As night fell, Muramasa's group began to worry if they would have to spend the night outdoors. Just then, a flash of light appeared in the distant night sky, like a reverse meteor shooting into the heavens and exploding into a magnificent firework.
"Hanamizaka is just ahead."
Upon seeing the firework, Muramasa noticed Kujou Sara let out a visible sigh.
"Fireworks? Is there a festival going on?" Muramasa, completely unaware of the local situation, asked casually. Hailing thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"I don't think so. That must be Yoimiya testing out new fireworks."
"Yoimiya?" Another name that was foreign to him.
"Yes, Yoimiya is very famous around here! She's super enthusiastic! Her family runs a fireworks shop, and she's always making interesting new fireworks to play with!" Hailing explained with excitement, but Kujou Sara looked like she had a headache.
Sounds like some kind of problem child… Muramasa could roughly guess the situation. Kujou Sara maintained public order, and setting off fireworks like that could easily cause problems. The two of them probably played a frequent game of cat and mouse.
"Well then, I will escort you two this far." Kujou Sara slowly reined in her horse, unfastened the rope pulling the cart, and nodded. "I have many official duties to attend to, so I must return to the headquarters first."
"Right. Take care." Muramasa bid her a crisp farewell, while Hailing stood beside him, looking too shy to know what to say. By the time Sara was far away, Hailing still hadn't managed to speak.
"You should have said a proper goodbye, honestly," Muramasa teased her.
"B-but, she's the General of the Tenryou Commission!" she stammered, clearly not good at interacting with strangers.
She doesn't seem to feel that way with me… then again, I'm not a big shot.
Seeing that she was still flustered, Muramasa casually reminded her, "Where are we planning to stay?"
"Um… oh! Over in Hanamizaka, there's a very cheap inn." Jolted back to reality, she led Muramasa forward.
A little further on, they saw an orange-haired girl in a yukata squatting by the roadside, fiddling with a firework launcher.
"Ah, Mr. Muramasa, look! That's Yoimiya!"
Hearing the sound of the cart and her name, Yoimiya looked up and shot to her feet upon seeing Hailing. "Hailing!"
"Good evening, Yoimiya!"
Muramasa stopped the cart and watched the two girls chat excitedly.
"Eh, and this is…?" Yoimiya hesitated slightly, looking at the unfamiliar face standing next to Hailing.
"Ah, this is Mr. Muramasa. He's a blacksmith who just arrived in our village yesterday." Hailing deliberately avoided mentioning what had happened in the village, carefully hiding the scar.
Yoimiya, of course, didn't catch the deeper meaning and introduced herself to Muramasa. "Is that so? Hello! Nice to meet you, my name is Yoimiya! If you need anything, just let me know!"
Muramasa's expression was cold, making him seem unapproachable, but Yoimiya still sidled up to him.
"What an enthusiastic girl…"
"Understood. If you need anything forged, you can come find me," he replied, half-politely.
Hailing then jumped in directly. "By the way, Yoimiya, this is Mr. Muramasa's first time in Inazuma City. Why don't you show him around tomorrow?"
"Sure!" Before Muramasa could respond, Yoimiya had already started listing things off. "For food, there's assorted tempura… for fun, oh right! Mr. Muramasa is a blacksmith, right? I can take you to the smithy to have a look…"
"You sure decide things on your own," Muramasa grumbled with a complicated expression, but since he had no reason to refuse, he agreed.
"By the way, how many days are you planning to stay here?"
"Hmm… including tonight, two nights? If we leave in the morning, we can get back to the village by evening."
As they spoke, they arrived at the inn. It was a place specifically for small-time traveling merchants like them. The interior was simple, even crude. The only decorations on the walls were cracks left by time and occasional water stains. The advantages were a dedicated place to store goods and the price. A night's stay cost only as much as a few fried eggs. The disadvantages were the poor soundproofing and the not-so-great environment.
"Hello, are there any rooms available?"
The receptionist looked up, checked her ledger, and nodded. "Of course. We have plenty of standard rooms available."
At these words, Hailing's expression seemed to stiffen. She glanced at Muramasa, wanting to say something but holding back. A standard room was a double room. Single rooms were a minority here and were usually snatched up early.
"Then… one standard room, please?"
"One room?" Muramasa looked at the girl beside him in surprise. Her face was clearly not calm.
"Understood." The receptionist made a note in her ledger and handed them a key.
…
"What were you thinking…?"
Muramasa held his tongue in front of the receptionist, only letting out a sigh after they got to the room. He was a Servant; if necessary, he could just dematerialize. But she didn't know that, and he wanted to understand her reasoning.
"You're a young girl. Staying in the same room with me… if word gets out, it won't be good for your reputation."
"Ugh…" Hailing looked as if she wanted to hide her face, which was getting so hot it felt like it might start steaming. "It's just that, when I used to come here with my parents, we always got one room."
"And, the expenses… I was thinking it would be better to save as much as possible."
"And-and… you're not a bad person, Mr. Muramasa. Last night, you also…" Thinking of that, she suddenly realized something, and her face turned an even deeper shade of red.
"Alright, alright, I get it." Hearing her tone, Muramasa understood it was simply a matter of trust and old habits. And perhaps, a bit of dependency… After all, at her age, and after everything she had just been through.
"Anyway, go take a bath and get to bed early," he said. "We're relying on you tomorrow to deal with the local merchants, aren't we?"
At the mention of this, Hailing calmed down a little. "Right… Ah, and I still have to tell Auntie Nan about this." Auntie Nan was the one she had mentioned who moved to Inazuma.
"Do you need me to go with you?" Although she had already arranged his schedule for tomorrow, which probably meant he wasn't needed, he felt he should at least ask.
"Thank you, Mr. Muramasa, but that's alright." Hailing placed a hand on her chest, calming her racing heart. "Some things, I have to do on my own."
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