While feeling like he must sit on the floor with his feet folded, Claire's words came to him like Eminem on Rap God.
She started with Ludwig. The use of his conscience in the argument was dismantled efficiently and without mercy first. She said if his conscience was the problem, then his conscience needed to learn the difference between generosity and refusing to let a transaction end. Then she moved to the part where he tried to add more after Hiraku had already closed the matter, and somehow made Ludwig feel like he was the biggest sinner in the room.
Then she turned to Hiraku, and her tone did not soften in the slightest even though it was the first time they met. The man had walked into a restaurant with an ingredient that at least the prepared buyer valued highly and had decided a single meal was a fair return because he was hungry at the time. She did not call it foolish, not outright at least. She called it a childish and incomplete way of thinking about value, which punched harder than it should.
By the end of it, neither of them had said anything for about thirty seconds.
Hiraku was looking at the counter with the expression of a man who was genuinely reconsidering several of his life choices. Ludwig, for his part, had decided that the inside of his glass was very interesting.
Claire picked her drink back up. "So. Ludwig will get the rabbit, and Hiraku will accept a fair price on top of a meal. We are done negotiating."
The silence stretched again. But this time, not without an end. "But I don't need money."
Hiraku looked away from the counter towards Claire. His body was still stiff, and he looked like he was not confident that he would win this battle. However, his eyes were still and determined, like the point he made was something that couldn't be changed.
Claire's eyes narrow into something like a knife's edge. If someone with a weak mentality were in Hiraku's place, they would at least faint from it.
"What kind of living being didn't need money!?" Claire scoffed.
Then it clicked on Ludwig. Since it was the first time she saw the man, she still didn't know that he lived in a place with nothing at all. Not even a place he could call his house.
However, it also made him think about where Hiraku lived. A place with nothing at all, with a forest that housed a monster with that much mana. On top of that, he didn't need money? Did he live in the middle of a dangerous forest?
Deciding there's a gap in knowledge to quickly put this matter to bed, Ludwig opened his mouth. "Hiraku, I know you get transported by God to a place with nothing at all. But don't you think you will need money because you might find another settlement?"
Hiraku blinked several times as he looked at him. "Uh… Haven't I told you before? I make a wish to God to be sent into a place with no people around."
That answer of his as well as Ludwig's words, caught Claire's interest quickly. She stopped holding her glass and staring intently at him. "What do you mean by that? Forget it… Just tell me everything you have told Ludwig before."
With that order from her, Hiraku started. He began with his death, to his reincarnation progress, to the fact that he got a Godly Artefact, and what he learnt from doing physical chores yesterday and today.
By the end, Claire was not the only one who was surprised. Ludwig also had his eyes and mouth wide open. Same as the black-haired guy that Lee Han brought with him.
"Not feeling tired after 3 or 4 hours of doing hard labor could be understood easily. But more than that? What the hell did that god you met give you?"
It was not a question at all. More like Claire felt the need to sound it out loud to keep her thought from breaking into pieces.
At the same time, Ludwig digested what he heard from Hiraku. The man simply wished he would get a body that wouldn't get sick because he spent so much time in his precious life in the hospital. Yet, the effect was out of this world.
Knowing that the god he met turned his wish for farming skill into a Godly Artefact, a ridiculous thought passed through his mind.
A body blessed by god.
A body that simply could do what a normal body couldn't. Like infinite stamina and near instant recovery. In other words, an indestructible body.
He only read about it in the history book of Ortus. Not even Satoshi had that kind of body. The closest one to have that amongst those he knew was Ilea. But to have that not because of the effect of growing stronger, but simply because someone wished they want a healthy body?
It's ridiculous. But somehow, he felt that was really the case for Hikaru.
"Okay." Claire sighed as she massaged her head. "Let's forget all that for now. What do you need then?"
Hiraku placed a few of his fingers on his chin before letting his eyes wander, a telltale that someone was thinking. Then finally, he answered. "Seeds and food. That's what I need the most right now."
"That's it?" Claire's tone went up. "What about materials?"
Hiraku shook his head. "I can cut timber easily with the tool God gave me. I even made my house with it today. I just need seeds for now."
Claire evidently massaged her head harder after hearing that. She even closed her eyes like she really needed a long time to think about it.
After a few seconds, Claire opened her eyes and looked at Hiraku with the expression of someone who had accepted that the world was simply going to keep producing situations like this one and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
"Ludwig will give you that for the rabbit. And, you can just come here for food." Claire said before looking at Ludwig.
"Works for me." He shrugged. "Not just food, you can get alcohol too if you want."
"I'll take that offer." Hiraku chuckled before he lengthened his hand towards Ludwig.
"And, if you think you are in danger, just come here." Ludwig said so before taking his hand for a handshake. "Now, let's talk about food. What do you want to eat today?"
Hiraku turned to the menu board with a happy face before pulling his hand back. He asked one question about one of the dishes, got his answer, and ordered without much deliberation after that.
Ludwig was in the kitchen not long after.
By the time the food reached Hiraku, the bar had settled back into its usual rhythm. Claire had returned to her drink. The noise from the other tables filled the space the conversation had left behind, and Hiraku ate with the gusto of someone who had been doing physical work since morning.
Not long after, the bell on the door rang. One after another customers rushed in from Elos. After nodding their head at Claire, they took the empty seat before ordering. There were even people from Tempest coming in. Maybe they just didn't feel like going to the festival and wanted a calmer place.
Just as the kitchen finally caught up with the rush of orders, the restaurant buzzed into his mind. Two presences he was most familiar with compared to all patrons of Checkpoint were walking closer to the door.
It seemed like they had looked around Rimuru City enough.
The door opened right after, and from Rimuru City, Greito and Selene entered. They didn't look around with curiosity and wariness like first-timers. In their eyes, there's acknowledgement and surprise, maybe due to how many people currently dining inside.
Vilera quickly moved to them after sending orders to the dining hall. With a few exchanges of words, they finally sat in the bar. Not before greeting Claire.
Ludwig focused on his works then. More soup was scooped into a bowl before being sent to the dining hall. And since they were short on people today, he even did the drink-pouring himself.
After juggling through cooking, pouring, and being a cashier, he finally had enough time to rest at the bar.
"So, what's your impression of the city?" Without further ado, he jumped into the matter. Dinner had just started, he didn't have the leeway to lengthen the conversation just for the sake of it.
Selena looked at Greito before answering. But the minotaur just crossed his big hands without even giving her an answer. As someone who knew him well, Selene started.
"It's a good place." Selene started, her fingers wrapping around the glass Vilera had put in front of her. She was quiet for a moment after that, while her eyes landed on Ludwig with respect. "More than I expected, honestly."
Instead of opening his mouth, Ludwig just waited.
"The first thing that caught my eyes was how many of them there were. Even with humans mixed in, they just walk around doing normal things. Shopping, talking, arguing about prices." A short pause. "It's not something we see in Ortus. No human and demonkin could coexist except you, S-Ludwig.
"The buildings are also newer than I thought they would be." She added. "Some of them are still being built. You can see it if you walk past the outer roads. Lumber, stone, people hauling materials. It's all moving fast. They have markets too. Not large, but it's better than what we have back home. They also produce cloth, tools, and food."
Ludwig nodded, letting her continue at her own pace.
"W-we even have the chance to meet Lord Rimuru—"
Before she could continue, she was forced to stop by a chortle from Claire. Ludwig knew exactly what she felt. He himself wanted to scoff at how Selene called that slime. Thankfully, he could stop it from happening.
Letting out a cough, Claire waved her hand. "Continue."
Smiling, the succubus continued. "Lord Rimuru said we shouldn't be worried about anything. He will do everything he can to help us settle in. He also promised us that we would not be restricted from doing whatever we wanted as long as it didn't hurt anyone living in the city."
Ludwig nodded his head. It seemed like Tempest impressed them enough.
"How about you?" Ludwig asked the big minotaur, who did nothing but nod his head through the explanation.
"They have some impressive blacksmiths. I can get along with them."
Ludwig couldn't help but let out a scoff at Greito's answer. Coming from someone who had a handful of friends, that was truly high praise.
"So, the move is decided then?" Ludwig asked.
No one answered for a few seconds, and Ludwig didn't press. Claire even moved her sight from the two after hearing the question.
And when Selene finally opened her mouth,
"Both of us think moving is the perfect option for our problem. But we still have to talk with others first."
"I see." Ludwig nodded. "I'll visit your place to get the answer in two days."
With a smile, Selene nodded her head.
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