LIGHT NOVEL
LIGHT NOVEL
— Alde’s perspective —
Having arrived at the domain capital, we finished checking in at the inn and then decided to go sightseeing.
The domain capital is also called the City of Water, and draws many tourists. Most of them are nobles, though.
I’d visited once as a child, with my family, on some errand, but since I was still little I barely remember it. I’ve only got fragments—that there were an awful lot of bridges, and not much more.
To begin with, most commoners have neither the money nor the time nor the custom for sightseeing trips, so the very fact that I’m traveling with Tisli like this is quite rare. Even among adventurers, I hear parties that travel are the minority.
So, since the chance was here, I was savoring the sightseeing for all it was worth.
“Man… still, this city’s something. Look at that building over there—people are going in and out of it riding little boats.”
When I pointed, Tisli turned her gaze that way too.
“This city was originally an inlet overgrown with vines, apparently.”
“Why build a town in a place like that?”
“From what I hear, it’s where people fled to after being driven off by barbarians.”
“I see. An inconvenient spot like an inlet—no one else would want it.”
“That’s probably how it was.”
To grow from such an origin all the way to a domain capital—the effort of those who came before is amazing, that’s the one word for it.
Many of the buildings are structured as if they stand on the sea, and waterways far outnumber the roads and sidewalks. The center of the city even forbids carriage travel, apparently. There must be no roads a carriage could pass.
So naturally, we’re getting around by passenger boat even now. Right now it’s a relatively wide waterway, so we’re on a boat that holds about thirty, but the deeper into the city you go, the narrower the waterways get, and then passenger boats can’t make it through.
So you ride a rowboat—a gondola—that holds four at most. “Rowboat,” but the one rowing is the boatman; all we have to do is sit.
“Oh, Tisli. What’s that colorful building?”
“The locals paint them so they can tell which is their own house, apparently.”
“Is that so—splendid. Hm, what about that building with all the pointed roofs over there?”
“That’s the Grand Cathedral. It’s a famous temple even in this country, and one of the sightseeing spots. Shall we go later?”
“Yeah, I’d like to go inside too—ah, there’s a bridge over there with tons of people on it. Why’s that?”
“It’s the city’s oldest bridge, designed by a famous artist. So it, too, is a sightseeing spot.”
“Even a single bridge is impressive. Let’s go there later too.”
With the knowledgeable Tisli serving as my guide, I never got bored. Even seeing a famous building, half the fun is lost if you don’t know its history. Having Tisli along is a real help.
After that, we got off the passenger boat and decided to grab a light lunch.
Dozens of eateries lined a narrow alley—quite a spectacle, honestly. It’s a scene that offers a glimpse of this city’s vitality.
“Tisli, are you okay eating in a place like this?”
That said, Tisli’s a princess, so she’s probably never been to a downtown like this, and there’s no telling if the food will suit her.
Well, judging by how she’s been at the post towns so far, she’s not fussy about the food, but she’s the type who minds etiquette and manners.
Thinking that, I asked, and Tisli nodded, looking thoroughly curious. She seemed to think she was hiding that expression, though.
“No problem. There’s a saying—follow the customs of the land you enter… well, I’ve still got some resistance to eating while walking, but…”
“Then let’s eat inside a shop rather than at a stall. Looks cramped, but they’ll have stand-up eating or something.”
And so we stepped into an alley just wide enough for people to pass each other. Narrow as it was, it overflowed with people, so we advanced deeper in single file.
Then, finding a shop with some depth to it, we went inside.
“Looks like you buy goods at the front and eat them inside.”
When I said that, looking around the shop, Tisli nodded, eyes sparkling.
“So it seems. This is my first time at a shop like this…!”
Knowledgeable as Tisli is, she’s surely had zero of this kind of common experience, so more than the famous landmarks, it’s the downtown that draws her interest.
“Oh, they’ve got liquor too. Sun’s still high, but maybe I’ll have a glass.”
“Then I’ll have one too—”
“Absolutely not!”
Tisli pouted, but there’s no way I’d let someone who keels over in a few sips drink.
I told her drinking would make today’s sightseeing impossible and lectured her on how rough hangovers are, and somehow got Tisli to give in with, “Honestly… very well. I’ll bear with it this time.”
This girl—weak head for drink and yet she seems to like liquor itself. Why she likes it when she can’t properly drink is a mystery to me.
After that, we ordered seafood fritto and squid-ink pasta and took our seats. “Took our seats,” but it was stand-up eating.
“Hmm… so this is a standing-style restaurant.”
Setting the food on a high table jutting from the stone wall, Tisli murmured that.
“I don’t think standing-room is a refined style, but… well, it’s for saving space, probably. Standing’s okay?”
“Yes, well. Standing-style is common even at banquets, so no problem… well, eating in such a cramped place is a first for me.”
The shop was small yet crammed with people, so the density was unreal. But every customer was chatting cheerfully, so cramped as it was, it must feel fun.
“Alde, may I have one of those fritto?”
“Oh, sure. Which one?”
“May I have the shrimp fritto?”
“Yeah. Shrimp really is the best, huh—nice and plump.”
“Mmf, mmf… it’s true. To think it could be this delicious…”
“Then give me a bite of that pasta too.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Ohh… squid ink’s this good, huh.”
“Alde, your mouth is covered in squid ink, you know.”
“Oops, pardon me—”
“Hey, don’t go wiping it with your hand. Here, I’ll lend you a handkerchief.”
“But then the handkerchief’ll get all squid-inky—”
“It’ll be fine if I wash it.”
“Yeah? Then don’t mind if I do.”
“In thanks, then, a sip of that malt ale—”
“I said no!”
Trading each other’s dishes like that, we savored our lunch.
After that, once we’d left the shop, we decided to ride a gondola to push deeper into the city.
At the gondola dock, a few groups had formed a line, and we lined up too. Then the elderly couple in line ahead of us invited us, “How about together?”
A gondola holds four and the destination’s the same, so sharing makes the fare cheaper. So when I asked Tisli, “What do you want to do?” Tisli nodded.
“Yes, let’s go together. This kind of… mingling is one of the joys of travel.”
It’s not just savoring the joys of travel—she’s surely thinking “this kind of mingling with the people,” knowing her.
For someone who says she’s quit being a princess, Tisli acts the princess at every turn. By now it’s practically an occupational habit. Not that it’s a bad thing, though.
So we boarded the gondola with the elderly couple, startled at how much it rocked.
Once the four of us were seated and settled, the gentlemanly old man asked. He was probably some minor noble or other.
“Are you two young’uns on a date, husband and wife?”
“A husband-and-wife date?!”
The old man surely wasn’t even teasing, but Tisli reacted with great exaggeration. Overreacting too much rocks the gondola, though…
“N-no, we’re not!”
“Oh? Then are you engaged?”
“That’s not it either!”
“Eh, but…”
The elderly couple’s gazes gathered on our rings. Tisli seemed to notice and quickly hid her ring with one hand.
“Th-these are just magic tools—they don’t carry that kind of meaning…!”
Saying that with flushed cheeks carries no persuasive power whatsoever, though…
Sure enough, the old woman tilted her head and turned her gaze to me, asking, “Is that so?”
So I nodded with a wry smile.
“Yes. I’m just an attendant.”
At that answer, the elderly couple’s eyes went round, and then the old woman said,
“An attendant? You’re awfully close for that, then.”
“C-close?!”
Tisli let out a near-shriek.
“It’s not like we’re close! We were just bickering earlier, weren’t we?!”
Come to think of it, in the gondola line, Tisli had been griping about me not letting her drink. Why she loses all sense of herself where liquor’s concerned, I’d wondered, and let it wash over me.
At that Tisli, the old woman laughed merrily.
“Young lady, out in the world they call that getting along, you know?”
“Th-there’s no way—”
“Well, I get the gist of it, don’t I, dear?”
“Mm, indeed. The young have all sorts going on.”
“You two are definitely misunderstanding something, aren’t you?!”
After that, too, Tisli ended up teased one way or another, staying bright red throughout.
Even Tisli, it seems, can’t come on strong against a kindly-looking elderly couple, and in the end she just took whatever they said.
And so the gondola ride ended, and we parted with the elderly couple on good terms. At the last, the old woman whispered to me, “You hang in there,” so all I could do was give a wry smile.
“Honestly… that couple was a real handful…!”
To Tisli, still red-faced, striding briskly down the alley, I said,
“Hey… this magic tool doesn’t have to be a ring, does it? A necklace, for instance.”
At that, Tisli turned a troubled face to me.
“A necklace gets in the way more than you’d think, you know? Catch your finger on it while changing clothes and it snaps.”
Never having worn a necklace, I thought, “That so,” and Tisli continued.
“So for wearing all the time, a ring is best.”
“I see. But isn’t it a pain getting mistaken for husband and wife or engaged every time? In that case, wouldn’t a different shape be better? You could remake it, right, Tisli?”
“Th-that’s… that may be so, but…”
At that opinion of mine, for some reason Tisli didn’t seem keen.
After that, Tisli said nothing for a while, so, tilting my head, I followed after her.
Presently, where the alley opened onto a main street, Tisli turned around.
“But this ring also serves to ward off men, so I think a ring is better after all.”
“Well, maybe so, but then you’re resigned to being mistaken for a married couple from here on?”
“Th-that’s right. To be misunderstood like that is a disgrace of a lifetime, but—”
“That far?”
“That far! But being hit on by men is even more of a bother, so from now on, I’ll bear that disgrace with grace!”
“Yeah, yeah. Then for now we’d better do something about that bright-red face of yours.”
“I-it’s not red!”
“Is that so.”
Haa, honestly…
With a mouth this sharp, anyone who took her at face value would get angry.
“Ah, then how about—”
That said, figuring it must be rough for Tisli to go bright red every time, I—for some reason—swallowed the idea I’d hit upon.
Walking beside me, Tisli tilted her head and looked at me.
“How about what?”
“Nah, never mind. It’s nothing.”
Then why not just stop wearing the ring on your ring finger?—With a wry smile I swallowed those words, and decided to go on enjoying our sightseeing—our date.
(And that’s that.)
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