Ch.78Radaniya Grand Plaza

# 78. Radaniya Grand Plaza

‘Ugh, why are Subin’s hands so spicy? Is it because of her fire attribute?’

In the end, after being severely pinched and palm-smashed by Subin, I failed to uncover what she was hiding.

Seeing how embarrassed she was while pretending otherwise, she must have been imagining something related to me… I was extremely curious, but for the sake of peace, I set my curiosity aside for now.

“Nyaang…”

[You seem like you’re living under someone’s thumb…]

“Be quiet.”

“Nyat!”

[Ouch!]

Come to think of it, this peace is also something we gained by successfully clearing the Nabasusan Dungeon.

“Nyaang…”

[You look pitiful…]

“Be quiet!”

“Unyaaaa!”

[Owwww!]

I hugged the squirming Danya and even gave her a belly fart. Danya looked like she was dying of joy. Subin, who was next to us, burst into laughter at the sight.

This too was peace.

**

“Today we’re just going to take a tour around Ayord.”

“Huh? Just looking around?”

“Yeah. To get a feel for the atmosphere, and check if there are any differences from the game.”

Despite everything that had happened, it was only our second day in Ayord. We could rest for one more day without any issues.

“Come to think of it, Danya is Radaniya, right? Since she’s the founder of Ayord and protected the city from the shadows for over 200 years, couldn’t we just ask her?”

“That’s true, but it would be overwhelming to ask about everything, and besides, we need to go around doing quests anyway. Let’s think of this as preliminary research. Danya will be our guide anyway.”

“Nyaang!”

[Leave it to me!]

Though still in cat form, Danya seemed extremely excited about being able to openly roam the city she had built.

“Just think of it as sightseeing combined with research. We have some money to spare, so we can enjoy ourselves a bit.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Saex also looked excited. After all, she was just twenty—no, not even twenty in Korean age. She was our youngest. Though she claimed to find meaning in life through battle, her nature couldn’t be that twisted.

And it was up to us, her older siblings including myself, to help her maintain balance.

That was actually the main purpose.

Machines need regular cleaning, tightening, and oiling, and people are essentially bio-machines too.

Our Yuri, use this opportunity to let out your frustrations and recharge, okay?

“But won’t this attract attention? A human man walking around with four wives. In Ayord.”

“We had no choice before, but actually, Ayords don’t like hiding their appearance. They think it’s cowardly or that you have something to hide.”

“Nyah!”

[That’s right!]

“Sorry to Soyu noona, but please bear with it while we’re in Ayord.”

“I don’t mind. It’s just changing my hairstyle.”

One man, four women, and a female cat left the inn. Before leaving, the innkeeper let out a small gasp of admiration when she saw me, making Yuri giggle and my face flush slightly, but otherwise, Ayord on day two remained the same.

Actually, since I didn’t have a chance to properly look around on the first day, this was essentially my first day.

“Oppa. Where are we going to look first?”

“Ayord is really big. We can’t see everything, so I thought we’d start with the places where the important points are concentrated. Danya?”

“Nya!”

[Forward!]

At least in Ayord, there seemed to be no need for the Etiquette Wiki to activate. We began our proper tour of Ayord, following Danya’s light footsteps.

“My goodness. Is that a human? What’s he doing here?”

“Ah! There was a commotion around here yesterday, so that was a human? Wow. Four wives?”

“He must be quite capable? Though he doesn’t look like he could use much strength from the outside.”

“Well, you never know until you see. Or maybe he’s a male with something extraordinary that we don’t know about. Look at that. The way his wives look at their husband is so intense, my fur feels like it’s burning.”

“Ahem. This morning, my wife pulled out a handful of my fur…”

As expected before we set out, we attracted attention. It wasn’t entirely pleasant to be a spectacle, but what could we do? If Ayord adventurers came to Korea as tourists, I’d probably stare out of curiosity too. Occasionally there were embarrassing comments or whistles, but the awkwardness was momentary, and we quickly adapted and let it flow past us.

“People there and Ayords here both seem to love gossiping about others.”

“People are people wherever you go.”

Still, directly comparing this world to the one where all kinds of garbage flood the internet might be disrespectful to this world.

Suddenly, I remembered a quote.

Modern people are incredibly rude because they don’t risk getting their heads split open with an axe.

In other words, here, violence could be immediately executed if you stepped out of line.

“You bastard, who are you flirting with? Huh?”

“Why are you barking when she’s not even your mate? You think you can take me?”

“Ha. You got rejected by Kati but can’t let go, so you keep hanging around. It’s annoying.”

“You fucking bastard, she’s not your mate either, so why are you acting like she is?”

“You want to die?”

*THWACK*

Suddenly, in front of a house, a dog Ayord and a cat Ayord bared their teeth at each other in a hostile confrontation before breaking into a brawl, and no one tried to stop them or “report” it.

“C-Captain.”

“You’re not suggesting we should stop them, are you?”

“No, but…”

Just because they were Ayords didn’t mean they always put fists before words, and Ayord wasn’t a lawless city. They were just fundamentally different from humans, with a different culture. At least that was the setting.

And seeing it now in person, I felt it wasn’t much different from the setting.

“We shouldn’t interfere. Before one of them surrenders or becomes unconscious, if anyone other than the parties involved forcibly interrupts that fight… they’d actually be criticized. For staining their honor.”

“A lovers’ quarrel has escalated into a bloody fight, and they’re talking about honor?”

“Nyaang…”

[That’s what Ayords are…]

Ayords are people. People with latent animal instincts.

Beasts follow the natural law of survival of the fittest better than anyone.

People care about honor more than anyone else, provided their instincts are satisfied.

The combination of these two is what makes an Ayord, and even if the animal instincts have weakened over time, they’ve become ingrained in the culture and can’t easily change.

They can fight when emotions run high, but the threshold for that is too low.

Of course, not all Ayords are like that.

“Nyaaa… Nyat nyaaat.”

[I tried to change that because I hated it so much, but it didn’t work well. I hated being despised as a beast’s offspring. Would you believe this is actually an improvement?]

Hearing Danya’s bitter voice, I picked her up, held her in my arms, and stroked her. Both men seemed to have deep feelings for the woman named Kati, and we moved on without watching the fight escalate to the point of blood splattering and bones breaking.

“Nyat, nya nya nyat!”

[But there are many good things too! Let’s go this way!]

The next place we visited was the Radaniya Grand Plaza. Danya, both embarrassed and proud that the central area of Ayord bore her name, puffed out her chest as she spoke.

“Nyanyat! Nya nya nyat! Nyaaaaat!”

[Hmph, how about that! Impressive, right? You can’t see something like this in human cities!]

“My goodness…”

If I had to describe it in familiar terms, perhaps an amusement park? Or maybe a mega-complex center? Or perhaps an expo?

The impressions I had when first entering Ayord—

The essence of those feelings was here.

“Honey. Isn’t that a bit tight for our budget this month?”

“Ahem. Do you have to say that where others can hear? Shopkeeper, I’ll take one of these…”

“Honey. Could we put that down and talk about it again? That’s okay, right, shopkeeper?”

“Ha, haha. Of course.”

– *Hey, you troublemaker. How nice would it be if you understood when I’m trying to talk nicely? Hm? What? Say it where others can hear? Fine. Others can hear me, but somehow my husband’s ears must be stuffed because he never listens the first time.*

– *I-I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.*

– *How many times do you think I’ve heard that promise?*

From common Ayord couple scene #1…

“Mister! What is this?! How is this supposed to be me?!”

“Come now. Anyone can see it’s you. Hey, kitten, what do you think? How much does it look like your friend? Be honest.”

“It looks exactly the same.”

“Nooo!! Mister! It’s unfair to tempt me with candy! Draw it again! Draw it agaaain!!”

To street artists bickering with children…

“Heh. Seeing how dull your movements have become, Durang’s reputation is as good as dead~”

“Who? Me? Ha. I take a little break, and suddenly those who couldn’t even look me in the eye during my prime get cocky with a bit of experience. Hey, youngster. You won’t be announcing your own name today.”

“Hey, that’s exactly what I wanted to say to you!”

To acrobatic battles that made everyone watching nervous. Besides these, all sorts of people, attractions, sights, and foods were spread out around the dynamic Radaniya statue at the center.

In this chaotic yet joyful space, Danya meowed.

“Nyah! Nya nya nyah!”

[There! We must go there!]

A strong recommendation from a 200-year-old local guide.

I wonder where it is? Is it a place I know, or somewhere that wasn’t implemented in the game?

“Welcome… oh, my.”

Through the crowd, we found an old tent.

An Ayord who looked exactly like someone who would say “I’m a fortune teller” sighed upon seeing us, or more precisely, Danya in my arms.

“Well, I guess my business is done for today. Sit down and wait a moment.”

This nameless fortune-telling place was the latter.

I’m not sure why, but my party members’ eyes seemed to sparkle… or was that just my imagination?