The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 432: unexpected encounter is the salt and pepper of a journey

Chapter 432: unexpected encounter is the salt and pepper of a journey

When I was still in the hospital, my favorite activity was looking outside the window--since it was the only thing I could do.

The hospital was situated on a higher ground, and my room was on a high floor, so I could see the city from my window--yay for a VIP room. At night, I could see the city lights sparkling like stars, and I dreamt of one day coming down to look at the illumination from up close.

The Lord’s Quarters balcony, which was also located on a higher ground, allowed me to look at L’Anaak Eed too. However, the light on the City of Greed only came from the street, which wasn’t as strong as the one on Earth. They sparkled dimly, and did not scatter as much, only following the path of the main street.

This time, as the ship docked in the harbor of Ahrat, I could finally realize my dream.

This was the land of stars I had been dreaming of--the lights filled the entire space from the high ceiling to the deepest ground.

The ceiling, which was high enough for Vrida to fly around if she wanted to, was filled with strings of glowworms and fluorescent moss giving out all kinds of colors that made it seem like there was an endless stream of fireworks in the sky. It was supported by several large pillar statues crawled with glowing cave flowers.

The walls were an arrangement of alcoves, stairs, and tunnels leading to different areas; carved artistically with relief, and decorated with sculpted jewels that reflected the glows of the natural underground light coming from the glowworms and fireflies. Along the streets and between buildings, lights flooded from sconces and streetlights, making sure no corner was too dark for people to travel in.

The airspace, just like cities on Earth, wasn’t free of cables. But instead of electricity cables and telephone poles, the cables were used to transport crates of goods and also drows in some kind of gondola, going in and out of many alcoves, with staff high within the pillars to control the traffic so they wouldn’t crash with each other.

While transportation to and from the surface wasn’t available in the evening, the city itself looked as busy as any city during the day. Drows, elves, and druids--with occasional demons caught in my eyes--filled the streets and the terraces of the walkway along the high walls. Whether they were walking somewhere, conducting business, or just going about mundane things, the lively noises could be heard all the way to the harbor.

If I didn’t know it beforehand, I would have thought it was just a city at night; not one located underground.

"Waaah...so many lights!" Jade’s energetic voice still sounded like a chirping even in his human form. "So colorful! Like Jade!"

Ignis hummed happily on my shoulder as we finally left the water, crawling on top of my head so it could look around better.

"It’s beautiful, isn’t it?" I asked the excited Salamander with a laugh.

"Yes!"

"Very."

Perhaps because they heard us praising the place, the drows who were in the harbor as we alighted the ship threw a gentle and kind smile at us. Well, it was always nice hearing praises from children, since they were brutally honest most of the time.

And yes, it was an honest opinion. The place was literally glittering with jewels and precious metals, used as decoration around the city. Here, between the drows, jewels were only slightly more precious than pebbles, so they used them to decorate mundane, daily items.

The truly precious stone for them was the elemental mana stones.

The drows’ smile, however, faltered when they saw Vrida step into the harbor. It seemed that just like Ignis, the underground dwellers had a natural aversion toward flying creatures. Vrida, being the proud but also chill girl that she was, only walked out with her head held high, strutting elegantly as her green scales sparkled brightly.

"Flying mounts are usually staying near the surface entrance point, since the place wasn’t designed to accommodate them," Sarttite explained, pointing toward the airspace filled with crossing lines of transportation cable. "As you can see, your wyvern wouldn’t be able to fly here."

"Yes, Vrida knew already," I nodded and patted the purring wyvern.

Vrida had accepted this term of flying ban in place of accompanying me. Such a sweet girl. Thankfully, the streets of Ahrat were big enough to allow Vrida to walk around. As a city of commerce, they purposefully made the main streets wide to accommodate most of the merchants’ mounts. Unlike the mounts for carriages or soldiers, most merchants used huge-sized mounts so they could carry as many goods as possible. As long as those mounts could be carried by ship, they would be permissible in the city.

None of them was as big as Vrida, however, so even those tough-looking mounts automatically steered away from her path before their owners even told them to.

Yay for smooth traffic!

Sarttite led us to a quite big manor attached to the north wall, which, from how it was positioned, seemed to be the Mayor’s residence. "We had gathered all of the items you requested in the Mayor’s place, Young Master. I hope it won’t be too impertinent to ask you for dinner? It’s only with the Mayor and the crafters."

"Oh, it’s fine," I nodded. It was hard to reject the request from artisans who made our goods.

But Amarein added in a slightly sharp, albeit still lighthearted tone. "As long as the products are satisfactory."

"It had been almost a century since we received any request from a royal family, so they had been working very hard," Sarttite smiled with a rather proudful gaze in his eyes. "Especially knowing the recipient is about to get married."

I wanted to say that they didn’t need to treat my request as something special, but Amarein already nodded in satisfaction as if she did not expect less from them, so...

With Vrida-led smooth traffic, it didn’t take long for us to reach the Mayor’s residence. A group of drows were already waiting there, but I liked that they didn’t wait in ceremony or anything. Wearing working clothes, they stood beside their own craft with an eagerness to show their craft. The only one without any item was the one who looked like he was going to call for a group of hitmen any second.

How nostalgic--looking like one of Grandpa’s trusted subordinates. Kind of like...

...huh?

I blinked in wonder. He stepped forward and bowed slightly, the proximity allowed me to look at his face clearer; the sharp and rather scary features, as well as a pair of blue eyes that felt as cold as a blizzard.

Yeah...yeah, I was sure.

He had the same face and physique--except for the long ear--as one of my Grandpa’s subordinates. One who, after Grandpa was dead, took over the management and made sure Grandpa’s will was carried faithfully. It was thanks to that person that my relatives didn’t try anything foul while I was in the hospital--or, if they did, he would protect me from it. He made sure the hospital bill was paid, and that the portion of my inheritance was being used as I wanted it to.

Such a loyal person, that one was.

"It’s our pleasure to welcome you to our city, Your Grace. You may call this one Tourma."

Ah...of course, he would have a different name. But his voice, and the way he spoke in that stiff way was so him. I was so stunned that it took me a while--and Amarein little nudge--for me to respond.

"Ah, yes," I cleared my throat and added carefully. "My name is Valen."

I made sure my voice was clear as I said my name, to see if he made any reaction. But he only smiled slightly in politeness without even a speck of flinch.

Ah...it seemed like he was a duplicate soul--just like Natha and Nathanael. This Tourma and my Grandpa’s subordinate probably had no idea of each other’s existence.

It was still nice to see a familiar face, though. Especially one I owed a lot to. It seemed like Jade also felt my deep gratitude toward the man, and for once, my child stayed calm in my arms.

"Please just treat me as your casual customer," I said. "Just my name is enough."

"I can’t do that, Your Grace," the Mayor said in the same unflexible manner that the subordinate had. Damn...they really were similar. But Sarttite cleared his throat and the Mayor let out a little sigh. "Then...Young Master?"

Oof--that was nostalgia punched into my face. I nodded stiffly and he gestured toward the waiting drows. "Shall we show you your orders?"

As if waiting for those words, the group of artisans came forward all at once, competing about who should show off their product first. But I had already decided to give Vrida her present first, so the youngest of them all actually won.

Vrida elegantly lowered her body and we got busy doing her fitting. The saddle was beautiful even in my eyes, with a druid-style pattern of climbing flowers and the Great Tree carved on it. Even more important was that Vrida felt very comfortable in it--much more than before.

I also ordered something else for the sweet, hardworking girl; a horn ring. Well, it was as big as a necklace for me, but it locked nicely in the base of her horn, crafted from light metal and blue jewels that paired well with my earring and Jade’s bracelet.

Yep--it was also a clothing artifact. To be exact, it was an armor artifact, just like my grey earring.

For about a minute, the Mayor’s yard got shaken from Vrida’s excited tail whipping the ground repeatedly, and the sound of her deep purr of delight as she nuzzled me.

"I’m glad that you like it," I laughed at her enthusiasm--more because she had something similar to me rather than the functionality. Aren’t you growing cuter and cuter, girl?

"And Jade?" my little boy asked in excitement. "For Jade?"

The drow in charge of it came forward enthusiastically, holding out a jewelry box with a small necklace in the shape of a tree branch. This one didn’t have any special feature other than automatic size adjustment, and was just made to be as pleasing to the eyes as possible. Not too gaudy, but could also pass like a crown--or tiara. A nice addition to the wedding outfit.

"And Ignis? Ignis?" Jade jumped happily while pointing at the Salamander.

Ignis, as usual, acted like I was doing something unnecessary. But the Salamander flicked its tail a few times after I put a black bangle with red streaks across its body on Ignis’s tail. It had the function of absorbing the heat that Ignis emitted so the Salamander could even crawl on my bed without accidentally setting it on fire.

The last one was a beautifully carved box that I only checked briefly before shoving inside my storage ring. I nodded in satisfaction and was about to ask for the bill when Jade pulled on my sleeve.

"What about Papa? No stuff for Papa?"

Well, I didn’t think I needed anything anymore, so--

"Of course, there is."

Tourma said out of nowhere and the drows gave me a smile. All I could do was look at them in confusion.

"...huh?"