Kusamonogatari

Vol.2 Chapter 3

草物語

Chapter 22: Candy kingdom

After a 10 minute walk, we exited the barracks, using the passes given by the soldiers we managed to pass through the checkpoint with ease. We reached a big city gate after another 30-minute ride from the military checkpoint to another checkpoint due to the War that might break up anytime.

"Next! You two, state your purpose of entry."[Guard]

"We came here to resupply our resources." [Calli]

Calli showed the man the badge given by the soldiers. The soldier looks at us and our attire. we are currently wearing the Demon Lord special forces uniform which is all black and covered with a mantle and a cape. The soldier's faces here look tense from the nervousness and at the same time, I felt that they lack emotions to show it.

"Remove your hood please." [Guard]

We both removed our hoods and the guards looked at our ears.

"You may pass, but if you were to cause any trouble, we can deport you anytime at will. NEXT!" [Guard]

We got into the city safely and began our shopping, however before we started Calli said something weird,

"LIsten, Only consume things that I approve of while we are in the city unless you want to experience hardships."[Calli]

"Do you really need so much control over my life Dad?"[Edge]

"You'll understand in time."[Calli]

Since she said so it's better to just follow her to ensure a smooth ride.

"Dad?" [Edge]

"Yes son" [Calli]

"Is there a reason why I never celebrated any birthdays during our stay at the vault?" [Edge]

"Its because they're old. They would wish that they could forget how long they lived after they reached a certain threshold. It's something that might hurt them if you make them start counting again."[Calli]

"How old are they?"[Edge]

"Again with that sort of questions, Mio is pretty ancient if you were to ask me and Fubuki is relatively young, probably after the first prank war" [Calli]

"What!? Fubuki is a Hun-"[Edge]

Calli covered my mouth with her hand, she whispers into my ear.

"Don't announce a girl's age in public okay?! It seems that I need to teach you a lesson about human values and decency after this is over."[Calli]

"Sorry..."[Edge]

Information on what I learned from the Vault on Candy kingdom is that it was originally a small town and its founder was a sweets maker. Many people gathered for its sweets and it eventually snowballed into an empire of confectionery and sweets. In merely 50 years they became a small kingdom and then the expansion of their borders kept growing until they neared the edge of the forest. Elves living in the forest retaliated against their expansions, wars were fought and relations between them turned sour until the past 127 years. They established trade relations but still repelled outsiders from stepping into the forest.

The city is painted in colors that are cheerful and bright but there aren't many people in the streets and the atmosphere is bad. I could smell fear emitting from them after they saw our attire. Only businesses that are selling essentials are open and the rest are all closed shut. Calli and I finally reached the city center where a white fountain was located and then she started navigating us towards the liquor store that she highly recommended.