Chapter 11 The Town's Safety
"Please come again," Ms. Kanae's voice bid farewell as Yuruyana left the café and headed towards the wholesale medicinal herb store, just as he planned and wrote down from his master's memo.
"That address seems more to the north."
"It's convenient to have locals around, huh?"
As far as he could recall from the map in his mind, the store seemed to be located in an alley off the main street of White Brick Road.
"But still, even when you say downtown, it's still a city, right? Over in the west, you don't see many Arcane Art cars yet."
The main roads with names were divided into lanes for cars and pedestrians, and Yuruyana walked, amusing himself by watching the frequent passing of iron boxes with wheels.
"I guess it's been about the last ten years that they've increased in the capital."
Until recently, horse-drawn carriages were the main sight on the roads, but now Arcane Art cars were becoming more common.
Even the old Arcanists who used to mock Arcane Machinery have come to realize that Arcane Art cars are more convenient than carriages and have quietly accepted it.
Yuruyana muses over this shift in attitude every time he takes a walk.
"The safety seems pretty good around here too."
"This area is still close to the main streets."
The capital was vast, and with people from various backgrounds living together, the safety varied by district.
Some areas, like the downtown and parts of the industrial district connected to it, were home to people who were casually friendly, or somewhat rough, depending on how you saw it.
There were areas where children were warned not to go near.
"Yuruyana, it's better not to walk down narrow alleys after sunset."
"Are you worried about me?"
"Aren't you confident in your ability to protect yourself?"
"Well, yeah."
Even if he's tough on the inside, a slender, beautiful girl walking alone on a street with few people might still attract some odd characters.
Having traveled, Yuruyana would have some skills to deal with them, but it's better to take precautions to avoid wasting time on unnecessary trouble.
"The more people there are, the more weirdos there will be for sure──"
Just as he was saying that, a commotion suddenly broke out in the direction they were heading.
When I look over, a man with a deep hat is pushing through the crowd, barreling towards us.
Behind him, I can see a young man and woman chasing the guy.
Yuruyana probably can't see yet, being so short.
"What? You mean the 'weirdo'?"
"Yeah, want a lift? It might hurt a bit."
Without a word, he elbows me in the side.
He seems to know how to deal damage despite looking weak.
The guy chasing him is probably the police, so it's best for civilians to not get involved and find someplace safe to hide, but as I try to leave, I keep a close eye on him.
"Ah!"
A little girl, overwhelmed by the crowd and lagging behind, gets kicked by the man and tumbles over.
"Yuruyana, sorry. Can you help that kid? Stay by the roadside when you're done."
"Huh? Yeah."
Meanwhile, I subtly move to block the man's path.
"Get out of the way!"
The man peeks out from under his hat, his eyes bloodshot, and as expected, he pulls out a knife from his coat, aiming it at me.
I pretend to dodge in a panic while sweeping his legs, and as the man, unaware of what's happening, flips into the air, I slam my palm into his chin.
I pry his eyes open and drive him into the ground with a heavy blow, then step on the knife that falls from his hand.
"Oooh──"
The crowd, including Yuruyana, applauds and expresses awe, and just as I think I might have gone too far, the man and woman chasing him approach, looking stunned.
"Excuse me. Are you with the police?"
The man with the tea-colored hair flashes what turns out to be a capital police ID.
"... I'm an Ex. Anyway, was he okay to take down like that?"
I give a light military salute with my right hand to my left chest, and they both seem to understand.
"Either way, we were planning to ask you to come with us as a material witness for the case we're pursuing, so..."
He leaves it vague, but it seems almost certain that the guy is involved in some bad business.
The woman with the fresh green hair cautiously peeks at the face of the man lying down.
"...He's not dead, right?"
"Probably not."
"He sure fell nicely, though."
The male officer in casual clothes pats the man's face playfully, but there's no sign of him regaining consciousness.
"I'm sorry, I just reacted when faced with hostility."
I won't say I did it on purpose.
I only meant to trip him a little, but when I felt danger, my body moved on its own.
"'Just' that movement, huh? The police really need to do better..."
Even when I rolled him over and handcuffed him behind his back, the man didn't budge.
The risk of him escaping was gone, but taking him in seemed like a hassle.
Calling for Arcane Art support to just throw him in could be the quickest solution.
Just as I thought about this,
"Tsukumo, are you hurt?"
Yuruyana wrapped around my arm, acting like a cute girl.
It was so fake, acting like he hadn't seen everything.
But I understood he was helping me get away quickly, so I didn't tease him and played along.
"I'm fine."
"Then let's go! It's scary here. Officer, is that okay?"
With big shining eyes, he looked up at the policeman, pretending to be weak even though he had just elbowed him perfectly.
"Sorry for bothering you during our date. Thank you again for your help!"
"Thanks for your hard work!"
As he pulled me away, Yuruyana smiled brightly, waving to the two of them.
I saw the male officer wave back with a silly smile before getting nudged by the female officer.
Not knowing the truth is a happy thing.
"That guy's parents just picked him up. I got thanked."
As soon as we blended into the crowd, Yuruyana let go of my arm and puffed out his chest proudly.
"I see."
"Tsukumo, you did well! Did you do things like that in the army too?"
"Yeah, well... I did more killing than saving people, so I thought I'd do some good deeds."
"Really? Sounds like something you shouldn't tell civilians. I'm interested, so tell me when you can."
"Sure."
Maybe because he's a disciple of the Arcanopharmacist, or just because Yuruyana is considerate, he's good at knowing boundaries.
I thought that maybe spilling everything could be refreshing, but I still didn't have the courage.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)