Chapter 118: Foolproof Method

"Rorru."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Rorror... Rorrur."

"Hmm... I get it, I get it. So that’s how it works with dragons."

"Rorror."

"Hehe ~!, I know what I have to do now."

Yeah, I couldn’t follow the thread of their conversation anymore.

Aside from the fact that I’d once again forgotten that little dragon was here, it’s interesting how it seemed to have tried to expose my supposed infidelity.

Although I did find it a little amusing how Iris, with her simple math, confused it so much that it dropped the subject without even realizing it.

Anyway, before they caught me eavesdropping, I decided to walk in.

"Oh! Honey! Listen to this. According to Goldy, there’s a chance she might actually be able to become a girl."

"(ㆆ_ㆆ), yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but I’ll ask anyway—why do you think that’s relevant?"

"Obviously, because that way we can include Goldy in our harem"

"Yeah, that’s what I thought. I don’t get how you can even think about that when you’re treating her like a pet right now."

"Huh? What does that have to do with this, honey? I don’t get it... Let’s break it down with some simple math."

"Stop with that. Just remember that that little dragon over there has her own opinion on all this. You can’t just do whatever you want."

"Hehehue~, don’t worry, honey. Goldy will end up understanding everything. Hmm, but, honey, if you like her the way she is now, I don’t have any objections either. As your wife, I support you in whatever eccentric tastes you may have."

"Don’t be silly! Haaah~ Anyway, it’s probably already dawn. Do you want to go into town?"

It was better to put that strange topic aside.

"Of course I do, honey! Today we’ll definitely find a place to hang out. Just trust me."

"Yeah..."

All I hope is that even if we don’t manage to find anything, this will be a peaceful and safe outing.

"By the way, honey, don’t go thinking this outing will be uneventful, because if you do, something’s bound to happen. Oh! But that would be interesting, too, hehe~."

"..."

..

.

"눈_눈... So that’s your method."

"Haha! I see skepticism in your eyes, honey, but this has been a foolproof method that’s helped me since time immemorial."

I was looking at Iris, who was holding a pencil with four of its sides carved with different letters: A, B, C, and D.

In front of us was the first intersection after leaving the store, and the first thing Iris—who was now leading the way—did was take out that pencil.

This brings back memories of our time as students, when she—who didn’t like to study—had a pencil just like that and used it to pick an answer during tests.

She even used it when it wasn’t a multiple-choice exam.

And worst of all, she always managed to get a passing grade; I don’t know how the heck she did it in that last case.

"So this is all about luck."

Her method isn’t reliable at all, but I know she’s very lucky, and there’s a chance this might work.

"It’s not luck, honey. It’s my skill and ability to throw the pencil just right so it lands on the right answer!"

"¬_¬. Just do it. Whatever has to happen, let it happen"

"Come on, honey, trust me a little more. You’ll see—in less than a few minutes we’ll be at the academy."

Yeah, that’s nonsense, but what did it matter? It couldn’t be any worse than yesterday, so I didn’t say anything else and waited for her to toss the pencil.

When she did, the pencil rolled across the floor for a moment, and the answer appeared.

"The side with the ’B’ you carved into it came up. What does that mean? Which way is it?"

"What are you talking about, honey? We have to go where the tip of the pencil is pointing. What do the letters have to do with it?"

"￣へ￣ Then why did you carve letters into it?"

"Oh, because I was also reminiscing about the old days. It’s like you say, honey—you always have to be prepared. This is a city with a great academy; who knows if someone might pop up out of nowhere with a surprise exam."

"( ￣︿￣), yeah, I can see how that’s a very realistic possibility."

"It sure is!"

"That was sarcasm... Whatever. If we’re talking about where the pencil tip is pointing, it’s the same route we took yesterday. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, honey, trust me. Let’s go."

All right. Iris took my hand and pulled me along—I guess she didn’t want to waste any time.

After all, we only had two hours of free time, though I’m sure we’ll waste a lot of time trying to find the place—or maybe we won’t even find it at all.

Next time the triplets or Bianca come over, I’ll ask them for directions.

..

.

"￣へ￣. So yesterday we basically took the worst possible route and were just two blocks away from getting it right from the start."

To my surprise, we got there in less than five minutes, and what bugs me the most is that yesterday we were so close to getting there, but because we asked locals for directions, we ended up going even further off course.

"See, honey? My method is foolproof. Oh, honey, look at that raze. I’ve never seen them before."

"Do it mentally"

"Right!"

As always, I remind her that if she’s going to speak carelessly about someone, she should do it mentally.

Anyway, we found a crowded spot, and if there are a lot of people, it means that interesting things Iris likes aren’t far away, so we walked along with the flow of people.

This time, we were both equipped with more powerful identity-concealing cloaks.

Each one cost me 2,500; between the two, they took up almost half of our Myrr budget, but since I can convert gold and local coins into Myrr, I technically have more thanks to Azalea and Amarillys, who leave generous tips.

Amarillys, in particular, left an especially generous tip, which I think covers that expense.

Anyway, I’d already noticed it yesterday in the places we passed through, but this place is very different from the city where Amarillys lives.

There was a reason why it was hard to tell if we were on the right path or not.

There are large buildings everywhere here.

In the residential area where we got lost, there were many buildings at least five stories tall, which made it hard for us to see very far ahead.

And now that we’re in a more central and bustling area, the buildings have gotten even taller.

Some even look like 20-story skyscrapers.

In the Beast Kingdom, there was nothing like that—I saw some main buildings in the square that were one, two, or three stories tall; there was only one tower that seemed to be ten stories high, and even the royal castle stuck to the standard of two to five stories.

And, as far as I know, this city wasn’t even the capital of this kingdom. The difference in the level of architectural development was very evident,

Or it could also be that the beastmen don’t like tall buildings, unlike the predominant race here—the winged ones, who are flying humanoids.

Perhaps it’s more a cultural matter than a technological one.

Another curious thing was that all the buildings and infrastructure were painted white, and many appeared to be made of marble or a similar material.

They also had a peculiar design, with entrances located high up.

This wasn’t unusual, considering that people weren’t just on the ground—many were flying through the air.

And it wasn’t just the winged ones; there were also several other races flying around on objects of various shapes and forms.

There were no cars, but some vehicles were shaped like long canoes or small sailboats carrying many people.

It really is very different—maybe it’s cultural, but it seems like they’re in different technological eras.

"Honey, this place looks really interesting. It’s like Rome. I’ve always wanted to go to Rome."

"Huh? That’s the first time I’ve heard you say that. Since when have you wanted to go to Rome?"

"From now on! But I’m actually sending a message to my past self to make her feel like she wants to go to Rome, which lets me say that I’ve really always wanted to go to Rome."

"Hmm... well, love, I’m also sending a message to my past self to take you there, so you’ve already been there."

"Honey! That’s cheating."

"(¬_¬ ), it’s not. I’m just using the rules you set."

"(￣)3￣), fine, you win. Oh! Look, honey, there’s a big one over there... I wonder if it’s made of real gold?"

Anyway, as Iris says, it was a place with an atmosphere similar to that of ancient Rome in terms of architecture, roads, and other things.

We’ve never been to Rome, but I’ve seen pictures, and there is a certain resemblance—of course, setting aside the towering buildings and the people flying around.

On top of that, there were white statues on every corner, depicting all sorts of things, but mostly winged people or strange beasts.

When we reached what looked like a plaza, there were some especially large statues of a man and a woman with wings.

Both were golden, and I don’t know if they’re actually made of gold.

"Anyway, I just made sure to hold Iris’s hand firmly, as she seemed to want to bite it to see if it was really made of gold."

Who knows if those two figures in the statue were sacred or something that deserved respect.

We kept walking, and Iris had so much to see and was so interested in everything.

It was a little hard to keep her by my side, but it made me happy that she was having fun.