Date in the Delsea Village.

Delsea was the biggest village in the Berion Barony. It was located near a major road that was a part of the trade route between two crucial cities: the Auderan capital, Novem Lar and the border city of the Marquisate Lauvict, Lensaud.

It was a big village that was home to more than several thousand people. The new noble family in charge of the region and its closeness to a major trade route substantially increased its growth in the past couple of decades. Now, it was on the verge of receiving its township. 

But today, Delsea received two unexpected visitors. They were both youngsters—a boy and a girl.

The duo was suspicious. They behaved like they'd never been to a village before; everything around them caught their attention and drew their gazes. They visited the craftsmen, gawked at the animals and crops in the farm, and even listened to the drunkards' rumblings. 

The pair was nothing if not incredibly curious to the villagers. Especially considering that one of the visitors was none other than the heir of Lord Berion himself.

Even if he was wearing a suspicious hat and an eyepatch and pretending that he didn't know any of them... The commoners all around the world were long used to nobles and their puzzling quirks.

The barony heir was accompanied by a young girl around his age. The villagers weren't sure where she came from, but judging from her manners, they assumed she was a commoner, albeit not someone from the countryside.

The fact that they spent the day together caused some interesting rumors to spread around Delsea... But that was a story for another time.

Right now, the couple was enjoying their date.

***

"Look at this, Fabian! Fresh apples right from the farm!" Mary exclaimed as she pointed at the wares.

"I'm pretty sure that we also get them fresh in the manor... In fact, it's likely that I've eaten apples from the exact same farm already," Ayumu replied, slightly exasperated by his fiancée's excitement. Unknowingly, he had a small smile on his face.

"But I've never got to buy fruits directly from the people who grow them, you know?" She replied to Fabian and then turned to the girl who was selling apples, "two, please!"

The entire date Maria was cheerful and the smile never left her face. She was dressed in a brown dress that was borrowed from one of her servants. In her new outfit, she made quite a different impression from her usual noble dress. The lack of obvious luxury in it made it hard to guess Maria's noble origin.

While Ayumu was lost in thought, Maria handed the girl who was manning the stall some coins. As she did, she became curious about the girl in front of her.

"Are you a farmer's daughter? You look really young," Mary asked while accepting the apples.

As Maria stated, the girl did look pretty young. Around Fabian and Mary's age in fact.

"Yes, my father and brothers are working in the farm. Meanwhile, I'm managing the stall and selling our crops," the farmer's daughter replied.

"Hmm..." Maria stopped in thought. "Are they not worried leaving a girl at the stall alone?"

Maria asked, wondering if robbery wasn't a concern for them.

"No, not really," the girl replied, confused. Then, after belatedly figuring out the meaning behind Maria's question, added: "...the public order is great. At least right now it is. I heard it was somewhat different back when I was young. All thanks to Milord."

She said the last words while looking at the young man by Maria's side. In the girl's mind, a certain young barony heir appeared. He was the son of the aforementioned 'Milord' and the one set to inherit the domain. 

Despite that, the young man in question—who was conspicuously dressed in a cumbersome hat and a black eyepatch—had nothing to do with the Lord's family. In fact, none of the villagers could even begin to guess at his identity. ...At least, acting like that was the case had become an unspoken rule in Delsea for today.

"I see," Maria replied and then also turned at the unknown young man, "and you—how long are you going to keep this ridiculous outfit on?"

"What do you mean?" the mysterious man replied.

"I mean, get that stupid hat and eyepatch off already. You're not tricking anyone with that."

The young man in question was on the verge of retorting but stopped at the last second. After glancing at the villagers around him—all of whom kept sneaking stares at him—he replied.

"...It's all because you keep saying 'Fabian this', 'Fabian that'—otherwise, no one would be able to tell," he said somewhat grumpily.

"I'm pretty sure it's because this outfit is just way too conspicuous and that everyone knows what you look like," she answered, "anyway, why did you even dress up like that? Didn't Lucy say that you don't need to hide your identity?"

"Still, more is always better than less, right?" Ayumu said with a confident smile.

"...Not when it makes us more conspicuous..." Maria sighed and then proceeded to rip the eyepatch and the hat off, "Whatever, I'm taking them away myself."

"Nooo! My disguise!" Ayumu screamed, but the heartless demon of a girl was deaf to his pleas.

And so, their date continued.

***

Maria was greatly enjoying herself on the date. The experience was new and fresh to her, and it was a welcome change from the stiff environment she was so used to.

Even though there was a certain someone who was following them every step of the way. For now, she would look past that.

In fact, there was one thing that bothered her a lot more than the stalker. Namely, it was her fiancée. It seemed that either his physical state or his mental state weren't good recently. He even failed to get off a spell back in the courtyard.

But more than anything, there was something else she was concerned about...

Which is why, she continued to watch over him.

***

Their next destination was the temple. Traditionally, It was the center of a village's spiritual life and its daily life in general. In many villages, the place right in front of the temple was considered the main square, and people would often gather there. Most special ceremonies, celebrations, announcements, and other important events were held there as well.

In general, temples played a massive role in smaller settlements. Not only were they the main hub for social gatherings, but in many communities, they also served an educational purpose in place of schools.

A special section inside the temple contained space for holding classes. There, children would gather to learn basic arithmetic, writing and reading, and everything else they were meant to be taught. The specifics depended on the settlement and the domain in question; deciding on the curriculum's details was often the responsibility of the lord.

As Mary and Ayumu walked, they kept on observing the village.

As he looked around the main street that led to the temple, Ayumu was once again reminded just how different the village was from his expectations. The sheer size of Delsea and the construction of the buildings impressed him. What he initially imagined when he heard the word village was a small medieval community: something that consisted mainly of tiny wooden huts, farms, a church, and maybe a couple other buildings.

Delsea, however, was significantly different from the image in his mind. There were some small wooden houses closer to the outskirts of the village, of course, but near the center, the village was nothing like that. The buildings were made with various materials—such as wood, stone, brick, and slate—and there was even a number of two or even three-story houses present among their count. Even the smallest buildings here looked much neater than Ayumu imagined.

He wasn't sure about the exact numbers, but he was quite confident that the population of Delsea must have exceeded a couple thousand.

"This place is pretty big for a village," Ayumu muttered to himself.

"Well, that's only to be expected," Maria replied, "you could say it's the capital of the Berion Barony, and it's on the verge of receiving its township, right?"

Ayumu wasn't planning for Mary to hear his words so he was a bit stunned. Despite that, he quickly came up with an appropriate answer.

"...That's what I mean. How has it not become a town yet?"

"Didn't your father only apply to the capital this year?" Maria asked, slightly puzzled, "besides, it's not even that big. There are some ridiculous villages that have crossed ten thousand people in population that haven't received the approval yet. Although in those cases, it might be a question of different priorities." 

As Maria replied, her gaze accidentally fell on one of the buildings in sight.

"Oh, look! It's a blacksmith!" she said and pointed in the direction of a stone house.

Ayumu was happy to shift the topic and so he looked at the house in question.

The building stood out from the rest due to its stone make. It also had a porch which took up at least a third of the roof's space. A middle-aged bearded man sat in the porch. He was working his hammer against the metal, fully concentrated on his work. It was an image that brought to mind the typical blacksmith in Ayumu's head.

However, the man's smithy was somewhat different than what Ayumu expected.

It had a simple furnace made of stone. That furnace had a duct that went past the roof. Nothing unusual there. What made the furnace different was the lack of fuel inside of it. Neither coal, wood, nor anything else was the source of the flame. In fact, there was no flame at all.

While Ayumu puzzled over the usefulness of such forge, the blacksmith continued his work. He put the piece he was working on in the furnace. Then, he looked at the forge intently and spoke.

"Ignir ab manō."

Ayumu recognized that the man had cast an incantation. The man's voice had power, but it was still calm and evenly paced. It starkly contrasted with the spellcasting that Mary showed earlier, but it retained a certain sense of beauty. That last part came as a surprise to Ayumu, given that the spell was cast by a rough-looking man.

In response to the blacksmith's prayer, a stream of fire left his arm. The fire lasted just long enough to heat up the metal.

As Maria watched the man's work, her eyes lit up in excitement.

"Wow, I've heard that even commoner craftsmen often use magic during their work, but this is the first time I got to see it with my own eyes."

Ayumu didn't reply. He was also entranced by the sight in front of him. Albeit, it was for a completely different reason than Maria. It was no doubt a normal sight for the residents of this world. But for Ayumu, the idea of people so casually using magic in their daily lives was extraordinary. 

The pair continued to watch for some time. After heating the metal, the blacksmith continued shaping the material with his hammer. Slowly, the object changed its form in the craftsman's hands until it finally took its intended shape. The resulting item was a horseshoe.

"Oh, so it's for the horses," Maria muttered somewhat absentmindedly.

Meanwhile, the blacksmith began chanting once again.

"Frigo aud ab manō."

This time, a current of cold air left his arm. Under influence of the new element, the metal slowly cooled down. Eventually, it lost its orange tint. With that, the object would retain its form. 

His work finished, the blacksmith put the horseshoe to the side and wiped away the sweat on his forehead.

Then, a bell rang. 

Several rings followed the initial, each one reverberated throughout the village.

The blacksmith got up from his seat. He then removed his apron and headed in the direction of the bell's sound—in the direction of the temple.

Maria and Ayumu looked around. Many villagers stopped their work and were now walking toward the main square.

"The end of the work day... It's around, what, five in the evening?" Maria said mostly to herself. "Come on, Fabian, the sermon will start soon. I want to hear it!"

As Maria finished her words, she took Ayumu's hand and turned towards the temple. Together, they followed the trail of people. All the way to the temple, they stayed outside of the crowd, right behind the main congestion of people.

When they arrived at the main square, the temple priest was already facing the crowd. He stood on the stairs in front of the main entrance of the temple. That gave him a slight elevation, meaning most of the gathered here could see him even behind rows of people.

The temple itself was a sizable stone building. While somewhat smaller than the Berion Manor, it was the biggest construction in the village. It had two round pillars to the sides of its entrance, and a roof in the shape of a triangular prism. The roof protruded forward, covering the stairs and creating a sort of porch where the priest stood. That porch was supported by the aforementioned pillars.

Those elements reminded Ayumu of something. After a while, he realized that something were Greek temples he had seen in his previous life (only on the internet). However, on a second glance, this temple differed significantly from the Greek ones. The materials used for walls were very different, the roof was made from slate, and a strange symbol adorned the front part of the roof: the symbol depicted a droplet with an eye inside of it.

While Ayumu was examining the temple building, the priest began his sermon.

"Villagers of Delsea—"

"—Help!"

But was quickly interrupted by a loud scream. That scream came from outside of the square—from the main road that was right behind Ayumu and Mary.

A man ran in the direction of the temple, screaming for help. Behind him, was a crowd of people, also desperate to escape the danger.

"It's lupens!," he shouted, "A pack of lupens is attacking! Save yourselves!"

Lupens? Ayumu thought.

The knowledge Ayumu got from Fabian's memories contained information about those creatures. They were wolf-like monsters that consumed human flesh and were incredibly aggressive. In other words, they were dangerous beasts who could easily kill with a single well-placed bite.

And, in response to such danger—

Alright, this will serve as a good test. I can't be afraid of mere monsters if I want to become a magical genius.

—he confidently strolled forward.

Quickly, he advanced through the crowds. Then, when he reached a point where the crowds weren't as dense, he began running against the flow of people.

"Huh? Fabian! Fabian, where are you going? We need to run!" Maria shouted. She was focused on the panicked crowd and didn't notice her fiancée's departure right away.

Most of the villagers were panicking. They ran every which way, desperate to hide from the hideous monsters. All the rushing crowds made it difficult for Maria to reach Fabian. Her fiancée was getting farther and farther away.

She clicked her tongue in frustration and chanted.

"Augitar fortior!"

With that, she could feel her strength and speed grow substantially. Once she finished the chant, Maria jumped over the heads of the panicking people onto the roof of the closest building. From there, she saw the pack of lupens that the man was talking about. And running towards it was none other than her fiancé.

Mary was exasperated but not too surprised by his actions. Depending on the size of the pack, this could be dangerous and result in many villagers falling to the beasts. If there was one thing that worried her, it would be the state of her fiancée's magic.

"Can he even cast right now?"

She hoped he wouldn't get an opportunity to do so even if he could.