Strolling in the Capital City
Familiar Summoning is a unique monster magic used by leaders of groups that allows them to summon their subordinates regardless of distance. Apparently, even if I leave my minions in Arland, I can summon them normally. It’s quite impressive, so I’m analyzing it too. In the future, I’ll probably be able to summon Mr. Coote or even Helios.
“Anyway, I brought that thing from Silver Moon. The manager put a lot of effort into making it, so look forward to snack time.”
I promised Anon to get a cake from Silver Moon. They sent me a huge one like a wedding cake, but it’s okay because I can give the leftovers as souvenirs. Mr. Coote is an omnivore, so he eats almost anything, and he loves sweets too.
“Ohhh, cake! Alice, your choice of sweets is always amazing, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“Is it okay? It’s quite expensive…”
“… I can’t resist sweets.”
“It’s fine. The manager gave it to me for free this time. They want feedback. They said the quality is top-notch.”
It seems that as long as I give feedback, they don’t require payment for tasting.
Anyway, we visited the sweets shops and craft shops with Anon’s guidance. Keena and Sharon usually move around by carriage, so they were not familiar with the geography of the Capital city. But for some reason, Anon seemed to be active as an adventurer (E-rank) and doesn’t use carriages within the Capital city. It seems she’s enjoying herself.
So Anon, who knew the geography well, introduced us to various places in the Capital city.
Certainly, there were many places with scars from the Stampede, but there was still vitality. This country seemed to be doing fine. The people living here were lively. In that sense, they might resemble the citizens of Arland… though they’re all a bit eccentric.
Also, surprisingly, Anon and my maids have become quite friendly. Since she doesn’t care about status or relationships when interacting with me, she doesn’t mind talking with commoners. She was spoiling them, offering sweetness to brighten their daily life. They were so hungry for sweetness that they’d gladly accept it anytime, like chicks waiting to be fed.
“Amazing, I couldn’t finish this even if I tried.”
“You gave away too much. They won’t be able to eat cake later.”
Keena reprimanded Anon for accepting too many sweets.
“It’s okay. I skipped breakfast today. Sweets are the best.”
“I’m glad we were protected by Arland. I don’t care about my original world anymore.”
“No one’s waiting for us even if we go back.”
Let me introduce my three maids here. They are Japanese from Earth. After discussing with them about my knowledge and the era I knew, it turned out they came from Japan in the same era as my past life.
However, surprisingly, they were summoned suddenly from the same place, that is, a children’s foster home. Moreover, that foster home was about to be sold off because it was connected to a shady organization. It’s hard to judge whether their luck was good or bad. There are three of them.
They all have black hair, but instead of being messy, it’s more like… sharp? Sasara Ryouko, 11 years old, has hair that fluffs up to about shoulder-length. Her ability is Detection, and she’s the worst at physical exercises among the three.
The second one, Shinomiya Miu, has black hair that reaches her shoulders, in a typical bobbed hairstyle. Then there’s Shinomiya Shion, who also has black hair, but slightly longer, and they’re apparently fraternal twins. The older sister, Miu, has the ability of Teleportation, while her younger sister, Shion, has the ability of Magic Nullification. They’re both people from another world with unusual abilities.
But they’re not enlisted in the military anymore. They say they’re not good at fighting, so they’ve chosen to live in this world as maids. Apparently, the pay is surprisingly good. They’re still apprentices, so I think it’s low, but since the country covers all their living expenses, their entire salary is pocket money.
Normally, they would receive financial support from their families, but since they’re alone in both the original world and this world, they explored the Capital city of Arland under the guise of a sweets excursion. From their experiences in this world, they all carry weapons, though. It seems they all use short swords.
“But it’s rare for people from another world to become maids.”
“We just offered them protection. If they don’t like conflicts, Arland won’t force them. We can’t trust someone to fight if they don’t have the will. That’s the Arland way, as stated in the Third King’s Chronicles.”
Well, that’s why they are, technically non-combatants. Although, apparently, they’ve been taught self-defense measures.
So, we continued hopping between shops. While we were ordering small portions in anticipation of cake time later, the appetite of the maids has only increased due to their improved physical abilities from eating more and more. Who knows when they’d turn into round little tanuki?
“The princess, right?”
That was right after we left the last shop. We were about to enjoy a blissful time at the inn, eagerly anticipating the unseen cake, when suddenly, we were surrounded by men in black. At the same time, soldiers from Arland appeared out of nowhere to protect us, forming a barrier around us.
“Not again… I’ve had enough… I’m not as free as you are, so please leave me alone.”
“Be silent and come with us!!”
My mood worsened dramatically. And Anon beside me seemed to emit a terrifying aura.
“Become rust for the sake of my cake.”
It seems the unseen cake had plunged her into the dark side. Just as I was about to cast a barrier around the rest of us, a man who appeared next to them suddenly removed his hood… and his eyes gleamed mysteriously.