“Make way——!”
Someone pushed a wooden cart loaded with goods through the crowd, the wheels grinding harshly against the stone slabs.
People came and went, with absolutely no order.
This was the street of the Commoners’ District.
Shops lined both sides, wooden signs swaying in the wind.
The air was mixed with the smell of roasted meat spices and a strange dustiness, all rushing into the nose.
Someone was even squatting by the roadside haggling with a vendor.
This scenery was completely different from the Royal Palace dozens of miles away.
And from the Academy, that quiet, suffocating place.
Where there were no rules, and no one deliberately lowered their voices.
Everything was messy.
But
—it was lively.
Rune Royal City was vast, with each district often tens of miles apart.
For noble ladies like them, it was impossible to come to such a complicated area.
Feeling surprised was only natural.
Veronica stood in the crowd, a thin veil covering her face.
Her dress was a dull gray, not conspicuous in the crowd.
But her bulky figure still stood out from the people around her.
She noticed it herself.
At first, her steps were very slow, and her fingers unconsciously gathered her skirt, as if afraid of being jostled by the crowd.
But soon, her attention was drawn away by the surroundings.
“What’s this?”
She suddenly stopped in front of a stall, looking down at a small piece of metal on a wooden shelf.
The vendor immediately began promoting his goods.
“This is a Portable Firestone, Miss. One rub and it lights a fire, very convenient for outings.”
The two maids behind her also leaned in, looking at the small firestone.
They too wore veils, only their appraising eyes visible.
Of course, they knew what a firestone was.
After all, they were responsible for Her Highness the Princess’s meals.
But—they only “knew” it.
They had never needed to start a fire themselves.
Whether in the Royal Court or the mansion arranged by the Academy, there were special magical devices providing fire.
It was a red agate carved with complex runes, containing abundant fire elements, able to stably release sufficient heat.
—A high-grade craft from the West Federation.
That country, nestled among mountains, was famous on the continent for its rich mines and exquisite forging techniques.
Worried that Veronica might want to buy it directly, Harvey reminded her, “This kind is for travel, Your High—Miss… we probably won’t need it.”
“What the Young Master says makes sense.”
The vendor glanced at him, then smiled and nodded. “Looks like you’re interested in travel?”
Harvey, who had only meant to answer for the princess, was slightly taken aback.
Travel?
A somewhat unnatural perfunctory look crossed his face.
“Sort of.”
Veronica quickly lost interest and walked toward another stall.
“And this?”
This time it was a small bottle containing a pale blue liquid.
Harvey looked at the shop behind the stall and said hesitantly, “It should be a Low-grade Recovery Potion, the kind that relieves fatigue.”
After all, behind the stall, the shop door was carved with the emblem of the Potion Guild.
Veronica said “Oh,” but still didn’t say she wanted to buy it.
Whenever she encountered something she hadn’t seen before, she would stop and look at it twice.
The goods displayed on the stalls were mostly not exquisite, even a bit crude.
But to her, they were unexpectedly—interesting.
Completely different from the carefully crafted items in the palace.
In the midst of this experience, she didn’t even notice.
The irritable mood from the carriage had already dissipated quite a bit.
Here, no one cared who she was.
“This, this… Huh?”
She instinctively reached out to tug someone, but grabbed empty air.
Veronica was slightly startled and turned around.
She only saw the two maids standing there with somewhat awkward smiles.
But the “walking encyclopedia” who had always been by her side, answering almost every question, was gone.
“Where is he?” she asked displeased.
The two maids immediately pointed to the side.
Veronica looked over and saw Harvey standing not far away, looking at a stall selling tools.
His expression was very focused.
Veronica walked over displeased. “Why aren’t you following me?”
“Ah, sorry.”
Harvey snapped back to reality and explained awkwardly, “Sorry, Your High—sorry, Miss. I was just curious about how this tool is used.”
Veronica followed his gaze to the oddly shaped tool on the stall.
“You don’t know what this is?” she asked in surprise.
She had noticed earlier.
This guy’s reaction was similar to hers—seeing many things for the first time.
As she spoke, Veronica had already squeezed with him to the front of the stall.
There were quite a few people, and she instinctively gathered her skirt inward to make a little room for others.
She had already gotten used to this movement.
In the crowd, with her figure, if she didn’t pull in a bit, she’d easily block others.
—Although she actually didn’t like it.
The stall owner was a burly middle-aged man. Hearing their conversation, he laughed heartily.
“What young master and miss are these, actually taking a fancy to this thing of mine?”
He casually picked up a pickaxe and weighed it in his hand.
“This is a small pickaxe I forged myself. It’s compact and sturdy, best for collecting ore.”
After proudly showing it off, he glanced at the two of them again and couldn’t help shaking his head.
Clearly thinking they were just curious and wouldn’t actually buy it.
Harvey finally realized.
“So that’s what it is.”
His tone was a bit dazed.
He had seen a pickaxe in books before, but he didn’t expect the real thing to look so different from the illustration.
“Don’t you go out much?” Veronica asked displeased beside him.
She didn’t like the stall owner’s tone, as if he were looking down on them.
Who could know everything?
So what if he didn’t recognize it? What’s there to be so proud of?
Harvey looked up at her, puzzled. “No, this is my first time on the street.”
His answer was very straightforward, without any concealment or embarrassment.
Veronica was stunned for a moment, then laughed in anger.
“You!—”
She said angrily, “And you dared to say earlier that you absolutely had to come with me?!”
“Aren’t you the same as my maids?”
Harvey smiled awkwardly.
Seeing Veronica’s expression getting darker,
he glanced at the flow of people around, then at Veronica, and then spoke: “I really haven’t been here, but I know where we can go and where we can’t.”
Besides, the young lady maid of noble birth had earnestly begged him, and even used Lavia as a “threat.”
‘He didn’t want to come either, but he had no choice.’
Just before leaving, he had warned this princess, but she wouldn’t listen and insisted on coming out. What could he do?
Seeing Veronica’s suspicious look, Harvey raised his hand and pointed to the more crowded street intersection ahead.
That was the place they had bypassed earlier.
“See, that’s what I mean. Too many people, almost no one walks there. Further back…”
Looking at those people’s clothing, it was probably the slums of the Royal Capital.
Harvey didn’t voice his guess in his mind, but instead moved away from that area with Veronica.
“Your Highness absolutely must not go near a place like that. Many ill-intentioned people like to gather in such areas.”
When he said this, his tone wasn’t lowered.
But it was strangely clear to hear.
Veronica looked in the direction he pointed.
She had wanted to retort.
But the words got stuck in her throat, and she paused.
She didn’t know why.
But she felt that this person wasn’t talking nonsense.
Veronica was a bit annoyed.
She had wanted to find fault with him, but couldn’t find any.
“You make it sound so convincing.”
She raised her chin with a humph and continued walking ahead with Harvey.
She didn’t want to admit it.
But she chose to trust him.
—
“So which way should we go now?”
They had almost finished walking through the entire street, and both looked as if they still wanted more.
Even the two maids were a bit surprised.
Forget the princess, why was this male servant so energetic?
Not only did he accompany the princess through the entire street, but he also answered her questions and analyzed situations, without any hint of perfunctoriness in his expression or attitude.
Really, as a male companion, he was too excellent.
Harvey looked around. They had stopped and started several times, and he had already led them back to the North District.
At this point, it would be wisest to suggest returning to the Academy.
He thought for a moment and then hesitantly proposed.
“I don’t know, Your Highness, are you interested in the Library?”
Then.
Harvey saw a pair of sparkling little eyes.