Kidnapped the Saintess of the Hero Party

48 – It’s Not Spicy!

For Lucia, who had lived in an orphanage her whole life, the city was a suitable travel destination.

As soon as morning broke, Lucion led Lucia to the streets.

It may still be gloomy.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do.

The previous day, around a thousand Secaera had appeared, and most of them had come flying from the vicinity of Matop.

From the streets and the direction of the guild, dozens of birds flew in, but compared to the residents, their numbers were insignificant.

The downtown area of Panachia wasn’t particularly vast, hosting a population of over 370,000 within its limits.

Of course, Lucion felt a bit uneasy. However, he didn’t want to let the leisure of not knowing when he would return pass by.

Lucia wanted to enjoy everything she could.

Fortunately, snow started falling around the time they arrived in the city.

The weather couldn’t be the enemy of a priest turned into a spirit. The snow on the shoulders melted away quickly.

One could just marvel at the snow piling up on the streets.

Snow was quite familiar. Even when in the orphanage, they used to play, making snowmen and engaging in snowball fights.

Still, the sight of the streets turning white was quite fascinating.

As they entered the square, a street vendor cart came into view.

Even though it was early, steam rose from the cart. Seeing that there was no one pulling it, it seemed someone was manually dragging it.

There was no sign.

Inside the cart, a small fox-eared beast girl stood on a chair, tearing open the packaging of fish cakes and pouring them into a heater.

No one came to sell snacks all the way to the orphanage.

An event that could only be seen in the city.

Lucion thought everything was going well and headed towards the cart with Lucia.

The owner of the cart, a small fox beast girl, welcomed Lucion and Lucia warmly.

“Welcome~! Oh? Are you foreigners?”

Lucion nodded casually.

“hahahaha! Then, please try this!”

A witty fox spirit.

The little one extended short arms. Two skewers that were inside the heater were skillfully moved out by Lucion for easy grabbing.

The color of the fish cake visible below the handle is red.

The broth has the familiar light brown color. Why?

“Oh, this.”

A stern-looking fish cake.

It seems like this fox spirit wanted to show the foreigner the spicy taste no matter what.

“Should I refuse?”

Lucion wasn’t particularly fond of spicy food. He preferred a moderate level of spiciness. But this fish cake, it seems…

It looks so spicy that it might bring tears.

…How was Lucia?

He had no memory of seeing her eat spicy food. In his past life and this one.

Lucion asked the fox spirit again.

“By any chance, is it spicy?”

“hahahaha──Not at all!”

The fox spirit grinned.

“Come on, come on! Try it! It’s so delicious that you’ll ask for more!”

Is there another devil like this in the world? Lucion swallowed hard.

He came to give Lucia a city experience.

…This.

Lucion secretly enhanced his tongue with sacred power.

With skewer in hand, he engaged in a staring contest with the fox-human for quite a while.

Try it—. Doesn’t this seem spicy?

You want me to try it? No, is this really not spicy?

While saying so, Lucia unabashedly picked up the skewer. Then, she immediately put it into her mouth and…

Slurp, slurp.

She deeply savored the taste.

Curious about Lucia’s reaction, Lucion intentionally didn’t mention that the fishcakes were spicy.

There was also a playful intention. Honestly, even if it’s spicy, a little touch of sacred power would quickly heal it.

‘How is it? Lucia. Can you handle spicy food?’

Lucia closed her eyes and savored the taste. Chewing the end of the fishcake, shaped like a long hotdog, Lucia eventually had to stick out her tongue, probably because the fishcake was too hot, and cool it down with a hoo—.

Actually, you don’t even need to use sacred power to heal it. Lucia acted like an ordinary person.

If adhering too well to the priest’s teachings is a fault, then it must be a fault.

Lucia seemed unfazed by the heat and spiciness. In fact, her left cheek seemed to have blistered.

‘What’s this? Spicy. Did you handle it well?’

The fox-human who offered the fishcake also stared at Lucia in surprise.

‘That guy.’

“Yeah? Not spicy, right?”

“Yeah. It’s incredibly delicious. But what do you call this?”

Is it delicious?

Lucion removed his sacred power and took a bite of the fish cake.

It’s meaningless to coat it if it’s not spicy.

When you coat it with sacred power, you can’t taste any other flavors.

Eating it is no different from chewing on paper.

Just as the taste buds on Lucion’s tongue were about to scream, the fox-man laughed wickedly and replied.

“It’s the Spicy Buster Chili Special Oden!”

hahahaha.

Lucion realized for the first time in his life that his taste buds and palate might not belong to him.

#

The purpose was to let Lucian experience it. Yet it was Lucion who tasted something so spicy that tears welled up in his eyes for the first time in his life.

After that, Lucion silently continued to drink the broth,

And Lucian picked up a few more pieces, saying it was delicious.

All Lucion could do was watch as Lucian devoured the Spicy Buster, Chili Special, and Oden one by one, his soul drained away.

After leaving the food cart, Lucion, who had become strangely silent, was asked by Lucian with a puzzled expression.

“Lucion, your face is red. Are you feeling sick?”

I recovered by releasing my sacred power. I don’t know when I was in pain. It’s just that the taste of the spicy oden was unforgettable.

“I will never… trust a fox-man again. And not Lucian’s taste buds either.”

Lucion clenched his fist and made a vow.

“Lucion, did it taste too spicy by any chance?”

“No! No. Shall we go to the next place?”

Lucia nodded hesitantly, as if not entirely pleased with the suggestion.

In truth, there was no clear destination in mind.

“Still, if we’re in Fanacia, there must be a place worth visiting at least once.”

The Fanacia Beach Aquarium.

The only observatory existing exclusively in Fanacia within the Oslund Kingdom.

#

The above-ground part of the aquarium resembled a department store, while the underground portion was designed for viewing aquatic life.

Lucion looked down at the attire he was wearing – the Black Claw uniform with a black robe on top.

Lucia wore a white priest’s robe.

“Wearing guild attire for a date.”

Considering the prestige of the Black Claw guild in Fanacia, it was rather uncomfortable.

“Starting from ordinary clothes, perhaps.”

Luckily, there was a card given by the butler. A black card issued by Miceus. It was smaller than the success fee for buying everything you wanted, so you were free to use it as you pleased.

However.

“Why are you here?”

The Black Rabbit appeared in the department store.

“Well, well! Is it not allowed?”

“No. It’s quite convenient.”

Lucion glanced briefly at Lucia.

The black rabbit had indeed fulfilled its duty of protecting the nobles quite well. It was certain that it could choose Lucia’s clothes better than Lucion.

“Hmm?”

While the black rabbit made a disgruntled expression, Lucion grabbed Lucia and the black rabbit’s arms, rushing into the clothing section of the department store.

#

“All right. I’m going to pick out Lucia’s clothes now.”

“Me?”

“My clothes?”

Lucion nodded his head.

Isn’t it nice that Lucia has a friend?

Lucia had never bought clothes with her own money. The black rabbit’s insight would be helpful.

“Choose freely.”

“Hmm…”

The black rabbit stared at Lucion intently. It was a face filled with dissatisfaction, but soon nodded its head.

It’s not like it had nothing to do, and it aligned with the original purpose of coming.

Let’s just go along with it for now.

“Fine. I’ll choose for both of you.”

“Oh. But let Lucia choose first for now.”

“Me?”

Lucion nodded his head.

Lucia scanned through the clothing store.

At first glance, there were numerous stores lined up, more than twenty.

Lucia…

Had satisfied her taste.

#

Lucia had thoroughly visited every single store without exception.

Picking and choosing, comparing prices, she finally chose just one outfit from the thousands of clothes available.

The Black Rabbit followed Lucia, but tired out and sat down on a chair placed in one corner of the store, resting its head between its legs.

It seemed like it had just thrown up.

It should be fine.

Because it’s the Black Rabbit.

Lucia hummed a tune, pleased with her choice of outfit.

But she felt embarrassed to show it to Lucion, so she only stole glances at him without actually bringing the clothes.

“Why?”

Lucia discreetly spoke, hiding the clothes behind her back.

“Si-on.”

“Yeah.”

“This…”

What Lucia had hidden behind her back was not women’s clothing.

“What is it?”

She had told him to pick out his own clothes, but Lucia had chosen Lucion’s outfit while constantly checking for his reaction.

It took almost half a day.

“There must have been a reason for the delay.”

There was one outfit set aside. While Lucian had chosen his own clothes early on, Lucia had picked out Lucian’s clothes while he searched for his own.