Chapter 153 – Hauzen Reconstruction

A city that was taken over by monsters and thus was abandoned.

However, it was liberated recently.

What we now saw before us, was the Hauzen that had made leaps and bounds in progress thanks to the technology borrowed from the Kingdom.

A lot had changed since my last visit. It was obvious to me as we entered the city atop the magic bike.

I wish Hauzen could recover as fast as possible.

I couldn’t help thinking like that.

[Fai, you look awfully chipper. Are you that happy to return to Hauzen?]

[Yeah, of course. This place is like my hometown after all]

Roxy who was sitting on the magic bike’s backseat apparently took note of my smile, which prompted her to smile as well.

[I also cannot wait to visit the city!]

Snow who was riding in front of me was no less excited. She looked like a little girl, but make no mistake as she’s not a human. She’s what they call the Sacred Beastkin, and her seemingly small frame actually held powerful strength.

As of now, she seemed to have lost her memories due to being forcefully revived by the Door to His land. Therefore, her appearance and attitudes regressed to that of a kid.

At first, she was very shy and only willing to go near either me or Mimir. But she had been gradually becoming more open. And along with that, people around me also seemed to start accepting her presence.

Well.....except that for some unknown reason, she still refused to get close with Roxy...

Dad seemed to have some sort of a past connection with Snow. But I didn’t really know about the details.

The reason why I thought so was because of how Dad wanted to kill her. At that time, for the first time in my life, I sensed a killing intent coming from Dad’s eyes. There was no memory of Dad ever making such a scary stare in my childhood.

That moment, I felt like I saw a glimpse of Dad that I didn’t know about before.

Even if I told Aaron back in the Royal Capital that I had resolved myself to fight Dad, the reality was actually more difficult.

Whether she’s aware of my thoughts or not, Snow excitedly urged me to quickly enter the city. She’s just brimming with innocence.

[I get it, okay, calm down. It’s not like you can drive this.]

[Uuuu. Get in quickly! Let’s do this then!]

[Oiiii!?]

Snow added her small hands on top of my hands that were holding the bike’s handlebar.

Then she infused an excessive amount of magic power all at once. But the magic bike converts magic power into propulsion.

In other words...thanks to being powered by both my and Snow’s magic, the magic bike sped up explosively.

[Fai! This is too fast! HyaaaAAAAAAAaaaa]

[Watch out, watch out.]

[How fun!]

[ [ Not fun! ] ]

I forcibly pulled Snow’s hand away from the handlebar to prevent her from supplying more magic power to the bike. But it’s already too late.

The bike was running at breakneck speed at the moment. Careless braking would only cause the bike to flip over.

We need to somehow slow the bike down, otherwise we’ll literally crash into Hauzen. We’ll certainly be able to recover from the accident quickly, but as the city lord, there is no way I’d be the first person to cause damage to my own city only shortly after its renovation.

[Roxy...sorry]

[Yes, I get it.]

So, what we decided to do... was to steer off course from Hauzen.

I’m sure Eris and Mimir who were riding behind us wondered about what we’re doing. When we come back, I’m quite certain that Eris would want to have a few words with us.

Well, she’s the Queen of this kingdom indeed, but no, thanks.

While I was thinking all that, we had already swerved past Hauzen.

[Goodbye...Hauzen]

[Stop with the melancholic tone! We will return as soon as we slow down. I am more concerned about what Eris-sama will tell us after this.]

[Funny, I also had the same thought.]

[Let us not talk about that anymore then.]

Roxy pinched my cheek from behind me. Snow laughed from seeing this.

[Your face looks even weirder that it already is.]

[What did you say!?]

Doesn’t that mean she thinks that my face looks weird all the time?

[Roxy... this is...]

[Alright, I guess that is enough... Let us return to Hauzen once we slow down.]

Leaving it at that, she urged me to return to Hauzen.

Mumumu, here I am worrying for nothing. Turning the bike around, we rode back to Hauzen in a moody atmosphere.

By the time we approached Hauzen, Eris and Mimir could be seen waiting for us at the outer gate.

[Really! Leaving us by speeding off like that again.]

[I think he’s not, Mimir. He actually left us and went past Hauzen, as if trying to go somewhere. I almost thought he wanted to escape]

[There is a reason for that!]

I just got off of the magic bike, but Mimir and Eris were already all over me.

[It’s because Snow was impatient. We were about to crash into Hauzen. Since both of you rode right behind us, I thought you should be able to tell.]

[Ahahaha, Fate’s frustrated face is also amusing to watch.]

[Indeed it does, Eris-sama.]

[You two...]

Watching me acting like that and having fun from it... What kind of hobby is that?

Haa...good grief.

While I was still overwhelmed by the two ladies, a hand tapped my shoulder.

[It’s been a while, Fate.]

[Seto!]

When I turned around, there’s Seto standing before me, now slightly plumpier than when I met him again back then.

Next to him was his daughter Ann, who looked at me with a smile on her face.

[Fate, welcome back!]

[I’m back!]

When I caught Ann who jumped into my hands, I sensed a pair of eyes staring at me sharply.

It was Snow.

[I can do that too! Fate, welcome back!]

[You’re different! Didn’t we come here together earlier!]

Without listening to what I said, Snow insisted on continuing mimicking what Ann did.

[Fate! Quick, say the ‘I’m back’ part!]

[...I’m back.]

Fuu~. While I struggled with Ann and Snow’s hug, Seto was watching in amusement.

[Is this kid... Fate’s daughter?]

[We don’t even look alike no matter how you see it]

[I guess so. She doesn’t look like Fate at all, cause I’m sure she’ll grow into a beautiful woman later on.]

[You spoke too much.]

[Then whose kid is she?]

Seto glanced alternately between me and Roxy.

Seeing this, Roxy replied as she smiled to Snow.

[We found this child in the middle of the Desert.]

[Roxy-sama! Welcome to Hauzen.]

[You do not have to act so polite to me... I will not mind. I am here not bearing my family name, but just as a regular warrior after all.]

[No, I can’t do that. To be able to meet the famous Roxy Heart in person, I’m extremely happy.]

He was talking about Snow earlier, but now Seto was all fluttery and red faced. Well, it’s easy to see the effect of such a beautiful lady to most people.

I used to react like Seto did, until I got used to it.

Then, a certain grumpy Queen stepped on Seto’s foot.

[Oh, Seto. You got some guts for ignoring me after I have come all the way here.]

[Eris-sama! That’s not what I mean.]

[What’s the difference? Don’t you need to greet me first of all people here?]

[Please pardon me for the mistake.]

Seto immediately kneeled. But... instead of greeting her properly as told, he begged for pardon...

Eris was seemingly satisfied by this.

Ann and Snow separated themselves from me, observing how the scene unfolded.

Personally I felt that it’s not an educational scene for the kids. Seeing her father having to kneel and beg like that might affect Ann in a bad way.

[Rather than that, let’s just enter Hauzen already.]

[Eee, but I’m not done yet.]

[Stop already!]

I grabbed Eris’ hand, and dragged her along to pass through the outer gate.

[Roxy and Mimir too, let’s go. Seto, how long are you going to stay there? There are lots of things we need to talk about.]

[Ah, please wait. Come on, Ann, and Snow-chan too.]

As for the magic bikes, I believed the soldiers would stash them in a storage area.

At the moment, we’re heading to the best vantage point in the entire Hauzen――the Barbatos Castle.

The previously abandoned castle where I fought the 【Harbinger of Death】Lich Lord alongside Aaron had been completely renovated. Its size and its beautiful pure white wall had earned it the status as Hauzen’s landmark.

Passersby who came and went along the street seemed full of energy, making it hard to believe that some time ago this same street was inhabited by skeletons. The plan to migrate those who didn’t have any place to stay at the capital to Hauzen seemed to have worked wonders.