Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 188: Arc 4, Act I, - 33: Through the City Streets
Twisting and turning, the pillows hugged her face from every angle till she had sunken into, paradise. "Jotou...?"
The paradise crumbled a bit, hearing a noise. She grumbled something, muffled under the softness.
"Jotou~"
She groaned longer.
"Jotou, wake up."
"I’m up, I’m up!" Jotou lifted herself with her arms out of the pillows. Her shrunken eyes darted to the blurry image of Hotaru standing next to her bed, dressed in her adventuring attire.
"I told you not to stay up watching the stars so long," Hotaru titled her head.
"Ugh... eewas jus," Jotou shook her head, remoisturizing her mouth. "The clouds were, dark-ish and clumped and had this really cool image in the sky with gaps for the stars."
"You told me," Hotaru smirked, "Now, wake up."
"Why are you dressed up- Wait, is today the 8th?" Jotou stumbled out of bed and sat on her sheets.
"Mhm, they should be expecting a reply from Trailon today; it seems unlikely though. It’s only nine and I’m off to train with Feyan a bit more. Any headaches? Any more fatigues?"
Jotou prodded her arms, her legs, thighs, torso and then cracked her fingers over a yawn, "No, I feel, better. Besides, no healing magic so that our bodies don’t get dependant on it, remember?"
"I do, I was just asking. The meeting today might cause some stress so I wanted to make sure you’re ready. It seems the fatigue’s vanished for the time being."
"I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I haven’t talked to Daiyu about you taking my place on the council yet and... oh crap, I haven’t written the letter for the Altanor either!" Jotou scurried out of bed, "I’ll see you later!" she rushed to the wardrobe.
_
"Hotaru, morning, where’s Jotou?" Daiyu turned, having not dressed up yet for the meeting that took place at afternoon. Feyan stood next to her, with a less dense clipboard.
"Oh, good morning. Jotou’s still in our room, writing a letter for the Altanor apparently."
"Lemme guess, he procrastinated till the last minute and is now stumbling to do it?" Daiyu crossed her arms; three of them stood in the inner foyer. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
Hotaru chuckled, "Yes... She met the Minister of Communications and needs to give her opinion on the matters in Hartamat."
"That is brilliant." Feyan put down the clipboard, "My lady, I shall be helping her in some magical training so-"
"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."
"I hope you will be at your room by noon princess, to dress for the Royal Ministry meeting today."
"I know, I know Feyan, go on," Daiyu shooed.
"Uh, alright. Have a safe trip." Feyan turned to Hotaru, "Into the courtyard as usual?"
"Lead the way; and bye Daiyu," Hotaru and Feyan left Daiyu alone in the foyer; as alone as it could get with dozens of Royal Guard in every corner that is.
Daiyu rushed out of the foyer, her glittering purple dress trailing behind. "Arabellllaaaaa!" she exclaimed to the main foyer—the doors slightly ajar.
"Where the hell is she...?" Daiyu peered around. "Excuse me, you," she halted a Royal Guard. "Where’s Admiral Kaveri?"
He turned, "Greetings your majesty, uhm, I believe something happened in the kitchen and the admiral went to investigate."
"The kitchen? Oh no, it better not be that my plans are ruined," Daiyu rushed out of the foyer.
_
She descended into the kitchen steps, "Ara?" Daiyu looked to the multiple cooks going about their business and found the admiral with dark hair, standing with crossed arms to two other figures; namely Fumeko Namora and Asobi.
Arabella turned to see the princess. "What’s going on? We have places to be," Daiyu approached. Two large bags of corn crisps meant to be used in dishes, but with some simple spices made pretty good snacks...
Arabella pointed to the large bags; Fumeko averted eye contact and Asobi stood with her shoulders slumped, wand in both hands. Arabella motioned her fingers, signalling tiptoeing.
Daiyu held her hands to her hips, half-closing her right eye, "Feyan mentioned a bunch of food disappearing... When I said you get access to the kitchen, it didn’t mean take industrial sized bags of food!"
Fumeko scowled, "Hey you didn’t put a limit."
"Then why are you sneaking around!?"
"Cause... uh, they said so," Fumeko pointed to the staff to which Daiyu then turned to.
One of the nearby cooks turned, "Your majesty, we have no quarrel to provide food, but there should... be a limit, we still need to cook dishes..."
"How much do you two eat?" Daiyu snarled.
"Fumeko eats most of it, she barely leaves crumbs," Asobi replied.
"Hey! Don’t act like you don’t eat some too!"
Asobi glanced up and shook her head, "I-I mean she’s not wasteful!"
"Okay, no more taking this much food, one plateful is fine, but this is ridiculous," Daiyu held the bridge of her nose.
"Fine..." Fumeko groaned.
Daiyu went forward and picked up both bags, one arm each, "Would you mind," she strained her voice before the staff rushed forward and grabbed it off her hands. "Ara, let’s go."
"So, places to be huh?" Fumeko squinted.
"Yeah, now shoo," Daiyu turned her back against her.
"Hmph, I’ll tell Jotou you denied me food," she retorted.
"I think Jotou’d agree with me... Well," Daiyu’s eyes glazed over, "He probably won’t, just to piss me off..."
"Hm... or she could try to piss me off by siding with you..." Fumeko held a hand to her chin.
"It’s a dilemma, a ten-ten; wait no, fifty-fifty chance of either! I’m gonna bet... Jotou takes Fumeko’s side!" Asobi put a spotlight over the brunette.
Fumeko stood tall smugly flaunting her hair, "Yeah, she probably will."
"Hm," Daiyu grinned, "We’ll see about that. Ya know what, can we tag along two more Ara?"
Arabella shrugged.
"Tag along on what!? An adventure!?"
"Actually, yeah!" Daiyu beamed and rubbed her hands together, "I’m going into the city today, wanna come?"
"Depends. Is there gonna be a parade again...?"
"Oh just a small carriage trip around the city centre~"
_
With a crack of whips the royal carriage departed, through the bronze gates of the palace, driven by two Royal Guards down the sloped path.
"We finally get to see this city," Fumeko muttered looking out the window to the lush grass and some tall trees.
"Apparently it’ll take us a few minutes to get out of Tamara Palace’s estate, but once we’re out, I’ll get to finally see the city too."
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"You’re the Princess of Cravolta, I thought you were going to be our spectacular tour guide," Asobi tilted her head.
Daiyu snorted, "You two kidding? I’ve been cooped up in that palace ever since I came into this world pretty much. The only time I got out was to meet you guys."
"I get it. With the Keya-s in the dungeons, the council isn’t too keen to oppose you right now."
"And I’m taking that freedom to finally see the city I’m supposed to be watching over," Daiyu leaned her elbow against the windowsill as the sunrays were no longer shadowed by trees.
Down the hill completely and onto the orderly streets of the city centre. The grey bricks glittered the sunbeams and storm clouds were beginning to roll in; no doubt another shower was in the forecast.
Streetlamps all across the pavements on which crowds walked back and forth—junctions and crossings for carriages and people. The shade and fresh air from trees was not uncommon—small plots of land were sectioned for the trimmed flora.
Greens, browns, golds—some Cravoltan flags hung on the embassies around. The buildings—some loomed and some were short; each to a business or a governmental office.
The hustle of bustle of this portion of the city paled in comparison further inwards—more people and a mix of Burntish attire and Cravoltan.
More shops were opening as the city was waking into a dawn of commerce and work. The market district stretched as far as the eye could see, with tapestries, silks, spices and whatever else anyone would need.
Special ingredients, meats and vegetables indigenous to the rainforests around; some sold plants and crop seeds, even cacti from the desert. The rainforest park at the centre of Cravolta City easily shadowed over all the stalls.
The scent of foods permeated through the lightly ajar window of the princess’s carriage, catching everyone’s attention as they passed it by.
Most respected the boundaries of the vehicle, mostly in fear of the Royal Guard upfront having their weapons at the ready with scowls on their faces.
The people were delighted to see Daiyu smiling through the window, taking in the views of the city; enough to even wave back at the elf giddily waving her hand through said window.
The sound of an engine passed by and everyone’s attention was suddenly stolen by it, including the four in the carriage. They could catch a glimpse of the back of an automobile.
Namely, the large wheels, open windows and much like a carriage, the window at the back of the car, as it drove along through the streets behind horse-drawn carriages.
Daiyu’s eyes went elsewhere, unimpressed so far. Her gaze fell onto an old beggar on the street; was he sleeping or...? Her lips soured and her brows furrowed.
"What’s wrong Daiyu? Do you see that car over there!" Asobi tapped the glass. Fumeko, who had her face pressed up against the window, turned to notice.
"Nothing," she chuckled, "I’ve seen better. That thing looks like a box on wheels, not very aerodynamic." The purple-haired princess sat back in her seat.
This was all... under her rule... The nobles flaunting their ’latest’ expensive cars and beggars on the streets struggling to live. It was a nice day, but that thought was hard to avoid...
Every responsibility ran through her mind at once—what she’d do, what laws to motion. "Ooo! Ooo! What were the cars like in you and Jotou’s old world!?"
Daiyu’s mind returned, "Hard to say really; there’s like every shape and size. There were sedans which were like small and could fit like four or five people, MPVs which were like much bigger, limos, convertibles, muscle cars, sports cars.
And that’s not counting like minivans, pickup trucks, minibuses, RVs. Ramond knew all about car BS, a friend of me and Jotou... He’s probs somewhere in this world too," Daiyu sighed and held the bridge of her nose.
"You lost me halfway, but got me back; you wouldn’t have any idea where this friend of yours would be, would you?" Fumeko squinted.
"Heh. If I knew, I would’ve told Jotou already. No clue, we can’t even be sure if he’s actually here. Which is why there was like a whole parade and shenanigans for Jotou; I missed my smart-ass."
The rain clouds were gathering above and a gentle thunder resounded. The princess felt a hand over her shoulder. She turned to see Arabella with a soft bittersweet smile.
Fumeko looked away in a pout and Asobi tilted her head. "Aww... poor Daiyu... Would you like a hug?"
All this time, did she have a frown covered in worry? Daiyu furrowed her brows and her eyes widened, "AHEM! I said none of this, I’m fine," she grinned in liveliness and wiped a hand across her cheek to let out a chuckle.
"Sure you are," the detective glanced out the window.
Daiyu reached for a compartment, "Just keep your mouths shut about this, alright?" her other hand raised a clenched fist.
"Eep!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Daiyu brought out a small bag of juicy red flowers and within it a tiny pair of tongs. She used them to grab it and popped it into her mouth. "Want some?"
"YES!" Fumeko turned.
"It looks yummy!"
Daiyu handed one to each of them, Arabella shaking her head. The two held it in their hands; viscous in texture and sweet to the smell. The deep red of the petals had shrivelled flat all around the centre.
They both ate it and... The light sourness was too light to even notice as the sweetness overwhelmed the tastebuds. The petals had a soft crunch, before nectar-like substance would spurt out.
"It’s, SO SWEET!" Asobi held her wand in both hands and kept her legs together as she savoured the taste.
"But just sweet enough, not like burning your throat sweet," Daiyu popped another into her mouth.
"What is it?" Fumeko had finished.
"It’s called gelflower, grows in the desserts. It has a lot of water in the petals and people pickle it to make these like, amazing snacks. I’ve been snackin on these like ever since I got here. But the problem with them is-"
"Oh no," Asobi pinched her fingers and then trailed a finger over her wand, "It’s sticky..."
"Yup, that. It’s very, very sticky, but it goes away easily with water." Daiyu took a second to ponder as she grinned. "I had a little plan that’s fun," she mentioned.
"...I’m listening," Fumeko leaned closer.
"I’m assuming Jotou’s tried to piss you off and messed with you guys too?"
"Yes."
"It’s just Jotou having fun! It’s always funny," Asobi giggled.
"Then... maybe we can make a little like, alliance here. Tell ya what, you help me with this and I’ll let you in on what I’m doing..."
