A Morning in Cindespoir City

Despite Cindespor City being based on the Middle Ages, it was somehow so much more colorful than Tokyo. The sky was bluer, the clouds were fluffier, and there was not a single obnoxious billboard stealing my attention from the natural view. Birds I’d never seen before soared over the buildings, where they’d perch and peer onto the liveliness below.

Civilians dressed in linen and leather wandered around, chatting with one another here and there. Children were playing with sticks and chasing each other with flying frogs.

It was such a bizarre sight, where no one glued their eyes to their phones, covered their heads with umbrellas, or acted like a total horde of introverts. Not to mention, the air itself gave off an earthly scent, mixed with the smell of freshly baked bread. The aroma alone reminded me how empty my stomach was with a loud growl.

Ashrenne chuckled. “Feeling hungry?”

“Ah… yeah. I haven’t eaten anything since I arrived,” I said.

“Well, that’s not good. You can’t do well with an empty stomach. Let’s get a quick bite then!”

“What about the ring?”

“Eh, we have the whole day to get it, and we can just buy one for cheap at any alchemy shop. It wouldn’t hurt to take a little break.”

“If you say so.”

She grinned. “You’re still pretty new to this city, right? I know just the place for the best meals. Follow me!”

I nodded and followed Ashrenne through the streets. It was true I'd already accepted that this game world was real and that I'd be learning a bunch of new things from now on, but damn, did she always walk this fast?!

I quickened my pace and tried my best to stay close behind her.

Ashrenne Beaufort… If I remember correctly, she used to be close friends with Queen Verisette and fought in the front lines during the War of Florathea, but there was some sort of strife between her and the queen afterward, resulting in her quitting her job and becoming a blacksmith while running a private safe space to protect people like her.

This was just a basic profile of her backstory from the RPG, but as the developer, I remembered there were also some implications that she had a husband. The strongest evidence was her still wearing her wedding ring, but as to what happened to him, the game writers had never mentioned.

As a matter of fact, they didn’t bother to develop Ashrenne much because… she was destined to die at the end of the prologue to fulfill the “mentor always dies” trope. There was no point wasting time on her if she wasn’t going to stick around for long, after all.

...As if I'd let it happen on my route. Maybe I could change her fate starting today. Somehow.

With this thought, I turned to the passersby around us. The RPG didn’t even give the unnamed NPCs proper sprites, so watching everyone with so many different expressions felt like seeing new colors for the first time. I started to wonder just how many side quests, stories, and hidden lore the RPG version had missed…

Before I delved too deeply into that thought, we’d already arrived at a familiar tavern. “New guests go first,” said Ashrenne, opening the door for me. “It’s a lil’ tradition around here.”

“Thanks,” I said, stepping inside.

The aroma of freshly-cooked meat greeted me first, followed by the sound of harmonic music, chatter, and laughter. People wearing all sorts of armor and flashy garments hung around and talked with their groups at every corner I could see. The source of music also turned out to be from a bard with a lyre, performing for a large crowd at the far end of the tavern.

“Sure is pretty lively here,” I said.

“Haha, welcome to Barry’s Grove, the most popular tavern in the kingdom!” said Ashrenne. “Lots of tourists, travellers, and fellow adventurers like you would hang out in here and share lots of stories from all across the world. It’s where you’d also make the most friends. Exciting, right?”

It’s also the best place to get side quests! “It’s definitely contagious. I can feel their energy rubbing off on me already.”

“Right? C’mon, you should try out their menu. There’s a reason people stick around here!”

I nodded and followed her to a table, and while she ordered for the two of us, I used the time to observe the rest of the tavern more closely.

“Did’ja hear what happened near the city gates yesterday? It was raining boars and slimes!” said a guy with a wolf for a head. “Definitely something you don’t see every day!”

“Haha! Seriously? How did that happen?” asked a dwarf sitting across from him.

“Dunno. I heard they found out those creatures were somehow launched all the way from Oakheart Forest!”

I flinched, and a knot tightened in my stomach.

I looked away, pulled on my hood, and tried my best to ignore them, but my curiosity got the better of me.

“No way! Who did that?” asked another.

“Dunno either, but guess what? I think they might be here in this city! Last night, a whole bunch of guards were launched all the way across the city! Just like those forest beasts!”

I suddenly don’t wanna be here anymore! Sweat started raining down my head.

“S-seriously? Did they survive that?” another guy asked.

“Yeah, thanks to The Velvet Commander guarding the outer walls. She caught all of them mid-air!”

I widened my eyes. Silvestine saved the guards? Her? Really?

“So that means the guards know who did it, right? What did they say about ‘em?”

“Some strange-looking guy with blue hair did it! I heard he was trying to help an escapee.”

“Really? You think the guards are putting up wanted posters for him too?”

“Hehe, should we hunt him down too?”

No way. All because I helped Lora?! Why did I have to become popular for the wrong reasons?! “Uh, A-Ashrenne,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Maybe we should eat somewhere else…”

Ashrenne glanced at the gossipers and back at me. She grinned and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, kid,” she whispered. “Just stay quiet. They won’t bother you if you won’t.”

I gave her a little nod and kept my head down. Good thing we picked a table where our faces wouldn’t be seen, at least.

As we continued listening to all sorts of stories and rumors, Ashrenne let out a sigh. “You’ve certainly built up a reputation already, huh, kid?” she whispered.

“Ugh, I’m not proud of it at all,” I mumbled back.

“Yeah, I was afraid this would happen. Sorry for bringing you here. I didn’t expect rumors would spread this fast.”

I shook my head. “It’s alright. I didn’t expect this either.”

She nodded. “Good thing I came along with ya, then. Don’t worry, I have lots of experience pulling people out of trouble, haha.”

“So that’s why you wanted to tag along with me, huh? You know I’m a magnet for trouble?”

“Knew it the whole time. Call it an intuition.” She slumped her shoulders and wore a look of exhaustion. “And also because everyone else in the team had caused some level of trouble when they first arrived here. Dahlian picked a fight with the royal guards, Sloane somehow attracted The Assassin’s Guild’s attention, and Lora kept annoying the church until she was caught breaking a rule. I’m seeing a pattern here, you feel me?”

Everyone else caused that much trouble too? What are we, toddlers?! “Y-yeah, I’m so glad you’re here with me then…”

“Don’t mention it, kid.”

After that, we stayed quiet even after getting our breakfast, which were pretty much based on classic English dishes. I’d never tried this sort of dish back in Tokyo, so it was pretty nice to experience it, even if it was in another world.

In any case, listening to Ashrenne’s advice really did save us trouble. No one randomly passed by and noticed me while we ate. I just had to hope this would keep up and pray there wouldn’t be some commotion going on this time…

Right on cue, someone slammed the tavern doors open and shouted, “Hey everyone! There’s some commotion going on outside!”

Are you kidding me?! I facepalmed and groaned.

“Oh boy,” Ashrenne murmured, also facepalming. “So much for a peaceful day.”

“What now?” I asked.

She glanced at the other tavern folk, who also traded glances at each other. The first to make a move were the travelers closest to the door. With curious expressions, they left the tavern, followed by a whole flock of them.

Ashrenne grinned, slammed a few coins onto the table, and motioned me to follow her with them. I gave her a confused look, but she’d already left.

…At least the problems were nice enough to wait after we finished eating. With a weary groan, I followed her outside.