"Alright, what is next on the list?" Kuroki asked everyone, being the oldest member of them. The group of them were currently walking around town, tasting the various foods and enjoying other sights. They had been working very hard lately, and given everything that happened, this was a necessary break for them. And after everything they had gone through together, they all had formed strong bonds after watching each other's backs.

  The city of Azralia was a city in the heart of the frontier, one of its greatest strongholds and footholds into a region that was eaten up by time. Well, time, a Demon King, and a necromancer who was actually the puppet of a powerful and ancient vampire. Needless to say, it was all rather much, and Kuroki's head was starting to spin. So this was a good way to refresh themselves also.

  The streets themselves were packed. The sky had only started to darken, although it seemed that sunset took at least twice as long here for some reason as it did in their own world. Something about the mana obscuring light, causing the skies to darken earlier then they should, but also making for fantastic sunsets. The four of them had decided to go and sit upon the west wall tonight after raiding a few food places, and watch the glistening golden sun set beneath the horizon line. Thanks to the city walls, which helped protect the city from goblins and other monsters, it was difficult to see a sunset in Azralia unless you went up high.

  It appeared that there were quite a large amount of people setting up various stalls for games and other activities as well. Apparently, any time royalty visited anywhere, it always drew crowds, and there were also the crowds of servants and guards that accompanied them. Nobles also tended to flock to these places, with their own servants and guards. Merchants would flock as well, to try and get great deals. Any traveling performers in the area would therefore also go there, since increased crowds meant increased profits for them.

  There were probably other factors as well, but Kuroki wasn't an expert on it. He just knew what Kaede heard from Ellie, who deals with said merchants hounding her every single time this happens.

  "Anyways, I was told we should avoid any stalls that sell magical or divine energy infused objects, since almost all of them are scams, and any that aren't would be lesser then the gear we have right now most likely".

  "I swear, festivals are the same regardless of world. Scammers always rigging games" Riku muttered, a sharpness in his tone. It seemed he had a bad experience with festivals in the past.

  Already, there were all sorts of lanterns, both paper and metal, decorating the streets, keeping everything well lit already even though there was still plenty of light and visibility left. Still, it would help dissuade crime. Kuroki himself had warded all of their pockets anyways, and then Amyris had supercharged them a bit, so woe to the pickpocket that tried to steal from them tonight. They would not meet a happy fate, that was for sure.

  This, among other things, was Amyris way of helping them out. Even with the various magical and supernatural effects that had been infused into their brains and minds, all the combat and stress lately had taken their tolls on the four of them. So this was the adult's consideration to helping them destress and relax for a change. Granted, they couldn't relax too much and risk being unprepared or under trained for when a real fight began. According to Amyris, they had yet to fight anything alone that was a serious threat.

  ANd so, they were hitting the town. With all these festivities, there was plenty to enjoy and see.

  "Come on, I heard this place up ahead has some of the best pastries in the city".

  "Oh, Riza took me there after arriving in the city!" Ryuu shouted, drawing in Kaede's attention.

  "Ah, is that where he got those weird shaped croissant like things?"

  "Yep!"

  Kuroki nodded at the two. "Alright, lets try out some of their food then".

  As they headed over, the sweet smell of pastries wafted into their noses. Their delectable taste, the smell of freshly baked break, enticed those who caught a wiff of it. Like moths to a flame, they were drawn in by the alluring enchantment of freshly baked break. However, that was when they ran into a familiar face.

  "Wait, you...you are the kids Amyris is looking after?"

  "You...are that really nosy gateguard, Desris?"

  "...you could at least say thorough instead of nosy. Right, it was Kuroki I believe right?"

  They came across the female guard who had been the gatekeeper when Kuroki first arrived at the city. She had been kind of forceful with him after he accidentally repelled her magic.

  "Well, you did totally overreact".

  "Shut up! That is standard practice for the southern gate?"

  "Why?" Kaede asked, having entered through a different gate.

  "Because dangerous magical artifacts and monsters who can disguise themselves as people try to enter through that gate. Thanks to the ancient seal that keeps something incredibly dangerous sealed away down there, the forest has all sorts of crazy magic in it. Honestly, you are lucky the Magician of the Silver Hour was with you kid, and he vouched for you. It could have been worse...and frankly, you could have easily died in that forest".

  Kuroki remembered the orcs they came across. In a good number of fictions he had heard of, Orcs had quite the libedo, but that wasn't the case for Orcs of this world. While they could use people for increased breeding, that was just to increase their numbers, and they were far more likely to kill. People were their enemy, and they would sooner kill them and get them over with, unless they had use for hostages or were trying to build numbers, but the latter only happened when they had someone powerful enough to be a leader for them.

  Orcs were created as shocktroops by the Evil God. They were designed to slaughter, kill, and keep their numbers up as they slaughtered and killed. Even with the Evil God dead, their instincts had been programmed into their DNA, and their intelligence actually made the influence on them stronger. Beast-types could be subdued, and even tamed, but not humanoids.

  Either way, that wasn't really important at the moment.

  "Given everything that has been going on, if you are so dutiful, shouldn't you be at your post still" Kuroki jabbed. He could hold grudges for a long time.

  "Even guards need breaks, otherwise how else can we catch delinquent children who cause nothing but trouble?"

  "I do hope you are not referring to the incident downtown, perpetuated by the failure of you having quality, unbribable guards to prevent those criminals from going after us and forcing us to defend ourselves, as trouble?"

  "Oh, I was thinking more about the fact your spells have been generating enough noise complaints to drown us in paperwork, making us unable to keep normal patrols".

  "Considering I practice underground, in a sound proofed room, warded to the heavens, that would be quite impossible. Maybe you should actually do your job, standabout".

  "You picking a fight with me, runt?"

  Riku and Kaede, who were watching this go on, were a bit shocked. Kuroki wasn't the hostile type normally, but clearly these two were water and oil. They did not mix.

  ANd while their tensions were flared, a few ruffians had decided to approach them. After all, Kuroki looked like he could be in elementary school, and Desris was a woman, so it appeared these guys believed them to be easy prey for a shakedown. Also, thanks to Kuroki's hair he could be mistaken as a girl far more easily. It was still impossible to cut thanks to the ritual and the fact he had gotten exposed to an intense amount of magic, had seemingly fortified itself further. He had at least managed to trim the edges a bit to make it look neat however, and used hairclips to keep it out of his eyes.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Kaede and Riku locked eyes, and the 40th 10 year old conference was immediately had and concluded immediately in that look.

  "I will put ten coppers on unconscious but not too badly harmed".

  "Given Desris' personality and profession, I am putting my money on awake but roughed up".

  "Nah, I say they run away after pissing themselves".

  Ryuu joined in on their bet. The safety of their friend and the guard, you ask? The idea of them getting harmed didn't even cross their minds.

  For better or worse, this was a festival, and lots of people came to them. Including bad apples. Then again, perhaps given the fact they were betting on how their friend would deal with these ruffians, perhaps they would be considered bad apples as well now, corrupted by the ethics of this world.

  "Hey now, lovely lady, little girl, how about you come and play with us..."

  "Frost Nova".

  "Flare Gideon".

  In an instant, all of the ruffians had their legs frozen to the ground, followed by Desris summoning a bunch of swords made of light into the air around her and having them hit the ground right in front of the ruffians. All of this without Kuroki or Desris even looking at them.

  "See brat? You are a trouble magnet?"

  "Oh, I am the trouble magnet? You sure about that? If you are such a capable guard, why did they stick you on the southern gate exactly?"

  "Guards actually are supposed to seek out and deal with trouble, adventurers just gather ingredients and hunt monsters".

  "Oh, so we actually provide a useful service and stop problems before they happen, while you go around dealing with problems that you already let happen?"

  Yes, the two were still bickering even after dealing with the ruffians. The crowd nearby, who saw this, began to laugh. Some believed this was a show, an act being put on for entertainment. Others realized immediately these ruffians were outclassed, and those who had planned to intervene sheathed their weapons, realizing the only threat was if the ruffians somehow managed to piss off the two and get themselves injured.

  The ruffians however, seemed to become enraged after being embarrassed by such a thing.

  "You...you think you can mess with us, you two?!"

  "Woah...he is checking all the cliche boxes!" Riku observed, having taken out a card he had made. Ryuu and Kaede had similar cards. "And thats another square for me".

  "Come on, come on...draw weapons in a public space like idiots" Ryuu pleaded.

  "Tsk, why wont they brag about themselves yet?" Kaede moaned.

  Yes. They were playing bingo with this encounter. Kuroki glanced over and sighed.

  I can't believe Riza made something so asininely stupid for us...or that its actually getting used right now.

  Yes, it wasn't them who made this, but it was Riza. As expected of someone prone to doing entirely stupid and useless things most of the time, Riza made various encounter bingo cards for them, and even made special bingo cards for tonight. Still, he was also kind of their hero, so Kuroki had held in as many of the retorts as he could. Especially when he heard they were Anna's idea at first.

  Seriously, Anna?

  Kuroki questioned if that girl was even sane, as he continued to glare down Desris.

  Meanwhile, the ruffians finally pulled out knives and daggers.

  "You will regret antagonizing someone as great as myself! You should have come with us while you had the chance!"

  Kuroki might have cast a spell right then and there, but he was distracted by Ryuu and Kaede cheering at making progress on their bingo cards. Incidentally, Kuroki had one as well, but you weren't allowed to do it for your own encounter since you could guide it towards a bingo of your own. Riza mentioned that would be cheating. It also put anyone at a disadvantage if they went first, so picking fights wasn't ideal either.

  Either way, Kuroki sent lightning through the ice and zapped them all. However, they were surprisingly sturdy, as they remained conscious, as Desris drew her sword and put it against the leader's throat, while flaming blades appeared at the throats of his men.

  "You should know better than to antagonize a member of the city guard on their day off".

  "And especially know better than to antagonize a mage".

  Mana began to leak out of Kuroki and swirl around, becoming visible. Meanwhile, Desris produced an aura so intimidating, that combined the guys all wet their pants and ran away. Well, maybe not all of them, but no one wanted to really check, and Ryuu wouldn't allow any other interpretation despite the fact they had all been wearing dirty, dark colored pants already and in theory it was impossible to be sure.

  "Nope, its my win! I win the bet!"

  "Uhg, fine!"

  "You were the closest anyways...I was so sure they would get annoyed and knock them out".

  The ten year old duo gave Ryuu his winnings as the bread they were waiting for was finally ready. Fresh out of the oven, filled with cream, and flaky like croissants. They were straight and not curved though, but otherwise it was basically the same thing, but a bit larger then the average croissant.

  With food, even Kuroki and Desris stopped fighting and the five of them ate in peace.

  Once they were done, they went different ways from Desris (or rather, Kuroki and Desris made sure to walk away in opposite directions) and they were on their way to another shop. This one was in a slightly more expensive part of the market, but there were plenty of stalls and prices were a bit down to help encourage purchasing and business, to draw more people in and therefore gain more attention from any nobles or royalty, or those with connections to them, more easily.

  "Our next target is a sweets store".

  "Ah, is that the place that Ozlo goes to a lot?"

  "Yeah. He is the one that recommended it to us. Said the sweets helps his brain work better when he is dealing with annoyances".

  "That tracks with him".

  As the four of them dreamed about the various sweets they might try, enough to make any dentist scream in agony and despair, they soon came in sight of the shop. The windows were filled with a delightful amount of images, all of various sweets. Chocolates, caramels, hard candy, lolipops, and everything inbetween. It was truly an amazing sight, and yet...

  "...I thought otherworldly food didn't sit with their taste buds?" Kuroki wondered.

  "Maybe this world invented it as well, on their own?" Kaede indicated.

  "I think it was mainly the condiments and spices that were said not to go well. And sea food".

  "...Riku, I think your own biases are showing up in that last one".

  The four had such aimless chatter as they approached the shop, only to see a sight that could only be described as dangerous and foreboding.

  "Ozlo? And Zak? And you are that one guy we met during the Goblin War, the one who took the Goblin King's head!"

  "Oh, Kuroki, Riku, Kaede, and Ryuu. I see you decided to take advantage of the festivities as well?"

  "Yeah. By the way, your grandpa..."

  Ozlo rolled his eyes. "Save it. He gave them to us as well".

  "Right. Anyways, what is going on here?"

  At the moment, Zak was engaging in what appeared to be a festival booth where one would shoot down the prizes they wanted to win. The booth was on a side alley of the street, and you had to pay a coin per shot. This one reeked of being a scam, and yet it wasn't Zak that was frusterated and in tears...it was the booth owner.

  This was because Zak was successfully knocking down every high priced item one after another.

  "So...this is your idea of relaxing, huh?"

  "Well, it is very enjoyable" Ozlo said sheepishly. "Its Zak's turn right now. I already made the cup guy run away in tears".

  "So where did he hide it?"

  "Ball was magnetic, cup had a toggleable magnet base and a spell to form a false bottom".

  "And how did you make him cry?"

  "I burned out the magnet with a discreet and precise use of Dragonfyre".

  "Of course you did. And burned through the magic too I am guessing".

  "Yep".

  Ozlo said that with zero regret or hesitation at all. It was kind of terrifying.

  "So you came to try out the sweets as well?"

  Kuroki nodded to Ozlo's question. "We are on a food tour right now. Figured might as well try various tasty treats. We hit up that bread place Riza told us about before, as well as a hotdog place, and something that looked like beef jerky but thicker, freshy, and absurdly tasty".

  "We avoided one kebab stand though, because it smelled kinda weird and I think they had bought 'discount meat'".

  "Ahh...I heard that place changed hands recently, that's too bad".

  As they chatted, the stall owner seemed to collapse into tears as Zak came over, his arms full of his haul of prizes. The prizes in fact looked like they might rebel against him and consume him, that was the amount he had won. It looked like he got everything that was on the top shelf.

  "Ozlo, mind if we make a stop at my inn real quick?"

  "Sure, I am good with it. No problem. Well, see you all later Kuroki".

  "Um, Zak, just to be clear...you know some of that stuff is fake right?"

  Kuroki was not an expert, but one of the bracelets that appeared golden with a ruby in it...was just golden painted, and it was colored glass.

  "Yeah, I know. The guy was ripping people off big time. But hey, I might find a use for all this stuff".

  The mage gave another look at the towering stack.

  "...by any chance, are you a hoarder?"

  "No! How could I possibly be a hoarder and an adventurer who travels all over the place?! I just like having stuff in case it ends up being useful, ill sell it for gold before I leave".

  "Riiiiight...not sure how much you will get, but sure".

  Zak pouted a bit. "I am the adult here you know?"

  "Adults don't pout!"

  "We totally do! Adults are just children who hide it better!"

  "I feel like you just contradicted yourself in a big way!"

  "Whatever, I am the adult, I am right, you are the teenager, you are wrong, now excuse me we have loot to drop off".

  And so Zak left with such a statement, causing Kuroki to twitch a bit.

  "That...that is such a mean and asshole thing to do! And entirely unfair!"

  Riku proceeded to start dragging Kuroki into the shop before he started incanting a hex spell.

  "Come on, lets cheer us up with some sweets".

  "Fine..."

  Kuroki decided to relent, and the group headed inside the sweets shop to enjoy themselves. And so, the revelries continued.