really good stuff around here." Lily asked.
"I could go for some food." Kazuma said as he patted his stomach at the idea of food.
The two entered what seemed to be a bakery. There were only a few shelves, lined with loaves of bread, presumably baked fresh. There was a counter towards the back of the room, glass display beside it showing the various treats one could purchase, from pastries, cakes, breads, and even sandwiches. The two ended up leaving with a chocolate croissant each.
"This is really good Kazuma! They must use higher quality ingredients here!" Lily exclaimed as she ate.
"Probably because they can afford it. Don't forget this is just a 'Once in a while' thing thanks to the dungeon we went to. I doubt we could afford to eat food like this on a regular basis even if we went on quests more." Kazuma said.
"Ehhh, you're such a downer! Just enjoy the food and the scenery!" Lily said, half scolding him.
"I'm just saying!" Kazuma said as he took another bite.
"Yeah yeah, let's see what else there is to do around here!" Lily said as she ran ahead.
Kazuma rolled his eyes playfully at the girls' excitement. He really enjoyed an outing like this, hanging out with a friend. Thinking back, Kazuma saw this kind of excitement back at Axel when it came to something that might be a problem. Aqua would only be excited over Alcohol, Megumin would only be excited by explosions or anything chuuni, and Darkness... We don't talk about what excites her.
Such a terrible thought made a cold chill run up his spine.
Though as the thoughts of them came to mind, it slightly brought down his mood. He was enjoying life here in Lorm, but at the same time he somewhat missed Axel. He had friends, party members, and someone who especially knew him before he came to this cursed world. He still held a bit of resentment for being basically abandoned by the whole town, but yet he still lived there for a while, grew stronger, and made his first friends in a long while.
Up ahead, Lily was looking around, taking in the sights. It was after a while that she had noticed that Kazuma was not right behind her. He was further down the road. He had a slight sad, pained expression on his face, and his eyes seemed to be staring at nothing, like he was lost in thought.
She walked over to him and tapped his arm, pulling Kazuma out of his thoughts.
"Kazuma?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah... I'm just thinking."
"I see..." Lily didn't buy it. Something was bothering Kazuma, and she wanted to know.
As Lily looked around, she spotted an open air theater with a show going on.
"Hey Kazuma, let's go over there!" Lily said, point towards the theater.
"Sure, why not?" Kazuma said as he followed her.
They paid for entry and sat down in an empty spot. While they were there they were caught up on the premise of the story. It was based on a legend of a hero from an unknown land. No one knew who he was, or where he came from, he sometimes spoke in an unknown language, and struggled to read or write, but he showed up one day like an average peasant. However, as time passed he slowly gained many feats, even taking down terrible monsters.
The show continued on, with the man eventually forming a group with people he met along the way. They were powerful enough to take down the terror that plagued the lands, they defeated the Devil King. As time went on, he married one of his closest friends and had children who by now their lineage was lost with time. But in the end, they were hailed as heroes, even beyond their eventual deaths.
As it had turned out, the story was based off the legend of the adventurer who killed the Ancient Devil King. Everytime he was defeated he would return hundreds of years later. The thing that had interested Kazuma the most was the Hero himself.
Once the show had ended, and everyone was leaving, Kazuma decided to ask about it.
"Hey Lily?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm curious, what do you know about that hero? The one that defeated the first Devil King?"
"Not a whole lot, other than what is already publicly known. He was an unknown peasant who didn't seem to fit in well, yet he went on grand adventures with his friends until they took down the Devil King. If anything it's super mysterious that it seemed like he came out of nowhere, like as if he had never existed until one day he just did. What was even more curious was how sometimes he would say things in another language, yet of all the scholars in the world, none seemed to have understood what he was saying. They say he even wrote in some strange language, the symbols not even matching what any land used. In the end there was no answers as he eventually passed away. Perhaps the only people who knew the truth were his closest friends who helped him, and even more so his wife."
Kazuma thought hard, the description almost seemed to have matched him completley. Perhaps the hero was another person who came from another world, maybe even his own. The guy who made the Destroyer turned out to be from Japan, and even that jerk Mitsurugi, so it wasn't completely ruled out that there are more Japanese or even people from his world here in this one, but it still surprised him to think that for hundreds of years they've been sending people here to ward off the evil that takes it's place.
"Kazuma?" Lily called, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Y-yes? Sorry, I was lost in my head there, it just interested me a lot about this hero."
"Right... What about it has you so interested though?"
"If I had to say, it would be about his sudden appearance."
"Ah, a very interesting thing to note! I must say, it must've been very sad for him."
"What do you mean?"
"While he was happy here, they say that sometimes he would think about his home. When inquired about it he would often say that it was a far off place, one that was easy to leave, but probably impossible to return to. He must have had friends or family where he came from, so he must have been all alone when he wound up here."
"Perhaps..."
Kazuma couldn't help but feel a connection with this hero. To be in a far away land away from familiarity. While he definitely didn't have fond memories back in Japan, it was still his home, where he lived with his parents, his brother. He barely made friends aside from the ones online that would easily come and go. But at the end of the day, it was the world he was born and raised in, and he was forcibly ejected from it and, while by choice, was plunked into another.
But that wasn't all. Thinking again about Axel, about everyone, here he was again in an unfamiliar land, forced to flee from his old life with real friends.
But at the same time.
He was pretty happy. He had Dale and Lily, he was still able to go on quests. Just because he's now in Einshard didn't mean that he wasn't allowed to be happy. So he was going to make the most of it.
"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Lily shook his arm excitingly.
"What is it?" He asked, wondering what's got her excited.
"Look! There's a big market over there! We have to go check it out!" Lily exclaimed.
"Sounds good, maybe we can find something cool there."
They walked over to the market that seemed to be double the size of the one he first went to with Lily. There were stalls ranging from various foods, clothing, fancy antique objects, and jewelry.
"Hey, do you think we should get something for Dale while we're here since he's gonna be busy for a while?" Lily asked.
"That's probably a good idea, but I don't know what to get him. You got any ideas?"
"Maybe a new weapon? There's apparently a very well praised smith around here, Dale does need a new weapon." Lily suggested.
"You're right about that..." Kazuma said as he recalled the events.
Dale's sword sadly had basically shattered after the dungeon they went to. It suffered many blows from the Skull-Dragon, and it suffered even more as it was used to hack through the remaining enemies they ran into in the dungeon. When they exited the dungeon the sword had finally given up and snapped in multiple places, twice on the blade, and once on the handle. It was deemed beyond repair and Dale is currently using a standard issue sword provided by the guards. It didn't suit him at all and he was in constant despair ever since the event.
"Alright, let's drop by after we look around the market." Kazuma said
Kazuma looked at the various stalls and nothing much caught his eye. He didn't have a knack for fashion nor decoration, so he couldn't find much interesting. He did notice Lily over by a stall that had an assortment of hair clips. He looked over and saw that they were very well made, many designs and colors to pick from. Lily in particular was admiring a clip that had had a blue clip and a yellow lily flower on it, somehow seemingly a direct reflection of the blonde haired, blue eyed girl.
"Yo, Lily, what're you look at?" Kazuma said as he approached.
"Oh, Kazuma! I was just admiring these hairpins. They're really cute!" Lily said as she showed him the hairpins.
"See any you like?" Kazuma asked her.
"Mmmm, if I had to say it would be this one." Lily pointed at the one he saw her staring at.
"How much is it?" Kazuma asked the owner of the stand.
"Ahhh, that hairpin is one of my finest works. It can be yours for a hundred thousand eris!" The man said.
"A hundred thousand?! For a hairpin?!" Kauzma exclaimed. It wasn't like they couldn't afford the thing, but at the same time that was a hefty price for a small object.
"Ehhh... Forget about it then..." Lily said as she walked away from the stall.
Kazuma turned around and looked at the pin. It was definitely over priced, but at the same time she was really looking at the thing like she really wanted it.
"Hey, how durable are these?" Kazuma asked.
"They are not made cheap, that is for certain. Lightweight, yet strong and durable, you could run it over by a stampede of horses and it'll be as if it was new!" The man said.
Kazuma debated really hard.
'This is such a cliche moment, a guy buying a girl a gift that she looks at but doesn't buy, it's so cliche it hurts!'
Kazuma scratched his head in frustration before slamming down the money.
"Fine! I'll take it!"
"Thank you for your purchase! You and the lady will not regret it!" The man said as Kazuma took the pin.
As Kazuma walked away, he couldn't help but scream internally at the fact that not only did he blow a good portion of his money, he also did the cliche and buy the damn thing.
'Too late now, I guess I'll give it to her later.' He thought as he caught up with Lily.
The two spent the rest of the day exploring the northern area of the city. They couldn't go too far up as that area was meant for nobles and lords only. Regardless, the two had fun exploring the stalls of the market and seeing what else the area had to offer. Lily ended up buying a few new dresses and a new pair of glasses. Kazuma had only bought a new satchel to replace his old one that was finally showing wear from it's use, as well as a few tunics to wear around town. They ate lunch at a big restaurant where the food was so much different than what they were used to, but was delicious nonetheless.
They then found the smith in her shop. It was quite a surprise for both of them to see that the smith was a female, who went by the name of Jean, but just the weapons on the walls alone showed she was definitely an excellent smith. Luckily Lily knew Dale's specs for making a sword that suited him, as she had to help him before with his previous sword, and they were able to request a custom sword that costed a whopping five hundred thousand eris, but they split the cost between the two of them.
The sun was starting to set, and the two were sitting at one of the large park areas that the northern area had to offer. It was much bigger than the one nearby Lily's place, so it offered a nice scenery as the sun was going down. There weren't a lot of people, but there were still quite a few who are also enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
It was at this time Lily decided to confront Kazuma about why he seemed down before.
"Hey Kazuma?"
"Kazuma here."
"What's wrong? I noticed today that you were a bit down before, is something the matter?"
Kauzma froze up for a second, not expecting the question.
"I noticed too after the show of the first hero you seemed a bit down too."
He took a moment to collect his thoughts before he responded.
"I... I was just thinking... About Axel... And then I thought about the story of the first hero and I couldn't help but feel a connection to the story. Here I am, driven from my home and thrusted into a new place, unfamiliar of anything or anyone. It made me remember about my time back home, with everyone. I can't help but miss it. I know they kinda left me behind when things got rough when they tried to arrest me, but at the same time, I spent quite a decent amount of time there. I made many friends, made a few enemies, I had a reputation, both good and bad. I had my first job there, and began as an adventurer there too. I partied and got drunk, I suffered and died once, our Arch-Priest was able to resurrect me. I had a home where I felt alive for once, and now it's been thrown away..." Kazuma said. A few tears started forming as he recalled the events at Axel.
Lily felt bad for the foreign boy. She knew of his story, but she didn't really think much about how much it affects him.
"It's not all bad though. Ever since coming here I've been enjoying my time with you guys. It may not be a massive group of friends I can party with, but you and Dale are definitely my friends here in Lorm. You guys saved me before, and even let me stay with you, so I am grateful for that." Kazuma said, giving Lily a smile.
Lily smiled back and gave Kazuma a hug, which allowed him to relax as he returned the hug.
When they separated, Kazuma reached into his pocket to retrieve the hairpin that he had bought.
"Here, as a thank you gift." Kazuma as he held out the accessory.
"Kazuma, that thing was seriously expensive! Why did you buy it?" Lily asked.
"I saw how you admired it, so I got it. They guy said it's really durable so hopefully it'll be worth the money." Kazuma chuckled.
Lily let out a sigh before she laughed a little.
"Well thank you Kazuma, I appreciate it." She said. She then placed the hairpin in her hair, the colors matching her perfectly.
"Well, we better start heading back, shouldn't we? It's staying to get late." Lily said as she stood up.
"You're right, better get home before dark." Kazuma said, standing up as well.
The two walked away, making their way to the exit of the park to head home. Once the area was clear, a figure stepped out from behind the shadow of a tree.
Raze had been observing Kazuma for a bit today, and watched the two of them on their little outing. As she recalled the events, she grew a wicked smile.
"This is perfect information, with this we'll make Kazuma for making a fool of us, of me!" Raze said as she slinked back into the shadows, moving towards the city.
Raze navigated stealthily through the northern area before reaching the slums of the city. She had a secret passage to go in and out of the city from the forest. she took the passage and made her way back to the base of the bandits.
Upon entering, she knelt down before the leader of the Red Eyed Bandits, Anak.
"Welcome back Raze, do you have anything to report about our little pest?" Anak said, growling at the thought of Kazuma.
"Yes, I do. In fact, I think we can use this information against him." Raze said as she smiled.
Anak grew a smile at the news.
"Go on..."
