Mira did her best to pretend she was unrelated to Julius, which only brought her a momentary peace of mind, and continued moving through the streets crowded by Fuzzy Dice’s fans.
The layout of Haxthausen was rather peculiar.
Overall it resembled a square, aligned with each side facing a cardinal direction and featuring gates at the center of each. Beyond these gates lay semi-circular plazas, from which five streets branched out—two running parallel to the walls and three extending into the city, interlinking with other plazas.
When seen from above, Haxthausen would appear as a square enclosing a diamond, with a cross dividing the entire structure into quarters.
There were four major districts, each in a corner of the city, and each with their own governor. That was how Haxthausen was organized.
Mira was currently moving through the street that was directly ahead of the western gate. The best parts of the city were the areas near the cross in the center, so the further Mira got the bigger the buildings got, and the more elaborate the stores on the sides of the street became, while churches and administrative offices also became more frequent.
「Oh, is that…」
Amongst those buildings, one caught Mira’s attention, making her raise her voice. It was a jewelry store, which looked rather luxurious just like the rest of that area of the city, and there were many happy couples looking at the items on sale.
「Oh, so you’re also dazzled by beautiful jewelry, Spirit Queen? In that case we could reward you with jewelry if you want. We could even make a custom order for you.」
Julius was very perceptive, as a detective had to be, and quickly noticed what Mira was looking at with so much interest. But figuring out exactly what Mira wanted from there was a bit more complicated.
「Oh, no thanks. I have no interest in such ornaments. Also, could you stop calling me Spirit Queen? It’s rather embarrassing to be reminded of that title all the time.」
Mira did not see the appeal of wearing jewelry, so she quickly declined that offer, and instead pointed out something that had been bothering her. It did not sit right with her to be called Spirit Queen.
「I personally think it’s an amazing nickname, but if that’s what you want I’ll just call you Mira from now on then.」
Those seemed to be his true feelings about the name, as he looked slightly disappointed about not being able to use it anymore. But even more disappointed was the Spirit King’s voice that rang inside Mira’s mind, as he said he felt like Mira was rejecting his presence, and Mira tried her best to convince him that was not the case.
「But then what was it that got you so interested earlier? If you’re not interested in jewelry.」
It would be strange for Mira to feel the need to raise her voice if she was just glancing at the buildings on the side, so Julius was still curious about it.
「Oh, it’s just that I recalled that this region’s specialty is amber.」
The store they had passed by was one focused purely on fashion, so there were no gemstones with special powers in there, but the lineup still included plenty of amber, which was something Mira was interested in.
「Amber..?」
That response was still not fully satisfactory for Julius, who was inquisitive thanks to the nature of his job. Was amber really something to be so surprised about? Especially if someone was not interested in jewelry?
「Yes, amber. Though what I’m looking for isn’t regular amber, but Rainbowbead Amber.」
Saying that, Mira pointed at another store she had spotted. That one also sold accessories, having various necklaces and bracelets on display. But it was not quite the same type of store as the previous one.
All the clients of this one were not couples, but a largely male demographic, most of which wore adventurer clothes.
「I see, that’s certainly what a proficient adventurer would want. I still have a long way to go.」
Julius showed he was still hard at work at improving his skills. It was clear that he not only had good looks, but was also a hard worker, and had tried to gather as much information as he could from the hints Mira gave.
That Rainbowbead Amber Mira had mentioned was a unique type of amber with a beautiful rainbow sheen, which usually went for ten times the market price of regular amber. It was usually found deep within the forest, together with fossilized specimens of insects known as Rainbow Swallowtail Butterflies, though they could be found alive as well.
Almost anyone knows that amber is petrified sap from ancient trees, and that was true of Rainbowbead Amber as well. The only difference was in how the sap was formed back then.
Rainbowbead Amber was the petrified sap of trees ingested by a Rainbow Swallowtail Butterfly.
Those insects would feed on tree sap, drinking so much of it that their bodies swelled up and impeded them from flying. So they would hide in some inconspicuous corner for months, while also camouflaging their bodies with magic.
For some unknown reason, sometimes the sap in their bodies would petrify during that time, becoming Rainbowbead Amber. There was a scientist who had discovered that.
On top of that, Rainbowbead Amber was always found in pieces of various sizes, but always shaped like ovals, which also coincided with the shape of the digestive organs of Rainbow Swallowtail Butterflies.
「In that case, would you prefer if your reward was paid out in Rainbowbead Amber? We have access to a master craftsman who should be able to get just what you want, and with less hassle than at a store.」
Soon Julius came up with that suggestion. His eyes looked confident, showing he was sure he could get that arranged.
「It’s a tempting offer, but I think it’s best to discuss that after I’ve talked with the Chief Detective.」
Saying that, Mira rejected the offer. She did not feel comfortable discussing any rewards yet, as her goal was to ask Fuzzy Dice about the orphanage, and not exactly catch him. Not to mention that now she was starting to fear the public, so it was quite possible she would let Fuzzy Dice free after she asked what she wanted. That would also invalidate any claims to a reward though.
On the other hand, it was a really enticing offer.
Rainbowbead Amber was rare and beautiful, giving it a high price. But that was not the only thing making it special, it also had the power to greatly strengthen abilities. That was likely thanks to some added benefit from the butterflies that also used magic, making it many dozens of times more powerful than regular amber.
