"Hey Damian!
Look at this!
This is the painting that Lucius painted on the ceiling!
It's amazing!"
"Damien!
Look at this!
It's pottery from the East!
The style of painting on it is unique!"
"Damian, Damian!
This marble statue is so detailed, it looks more realistic than the real thing.
How could someone who lived a thousand years ago create something like this?"
Damian belatedly realized that it was normal for an art student to feel excited when surrounded by all kinds of artwork.
Even Damian, who had no experience in this field, was impressed by the royal group, so Liliana must have been even more impressed.
Damian followed Liliana with an indifferent expression, and sometimes he had to get her back on track when she wandered off to a strange corner.
“This place is heaven!
I should have been born royalty!
So I could see these things every day!”
It only took a few hours for someone who had just commented sarcastically about the royals sucking the blood of the people and facing the red hammer of revolution, to start craving power.
"I'm glad you like it, Liliana."
Damian laughed and watched Liliana move with a warm smile.
As they walked around the palace, neither of them realized that they had forgotten something important about them.
***
“...Can we get to Central Park?”
Damian asked, and Liliana, who was lying on her side on a bench in the square in front of the palace, shook her head.
“Can you go to Oval Street for lunch?”
This time, it was Damian who shook his head, leaning back into the seat.
“That's why I told you, Liliana.
You're still impatient and shouldn't be exaggerating...”
When Damian was about to start a lecture, Liliana quickly interrupted him.
“Hey, you're sick too.
Don't talk like that when you're as tired as I am...”
They paid the price for overestimating their physical condition.
Liliana, whose heart could not handle the excitement, and Damian, who tired easily due to the loss of a quarter of his liver, were completely exhausted after a tour of Lomiltos Palace that lasted about four hours.
“Seriously, even an ordinary person would die if they walked for four hours without rest.”
“An ex-soldier complaining about this?”
"That's why you said 'earlier'.
Liliana, was your plan workable in the first place?
We only spent four hours in one place and missed lunch.
I think your plan was flawed from the beginning."
“Oh...
I thought we could do that...”
Liliana clenched her teeth in frustration.
Damian looked around and pushed Liliana, who was still sprawled on the bench.
"Liliana, we have to go."
“Oh...
I can't move yet...”
"People stare."
Hearing his words, Liliana reluctantly got up.
She looked pale and asked Damian,
“Then should we at least go get some food?”
His stomach growled in approval.
'All the restaurants here are probably very expensive...'.
Damian briefly considered his options but quickly decided that he couldn't go far in his current state.
He started looking for restaurants nearby.
To find a decent place in this expensive area, resort to the more traditional method.
He went to the information center on one side of the square and asked a tour guide to give him recommendations.
The guide suggested a nearby restaurant, and Damian returned to Liliana with the information.
“Liliana, there seems to be a decent restaurant over there.”
But for some reason, Liliana seemed very happy to see him.
"Oh Damian!
Did you find a place?
Let's go quickly!"
When Liliana was about to head towards Damian, someone blocked her way.
He was dressed somewhat shabbily and was carrying a basket full of key chains and bracelets emblazoned with the royal crest.
He rudely grabbed Liliana's arm and said rudely:
“Hey, hey, why don't you buy one, ma'am?”
Damian frowned and quickly approached the man.
He was a typical seller of illegal souvenirs.
Selling royal souvenirs was prohibited in this area unless you had an appropriate permit.
He had thought that such incidents would not happen with so many guards around, but this seller was shamelessly trying to force Liliana to buy his souvenirs.
As Damian approached, Liliana looked at him with a pleading look.
She might have refused several times, but since the salesman was a stubborn man, she couldn't get rid of him easily.
"Hey you!".
Damian stepped forward with a stern expression, separating the persistent salesman from Liliana and shielding her behind him.
"Are you well?".
“He kept talking to me even after I told him I didn't want to buy anything...”
Liliana was a little afraid.
No matter how many people were there or whether they were in an open place, she couldn't help but feel afraid of a suspicious-looking man harassing her.
“Ignore him, Liliana.
You don't have to buy anything from him.
I know a store that sells better quality souvenirs than this, so let's go there.”
The seller pointed his hand at Damian and said:
"Hey sir, don't be like that.
Honestly, souvenirs are all the same, right?
And I'm not fooling people!
My prices are cheaper.
Just take a look."
He stubbornly reached for a basket full of goods.
Annoyed by the salesman's refusal to listen to reason, Damian frowned and said,
"Get away from me while I'm still nice."
Liliana stepped back behind Damian, this was the first time she had heard him speak so harshly.
The salesman shrugged shamelessly at Damian's threat.
"Why are you threatening me?
That's not very nice."
At that moment, someone pushed Liliana away.
Distracted by the confrontation with the seller, she was unable to pay attention to her surroundings.
She turned reflexively and caught her eye on a small man in a straw hat passing by before she focused back on Damian.
But the push caused her to collide lightly with Damian's back, causing him to turn to look at her.
"Liliana, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine.
Someone pushed me, but I'm fine."
The person who pushed her had already disappeared into the crowd without apology.
While Damian was checking whether Liliana had been hurt, the salesman suddenly changed his stance and took a step back.
"Yes ...".
He closed his lips and walked quickly.
Damian stared at him until he was out of sight.
"Damian, I'm fine, let's go."
Liliana tugged on Damian's arm, and Damian finally calmed down and sighed.
"There are a lot of these people in tourist places.
It's best to ignore them, so don't pay attention to any shows in the future."
“Okay.
So shall we go to the store you mentioned after we eat?”
Liliana smiled and adjusted the bag on her shoulder, but she felt something unnatural.
She wasn't sure, but her bag seemed lighter.
“Huh?”
Feeling uncomfortable, she opened her bag and looked inside, her face hardening.
She started searching it frantically.
Damian asked Liliana, who had a serious expression.
"Liliana?
What's the problem?"
"He's gone..."
Liliana looked at Damian with a blank expression.
"My wallet is gone."
Hearing her words, Damian looked in the direction where the souvenir seller had disappeared.
He couldn't help but raise his voice.
“This bastard was working with pickpockets!”
It was common to use tactics to distract tourists by promoting their products while their partner picked their pockets.
By the time the victim notices what is happening, the thieves have already fled.
This method was well known among tourists and locals, but Damien had never tried it himself, as he had never toured the local sights during his stay in Nishio.
It wasn't a lie to say that you could get scammed in broad daylight in Nishio.
“How much was in your wallet?”
"A thousand hercs."
Liliana's words made Damian's face turn pale.