58: Sylvia’s new dress

Noon quickly came and Bessie passed the baton over to Sylvia. Despite being demonized, Sylvia wasn't wearing her black knight armor. Right now she was wearing a beautiful one piece blue dress decorated with lots of fluffy ribbons.

"... New clothes?"

"Yes. I picked them out in the morning. Do I look strange?"

She's really pretty actually. But our budget is… shrinking. If we didn't have our student ID cards to pay for all the daily necessities… we would be in trouble.

"You look really good. They are nice clothes. You look pretty."

"Thank you, Aneue."

She slightly blushed and started to fidget. This shy side of her is cute.

"Well then, shall we go?"

"Yes. For starters I was curious about that place."

Sylvia glanced back and pointed at the entrance to a tavern behind us.

A huge crowd had gathered there, and in the middle of the circle was a small table. On top of the table was a statue of an animal that look like an angler fish with it's mouth open.

A drunk was standing at a white line drawn on the road,

holding a handful of silver balls.

“Hrah! Yaah! Haaah!”

He flung the balls one after another, but to no avail. Each one

bounced off the table and onto the ground.

The shop owner standing next to the statue gathered up the balls with practiced ease and said in a loud voice:

“Step right up, ten balls for one lila! Land one, get a cup of the finest ale! Or lemonade for the boys and girls!”

“Seems like they won’t go in.” 

“Yeah. I think those silver balls are rigged.”

Even back on Earth it's not uncommon for some carnival games to be rigged.

After the drunk man, two boys tossed the balls one after another, but they came nowhere near the target.

A great sigh… came from the girls with them.

“…They get caught up in these things so easily.”

“Boys stink, huh?”

I know I was a man too once but… I'm actually glad I am woman in this world. Men are stupid. As I was having those thoughts, Sylvia looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“What is it?”

“Give us a demonstration?”

“Hrm.”

I guess I can. Even without magic I can do it with my eyes closed. Let's impress my date then. With a small nod, I pulled a lila gold coin from my pouch and went up to the tavern owner.

“Shopkeeper.”

“How can I help you, young miss?”

“One, please.”

What happened next was almost too quick for the eye to follow.

I rolled the balls around in my palm with a clink, then tossed them into the fish’s mouth.

There was nothing unusual about the technique. I simply had a good aim thanks to my Ruin Eyes. And with speed and precision, even if the ball was rigged, it made no difference for me.

One went in. Two. Three, four. Then five and six. For several seconds, the balls rolling down into the fish statue were almost overflowing.

“Wow!”

“Whoa…”

The amazement on the children’s faces was plain to see. And not just the children. The crowed clapped and began to cheer.

Heh! Sylvia stuck out her chest almost as if she were the one who had put on this stunning display.

“Geez, miss, I have a business. You couldn’t have held back? For my sake? ” 

“No.”

I gave him my honest reply. Cheating isn't good. I just made the odds even. 

“Six lemonades then?"

"Yes."

"Coming right up!”

I ended up not caring for the remaining 4 shots. Me and Sylvia drank a glass and we gave the other 4 to some kids. After that Sylvia wanted some sweets. However as I we ate…

"Aneue… I noticed something. It's like before eating… you do something to your food."

"So you noticed."

Bessie doesn't have that much magical aptitude. But it seems like Sylvia noticed.

"It's a scanning spell."

"Scanning?"

"I analyze the food to make sure it doesn't contain bacteria, germs or poison."

"Er… why would you do that?"

"Even if it's a festival, you think I would let my guard down? You never know when an enemy might appear. I'm just cautious."

Sylvia giggled at my reply. Given my past it's only natural to be careful. 

"Look Aneue. A wishing well!"

"Huh?"

"Look, there's even a sign. Throw a coin, pull the rope, ring the bell and good things will come your way."

"This is obviously a scam. This well was here before after all."

"Can't we try?"

"Be my guest."

Sylvia threw a lila, but when she pulled the rope… the bell fell from its stand and landed on Sylvia's head knocking her down.

"Ouch!!"

"I told you it wasn't a good idea."

I used my cure all on her to make the pain go away. And of course I fished the lila out. I don't want to waste money like this. I only went with this for Sylvia's sake. I grabbed her hand and pulled her away before she hurts herself again.

We moved on and we decided to listen to some music. 

“Oh, this is where all the performers are, isn’t it?”

Artists of every stripe in every costume imaginable proclaimedt their artistry for all to hear.

Passersby smiled, enjoyed the shows, clapped, and left a tip —or ignored the whole spectacle and moved along.

A bard was even juggling a handful of balls. An enthusiastic nonsense song came out of his mouth.

Life’s a roll of the dice

Roll them day after day

Take a drink at the tavern

Until you see double

Because it's the only way

You can see a better number

And hope that tomorrow

You roll all sixes!

Wow. That really made no sense whatsoever. But listening to various songs made time fly, and Sylvia was enjoying it. For someone like her who never set foot out of Lyndwurm, this was bliss. Evening was about to come though. 

We left the busy streets and eventually made our way to a flower shop.

"Aneue…"

"Would you like some flowers?"

She strongly nods. I don't know what girls like, but given her crimson traits…

"A bouquet of roses?"

"Red really suits you Sylvia. Besides, why are you shy right now. You brought me here because you like flowers, right?"

"Yes. It's a hobby of mine. Watering flowers, staying near them… makes me happy."

A blissful smile appeared on her face as she smelled the flowers. This side of Sylvia… is really cute. Competitive, shy and bold. This day is just full of surprises.