"The demon city is a lot more normal than I thought." Elanor and I walked around the town which, aside from the permanently red, cloudy sky, everything else was rather normal. People lived their lives like normal, regardless of their pointy horns.
"Yeah, it feels like we are just in a demi-human city." Most people had some form of animal features alongside their horns, so we didn't really feel out of place.
"I've even seen some elves with horns, which I didn't think was possible."
"Well, apparently if you are born here or at least grew up in the demon lands, you get your own set of horns." It had something to do with demonic energy, which made me think how I might have gotten a pair of my own if I hadn't grown so quickly.
"I see, that makes sense. I do feel an unusual energy that feels like the opposite of the world tree in Elfheim." I couldn't feel whatever Elanor was talking about, but I didn't really care either.
"Ooo, what is this place?" However, Elanor's attention would suddenly be dragged away by a jewellery store. She walked up to the window and saw a wide variety of different designs.
'Looks like Shino was right about just walking through town.' Thanks to the help of my intelligence centre colleagues, I had gotten a pretty good idea of the city layout. And so I planned a little route going past certain places to see if anything grabbed her attention.
"It seems like people here also enjoy a bit of luxury." Walking up next to Elanor, I noticed the jewellery on display was quite fancy. There were many rare gems adorning the different ornaments, with the price reflecting it.
'10,000 gold? Do we even have that much?' Taking a quick glance at the system inventory, we had well over a million gold, which took me by surprise. I didn't remember having that much money, but it wasn't really something I needed to worry about.
Considering we had gotten so many monster parts, I guess we just accumulated a lot of gold over time. Not to mention if I remember correctly, Freja gave us a hefty sum to ensure we didn't need to worry about gold ever again.
"Everything is so expensive, though, I don't really have much gold to spare... But that ornament looks so good." Elanor contemplated one item in particular and it was a bright green gem in the shape of a leaf.
'50,000???' However, when looking at the price, I almost choked on my own breath.
To me, it didn't really stand out, but I could imagine that for Elanor, it reminded her of home. It would go perfect with the choker she started wearing ever since she cut her hair really short.
"Let's not break the bank, we can farm the dungeon for some gold." Luckily for me, Elanor didn't have access to the same funds, limiting her to only her own gold. This would allow me to buy it for Elanor later as a gift, perhaps as a way to... confess.
My face turned slightly red at the thought, imagining her happy expression when I presented it to her. Besides, if she likes this trinket so much, what better than to ensure it would always remind her of me.
"Hmmm, you're right, I should stop looking before I end up buying something." Elanor looked back and paused for a moment, noticing my reddened face. She then slightly smirked before turning away and continuing down the street.
'Was I just caught red handed?'
'Come on, she must be waiting... assuming what Clara said is true.' I had been relying on Clara's advice like it was the gospel since she was the only sane frame of reference. Shaman would be too busy freaking out to help and Elysia would just tease me to death before I could even get her advice.
"H-hey Elanor." Finally plucking up the courage to get her attention, I waited for her response.
"Hmm? What's up, Silver?" Elanor looked over to me with her one emerald eye that glistened in the sun. Despite cutting her hair, she still had one of her eyes covered, which I found adorable.
"I've been thinking, is it okay if I ask you something?" My face was definitely beat red and there was no point in fighting it.
"Of course! Please ask me anything." Elanor's face lit up like she knew what was coming and stared in anticipation.
"A-alright... Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Taking out the small box containing the ornament, I revealed it to Elanor as I spoke.
"Oh my god, you actually got it for me... Yes! I would love to Silver." Elanor carefully took the ornament out of the box and examined it in the sunset light.
"I had to with how intently you were looking at it." With the hard part finally over now that I had her answer, I could finally relax. My body melted with warmth as my feelings were reciprocated, just like Clara said they would.
"Hehe~, thank you so much. Here, why don't you put it on for me?" Suddenly, Elanor passed me back the ornament, which caught me a little off guard.
My hands were shaking like crazy, putting in question whether this was within my ability at the moment, but I had to at least try.
"It's okay, take your time." Elanor placed her hand on my hand, trying to ease my nerves as I reached to clip it onto her choker.
"There." As soon as it clicked on, Elanor pounced, hugging me tightly.
"You know, I've been waiting for you to confess for a while now." Elanor softly spoke in my ear, sending chills down my spine.
"S-sorry, I just wasn't sure." Hearing that I could have asked way earlier made me feel bad, as I kept her waiting for so long.
"Don't stress, it's fine to take things slow as long as you get there in the end."
"I love you, Elanor." I couldn't hold it any longer, as Elanor was just so perfect. She didn't need to be so considerate yet she let me take my time, patiently waiting.
"I love you too, Silver."