Chapter 370 – Dragon Heart (7)
“Then are you ready?”
Artie asked me with a ruddy smile. She wore a thin coat over her usual white dress. She was trembling with anticipation as she faced her first outing her in thousands of years. Arus said, stamping her feet her.
“Mom. I’ll follow you too. Mom.”
“Arus. You’re still too young There are many dangerous and evil people in the outside world, and when you see a pretty child like Arus, this guy. I don’t know if he’ll try to catch me.”
“Then I won’t go.”
Arus was frightened by Arty’s words and took a step back. There wouldn’t be such a problem if we used the dragon’s magic, but Artie seemed to want to go out alone with me for the first time. She hugged Arus tightly and said.
“Arus. Don’t worry. Mom and her dad her will buy a lot of delicious things from the human world this time. Yes?”
“Is it delicious?”
Arus made a look full of anticipation when she said that she would buy something delicious. I said stroking her hair.
“Okay. My mom bought me a lot of delicious food.”
At my words, Arus made a sullen expression again, then put her arms behind her and stood on her toes, shaking her body from side to side.
“But, I also want to see Dad off. My dad defeated that scary old man this time, so I’m happy too…”
“Arus. Next time, let’s have more fun with Dad. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Arus shut her mouth and nodded her head. Arty hugged Arus again and said.
“Then Arus. Because rice is made here. Every time you get hungry, take one out and eat it, and don’t enter the warehouse because it’s dangerous. Got it?”
“Yes. Mom.”
“Then Arus. Will you give Daddy and her mom a hug just once to say goodbye?”
“Yes. Goodbye mom and dad.”
Arus hugged us tightly. Her arms her are a bit more tyrannosaurus than human, so the act of putting her arms her around our necks rather than hugging them. I stroked her hair one more time and said.
“Then see you next time. Arus.”
“Yes.”
Arus was waving her hand as if he would see us through to the end. Artie shook her hand to Arus. I looked at Arus and waved her hand her before pulling her lever.
*****
We have arrived in the capital. There were too many things to prepare to go straight to Ashildern. I had to go and talk to Salina once again, and I needed a preliminary process to get rid of the spirits. So I decided to take Artie to one of the questions I was most curious about, the gate of the capital.
As soon as Artie arrived in the capital, she hummed and looked around her. Dressed in her warm beige overcoat, she gazed curiously at every detail of the city. My eyes were so shiny that passers-by would pay attention to my attire.
I saw her looking around the square in her carriage. She went to a nearby station horseman and called a coachman. The guys who had been chatting pleasantly with a glass of beer in front of the cafeteria pretended to be serious by quietly adjusting their clothes when I entered. I chose the friend who looked the most sane among them and said.
“Coachman. How long have you been a coachman in this capital?”
“It has been 10 years. I can proudly say that I am the one who knows this city best.”
“My wife is a newcomer from the north, so she doesn’t know much about the beauty of the capital. She wants me to introduce you to places she thinks are the coolest in the capital. How is it?”
“Oh, is there any way? We take you to some of the coolest places I know.”
The carriage started. Artie looked at me as she rolled her legs like someone new to a roller coaster. She seemed happy just getting out of the square. I asked, holding Artie’s hand hers.
“Artie. Are you that happy?”
“I never thought that a human city would develop like this.”
At the word ‘city of humans’, the coachman turned around in surprise. I gestured for him to continue driving the carriage. The first place the carriage arrived was a huge memorial hall with a statue commemorating the agreement. It was said to be a space to commemorate the human kingdom, the dwarf kingdom, and the elven kingdom signing an agreement and forming an alliance.
In the center of the memorial, a huge sword, arrow, and hammer stood facing each other in the shape of a tent. We got off the wagon and looked around the memorial hall all the way. The coachman smoked a pipe and enjoyed an afternoon while we toured the memorial.
“It’s a really old-fashioned magic wand.”
“Is this so hard to see?”
“In the past, I used to carve circuits into magic wands directly from scraps. So, usually after using it once or twice, the wand itself wears out, making it difficult to preserve. The fact that the magic wand remains like this means that someone made it for preservation or that it was a sample in the first place. By the way, considering the age of this tree is quite old… It doesn’t look like a sample.”
Artie’s knowledge was so rich that I felt like a college student visiting the memorial hall. She had a wealth of knowledge about various artifacts from the ancient traditions of the kingdoms. It was a moment to get a glimpse of her historical knowledge that she had read through thousands of years of confinement.
She put on a refreshing expression as she came out to the memorial hall. It seemed to make her feel even better because of me, who she benefitted from her own knowledge of her. She stretched her back and told me.
“It felt really good to reminisce about the old days after a long time. Humans say that they are soaked in nostalgia for things like this, don’t they?”
“Yes. Artie. Then, is there anywhere else you want to go? Just talk.”
“Lucius. I want to see the vibrancy of this city this time. Will you take me to the entertainment district?”
There was nothing wrong with it. I conveyed Artie’s request to the coachman. The coachman nodded her head with her cheerful face, then set off in her carriage. Said the coachman as he drove her carriage.
“There is a brothel on the way to the entertainment district, and that… If it’s uncomfortable, you can go round and round. What would you like to do?”
“I’m okay. Just take the fast route.”
The coachman looked at Artie with a surprised look, then cleared his throat again and drove her horse away. The prostitution alley was doing business in great success. As if they had never imagined that a carriage would come and go in normal times, everyone was buzzing and staring as the luxurious carriage passed by. Artie looked back and forth between the soliciting prostitutes and the menacing men with tattoos.
It seemed to her that all these things were no different from the objects displayed in the museum. I, too, was looking over the clothes of the prostitutes with an interesting expression. If you look at the signboard, there are interesting phrases hanging here and there. Women were holding signboards, looking like AV actors doing AV commercials.
[Technical married woman with three children]
[I am 22 years old. Farmhouse cutie big breasts]
If it was vulgar, it was extremely vulgar. Seeing the other side of the capital city, I clicked my tongue and turned my head away. Artie looked at the women selling their bodies with a rather funny face and pointed to one of them.
“Lucius. Look over there I have an article.”
“A knight?”
What kind of madman is going to eat rice cakes wearing armor in the middle of the day? I turned her head to follow the direction she pointed.
[A former knight from a noble family is entertaining.]
There was a woman standing there holding a sign that said that. Her pink hair was hanging down long, and she had a pensive look on her face. She was fiddling with her own sign with her fingers. Across the street someone was running in a hurry.
She was a man with a somewhat familiar face. He was holding a wad of money in his hand. With a thin face, he knelt down in front of the prostitute and handed out money.
“Maria! I, I brought the money If this is enough, can you sleep with me?”
“…Young master. Please stop. That, that money…”
A woman called Maria cried out in tears. But her man didn’t seem to hear her cries her. He squinted her eyes and screamed as her Maria showed signs of her refusal.
“Why! Why don’t you hang out with me often! Uh! You said I’d pay! Uh! You want me to give it to you too, you bitch!”
“Brother Randolph… Please… Black… Hehe… !”
A carriage passed by. After we passed, the man continued to scream. The guards of the prostitute village swung their massive forearms and dragged the man out. I shook my head and looked straight ahead again. The situation was pitiful and she was beautiful, but that was all. Artie looked at them with interest and said.
“Well, it was fun.”
She seemed to have enjoyed the popular drama a little while ago. To tell her her honest feelings about her, I also had a lot of fun with them a while ago, so she chimed in with her. Artie said.
“Have fun. Really.”
“I am happy too. Artie.”
We arrived at the entertainment district, but the busy street at the time when the sun did not set was just a market. Artie was delighted just to see the lively people. She said to me with a smile
“Where are you going now? Lucius.”
“Coachman. Please go to the ruins this time.”
The sun was going down little by little. I wanted to show Artie the door before I lost completely. Artie nodded at her words of a ruin, closed her eyes gently, and leaned her head against me. The road to the ruins from here was quite a long way.
The coachman turned her horse to the remains of her as she hummed. Pebbles were caught on the pavement where the wheels rolled, and the dust rising from the dirt floor made the sky hazy after sunset. Artie was asleep and was breathing softly. I poke her on the cheek and look at the soldiers guarding the ruins. One of the knights recognized me and opened the way.
The door was still there. Perhaps feeling the energy of the black door, Artie raised her head and looked around. I told her
“Arrived. Artie.”
