Chapter 55

The atmosphere in Goldcastle has been quite chaotic lately.

The gossip just wouldn’t stop.

The first hot topic was, of course, the birth of the hero.

The hero turned out to be one of the vagrant children who used to roam the streets of Goldcastle. He proved his heroic abilities by brilliantly handling a demon beast that appeared at a high-society banquet.

After that, the hero headed to the Imperial Capital, and rumors began to circulate that he would soon prepare for the upcoming war against the demon race.

Of course, nothing has been officially announced. It was just a rumor, but it was enough to keep people talking.

Whether it was the commoners gathering at taverns or the noblewomen at social parties, the stories about the hero and the demon race never ceased.

And the second hot topic was about the disappearance of Goldcastle’s most infamous mercenary group, the Crow Mercenary Group.

The Crow Mercenary Group, consisting of about fifty members, was a notorious organization involved in drug trafficking, kidnappings, and murders. But one day, they suddenly vanished.

Fifty people disappeared overnight.

Various rumors spread about the reason.

Some said they tried to kidnap a high-ranking noble and failed, fleeing to another city. Others claimed that a god, angered by Crow’s evil deeds, had finally delivered divine justice. Unconfirmed rumors like these spread like wildfire.

Nothing was confirmed, but the disappearance of Crow certainly lightened the hearts of Goldcastle’s citizens.

They no longer had to fear Crow.

And finally, the third hot topic was about Cobin, the second son of the Baraton family.

Cobin was a troublesome noble brat who often roamed Goldcastle, picking fights with citizens or playing mean pranks. Recently, he was involved in some accident that left him unable to move properly and even caused him to lose his memory.

He couldn’t even go to the bathroom without a maid pushing his wheelchair, and he couldn’t recognize the faces of his parents or siblings. His condition seemed quite serious.

“Plus, he keeps muttering strange things, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. ‘Beware of elves,’ or something? He keeps muttering that.”

“He’s completely lost it. What kind of accident could have caused that?”

People talked about Cobin, but no one felt sorry for him.

Given all the terrible things he had done using his family’s influence, no one pitied him.

The disappearance of Crow and Cobin’s strange condition were nothing but good news for the citizens.

*

It had already been several days since the hero selection ceremony, but Ariel’s group was still staying in Goldcastle.

Their next destination hadn’t been decided yet, and more importantly, Ariel had become completely obsessed with Goldcastle’s desserts.

Every morning, Ariel would leave the lodging and roam around Goldcastle’s bakeries, buying and eating various desserts.

As expected of a wealthy city, the quality of the desserts in Goldcastle was exceptionally high.

Some desserts were so heavenly that they perfectly captured Ariel’s taste.

She could have eaten the same thing every day, but Ariel found it more enjoyable to visit different bakeries and try new desserts.

It was a kind of play and healing for her.

“I… I can’t do this anymore…!”

At first, Rakia had followed Ariel around, but now she was so sick of sweets that her face would scrunch up at the sight of desserts.

So, instead of following Ariel, she went around nearby restaurants with Ghost and Roo, devouring meat and alcohol.

Ghost and Rakia could eat a lot of meat, and Roo was a heavy drinker.

No matter how much they ate and drank, Ariel had given them plenty of gold coins, so money was never an issue.

As a result, Ghost, Rakia, and Roo were now treated like VIPs at the local restaurants.

Though they no longer followed Ariel around, they still slept together in the lodging’s courtyard at night.

And sometimes, they would ride Ghost out of the city and run through the vast forest, enjoying a leisurely stroll.

They weren’t on any particular adventure, but as long as their next destination wasn’t decided, they had no complaints about living like this.

It was a peaceful and happy daily life.

Today, Ariel handed Rakia a handful of gold coins and left the lodging alone to walk the streets.

In her hand was a map she had bought from a shop a few days ago.

It was a map of Goldcastle’s shops, with only the bakeries marked by Ariel.

Her current goal was to visit every bakery in Goldcastle.

It might seem like a trivial goal to others, but Ariel was quite serious about achieving it.

Today’s destination was a bakery located a bit away from the city center.

Its name was “White Rabbit,” but that alone didn’t give any clue about what kind of desserts they specialized in.

Following the map, Ariel soon arrived at “White Rabbit.”

The bakery was smaller than she expected, and it had an old, worn-out feel, but Ariel wasn’t disappointed.

Places like this often turned out to be hidden gems.

Ariel boldly opened the door and entered.

Ding-a-ling.

Inside, a sweet and fluffy aroma filled the air.

In one corner of the shop, an old woman with white hair was struggling to move a large box.

Aside from the old woman, the bakery was empty.

Ariel approached the old woman.

Then, she took the box from her.

The box was quite heavy, but to Ariel, it felt as light as a feather.

As Ariel held the box, the old woman stared at her with wide eyes.

The old woman’s blurry gaze landed on Ariel’s pointed ears.

“An… elf? This is the first time an elf has come to our shop…”

A faint smile spread across the old woman’s face.

“Anyway, thank you, dear. Could you move that box to the storeroom over there?”

Ariel nodded and carried the box to the storeroom.

A quick glance revealed that the box contained white powder.

Given the sweet smell, it was probably sugar.

In other words, it was a box full of sugar.

After moving the sugar box, Ariel returned to the shop and began examining the displayed desserts.

Compared to the other bakeries she had visited, the variety here was limited, but everything looked delicious.

As Ariel was seriously inspecting the desserts, she suddenly noticed a large object at the end of the display and was startled.

It was a rabbit the size of a person, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t alive.

It seemed to be a doll.

“Keke, that rabbit is our shop’s mascot. It’s a costume I made myself.”

The old woman approached with a smile.

“Sometimes, vagrant children wear that costume and promote our shop. They look so cute. I give them desserts as payment… But recently, because of the hero selection ceremony, all the vagrant children were driven out. For the city’s image, they said…”

A lonely expression appeared on the old woman’s face.

“I wonder if they’re doing well… There was one boy named Sion who particularly stood out. He adored his little sister. He would wear the costume all day to promote our shop just to get desserts for her. He hasn’t come for days now, so I guess he was driven out too. Well, he’s a tough kid, so he’ll do fine wherever he goes, but it’s still sad not to see him…”

At the old woman’s words, Ariel thought of Sion, who had become the hero.

Sion was also a vagrant and adored his little sister.

It was highly likely that the Sion the old woman was talking about was the same Sion.

Ariel gently stroked the rabbit costume.

The fur was soft and felt very pleasant.

Of course, it couldn’t compare to Ghost’s fur, but it was still good enough.

“Do you want it?”

At the old woman’s question, Ariel turned to look at her.

The old woman was smiling kindly.

“You can have it if you want. Our shop doesn’t really need promotion anymore. That costume was just an excuse to give vagrant children some work, but now that they’re all gone… Take it. It’s a reward for moving the box.”

Ariel nodded at the old woman’s words.

There was no reason to refuse such a soft rabbit costume.

She thought it would be perfect to take it back to the lodging, put it on Rakia, and then hug her while sleeping.

As Ariel was about to put the rabbit costume into her inventory, she suddenly felt the urge to try it on.

She put on the rabbit head and zipped up the body, completely transforming into a rabbit.

“Keke, it suits you well, as expected.”

The old woman smiled with satisfaction, and Ariel moved her body around.

The rabbit costume was slightly big for Ariel, but it was very cozy and gave her a strange sense of comfort.

Thinking it was a great item, Ariel was about to take off the costume when the door opened with a ding-a-ling, and a customer entered the shop.

Ariel turned her gaze.

A boy in a wheelchair and a middle-aged woman pushing the wheelchair came in.

The boy in the wheelchair had a bowl-cut hairstyle and wore clothes that gave off a wealthy vibe. The middle-aged woman pushing the wheelchair was dressed like a maid.

“……”

Ariel stared intently at the boy in the wheelchair.

His slightly sunken face.

She felt like she had seen him somewhere before, but she couldn’t quite remember.

Then, the boy muttered softly.

“Beware of elves…”

“Oh dear, young master, there are no elves here. Hurry and pick a dessert. You said you wanted something sweet.”

The maid scolded him from behind, but the boy just repeated the same words.

“Beware of elves…”