“It’s hot……”

Shiromi complains while wiping off the sweat forming on her forehead.

“Please bear with it. Since we’ll be adventurers here, we can’t sneak in and out of town like we used to do. Besides, look at Kuroga, he isn’t complaining about it.”

As I said that, I pointed at Kuroga who was standing in attention while his eyes are directed in front of him.

“Geez, Kinji-nii, please don’t compare me to Kuro!!!”

She exclaims while playfully hitting me repeatedly.

Looking at the crowd of people lined up in front of us, I finally realized how difficult it is to enter a town in this world. Like all other major towns, Kinallen was surrounded by a wall 20 feet high. Placed along its four sides were gates that allowed people to enter or leave with each gate having two entrances.

Right now, we were lining up at the entrance meant for first-time visitors or people who weren’t permanent citizens of the town.

The other entrance is for adventurers, merchants, permanent citizens and nobles so we couldn’t use that as the guards checked one’s identity card before letting them through.

Slowly, the people in front of us dwindled. Before long,

“Next!”

“Shiromi, wake up. It’s our turn.”

“Mrmm?”

Saying those words to Shiromi, who had fallen asleep and was now on my back, I approached the guard along with Kuroga.

“State your purpose here.”

The guard, whose eyes were scanning the three of us, asked in a serious and strict tone.

“Yes. My masters come from a faraway land, and have left due to various circumstances. Due to curiosity and a sense of adventure, they have arrived here with the intent to become famous adventurers.”

Kuroga explained a fabricated story we decided upon moments earlier.

The guard looked at the three of us again.

He was probably analyzing Kuroga’s story if there was anything strange about it.

“I see. Adventurers huh. Well, good luck with that! If that’s the case, we’ll be seeing each other a lot more often! Welcome to Kinallen!”

Immediately, his face and personality changed, welcoming us with a cheerful tone.

“I give you my gratitude.”

Going along with the story we made up, Shiromi and I simply nod our heads at the guard to show our thanks.

“Don’t mention it! If you need any help, just ask me or any of the guards around town! Also, be careful, sometimes scuffles happen here and there!”

As we pass through the gate, he gives us a few words of advice. We bow again in gratitude before leaving.

“What should we do for now?”

While walking down the northern main road of the town, I ask the two who were looking around.

“I wish to procure an inn for us stay in, master.”

“I want to go eat food~!!!”

They both say with enthusiasm………………..at least Shiromi did.

“Alright then. I guess the both of you can go ahead without me.”

“Ehhhh? What are you going to do Kinji-nii?”

“Don’t worry. I just plan on going to the temple and give some offerings.”

“To the temple? I didn’t know Kinji-nii did that sort of thing!”

“W-well, this is sort of a show of gratitude so I can’t skip on this.”

“Oh………then Kuro and I will be off! Catch up quickly Kinji-nii, okay?!”

“Okay, got it!”

Sending them off with a wave, I head for the center of town. Most likely, that will be where the temple is since that was where the temple in Gramsfer was located.

===

“I’m lost……..aren’t I?”

Looking around my surroundings, the repeating scenery of brick buildings entered my sight. The only difference was the various stalls and shops spread out in the branching roads.

“I don’t see any guards and I’d like to avoid talking to strangers……”

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

The bell rang for the 4th time today. As I was in the place where the tower bell was located, it was extremely loud, requiring me to cover my ears to avoid bringing harm to them.

No choice, I guess…………or more like I’m just really introverted………

Everything stops. Closing my eyes and trying to sense the flow of magic power around me,

“Okay. Nothing’s moving. Time to look for that temple.”

I kick the ground and propel myself into the air. Running along the building roofs, I’m able to quickly memorize the layout of the town.

“This place is pretty standard for such a large town.”

From the viewpoint above the roof, I could observe everything like a close up view of a 3-Dimensional map.

Starting from the center where the bell tower is, the main road goes through the town in four directions. The north, south, east and west. As it gets farther away from the center, smaller roads branch off from the main road, connecting each or leading into dead ends.

Houses, shops, parks and vacant spaces are placed along the sides of the road. Though there are large unused spaces in the middle of buildings, these are given up to nature for trees to grow or to become a natural playground for children.

Jumping from building to building, I notice how light my body feels in comparison to myself from a few days ago.

Alright. Since I have nothing to lose……

Setting it in case of a problem arising,

>

I immediately feel its effects.

Just standing on my feet takes this much effort.

Compared to the previous lightness, it felt like I was carrying a large bag filled with dumbbells on my back however, I could still move albeit with difficulty.

If I continue like this, will I gain a transformation?

Continuing on along the rooftops, I finally see a familiar looking spire surrounded by high reaching buildings.

“So that’s why I couldn’t see it on the way here.”

Seeing the signs posted outside the many buildings around it, this seems to be the more guild-inclined area of the town.

Along this one road, excluding the temple, were the adventurers’ guild, merchants’ guild, craftsmen’s guild, among others.

What caught my eye though was the out of place tiny shop right next to the adventurers’ guild. According to the sign crudely nailed on it, this shop was a blacksmith’s store. Specializing in weapons and armor, generally any equipment necessary for an adventurer to survive fighting against enemies while doing requests.

While I was memorizing the town, I had seen several other blacksmith’s stores like this one. But what separated this was the amount of people coming in and out of it……no, even the amount of people taking a look at it was surprising.

The other stores had an average amount of people taking interest in them. A handful was the lowest number I’d seen while jumping around.

But for this store……….basically, the number of people even giving it a glance was zero. None at all.

Normally, I wouldn’t come to this conclusion considering that time was frozen, but this was the road where almost all guilds could be found.

Blacksmiths were an essential for not only adventurers but anyone who wielded a weapon. For one so close to not catch anyone’s attention was truly a curious case.

“Well for now, I should give some offerings to Libreria.”

I jump down from the roof I was on and stagger upon landing. The sensation of needles crawling up from my feet assault me mercilessly.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch……..”

Shaking my legs to remove the pain,

“Good thing no one saw that. I don’t think I’d have the resolve to show my face here after that…..”

When I was checking my shoes for any damage or tears, I noticed the state of the ground I had landed on.

Figures………the pavement’s broken.

Surrounding me was a small circle made of stone fragments that once was a perfectly paved road.

With the possibility of me getting into trouble if I unfroze time right then and there, I run off into a nearby alley.

I set everything back to normal and go out into the now busy road.

“Woah! What the hell happened here?!”

“Hey you! Did you do this?!”

“Don’t you know how much it’ll cost to fix this?!”

“It wasn’t me this time, I swear!!!”

As expected, a crowd had already formed around the broken pavement I had created.

Now, you might think of me as good-for-nothing or a criminal for escaping responsibility for this.

But, thinking from another viewpoint, it could have happened to anyone and that specific part of the road might have already been degrading, needing repairs anyway.

Convincing myself with these thoughts, I hurry onto the temple which was a few feet away from me.

Kinallen’s temple wasn’t that much different from Gramsfer’s temple. Now that I think about it, even Dravint’s temple was very similar to the other two, ignoring its size which was at least twice as big.

A tall pearly white wall also separated the temple from the outside, a metallic gate being the only way of properly accessing its premises.

“Bye now! I’ll come visit again tomorrow, okay?”

Hearing a cheerful voice shouting out from inside the temple, as if being driven by an unavoidable force, a shadow blocks my sight and hits me with sufficient force to take away my balance.

“Wha?!”

“Kyaaa!!!”

I hit the ground with my arms supporting my body so only my lower half was lying down.

However, the other party wasn’t as lucky as their body lay motionless in front of me. Various belongings were scattered around them.

“H-hey! Are you okay?”

Standing back up and approaching the one who bumped into me,

“I-I’m really sorry!!! P-please forgive me!!!”

“!!!”

The motionless body moved in a hurried motion and was now bowing their head.

“Beautiful……”

A single word escaped my mouth.

“E-eh?”

Letting out a confused sound, the one in front of me, who was a girl, was looking at me with wide eyes.

Beautiful. Really beautiful.

My mind, even with the effects of my skill being used on it, was still that of a boy’s. As such, in front of a girl whom I labelled as beautiful, it could not compile any rational thoughts.

I could only gaze at her, as if with the intention of carving her appearance into my mind.

Perfectly groomed brown hair which ended just below her shoulders. Brown eyes that was exhibiting compassion and curiosity at the person she had bumped into, aka me. A face that would be able to compete with Shiromi’s and even beat her on certain aspects. She possessed smooth white skin and a slim figure that curved in and out at the right places, being further accentuated by the black dress she was wearing that had a ribbon tied around its collar and a skirt that stopped just a few centimeters above the knees.

She was even shorter than Shiromi so this emphasized her cuteness even more. Judging with these observations, she could be a year or two younger than me.

“U-umm…….are you okay?”

Her voice snapped me back to reality.

“Eh?! Ah! Yes, I am. Don’t worry! In fact, I should be the one asking you that…..hahahaha…….”

Trying to hide the fact that I was mesmerized by her appearance, I dismissed her worries by showing a smile.

“That’s great! If you don’t mind me asking……w-what did you mean by beautiful…….?”

Crap! She heard it! I must’ve said it unconsciously earlier.

“W-well, you know, I meant that!!!”

She tilted her head at my words.

“T-the temple! Yeah! The temple’s really beautiful!!!”

Doing my best while my mind was in panic,

“Really? It’s pretty ordinary compared to the one in the capital though.”

She only said those words in reply before proceeding to collect her belongings.

“I-I’ll help! It’s partly my fault why you dropped them after all!”

Offering my help,

“N-no thanks! I’m sure you must be busy. B-besides, it was purely my fault since I ran out without warning.”

With those words, she rejected it.

“No, no, no! This wouldn’t have happened if I had just avoided you so I insist!”

Probably sensing that I wouldn’t back down, she looked up at me with a smile.

“If you insist, t-then……”

Energy welled up inside me, and with speed that caused my figure to become a blur, I pick up her dropped belongings carefully and properly.

“H-here you go!”

My arms were currently holding everything in place. Sorting them all so that they wouldn’t fall, I presented them to her.

“S-so fast! Amazing! Are you an adventurer by chance?!”

Hmn? Her voice suddenly became excited.

“N-no, I’m just someone who’s travelled for a long time so I know a trick or two.”

Telling her an excuse I came up with on the spot, she lowered her head.

“O-oh, I see.”

Wait, did I say something wrong?

“U-um……thank you very much!!! Your arms must be getting tired from carrying all of those, so---”

“Please wait!”

Imagining her carrying all these for who knows how long, I cast Extra Dimension and take out a small pouch bag that had a variety of cute designs stitched onto it.

“Here, please take it!”

“Eh? What is it?”

“It’s an enchanted bag that can hold a large amount of items in it. Also, its weight will not change no matter how many items you put into it.”

“Eh?! A m-magic bag?! S-something like this, I simply can’t accept it!!!”

She was rejecting my offer with all her might.

Even I knew that accepting a gift from someone you just met is not something you should do, the desire within me wanting her to have something from me was too strong. Especially considering that we might never meet again, this only made it stronger.

“Please don’t worry about it. I have several others of its kind so there is no problem.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. So, here.”

Noticing that she would now accept it, I place her belongings into the magic bag and hand it to her.

“Wow! It really isn’t heavy at all!!!”

She was turning the bag around to look at it from different angles after being amazed by it.

“Ah!”

As if remembering something important, she puts down the bag and shouts.

“I forgot! I’m already late!”

“I-is that so. Then I guess you need to go now?”

“T-that’s right! T-thank you very much for everything!!! Until we meet again!!!”

After saying those words of gratitude and farewell, she waves farewell to me then turns around and runs off.

I see. So she’s already working huh. Then that means there’s a chance we’ll meet again, probably.

While waving back, I realize a mistake I made.

“I…………forgot to ask for her name………”

Collapsing on the ground due to the despair of not asking for the girl’s name, it took some time before I could enter the temple with a somewhat proper appearance.