Chapter 294

Chapter 294: Chapter 294

Rayleigh arrived at the Hostess of Fertility shortly after lunch the next day.

He had deliberately left most of his Zanpakutō at home, bringing only Benihime and Shinsō with him.

He did not expect to need either of them while walking through a market inside Orario, but after everything that had happened over the past few weeks, going anywhere completely unarmed felt like deliberately tempting fate.

Syr was already waiting outside.

She had traded her usual waitress uniform for a simple pale dress and light cardigan, while her silver-grey hair was tied loosely behind her head.

There was nothing especially expensive or elaborate about the outfit, which probably helped her blend into the crowds moving through the western streets.

Rayleigh stopped in front of her. "You’re early."

"So are you."

"I didn’t want to make you wait."

Syr smiled. "Neither did I."

That was simple enough, and Rayleigh decided not to search for another meaning behind it.

They headed west together.

...

The market Syr had mentioned occupied several streets close to the outer wall and was considerably smaller than the permanent commercial districts surrounding Babel.

Most of the merchants were travellers who entered Orario only a few times each month, bringing food, cloth, spices, books, household goods, and other products from towns outside the city.

Rayleigh understood why Syr wanted to come almost immediately.

The Hostess purchased large quantities of ingredients, but most of what Mia used came through established suppliers.

A temporary market like this offered things that were harder to obtain regularly, especially regional food and spices brought by merchants travelling across the continent.

Syr stopped at the first spice stall they passed and began examining several small sacks, Rayleigh standing beside her while the merchant explained where each one had come from.

"You actually came here for work."

"Partly."

"I thought this was supposed to be your afternoon off."

"It is. I like cooking."

Rayleigh looked at her, and Syr noticed his expression.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was remembering some of the things I’ve heard about your cooking."

Her smile became dangerous. "From whom?"

Rayleigh immediately reconsidered the direction of the conversation. "I’ve suddenly forgotten."

"Yōtōsai-san."

"My memory has always been unreliable."

"You recognized me months after meeting me once."

"That was different."

Syr stared at him for another second before letting the matter go. "Fine. I won’t ask who has been spreading malicious rumors about my cooking."

Rayleigh wisely remained silent.

The merchant looked between them and pretended to be extremely interested in reorganizing his spice jars.

Syr eventually bought two small packets and placed them into the bag she had brought with her.

Rayleigh offered to carry it, but she refused because there was almost nothing inside yet.

They continued through the market without any particular urgency.

That was the strangest part for Rayleigh: nothing was happening.

There was no emergency, no Dungeon commission, no dangerous Familia waiting around the corner, and no complicated request hidden behind the outing.

Syr compared vegetables between stalls, stopped to inspect several foreign ingredients she had never seen before, and occasionally asked Rayleigh whether something looked useful.

He answered when he knew, and when he didn’t, he said so.

By the time they reached the next street, he had almost stopped waiting for the afternoon to go wrong.

Almost.

Syr noticed him scanning the crowd again. "You really don’t know how to relax, do you?"

"I am relaxed."

"You’ve checked the rooftops six times."

Rayleigh glanced upward automatically.

Syr laughed. "That makes seven."

"I spent a long time living somewhere where ignoring your surroundings was a good way to die."

The words left his mouth before he thought much about them.

Syr’s expression changed slightly, but she did not ask where.

Rayleigh appreciated that more than he expected.

Instead, she looked ahead and said, "Then I suppose checking the rooftops is better than spending the whole afternoon uncomfortable."

"That sounds suspiciously reasonable."

"I can be reasonable."

"I’ll need more evidence."

Syr bumped her shoulder lightly against his arm as they continued walking.

Rayleigh looked at her, but she continued as though nothing had happened, so he decided to do the same.

...

They stopped at a bookstall about half an hour later.

Rayleigh had not planned to buy anything, but several volumes displayed near the back immediately caught his attention.

Most were ordinary adventure stories and cheap collections of heroic legends, yet one section contained older medical texts, travel records, and books written by scholars who had studied rare plants outside Orario.

He picked up a thick volume describing medicinal plants found in elven territories.

Syr, who had been looking through a collection of recipes nearby, noticed. "Interested in medicine?"

"A little."

That was technically true.

His ability with Kaidō had improved enormously while treating Alfia, but magical healing alone had never solved the original problem with her body.

Her condition was far better than it had once been, and sealing the destructive effect of Gif Blessing had removed the constant drain that had been killing her, but Rayleigh had never stopped paying attention whenever he found information that might eventually improve her health further.

He opened the book and skimmed several pages, though most of the information was useless.

One section mentioned sacred trees cultivated by certain elven communities and the medicinal value of their branches.

Rayleigh stopped. He had already known that much from Alfia’s history.

Still, the book contained several details he had not encountered before, including descriptions of how the material was prepared and combined with other medicines.

He closed it. "I’ll take this."

Syr looked at the title, then at him. "That’s a fairly specialized book for someone who’s only a little interested in medicine."

"I know healing techniques."

"I know. People still talk about what you did during the Great Feud."

"That doesn’t mean I’m an expert on medicine."

Syr accepted the explanation, although her eyes remained on the book for another moment.

Rayleigh paid the merchant and placed it beneath his arm, and they continued walking.

He thought the matter was finished until Syr spoke several minutes later.

"Is it for you?"

Rayleigh looked at her.

"The book."

"Partly."

"So it’s for someone else too."

Rayleigh did not answer immediately, and Syr noticed.

Her tone remained casual when she added, "You don’t have to tell me."

That prevented the question from becoming a problem.

Rayleigh considered his response before giving her the safest version of the truth.

"There’s someone whose health I care about."

Syr’s steps slowed by the smallest amount, and she looked at him.

Rayleigh met her eyes.

He had no intention of giving her a name, a description, or anything that could lead back to Alfia.

Even admitting that much was more than he normally told people, but denying it outright would have sounded stranger when he had just bought a medical book clearly intended for a specific problem.

Syr seemed to understand where the boundary was. "Someone important?"

"Yes."

The answer was simple, though something faint moved behind Syr’s grey eyes; she did not press.

"I hope the book helps."

"So do I."

They kept walking.

...

Freya heard the answer as Syr.

More importantly, she saw what happened to Rayleigh’s soul when he gave it.

For months, she had been fascinated by the strange presence hidden behind the Zanpakutō surrounding him.

She had first mistaken it for something carried inside his soul because that was how it appeared whenever she looked too deeply: a faint second rhythm moving alongside his own, always close enough to feel connected but never enough for her eyes to identify its nature.

This afternoon gave her something new.

The instant Rayleigh said there was someone whose health mattered to him, that distant presence responded, only slightly, a soft movement through whatever connection joined them.

Freya did not push against it; she had promised herself she would not.

Instead, she simply watched.

The second heartbeat did not belong inside Rayleigh. It reached him from somewhere else: a connection between souls.

That conclusion interested her far more than any answer he could have given aloud.

There was someone in his life connected to him deeply enough that even distance did not completely separate their souls.

Freya wanted to know who, but she did not ask.

That restraint was becoming an increasingly strange experience.

...

They reached a quieter part of the market near the western wall, where most of the stalls sold household goods rather than food.

Syr bought two wooden containers for the tavern and finally allowed Rayleigh to carry one because fitting both into her bag was impossible.

He took the heavier box. "You planned this."

"I didn’t know I was going to buy these."

"You invited a Level Four adventurer and blacksmith to a market."

Syr smiled. "Maybe I hoped you’d be useful."

"At least you’re admitting it."

They stopped at another stall selling tea.

Rayleigh had almost walked past before recognizing the scent coming from one open container, and he turned back.

The merchant immediately began explaining that the leaves had come from a small mountain region far to the east and were difficult to obtain in Orario because most traders considered tea less profitable than spices or alcohol.

Rayleigh listened, then asked for a small sample, and the merchant prepared it.

Syr watched him taste the tea. "You like it?"

"It’s good."

Rayleigh considered the leaves; Alfia would probably like it more than he did.

Her daily life revolved around quiet rooms, books, treatment, meals and whatever small distractions she found while hiding from an entire city.

She rarely asked Rayleigh for anything, which made buying something he knew she might enjoy an easy decision.

"I’ll take two."

The merchant began packing the leaves as Syr looked at the quantity. "That seems like a lot for one person."

Rayleigh gave her a sideways glance, and she smiled innocently.

He paid the merchant. "One is for me."

"And the other?"

"For someone who drinks tea."

"That narrows it down tremendously."

"It wasn’t supposed to narrow anything down."

Syr laughed and allowed him to place the tea into the box he was already carrying.

Rayleigh had noticed the pattern by now.

She was curious about the person connected to the medical book, but she was deliberately refusing to ask direct questions after realizing he did not want to answer.

He respected that, and it also made him slightly more willing to continue talking.

"She likes quiet places and books."

Syr looked at him, and Rayleigh immediately wondered why he had volunteered that information.

Perhaps spending the afternoon normally had lowered his guard more than he realized.

He added, "That’s all you’re getting."

"I didn’t ask."

"You were going to."

"I was thinking about it."

"That’s close enough."

Syr’s smile softened. "All right."

She really did leave it there.