Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends - V 2.2 Chapter 5.2

“Wow, there’s so many people.”

When we descended into the city, it was already packed full.
Men and women, young and old, nobles and commoners alike—everyone was smiling, singing, and dancing.

Lining the streets were all kinds of food stalls, the savory aroma of roasting meat mixing with the sweet scent of fruit dipped in chocolate, a swirl of fragrances teasing my nose.

To avoid getting swept away by the crowd, I perched Lulu and the others on my shoulder and followed after Ellen and the others.

“This way, this way! They’ve got grilled Giant Urga—you can only hunt them in the dungeon during this season, and they taste amazing!”

“Freshly hunted, nya~.”

The two of them pulled me along, weaving through the throngs of people.

Today, I had the whole day off, so I was tagging along with Ellen and Kurona to tour the city’s festival.

With so many stalls and the lively bustle all around, even my heart felt lighter.

“Ruu~”

“Hmm?”

“Ruu!”

Lulu pointed with her front paw toward the road ahead.

“Whoa, that’s huge!”

“That’s it, that’s it!”

Right in front of us was a food stall with an entire carcass of a monster called the Giant Urga—a beast shaped like a cow—hung up whole and being cooked.

“When you knead herbs into the meat and coat it in a sweet-and-spicy sauce, it tastes sooo good!”

Ellen wiped away a bit of drool with a slurping sound.

“Alright, let’s go get some!”

“I’ll go buy some fresh juice, nya~.”

“Got it!”

The three of us bustled around from one place to the next.

The city seemed to shine more brightly than usual, and it was so much fun.

We ended up standing side by side, gazing down at the dungeon below, its surface shimmering faintly.

“It really is glowing…”

“During this season, it always looks like this, nya. No one really knows why, though…”

We sat down on one of the festival benches set up around the dungeon entrance, and started on the food we’d bought from the stalls. Lulu and the others seemed to love the fruit skewers, nibbling away happily.

“Ahh, the outside world may be full of trouble, but moments like this—just relaxing—really are the best.”

“…”

At Ellen’s quiet murmur, I suddenly remembered the time I flew through the sky with Ares.
In that strange, otherworldly space, I had seen something—some shadow writhing in the dark.
Ares had called it “something bad.”
I didn’t know where it was, or what it really was.
But he had said it was what was now causing the disturbance in Aluda.

Since then, I still hadn’t heard any good news about the Kingdom of Aluda.
They said that with each passing day, the damage from monsters was getting worse.
Restrictions on going outside had been put in place, and more and more nobles were fleeing the country.
But here, it was as if that was all just a bad joke.
So bright and shining, it could blow away that darkness in an instant.

“I hope days this happy can keep on going, nya~,” Kurona murmured.

I felt the same way.

The Mokomotts, who had been flying overhead, swooped down to beg me for more food.
I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at the sight.
A soft breeze passed through, lifting my long hair.

Holding my hair down, I gazed out over the radiant city.
Next year, and the year after that… I wanted us all to be here, enjoying the festival together like this.
…No, not just wanted—I was going to keep living here.
So it was bound to come true.