## Chapter 56 – Hilda. A Date? # 3
Number 25 couldn’t possibly know the tension Hilda was feeling right now. She was just looking around at the goods sold in the surrounding shops with a bright smile.
The surrounding merchants were eyeing Number 25 with ambition, but Hilda, standing a step behind Number 25, was putting unspoken pressure on them with a look that said, “Don’t touch my man.”
Clearly, there were merchants who couldn’t step forward properly because they were overwhelmed by Hilda’s aura, but there were definitely merchants who weren’t particularly intimidated by her. As if Hilda’s aura was useless, another merchant immediately spoke to Number 25 in a friendly manner.
“What are you here to buy today?”
Number 25 had seen her before.
A voluptuous figure that could be called the textbook definition of a curvy woman, eyes that were slightly raised like a cat’s, and a soft voice that made your mind wander, which didn’t quite match her appearance. Nevertheless, the most impressive thing was the small wings of mixed black and pink near her shoulders and hips, which indicated that she was a ‘Succubus.’
Perhaps because they were acquainted, she didn’t grab his wrist and try to drag him away forcefully like the beastman earlier. Number 25 erased the wariness that had remained, thanks to the friendly attitude of the merchant, and replied with a smile.
“I’m not sure yet.”
She mischievously sparkled her emerald-like turquoise eyes, pointed to her shop located in a back alley, and asked.
“Then, would you like to take a look at the items in my shop? I’m sure you’ll be satisfied.”
Such polite invitations were always welcome. Number 25 nodded and replied in a bright voice.
“Okay.”
“Alright, this way.”
The Succubus led Number 25 to her shop with an even lighter step.
Number 25 followed her, who was walking ahead, to the front of the shop, then looked up to check the sign first.
The shop name ‘Happy Night’ was written on the red sign. Unlike other shops, the windows were covered so you couldn’t see inside. Pink lights with a slightly suggestive atmosphere were seeping out from inside. It was a shop that sold adult products no matter how you looked at it, but Number 25 had no way of knowing that fact.
Number 25 pointed to the sign with a curious expression and asked the Succubus.
“Happy Night, what does it mean?”
She gently put her hand on Number 25’s shoulder and leaned close in a friendly manner.
“Wouldn’t you know if you bought something here and showed it to the Demon Lord?”
Aser had given him pocket money, and this outing wouldn’t have been possible without her permission. Immediately after returning to District 7, he wanted to give Aser, who was constantly working on piled-up tasks, and Charlotte, who was also always busy working and taking care of him, a happy night as a gift for once. Number 25, unaware of what kind of shop it was, decided to buy a gift from that shop and return home, just by looking at the shop name.
Just as Number 25 was about to step into the adult shop without fear, Hilda grabbed his wrist. When Number 25 looked at Hilda with a puzzled look, she blushed and avoided his gaze.
“L, let’s not go here.”
“Why?”
Hilda began to explain to Number 25 what kind of shop the Succubus’s shop was. The more he listened to the explanation, the more Number 25’s face gradually turned red.
“I, I’ll come back later!”
Number 25, who had moved his foot to the threshold of the shop, bowed deeply and retreated from the spot with words he didn’t mean, saying he would come back later. The Succubus, who had missed the fish she had almost caught right in front of her, wore a resentful expression, but fortunately, she didn’t chase after Number 25.
In the bustling street with many shops lined up, what caught Number 25’s attention next was a shop that laid out items on a stall and sold miscellaneous goods.
Number 25 held a round, brown pouch in his hand among the numerous items and muttered to himself.
“What is this?”
It was just a simple mutter, but Hilda, who was focusing on every single action of Number 25, immediately replied.
“It’s a coin purse.”
At the word coin purse, Number 25 began to show even more interest than before. He couldn’t keep putting coins in his pocket forever.
Seeing Number 25 showing interest in the wallet, Hilda asked cautiously.
“Shall I buy it for you?”
“You’ll buy it for me?”
She took out her wallet with a confident look. How many means are there to build rapport as simply and directly as a gift? She could afford a little expense to win the favor of the person she liked.
“Even though I’m like this, I hardly spend any money except for buying alcohol, so I have plenty to spare. Don’t worry.”
Hilda pointed to the wallet in Number 25’s hand and asked the merchant, who was leaning on his chin and yawning.
“How much is this?”
Unlike the other merchants, he replied in a rather indifferent voice. You couldn’t possibly see that voice as the attitude of a merchant selling goods.
“That? One silver coin.”
Stopping the hand that was about to take money out of the wallet at the unexpectedly high price, she raised her eyebrows and said as if arguing.
“No, how can a wallet cost a silver coin? This is a price you can buy for 10 copper coins outside the territory, you’re raising the price almost 10 times.”
Whether the price was inflated or not, the truth could not be known, but at Hilda’s words, the merchant also got angry and spat. It was a completely different voice from the one he had answered indifferently until now.
That meant that even for the people inside the territory, it was an insult to even compare themselves to the people of District 7 outside the castle, a den of iniquity.
“Do you think what those trash make and sell roughly is the same as what I sell? If you don’t like the price, you don’t have to buy it. Young lady, you have a rough mouth!”
If left like this, a big fight would surely break out. Number 25 grabbed Hilda’s sleeve just before her voice rose and said as if pleading.
“F, fighting is not allowed…”
Hilda, who belatedly came to her senses, pursed her lips tightly. What kind of disgrace is this? She just wanted to show a cool side in front of the man she liked, but she didn’t know that it would come across as so ugly that it would make Number 25 frown.
Number 25 stepped forward in front of Hilda and apologized to the merchant instead.
“I’m sorry. Here you go.”
By handing the silver coin that he thought he would never use to the merchant, the atmosphere that was gradually escalating to a rough state came to an end. Hilda, who should have apologized, was standing awkwardly behind, having been robbed of the chance.
Hilda bowed to Number 25, who had paid for the item and returned, and offered a sincere apology. She felt like she had ruined a rare date with a moment’s mistake.
“S, sorry. I showed you something weird.”
Number 25 didn’t answer Hilda’s apology and looked at the wallet in his hand with sparkling eyes.
The first item he had chosen directly through his own will in a life where there was no freedom of choice at all, his own possession. It was an ordinary wallet, but it came to Number 25 with a different meaning.
Still, he couldn’t waste time being immersed in emotion forever. Number 25, who put the wallet with all the coins he had into his pocket, approached Hilda with a brighter expression than before.
“Shall we get something to eat now?”
He was getting hungry because he had been walking around.
Looking around, Number 25 discovered a familiar street vendor and approached it. The woman with a haggard impression smiled happily when she saw Number 25. She cautiously asked when she didn’t see Aser, who was always by Number 25’s side.
“Did you come alone today?”
It was what every merchant he met said to Number 25, and as always, Number 25’s answer was fixed.
“No, I came with a friend.”
Only then did the woman turn her gaze to Hilda, who was standing next to Number 25. She scanned Hilda’s body up and down as if she was disappointed. Hilda could feel a strange sense of superiority in that gaze. She couldn’t erase the faint smile that was leaking from her lips.
The feeling of walking around the territory with a man who had a face that all women would turn around to look at, and looking around the shops. It wasn’t bad. Of course, Number 25 didn’t see her as a romantic interest, but there was no way a third party would know the relationship between the two.
After finishing a brief conversation with the merchant, Number 25 opened the coin purse he had bought earlier and took out the coins as if shaking them onto his palm. But Hilda opened the wallet she had opened earlier and stepped forward.
“I’ll buy this.”
She wanted to make up for her mistake earlier. She hoped that she would remain in Number 25’s memory as a cool person at the end of this date. The memory of the first date being an argument with a merchant, that could not happen.
Number 25, who had more expenses than expected, watched Hilda buy food without saying a word.
Soon, Hilda held food in both hands and asked Number 25.
“Where do you want to eat?”
Looking around, Number 25 pointed to the tables set up around the clock tower that stood tall in the center of the territory so that people could have a simple meal. There were no objections, but there was only one seat left. Hilda managed to secure the last remaining seat before other people could take it.
Hilda, with a triumphant expression, put the sandwiches on the table and gestured for Number 25 to come over.
Number 25 took a bite of the sandwich Hilda had bought and smiled happily, making the people who saw him feel good.
“It’s delicious.”
To think he could be so happy with just food. Hilda volunteered to run errands herself, wanting to see that smile more.
“Shall I buy you something to drink too?”
Number 25 shook his head firmly and refused.
“It’s okay.”
Every time he took a big bite of the food, sauce got on Number 25’s mouth, and Hilda, who saw him, was reminded of what had happened in the castle earlier. She wanted to kiss him again under the pretext of being friends, but now was the time to carefully fold this desire and bury it in her heart.
It was okay in the castle, but she couldn’t just kiss him in a place with so many people like this. The eyes and ears of the surrounding merchants would be conveyed to Aser as they were, and if a rumor spread that a mere maid had kissed the Demon Lord’s slave…
She shuddered at the thought alone.
While Hilda was having useless thoughts, Number 25 had almost finished eating the food, and Hilda, who wanted to continue the conversation somehow, swallowed the sandwich in her hand in one gulp, roughly wiped her mouth, and asked Number 25 a question.
And she had no idea that that question would signal the end of this outing.
“Where were you before you came to the castle?”
Number 25’s mouth, which had been eating food with a bright expression, stopped. The corners of his eyes, which had been curved with joy, returned to being expressionless, and his gaze was directed at the floor.
Hilda chewed over the words she had just uttered at the noticeably changed atmosphere. There shouldn’t have been any particularly problematic remarks? No matter how much she thought about it, she didn’t think she had said anything that would make Number 25 feel down.
Number 25, whose expression had become even darker, barely opened his mouth.
“I don’t really want to talk about the old days…”
Only then did Hilda realize her mistake. Hilda was proud of the fact that she had lived in the forest hunting before working as a maid in the castle. But unlike Hilda, there would surely be people who didn’t want to remember the past. And Number 25 was a person included in the latter.
Hilda, who realized that she had made a mistake herself, didn’t say anything. No amount of comfort would reach Number 25 now.
A dark shadow was cast long on Hilda’s face.
Number 25 smiled bitterly and spoke to Hilda, who was keeping silent.
“Shall we go back now?”
Hilda nodded quietly. Unlike when they came, the road back to the castle felt long. During the long distance of about an hour in terms of physical sensation, the two did not share a single conversation.
The first outing on his own will, the first date he had been so eagerly waiting for. Unlike the bittersweet beginning, only bitterness remained faintly at the end of this time.
