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The next morning. It seemed that Tim and Wein had left early in the morning to participate in discussions about the city’s administration. Meanwhile, Viola… wasn’t exactly idle.

While the world was in turmoil, she could probably be given some leeway to reclaim some sisterly time.

“Are you heading out again today?”
“Yes. I want to show Monica around the city.”
“I’ll come along then. By the way, I don’t need any carrots.”
“Ugh.”

Lucella decided to accompany the sisters who were getting ready and changing into decent attire.

Monica was wearing a different dress today, a sophisticated-looking blue dress that exuded a calm atmosphere. Viola didn’t know if Monica bought it or received it, but it seemed like she had prepared some clothes to change into after moving into the Rock Lizard Inn. She was pulling out various garments from a suitcase with a swirling doorway to the extradimensional space.

Viola was dressed in her usual everyday and adventure attire. It appeared that she had two sets of the same outfit and she would wash one while wearing the other. However, the fact that she had a spare set of luxury armor that was easily worth more than ten times Monica’s clothing, as a spare while doing laundry, was quite an extraordinary tale.

Yet, when one thought about it, Viola had been dethroned, but she was undoubtedly a VIP who held the bloodline of influential nobles and the royal family, making it quite reasonable for her to wear powerful armor as her everyday attire. She had been in her underwear last night, but… one had to wonder whether Viola could assume such a defenseless appearance in terms of combat prowess anywhere other than by the side of trusted companions.

Monica, who had managed to change by herself (which was quite unusual for a noble’s child… at least, in theory), put on the Mob Glasses to disguise her face. She then looked down slightly and turned her head away.

“You didn’t have to come or anything…”
“Would it bother you?”
“………It won’t.”

Monica muttered in a somewhat indifferent tone. Seeing this, Viola hugged her in a manner that seemed both exasperated and fond.

“Geez! This girl just can’t be honest!”
“Waahhhhh!”

As Viola enveloped her and playfully ruffled her hair, Monica quickly turned red.

“Cut it out!”

Monica broke free from the fervent embrace and jumped behind the bed, using a pillow as a shield while observing the situation. She seemed like a cautious cat.

Her heartbeat as she held her chest seemed like it could even reach Lucella’s ears.

“Sorry about this. Monica doesn’t really know how to interact with people who are friendly to her,” Viola whispered to Lucella on the side.

Lucella found it difficult to respond to these words.

Viola took a step towards Monica.

Monica lifted the pillow in her hand, but Viola swiftly took it away and, for some reason, placed it on her own head.

“Where would you like to go? I know a lot about this city, so I can guide you anywhere. Some facilities that were affected by flooding are closed, so we can only see them from the outside.”
“I’d like to go to a place where I can see various things.”

The request was vague, but Monica answered quickly. It seemed to be an answer that didn’t require much thought for her.

“A place where you can see various things from… Where would be good, Lucella?”
“In that case, we could call Mom and have her carry us on her back… No, wait, how about that place…?”

Without much hesitation, Lucella also provided an answer.

A road that one must always pass through when coming from the Gufare Union to Kugutfulm. This location crossed the ridgeline of the eastern highway, a slightly elevated spot. Just there, you could get a panoramic view of the town nestled at the foot of the mountains.

“Wow…!”

The river flowing down from the mountain had been artificially expanded and extended east and west to create a ‘river crossroads’, which was used as a canal. Spreading out from the base of the mountains was the city of Kugutfulm, embracing that canal.

Basking in the light of the setting sun, the gleaming canal looked like a gem adorning the city. This canal had turned into a turbid torrent just a few days ago, but Setulev was a land where the power of water was strong. The flowing water had already regained its clarity.

Buildings with glistening roofs were lined up along the river. And surrounding the city was a wall designed to counteract monsters. Inside the wall, there were still traces of the muddy water that had flowed in and broken pieces of driftwood, but there were also people bustling around, working tirelessly to clean up and restore daily life.

The mountain range, including Mount Kuguse. The flat plains with numerous clear rivers flowing. The rice fields and fields that stretched out. The endlessly clear blue sky. It was all here.

“What a magnificent view. Would it have been even more beautiful if not for the damage?”
“I don’t really care about that. This place is so, so vast, and stretches so far…”

Monica’s voice suddenly took on a moist quality. She wiped the tears that flowed from her eyes in bewilderment, then choked up, unable to contain herself any longer.

“Waah, hic, so…hic..sho vasht…”
“There, there, there.”

Burying her face in Viola’s flat chest, Monica cried. This place was nothing more than a scenic spot. But for Monica, it was an irreplaceable happiness.

Once Monica had calmed down a bit while clinging to Viola, she turned towards Lucella with her tear-streaked face and gave her a piercing glare.

“Don’t…hic… stare!”
“S-Sorry.”

It seemed like Monica wanted to be a bit proud in front of Lucella. Monica stood facing the cliff and took a deep breath. Once more. And then, several more times. It was as if she wanted to grasp everything there, every scent, every temperature, leaving no detail unexplored.

“I liked looking outside. Most of the time, I was stuck inside the narrow mansion… I wasn’t even allowed to go out to the garden.”

She murmured, lost in thought.

Lucella had a fair idea of the kind of life Monica had lived until now.

Within various constraints, one of the entertainments permitted to her was taking distant rides. Monica seemed to enjoy this. However, even that was allowed only occasionally, with schedules set days in advance. Monica was only allowed to look outside from the carriage window during those outings.

Furthermore, the reason behind this restriction was the result of the stubbornness and bargaining among the nobles, making it all the more frustrating.

It was different now. She was standing on her own two feet. If someone protected her, she could walk through the world as far as her eyes could see.

“…Hey. There’s a magic item called Chromester, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yup.”
“I want to try being a Chromist.”

Chrome Shooter was a magic item that instantly captured and memorized the scenery in front of you.

Adventurers mainly used the Chrome Shooter for investigative purposes, but there were also those who used it for other purposes. In the world, there were artists who captured beautiful scenes and people in order to create paintings. They were called Chromist.

Of course, Chrome Shooters were quite expensive, so being a Chromist was still thought of as a pastime of the rich.

“In this world, there are so many different places, so many different people, and they’re all unique… I want to see a lot of them. But if I see too many different things, I feel like I’ll forget the first things I saw.”

“So, I thought of putting it into a form… Yeah, at first, I wanted to paint. But it’s not like I actually want to paint. If I could just preserve the scene as it is and look at it later, I don’t need painting as a means. Plus painting seems like it would take time until it actually takes shape…”

“With a Chrome Shooter, by just pressing a button, everything I see gets preserved, so… phaah!”

Slightly stumbling over her words, Monica passionately explained, showing the same enthusiasm as Viola and displaying their shared bloodline.

As she took a breath, her words faltered, and Monica and the other two stared at each other in silence.

“Oh, uh… Did I say something weird?”
“Not at all! Right, Lucella?”
“Yes! I think it’s a really great idea.”
“I-Is that so.”

After muttering softly, Monica lowered her head and sniffled. Upon closer inspection, she was smiling. It was a bashful smile, like that of a young child not yet accustomed to others.