"Although I had mentally prepared myself, there is still some regret... However, things like this happen from time to time. Let's go."
Seeing that the restaurant she used to frequent was closed, with even the signboard having vanished into thin air, Fíliya simply nodded calmly, then turned around.
"It's a pity I couldn't let you taste the flavors here. I loved coming here to eat when I was a child."
Fíliya's tone was full of regret as she spoke, looking towards Solitär.
"A child? How small?"
Solitär, however, was curious about a different point in her words.
"Mm, around fourteen or fifteen years old."
"That's not very small."
"I suppose that might be the case for you. Truly a pity..."
Fíliya spoke, sighing lightly.
"? If you insist on talking about it, isn't there a way?"
Seeing Fíliya in this state, Solitär kindly reminded her. What she was referring to was, of course, Mental Magic.
"Oh... you reminded me. Let me try. You two come over here as well."
Fíliya spoke, beckoning to Aura and Linie.
Once the four of them were standing together in a circle, Fíliya slowly employed Mental Magic. She shared that specific taste from her memories with everyone.
"...What is this? A tingly, itchy sensation. How strange."
Miss Aura closed her eyes to feel it, then rubbed her arm with her hand.
"It's warm..."
Linie also chimed in, revealing a smile.
Judging by their reactions, it seemed Fíliya had shared not only the taste but also the feelings she had at that time.
"And you? How does it feel?"
Fíliya looked at Solitär's side profile. As expected, what she cared about more was this fellow's opinion.
"Not bad, I suppose. It's a pity I don't know what ingredients were used, otherwise I could recreate it for you to taste."
Solitär spoke calmly.
After emerging from the small alley, Fíliya had already adjusted her mindset. Looking at the busy street before her with people coming and going, a smile unconsciously surfaced at the corners of her mouth.
"Solitär, you felt it too, right?"
"Mm, strange things have mixed into the crowd."
Solitär nodded slightly.
"Where? Where? How come I didn't see it?"
Miss Aura, standing behind them, had a face full of confusion.
Thus, Fíliya explained a bit.
"This is another organization, different from the [Magic Special Forces], called the [Shadow Warriors]. But in my opinion, they haven't managed to blend into the shadows at all. Though, I suppose I'm in no position to criticize them on that point..."
Fíliya laughed in a self-deprecating manner, then continued to add.
"Look at that small vendor setting up a stall. He looks like he's dozing off, but he's actually been peeking at the crowd the whole time. Those people tens of meters away are obviously not going to patronize his business, yet he keeps wasting energy watching the flow of the crowd... Is it because he's bored?"
"Oh... So, is he hiding his identity?"
Aura nodded, finally seeming to understand.
"Mm, these [Shadow Warriors] were like this in the past, and it seems they haven't made much progress. They just disguise themselves in various professions and mix into the crowd to monitor abnormal situations within the capital... Right? Old gentleman."
As Fíliya spoke, she slowly paced over to a beggar in the corner of the wall.
"Old gentleman, don't you think you are quite rude? In that short amount of time just now, you observed us out of the corner of your eye several times."
Fíliya stood before this Dwarven old beggar, her expression carrying a hint of coldness.
"I don't quite understand what you mean..."
That Dwarven elder caught by Fíliya revealed a terrified look in his eyes, as if saying [Please don't hurt this old thing], and his body even cooperated by emitting a slight tremble.
Tsk, tsk, tsk... As expected of an expert. Despite having absolutely no fear, he can control his muscles to produce such incredibly precise trembling movements.
Seeing this, Fíliya immediately held this old man in slightly higher regard.
"I say, what are you sneaking peeks at us for, you old thing?"
Fíliya slowed her speaking speed, but her tone remained just as merciless. If it were any other time, she would have even wanted to kick the broken bowl in front of this old thing flying.
"..."
Seeing this, the elder seemed to not have given up the struggle yet, and slowly opened his mouth to speak.
"Everyone here is a young woman in the prime of youth. This old man just took a couple of extra looks; is that some unforgivable sin?"
"Ha! Exposed yourself, didn't you? What beggar uses a word like [Sin]?"
Fíliya pointed her finger directly at the elder's nose and continued speaking.
"Some [Shadow Warriors]... In my view, you have at least three flaws."
Fíliya crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the old man before her with a face full of disdain.
"...Is that so? Then this humble one is all ears."
The elder answered slowly. As his words fell, his entire temperament underwent a heaven-and-earth overturning change in an instant; it was clear he had completely stopped acting.
"First, your temperament is way too different from a [Weird Pervy Old Man]. On this point, never mind me, even that one over there can feel it. Give it up."
Fíliya spoke, pointing her finger at Miss Aura.
"Second, your race betrayed you, Mr. Dwarf."
As Fíliya spoke, a smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Oh? I don't quite understand that part."
Before her, a trace of a different emotion finally appeared on the face of the gray-bearded elder wearing tattered clothes.
"Heh... I grew up listening to all kinds of stories. In those circulated tales, Dwarves are all beings with a special skill. And in my life so far, I've met quite a few Dwarves. Some were powerful warriors, some were excellent blacksmiths, and some were shrewd merchants... But I have never heard of a Dwarf who had fallen to the level of a [Beggar]."
"With the down-to-earth, hard-working, and persistent nature of Dwarves, I really have a hard time imagining a Dwarf becoming a beggar, you know? On the contrary, with the Elves' overly loose nature, it would be much more acceptable if they ended up as slaves or beggars. You picked the wrong identity from the start."
Fíliya expressed her views with a triumphant look, and the elder before her nodded as if he understood.
"Then what about the third point?"
He even took the initiative to press for more.
"The third point is even more obvious. Look around you. Within a radius of several hundred meters, is there a second beggar besides you...? By the way, the very appearance of a beggar in this location of the Imperial Commercial District is already a flaw... Really, you are too unprofessional."
Fíliya revealed a look of utter disappointment, and sighed deeply in front of the old man.
"That can't be helped. I was never a person good at hiding myself... As expected, a head-on confrontation suits me better."
The old man chimed in with Fíliya's reaction, slowly stood up from the ground, and then straightened out his tattered shirt.
____
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