Chapter 42: Just Exploring

Caelan watched the carriage disappear down the street before he eventually turned his attention somewhere else.

Whatever. It wasn’t like he knew who she was anyway.

Caelan continued walking down the street. For the next few hours, he simply explored whatever caught his attention. He entered several stores and looked through things he had never seen before.

Slowly, it helped him became more familiar with the place he was now in.

Eventually, he found himself inside a weapon shop after spotting several swords displayed through the window outside.

Of course, he had absolutely no intention of buying one. His Shadow Armament made carrying an actual weapon unnecessary, but that didn’t stop him from looking around.

Inside the shop, there were swords, daggers, spears, bows, and several weapons he didn’t even know the names of. Some were simple while others were decorated with strange markings.

Caelan picked up one of the swords displayed on a table.

"That’s 55 coins," the shopkeeper said from behind the counter even if he didn’t say anything yet.

When he heard that, Caelan immediately placed it back. "I’m just looking."

The shopkeeper stared at him as if he was dead ass. Caelan just smiled awkwardly before leaving the store.

"Uh, that was awkward." He muttered to himself as he stared back at the store after leaving.

But remembering the price, he can’t help but make a face. He didn’t know weapons are that expensive.

For his next stops, Caelan decided he wanted to find more useful things. And the one that immediately crossed his mind was food.

The smell coming from one of the stalls was enough to pull him over almost immediately. He bought two meat skewers for a few coins and ate them while continuing to walk.

"This is good." At least food in another world wasn’t disappointing.

He also bought some pastries from a bakery, a small pouch to keep his coins in, and a few other things he thought might be useful. He even found a store selling different maps and ended up buying a simple map of the capital.

By the time Caelan finally decided to return, the sun had already started moving lower in the sky.

"That took longer than I thought." He looked down at the number of paper bag in his hand. He really did spend a lot today.

"Finally." After another twenty minutes of walking, the inn finally appeared ahead.

Caelan entered the inn and made his way upstairs while carrying all the things he had bought. By the time he reached their floor, his arms were already starting to feel tired from the number of bags he was carrying.

"Maybe I bought too much." He let out a deep sigh as he stopped in front of their room and reached for the door.

"I’m back." Caelan pushed the door open.

"..." But as soon as he did, he immediately froze.

Sitting on the chair beside his bed was Eveline. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, wile one of her leg was resting over the other. As soon as she walked inside, she stared directly at him.

There was not an ounce of happiness in her face. In fact, the look on her face made Caelan slowly reconsider entering the room at all.

"Uhh... hey?" Caelan tried to show the best smile that he could.

"Where did you go?" But Eveline just looked at him seriously.

Caelan slowly stepped inside and closed the door behind him while Eveline’s eyes just followed him the entire time.

"I just went outside."

"I know you went outside."

"Then why did you ask?" He tried to uplift the mood by joking around, but Eveline’s expression didn’t change at all.

"Caelan."

"Alright, sorry." He immediately shut his mouth.

Eveline stood from the chair and shook her head. "Do you know how long I’ve been waiting here?"

Caelan glanced toward the window.

"Uhh... hours?" he answered unsurely.

"I came back this morning and you were gone. I asked downstairs, and they told me you left the inn without saying anything!"

"I was just exploring the capital."

"You didn’t even wait for me to come back!"

"Was I supposed to?" Caelan blinked.

Eveline’s eyes narrowed at what he said.

"You were unconscious for days!" Eveline walked toward him. "I know you recovered and you’re bored to death but can’t you wait for me just to arrive before going out?"

Eveline stopped directly in front of him. She still looked angry, but now that she was closer, Caelan could see the worry on her face too.

"You almost died a few days ago, Caelan. I came back expecting you to be here, and suddenly you were gone. What was I supposed to think?"

"Okay, okay." Caelan raised one hand in surrender, or at least tried to. Well, the bags hanging from his arm made it a little difficult.

"I should’ve told you."

"Yes, you should have."

"Sorry."

Eveline continued staring at him for a few seconds before she let out a long sigh. Her expression softened slightly as she looked him over from head to toe.

"You’re really okay?"

"I’m completely fine now."

"Nothing hurts?"

"Nope."

"You didn’t get into trouble?"

"Nope," Caelan smiled reassuringly at her.

Eveline rubbed her forehead before sighing.

"I swear, sometimes you..." but she stopped when her eyes moved toward all the bags he was carrying.

"Wait. What did you even buy?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why is it so many?"

"Oh, these?" Caelan looked down at the bags when he suddenly remembered something.

"Actually..." A small smile appeared on his face as he began searching through one of the bags.

"I got something for you too."

"For me?" Eveline’s eyebrows raised slightly when she heard that.

"Yeah. Hold on."Caelan continued searching through the bags until he finally found what he was looking for. He pulled out a small box and held it toward her.

"What is it?" Eveline looked at the box, then back at him.

Eveline hesitated before finally taking the box from his hand. She slowly opened it and her eyes widened when she saw what was inside. It was a necklace.