CHAPTER 9, DAYS OF HAPPINESS

We walked through the streets and I noticed many were pointing at us. We'll of course they would point at us, I'm walking with a group of six fiancees, the Duke's daughter as well as the King's daughter, the daughter of the Earl, a cute girl who doesn't look like she's from this continent, a girl who is part of the well known guild, Azure Gems and a Goddess. Most people would stare at this strange group of ours, wouldn't they? As we walked on through the crowds, I felt someone staring at me and I immediately took Lucia into my arms as I turned my eyes to the direction of whoever it was that threw a knife at her. "Are you alright, Lucia?" I asked her.

"Yes. I'm fine, but who did this?" She asked but I felt that the assailant had already escaped.

"Girls, stick close to me no matter what." I told them as we walked down the path and we ran into our friends. "Hey, sorry we're late. What's going on?"

"Oh, Haru, hey there." Zephyr said. "We're trying to win that... it's a special ring that is said to make you impervious to burns, curses and other afflictions."

I looked at the ring everyone was after, it was a golden ring with a blue gem beautiful etched into it. They game was a reading game, they had to read the spell and use it without mishap. "It's kinda difficult cause it's written in Spirit Text." Queen said as she sighed. It seems nearly everyone has lost at the game.

"Mind if I had a go?" I said and placed money on the counter.

"Go ahead." The shop keeper grinned and I placed my hand into the glass ball with paper slips in it and checked the spell. "You got three tries to attack the target dummy."

"Burst forth, spirits of earthen flames, clear blue waves, astral order, Assualt Flames." I chanted the spell and it activated and destroyed the dummy in one fell swoop. "Does that count?"

"Y-yeah. Here you go." He said and handed me the ring and I checked to see if it was real or not.

"N~e, this magical ring, it's a fake isn't it?" I said as I stared at the ring with the eyes of the fairyfolk. "What's more, those spells, they're indeed written in Spirit Text, but they are jumbled up so much that unless you can read Spirit Text clearly you wouldn't notice. Mind telling why that is, shop keeper?"

"Don't know what you're talking about?" He asked sweating.

"Sirius." I tossed him the ring and he stared into it.

"Haru's right, the ring's fake." He said and everyone called the guards. He had his shop closed and everyone's money was returned.

"Haru, how long did you know?" Glimmer asked as we began to move again.

"About what?" I asked.

"About the ring, that it was fake." She answered.

"Since Zeph said that it provided immunity to Curse Magic." I said as we were walking down the shops.

"How'd you know" Spark asked.

"There is only one artifact I know of capable of providing immunity to Curse Magic." I answered.

"And that is?" Zero asked me.

"The Amulet of Light, it grants whoever owns it the protection from Dark magic, Curse Magic and Status Affliction Magic." I told them. "However, it shouldn't be here."

"Why is that?" Clover asked me.

"Because it is within the Warehouse!!" Ray exclaimed as he popped out of nowhere with Yuri. "Artifacts of the Heroes' are stored within the Warehouse."

"Hey, shouldn't the Seiken be in the Armory in that case?" I asked them in Aerial Language.

"There are some in the Armory. There are also some in the Warehouse, also the Factory can produce them as well." Yuri said and I sighed.

"Speaking of which, when do you plan to give your fiancees rings?" Ray asked me.

"Hush it. I have something special for them so be quiet!!" I hit their heads.

As we all walked through the town, I saw a shop selling rare gems. We all went to see them and without a doubt, they're the real deal. "Welcome travelers, what would you like? I have rare gems, artifacts and treasures from all around the world." The shop keeper said, she was an old woman wearing hood.

"What would you recommend?" Neph asked.

"I have something very special here today, have look. These were grown in the Crystal Forest of the Giants." She said and showed us magic gems. There was one that caught my attention a lot. A clear blue gem, it looked beautiful and it was gorgeous.

"How much for the blue gem?" I asked her.

"Five gold coins, this one was rather hard to obtain you see." She said and everyone looked at me with a worried expression.

"Here you go." I said and handed her five gold coins. Just then, I notice something at the back. A book, it looked old but the insignia was definitely of the Heroes'. Two crossed blades with a shield behind it and a glowing light at the center, the Heroes' insignia. "Um, what's that book at the back there?"

"Ahh, you have a good eye. This is an old book I came across as I traveled the Eastern Continent. Made from an unknown material and sealed, even I have no idea what lies inside it." She said and showed it to me. "Interested perhaps?"

"How much?" I asked her.

"Ten gold coins." She grinned and I gave her the coins.

"What about you guys? Not getting anything?" I asked them as they starred at me. "I can tell you her goods are real."

"No, it's just, how much money do you have on you?" Rain asked me.

"Around fifty platinum coins I think... I completely forgot. You earn a lot when you work as an herbalist, besides that my parents and grandparents left me a large amount of money before they died." I told them and stored the gem aside. "Besides that, I earn money from the tax colected in the Aerial Isles and from my job as an adventurer. Though I don't like using the tax money much, the four nobles insisted I would atleast take some with me. Though I hardly buy things."

"What do you mean?" Sky asked as we were walking through the shops once more.

"I don't really spend much money on anything. Before I became an adventurer I was an herbalist, I basically spent small amounts of coins, I don't think my monthly spending got close to a gold coin." I said. "I grew my own plants so I didn't need to buy vegetables, I also had a small farm and raised chickens, I fished during weekends and I didn't need laundry service since I could wash my clothes myself. I guess the only thing I spent money on was the books I bought. Even now, I don't spend much money."

"Why is that?" Glimmer asked.

"We don't really spend much money on anything besides when I want to spoil the girls or Tetsuya." I told them. "We don't spend money on laundry since Yuri has taken up that job. Cooking ingredients are grown in my garden. So what we mostly spend money on are nothing. Seeing as how I can use magic to create things like soap and other things."

"Speaking of laundry, Master why don't I ever wash your clothes?" Yuri asked.

"Well, my whole attire doesn't really need to be washed. Since it is from the Familiars, it has a spell enchanted to it. Something like purification or like that. It's always clean." I answered her. "I don't really have much laundry except for my sleeping clothes."

"Must be pretty convenient then." Ryu said.

"More or less." I answered. "Ah, but I do spend some money on the shop maintenance. Though it is enchanted to prevent any damages, dust does settle in once in a while."

"Speaking of which, who runs the shop when you're away?" Silver asked me.

"A few of our workers do." I told them. "I mainly run the shop now a days to help the town and earn money."

"Is that so?" Spark asked and I nodded.

"I'm actually supposed to have guards with me all day long but no guard could keep up with me." I told them.

"Speaking of which, I'm suprised the king and Duke didn't send gaurds for the two royalties by your side." Sirius said. "The Earl aside that is."

"I doubt there's a guard out there capable of keeping up with our Haru." Rose retorted. "Isn't Haru literally a walking weapon?"

"Very true." Ryu answered her. "He is literally a walking weapon."

"That's rather harsh." I said but what they're saying is true.

As we all sat down eating food we bought, I looked at the clear sky. I wish Haruka can see this. "I can see it." His voice whispered and I smiled.

Wait for me, I promise, I'll break the spell on us and we'll be together again. These simple, happy days, I'll make sure you experience them as well.