Chapter 37 – Everyone’s eyes are on Kaya

“So these are the capital streets I’ve heard so much about… It’s so emotional!”

“Stop it with the racket, Kaya. You’re drawing attention.”

We just got to the commercial street, and Kaya’s excitement is at a fever pitch.

She keeps speaking really fast and going up to every storefront. Everyone’s eyes are on her, in a bad way of course.

Sieglinde is supposed to visit us tonight, but we’re not going to make it in time at this rate. It’s starting to feel like it’s going to take us half a day to get through the commercial street.

Even Ririi, who loves going out, is staying put and not matching Kaya’s excitement.

“How can I!? Weiss, do you know the odds that someone from my village will ever see the capital?”

“Dunno. Thirty percent?”

She doesn’t have to say it for me to know that she really admires the capital. I’m sure all that stuff about the angel bear was just an excuse to get here.

Judging by all that, I’m guessing it’s probably pretty hard for someone from her village to move to the capital.

I think thirty percent is a pretty good guess, but Kaya lets out a sigh, like I’m overestimating them.

“Don’t be silly… Once percent. One. About one in a hundred people.”

“Really? It’s not even that far.”

If her village is near where the angel bears live, the distance shouldn’t be a problem. It should take about two or three days by wagon.

And the guards at the gate should let them through if they show their identification and state the purpose of their visit.

Kaya lets out an even bigger sigh. She’s looking at me like she’s thinking about how a city guy like me is making an ignorant bumpkin like her feel exasperated.

“The distance… The problem is money. This place really is strange. How come a cup of coffee costs three hundred zeni?”

“Three hundred zeni? That’s pretty cheap.”

The cafes in prime locations of the commercial street charge twice as much. I’m pretty sure that’s how it was in the cafe I visited with Sieglinde too.

But what I said leaves Kaya at a loss for words.

I start thinking about stopping by that place and getting some pancakes to go… When Kaya starts moving again. This girl really does overreact to everything.

“You’re kidding!? Three hundred zeni? That’s how much I make after a week of working hard checking on the angel bears!”

“Three hundred a week? That’s really low. You’d never make it in the capital like that.”

Healers of the ministry of magic, who are seen as an elite class here in the capital, make about six million zeni a year.

If Kaya makes three hundred zeni a week, she’d make fifteen thousand zeni a year.

I don’t know how high or low Kaya’s position is in her village, but that means the former makes four hundred times more than her.

Yes, it’d be impossible to live in the capital. Three hundred zeni can’t keep you well fed for a day.

“Right? That’s why I’m thankful for you. Because you’re looking after me.”

She says before running off to peek at another storefront. I just stand here looking at her with my mouth open.

…Did I say I’d look after her? I don’t remember that. Could it be that I was the one who was in the magic bag, and not her?”

“Daddy, beary is asleep…”

“Hn?”

I turn around after Ririi tugs at my pants, and see the angel bear lying on the stone pavement. It got tired and completely switched off into resting mode.

…I don’t blame it. A lot happened today.

I hold the angel bear, and keep walking. The angel bear is half the size of Ririi, so it barely weighs anything. I thought the same thing the first time I held Ririi, but it feels weird that something that weighs so little is alive.

“Are you feeling sleepy too, Ririi?”

“No, Ririh’s fine.”

“I see. Then let’s get some pancakes and go home.”

“…!! Ririh’s gonna eat lots of pancakes!”

“Hold on hold on. Are you talking about those pancakes?”

I guess Kaya’s ears are sharp, because she hears my conversation with Ririi and comes running. She heard it from ten meters away through all this noise.

“I don’t know what pancakes you’re thinking about, but they’re just pancakes. By the way, they cost two thousand zeni.”

“Two thousand zeni!? Blrlrlrlr…”

The cold reality makes her open her eyes wide and start foaming at the mouth.

But she recovers quickly and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. That’s dirty.

“Slurp… Weiss, can I have those pancakes too…? You’re not going to do something cruel like have me sit and watch, right…?”

From her point of view, those are super expensive sweets that cost more than she makes in a month.

A lady like her can’t let that chance escape her, so she grabs my hands using the same hand she used to wipe her drool.

Gross.

“Please… Weiss…”

I wonder what face she’d make if I coldly said no.

I’m kind of curious, but I lose the will to do that when I see her eyes getting moist.