The Tracker Gets Tracked

Back on the bustling medieval street, Shu's face tensed up again.

Kiana Kaslana and Raiden Mei had already set off together, Kiana declaring she absolutely had to sample the bread from every single bakery in the royal city.

Bronya Zaychik? She'd left even earlier, though Shu suspected she wasn't interested in shopping, but rather in the Homus running the shops.

This is the world of Homu, there shouldn't be... any shady places, right?

Now Shu was left alone. He glanced down at the money pouch in his hand, sighed softly, fastened it to his waist, and stepped onto the street.

As a human on a Homu street, he stood out too much. Even though Shu wore a stern 'keep away' expression, it wasn't long before several bolder Homus approached.

"Homu? (Are you the human everyone's talking about, the one visiting us?)" one Homu asked timidly.

Shu nodded.

Looks like humans are quite rare here, he thought. Judging by the emotions radiating from the Homus on the street, most were intensely curious about him.

Shu's first objective was clear: the shops bearing the "King" title.

These shops were said to have been personally visited by the King, but Shu didn't notice anything particularly special about them.

Even their doors hadn't been heightened; Shu still had to stoop to enter.

However, the goods sold inside were indeed a cut above the other Homu shops Shu had sampled, both in variety and quality.

Moreover, the King's shops were clearly open to all Homus. Shu saw several enter and leave with purchases.

These Homus ranged from aristocratic ones arriving by carriage to gardener Homus in work attire – two vastly different statuses coexisting successfully within the shop.

And this phenomenon was common throughout the street.

It seemed 'noble' and 'gardener' weren't class distinctions here, but simply identities, like roles everyone needed to play...

This detachment from real-world social structures felt very... fairytale-like.

No, even fairytales rarely depicted social relations this detached from reality.

After all, Cinderella came from a noble family; no matter how badly her stepsisters treated her, she was still nobility—a status unattainable for a regular commoner, let alone the Little Match Girl who couldn't even dream of seeing such a person.

But here it was different. Compared to those fairytales, which could often be interpreted with dark and gritty undertones upon closer inspection, this place felt more like a child's understanding of a fairytale.

So... was the Herrscher who created this place a child?

Shu stood outside the cake shop, contemplating this as he gazed at the cakes in the window.

"Homu... (Guest, you've been standing here for five minutes now. Perhaps you'd like to come inside and take a look...)" the Homu shop assistant nearby said hesitantly, beads of sweat appearing on its head.

Shu glanced at the doorframe, still shorter than him, and shook his head. He pointed through the window at a blue cake inside.

"Could you wrap that one up, please? To go. Thank you."

Kiana and Mei were unlikely to reach this cake shop before they regrouped; Kiana seemed genuinely determined to try every type of bread.

Guess that's what you expect from someone with European roots? Such dedication to bread. He'd bring this cake back for them to try.

The Homu clerk bowed, toddled into the shop with paji steps, clumsily but quickly wrapped the blue cream cake, and handed it to Shu.

Shu held it up. It was a blue cake with cream layers and fruit pieces—a fruitcake.

He actually preferred chocolate cake himself, but fruitcake was better suited for sharing.

After paying and thanking the Homu clerk again, Shu turned and left the shop amidst the clerk's repeated thanks.

Regrettably, despite visiting all the nearby King's shops, Shu hadn't seen any portraits or images related to the King.

It was as if the King was simply called "King."

Having visited all the places likely to yield information, where should he go next?

Shu, who had never really gone shopping alone before, stood uncertainly by the street.

Should I... just wander around? Or head straight back to the inn and wait for Kiana and the others?

Lacking a clear objective, Shu stood awkwardly on the street corner for a while, holding the cake box. Then, his gaze drifted unintentionally towards the visible ears of the giant Homu statue in the distance.

The city seemed to be built on a hill, the terrain rising towards the center, where the magnificent royal palace stood.

Shu estimated it would take him at least two hours to walk to the palace without using [Wish], or maybe an hour if he hurried.

But the giant Homu statue halfway up the hill looked somewhat familiar.

No wait, all Homus look the same. It'd be weirder if it didn't look familiar.

Shu decided to use the time to check out the Homu statue.

Counts as visiting a famous city landmark, right...?

Shu set off, cake box in hand. Just a moment before, he projected a somewhat lazy, retired-master vibe.

But as he took the first step, a quick glance back sent a jolt of cold sweat through a figure lurking in a corner.

He saw me? When...? I didn't even realize he was leading me away from the others.

Should I follow?

The person in the shadows asked themselves, then concluded: Retreat.

Sensing the person in the shadows disappear, Shu finally allowed his brow to furrow noticeably.

It was a human... His senses didn't lie. A normal human... taller than him, but not quite 1.9 meters.

They seemed to have something that blocked his scans; direct vision, thermal imaging, echo location, even Honkai energy level scans were interfered with.

But Shu had still pieced together a rough picture from scattered information gathered from multiple angles.

Male, healthy, height between 185-195cm, overly fluid movements, presumed short hair...

The individual had been following them shortly after they left the inn. Shu had detected their presence almost immediately.

Unsure if the tracker was armed, Shu had alerted the others, having them spread out with him as the center, while he led this "tracker" on a little detour.

So, while it seemed the tracker was following him, they were actually the one being led deep into an encirclement.

"He got my warning. Leaving now," Shu murmured, looking towards the direction the figure had disappeared.

"Understood!" Bronya's voice came through his glasses, accompanied by the sound of "Homu."

Shu: "..."