Ch.25283. It’s Stranger to Have Multiple Suns in the Sky (2)

As the day and night changed four times, the crowds grew even larger.

Thanks to this, temporary residences, merchant stalls, and street vendors began to spread out beyond the royal city.

Since the preliminary matches were being held in the outer arena, most people who hadn’t arrived early were essentially quarantined in the temporary residential areas set up outside.

Urban reconstruction, construction, and expansion weren’t stories exclusive to the Empire.

Even in Dabas, as internal stability improved, the population grew, and the number of people flocking to the royal city in search of stable jobs was gradually increasing.

As a result, the royal city was still overflowing with work.

Because of this, as the role of administrators became more important, even noble children were being assigned administrative duties before they could complete their coming-of-age ceremonies.

“This place is still the same.”

While Lyurik leisurely looked around, Aristetis sat comfortably in the area where gypsies and opera troupes had gathered on the plains outside the royal city, playing an instrument as if it were his own home.

After receiving praise for his skill and smiling in response, Lyurik caught a glimpse of him before moving on to browse the food stalls.

“You idiot. Have you been wasting your years? Can’t you move your hands faster?”

“How much faster can I possibly go?!”

Lyurik turned his gaze toward the sound.

“Did I tell you to knead dough? Did I tell you to bake bread? What’s so difficult about just filling ingredients and preparing sauce?”

“I only have one arm! Not two like you!”

“Is making excuses all you can do? Besides, I’m young! Should I have to handle customer attraction, service, AND preparation all by myself?”

“You always play the youth card!”

A young man with one arm and a girl who looked much younger than him.

The two of them had set up a small stall where they were making sandwiches.

“What an interesting sight.”

It wouldn’t have been easy to secure a spot without someone backing them.

This season was known to be particularly competitive for street vendor locations.

“You’re too slow! With movements like that, how do you expect to dodge if blind blades or a shower of arrows come your way?”

“What does that have to do with this?!”

“If you’re sluggish normally, do you think you’ll suddenly move quickly in an emergency? Or wait, are you like a rat that only becomes nimble when being chased? Is that it?”

“You really—!”

The strange thing was that it seemed like the little girl was in charge rather than the young man.

Just from her tone and attitude, she appeared to have an incredibly strong personality….

“Hey, you! If you’re just going to stare, at least buy something!”

“…?”

Lyurik, who had been staring blankly, tilted his head toward the girl who was now looking directly at him.

“Are you talking to me?”

“You came to look, right? People who come to look at food are usually people who want to eat, who else would there be? You too, over there!”

An old man who had been watching the commotion clicked his tongue.

Thanks to her customer-attracting behavior, a couple of people gathered in front of the stall, and riding this momentum, the girl raised her voice even more to draw in more people.

“She’s quite the homemaker.”

At that age, with those skills, she probably wouldn’t starve wherever she went.

She must have gone through considerable hardship.

A child not acting like a child suggested circumstances that forced her to be that way.

Though there were also those who were naturally unlike children, like Lyurik himself.

“Changed your mind?”

“More or less.”

As Lyurik approached as a customer, her manner of speech immediately changed.

Though her loose, confrontational tone that didn’t match her age remained.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Huh? What has?”

When he pointed to a sandwich with some kind of meat, she skillfully spread vegetables and finely chopped meat on the bread below with a knife, as if painting.

Then she added what looked like a soft, mushy sauce on top, and finally covered it with another piece of bread—all in less than ten seconds.

“The way you look around seems less unfamiliar and more curious.”

“Is that strange?”

“Not strange. Just that the approving look in your eyes isn’t one an outsider would have.”

She can perceive such things?

Lyurik was impressed by the child’s perceptiveness.

“You’re quite remarkable.”

“Anyone would become like this if they had to survive in a world where losing focus or making wrong judgments means death.”

“Is that so?”

Perhaps she was a refugee from a war-torn region?

“No family?”

“What do you think?”

When Delica, the girl, countered, Lyurik pondered for a moment.

“Hmm, you two don’t look like siblings at all. Rather, seeing how you seem reluctantly entangled… did someone order or direct you to do this?”

“You have quite the sharp eye, mister.”

Mister?

Lyurik almost got goosebumps hearing that from her.

Originally, he was the type who was usually considered insensitive or dull, so experiencing this kind of feeling was quite novel.

“And this isn’t your main occupation but a side job. And the purpose isn’t money but… experience and practice?”

“Let me correct myself. Not sharp—abnormal.”

It was strange to grasp that much.

Even someone familiar with the situation would wonder why they were doing this without being told, yet a complete stranger had figured it out?

At this point, fortune-tellers might be jealous of his talent.

“What made you think that?”

“Just a feeling?”

“You really are a fortune-teller.”

If he had solid grounds and logic, he might be called extraordinary or superior rather than a fortune-teller.

But if not… well, fortune-teller it is.

Though the conversation had gone on longer than expected, Lyurik received his sandwich and left with a nod.

“I’ve filled everything.”

“Didn’t I tell you to observe your surroundings instead of just focusing on work?”

“…Here we go again.”

“What? What did you just say?”

This was all based on what Kariel had instructed, but this guy couldn’t even follow the basics?

Observe people, interact with people, experience conflicts.

Since one could easily avoid or bypass simple encounters, they created a situation where interactions were unavoidable through business.

Thanks to that, she was now playing the role of an untimely street vendor.

“Just now, a strange person passed by, but you didn’t even notice?”

“A strange person?”

“…Just someone weird.”

Someone whose mind seemed detached.

The kind of dull person who, if left alone, would silently stare at the sky or scenery until sunset.

Yet despite that, he could perceive areas that others couldn’t see or hear.

Was he the type who could see realms invisible to others?

“……”

Damn it.

As Kariel had said, she was definitely gaining a lot.

Thanks to Kariel’s guidance, her senses and thinking were opening up, allowing her to notice and understand things she hadn’t before.

Things she couldn’t even imagine before were now becoming reality.

‘Even in terms of skill level.’

Except for that strange man just now, most people were unremarkable both in terms of physical prowess and intellect.

She could roughly assess that much.

“……”

And that’s why this slow-witted person dawdling beside her was even more irritating.

In truth, he wasn’t that dull or clumsy… but somehow he didn’t meet her standards.

She just didn’t like him from the beginning.

The funnier thing was that even while thinking this, her body was naturally preparing food and handling customers.

[No matter how well a blind person listens and feels, how can it compare to seeing the world with open eyes?]

“……”

Damn that Kariel.

Vitality.

Squalid yet somehow lively, disgusting yet somehow familiar, irritating, mundane….

A hateful world.

Yet in this world, everyone, no matter how insignificant, carries on with their lives.

Good or bad, noble or poor.

Regardless of such distinctions.

The sun will always rise and set.

====

“……”

“……”

Coincidence or fate?

At this point, it was hard to tell if it was bad luck or a strange connection.

Three days later.

Lyurik and Delica faced each other before the final preliminary match.

“You’ve done well to come this far with such a young body.”

“…Sigh.”

A pure compliment without malice.

The man before her was offering such praise without a hint of tension.

“I quit. I forfeit.”

As Delica turned away in irritation, she reflexively swung her hand.

Clang!

“Hmm?”

She struck with her sword against his bare hand, but it bounced off as if hitting a piece of metal.

If she had swung with real intent, it would have been a disaster, but there was one fact both she and Lyurik knew….

“I said I quit! Why are you coming after me?!”

“Is it okay to give up so easily?”

“I said I don’t want to do it! I can’t win anyway, so why bother!”

“You never know, right?”

“…Are you joking?”

The person before her was someone she couldn’t even touch a hair of, no matter what fuss she made.

She hadn’t realized it when he was absentmindedly buying a sandwich, but the moment he entered combat, his presence completely changed to a different level.

How could someone so young be such a monster?

‘I don’t know someone like him.’

Perhaps it was because she hadn’t frequented the Dabas area before, but in the previous world Delica remembered… she had never seen or heard of someone like him.

…At his age, with such skill, he would surely be counted among the continent’s top experts.

‘Either he died an untimely death…’

Or despite his skill, he had terrible luck and everything went wrong.

Or perhaps he faced trials beyond what she could comprehend at that time.

“How can you use such techniques without weapons or magic?”

“…How would I know?”

Everything Delica was learning came from Kariel.

Though Kariel himself said he wasn’t the one who created or originated these techniques.

“That’s a shame. I wanted to fight you.”

“No thanks.”

It was best not to engage in combat with someone like him.

With that resolve, Delica firmly left the fenced preliminary arena.

Naturally, jeers and curses rained down, but…

“Hmph.”

Delica left the place nonchalantly, snorting in disdain.

“What an interesting child.”

And.

While Delica herself might not care.

At least Lyurik, and some of those watching—actually, many of them—were secretly impressed by Delica’s extraordinary nature and determination.

‘What is that child’s identity?’

At first, there were accusations of dark arts, but the sight of a young girl defeating grown men and adults was like something out of a fairy tale or myth. Bards were already composing all sorts of lyrics about her.

But before the songs could be completed, she had exited the stage.

Was this a tragedy or a comedy?

Meanwhile…

“Ugh…”

Whether it was a stroke of good luck or something else…

Raymon, on the other hand, had broken through the preliminaries in another group and achieved the feat of advancing to the main tournament.

Raymon himself couldn’t believe it and looked around at the cheering crowd in a daze.

‘How is this possible?’

Raymon couldn’t believe the result he had achieved.

…Maybe I actually had talent all along?