51 A day out spoiled

A few weeks later, I roamed around the city's main street which was much more lively than usual. The street was jam-packed with people and stalls with a wide assortment of goods- from edibles to wearables and much more.

Everyone seemed to be in a joyous mood, enjoying the ongoing festival.

The Autumn Festival, also known as 'The Harvest Festival', was being celebrated in most regions of the Empire and nearby countries that were experiencing Autumn currently.

And that was why there was no shortage of food and drinks to go with them in the myriad of stalls that were spread all over the main street. It wasn't just one street either. It was going on in all of the main streets that connected the outer gates to the inner wall separating the commoner's residential district from the noble district.

I had to beg my mother to be allowed to roam around freely and check out the festival. In disguise, of course.

We were barely allowed to go out of the mansion. So, this was a nice change of pace. I had even tried to rope Emma into it and Alice seemed interested as well. Alas, Emma straight-up refused my generous offer because she had to train, and Alice wasn't given permission because she was still underaged. At least, that's the reasoning mother gave for not allowing her outside. Poor thing was on the verge of tears when she heard that, though she still accepted it like a good girl.

It hurt seeing her so depressed like that. Thus, right now I had a side mission to bring souvenirs for her, something that would lift her sad mood. I also planned to bring something for the training freak sister of mine, even if she'd rejected my proposal. And if I could find something good, then I could get my mother and Olivia something as well.

So, here I was, dressed like your above-average commoner child with dark brown hair, courtesy of a wig, and accompanied by my "older sister", a maid in disguise, and a "big brother", one of the elite knights in disguise. And secretly followed by a dozen or so "normal" people, if you could excuse their macho personas, that is.

"Brother Hans, what would you like to do next?"

The maid-turned-older sister asked, using a fake name.

We had been roaming around, checking the various attractions that the festival had to offer.

"How about we try some of those stalls? It smells pretty nice."

I had yet to taste anything that didn't come out of our family's top-class chefs. Now given, I had tasted a variety of dishes I hadn't even heard of in my past life, but they were all, in a way, home-cooked. Surely the world had a variety of things to eat. And festival street food from a fantasy world seemed quite enticing.

My "older sister" seemed to tense hearing that, however.

"Um, it might not be such a good idea. The hygiene of food here is questionable at best. You might get sick."

"Ugh. I guess that's true."

'I don't want another case of 'that'. But… it really does smell good.'

Roaming around the streets had made me a bit hungry.

But nothing seemed tasty enough to make me go through 'that' again.

I sighed, flushing—No! I mean, shaking away those painful memories. But the maid seemed to take it the wrong way.

"Maybe it won't hurt to try some of it."

The knight accompanying us, Kyle was his fake name, spoke.

"I'll go bring some. Please tell me which ones you want to try, brother."

It was amusing that they still acted politely to me even when in disguise and acting. But it was also kind of problematic.

"You guys… Normal people don't use polite terms with their "younger sibling". That's suspicious behavior."

"Ah, my apolo—I mean, I'm sorry."

"You're right, Hans."

The knight was better at acting than the maid, it was quite clear.

He nodded at us and went to bring some of the food I pointed towards. In the meantime, we found a somewhat open space that seemed to have a place where we could sit and eat in peace without fear of being bumped against every now and then.

It wasn't that big of a deal for me, but I had a feeling the knight's patience seemed to run thin as I was bumped a few times. He'd almost thrashed the last guy when he "almost" made me fall from an accidental push.

The knight came back with a small assortment of food, all ready to be eaten.

"Here. I've brought everything you asked for, Hans. Try those cockatrice meatballs first. I was told they were very crunchy and savory."

"'kay."

I picked up one of the said meatballs with a toothpick, its smell invading my nostrils.

'Wow, it does smell pretty good.'

I ate it and immediately agreed with the knight's choice.

The crunchy outer layer hid a soft and flavorful inner layer that was filled with a variety of local seasoning. It wasn't mind-bogglingly good, per se, but it had that street-food taste that the chefs at the mansion couldn't and wouldn't replicate.

'Not bad.'

Not soon after, I had already finished the set of 6 meatballs, now eyeing the next ones to dive in. My vision fell on my "siblings". The maid seemed to be professionally sitting and waiting for me to finish my meal, while the knight stood nearby, and appeared to be gazing around the place.

I would have asked if they would have liked to eat if I didn't already know the answer.

So, I decided to quickly finish the rest.

After eating everything, I was feeling thirsty, so the knight went to get something to drink.

"Are you content, Hans? Would you like to eat more?"

The maid asked.

"No, Sera. I'm full."

The maid nodded in response.

"Yes, too much junk food is bad for your growing body. You mustn't lose those wonderful muscles."

"What?"

"Ah! I meant it's not good for your body!"

"… Okay."

'Right, I forgot she had a muscle fetish.'

I decided to just forget about the kinks of my assigned maid.

We waited in quiet for the knight to return, but he was taking a while.

"…Noo! …"

From the crowded street, we heard a loud shriek of someone. Standing immediately, I looked in the direction.

"What was that?"

"…Young Master, please stay put. We must wait for sir knight to return."

I turned to look at her, noticing that she was tense and serious.

I wondered if it was something serious. But decided not to show it on my face.

"Right, we'll wait for him."

We couldn't see from where the voice came, but judging by the fact that the crowd hadn't turned into a mob, I judged that perhaps it wasn't that big of a deal.

'Maybe a purse snatching or something like that? I don't know. I can't tell from here.'

I was curious, but I didn't want to go out of my way to see it.

A few knights in disguise reached us and one of them spoke.

"Sir, I think we should leave. There's something strange going on nearby. I've signaled a few guards on patrol to check it out, but it's best if we do not take any risk."

'Was it something serious after all?'

I frowned.

"What was that scream?"

"I'm… not sure. A woman seemed to have lost her child and went into hysteria."

"Lost her child? That's unfortunate…"

'I hope she finds her child back. The knight said he sent some guards on patrol, so hopefully, they'll help find her child.'

"We should leave this place, sir."

The knight repeated.

"Where's Er—Kyle? He was supposed to get drinks."

I asked, almost using his real name accidentally.

"I saw him near one of the stalls."

"Let's wait for him and then we'll go."

Seemed like my first day out alone had to come to a sudden halt.

'Well, it was fun while it lasted, I suppose. I should at least get souvenirs for my family.'

"Let's stop by—"

*BOOOOM!*

My next words were halted by the sound of a loud explosion that seemed to have come from a few hundred meters ahead of us, from one of the back alleys.

The crowd immediately went into a panic and I immediately found myself surrounded by over a dozen of knights and magicians, everyone on high alert.

"Don't let anyone near him! Protect him at all cost!"

One of the knights spoke.

"Create barriers, just in case!"

Some of the magicians chanted magic and soon, we were all surrounded by a dome-shaped transparent blue film.

'What was that? A terrorist attack?'

I looked in the direction it came from.

[Alex, you should leave now. If this is a terrorist attack, it might turn into a big mess.]

'Yeah… Too bad, I wanted to get gifts first. Bad luck.'

"Let's leave. There's no point waiting here anymore."

I spoke. The previously open space was turning into pandemonium with people running around in fright.

'Hope Erik catches up with us soon.'

Erik (his real name) was the strongest among the knights assigned to protect me, at Foundation Tier 7. The rest were Tier 5s and 6s. He was also supposed to be the Leader of the team.

I looked to my side. The maid, Sera, was sticking close by, partially scared but mostly nervous.

"Relax, Sera. Everything is fine."

[Don't jinx it.]

"Y-Yes. My apologies, Young Master. I'm not used to such an experience. But I'm sure the elite knights and magicians will keep us safe."

She probably spoke that more to herself than me.

We slowly made our way towards the inner gates where our carriage was situated.

As we reached closer to the gate, we heard two more explosions.

I grimaced, thinking about the reason for such sudden terrorist attacks.

"That's three explosions in a row. What are the guards doing? There was supposed to be tight security today."

One of the knights spoke, annoyed and angry at the panic, and most likely damage, this was causing. This incident was a very big issue. It was sure to put the city guards in a pinch.

"Indeed, this is a very grave matter. Multiple attacks, possibly coordinated, on the main street in broad daylight and that too on the day of a festival. The knight commander will certainly hold a meeting for investigation and damage control with the assigned guard station captains. But for now, we must make haste and quickly go to the safety in the mansion. Young Master's safety is our first priority."

One of the magicians replied.

With furrowed brows, my mind considered the result of this incident.

It was certain to give my mother and the authorities under us some trouble.

'Sigh.'

I couldn't help but sigh uneasily. It was meant to be a normal day out, with me enjoying the seasonal festival, but now it'd turned into a pandemonium. The street was in an uproar with people running and screaming everywhere, confused and scared of the loud explosions and trying to find a safe place.

'Damn it, whoever is responsible for this, they better be caught and punished.'

I also felt angry, seeing the terrible state of the place that was so lively just a little while ago. I hoped that there weren't any casualties, but I knew it was just wishful thinking. The explosions seemed to have happened near the crowd; there surely must have been people with major or minor injuries, or even deaths in the worst-case scenario.

As we made our way to safety, suddenly, another explosion happened.

*BOOOOOOMMM!*

This time close by.

I barely caught it as a stall went up in roaring flames of the explosion, engulfing the people near it.

"Kyaa!"

"Uwaaa!"

"Nooo!"

I heard the cries of several men, women, and children. The people a bit further away from it looked at the place in horror and dread, knowing what had just happened. People had died. It could have been them. They survived, but the people near it didn't.

As the initial roaring flames calmed down and the damage was visible, I cringed as I clenched my fists, seeing more than a few burned-down corpses and others flailing in agony.

"Damn it! Make haste! This place is not safe!"

"We're trying! The crowd is too dense!"

"I don't care! Shove them aside!"

The guards surrounding me shouted as they tried to quickly push the momentarily frozen crowd. We weren't hurt by the explosion, even though it was quite close, thanks to the barrier. But it definitely tensed the guards since they were responsible for the safety of the son of Marquis.

'Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck! What the hell is going on?! Why is there a terrorist attack in the middle of a festival?!'

I felt more angry than scared.

'It could've been me there.'

I was lucky enough to be safeguarded by a fairly strong barrier, but the other people weren't. It felt strange momentarily, being given such special treatment even though I was a noble-born. Perhaps it was because I was still a normal person at heart. But the scene was just surreal for some reason. It just felt bizarre. Unreal. I was not mentally prepared for that.

I turned to look at the maid accompanying me.

She had her mouth covered, as she too looked towards the place of the explosion, her eyes filled with horror and pain.

I could empathize with her. I too was upset by that awful sight. It was my first time being in such a situation and seeing people die in front of me.

I turned to look at my guards. Many of them had pained expressions, but they seemed to be holding on. The maid, however, seemed frozen.

I grabbed her hand, making her look at me.

"Sera."

"Young Master… this is awful…"

Her eyes moistened as she spoke feebly.

"It is. Don't worry, we'll be safe."

I spoke. I knew we were safe with all the high-tier guards. But the impact of this incident seemed to have been quite big on her. It had impacted me as well, but for some reason, I was not downright panicking.

"I can see it! There's an opening and the gate is close by!"

One of the guards shouted.

I held back a sigh of relief. Even though I didn't panic or feel scared, I was somewhat stressed from the sudden attack. I was not prepared for something like this. I felt like fate was evilly smirking at me. Just when I "dared to" set foot outside the mansion to look around, this happened.

At that moment, a strange thought occurred to me.

'Why does it feel like an important event for a protagonist in an anime or video game?'

[Alex, you're just on edge from this event. There's no anime or video game. This is real.]

'I know, Iris. I was just… sigh, never mind. You're right.'

I was not sure why it happened. It could've been related to me, or it might not have been. But it was better to not have strange delusions about it.

Things like this were bound to repeat in the future. The world was never peaceful. It was only so on the surface. This incident was a reminder of the kind of world I was in. Not the kind where you could have a slice of life. At least, not for too long.

Shaking off the strange feeling in my head, I kept heading to the carriage.

Upon reaching the carriage, one of the guards spoke to the carriage driver.

"Make haste! We must go to the Mansion as soon as possible!"

"I'm ready, Sir knight. Please climb inside, Young Master."

The magicians increased the size of the barrier to allow me to walk safely inside the carriage.

I was about to climb on when I noticed something odd.

'Hm?'

And it dawned on me why it was so the moment I used 'Observe' on the carriage guy.

'What the…'

***