Chapter 91

Maki and Chiharu returned to their room, and after making sure that no one was near their door, they sat down on their beds and faced each other .

“They did say something about how it would be better, in the long run, if our identities remained secret . ”

Chigaru started lazily .

“I think he’s just keeping us away because he can’t be bothered to explain anything . ”

“You’re probably right . ”

Maki folded her arms as she continued .

“So, we can either do something or just sit around quietly . ”

“Maki-chan . There’s another option . ”

Maki unfolded her arms and leaned forward . Chiharu put a single finger up to her lips and looked at her mischievously .

“We can’t search for the merfolk alone . But we can’t move with Aaron, Edwy, and Zynis’s son either . However, there is something that only we can do, isn’t there?”

“Just us? Saintesses…the gazers!”

“Correct!”

Chiharu clapped her hands .

“The border town between Midland and Lowland was the last one, right? And just look at how thick the miasma is here . I think there are definitely stray gazers around . ”

“I think they should be alright if they survived this long without us . Still…”

Maki looked outside of the window .

“I feel bad for the gazers who say they are tired as they sway in the air . ”

“Yeah . They cross over mountains like that . ”

Both of them thought back on the gazer they had met in the border town . Had it wandered around for a day longer, it would have likely attracted attention and caused a big scene .

“But if we called gazers from this window, people will see them . What should we do?”

Chiharu tilted her head and thought . Just then, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs . They stopped right in front of their door, and then there was a knock .

“It’s Aaron . ”

“Oh, the prince has become wiser . ”

“I can hear you . ”

Maki chuckled as she opened the door .

“Aaron . ”

Aaron glared at her, but Maki took no notice .

“I’m sorry to inform you, but we’ll be leaving the inn for a while . I’m sure this will be very worrying for you, but just stay here quietly . ”

“We’re 25 . You don’t need to worry about us . ”

“You’re the last person I’d believe . ”

Aaron growled . And then he returned to his room once before going down the stairs .

“Is he gone?”

“Yeah, he’s gone . ”

Maki stood up and looked at Chiharu . If they couldn’t do it from the window, that meant they had to go outside . But Chiharu was still dressed as a young girl . They wondered if it would be better to change .

“Are you thinking that it would be difficult for me to move? It’s actually quite easy since the skirt is shorter than the ones for adults . Besides, if we get caught outside, it might be better if I’m still Chouze . ”

“That’s true . You rode in the carriage like this and sold everyone oranges . It should be fine . ”

Maki nodded . And then Chiharu stood up .

“So, what should we do?”

She asked . Maki grinned and pushed up her hair .

“I just talked to some of the people that work here . I said that I wanted to meet one of the girls I became friends with today . And I wanted to do it without my older brother finding out about it . ”

She answered .

Maki-chan, that’s a bit…”

Chiharu was exasperated .

“Oh, but they were very understanding . They said that it must be hard to live in his shadow . ”

“Stop that . It’s too funny . ”

Chiharu’s stomach started to hurt from laughing too much .

“There’s a door on the opposite side of the stairs that leads to a staircase that’s just for people who work here . And if you go down there, you can go out the back of the inn . They say that if we stay out too late it might get locked . But I’m sure it will be fine . And then we can go to the mountain from there . ”

Maki said . And like that, the two of them snuck out the back of the inn . They avoided being seen and went up a path they had seen during the day that led to the mountain . As they would get caught if they used any lights, they had to depend on the light of the moon .

“Haah . Haah . We’ve gone pretty far now . ”

“Yeah . Oh, I can see the villa and the lake from here . ”

While Chiharu was panting, Maki seemed like she was still full of energy . Still, Chiharu felt that she had become a lot tougher compared to before . Once they were high enough, they moved over to a spot under a tree where they were less likely to be seen . Then Maki and Chiharu stretched their arms to the sky and tried to search for the presence of gazers .

“Hey . ”

“Ahhh!”

A voice suddenly called from behind them, and Maki was so surprised that she jumped . As for Chiharu, she was too scared to move .

When they fearfully turned around, they saw someone with short, brown hair . When they looked behind the person, they saw large, brown wings .

“It’s a non-white…Sauro . ”

“Don’t compare me to him . ”

The birdman stared at Maki, who was the one who had said Sauro’s name . This complete lack of tact . He was indeed a birdman . After thinking this, Chiharu wasn’t nervous at all .

“Your hair is unnatural . It must be a wig . And you have black eyes . That means…”

“We discovered the Saintesses!”

“Kaela…”

Another birdperson appeared . The first one was touching his forehead . Yes, birdfolk generally traveled in pairs . Maki recalled .

“Woah! So small! So cute! She’s just like Saikania described!”

The smaller birdperson started circling around Chiharu .

“Umm . ”

“Hmm? What?”

“We came here in secret, so could you keep it down?”

“Oh, that’s right . We’re also on a mission . ”

Maki and Chiharu were very disappointed . However, this was no time for that . For now, they had to figure out what was going on . And so Maki decided to try and talk to them .

“Um…ahh!”

Something had rubbed against her foot .

“What? What? Ahh!”

As she moved around frantically, something moved between her legs . It was furry .

“Uh? What? Woah! Ah!”

“You don’t have to be so surprised . ”

Something said under her arm .

“Of course I’d be surprised! A two-meter doggy just popped out of nowhere!”

Maki shot back .

“Doggy? Oh, you must mean dog . So the dogs in your country must have been small . ”

“It’s Zynis…”

Before she knew it, Maki’s arms were around the large dog with ash-colored hair . And yes, that gentle voice was Zynis’s . That being said, a dog… Maki looked at everything from the head to the tail . A two-meter dog was the same size as a sofa for three people . And so when he stood, his face reached her chest .

The nose on its gray face started to sniff at Maki . Woah . So big . That’s the only thing she could think of . Maki was quite stunned .

“You look well . ”

Zynis said with satisfaction . Chiharu then wobbled up towards them .

“Zynis . ”

“Oh, Chiharu . You seem well too . ”

Without saying anything, Chiharu put her arms around Zynis’s neck and buried her face in his fur . Maki held him just as tightly .

“Hmm . What? Do you miss your home?”

Zynis’s tail wagged gently . However, they were not feeling that sentimental . They just wanted to bury their faces in some soft fur . It was so fluffy . It was heaven .

“Zynis . We were talking to the Saintesses before you interrupted . ”

Kaela said with some annoyance in her voice . Chiharu remembered and pulled her face out . They hadn’t been talking at all! She always had an urge to fire back when the birdfolk talked, and that had brought her back to reality .

“That’s right . We were going to ask them what they were doing here . ”

The other birdperson said . And then Maki raised her head from the fur . Yes, they had something to do .

“Zynis . And you two birdpeople! Could you stand back?”

“Also, please don’t interfere . ”

The atmosphere had suddenly changed . Maki and Chiharu stood very straight . While they were suspicious, the three newcomers moved back . Then Maki and Chiharu looked up at the sky .

“There . ”

It was a gazer .