Chapter 20 (2/2)

She evaded answering.

The two of them probably forbade her to talk about it.

If that wasn’t the case, then Iris shouldn’t have hid it from him…

Having thought that far, feeling just a tad bitter, Luru suddenly gasped in realisation.

Wasn’t this the loneliness of a parent whose daughter was growing independent?

Coming to this idea, Luru murmured in his mind.

‘Bacchus. It seems that your daughter has grown into a fine young woman.‘

Speaking of which, just what had that guy gotten up to after he died, Luru wondered.

As Luru expected, even if he asked Iris she didn’t know, but Iris did a.s.sess her father as ‘a person who won’t die even if you kill him’ and Luru held the same feelings towards him.

In either or nine cases out of ten, he stayed alive even after Luru’s death.

And… just how had he lived?

There no longer remained any way for Luru to know.

However, it would be nice if in the end, Bacchus somehow found happiness.

So Luru thought.

Like that, the shaking carriage continued down the highway.

They pa.s.sed through a few small villages.

Turning back to face Luru and Iris,

“We’ll be staying overnight at the next town, so prepare yourselves.”

said the carriage driver.

If they looked carefully, they could see a grey wall a little further ahead.

Up until now, Luru had never been to a large town, so this really was quite a sight to him.

As for Iris, she didn’t seem all that surprised and said,

“It is a large town, isn’t it? …Well, it’s no match for the Demon Capital Kuranu though.”

Kuranu was a town that once belonged to the demon race, and certainly its size and scope could not be compared to by a town like the one before them.

From Iris’ point of view, the sight of Kuranu was not all that long ago.

Was it because he died once that Luru could only faintly remember it? Or was it because he had forgotten it because he had grown older?

It was a sad thing, so he wanted to believe it was the former.

While he was thinking this, the carriage finally arrived at the city gates of the fortress city.

By the gates stood a number of soldiers, and it seemed that they were checking the people that were entering the town.

The carriage that Luru and Iris rode was no exception, and after checking the driver, the luggage, checking Luru and Iris’ faces, and asking about their origins, they jotted something down.

However, that was basically it, and immediately afterwards,

“Welcome, to Fortress City Finale!”

said the guards in a welcome.

It seemed to be a routine greeting because not a shred of emotion appeared on the driver’s face as he began moving the carriage again, but Luru found it somehow fun, and smiled at the soldiers.

When he did, the soldier gave him a prompt thumbs up, so Luru returned it.

Since they somehow understood each other, Luru’s mood improved.

As for Iris, she gazed at Luru with a smile, seemingly finding the scene heartwarming.

“Having fun?”

Being asked that, Iris smiled and answered.

“Yes of course!”

That smile was something rare for Iris; unlike her usual reserved and somewhat ephemeral self, she was giving a broad smile, brightly illuminating her surroundings like the sun.

After entering the city, the carriage immediately headed to an inn.

There was already a place prepared to leave the carriage, and it was seemingly intended for such use to begin with.

Probably because it was on the way to the capital.

There was also a lot of pedestrians, and the streets were wide to accommodate for this.

The inn they entered was quite thoroughly cleaned.

As you’d expect there was no bath, but there was at least a place to pour water over yourself, and not only were the beds white, the meals were apparently delicious as well.

Because the sun had gone down but it was still too early for dinner, to kill some time Luru decided to have a stroll around the city with Iris.

“It’s dangerous with only you children.”

said the carriage driver in concern, but,

“We are intending to become adventurers, and my father has acknowledged my strength as well, so we’ll get by somehow.”

Luru replied, and after looking like he had just recalled it, the driver a.s.sented.

Seeing that the driver had that much faith in his father’s strength, Luru felt a little happy.

After that,

“Well then, shall we go, Ojisama?”

said Iris, so after nodding to her in reply, they left the inn and headed out to the town together.

/Chapter 20 END

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