At the Market

The remarkable thing about Alsarm was that, even with war preparations underway, the market was as lively as ever.

Walking through the streets, you hardly felt any ominous atmosphere.

Peddlers came and went without pause, and the air inside the city felt no different from his last visit.

With winter over, rising prices for iron ore and burning stone probably didn't affect daily life too much.

Did Alsarm's citizens not think much about the possibility of war?

The city's military was volunteer-based, not conscripted.

Good pay and solid benefits made it quite popular.

He'd also heard they recruited talented adventurers as military officers.

The duke's aides were likely the same.

Given all that, Alsarm's military force was among the kingdom's finest for a single city.

Perhaps that made the citizens feel it wasn't their concern.

"Hmm, the entertainment around here is a bit underwhelming. Very consumerist, you know? Buying enjoyment with money. It doesn't suit someone like me who prefers to use good things for a long time."

"But there's quite a lot of unusual equipment and rare items. Might find some bargains."

"We get good equipment normally, so…"

None of their group was an ordinary girl.

Simple entertainment hadn't quite satisfied them, so they'd come to the grand market held in one of Alsarm's plazas.

Here, you could rent a small space for a fee and were permitted to sell from a stall.

Goods were displayed and traded everywhere you looked.

Bartering seemed to be quite popular too.

Alsarm-made clothing and accessories were apparently treated as trendy items; buying them here and taking them to other cities fetched good prices.

The designs were indeed excellent, in no way inferior to Spartia's renowned gemwork.

Skilled artisans must have gathered here.

Opening a shop in a place like this would guarantee a secure future.

Window shopping proved surprisingly engaging.

Time flew as they wandered, occasionally buying small items someone had shown interest in.

"Whoops, sorry."

A man nearly bumped into Azu, but she dodged gracefully at the last moment.

Impressive footwork.

Azu gave a small bow, but the man ignored her with an unfriendly expression.

"What was… that about?"

"Pickpocket. You're the most absent-minded looking one here, so he targeted you."

"Huh?"

Azu hurriedly reached into her clothes.

She pulled out a small pouch, frantically opening it to check the contents.

Everything seemed to be there; she sighed with relief.

When he asked what was inside, she said she kept all the gifts he'd given her in it.

"You looked like an easy mark, but you dodged faster than he expected, so he didn't try. See?"

Finn pointed at the man, who was now moving to bump into someone else.

"Ah, he just took that person's purse. Let's go after him."

"Sounds good. This is getting interesting."

"Got it. Go."

He gave Azu and Finn permission, and they shot off in an instant.

Those two would be more than enough.

They caught up immediately. Azu blocked the man's path, forcing him to stop, and Finn grabbed his hand.

A small coin purse dropped to the ground.

"My purse!"

The stolen purse, apparently.

The woman the man had bumped into saw it and cried out.

"Should've done it somewhere I wasn't around."

"You little brat…!"

The hand Finn held didn't budge an inch.

He tried to grab Finn's hair with his free hand, but before he could, she kicked his knee and dropped him.

"Don't get cocky, petty thief."

"Here you go."

Azu picked up the purse and handed it to the victim, who thanked her profusely.

Then the woman pulled an amulet from her clothes and gave it to Azu and Finn as thanks.

The pickpocket was handed over to the military police who arrived shortly.

The regular citizens might not feel it, but the military police were extremely on edge with war preparations. The pickpocket was dragged away roughly.

"What's this?"

"Let me see."

Elza took the amulet from Finn.

Being a priestess, she was probably knowledgeable about such things.

"It's a wind amulet. A blessing wishing for the protection of Wind Elementals."

"Hm. Does it work?"

"It's more like a good-luck charm… Maybe a tiny bit of arrow-deflecting effect?"

Elza returned the amulet with a wry smile.

Apparently, it wasn't very effective.

It was commonly made in regions that worshiped Wind Elementals.

Wind Elementals themselves rode the wind wherever it took them, never settling in one place.

Finding a Wind Elemental would be difficult indeed.

"We're drawing attention. Let's move."

"Right. I was hoping to find a good weapon, but…"

The battle-axe he'd gotten for Alexia was still going strong.

An auction find from a labyrinth, it suited Alexia surprisingly well.

It supported her bold fighting style.

As they started back toward the inn, he found himself looking up at the sky for no particular reason.

He didn't know why. He just felt compelled to.

The sun sat there, blazing brilliantly.

The dazzling light hit his eyes, and he raised a hand to shade them.

The next instant, the ground heaved.

The shock was strong enough to lift him off his feet momentarily. He nearly fell but was caught by Azu and Alexia.

Looking around, Elza was holding Orleans in her arms, and Finn had dashed off toward the tallest nearby building.

For a moment, he thought it was an earthquake, but the Earth Elemental Stone was near Alsarm.

An earthquake within its range of influence seemed unlikely.

If the Earth Elemental Stone had been angered, that would be one thing, but he couldn't imagine Duke Baroba making that kind of mistake.

What had just happened?