Volume 2 – The World Sneered
Meanwhile, Cutie and Ami were shopping in the town market.
Walking a little behind her, Ami called out to Cutie while holding skewers in both hands and biting into her food.
“Cuthie! I wanna eat lots more!”
“Don’t talk with food in your mouth.”
“Nngh…… But we’re short on time! I want to eat until I’m full and bring lots of food to sis too!”
“Mary isn’t going to eat that much…… No, she probably will.”
It was not on Ami’s level, but Mary also ate a lot because of how much energy she spent.
She was also simply always a big eater.
“Uncle! Three pieces of that round meat, and two of this bird meat!”
“Of course, that’ll be-”
“I’ll pay. How much?”
They did not have to think about money.
Cutie would not run out of money even if she bought out all the food carts here.
“Must be nice to be rich……”
Ami muttered while looking at Cutie’s thick wallet.
“My financial power is all I can contribute. I have to use it as much as possible.”
“Has that been on your mind lately? Hmn, mng!”
Ami immediately put a meatball into her mouth after taking the bowl from the old man.
The two walked into the crowd again.
Luvana was on relatively dry land.
The weather was nice and warm, but this many people walking around raised a cloud of dust.
Cutie spoke while wiping her face with her hand.
“Of course. There’s a big gap between my Sorcery Rating and Mary’s. I don’t even have to mention you, and Calaria is monstrously strong. I’m an arcana user too, but I have no confidence.”
“I think your powers are really nice, Cutie. I just use wheels, you know, wheels. It’s not cute enough! So I like your animals.”
“Cuteness doesn’t win fights.”
Cutie, while seeming dismissive, did not look concerned.
Then, the two continued scouring the market while they chatted.
They walked for a while after going through the most crowded spot until the number of shops and people around started decreasing.
Then, Cutie came across a certain person.
“Oh my, you……!”
“Ah, Miss. Cutie, Ami. It’s been a few days.”
She looked disheveled as always.
And her clumsy smile showed that she did not interact with people often.
It was Stella, whom they met in the hotel on the coast.
“Wow, what a coincidence. Who’s that?”
“Oh, she’s-”
“Wait, it was Cutie, right? Are you from Majoram!?”
The woman standing next to Stella, wearing glasses and a suit, suddenly walked closer to Cutie.
Then, she quickly presented her business card.
“I’m Shaiti Eneminus from Inanis Publishing. Pleased to meet you.”
Cutie took her card and replied with a smile, ‘Nice to meet you.’
Shaiti then quickly repeated the same thing with Ami also.
“I’ve heard about your activities, Miss. Ami Hedira.”
“Ahaha, t-thanks……”
Ami imitated Cutie and grabbed the business card.
But she did not know what to do with it, and peeked at Cutie a few times.
“Wait, are you Miss. Stella’s publisher?”
“Yes, that’s right. Our company has been getting so rich thanks to her. Ehehehe!”
“She’s been getting very popular overseas as well, despite the times. I’ve also read her book, and I think it’s a wonderful work of art. I’m not surprised it sells well.”
“Oh my, dear dear, you have quite a way with words, lady of Majoram.”
“Oh no, I really am a fan. So much so that I would love for Majoram to be a part of the development of your next work.”
“Of course! I will discuss it with upper management right away when I return to the office.”
Cutie and Shaiti were getting excited.
Meanwhile, Ami was not able to keep up at all, and she looked at Stella with a worried face, who smiled after laughing, ‘Ahaha.’
“But personally, I’m curious about your travels. I would love to write your biography after things settle down.”
“Ahaha, definitely, after this is all over. What are you two doing here, by the way?”
The conversation did not seem to be coming to an end, so Cutie changed the subject.
Then, Stella answered after frowning with worry.
“Actually…… I was traveling alone.”
“Her next work is waiting for her, but she went out on a trip on her own. So I found her, grabbed her by the nape of the neck and made her work.”
“Then, the reason you were on the coast is also……”
“I wanted to watch the sea and relax.”
“This is no time to relax! You have to write your new book!”
“Cutie mentioned it too, but is that novel really that good?”
“Did you not read it, Ami?”
“I can’t read.”
“That’s not good! It’s the number one novel being sold all around the world!”
Shaiti’s glasses glittered and she brought her face closer.
Ami looked at Cutie for help again.
But she only nodded, ‘Mhm, mhm’.
Ami was surrounded by fans and had nowhere to run.
“Please remember the title, at least. ‘For the Sake of This Beautiful World’.”
“T-This…..?”
“‘For the Sake of This Beautiful World’!”
“For the sake, of this beautiful world……”
“Yes! Good job. As for the contents…… Yes, there will be a play soon in the royal capital, so please see that. I can even send you a ticket if you’d like.”
“O-Oh……”
Ami felt completely overwhelmed.
She pushed a lot harder than Stella – this was the difference between the writer and the seller.
Ami, who showed no signs of exhaustion even after walking around and eating so much food, now showed some slight fatigue in her expression.
Shaiti also seemed to realize that she was being too pushy, so she pulled back and grabbed Stella’s arm.
“Well then, Stella and I have work to do.”
“Oh, wait, Miss. Shaiti. I want to treat you to a meal in-”
“Work comes before that!”
“Just for a little while.”
“I know Stella’s going to run away in the meanwhile. C’mon, let’s go!”
“Ah, food…… Luvana’s specialties…… a town market full of food……”
Stella was dragged away while talking in a miserable voice.
Ami and Cutie saw the two off with astonished faces.
“……She was like a storm, wasn’t she?”
“You can’t sell hits without being like that.”
“Really……?”
Ami tilted her head, but she realized that being that pushy probably translated to being strong in business.
Cutie even thought for a moment that she would like to poach Shaiti for Majoram.
“Well, shall we go back now?”
“Whaa!? But I haven’t eaten enough yet?”
“It’ll be a round trip. We’ll buy Mary’s share too on our way back, doesn’t that sound perfect?”
“Oh, yeah! Nice one Cutie, you’re so smart!”
“You really are over-familiar……”
The two went back on the road they came through.
Then, they noticed that things were a little louder than the first time.
There were even a few screams.
“What do you think happened?”
“Let’s go see!”
Ami and Cutie headed for the direction of the voices.
There, they found……
“What are you doing, Calaria!?”
It was a woman in a maid outfit down on her knees.
Calaria looked to be in pain as she coughed, ‘Geh! Goh!’
She also vomited blood from her mouth, painting the ground red.
“I’m sorry, Cutie…… Heal me……!”
“Did someone attack you!?”
Cutie immediately hugged Calaria.
Normally, the wounds would be healed very quickly, but Calaria’s sorcery resistance was interfering.
“Calaria, where’s sis?”
“She’s in our room…… She’s okay, her life is not in danger……”
“You’re the only one who got hurt? But you were in the room together, right?”
“The enemy arcana…… is probably Lover. She uses a mana arrow and plants feelings of love in her target…… and makes them attack.”
“Feelings of love? What do you mean?”
“The person who had feelings of love implanted in them gets a poison. And when they touch someone else, the poison is poured into them.”
“So you’re saying Mary became a medium for poison? That’s why only you got hurt, right?”
“She crucified her own body and stayed in the room to stop the enemy’s attack from working……”
“So sis is hurt…… Where is the enemy!? I’ll go kill them right now!”
“I counterattacked. I shot her…… she lost an arm in the hotel to the northeast of here. She has purple hair. But she ran away from the hotel. She should still be in town, so-”
“Okay. I’ll find her!”
Ami created wheels from the palms of her hands and installed them on the soles of her shoes.
“Wait up Ami, it’s dangerous to go alone. Let’s wait for Calaria’s recovery!”
“That’ll give her time to get away. It’s okay, I won’t have feelings of love for anyone but my sis!”
“Hey, that’s not the point! Ami! Amiii!”
Ami ignored Cutie’s shouts and ran off at full speed using her wheels.
“Good grief…… she never listens to anyone.”
“You’ve had your hands full too, huh?”
“……Not as much as you. Stay still, you’ll be healed soon.”
“Yeah, thanks……”
Calaria relaxed her body and resigned herself to Cutie.
◇◇◇
Moving at high speed, Ami passed through the crowd without hitting anyone.
She jumped up right before collision when someone walked towards her from the front and went over their head while turning in the air.
Then, she landed. She continued without decelerating.
(The hotel Calaria mentioned is after that alleyway. She should be too hurt to run away that fast if she lost an arm.)
Ami passed through the dusty and gloomy alleyway and entered a wide street.
She stopped for a moment and looked around.
No signs of the enemy.
However, she caught the scent of blood after sniffing the air a few times.
She approached the smell’s direction.
She saw red stains by her feet.
Little by little, they lead her to the back of the building.
Then, behind a barrel, she saw a pale-faced girl in a ponytail trembling while holding her knees.
The girl had purple hair.
Her right arm was missing.
“Are you the arcana user of Lover?”
“Eek!……”
Elastis’s cheek twitched when she saw Ami.
She did not seem like she wanted to fight or kill Ami.
She was simply full of fear.
Ami did not care, and produced a wheel from the palm of her hand.
“It’s too late for fear now. Die, and become a part of my sis!”
“Nooooo! Wait, please waaaiiit! I don’t want to die…… I don’t want to die……!
She seemed unusually afraid.
She did not hesitate to beg for her life.
She seemed very different from the enemies the group had fought so far.
“Please, I’ll do anything! I’ll give you information, and I’ll even help you fight! Please don’t kill me! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die alone in a strange place like this!”
“……”
These did not sound like lies to Ami.
Still, it was extremely dangerous to let an arcana user survive.
Personally, she did not want to let her live either, but-
“Also, I…… I can’t shoot arrows without my arm. I can’t use Lover’s powers……”
“Really?”
“What’s the point in lying when I’m hurt like this? If you leave me be, I’m just going to…… bleed to death anyway……”
Indeed, Calaria had mentioned that it was an arrow power.
Of course, there was no proof that the girl was not shooting them from her hands.
But it was true that the group was lacking in information and fighting power.
Ami could satisfy herself by killing the girl here.
But, considering the possibility of contributing to their battles in the future, it would probably be better to let the girl live and get information from her.
After thinking about it, Ami created a wheel of a slightly different shape, no, simply a ‘ring’, and made it pass over Elastis’s head to squeeze and restrain her body.
“Okay, then I’ll take you to the others. I’ll strangle you to death with that ring if you do anything weird.”
“……”
“Where’s your answer? You deserve worse than death for attacking my sis, you know? You don’t even deserve to live, you know?”
“O-Okay.”
Ami’s urge to kill was real.
Feeling this up close, Elastis deeply nodded as her voice trembled and she swore obedience.