Chapter 111 – It Is Enormous…! Rather Like a Small Castle, Is It Not

"There she is! Found you~!"

Seldia's general residential sector, Sector 2 -- a district commonly known as "Lime City."

Weaving through the throngs of people filling the plaza in front of the bustling shuttle station, a girl with glasses and brown hair in braids -- Fal -- came walking toward Letaria, waving cheerfully.

"Fal! There are rather a lot of people here..."

Letaria's brow furrowed in evident discomfort, clearly conscious of the eyes around her.

Today she wore a refined white blouse paired with a vivid blue long skirt, a wide-brimmed hat pulled down low to hide her face -- but even so, the striking, beautiful hair peeking out from beneath it still drew the eye.

"Having this many people around actually makes it easier for your face and hair to blend in, you know."

Fal grinned mischievously, and Letaria answered while pulling her hat down a little lower still.

"...Now that you mention it, I suppose that may well be true."

Glancing around, Letaria confirmed that indeed, no one seemed to be singling her out for a lingering stare.

"There truly are a great many people here. I do venture into the city on occasion myself, but this place is especially crowded."

"I've kinda thought this for a while now, but you really don't get out much, huh. Well, whatever! It's finally your day off, so let's have some real fun today!"

Fal said this and, without a moment's hesitation, took hold of Letaria's hand firmly and set off, pulling her along.

Feeling the warmth of the hand holding hers, Letaria's gaze fell on Fal's lively, energetic back as she walked ahead.

(This somehow... reminds me of when Rutir used to lead me around the estate by the hand.)

Back in her distant homeland, there had been a time when her still-young sister Rutir would grab her hand and insist, "Sister, let's go over there!" -- dragging her along into some innocent game or another.

Fal, walking ahead of her now, was probably around the same age Rutir would be now. ...Though the "sister she'd been close with" that Letaria remembered was from a time when Rutir had still been far smaller, far more childlike than that.

While Letaria was lost in that wave of nostalgia, the two of them had bypassed the station's shuttle entirely and made their way on foot straight to the front of a large building.

"Here we are!"

Prompted by Fal's excited voice, Letaria looked up at the building before her.

It was a massive, five-story structure with a refined, polished exterior, standing out even among the rows of shops that surrounded it.

"It is enormous...! Rather like a small castle, is it not."

The sheer scale of it was overwhelming enough to bring back memories of the grandeur of the royal castle she'd seen in her childhood.

A building of this scale was hardly a rare sight within Seldia's general residential sector. But the chance to actually stand outside and look up at a massive commercial facility from the same vantage point as any ordinary citizen was something Letaria had almost never had.

"This is 'Seas Mall,' a shopping center! And a girl's day off has to mean shopping, right!?"

Fal spoke up cheerfully.

That reminded Letaria of the unshaven man who usually accompanied Fal wherever she went -- Zein.

"Come to think of it, I don't see Zein around... is he not with you today?"

The moment that name came up, Fal's brow furrowed openly, her expression turning sour.

"Like the boss would ever be interested in shopping! He's off drinking at his usual bar right now. Just your average daytime drunk, that's what he is!"

"Oh my, is that so. Drinking from the middle of the day, hmm, how lacking in restraint."

Letaria found herself recalling the time she'd gone out into the city with Milea, who had also promptly tried to order a beer.

Seeing Letaria's small smile, Fal apparently took it as agreement.

"Right!? So let's just leave him to it and have a blast, just the two of us!"

Fal said this, pulling Letaria's hand again, and led her with a bouncing step into the mall's lively, exhilarated crowd.

"Fufu, indeed. Let us enjoy ourselves thoroughly today!"