Between her conversation with Hilvia, Sairi stopped in front of an Egg Dumpling Barbecue Shop.
Lowering her head, she poked Hilvia’s arm and pleaded in a tone she had never used before, “Hilvia sister, this… I want to eat this… eh hee hee…”
“Of course you can! Why are you still as shy as yesterday? If there’s something you want to eat or want, just say it directly.”
“Yay!”
Sairi bounced happily up to the Egg Dumpling shop and stopped.
“Boss! I want one order of Egg Dumplings.”
“All right, little miss, do you want some barbecue with that?”
“Barbecue?”
“We put the Egg Dumplings in a Big Bowl, then add various grilled meats and vegetables on top, cutting everything into pieces and serving it all in the same Big Bowl.”
“That sounds good, then one of those please! By the way, Hilvia sister, do you want some too?”
“Hmm… one for me as well, I’ll eat it slowly on the way.”
“Got it, I’ll prepare two sets right away.”
“Hehe, Hilvia sister is so nice!”
“Oh, you’re becoming more and more like a child—so innocent and cute, and with such a sweet mouth, always flattering me.” Hilvia teased Sairi while gently patting her head.
After a short while, their meals were ready, and the two continued their shopping.
Sairi followed Hilvia, scanning the various shops on either side while eating the Egg Dumplings and grilled meat pieces from her bowl.
Although Hilvia also had a portion, it was smaller, and she ate much slower than Sairi. Within less than five minutes, Sairi had already finished all the food in her hands.
This made Hilvia increasingly suspicious. Sairi was eating so fast, so much, but it seemed like nothing was going out. Could such a small girl have such a huge stomach? Or was her body structured differently?
Yet Sairi didn’t notice this. Instead, she felt quite hungry, as if she hadn’t eaten enough.
There was no feeling of fullness; it was as if the food she swallowed was physically and utterly broken down and dissipated.
Throughout the walk, Sairi ate quite a lot—after finishing the Egg Dumpling Roast Meat Set, she bought Burrito, Pan-fried Meat, Grilled Skewer, Sweetheart Roll… Finally, passing through an Alley, Hilvia suddenly pulled Sairi inside without a word.
***
At the end of the Alley was a Dead End. Hilvia and Sairi looked at each other.
“Um… Hilvia sister, why did you pull me into this place? I haven’t eaten enough yet… I still want to eat more…”
Before she could finish, Hilvia covered Sairi’s mouth to stop her.
“Eat, eat, eat—you haven’t noticed something’s a bit off with you?”
“Huh, me?”
“How much have you eaten since leaving the Travelers’ Inn? If all the food you ate was piled up, it’d be taller than you. Do you really think your stomach is that big?”
“Eh, yeah, and I really don’t feel full. Not exactly starving, but I could definitely eat a lot more.”
“There’s definitely something abnormal about you, but so far it doesn’t seem to affect your daily life much. Maybe there are other strange things about you too, but for now, there’s no way to figure it out.”
“Isn’t that kind of good? Even if I don’t know if other parts of my body have issues, I never get full and can keep eating tons of food. I like that—I can try so many dishes, and I could totally win the Big Eater Competition, if such a thing exists.”
“What are you talking about?”
Hilvia grabbed Sairi’s ear, scolding her like a mother teaching a child. “This is just one part of your body. What if other abnormalities are dangerous? You don’t even know how your body really is.”
“Sorry, sorry >人<, don’t pull, it hurts, I was wrong (。 *)”
“I really can’t do anything with you.”
But as soon as she let go, Sairi immediately changed her expression and kept pestering Hilvia.
“Um, Hilvia sister, I saw over there they’re selling freshly baked bread with meat inside, I… still want to eat… hehe.”
“That’s enough, you’ve eaten enough for today. You can handle it, but I might not.”
“Why? You didn’t eat much.”
“What about the money? You ate so much, it cost quite a bit. Yesterday, all the prey we hunted cost 10 silver coins at most.”
“I thought that would last us for a while, but staying at the Travelers’ Inn took 3, buying clothes took 3, and today eating so much was another 1. That only leaves 3 silver coins for daily expenses.”
“Ah? That expensive?”
“Not expensive, you just eat a lot. You don’t feel it when you eat, but you keep eating more and more. Gradually, you spend more money.”
“But… I really want to eat… Hilvia sister… please…”
Sairi grabbed Hilvia’s hands and shook them, just like a little girl begging her parents for money or gifts.
Humph (。-`w′-), I don’t believe Hilvia can resist this kind of coaxing. I came here to have fun and eat well, so forget about any male pride.
If I really become a girl someday, I’ve accepted it already. After all, I’ve already showered and slept, so I’m not afraid of acting cute.
My memories are getting a bit blurry, so instead of hiding it, I should just embrace it early on!
“All right, all right, stop shaking your hands. I really can’t do anything with you. Here’s a silver coin—go buy whatever you want.”
“But remember, money is easy to spend and hard to earn. From now on, you’ll have to come with me to gather in the wild, hunt, and complete some quests.”
“Ok ok, no problem!”
Then Sairi happily raised the dull silver coin in both hands and ran out of the Alley toward the snack stalls.
“Sigh, this kid is really innocent. But now, there’s something more important.”
Hilvia waved her hand, and the Holy Sword appeared in her grasp. She raised it high and shouted at the Dead End wall, speaking with great authority.
“Come out! What are you three following us for? What information are you trying to get from us?”
Silence answered Hilvia.
“Don’t move! If you three dare to run away, I’ll attack you right here in this town.”
This confrontation worked.
After a gust of wind, three cloaked, hooded figures jumped out from behind the wall, landing in front of Hilvia.
“Who are you?”
“Uh, we’re just a passing adventurer party.”
“Do you believe that yourself?” Hilvia said as she infused some power into the Holy Sword. It began to glow, the blade pointed at the three, ready to strike.
“Calm down, calm down… let’s talk.” The tall, thin man in the middle raised his hands, pleading with Hilvia while introducing themselves.
“Um, I’m Salanto. This lady next to me is Bilur, and this burly guy is Sike Na.”
“Why are you following us? What information are you trying to spy on?”
“Nothing much, really. We took a commission in the Royal Capital before—to keep an eye on any news about the human hero.”
Hilvia had guessed as much. Luckily, she had previously asked friends to enchant the Holy Sword with illusion magic, so no one recognized it—not even these three, nor Sairi.
“That hero? Would she be here?” Hilvia feigned curiosity and asked the three.
“Oh, this kind of party exists almost everywhere nationwide. Adventurer groups all carry out their own business while keeping this commission in mind. If they encounter anything, they report back; if not, they just go on. It doesn’t interfere with their daily lives.”
True enough, Salanto’s words made sense. About a year ago around this time, Hilvia had left the Royal Capital without permission.
She had begged the nobles, ministers, clerics, and knights—she found them all annoying and pretentious.
None of them truly cared about the hero; on the surface, they acted serious, but behind closed doors, they all wanted to exploit her for profit.
But Salanto’s words weren’t entirely true. Why did a normally open adventurer party dress so covertly and keep following her and Sairi?
“So, what do you think we are?” Hilvia asked the three, waiting for their answer.
“To be honest, we don’t think so. It seems more like a female detection mage, and that blonde little girl is the fighter.”
The magic on the Holy Sword still proved very useful.
“So, do you still suspect us? Are you still going to follow us?”
“No, no, we’re sorry. We made a mistake. We’ll leave now. If you don’t believe us, you can check if our presence is nearby.”
Salanto put his hands together in a sincere gesture, at least it looked sincere.
Salanto’s words seemed genuine. Hilvia’s detection magic could verify that.
And these three were known to her—she had seen them at the Adventurers’ Guild before. They seemed decent, and she once saw them performing a task.
“All right, I’ll trust you this once. Leave us alone—don’t follow us, it’s really uncomfortable.”
“Okay, okay, we’re leaving now.”
With that, Salanto pulled Sike Na and Bilur back behind the wall. Afterwards, Hilvia indeed could no longer sense their presence nearby.
At that moment, Sairi returned, snacks in hand.
“Hey! Hilvia sister, do you want to try the braised tofu with roast meat I just bought?”
“No, you eat it yourself. It’s rare to eat without gaining weight, so I guess that’s a good thing.”
“By the way, why are you still here in the Alley? I thought you’d come to the snack stalls to find me.”
“I was just thinking about the money shortage, planning what tasks to take on the next few days and how to make money to support you, you greedy little glutton!”
Hilvia said, pinching Sairi’s cheeks, soft and bouncy.
“It’s fine! Making money with Hilvia is definitely easy! Hilvia sister is so amazing!”
“You really have a sweet mouth. All right, enough chit-chat. Shall we continue shopping?”
“Okay!”
And so, the two continued walking together, browsing shops and eating, as if the disturbance with the three strangers had never happened.
As for whether they would meet again in the future—who knows? Maybe next time, they’d be opponents.