They go out into the town which has large wooden buildings and a few buildings made out of straw. The amount of homeless has severely dropped between the two cities. "Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know dad says it's a bad idea to go outside when we visit a town. People won't treat me right he says."
He puts his hands on her shoulders and seriously replies back. "Well if anyone treats you bad I will protect you."
"Thanks but you don't need to constantly protect me. I can protect myself."
She pretends to act strong but isn't fooling anyone. Unknown rely on their physical strength so how strong could a little girl possibly be?
"You sure. You don't look very strong to me."
"Don't underestimate me. There is more to me than you think."
"Oh really now."
"Yes, now let's go get some real food I'm tired of eating the same thing every day."
"I agree but what are we going to do about money."
Her stomach makes a cute sound while it's crying out for food. "I don't know dad didn't give me money saying that I should always be near him."
"Wait I might have some money on me." He pulls out a gold coin that was given to him by Liz that he didn't have the heart to pawn. He still has a couple more, but he's slowly running out of them. "Will this do?"
"You really are a rich noble aren't you?"
"What you mean by that?"
"That gold coin is usually only found in the capital." She says while staring at the shiny pure gold coin. "I don't know if you can get change for that here."
"Hmm it's strange to meet a fellow noble so far away from the other two villages, but we are also here so it's not unreasonable. Young one I can give you change for that gold coin." A man wearing purple robes with golden patterns over it comes up to them.
"Really?!"
"Of course who would I be if I didn't have money of the lower currency. It may be useless, but you never know what might happen. Remember young one don't always carry our noble currency. Some towns aren't even worth one silver much less one gold. So here."
He gives me a pouch filled with silver coins. "We nobles need to help each other because we're the only ones capable enough to do so."
"Thank you, sir! I best be going I have limited time here and things that need to be done. Come let's go Dani."
"Let's meet back up in the capital young one. Your interesting and if you don't know people the capital can be a hard place to live in."
He shouts to Ghost as they quickly leave Ghost also hears him say "That brat didn't even ask me for my name. Interesting I will definitely find out who you are."
"That's nice now we can eat Ghost. Why didn't you stay with him he seemed pretty nice."
"Didn't you notice the look in his eyes when he saw your ears?"
"No." She says dejectedly while having a depressed look on her face. She also seems to be muttering random noises that no one can understand.
"It wasn't a look of someone who let you anywhere near his servant much less him. He probably thought you were my slave or something along those lines." The look in Dani's eyes changed from pure happiness to shock and then into a look of worry.
"Ghost you don't think he will do anything to us?" She asks worrying for her safety in a foreign environment.
"If he found out that you aren't my slave then I don't know. We need to keep our guard up. I don't know what might happen to us if we aren't careful."
"Ok." She looks sad and worried about what trouble she might cause her new friend.
"That doesn't mean we can't have fun. He probably won't follow us. I mean I'm just one noble of the many. No reason to pay special attention to me." He encourages her while not being too sure about the truth.
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Ok, if they do try to do anything you will protect me right?" She looks at Ghost with bright eyes of expectation while thinking back to how he easily killed off ten men.
"Of course, but weren't you the person acting tough saying you don't need my help?" He jokes with her while trying to lighten up the tense mood and it works as she giggles for a bit.
She also blushes while saying, "He's a noble he can use magic what am I in front of magic. You should know that."
"Yea, I know full well how scary magic can be. Didn't your favorite hero kill thousands with that said magic?" He half-jokes half regretfully says while having a bit of him wanting to get praised by his only fan.
"Stop making him seem like a bad guy." She starts to get mad and tries to be a diehard fan and argue for anything that her idol has ever done.
Ghost secretly being happy about her reaction tries to keep a straight face as he is the bad guy in this argument
"You don't even know him. He probably took the joy out of killing all of those people." He tries to make a decent argument for one of the reasons he could have done what he did.
In the end, his imagination starts to run wild and imagine what would happen if one of the summoned was actually like that. Then he wonders about how his world will be different when he returns.
"You don't know him either so you also can't tell me what he wanted either." She sticks her tongue out at him and giggles figuring out that Ghost isn't really that mad at him.
"I guess you're right what do I know." A mouthwatering smell enters through both of their noses and makes their mouths start to water. They both look at each other and smile while they start to talk instead of just heading in the smells direction
"Do you smell that?" She asks me as if she is imagining the unbelievable smells taste and texture.
"Yea the smell is making my mouth water." Ghost says as drool drips down his mouth.
"Let's go then. Come on Ghost." She drags him along while trying to pinpoint the smell that is enticing her very being, calling out to every fiber in her body. The smell leads them to a small shop barely noticeable since it's almost hidden in between two larger buildings.
"You sure this is it?"
"My nose never lies." She looks proud as she says that and puffs her chest out.
"Well, then ladies first."
"Why thank you."
They enter the small shop and start to take a deep breath of the smell of the food, if possible it smells even better without all the other objects obstructing it
"Welcome valuable customer please take a seat wherever you want. I am sorry but the owner is stingy and says that whatever he wants to cook is the menu."
-That explains why the shop can have good food yet no one ever comes.-
"I don't mind whatever he's cooking smells divine!" Dani says before Ghost can even think about if he wanted to trust the chef.
He hesitates for a second before making his decision. "I agree the food smells so good and I'm also not a picky eater so why not."
"We got customers!" The girl who looks like she is in her mid-teens yells towards the kitchen.
"Ok!" A deep male voice says from the kitchen.
"What's he cooking."
"No clue."
"So it's a mystery until it comes out."
"That's how it usually works."
"Ghost you sure we're safe eating here?" Dani asks with a worried voice.
"Of course unless you are allergic to any foods, are you?"
"No, but what if he feeds us poison?"
"Why would he?"
"How about food that I don't like?"
"Then happily decline and run if he asks you to pay for it." Ghost replies as if it's the best way to solve the problem obvious solution, which it isn't.
"Fine, you win."
"People usually leave after I tell them that there's no menu. People aren't courageous enough, dad says. I call him crazy."
"Who would want to eat at a place that they don't even know what's coming to them. We barely ever get any customers even though he is an amazing cook."
"Would you eat here?"
"If I didn't know the cook, no I wouldn't."
"Oh I see, then we are fine. If you wouldn't eat here then I'd be worried. Since you would that means we're fine." She answers with her weird and naive logic.
"Foods ready." A man comes out of the kitchen with a plate of food in his hands. It has a cover it.
"Being a mystery till the ever end, huh." Ghost says while being extremely annoyed at how much the cook wants his food to be mysterious.
"It's more interesting that way, isn't it?" While on the other side of the spectrum Dani is just rolling with the theme seeming to not care at all about what she might be eating.
"I agree, but your friend doesn't seem to be that willing so I hope you both aren't bad kids and decide to run after seeing what I made for you."
"You think I would want to pay for something that I don't want to eat!? Why would anyone give you free money like that."
"True, how about this kid if you don't like it then I'll cook you whatever you want."
The cooks seem to turn a bit gentle after seeing how his two customers are kids and give them a bit of leeway. In all honesty selling, mystery food would normally be a bad idea because of allergies.
"Deal."
He opened up the lid and what appeared underneath it was a type of soup. There were spherical noodles with a hole in the center.
There is also a boiled egg in the middle with some type of meat floating on top. Finally, there are a bit of square green objects with thick round vegetables.
"What's this?" Dani looks at Ghost curiously while he proceeds to stare towards the server. Who also does not seem to know because she looks towards the chef who also turns to look at the ceiling.
"Dad!" The server can't help but yell at her dad and the open father-daughter relationship that they share. The dad stops staring at the ceiling and looks at his daughter while trying to hold back a laugh.
Dani stops staring at Ghost and takes a deep breath of the fresh and delicious smelling food. "What? You guys never heard of this?"
He points at the weird soup and stares at everyone in shock. He eventually sighs and starts to explain everything about his creation.
"This is called ramen it's starting to grow popular in the other countries, because of a different hero who appeared in an isolated country and protected them from an invasion.
Ghost stares at him in shock while remembering what the tv station was saying before he was summoned. Then he starts to think about how that Hiro guy and his team ended up building an academy.
One can't help but wonder how his world has changed with the introduction of mama into its environment.
The chef breaks our train of thought as he continues describing their meal. "Well to start the broth is made from the marrow of a bird called a chicken and the egg is from the same beast that the bones came from. The noodles are from a weird type of bread called rice from the east and the meat on top is from the closest representative to a pig beast that the hero described."
"The way eat this is to use these two sticks to pick up the noodles and then use this spoon to pour the broth into your mouth."
He takes out a pair of wooden utensils and puts it into the bowl. He then picks up the slippery noodle and slurps it up while moving the spoon into the bowl.
Ghost sees how hesitant that Dani is being with the weird foreign food and utensils, so he decides to go all in and mimics what the chef did.
Alas, he didn't realize how slippery fresh noodles can be and they drop right back into the bowl. He tries again with a better grip over the new utensils and manages to barely get the noodles into his mouth. He then slurps them up, while taking a spoonful of broth to swallow.
"Dani, come on quickly eat yours. I can't describe how good this tastes."
Dani hesitates but manages to get the courage to use the new utensils and tries to eat the new food in front of her. She, unlike Ghost, actually succeeds at taking a bite out of it on her first go.
The chef comes back and shows them that the egg in the soup isn't hard-boiled but soft boiled so that the yoke comes out after cutting it. He then proceeds to stir the freshly spilled yolk into the broth, while talking to them.
"Well, that's about everything I have left to teach you about this strange new meal. I hope you enjoy it and spread around this fine cuisine.
After he leaves they enjoy their meal in peace and quiet while they slowly savor the flavors that they are tasting. The shop is empty besides the two shopkeepers, so they just enjoy their meal and current life.
Eventually, their meal grows empty and the sun in the sky starts to go down leaving a few hours of daylight left. They decide it's for the best that they finish up their meal and pay for it to leave.
The sky grows dark and it's almost night. "That was such a fun day. That soup you made me eat was absolutely amazing and the look on his face when you gave him a gold coin for it was priceless."
"Hey that wasn't the only great thing about it, was it?"
"No the other things we did was fun, but that was definitely the highlight of this trip."
Suddenly a sharp pain is felt on his neck and my viewing screen temporarily goes dark. You see as of right now I'm only a parasite that attached myself to a host to view their lives. I can't view without the help of them for now.
-Arg am I wearing a blindfold? Is that blurry figure Dani? Why can't I use my magic!-
"Dani is that you?"
"Ghost?" A faint scared voice can barely be heard in the already quiet room. There isn't any other sound inside besides Dani's scared hyperventilating.
Ghost muttering random chants off of his memory. Finally, he decides that he definitely can't use any magic and that he should help Dani calm down.
"It's me Dani don't worry. Everything is going to be ok. I'm also here with you! You aren't alone I repeat you aren't alone."
Ghost tries his best to calm her down and reassure her as well. Even though he also isn't thinking straight and can't figure out how to solve this problem.
"Ha! Ok, he says." A familiar voice bellows."News flashes little kid. Nothing is going to be ok. You're the shame to us nobles. I thought at first that you had a cute slave, but no she isn't a slave."
"That bitch is your friend and you to were on a date. I almost immediately wanted to kidnap you right then and there, to take you off the wrong path and put you back on the right path."
He continues on his insane ramble while making sure everyone is tied up nice and tight. He also starts to drag various things into the room making loud sounds.
"I continued to watch over you. I followed you ever since I gave you that pouch of coins free of charge. What did you do? You went to a restaurant that is owned by that crazy chef!"
"You actually ate the weird food there and then you had the audacity to continue and actually went shopping for this thing! With my loose change as well! Just making me think of it is causing my skin to crawl and my hand to itch."
"I at first thought you were some weird form of torture on her when you took her into his place, but after you bought new clothes for her I knew, I knew. You aren't acting like a proper noble and instead, are acting like a commoner. As your elder, I took it as my job to do this. This is all for you remember that."
He stops for a second while Ghost's mind is running as fast as it can to try to get Dani out of this situation. He never expected that some of the nobles could be this crazy to their commonwealth.
"Don't hate me at the end of this. This isn't for me but for you. I want you to learn your standing in this world compared to this trash." A high pitch scream assaults Ghost ears.
"You hear that sweet scream of your 'friend'? Do you!? What should I do to her next." Then the blurry figure kicks the kneeling figure and another groan rebounds against the walls of the room and echoes out making Ghost shutter from the thought of the pain.
"This isn't enough to make you learn your place bitch. Even if I killed you right here and know you wouldn't know. No, you don't deserve a quick death for deriving an innocent young lad of his purity. I'm going to make you regret ever being born."
His somewhat gentle voice turns into being of pure anger whenever he talks towards Dani. It seems that Ghost has truly underestimated the people of this world.
"Please don't harm her. She has done nothing wrong." Ghost tries to plead out for the poor innocent girl's safety, while also trying to figure out a way to get her out of this danger.
"SHUT UP! I'm the one letting you speak right now and yet you want to argue against my teachings and rebel against me!" A faint chant is heard and Ghosts face turns completely stiff. He can't speak nor can even blink.
"Now you don't even have the privilege to speak. You can't even blink, so watch as I destroy 'your loved one'. Now I'm not that bad of a guy so you won't have to watch it all and clearly see it faces in agony. I at least blindfolded you, didn't I?"
He then proceeds to hit Dani over and over again. Crying and the sounds of the beating stop the silence of the night. Then a heartbreaking snap is heard and an even louder scream echoes the empty room.
"Wow, that was the loudest scream of the night. Let's see if you can top that." The more he tortures her the more pleasure can be heard from his voice.
The louder the scream will always follow an even louder laugh. He has almost forgotten why he originally did this as he slowly just enjoy the feeling of breaking bones.
"Plz, no more." She says with a bit of a lisp because her mouth is bruised and cut. While she has lost most of her teeth as well as having a cut on her tongue.
Ghost tries his hardest to break out of the rope tying him, but sadly all of his ability is in his blood magic and none in the body.
"But, I'm just getting started, honey." Another snap is heard and a scream similar to earlier is heard. "No, no, no and NO you're supposed to scream louder. Make this whole town sleepless. I want everyone to know what's going on. It's not like they can do anything to stop me anyway. Hey, kid what you think I should do next?"
He waits a little bit before going aha. "Sorry, I forgot I stopped you from talking. Here you can have one sentence. Got to make sure treatment is working." He says as he finally remembers that this was supposed to be a treatment season for treating Ghost of his 'problem.
"You're a madman, stop torturing her. I'll do whatever you want."
"You're probably right. I probably am a madman, but I became a madman to help people like you. You still said stop torturing her. There are two problems with that sentence, you know what they are? First problem torture! What I am doing isn't torturing, but setting her free! It should be happy that I'm eventually letting it leave this world. Second, is you called it her? That doesn't have a gender but is a tool to for our survival."
Another two snaps are heard and a scream even louder than the last one resounds the town. "There we go. Everyone must have heard that one."
"Kill me, plz." Dani who has long since given up on continue living her pathetic life begs for a mercy killing. The madman, of course, doesn't bother with such begs and continues to make her suffer.
"Come on I haven't even done much to you, yet you want to die. *Sigh* Why do people have to be so weak. What should I do next?" He stops talking and just stands there thinking about what he can do to her next. He really wants her to scream till her throat can't release any more noise.
"Should I heal your injuries just to do it again. Nah that's plain and boring. How about instead of breaking I start cutting things."
The sound of a sword being drawn is heard while the blurry figure swings down and cuts. A wet liquid splatters onto Ghost's face while he is too in shock to realize that its blood.
All this time he's been trying to zone out everything because he feels terrible for what has happened to her. Another deafening scream is then heard throughout the town.
"Wow, that was the best one. I don't think I can get a better one out of you. But, how about we try to get an even better one even if you probably can't! Come on prove me wrong. Don't you like rebelling against my teachings?"
Ghost then licks the wet liquid that hit his face and realizes that its blood. Spit! He spits it out and the blurry figure in front of the kneeling figure falls. But as he falls something that looks like a sword strikes the kneeling figure.
"Dani!" He makes the blood open up his restraints and then takes off the blindfold and see the disfigured body that was once called Dani.
"Ghost," she pauses for a second then says "kill me."
"But we can still save you. Magic can heal your wounds don't worry it's possible. Please don't leave me. Not you too." He starts to beg not realizing that this is all his fault and there were a plethora of ways to get her out of this situation. Dani just has a dull smile on her face as she seems to realize something
"Ghost, no one will heal me thanks to my race. I'm surprised he didn't cut off my ears or something along those lines. He cut off my right leg and arm even with magic I don't think I can have those back so please Ghost kill me." She says while crying out empty tears since her tear ducts have long since gone dry.
"I am so sorry, but what am I going to tell your parents?" Ghost asks while not realizing that they never came over to stop the noble during this entire fiasco. He only now starts to wonder where they currently are, but Dani interrupts his train of thought.
"Tell them I'm sorry that I can't be their daughter anymore." She has a begging look on her disfigured face and he looks over her wounds yet again figuring out that if they aren't treated soon she will die anyway.
"Ok." He closes her eyes and sends out a needle into her brain, she's dead. He tried to give her as quick of a death as possible.
-Why does this world keep taking things from me? First, my sister now her.-
Tears don't stop following even while he leaves to find her parents. Outside a dwarf lies with his head chopped off and laying right next to his bodiless head.
-He must of went to look for us when we didn't return. I don't see Siena at least, but who knows what has happened to her.-
"I finally found you." An old voice is heard in the background.