After that short interlude, Petra and the girls returned to the festival as the sun began to finally set.
They spent the rest of their day near the docks, wandering around without a worry in the world, looking at all the cool ships that lined the harbor…
Petra found herself fascinated!
Technology in Pillomal was a very strange thing.
They had large warships, magitech-based systems, and a full harbor-based infrastructure, yet they still lacked basic things such as 'trains' and 'mortal firearms' (literal guns). Some flying machines, such as 'airships' and 'motor vehicles' did exist, but they were rarely used, often replaced by magic artifacts, or large, flying-type magic beasts!
Speaking of magic beasts, the presence of magic beasts, especially high-level ones, made 'wide-scale' infrastructure either impractical or completely unnecessary. Excluding the High Elves, far-reaching systems like rails or energy grids were almost completely unseen in the current era. Even the ley line network that had been artificially constructed during the Golden Age of the High Elves was something no one could replicate. It had been a miracle back then, and it felt even more miraculous now!
-
As the girls walked, they talked. Their main focus was on the 'guest list.'
Excluding the largest offender, which was the adventurer's guild, there was quite a large variety of different forces that had arrived recently.
Excluding the 'named factions'—
There were…
The 'Beast Clan' was composed of 'Demi-Humans', like Petra's beast maids, and the 'True Beast Clan', which were high-level magic beasts that could take on human form! Humans with a beast bloodline had a human face with animal features, and a beast with a human form had beast faces with a human body. This was the difference between a girl with dog ears and a dog-headed girl!
The 'Sky Clan' had also appeared, and like the beast clan, they appeared as humans with bird-like heads, but in truth, they were all just different birds sneakily taking on a human shape!
And apparently, there was even a small number of delegates from the Sea Clans Royal Family, the Mermaid Clan! Because the Book of Calamity was never circulated in the sea, many of the sea races didn't even believe in it! This created an awkward atmosphere, especially with the 'land clans' rapidly preparing for a sea-based war! From their perspective, they were likely the targets!
Thinking about it—
The 'Sea Clan' had likely come to clear this up, and figure out what was really going on…
It was good timing!
Together with countless others, it had become quite cozy…
Naturally, the most powerful of the outsiders was the 'Dragon Clan', but there were a few other notable big shots as well, such as the 'Telltera' and the 'Church of Light'.
On that note, Petra didn't need to worry about 'being discovered' by the Church of Light!
With several powerful dark-type races currently gathering, for example, the 'Dark Elves', the 'Darkaale', the 'Shadow Clan', and the 'Telltera', no matter how much this place 'reeked' of evil, the Church of Light would be insane to attack like they did during the Grand Gathering! The Hellion Empire was different from Imai, so even if they were 'capable', they wouldn't risk starting a fight in the middle of the city…
Finally, the real problem child of the overseas experts, the 'Adventurers Guild!'
- Insert party shakers—? No! Mm…
Soryn had talked about the Adventurer's Guild before. The guild hall on the Cross Continent was only one of countless branch halls, and in truth, the Adventurer's Guild spanned the entire world, and the Cross Continent was no exception. In fact, the Cross Continent was only a small corner.
As for why Petra was interested…
Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Legendary Level! These were the five tiers of adventurers.
These tiers didn't necessarily correspond directly to a cultivation level. Instead, they reflected an adventurer's achievements—no, not just achievements, but also their reputation, knowledge, and willingness to mentor and support the younger generation of adventurers!
Petra had wanted to meet the 'Diamond-level Adventurer' who had come from abroad, but—
Her small eyes shifted towards a spot in the crowd…
Petra's petite body suddenly felt cold!
There, just over the crowd of heads—
She could see a large group of people surrounding someone, and in the center, one woman was loudly scolding a young girl.
Petra felt herself tremble as she listened closely. Her academic PTSD was suddenly flaring up…
* * *
The 'instructor-like woman' stood with a straight back as she berated a young girl with orange hair and horse ears. She was middle-aged, with curly blond hair that was pulled back into a tightly bound, puffy high ponytail. A pair of sharp, merciless black eyes fixed on her 'target', and appeared to almost strip away anything that fell beneath her piercing gaze!
She appeared to be 'correcting' a 'student'...
The woman wore the robes of an 'instructor'…
As she talked, every few words, her hands came together in a sharp clap!
Strangely enough, this was exactly the diamond-level adventurer that Petra had been looking for, but… nothing about this scene resembled the heroic image she originally had expected.
The scolding continued—
"You don't—clap—listen at all!—clap—!" She clapped coldly!
"This is not—clap—what we taught you—clap—back in class!—clap—clap—clap—clap—!"
"Hestdum Holzeyras!—clap—With your identity, how can you—clap—be satisfied—clap—with just scraping by with the bare minimum!—clap—clap—clap—clap—! What would your family think!"
The young girl, Hesta, jolted like she'd been struck by lightning. Her body tensed, then her shoulders drooped, her eyes dropping to the floor as her ears went limp against the side of her head.
She was very expressive!
"I-I'm sorry, Miss Green, I-I won't do it again... I-I-I!"
"Oh, I know you won't!" the woman spat with an ice-cold voice. She narrowed her eyes, then smiled with a sadistic smile, "Because this time—clap! You're going to remember!"
"M-miss g-green…! I-I-I! I-I-I-I'M S-SORRY—!"
Swack! She was whacked over the head with a newspaper!
Swack-swot-swack! Swack-swot-swack! Swack-swot-swack!
She continued to whack her over the head with a newspaper!
Hesta whimpered, using her trembling hands to guard her head. "P-please, Instructor, I-I was nervous, I-I thought I understood—I thought I didn't need to—"
"—Ha! This time I'll make sure your punishment will be severe enough to carve that into your thick skull!—clap—clap—clap—clap—clap—clap—clap!"
The students: "..."
Petra: "…"
The beastmen girl nodded frantically, fake tears streaming down her face!
"Y-yes, I-Instructor. I-I understand now, I really do! I won't slack off, I promise—!"
"If you understood," the instructor snapped, leaning forward and looking down, "we wouldn't be standing here making a scene, would we!
The poor girl 'broke down' completely!
That damn girl actually began to cry!
Watching from nearby, Petra sniffed at the interaction.
On one side, the poor girl was such a good actor that without her countless years of experience, Petra might not have been able to tell that she was faking it—
On the other hand, this teacher…
—Why did this feel so familiar?
Who did it remind her of? Was it in her past life? No, how strange, why couldn't she remember? Petra shivered and shook away the thought. She didn't want to play with 'that', so she quickly left!
She took the girls and left with a cloud of dust!
* * *
The first day of the festival was coming to an end…
-
The sun was setting, and Petra gradually slowed down.
The sea breeze rolled in from the harbor and mixed with the chill of the encroaching night, making the wind feel far colder than it should have. The crowd had begun to return home for the night, thinning out and emptying the streets, making it easier to move around. Most of the official attractions set up by the empire had already closed for the day, and in their place, more common stalls took over, shifting into more of a nighttime rhythm. Smoke from the grills and bundles of 'unorthodox' herbs drifted lazily upwards, mingling with the salt from the sea before fading into the clear, star-speckled night sky.
Petra paused near the edge of a small decorative bridge that connected the harbor district to the wharf, leaning over the railing with her belly exposed. Below, the water reflected the lights like scattered stars, breaking and reforming each time a ripple passed or a wave rolled.
Music still played from somewhere in the distance, but softer and slower than in the day.
The day's excitement had burned out, leaving behind only a comfortable hum in the air.
Petra nibbled cutely on the last skewer she had bought, her feet swinging back and forth as they hung down off the bridge, watching people pass. Romantic couples, families walking together, exhausted friends, drunken adventurers, fighters nursing sore muscles, seasick arrivals, beautifully 'big' sisters, and yawning guards ready to end their day and return home.
Everyone looked tired…
"Mm," Petra hummed.
Her pockets were lighter, her stomach was full, and her ears buzzed pleasantly from the static of the sea. Lilly sat beside her, already tired, while Luna lingered just behind, staring in stoic silence. The trio dangled their legs off the end of the bridge, muttering as the water below reflected the light of the city.
The six, now nine, butler beauties stood hidden around them, attentive as always!
As Petra spent more time with them, she began to realise that they 'might' have been trained to make up for her lack of perception! Although it was very embarrassing, Elli was too kind to do this for her!
Petra really did have a problem with her situational awareness…
-
Time passed...
The sky darkened, turning from dark blue to purple, then slowly became black as the night rolled in.
Petra straightened up and hopped down.
Suddenly—
Hm?
—She paused. Her ears twitched as she tilted her head, suddenly sensing something off…
It was… troublemakers! Dun-da-dum-da-dum!
Petra's gaze shifted to where the bustless butlers were already looking, followed by Luna, and a beat later, seeing their reactions, the cutely oblivious Lilly turned as well.
Behind them—
A 'small and dreadfully helpless little girl' was 'unwillingly' following a group of three 'sketchy adults' into a narrow alleyway, 'willingly' walking with them. The child… had pink hair… two crystal-like horns… and was undeniably very cute! Mm—?
Wait a minute…
Upon closer inspection, they were 'acquaintances', at least, one of them was, so—
Petra stood up and then followed them into the dark alley!
Author: "..."
* * *
At the same time, on the other side of the street, slightly before Petra made her move… two figures had also noticed this 'atrocity'. Albert had been leaning against a railing with his arms crossed, half-listening to Albery complain about his stupid actions and unreasonable loyalty to the Storm Tower.
"It's been over two years!"
Albert rolled his eyes.
What his sister called a 'cult-like obsession' was actually his way of 'contributing to the world!' Like the other towers, the Storm Tower held command over the eastern region, retaining order. If it wasn't for the Great Wind Wall taking 'slightly' too long to disperse, a notion that Albert had already hypnotized himself to believe wholeheartedly, he had no doubt in his mind that he would have already tracked down the little green-haired brat and Dorthy! After that. It was a simple enough matter to return the missing hero's back to their proper positions, whether they liked it or not…
Although he and his sister were close, they still didn't get along when it came to this topic.
Dorthy had a relationship with both of them, but it had become strained after what happened in Sevensen, and even without Dorthy, this had only worsened with time.
Suddenly—
"Hm…?"
His eyes caught the small figure being guided into the alley, and his expression changed. Albery followed his gaze, her strict-sisterly demeanor vanishing instantly.
"That's not right," she muttered, then frowned.
"Hey, isn't that little girl…"
"Let's go."
"Mm."
Albert was already moving, and Albery followed close behind.
Their robes fluttered as they jogged over to the alleyway.
They exchanged a glance—
Then they disappeared!
-