Rose and I were strolling around in the city. It has been a while since I saw my wife wearing her guild’s clothing. Her clothes were mostly white with a hint of orange which granted her the nickname of White Angel. She is definitely an angel from my perspective. A beautiful powerful woman worthy of her nickname.
Everywhere we went, people greeted her with a smile or welcomed her. But their faces changed upon seeing my face to either terrified or scared. I did not do anything to anyone that deserved such reputation. It was more like they were unfamiliar with me. I had not done anything worthy to be called an achievement ever since gaining the title of the fourth great power. It sort of overwrote my nickname “The Caped Crusader” that I had.
After obtaining that title, all I did was spend time with Rose and brought her over to the Eastern Continent where the both of us trained with Peter Borage for a couple of years. I daresay, my wife is stronger than me right now after and I am fine with that. I never wanted to be powerful. Tom was my main motivation for getting stronger and now he’s dead. I went through with my revenge and I am happy with it. I do not like doing things and giving up halfway. Tom had taken my grandfather from me and I lost 9 years of quality time with my grandfather. 9 years that I can never regain because he had passed away right after my battle with Tom. So yes, I definitely do not regret in killing him for revenge.
How long has it been since the both of us dated together? We had Daffodil over to help us babysit Daisy. Her daughter, Aloe Gladiolus, is quite attached to Daisy even though she is much older than her. Well, I guess they are technically at the same age if we were to cut Daisy’s age by half. John made it very clear that he did not want Daffodil to continue being an adventurer after she had gotten pregnant. Surprisingly, she actually agreed and now she works as a babysitter every once in a while which we are extremely grateful for. We certainly preferred someone we can trust to babysit our child over some stranger. We were willing to pay for her service but both of them turned down on the payment. We ended up sneaking some coins into Daffodil’s bag whenever we can.
I’ve already brought Daisy over to the playground as promised in the morning so now it is close to noon as we were strolling around the city.
“Is there anywhere you wish to go? We still have some time before lunch,” asked Rose as she looked towards the giant clocktower.
The townhouse where all younglings visit to check their stats and get recommendations on their guild choices had recently added a giant clocktower to the side of the building. It was so much easier now to know exactly where the townhouse is if you are new to the city. It is literally the tallest building in the city right now. Well, it has to be if people wishes to know the time.
“Hmm.. I guess there is somewhere we can go. I wonder if the order I commissioned is done,” I said to Rose.
“You ordered something? What is it?” she asked me.
“Come along and perhaps you’ll see it,” I held her hand and pulled her along.
The city had changed for the better and it is not just my optimism speaking. Everywhere you go, you can literally see different races or species all around. That was not the case before under the Queen’s rule but the war changed that. The war that I incited. The council of New Order did a pretty good job in making the city much better than it’s former glory.
We passed by a church. Church of the Imperatrix to be exact. A church under the guidance of a being called Imperatrix of Mortal. I had never heard of this being before until very recently. Is it a cosmic being, a human or just some made up nonsense that from the church. As usual, it is filled with people queuing to enter. Not to pray, mind you but to get themselves cured. Apparently, the church had discovered a cure that can heal all illness, sickness or wounds. There were discussions on the validity of the cure but as it stands, there were only a few confirmed cases where it actually worked.
Rose does not trust this church one bit as they did not release the source of the cure or what they are even injecting you with. Rose warned me to never bring Daisy over to the church in an attempt to cure her. She is fine the way she is and does not need to be cured due to her slow growth. I agree with her entirely.
There is another church where the elves had constructed within the city. The Goddess of Divinity church they call it. Now I definitely had heard of this cosmic being before. It had been around ever since the elves existed. We visited this church a couple of times before as they were welcoming and we enjoyed their company. We did not go there to pray or embraced their religion but more as to explore the culture of the elves. Rose seems to be keen on understanding Lily’s culture as she told me that Lily is practically her sister and she should know what her culture is all about. There is no controversy with this church unlike the other one. Is there anything human that is not controversial?
We made it to the place in question. There was no signboard at the entrance which puzzled Rose. I opened the door and a small bell rang from the motion. I gestured Rose to sit down as I waited at the counter. There was no one around and I do not even know whether he is here right now. After some time, an old looking man came out from the back of the store.
“C.. can I help you?” asked the man as he stuttered with his words.
He adjusted his glasses and changed his tone after realising who I was.
“Not everyday does a member of the 4 great powers comes to visit me. How can I help? Are you here for your orders?” he asked.
“I was just in the city and happened to stop by. It is fine if it is not ready. It is a new invention after all,” I said.
“Mister Zen, I am the one who created and constructed that clocktower. What a fool would I be if I cannot fulfil your request? Although you do have a knack on asking for new inventions that even I find intriguing. Do you wish to check out your items? You can follow me to the back. Your spouse included,” he gestured us to follow him.
“Wow.. don’t mind if I do. I’ve never been in the back before,” I told him as I gestured Rose to come along.
“Zen? What is going on? Who is this person?” asked Rose.
“This.. is Stein. Do you remember when I told you before, that during the war there were soldiers that wore ridiculously heavy armour and shield that required mechanism to move? Well, I found him. And ever since then I had been requesting him to invent me new things,” I told Rose.
“Oh, what had you been asking him to invent? Nothing too crazy, I hope?” said Rose as she chuckled.
“Hmm, the mechanical arm for your Paladin Lord was one of them. Oh, and the stove that we used to cook too,” I told her.
“Are you.. saying that the stove at our home was invented by him?” asked Rose as her face start to grow surprised.
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“Yup. I told him to think of something that can utilise the discovery of gas. While other people was thinking about creating weapons, transportation or other things, I asked him whether it was possible to create something that we can use for cooking. No doubt he was confused at first on why I would make such an odd request seeing as I am a member of the 4 great powers but he understood the application of it. And so.. we are the first person to use gas stove in our personal home,” I smiled to her.
“W.. wait.. are you for real? No wonder I never saw it being on sale or anyone else using it! Oh gosh, how valuable is that stove that I had been using? It is going to cost millions if the blueprint is ever discovered!” shouted Rose as her face contorted with horror.
“Oh don’t worry, the blueprint had already been sold. Very soon the public will access to these. Then, the price of gas will hopefully be lowered to the public,” I told her.
“Ah, I see. I guess that is fine then. You almost gave me a heart attack there. I guess Stein is a genius inventor to be able to create whatever you request of him. I did not even know he was the one who created that metal arm for my Guildmaster. Thanks for thinking of his needs,” said Rose as she leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek.
“Well, I won’t take all the credit. Mister Zen here is the one who brought up those ideas in the first place and gave a very clear picture on how it looked like as well as how it worked. If anything, he is a genius on his own for thinking outside the box,” explain Stein.
“Zen? A genius? I think that is the first time anyone ever called you that,” said Rose as she chuckled.
“Hey.. my curse have some uses too, alright? While it serves as my wild imagination most of the time, it can help me figure out unexpected things too,” I explained to her.
“Alright then, Mister Genius. Let’s see what your brain have in store when we get home, o-nii-chan~” whispered Rose at the end.
I curled my lips. I knew exactly what she meant when she said that. She is asking for something new for tonight. I can’t recall the amount of steamy sex we had, things that she had never even heard of, thanks to my curse. Now I am running out of ideas figuring out new things for sex. I hope my brain can fork out something new and naughty by the end of the day.
We walked pass a couple of machineries that I had never seen before. Metal parts joined together that looked like some sort of engine or whole parts that I had no idea what it is used for.
Strangely, Stein likes to work alone but when the time calls for more manpower, he will request a few of his trusted partners to help out. I guess my order is considered small as it is something that can fit inside a pocket easily.
Stein opened a door and stepped in. Inside there was a long table and a heck load of cabinets. There was a table lamp right in the middle. That must be where he create new ideas I suppose. And yes, light bulb has been created by him too. Say goodbye to candles as our only light source.
“I hope you find this to your liking,” said Stein as he handed a small wooden box.
I opened it and wow.. it feels so unbelievable to be able to see it for the first time. I held it up and pushed on the crown in the middle. The hinge flapped open and inside of this device is a mini portable clock that tells the time. Now I can check the time without needing to stare outside the window. No longer do I need to depend on hourglass for alchemy. No wait, I think hourglasses are still better for exact precise timing. Scratch that.
“Wow.. that looks beautiful. To be able to see the time in such a tiny device,” wowed Rose with an amazement.
“Indeed. When Mister Zen first came to me, he told me that a portable one will be useful during his journey. It was indeed a challenge to minimise such a huge contraption in to such a small device but I made it work somehow. One of my best invention to date I might say,” explained Stein.
“I guess I will be depending on you to tell me the time then, onii-chan,” smiled Rose as she admired the pocket watch.
“What are you talking about? Do you think I would be so selfish to only request one for my own?” I said to her.
“H.. huh?” puzzled Rose.
Stein brought another box and handed it to Rose. She was startled and looked nervous by it as she opened the box. Her face brightened up with a huge smile. I had only saw it once and that was when the doctor told her that she was pregnant. She took out the pocket watch and admired it. She turned it to the back and there was a rose engraving with her full name written on it. It was a special request that Stein was willing to indulge.
“W.. wow. This is… I am at a lost for words. How can I thank you for this? This must had cost a fortune to create,” said Rose with joy in her tone.
“Nonsense. I do not create new things for the sake of money. I create them for the benefit of the people. And besides, the blueprint’s cost alone will sustain me for decades to come. I just enjoy inventing new things. That and your husband had already paid for it,” chuckled Stein.
“Still… thank you so much. I love this and I will treasure it very closely,” smiled Rose as she bowed to Stein.
I had only seen her this happy a few times before. I am glad that I can see it again.
“Thanks for the help, Stein. Should I have any new ideas, I will come find you,” I said to him.
As we were walking back to the front door, I remember the hidden gun that was used by the hunter. I wonder if Stein had a hand in that creation.
“Stein, do you happen to know of the creation of a hidden gun that you can hide in your sleeve? I just saw someone using it in battle against me,” I asked him.
“A hidden gun? Hmm.. while it is technically feasible but how are you going to reload it? It would be troublesome and not to mention difficult to reload such a small weapon. Did you happen to see it with your eyes on how it looked like?” he asked.
“Sadly, no. It was hidden in her sleeve. Perhaps I should tear her sleeve open next time and check out the device. I thought you had a hand in creating it,” I said.
“I am not the only inventor in this world, Mister Zen. I am sure there are other genius minds out there that are more suited to inventing weapons than me. Are you interested in requesting for a new weapon invention?” he asked.
“No. At least, not yet I guess. I do have something that comes to mind though,” I said with a thinking face.
Stein told me to wait as he rushed to the back to grab his notebook. I am not sure why he is always so hyped up whenever I give him ideas no matter how dumb it may sound.
"Tell me," said Stein as he adjusted his glasses.
"I am thinking of a smaller version of our stove. One that is portable," I racked my brain.
"You mean to be able to bring a stove everywhere you go? Is it to cook in the wilderness? But how are you going to bring along the gas when it is kept in such a big container? Hmm.." Stein gave it some thought.
It was always this way. I give him an idea and we banter on its usage, application and real world usage.
"I am actually thinking of something smaller. Something that can be used to light up items or to be used as a temporary light source," I continued.
"You mean something like a match? We already have something like that. What scenario do you have in mind?" he asked.
"Matches get wet and will not work in times of need. Then we will have to rely on using flint after that. What I am thinking is probably a small container that keeps the gas while we have a flint up top where we can strike or flick to ignite the gas," I continued thinking and just blasting ideas at Stein.
"Ahh.. I see where you are going, Mister Zen. That is indeed useful. I can see a couple of application being used by it. And you painted a good idea on how to start. Allow me a couple of days to get started and perhaps you can come back in a week or so to check on the progress," he said while drawing something in his notebook.
"I will be waiting. Let us take our leave so as to not disturb you further," I gave him a bow and proceeded to the front door with Rose.
"W.. wow. I did not know you were this smart. Perhaps you can retire as an adventurer and become an inventor instead," said Rose as she played with her hair. Is she trying to flirt with me?
We said our farewell to Stein as we head out the front door. As I was still thinking about the mechanism of the hidden gun, Rose threw herself at me and hugged me tightly while saying thank you with a cheerful tone. She even whispered to me saying that someone is going to get lucky tonight while she twirled her index finger on my chest. I swallowed my throat and prayed that I do not disappoint her when night arrives.
Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Where shall we eat? Rose said that it has been a while since we last ate at ‘Sleeping Daisies’ so she proposed that we have our lunch there. I agreed and off we headed to the very first tavern that I stepped my foot upon when I first came to this city.
Rose pushed open the door and I was hit with nostalgia. To be honest, I tried to avoid coming here often nowadays. This is due to the reason that every time I opened that door, I am expecting to see Lily, John and Rick to be mingling in here. While I do see John hanging out here once in a while, Lily is nowhere to be seen for a couple of years now. Rick on the other hand, may he rest in peace.
Rose headed straight to the counter to order our food and beverages while I took a seat at one of the available table. There were not many people around as it was not exactly lunchtime yet. While adventurers do not exactly follow proper timing, a lot of them head out in the morning and usually do not return until about late noon.
Rose came over, pulled her chair closer to me and sat at my side. I was wondering what she was doing seeing that it was a small round table and she could had sat directly opposite of me. She took out the pocket watch and admired it while she leaned her head on my shoulder. Ah, she wanted to be lovey-dovey I suppose.
"Onii-chan, I love it. It is really beautiful. I don't think words can explain how happy I am right now," she said while continuing to admire it.
"It was supposed to be your birthday gift. I guess it came earlier this year," I chuckled.
She turned to look at me with her eyes sparkling. This is usually a sign of her wanting a kiss which I obliged. She usually gets shy with public affection but I guess she is really happy right now. We broke off the kiss when our food arrives.
"Oh my, how rare for the both of you to show affection in public," said the innkeeper.
The very same innkeeper that served me the very first time. She is possibly close to around 60 now and no longer ask people to call her onee-san thankfully.
We said thanks to the innkeeper for serving us. Rose started blushing and pulled her chair to the opposite of me and started eating. The food is still as good as it was which I am thankful for.
After we were done with lunch, it was time for us to head to the guild hideout which was located west of the city. It is going to take some walk until we reached it which is going to help with my belly full of food. Just as we were heading towards west, an alarm started ringing. Someone was ringing the bell tower which was also located next to the townhouse.
"Monster attack on the western entrance! Any available adventurer, please help out!" shouted an announcer while continuing to ring the bell.
Rose and I looked at each other and nodded. Protecting this city is one of our responsibilities. Perhaps now I can finally brighten the name of the fourth great power. To the west we went to help out the city.