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「Say, Ain? He said that it was the best room, right? Why is that?」

With only the two of us in the room now, Ciel raised that question.

『Because ‘The cheapest room is enough’ meant that having the second cheapest room, or even the most expensive room, would be no issue at all.』
「But in that case, there’s no meaning in preparing the best room for us, no?」
『My guess is that appearance or something like that is important to influential people. If they were to offer only the cheapest room, they might get looked down upon and be perceived as lacking hospitality.』
「Hm~m…」

Ciel seemed unconvinced, but even I don’t actually know about the real reason, so there’s nothing else I can say. Though in my opinion, since they were already told that a cheap one was good enough, they should’ve just gone with the cheapest they could give. I guess this shows the extent to which they value —or are wary of— Ciel.

「Well, alright then. Ignoring that, we still have an awkward amount of time left. What should we do?」
『It’s a bit late, but why don’t we go out to eat lunch?』
「Right. Let’s go do that.」

Feeling delighted about the meal now, Ciel left our luggage behind and headed outside.

◇

The castle town during daytime was much more lively than when we saw it last night. For now, we headed towards the town plaza and what we saw there was a great variety of stalls.

「Say say, Ain. What should I eat? What can I eat?」
『You can eat anything, I think. But why don’t we check out the stalls first? You can eat anytime after all.』
「That’s right. Let’s do so. Talking is somewhat troublesome though.」

The last exchange lowered Ciel’s excitement but she immediately recovered, her eyes now wandering around restlessly. What came to my view was black bread, skewered meat, soup, and salads, to enumerate some I guess. While there are a lot of stalls, I don’t really see anything particularly new.

I’m not sure whether that’s just how the stalls are or there’s simply not much variety of food in this world. The good ones are absolutely delicious though, so I can’t wholeheartedly say that it’s worse compared to the food back when I was alive, but the limited variety is disheartening. However, compared to the ten year period since Ciel’s birth, it’s almost like heaven and hell.

Besides, the soup’s ingredients can be different from town to town and the difference in wheat flour used changes the flavor as well. When I was alive, I could barely tell the difference. I don’t know if Ciel’s just sensitive to flavor, but since I can taste the difference now, it’s still enjoyable to eat even with similar dishes again and again.

「Hey, girl. Would you like some grilled boar?」
「Then, one.」
「Sure, that’ll be one copper coin.」
「Mm.」

「H-hey, how about some soup too?」
「Give me.」
「This one’s a copper coin as well.」
「Mm.」

Perhaps Ciel’s white hair stood out, but when we’re near a stall, the shopkeepers call out to her. Maybe it’s because she just looks adorable. If Ciel was a big eater, then she might have ended up eating everything from stall to stall, but since she can’t eat that much, we finished on our fourth stall. The uncle at the fifth stall had a heartbroken look on his face but eating that much is really impossible.

『How was it?』
「It was delicious. Particularly the seasoning, I feel like they use more of it compared to the other towns. While I do like the gentle village soup, the one here is stimulating, so it’s good in its own way.」
『True, the flavor was somewhat intense. There were some slightly expensive ones as well, but I suppose being the royal capital, there are a lot of products here.』

Long long ago, the food I ate had a lot of seasonings too, but now I’m already accustomed to the light seasoning. Or maybe Ciel’s preferences have influenced my tastes as well. After all, I’m not really craving for the rice I used to eat practically everyday nowadays. Though, if I had been starving for Japanese food instead, I probably would’ve gone insane during the first 10 years.

「So what should we do now? Should we try going to the guild?」

Now full, Ciel asked me as we were taking a break at the plaza.

『While it’s somewhat awkward time-wise, there should be less people that might pick on us, so I think that’s fine too.』
「Somehow, it doesn’t sound like that’s your true feelings.」
『I’m a bit tired from this morning, so I don’t really want to go to the guild where there’s a high chance that we’ll get messed with, is what I feel.』
「Then, let’s rest for a while. While we’re at it, lazing around today sounds great too. Do you have any place you want to go to, Ain?」

Though I say that, it’s just mental exhaustion, so I could endure it if I wanted to, but it looks like Ciel saw through me. Then accepting Ciel’s kindness, I suppose we should close shop on the hunter business for today.

『Since we’re in the royal capital, could we go to the castle? I imagine that they won’t let us in, but I want to try getting as close as possible.』
「I see. We are here after all.」

Perhaps delighted that I asked for something, Ciel stood up and walked towards the direction the castle is visible at.

◇

So we enthusiastically marched onwards. However, getting near the castle required going through the noble’s district, which a knight taught us that commoners can only enter with a significant enough reason.

Since Ciel has physical features like that —and, well, also the actual blood— of nobility, the people standing watch to stop commoners from entering the district were at a loss on whether they should allow Ciel to pass through. It made me somewhat guilty, so we told them that we were commoners.

As there are quite a lot of commoners —travelers— that almost wander into the noble’s district for a view of the castle, we were dismissed without any particular issues and returned to the plaza where we took a break.

Still, while it’s not like we gained absolutely nothing from this, there wasn’t really much to be happy about, so I personally feel conflicted about it.

「We’ll have a chance to see it some other time.」
『I’m grateful for the concern, but it’s not really something I absolutely wanted to see, so it’s alright.』
「Is that so? But you sound disappointed considering that, Ain.」
『I noticed it when we were somewhat close to the castle, but it seems like they have some sort of field that makes sorcery unusable.』
「So things like that exist, huh. I see, it’ll be a problem if it get used on us, right?」
『Sorcery is our lifeline after all. I’m not sure how much it would limit sorcery, but considering that it’s used on a part of the castle, it’ll be best to think that it has significant effects.』

After all, my barrier and Ciel’s attacks are products of sorcery. Without it, Ciel is just some little girl… well not really, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s problematic. Since I can assume that the place it is likely being used on is the audience room where people can meet with the king, it would be best to think that combat sorcery is likely unusable. And considering that it doesn’t cover the entire castle, it might have some conditions, demerits, or range limits on its use. The fact that it seems complicated to use is good news, I guess.

『So I think that this could be a good chance to obtain a different means of attack, like a sword or spear for example.』
「So, we should go to a weapons shop, right?」
『We’ve never gone to one after all. This is the royal capital after all, so there should be some fairly good weapons here.』
「But, for me, what weapon should I use?」

Ciel tilts her head in contemplation. Being a Dance Princess, when it’s things related to dancing, Ciel can handle it to some extent. In that sense, no matter what weapon she has, it wouldn’t be unusable to her. After all, to dance is to enchant, to fascinate and impress. Though with that said, since some level of imagination is still needed, a Dance Princess can’t dance with things that she absolutely can’t imagine using.

In my case, since I can somewhat imagine how swords, staves, and spears can be integrated in a dance, I should be able to use these. On the other hand, I can’t imagine it with axes or bows, so I wouldn’t be able to use these. In this regard, Ciel probably thinks similarly as well. Other weapons that come to mind are the guns from my past life, but they don’t exist in this world.

『In the meantime, how about a sword? It should be enough, a lot of people own swords after all.』
「Is that so?」
『You can also pretend and say that you’re ‘Sword Dancer’ in this case. If you say that you need a sword for a Sword Dancer, the shop might be able to help us pick one. While Sword Dancers are rare to find, this is the royal capital, so we should be able to manage somehow.』

Sword Dancers, just as what their name implies, is a Job specialized in sword dances. Concerning its status, it’s considered to be in-between Combat Jobs and Entertainment Jobs, but it seems to have also gained civil rights even as a Entertainment Job. As for the Job’s fighting style, it’s to not get hit. The so-called ‘dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ thing.

While they aren’t much different from a Dance Princess armed with a sword, in the case of Sword Dancers, they don’t require music. I guess this was part of the reason that this Job gained civil rights as well.

「I see. Then let’s go.」

Heading off, Ciel left the plaza after asking a stall person where the beginner-aimed weapon shop is.

◇

「Welcome. Oh, are you a hunter, girl?」
「Yes.」
「It must’ve been tough considering your age. So you came here to buy a weapon, right?」
「Right.」

As we entered the weapon shop we were directed to, a well-proportioned lady between the crowded lines of weapons was surprised as she saw Ciel. As Ciel does look somewhat appropriate for her age, I’m glad that she didn’t think that it was just a child entering as a prank. Though, maybe Ciel’s hunter-ish look helped as well.

I guess she was either surprised that a 12-year-old girl was a hunter, which is possible age-wise, or of Ciel’s hair being white.

Since Ciel looks like she just clearly started out as a hunter with her age, it seems like we won’t be chased out for going to the wrong shop.

「What kind of weapon do you use, girl?」

I don’t know if it’s because the shop is aimed for beginner’s, but the weapons shop lady called out to us even without us saying anything. I’m honestly glad that it’s the same as the stalls. Having a quick look at all the weapons, I naturally couldn’t tell the difference between their quality or materials.

「Which one’s a Sword Dancer’s sword?」
「A Sword Dancer’s, eh? That’s quite an unusual thing to look for. If you just need a sword to use, then the ones lined up here would be enough, but for the proper ones for Sword Dancers, there aren’t any on display.」
「How are they different?」
「The looks are important for Sword Dancers, you see? Though obviously there are some people that find regular swords pretty and all. However, Sword Dancers need to be showy or rather they need some dazzle that’s easy for the public to see. For an easy example, something like those slightly over-decorated swords the nobles tend to have.」
「Where can I buy one?」
「Wherever you go, it’s going to be made-to-order. A blunt accessory won’t be any use for hunters, right? Well, we do make those here too, but it’ll cost a few gold coins.」

『Should we buy one?』
『If it’s just that price, it won’t really hurt that much, so it should be fine. Also, it being made-to-order should mean that they’re going to make the sword to fit you. Still, I don’t think that we’ll be here for a long time, so as long as it can be finished within a few days then it should be alright.』

While it’s definitely not cheap considering that it’s worth gold coins, I actually want to get rid of some silver and big silver coins from our magic bag. So if we can use up 10 or 20 of them, that would really help. Even if we go to some other shops, they might say that they won’t sell for beginners, so if we can buy a sword here then that’s not a problem.

「When can you finish?」
「It should be done in five days. Do you have enough money, girl?」
「Mm.」

As Ciel showed her several gold coins, the lady was shocked for a moment but immediately recovered. She then opened a door that seems to lead to the back of the shop and shouted 「It’s a customer, dear!」

In a few moments, a bald man who was more muscular than the regular hunter and wore practically nothing on his upper body appeared from the back. The vaguely drowsy looking man looked at Ciel and was puzzled.

「By customer, you mean this girl?」
「That’s right. She wants a sword to use for sword dancing.」
「Well that’s a pretty difficult Job you have there, isn’t it? This’ll be your first time holding a sword, right girl?」
「First time.」

I expected him to start finding faults in us, but that didn’t happen at all. Based on our experience so far, we usually get into some sort of mess but I guess this isn’t a beginner’s weapon shop for nothing.

「Considering your size, it’ll be better to make it as light as possible. So I suppose a thin sword then. Maybe something single-edged that can be used for thrusting too… Could you leave the design to us?」
「Sure. Make it easy to use.」
「Then, take that sword there, do some light swings, and tell me how the weight feels for you.」

Ciel held the sword the man pointed to and lightly swung it like he asked. I noticed it just as Ciel held it, but I think it’s made for adults or maybe for men since it’s really long and heavy. When Ciel told him that, he gave her a different sword and Ciel swung it again.

After swinging several swords, we figured out the suitable weight and he wrote it down on something.

「In this case, it’ll cost two gold coins. If you can, it’ll probably be better to buy a spare too. If you want a spare, it’ll be three and a half gold coins. Do you have enough?」
『Should we get the spare too?』
『I think we should buy one just to be sure.』
「Alright. Including the spare, how long will it take?」
「Three days at the earliest. We should be able to finish it in five days.」

The man said it without any hesitation, but then glanced at the lady after that. After seeing the lady nod, 「Five days.」 he confirmed it. At two gold coins, it’s already ten times the cheapest weapon in this shop.

「Are silver and large silver coins fine?」
「That’ll help a lot. Beginners come here, so we don’t really use gold coins.」
「Do you earn enough money?」
「Well, we really enjoy doing this, you see? We usually only ask normal customers to check the grip and other small details. After all, we usually just make the same cheap weapons, and if we don’t, these kids that just became hunters won’t be able to buy a single weapon. But this time, we even got to discuss about the design and such that will usually make it pricier when it gets more complex.」
「Then, here.」

Ciel gave three and a half gold coins worth of silver and large silver coins. The lady gave Ciel a palm-sized plank of wood with today’s date, the estimated completion date, and the words “For Sword Dancer” written on it along with half of the sum Ciel gave them.

「In these situations, you should only give half, okay? Pay the remaining sum after you actually receive the sword.」
「I didn’t know that.」
「This plank will be your claim stub, so make sure you don’t lose it. I probably wouldn’t forget your face but just to be sure, right?」
「Understood. After five days then.」

Receiving the wooden plank and the coins, Ciel slightly bowed her head before exiting the shop.

Heya~! A new weapon for our princess!? Sword Dancer Ciel now!? And before that of course, some AinCiel fluff~!

First half, literally a date. Nuff said. Also, Ciel looking around restlessly from stall to stall. Cute. On the other hand, Ain being a bit upset about not seeing the castle and Ciel reading her like a book, also cute. And then, sword! Actually a good point, as while they’ll probably never run out of magic power against a goblin, they’re currently too dependent on magic/sorcery.

One thing that’s nice is how Ciel asked the shop keepers, do you get enough? Ciel’s naturally curious, but her, well, general apathy and discomfort with people has stopped her from asking those questions so far. Even on the last few chapters, it was Ain asking on her behalf, so it’s a nice development. Also, the stall people calling for Ciel was cute. Also the depressed old man on the fifth stall, don’t mind! You’ll get our princess to buy some day. Maybe. Perhaps. All the “Girl, girl” reminded me of God of War though. *Boy.*

Also, *Mn.*

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!