Chapter 30

“Hmph!”

Elerina refused to look at me after that.

“I’m sorry…” While I am indeed apologizing, I found myself struggling to stifle my laughter. The way she just fell to the ground is plain hilarious.

“You said you wouldn’t let go!”

“Sorry, I was just thinking about how it’s like for us to have children.”

Elerina cheeks went red. She was still riding on the hoverboard, heading to the shopping district. Despite the rough start, she got used to it in no time. She did move slowly, no faster than walking speed. She’ll be a pro at it in no time. I wouldn’t be surprised if she found a way to use it along with her sword or rifle.

Imagine an elf zooming around with a hoverboard while firing a rifle. I wouldn’t want to be facing her.

It took a while, but we eventually arrived at the shopping district, or what’s left of it. Like other elven towns and villages scattered throughout the northern areas, the area was left in rubble. There were still some buildings standing, their interiors visible from outside. Some still had clothes on display, while others had various utensils for cooking on display. We wouldn’t be needing them, however, so we’re not taking them.

“They look so beautiful…” Elerina gazed at some of the dresses on display. Red, green, blue, all looked stunningly beautiful. It’s unfortunate that there’s no clerk inside, so we couldn’t buy any. It would be in bad taste to take them, and it’s not like she could use them.

“If you want dresses, we could look for some in my world.”

“I’ll consider that.”

We continued on. There were a lot of stores scattered throughout the shopping district. The town didn’t just have stuff the elves made. One of the stores had things imported from the humans, while a different store was a fishing shop run by a felink family, based on the picture attached to the wall.

All these buildings had a deep history behind them, yet the war drove them away. It was sad to see the town in such a sorry state.

“I wonder if what Memorus said is true…”

“The thing about dark magic?”

“Yeah. I wonder if those people, in their pursuit of power, ever understood the true cost everyone had to pay for their mistakes.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t care, honestly.”

There are some people who would pay any price to get what they want. Those people exist in Elerina’s world, they exist in mine. That’s one of the unfortunate truths of the worlds we live in.

“Had they not made that mistake…”

Maybe we would still be living in peace, although that’s not a guarantee. While the modern day demonic magic does have some similarities with dark magic, there’s no guarantee that the two are related. Maybe demonic magic is something else, and would cause this war regardless of what those people did in the past.

“All we can do is continue moving forward.”

We shouldn’t forget the past, but that doesn’t mean we should live in it.

“Ah!” Something shining in one of the stores caught her attention. The door of this place was missing, so she didn’t have trouble entering it. It was a jewelry store, pretty different to the one I went to. While both stores had display tables that separate the clerk and the buyer, this shop also had displays in the form of mannequins at the center of the store.

Not just there, it also had displays on the wall behind the clerk’s area, something the lady’s jewelry store didn’t have. The thing Elerina was interested in hung in the area behind the display, on the wall right next to a large wooden carving displaying what I assumed to be the store’s name. She looked for a way to pass through. Apparently, the table that also functioned as a door to the area behind had fallen off. Elerina passed through that space, reaching the place where the accessory was.

“A ring?” It was a ring with a dark green jewel attached on it. Elerina took it off the display, allowing me to take a closer look.

“It’s so beautiful…”

“You want that?”

Elerina looked toward the price tag written underneath. Some of the ink had faded away, but I could still see what seemed to be individual numbers written on it.

“That’s way too steep…” Elerina murmured. “I guess I could afford it… but then I won’t be able to buy supplies and stuff.”

“Can I look at it?”

“Sure.”

Elerina transferred the ring over. I tried to not play around with it too much, not wanting to damage it. Despite the many days since someone last took care of it, it still looked stunning. I took some pictures of the ring, as much as I could, before returning it to her. Elerina gave it one last good look before leaving the jewelry store.

•••

“You want this?” The lady asked while observing the picture I sent her. I was back at the jewelry store. It was quite late, both in my world and Elerima’s. Angen and Memorus had returned, and the three of them were currently sleeping, preparing for the trip to the fifth shrine. Navigating to the mall without waking Elerina up was difficult, but I managed somehow.

“I guess it’s not impossible, to say the least.”

She looked toward the display, pointing at the dark green ring that I had seen back when I first came here. It's pretty similar, but the one in the picture had a more roundish shape.

“How about that one?”

“Can you change the shape?”

“I can make one more similar to the picture.”

“Here are some more cups I found.” I handed over two more golden cups. The lady took a good look at them, before instructing one of the clerks to take it away.

“Thirty million for the ring, reduced from however much these cups sell for.”

It’s impressive how quick the lady was able to give me the price. She must have a keen eye for these kinds of things. Thirty million is steep, but it’s well within the budget.

“Deal.”

I shook hands with her.