Aside from Gero, Kiri, and Bik, everybody had gathered to watch my morning workout. Kiri snuggled up with the princess last night so I imagine she is still sleeping comfortably, but why is Bik not with them? I wonder how they even knew where to find me for that matter?

“So even our inconceivable damsel can be defeated occasionally…” Kera says sarcastically trying to feign disappointment

The unabashed grin on her face just makes the whole act look more condescending though.

“Don’t mind!” Mana spouts out with a determined look on her face

Is this their way of consoling me? I don’t really feel like I need it though. Should I be more upset with my loss? Weirdly, more than a feeling of disappointment I feel… excited? I wonder if that is just the adrenaline.

“That old man was reeeeeal strong! Even Mana doesn’t think she could beat him!” Mana continued

Her expression is cute as she continues to console me, so a small smile breaks out across my face. Is Mana really that powerful though? I’ve been working under the assumption that I was the stronger one between us, but she does come from rather deep in a dungeon I suppose. Perhaps I should be more mindful of her ability.

“Really? He didn’t look that strong to me. He hardly seemed to move at all really, it just looked like our leader here couldn’t aim straight. I mean, at the end she was just flailing around.” Kera responds with a shrug

The urge to hit her rises.

“But he was all like shwing and booosh and fawawawawa!” Mana protests while making weird motions in return

“All right, all right, you win. The old man was strong. Moving on to another subject though, what are we doing today? If we are going to sell those items then we should really be heading to the market quickly. The market streets are bound to be flooded already with the tournament coming up.” Kera says waving off Mana

“That is a good question actually. I have to make a stop by The Grand Tier Company for some business, but that certainly won’t take up the whole day. I must admit though, I think I would be pretty useless at haggling…” I say with a worried look

It’s a given right? In games you would just go to the shop most relevant to the item and go to “SELL”, but here I would actually have to find a buyer and negotiate a price. Considering I don’t even know the proper value of their coin, how am I supposed to do that properly?

“I didn’t really want to take you anyways if we are being honest. The merchants here are pretty vicious, they would chew a naïve girl like you up like you were nothing.” Kera says trying to sound intimidating

Between her exaggerated movements and her expression, she just ends up looking silly though.

“What I meant, for the most part, was that I needed you to fork over the goods. Since most of it was monster junk I should be able to unload it fairly easily. Don’t know what you want me to do with those Sol Crystals though.” Kera says with a shrug

Upon closer inspection, I notice that Kurobe has retrieved his cart, and parked it nearby. Was this their plan the entire time?

“I guess I don’t really have any problems with that. I’m keeping Kiel though.” I say as I open my menu and begin to identify the objects that I want to sell

“Huh?!” Kiel lets out with a flustered look

His face turns a shade of red for some reason.

“I was thinking about swinging down to the Adventurers' guild and looking into registration if we had time. If it’s simple, I'd want you there so we can go ahead and register as a party.” I explain further as I begin to pick stuff out of my inventory to place in the cart.

I feel a little bad honestly. There were probably taxes on the items that I brought in that I got away with not paying because of this magic. Perhaps I should carry them in the cart like this before entering the city next time.

“Hahaha, don’t mind!” Kera says as she pats the back of a dejected Kiel

Did I miss something?

I spend several more moments sorting out the items I want Kera to barter off before we decide to head out. Given the fact that there are no pressing matters to attend to, we decide to walk leisurely through the street. Kiel and I start talking and eventually the subject shifts to some of the main differences between our worlds. Both of us have enough sense to speak discreetly of course. Who knows who is eavesdropping on us.

“So your country elects its leader?” Kiel says with a sense of disbelief

I can kind of understand why, of course, since from what Kera has told me, no such governments exist in this world. The existence of two selfishly powerful entities that seek to influence the world has kept the dust from settling for quite some time. If a government ever begins to move in a democratic direction, then the religious factions, the royal supporters, a sudden war, and even sometimes the Yuusha himself moves to end it.

“Indeed, it’s actually kind of rare to see a true monarchy anymore where I’m from,” I respond

Honestly, I never learned much about politics in my world. At the end of the day, almost everybody was lying, and it was too much trouble to keep track of why exactly.

“Monarchy? You say some strange words occasionally.” Kiel says

He seems oddly used to it though. I wonder how long it'll be before they stop pointing it out altogether.

“Ah! This is close to where The Grand Tier Company is. We should-” I say noticing a familiar alleyway

I am interrupted though when I turn my head to talk to Kiel and I notice his foul expression. His expression is a mixture of pain, anger, and sadness. It is obvious that he is clenching his teeth to avoid saying something.

“Sorry… that was insensitive. I’ll go on my own, you and the others can wait here. I will try to make it quick I promise.” I say apologetically

To forget how much he despised these people, I can hardly believe I made such a mistake. Not only did they do something so horrible to a close friend of his, but he was forced to sit and watch as they did so for years. I can only imagine how he would feel meeting their leader.

“You… aren’t helping them right?” Kiel said looking half between me and the ground

The look on his face is one I interpret as distrust, but I have never seen an expression like that before. I can only guess at the emotions behind it.

“Not exactly. I made a deal with them to fight in the tournament. In return, they will leave the city and void all their current contracts.” I explain

“…Why?” He asks almost angrily

“We both know you could wipe them out almost instantly! Why let them walk away?!” He continues as he begins to shout

I’m unsure how to react to his anger. It’s certainly justified, but I doubt ‘because I benefit as well’ will really convince him. I suppose it was a bit of a selfish endeavor in the first place, all things considered.

“Should I go and kill them all after all?” I say scratching my head a bit as I consider it

Kiel's expression becomes blank for a moment as he stared at me. After something seemed to sink in his face begins to lose color.