Chapter 91
Maki and Chiharu returned to their room, and after making sure that no one was near their door, they sat down on their beds and faced each other .
“They did say something about how it would be better, in the long run, if our identities remained secret . ”
Chigaru started lazily .
“I think he’s just keeping us away because he can’t be bothered to explain anything . ”
“You’re probably right . ”
Maki folded her arms as she continued .
“So, we can either do something or just sit around quietly . ”
“Maki-chan . There’s another option . ”
Maki unfolded her arms and leaned forward . Chiharu put a single finger up to her lips and looked at her mischievously .
“We can’t search for the merfolk alone . But we can’t move with Aaron, Edwy, and Zynis’s son either . However, there is something that only we can do, isn’t there?”
“Just us? Saintesses…the gazers!”
“Correct!”
Chiharu clapped her hands .
“The border town between Midland and Lowland was the last one, right? And just look at how thick the miasma is here . I think there are definitely stray gazers around . ”
“I think they should be alright if they survived this long without us . Still…”
Maki looked outside of the window .
“I feel bad for the gazers who say they are tired as they sway in the air . ”
“Yeah . They cross over mountains like that . ”
Both of them thought back on the gazer they had met in the border town . Had it wandered around for a day longer, it would have likely attracted attention and caused a big scene .
“But if we called gazers from this window, people will see them . What should we do?”
Chiharu tilted her head and thought . Just then, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs . They stopped right in front of their door, and then there was a knock .
“It’s Aaron . ”
“Oh, the prince has become wiser . ”
“I can hear you . ”
Maki chuckled as she opened the door .
“Aaron . ”
Aaron glared at her, but Maki took no notice .
“I’m sorry to inform you, but we’ll be leaving the inn for a while . I’m sure this will be very worrying for you, but just stay here quietly . ”
“We’re 25 . You don’t need to worry about us . ”
“You’re the last person I’d believe . ”
Aaron growled . And then he returned to his room once before going down the stairs .
“Is he gone?”
“Yeah, he’s gone . ”
Maki stood up and looked at Chiharu . If they couldn’t do it from the window, that meant they had to go outside . But Chiharu was still dressed as a young girl . They wondered if it would be better to change .
“Are you thinking that it would be difficult for me to move? It’s actually quite easy since the skirt is shorter than the ones for adults . Besides, if we get caught outside, it might be better if I’m still Chouze . ”
“That’s true . You rode in the carriage like this and sold everyone oranges . It should be fine . ”
Maki nodded . And then Chiharu stood up .
“So, what should we do?”
She asked . Maki grinned and pushed up her hair .
“I just talked to some of the people that work here . I said that I wanted to meet one of the girls I became friends with today . And I wanted to do it without my older brother finding out about it . ”
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She answered .
Maki-chan, that’s a bit…”
Chiharu was exasperated .
“Oh, but they were very understanding . They said that it must be hard to live in his shadow . ”
“Stop that . It’s too funny . ”
Chiharu’s stomach started to hurt from laughing too much .
“There’s a door on the opposite side of the stairs that leads to a staircase that’s just for people who work here . And if you go down there, you can go out the back of the inn . They say that if we stay out too late it might get locked . But I’m sure it will be fine . And then we can go to the mountain from there . ”
Maki said . And like that, the two of them snuck out the back of the inn . They avoided being seen and went up a path they had seen during the day that led to the mountain . As they would get caught if they used any lights, they had to depend on the light of the moon .
“Haah . Haah . We’ve gone pretty far now . ”
“Yeah . Oh, I can see the villa and the lake from here . ”
While Chiharu was panting, Maki seemed like she was still full of energy . Still, Chiharu felt that she had become a lot tougher compared to before . Once they were high enough, they moved over to a spot under a tree where they were less likely to be seen . Then Maki and Chiharu stretched their arms to the sky and tried to search for the presence of gazers .
“Hey . ”
“Ahhh!”
A voice suddenly called from behind them, and Maki was so surprised that she jumped . As for Chiharu, she was too scared to move .
When they fearfully turned around, they saw someone with short, brown hair . When they looked behind the person, they saw large, brown wings .
“It’s a non-white…Sauro . ”
“Don’t compare me to him . ”
The birdman stared at Maki, who was the one who had said Sauro’s name . This complete lack of tact . He was indeed a birdman . After thinking this, Chiharu wasn’t nervous at all .
“Your hair is unnatural . It must be a wig . And you have black eyes . That means…”
“We discovered the Saintesses!”
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“Kaela…”
Another birdperson appeared . The first one was touching his forehead . Yes, birdfolk generally traveled in pairs . Maki recalled .
“Woah! So small! So cute! She’s just like Saikania described!”
The smaller birdperson started circling around Chiharu .
“Umm . ”
“Hmm? What?”
“We came here in secret, so could you keep it down?”
“Oh, that’s right . We’re also on a mission . ”
Maki and Chiharu were very disappointed . However, this was no time for that . For now, they had to figure out what was going on . And so Maki decided to try and talk to them .
“Um…ahh!”
Something had rubbed against her foot .
“What? What? Ahh!”
As she moved around frantically, something moved between her legs . It was furry .
“Uh? What? Woah! Ah!”
“You don’t have to be so surprised . ”
Something said under her arm .
“Of course I’d be surprised! A two-meter doggy just popped out of nowhere!”
Maki shot back .
“Doggy? Oh, you must mean dog . So the dogs in your country must have been small . ”
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“It’s Zynis…”
Before she knew it, Maki’s arms were around the large dog with ash-colored hair . And yes, that gentle voice was Zynis’s . That being said, a dog… Maki looked at everything from the head to the tail . A two-meter dog was the same size as a sofa for three people . And so when he stood, his face reached her chest .
The nose on its gray face started to sniff at Maki . Woah . So big . That’s the only thing she could think of . Maki was quite stunned .
“You look well . ”
Zynis said with satisfaction . Chiharu then wobbled up towards them .
“Zynis . ”
“Oh, Chiharu . You seem well too . ”
Without saying anything, Chiharu put her arms around Zynis’s neck and buried her face in his fur . Maki held him just as tightly .
“Hmm . What? Do you miss your home?”
Zynis’s tail wagged gently . However, they were not feeling that sentimental . They just wanted to bury their faces in some soft fur . It was so fluffy . It was heaven .
“Zynis . We were talking to the Saintesses before you interrupted . ”
Kaela said with some annoyance in her voice . Chiharu remembered and pulled her face out . They hadn’t been talking at all! She always had an urge to fire back when the birdfolk talked, and that had brought her back to reality .
“That’s right . We were going to ask them what they were doing here . ”
The other birdperson said . And then Maki raised her head from the fur . Yes, they had something to do .
“Zynis . And you two birdpeople! Could you stand back?”
“Also, please don’t interfere . ”
The atmosphere had suddenly changed . Maki and Chiharu stood very straight . While they were suspicious, the three newcomers moved back . Then Maki and Chiharu looked up at the sky .
“There . ”
It was a gazer .