Well, we're officially inside Bosorog - the beautiful bustling tourist town that's actually not your typical image of a tourist town. Whereas Sabljevo had the natural advantage of being both close to the beach as well as the nearby forest, Bosorog is landlocked, that is to say - it's a lot more similar to say Stringwood. Located on the flatlands, the only place you can go to if you want to go for a swim is lake Jarevo, though the water there is a lot murkier than the beaches down south. Nonetheless, what it doesn't have in location, it certainly makes up for in other things, like fairs and the large cityscape.

"Come one, come all! Today's special - buy two ice cream scoops, get the third one free of charge!" A nearby vendor called out to the busy streets, "You folks, with the deer!"

"Not interested." Aru flat out declined.

"Hey now, summer's right around the corner, so where's the harm in getting some?" Issei suggested, "There's just something special about the first ice cream of the year."

"Yeah, yeah! Your older brother gets it!" The vendor smiled at the very much annoyed Aru, "Don't worry, little girl! I've got all the flavors you can ask for, so pick and choose! I'll even get you an extra big scoop!"

"He's not my brother, mortal." Aru glared at her, "And I don't care how many flavors you've got, I don't like ice cream."

Hearing this surprising fact about the Goddess of Water was surprising not just for us, but for everyone in the vicinity in general. Seriously, who the hell hates ice cream? Is she even human? Well, actually, I guess she isn't... But still, how can you even look at someone in the Eyes with a straight face and tell them you hate such a delicious dessert?!

"What's there to hate about it?" I asked, "I didn't think you actually had preferences with food."

"Of course I do! I dislike anything cold." She explained, "You see, because the temperature changing isn't considered harm being dealt, I can still get brain freeze and such despite my invincibility. So yeah, I don't like ice cream and cold beverages."

"Then ma'am?" Adam thought about it for a second before deciding, "Well, you said there's a special going on, but your menu says you have other desserts, like cotton candy and cakes."

"Yep! If you don't want anything cold, then how about a chocolate filled crepe?" The vendor smiled as she gave Aru the option, "Don't worry about it, many folks come by with sensitive teeth who just don't enjoy the ice cream, so it's perfectly fine to choose something else!"

"What do you say, Aru?" I nudged her, "See something interesting?"

"Quit treating me like a child!" She pouted, "I'm not getting anything. It's a waste of our travel expenses."

"Do you realize who you're traveling with?" Adam chuckled as he took out his wallet, "Besides, you should enjoy some time off every now and then. We'll get some in a cup for Bamb as well."

"N-No, you don't need to worry so much about me..." Bamb looked away.

"She says she's excited to try some and thanked you for the treat." I mistranslated for her sake.

"H-Hey!" She gently headbutted my thigh all flustered, but I didn't really mind.

"Whatever." Aru went to take a seat on a nearby bench, "Just finish your little brain freeze in a cone so we can continue the investigation."

"You're no fun." Issei jeered, "Well, we offered. In any case, I'll get two scoops of chocolate and one vanilla, but put the vanilla in the middle so it properly mixes in with the other two!"

"Oooh, we've got an ice cream connoisseur on our hands!" She praised him as she took out the little ice cream scooping spoon thingie, "Next?"

"In that case, I'll just get three scoops of vanilla." I thought to ask, "But could you take my third scoop from the special and put it in a separate cup?"

"A separate cup?" The vendor tilted her head before realizing, "Oh, for the deer! Haha, how sweet of you!"

"T-Thank you..." Bamb sheepishly rubbed her head on my thigh where she previously hit me, as if to erase the previous action.

"I'll take a strawberry, a vanilla and a chocolate scoop." Adam smiled, "If we're here, we might as well try everything this city has to offer."

"Oh, you're tourists?" She reasoned, "Then my little ice cream parlor is barely scraping the full experience of our dear Bosorog. If you wanna truly see the beauty of this town in its entirety, may I suggest you visit the statue of king Alvin?"

"Alvin..." Adam looked melancholically at the far out hill at the very edge of town, "Yeah, we could get a good view of the entire city that way. Thanks for the idea."

"No problem, sir." She then counted the money to give him back his change before realizing, "Here you are, sir. Haha, you paid a fair amount more than the prices listed on the board."

"No, please keep it." He smiled as he took a bite out of his tall ice cream, "Consider it thanks for the tour suggestion."

"That won't do!" She insisted on returning the change, "This is practically double the price! As a businesswoman, I can't let you do that."

"Then, may I suggest something?" I looked over at Aru, sitting alone on the bench near us, "How about you...?"

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"What took you so long?" Aru scoffed with her arms crossed and her legs dangling from the bench she was seated on, "Geez, this is a serious problem that even the Gods can't foresee the outcome of, and you guys just HAD to stop for ice cream of all things?"

"Is that what's bugging you?" I asked, "You weren't as worried about this before, so I don't see why you should be worried now."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Yeah, besides, if Adam himself doesn't feel pressured to rush to the objective, then why do you care so much?" Issei raised another point, "To think even the almighty Goddess Aru would get scared of a couple animals running rampant."

"I'm not scared of some puny animals, foreigner!" She snapped at him, "With a flick of the wrist, I can drown an entire ecosystem like that! The issue lies in the two people behind the animal attacks - The lanky hunter, and the mysterious hunted. The animals are just pawns, they can easily be stopped, but I'm anxious about who those two actually are. For someone like me to run into three people I can't dig into in such a short time period, it must mean that something big is happening right now."

"So you admit you are afraid?" Adam chuckled as he gave her a warm crepe wrapped nicely in aluminum foil, "To hear that the Goddess I worship is frightened is both scary to me as well as comforting. Here, courtesy of Edward."

"What?" She glanced over at me as she awkwardly took it from his hands, "Hrm, I said i didn't want anything..."

"But wait, what do you mean comforting?" I asked Adam.

"Well, it proves that we humans aren't that different from the Gods, or rather vice versa." He chuckled, "Just from this little trip, I've learned so much about Allucius that I never could have imagined to be the case. She gets angry, pranks and jokes about, laughs and has her preferences, just like any other human. The church assumes no other idea than that the Gods are an invincible group far from a mere human's understanding, but I now see that even she has things that worry her, that make her fear the unknown. I find it a great comfort for someone so widely considered to be invincible to understand the same pain I often feel."

As everyone turned to the silent Aru, bashfully nibbling away at her crepe, she looked more unnerved and embarrassed to be read like an open book by Adam than mad. Maybe it's the crepe that's helping calm her down a little, or maybe Adam really hit the nail on the head so hard that she doesn't even have anything to toss back at him. Still, both of them are equally correct. We should hurry to catch at least one of the two mystery targets and figure out what's going on before something happens, but on the other hand we shouldn't just blindly rush through, as we might skip over some important info if we do. Without realizing it, I actually finished my entire serving of ice cream while thinking up how we should go about this.

"Delectable." Adam too finished his ice cream, "It seems luck shone down on us yet again with this special deal. Now, shall we head to Alvin's statue?"

"Bamb, did you enjoy your serving as well?" I took her empty cup to throw away, "Do you want some more?"

"No, this is plenty enough!" Her thoughts were flowery, "Thank you very much!"

"I see. Then, let's go!" I pointed to the statue, "To that guy!"

"That guy?" Adam looked kind of sad, "He's not just "that guy", Edward, he's the great king Alvin, the man who singlehandedly stopped a continent-shattering war from erupting on Cardina."

"Oh." I shriveled up out of embarrassment, "Sorry, not really that familiar with Cardina's history yet."

"Still, if he's a king as well, does that make him related to you in any way?" Issei inquired.

"Yes, Alvin Grys is my grandfather, who ruled from the year 918 all the way to his death back in 961." Adam smiled, "Such a great man... I've heard many stories about him, but it is truly a shame I never got the chance to meet him in my life. He would have been over a hundred years old by now, though."

"He was more than that, actually." Aru used her omniscience to look into Adam's grandpa's life, "He in fact bore a striking similarity to you yourself, both in mind and body. He also preferred to get his hands dirty instead of just using his status of royalty to get his way. Many people adored him, and he was regarded as a family man first and foremost, often being seen strolling about with his wife and two sons."

"Well then, doesn't that just remind you of someone...?" I chuckled as I nudged Adam.

"Yeah, you just described Adam to a T, haha!" Issei smirked.

"So Adam's kindness runs in the family..." Even Bamb joined in, "That is beautiful."

"Allucius..." Adam looked down, barely containing the large smile on his face, "I see, it is thanks to you that I get to learn about my heritage in a more personal manner, even without ever having met him. I didn't know we were this similar, but I still have my doubts as a leader."

"He did too." She grinned, "Just as you looked up to him, he too looked up to Addie."

"Addie?" I tilted my head.

"Aha!" Adam burst out laughing, "You're kidding! My grandpa looked up to his grandpa? This can't be a coincidence!"

"Well, that just means you're on the right track, aren't you, Adam?" Issei reasoned, "If your gramps is anything to go off of, just keep up the good work and maybe in the future your grandson will visit a statue of the great king Adam."

"Grandson..." Adam looked up at the towering statue right in front of us, "No, to begin with, my son is barely even 10. Thinking so far out into the future would only lead to me missing out on the present."

"Yet another wise quote from the great king Adam." I patted him on the back, "I'll be sure to tell the sculptor to put that on your statue. Just imagine over yonder, I'm thinking the giant hill overlooking your mansion - it's the perfect place to set it up!"

"Edward, come now!" Adam chuckled, "You guys are taking this joke too far now."

"Are we now?" Aru appeared to be looking into the future, which I Analyzed to see myself doing exactly what I promised, "Well, the future is full of mysteries, but we have high hopes for you, o' great king."

"Goddess Allucius." Adam smiled as he overlooked the city his grandfather took care of, "I will certainly do my best."