Proofreader: Me!

“You weren’t lying!” The cream along with the fruits mixed inside, created a harmony I’d never tasted in my two lives.

I’ve had the same thing before, but something in this was different. The texture, its presentation, and the taste, it was from another world.

“Gud, rite?” Uriel mumbled while wolfing down the cake in front of her.

My immersion crumbled at her sloppy eating, but at least it was cute.

“Hahaha, you both eat well that’s for sure!” Barbara chuckled from the counter. “Two peas in a pod, I’d say.”

“Kek-” Uriel choked on the cake, “Ex- excuse me?”

“Don’t try to hide it,” Barbara nudged.

I sighed, obviously realising what she was getting it. “That was it, right Uriel? We better go shop for those essentials, or we’ll run out of time before we know it.”

She blushed, “Ye- yes of course! Sorry, Auntie, we have to go.”

“Hmph, youngsters nowadays,” Barbara crossed her arms with a slight smirk.

“Thanks for the food,” I waved as Uriel pulled on my arm with her cheeks puffed up.

“Luke, the place I wanted to go to originally, it’s about to open!” She vehemently rushed me out of the store.

I popped a joke, “You sure you aren’t just doing this out of embarrassment?”

Uriel turned away, “Of course not!”

After letting out a fit of anger, she remained silent. That gave me the chance to once again observe my surroundings.

‘Overwhelming.’ That word was the only way to describe what I was feeling. It was as if the entire world decided that I was an enemy.

Not like I could blame the people here, how would you react if a target of worship interacted with a random commoner intimately? But, I would appreciate it if they toned down their glares a bit.

“Sorry,” Uriel’s whisper reached my ears. “I knew there might’ve been some backlash, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

I barely stifled my laugh, she still gave a sincere apology after just throwing a miniature tantrum. She was perfect for the qualifications of a saint’s personality.

Besides the obvious suspicions of the populace, I was able to take in the infrastructure of the town. It was quite grand in design, each building was high-class. Adorned with gold, and high-quality metals like Mythril which is scarce within the market of this world.

I wondered how this nation managed to…

“We’re here!” Uriel exclaimed. “It’s the grand opening, just like Ron told me.”

I held my head upward, observing a skyscraper in a medieval world. I never visited Eternum as Serina in the game and only saw it from afar.

My voice held a slight tremor, “Up close it’s something else, that’s for sure.”

This building was a hotspot for anything divine. Whether it was equipment for priests or paladins, statues of the goddess, orbs of divinity, it held everything. There was at least one side quest that involved this place for every protagonist.

“It’s called EienPlex or EP for short,” Uriel beamed with pride as she took in the building’s grace.

I scratched my head, “Were you the founder or something?”

“No, but I was involved in the campaign to advertise its opening!” She happily grabbed my arm and took me inside.

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I looked behind us right before entering, “Wait.”

“Is something wrong?” Uriel’s eyes exuded worry, knowing I wouldn’t suddenly stop like this.

In the corner of my eye, I saw a suspicious figure cloaked in a fabric, yet nobody reacted as they sped out of my sight.

‘Invisibility, perhaps?’

And the reason as to why I could see through it…

I rubbed my eyebrows, remembering the words Runalia and Fjleora said a week ago, as well as the description of Outer Eyes.

“It’s nothing Uriel, sorry for stopping suddenly,” I let out a comforting smile.

For now, I had no reason to stir up trouble due to a random ghost-like person.

“Ah, okay!” She brightened up immediately and opened the front doors. “Welcome to the best market on this continent!”

I was speechless, “Wow…”

With a step of a foot inside, I could tell, this was reminiscent of modern Earth. There were escalators of some kind, and stairs moving with magic instead of electricity. There wasn’t any kind of replication of an elevator, but small shops were lined across the walls like a normal supermarket.

“If you’re that surprised, you should look up,” She snapped me out of my trance.

It stretched for what looked like kilometres, how was one supposed to reach higher floors without cramped legs?

I wanted think a bit more, but a person resembling staff approached us. “If it isn’t our esteemed patron, the future saintess!”

“Ellen, it’s nice to see you again!” Uriel clasped her hand and whispered a short prayer.

“May I ask who is accompanying you today?” Ellen’s eyes sharply met my own.

Despite the fierceness of her stare, Uriel remained oblivious. “He’s my classmate and my benefactor! Please, treat him well.”

“Of course, do you need any assistance?” Ellen backed off, but I could still sense her unease.

“No, we will go on our own for now, I’ll call if we need help.”

“If that is your will,” Ellen bowed and returned to her standing post.

We walked toward the stairs and Uriel pointed toward a peculiar sight.

“If you look over there, you can see guides who bring you to a magic circle which can be used to access any floor you want,” She happily explained my earlier unspoken question.

I put a stop to my wonder, and faced her, “What did you need again?”

“Luke, my robes and some of my uniform were ripped up to shreds, so I need replacements,” She spoke without hesitation.

Alone with me or Rodney, it seemed her true personality was revealed. It piqued my curiosity as to why she became shy in the first place. I never planned as playing as her in the first place so my knowledge was only surface level.

“I doubt that’s it.”

She smiled, “Yes, I need some stationery for the starting classes, and I don’t have all the equipment for alchemy ready yet either.”

My eyes widened, “Alchemy? You plan to take alchemy?”

Uriel met my eyes with a resolution I hadn’t seen before. “Luke, after being saved twice, I… I realised I have to do something.”

The corners of my lips twitched upwards. I guessed this was how teachers felt seeing their students progress.

“Uriel, you’ve grown in these short two weeks,” I praised her with sincerity.

“Re- really?” Her body shrunk as she played with her fingers.

“Of course, not only is your aversion to people already starting to make progress but your resolve has been set firmly,” I nodded with ian nnate sense of pride.

“Hehe,” Uriel giggled slightly and once again dragged me forward. “I’m also planning to take Divine Combat Arts!”

…

An eerie presence keyed upon me. Her announcement, triggered something within my memory. I couldn’t draw on it, but the feeling persisted after she spoke.

“Hmm? Are you sure you’re okay?” Uriel pushed her forehead forward onto mine, checking my temperature. “You don’t seem to have a fever.”

“I… I’m fine…”

“Great!” She led the path forward by climbing a set of magical stairs on the right.

‘Fuck.’

It was so sudden, that my now teenage heart was gripped by her actions. Normally she’d be embarrassed by something like that, did she become this bold that quickly or is she simply an airhead when it comes to someone’s health?

“Urgh,” I punched my side to get my gears working.

I followed behind Uriel who was the visible image of a blooming youth.

“Ow!” Her movements suddenly proved to be erratic as her footsteps intertwined, “D- don’t come here!”

I caught a slight glimpse of her face. Pure red.

‘Did she just realise?’

I internally let out a sigh and helped her up by the hand.

“I saw nothing,” I made sure not to look at her face. “You said something about needing new clothes?”

“Yes!” Uriel rose back up on her feet and practically ran to her desired shop.