Brendu managed to get us caps capable of altering our faces through illusion magic. They’re widely used by famous people, nobles, or royalty. They can change your hair color, eye color, and even have a function that makes people’s gazes slide off you, as if their brains somehow ignore your face.
Brendu changed her hair to a light brown and her eyes to brown as well. She still looks just as beautiful, capable of making anyone fall in love. That’s another flaw of the cap—since it’s only moderate quality, anyone above Ruby rank can ignore the mind-diverting effect.
I follow the princess’s example and change my hair and eye color to exactly the same as hers. My purple eyes are very striking; many tournament fans could recognize me just from that alone.
We walk calmly along the main street built exclusively for the tournament. There are countless food stalls and all kinds of shops. I’m still impressed by how secure and clean everything is.
We find a good place to have breakfast. Summer is just beginning, so no one looks at us strangely for wearing caps. Many people are using them to avoid sunburn, even though the heat isn’t too intense yet.
We sit at a table for two. The small place is almost full. “Do you think I can get an autograph from one of the participants, Dad?” I hear a child’s voice behind me.
“I don’t think so, son. The participants don’t come to these areas much. They’re focused on training or resting for the next stage.” His father pats him on the head. The boy looks a little sad at the answer.
“I want to meet Maki. I’ll be just as strong as him in the future.” The boy pulls out two wooden swords and starts swinging them from side to side, trying to imitate my movements.
“Yes, son, you will. For now, you need to eat so you can grow big and strong like him.” The father takes the small wooden twin swords and sits the boy back down.
“If you get just as strong, maybe you can marry a princess too.” His older sister pinches his cheek. “Brendu is strong, elegant, and beautiful. I’d be happy to have a sister-in-law like her.”
I glance at Brendu beside me. She’s staring at the family as well, her eyes and smile revealing her mood. She’s melting from the cuteness.
“That Maki guy sounds popular. He must be very strong and handsome to have a fan,” I tell the princess.
“He’s an idiot and sometimes acts like a child. Handsome? Maybe slightly above average.” She replies quickly. “He doesn’t compare to Princess Brendu. She’s the one worthy of admiration.” We both start laughing.
The father and mother look at us, then at each other, and smile. I’ve seen that expression before—on my parents. The eyes of a couple in love, remembering old and good times.
The entire breakfast passes with the boy talking about the tournament participants while his parents follow along in the conversation. He’s very energetic and, at the same time, well-mannered. He tries to control his voice and movements as much as possible, though sometimes he forgets and his mother reminds him with just a look.
“You have a very loyal fan,” Brendu says once we’re walking toward other places to explore.
“It’s a shame I can’t greet him.” I can’t reveal who I really am. We’d ruin our date and have to flee the area.
We wander around watching different performances. Many people dedicate themselves to mastering magic in different ways. Some even have finer control than students from our school, but for many reasons they prefer other professions.
We move through shops looking for something interesting. It’s a shame we didn’t find anything we liked in the more luxurious stores, though we did find beautiful bracelets at a small stand run by an elderly woman and her two children.
They sell handmade bracelets, and you can customize them however you like. You can choose colors, small stones, and different charms. Brendu and I order five identical bracelets, using everyone’s hair color as reference.
The price is very cheap for the quality. They’re happy when I try to leave a tip, but they firmly refuse once they see the amount.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“It’s a tip… it’s the amount I want to give.” I try to leave the bills on the table, but the elderly woman stops me again.
“We can’t accept that much money. It’s more than we’ve earned all these days.” She’s right. My tip is excessive—probably what they could earn in several years. I have quite a lot of money saved up and not many plans to spend it.
“It’s my tip for the wonderful work and effort. I can feel your passion and love for your customers in every detail of these bracelets.” I insist. “Help me, please,” I whisper to Brendu.
Between my insistence, Brendu’s soft and reasonable words, and finally her own children helping convince her after she initially refused, the elderly woman finally accepts our tip.
“Thank you… truly, thank you. I’m very happy you liked my work.” The elderly woman says goodbye to us.
“I hope things go well for you in the future and that our paths cross again.” I raise my hand in farewell.
We continue exploring, eating sweet desserts as we walk, buying different kinds of juice, and having lunch together. We find a beautiful place to watch various performances; it reminds me a lot of the circuses from my previous world.
The joy of the people around us is contagious. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves to the fullest. So far, I haven’t seen any theft or anything like that. Having Sapphire and Ruby rank security patrolling the area probably makes anyone with bad intentions think twice.
“Is that the same family from earlier?” Brendu asks as we walk back toward the residence. They’re sitting in the garden like many others. The youngest son is running around practicing with his wooden swords.
“Yes, it is. They must be nobles.” The section we’re walking through now is only for nobles or tournament participants. If they passed the strict inspection at the entrance, they’re certainly part of the nobility.
It makes more sense now. Both parents are Ruby rank. It’s not common to see a common family with two people of that level.
“Watch out!” Brendu shouts. Thanks to my Personal World, I know why she yelled. Before I consciously realize it, my body has already reacted by teleporting.
“Are you okay?” I ask the boy who almost fell. He hadn’t noticed a rock while stepping backward. It could’ve been a bad fall if I hadn’t appeared behind him to catch his back.
“Th-thank you, sir.” The boy thanks me shyly, looking embarrassed. “I’m fine. Thank you for helping me.” He performs a timid noble greeting. I can tell he’s practiced that movement hundreds of times.
I feel his whole family approaching us. “Thank you for helping my son, young man.” The father thanks me and offers his hand. The mother rushes to check if the boy hurt his foot when he tripped. Once she’s sure he’s fine, she thanks me too.
“Don’t worry about it.” I reply with a big smile and accept his handshake. Brendu arrives at my side, and the entire family greets her as well.
“I told you to watch where you’re playing, son. You could get hurt. If this gentleman hadn’t helped you, you would’ve fallen.” The mother scolds him. He listens carefully, though I’m sure he’ll forget later.
“That’s what you get for trying to imitate Maki. Those moves are impossible,” his sister pinches his cheek.
“Are you a fan of Maki?” I ask the boy. I already know the answer. I’m just pretending.
His eyes shine with excitement when I ask. He swats his sister’s hand away and steps closer to me. “Yes, I’m his number one fan.” He puffs out his chest and swings his swords again, imitating my movements. We all laugh. He doesn’t care at all that he almost fell a moment ago.
“Would you like to meet him? What would you say if you did?” I ask with genuine curiosity.
The boy’s eyes shine even brighter. He seems thrilled. “I don’t know… uhmmm.” He tilts his head from side to side, thinking. “I’d ask him how he got so strong. I want to follow his path.” After a few seconds, that’s his conclusion.
I turn to Brendu, who’s smiling from ear to ear, completely melted. She looks into my eyes and nods. I return a wide smile.
“I have a surprise for you.” The boy looks confused and excited at the same time when I finish speaking. I take off my cap, revealing who I really am, and Brendu does the same.
Not only the boy is speechless. I can see the rest of his family frozen like statues. They look at me, then at Brendu, then back at me, repeating the cycle for several seconds.
The boy is the first to move. He runs and jumps. I catch him in my arms and hold him in front of me. We’re both smiling. His pure smile moves me. It’s completely worth taking off my disguise.
The parents and older sister kneel as soon as they recover. “It’s an honor to meet you, Princess. We apologize for our manners. It was such a big surprise we couldn’t react immediately.” The father is the only one speaking.
The boy’s eyes change when he hears his father. He seems to realize his actions could be taken as disrespectful. Not greeting the princess and running straight to me could be misinterpreted. The poor kid looks scared.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. At the moment, I’m not fulfilling royal duties. You can relax.” Brendu’s words change their expressions instantly. They all look much more at ease.
Brendu talks with the parents while I play with both children. I teach the boy a few simple twin-sword movements, and his older sister explains tricks to improve mana control.
“Thank you for the free lesson, Maki.” The young noble named Saúl thanks me. I had to battle his stubbornness to get him to call me by my name directly. “We’ll support you in the next stages of the tournament. We hope one of you wins.” We say goodbye to the family, thanking them for their good wishes.
“You’ll be a great father someday.” Brendu grabs my arm and rests her head on my shoulder as we walk. Her words echo in my mind all the way back to the dormitory.