248 We're Official Now I Guess

It was… A little awkward after that… But more between Lisa and myself…

We kissed… And it wasn't just an accidental kiss but a full on deep kiss with tongue and everything.

What's more… We even agreed that we would only kiss after I was older, yet I've already given Lisa my first kiss barely a year after we made that agreement.

Do I regret it? Most certainly not. In fact, I would not mind kissing her again, especially when I now know that she tasted so sweet~ Ehehehe~

"Aster? Umm… Could I talk to you for a moment?"

Oh, speak of the devil~ There's the Infrid that was exchanging passionate kisses with me last night~

I turned away from the ship's railing that I was leaning against, having been watching the waves and enjoying the cool morning air alone before Lisa called out to me.

"Of course, Lisa. Is something wrong?"

She poked her fingers together, "Umm… I was wondering if you… Remember what happened last night?"

A lump formed in my throat as I thought she might have lost her memories of what happened between us since she was affected by Delmare's Siren magic.

"Umm…  Did you forget, Lisa?"

"No, no… I remember… I was… I was just wondering if you remembered…"

I giggled how nervous she was acting, a sight that was completely the opposite of how confident and seductive she would usually behave around me.

Instead of answering her, I reached forward and pulled her by the arm, causing her to stumble towards me and letting out a gasp of surprise.

I took that chance to lean forward and capture her lips with mine, enjoying the sweet taste of her lips that reminded me of strawberries.

We held the kiss for a few moments before I pulled back, "Does that answer your question?"

"Ye… Yeshhh…" She muttered, looking a little out of sorts.

Oh dear, I think I may start developing a bad habit since it feels really fun to tease her like this…

Thankfully, before I could dwell on it too much, shouts started to echo around the ship.

"Attention all passengers! We are reaching Edart Trade City in another hour! Please prepare to disembark!"

Oh~ Looks like we are finally reaching our next destination! That was pretty quick! We must have already been pretty close considering we've only reunited for about a day~

I went to lean over the railings again, trying to see the land and the city that we would be spending the next week or so at.

I had been expecting to see a city like Dragon View Trade City with its winding streets and chaotic architecture, or even Crown Capital City's organised and clean buildings. But what I got was actually something of a mix between the two.

One half of the city that looked like it was built chaotically with how haphazard the streets ran through those buildings, with said buildings appearing quite haphazardly built as though people just stacked blocks on top of each other.

On the other hand, the other half of the city looked like a professional architect had properly planned out the city with its wide streets and immaculately designed architecture that mimicked the capital's buildings, albeit using what looked like poorer quality materials instead.

Lisa seemed to have recovered from her stupor and joined my side, looking out at the city ahead of us.

"Is… Is this Aster's first time at Edart Trade City?" She asked, obviously trying to buy time for her to recover from my kiss.

I quickly turned to her, "Oh yes! Has Lisa gone there before?"

"Unn… I mean yes! Ahem… I had to go through the city on my way to the capital after all, so I've been there and even stayed there for some time. You must have noticed how the city looks like it's designed and built by two different people right?"

I nodded, silently waiting for Lisa to start explaining the reason behind it.

"That's because it actually is. The left side, which you can see is the better designed one, was the first part to be built. Initially, this place served as the port to receive supplies during the war with the Nekinumi Kingdom, which is why you see the main street being designed to be so wide to allow troops and wagons to pass through easily. But after both sides achieved peace, this place was turned into a trading port as well as a military port to fight against pirates in this region."

"Oh~ So I'm guessing this place became richer from the trade which is why the buildings here are built to emulate the capital city's?"

"Ehehe~ That's right! As expected of Aster~ The city expanded over the years and underwent various renovations until an architect was hired to redesign the city. They kept the streets the same and simply worked on replacing the formerly militaristic buildings into what you see today! Back then, this was the only port that served the Elhiria Republic and the Nekinumi Kingdom as well, but things have changed after the Nekinumi Kingdom built Okorepai City as their trading port."

"Then what about the other half?" I asked, pointing to the more desolate side of the city.

"Ah… That would be due to refugees," Lisa explained while scratching her cheek.

I tilted my head at her.

Though I know that Lisa had came over from Arwan Territory to find a new life here, but I don't believe she had called herself a refugee either.

She noticed my stare and tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Does Aster remember about the Tree of Death?"

"Unnn… It's supposed to be the Tree of Life but something happened to it, right?"

She nodded, "That's right. When the tree died, the land around it died with it as well. It was a rather dark time back then and people had nowhere to go and scattered to other places to find new lives. Nomed Metropolis, the capital city of Arwan Territory, was already full to bursting at that time and could not afford to shelter more people. Thus, they built a giant wall spanning across the land to stop more people from entering there, so some of the refugees made their way across the sea and settled in Edart Trade City instead."

I turned back to look at how different the two sides of the city looked. Now I know why it looked as if they belonged to two different worlds since it's two different cultures.

That made me a little curious, "And they were allowed to just settle there? I'd thought that they would be turned away as well."

"I could say that the refugees were fortunate at that time, though some might claim that this was more unfortunate now. At that time, the city was in the midst of being rebuilt so they needed labourers. The governor at that time decided to accept the refugees in return for free labour and since they had nowhere else to go, especially after enduring a long voyage at sea, they had no choice but to accept it. They were given that small plot of land to settle and worked in anything the governor required, including being dockhands at the port if need be. Since the land they were given was small, the refugees built their side of the city with narrow streets and taller buildings to accomodate."

How interesting~

"I'm going to make a guess that the refugees were discriminated against?" I presumed.

She nodded, "That was the case, at least for the start. It's better now since they managed to integrate themselves to the community and other races have shown up and even immigrated there. But of course, there's still some discrimination present but it's not as bad as it was compared to when their ancestors first arrived here. Now it's more of a social class kind of discrimination than race."

Ugh, of course… Though I don't know if I should feel bad for knowing that I most likely wouldn't be having this problem when we get there, considering my family.

I looked at the city again, "Anything else I should know about that place before we get there?"

Lisa thought for a moment, "Hmm… Oh! The two parts of the city are known as the Wide District and Narrow District respectively. I believe I don't need to explain which is which?"

I nodded, they most definitely got the name from the width of the streets for each part of the city. Whoever came up with it definitely couldn't be bothered.

She continued, "Also~ Unless you're open to having sex with strangers and also being accosted for it, you might want to stay away from the Narrow District since there's a lot of Infrids there. And well… You know how I am like~ I doubt the people there would be able to hold themselves back if they were to see someone as beautiful as you, Aster~"

Ahhhh~ Stahp!! You're making me blush!!

Lisa then coughed to get my attention again, "Umm… Speaking of which… I… Please take care of me from now on… Aster. I… I swear I will make you happy!!"

Ah… She must still be thinking about our kiss. I guess she's basically saying that we are officially a couple now.

Well, I have no problems with that anyway… Plus to me, it's pretty much a given already since we've already slept together.

Thus, I went ahead to give her another kiss before skipping back to my room.

Now let's see what that city has in store for us!