Chapter 599

Magi Craft Meister 599

18 Further Progress Arc

18-19 Sakis Little Roam Around Town

Phew

A few days earlier

On the evening of October 7th, Saki Eschenbach was walking along the sh.o.r.es of Lake Tosmo.

She wasnt at the side where her house was, but the side of the capital Loizart.

After using the Warp Gate to transfer to her house, she came to the other side of the lake by ferry.

The reason behind that was that she would be likely to encounter people she knew if she had stayed in the side where her house was instead.

She had some money on her since she hadnt had any chance to use it on Hourai Island.

She was accompanied only by Ehr, the Automata that Jin and Reinhardt had made for her.

Ehr had an androgynous appearance, so they were currently wearing a maids uniform.

Ah, Im so pathetic

Saki muttered to herself. Ehr listened silently.

It had all started when her father Toa said he wanted to marry Stearleana, a Magi Craftswoman who was also Sakis friend.

I dont think my father has to stay unmarried forever, and I know Stearleana is a good person

No reply from Ehr. Still, Saki continued speaking.

My mother died when I was two years old, so its no wonder I dont remember her.

After taking a deep breath, Saki opened her mouth again.

But you know? I wonder what this feeling is.

Saki looked up and saw three or maybe four stars twinkling rapidly in the darkened sky.

The wind that came from the lake was getting much colder.

Putting this feeling aside, I have to secure a place to stay the night. Ah, good grief, people are such a bother

Finally done talking to herself, Saki left the lakeside and started walking towards the town.

This was the town of Trom.

It was a fis.h.i.+ng town, focused on fis.h.i.+ng in Lake Tosmo.

Its still early, so maybe I should go get something to eat.

Saki had skipped lunch. Until recently, she would have been fine with such an irregular lifestyle, but since she was now getting used to living in a more regular way, skipping a meal was starting to give her a tough time.

Its my first time in this town, so I dont know where to go.

So she ended up getting into the first cheap restaurant that caught her eye, a place called The Fresh Shrimp.

Welcome.

Since it was a little early, about half of this restaurants seats were still free.

Saki took a seat in the far corner.

Unlike high-end restaurants, it was common sense when entering any small restaurant to leave any Golems or Automata brought along outside. Therefore, Ehr would have to wait outside while Saki had her meal.

Ill have the daily special and a beer.

Saki wasnt usually too much into drinking, but for some reason she felt like drinking a bit tonight.

Comin right up.

The tanned middle-aged lady who had come to take Sakis order soon came back with a mug of beer and some snacks. The daily special would take a little while longer.

Mmm, I dunno if its because I was so thirsty, but this is good.

Saki drank half of the 1 liter jug in one go and nibbled on the dried jerky served as a snack.

Because she drank it on an empty stomach, she immediately became tipsy. Looking out the window with vaguely hazy eyes, Saki could see the light of a shrimp fis.h.i.+ng boat swaying on the surface of Lake Tosmo as darkness began to cover the sky.

Thanks for waitin, heres your daily special.

The lady placed a tray with a large piece of grilled fish, barley porridge, bean soup, and a bit of vegetable salad in front of Saki.

Oh, this looks delicious.

Saki, who wasnt very picky with food to begin with, started with the grilled fish.

Yeah, its a bit salty, but it tastes really good.

Its saltiness was probably because there was a large number of workers involved. After drinking the rest of her beer, Saki took a spoonful of barley porridge.

Oh, this is a little better than the food at Jins

As she was finis.h.i.+ng the sentence she was muttering, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.

W-What? Why?

Saki drank her soup in one go after wiping her tears with her sleeves. It was a little hot, but she smoothed it out by shoving some of her vegetable salad into her mouth.

Am I really this weak?

Saki continued to self-loathe as she took bite after bite of the rest of her grilled fish.

In the first place, whats with me getting all sad that my father is getting married again?

Now that she was even drunker than before, Saki couldnt even put her thoughts together anymore.

Hey, waitress Ill have another gla.s.s of beer.

Incoherent thoughts called for more chaos and even more alcohol.

A new gla.s.s of beer was brought onto the tray that had once been filled with the daily special that Saki had already finished eating.

Mmmbah.

After drinking half of the mug, Saki rested her chin on her hands over the table and sighed.

Oh, I dont care anymore

Saki wasnt particularly strong against alcohol. No, as a matter of fact, she was very bad with it. A single gla.s.s of wine was enough to get her completely drunk.

Miss? Maybe its time to stop?

A man sat down in front of Saki, who had gotten drunk after drinking a gla.s.s and a half of beer. He was a tanned man in his forties who looked like a fisherman.

Drinking beer all by yourself, getting drunk like this Is something going on at home?

But Saki laughed as she answered.

Uhuhu, bullseye! But right now I just want to be like this for a while.

I dont know what happened, but youre too young to take away your sorrows with alcohol. Thats something us middle-aged people do.

Huhu So Im too young to get drunk?

As she said that, Saki drank the rest of her beer in one go.

Hey, hey, wait a minute, dont be so rash

Im not being rash

Now completely unable to further articulate words, Saki finally fell limp over the table.

Hey, miss

Then another voice came from behind the worried fisherman.

Ah, there you are Sorry if shes caused you any trouble.

When the fisherman looked up, he saw a reasonably well-dressed man in his thirties standing there.

I know things have been rough at home, so I figured she would run away but I never thought shed be drinking herself away in a place like this.

While saying that, he helped the limp Saki get up.

I see, so youre one of her relatives? Do me a favor, will you? Dont take your eyes away from her again.

I wont. Sorry for all the trouble.

The well-dressed man then paid for Sakis meal and left the restaurant. Saki didnt seem to be conscious anymore. She was just mumbling incomprehensibly.

Then he walked into the darkness while still supporting Sakis weight. Another plump man was waiting there.

Bro, that went super smoothly.

Hehehe, and shes quite a stunner too.

The two laughed at each other with a common lascivious tone of voice.

You have a really good eye for this stuff, bro.

Its not my eyes, its my nose. I can smell psychologically unstable young women like these from miles away.

While talking about such things, the two of them set out to drag Saki to an even darker, less populated alleyway

Please wait.

But they were stopped by a voice.

Huh?

The two men turned away to face the source of that voice and found a maid with a delicate-looking body.

Look at that, we got ourselves another duckling.

Hehe, can I have that one?

Sure, do whatever you want with her.

The plump man licked his own lips and reached out to the delicate-looking maid

Uwaaah!

But was slammed into the ground in no time.

W-what? H-How dare you?

Although Ehr was relatively powerless when compared with other Automata, he was still one of Jin and Reinhardts creations. And their latest rework in Hourai Island had given them enough strength to easily overpower five grown men.

Ehrs reaction speed was ten times faster than humans. And since they also had been given the sense of touch, they could adapt their strength by feel without any restrictions.

You are to return the young lady to me right this instant.

Ehr kicked the plump man, who was lying on the ground, right in the pit of the stomach, rendering him unconscious on the spot.

Dont try to mess around with me!

The well-dressed man pulled out a knife from his pocket and threw it at Ehrs face. Ehr simply tilted their head slightly to the side to evade the flying knife before taking a big step towards the man.

With that single big step, Ehr had already gotten really close to the man. With the momentum, Ehr threw a left uppercut at the mans chin.

The attack was a clean hit, and the well-dressed man fell backwards and fainted instantly.

Young lady

Another man came as Ehr lifted Saki from the ground.

Ah, I knew it So this is what was going on

It was the same fisherman who had sat in front of Saki back at the restaurant.