Chapter 44: The Unexpected Encounter

“Welcome, El!”

As soon as I stepped down from the carriage, Anne approached and greeted me warmly.

However, Ian, who I thought was somewhat close to me, was nowhere to be seen.

“Yay!”

I gave Anne a high-five as she extended her hand with her palm open.

Satisfied, Anne stood next to me and we walked together.

Somehow, Anne had already taken my bags, which had been with the maid who had come with me on the carriage.

I wondered when and why she had snuck them away. In the end, I took one bag back from her hand, and Anne and I each carried one as we headed into the mansion.

“My mom went out on an errand, and dad’s in the study. We’ll just greet him quickly and head to my room.”

“Okay.”

Since there was no real reason to refuse, I accompanied Anne to greet her father.

Thankfully, because Anne and Ian had spoken well of me, her father seemed to treat me kindly.

“You’re probably tired from your trip. Go rest and let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

What was unusual was that the head of the Klain family wasn’t Anne’s father, but her mother.

Fortunately, Anne had told me this before we reached the study, sparing me from making a major mistake.

I had almost made a huge blunder. I heard that Anne’s father, Alec, had entered the family as a son-in-law.

“By the way, Anne doesn’t look much like her father.”

“Right? I don’t look anything like my dad, but I look a lot like my mom. On the other hand, Ian looks a lot like dad.”

Thinking about it, when I saw Alec earlier, I could already guess who Ian had inherited his large build from. Though I hadn’t met Anne’s mother yet, Alec’s height was quite comparable to Ian’s.

When we entered the study, it was quite a surprise to see Alec, with his towering height, so absorbed in reading.

If Anne had taken after her father just a little more, maybe she wouldn’t have been stuck with such a small stature.

Thud!

“Yikes! What, what was that?! Why did you suddenly poke me in the side?!”

I couldn’t help but yell at Anne’s sudden attack. My screams had become more frequent by now, but I still hadn’t gotten used to them. I couldn’t suppress the instinctive outburst either.

“It’s just that… you seemed like you were thinking something weird.”

“No, that’s not it! Please don’t make me sound like some weird person!”

Anne was glaring at me with half-open eyes. As usual, she could tell what I was thinking with just a single instinct.

“Oh, fine. You win, you win! I thought Anne was cute. Is that so bad?”

Well, I did think she was cute because of her small size, so it wasn’t a lie. Honestly, I can’t imagine Anne as tall now.

“Hm? I’m suspicious, but I’ll let it go for now!”

Fortunately, I was able to smooth things over with just a compliment.

“By the way, El, you said this was your first time visiting our village, right? What do you think?”

“Well? I haven’t had much chance to look around except from outside the carriage, but for a city so close to the Forbidden Forest, it seems pretty lively.”

Even though this was the city closest to the Forbidden Forest, a place where even the demon tribes threatening the continent couldn’t easily enter, the streets were still quite active. In fact, it seemed more vibrant than Yuri’s territory.

“Right? But just looking from the outside doesn’t really tell you everything. Let me show you around! Let’s go out together.”

Before I could even respond, Anne stood up and urged me to go. Since I was planning on agreeing anyway, I didn’t refuse and followed Anne.

And so, we ventured out onto the streets.

There were many regular townspeople, but the majority were clearly adventurers. Most carried swords at their backs or waists, and occasionally, there were wizards wearing robes and carrying staffs.

In front of the weapon shop, a swordsman was haggling with the shopkeeper over a sword, while across from them, a woman was jokingly asking for extra ingredients while selling groceries.

The scene, with both the city’s residents and wandering adventurers, was quite lively and harmonious.

“Although we can’t enter the Forbidden Forest, there are many labyrinths and ruins around it. There are plenty of monsters too, so the bounty for extermination is quite significant. I think our city’s Adventurers Guild is probably the second largest in the Empire?”

Of course, the largest would be the guild headquarters in the capital.

“I thought this city, being the closest to the Forbidden Forest, would be barren, but it’s the opposite.”

“The Emperor knows about it too. If our city were to fall, the monsters crawling out of the Forbidden Forest would cause us a lot of trouble. That’s why there are various benefits in place, and the city has grown as a result.”

“Hm. I see. So, where are we headed now?”

“We’re heading to the cafe with the best desserts in the city!”

Although I only started going to cafes after enrolling at the academy, the cafes in Pelches had really set my standards high. Since they mostly cater to students, and many of them even target nobles, my taste had become quite refined from following my friends around.

Anne, who had also visited many cafes in Pelches with me, spoke with great confidence.

“You’ll be surprised once you taste it, El!”

Anne wasn’t lying, but when she said it with such excitement, it was clear she truly believed it. Seeing Anne so excited made me start to feel eager as well.

“Tada!”

The place we arrived at was much more modest than I expected.

Most cafes, which tend to cater to young people, pay a lot of attention to interior design, but this shop had a more quaint, if not worn-out, exterior. To be honest, the place didn’t look great.

However, the shop was surprisingly spacious, and the place was already packed with customers, making it hard to find a seat.

Despite the shabby decor, the large number of customers meant that whatever else the shop offered was enough to cover its shortcomings. It was clear why Anne had been so confident.

“What do you want, El? My recommendation is the double chocolate shake and chocolate mud cake. What do you think?”

Just hearing it made my mouth feel sticky. Normally, I’d pair a sweet cake with a bitter Americano, but there was probably no point in suggesting that to Anne.

“Then, I’ll have that…”

“Okay! You grab a seat. I’ll go buy it.”

Though it was a bit burdensome, I decided to go along with Anne’s recommendation and indulge in something sweet.

“Oh, how much is it? I’ll pay half.”

“No, it’s fine. If I made the guest pay, my mom would kill me.”

Anne said this with a serious face, discussing the idea of being killed.

Her family education was rather fierce. Of course, I couldn’t really criticize, considering I was raised in an assassin’s household.

I left Anne behind at the counter and wandered in search of an empty seat.

However, no matter how much I looked around, there was no free spot inside. I wondered if there might be space outside, so I stepped outside.

In truth, it felt more like a bump than an actual collision, but as something hit my chest, I looked down to find a small child’s face buried in my chest.

It seemed that, while I was distracted by my search for a seat, I had accidentally bumped into the child without noticing.

I quickly stepped back to check on the child and was shocked.

With bright red hair like Anne’s and a small stature, I almost mistook the child for Anne.

The resemblance was so striking that, if they stood together, they could easily pass for sisters.

However, when I glanced over at the counter, Anne was still waiting for her drinks and desserts to be ready.

“Sorry, little one. I wasn’t paying attention and made a mistake. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Fortunately, the child didn’t seem to be injured.

…

Though it wasn’t large, it was enough of a cushion to have softened the impact, so I assumed that helped.

Still, the child didn’t respond to my question. Instead, they simply raised their head and stared at me quietly.

“How dare you not know who this is…!”

Instead, a man standing next to me raised his voice. When I turned my head, I saw a man in armor holding a massive greatsword with both hands.

What’s more, despite already having a sword at his waist, he was not carrying the greatsword on his back but holding it separately—an unusual way to arm oneself.

The child’s outfit also seemed quite luxurious, so it appeared that she was the daughter of someone important out for a stroll.

As expected, when the child raised her hand, the man who had been shouting immediately stopped and stood at attention.

“Hmm… Is this a newly settled adventurer? Quite a skilled one.”

It seemed like the child had seen this kind of situation many times, as she looked up at me and spoke.

She was trying to sound serious, but with her small frame and cute voice, she only looked adorable. It almost felt like watching Anne when she tried to act tough.

“Hehe. Our little one has quite the eye, huh? Though she looks small, this older sister here is known to handle a sword quite well.”

I was just chatting with the cute child, but the man, presumably a bodyguard, was fidgeting anxiously.

I wasn’t about to eat the child, so it was a little hurtful that he was reacting like that, even though it was only natural for me.

“Ah, El! There you are.”

While I was talking with the child, Anne had apparently already gotten our order, as she approached with a tray carrying drinks and cake.

“I still haven’t found a seat… Eek?”

However, as Anne got closer, she made a strange sound and stopped in her tracks, seemingly startled by something.

“Uh, mom…?”

Hearing Anne call out to her mother, I turned to look, but I couldn’t see anyone who resembled her.

Turning back to Anne’s eyes, I followed her gaze.

…?

Anne was staring at the child I had just bumped into.

I looked back at Anne, but her gaze was still focused on the child in front of me. No matter how many times I turned my head, her focus never changed.