Not long after Rastel went offline, Myra turned on her bed to look at his lying figure before slowly getting off. She approached him while still clutching Amba in her arms and tapped his face a few times just to be sure.
Although she was quite young, Myra was not as unaccustomed to summoned as most people. She understood a bit of their habits and characteristics and was very clear that when most summoned 'go to sleep', their bodies become totally unresponsive. There were rumors she had heard that summoned go to their realm when they sleep but she wasn't sure of that.
After making sure that Rastel was not going to notice her, she dropped Amba on the table so that he could walk around himself and sat down on the chair. She looked at the food Rastel had dropped for her and tuned her lips sadly.
"I wish I could get some nice cooked food. Even some candy too would be nice, right Amba?"
Amba who was sitting down and playing with one of the fruits nodded his agreement with her. She looked at the food again for a while before sighing again.
She then took out the money that Rastel had given her and counted them, they totaled 100 kryts.
"Okay Amba! Let's go out and get some real food!" she stood up suddenly.
Amba paused his movements and looked at her confused.
Myra took the stairs down to the inn's ground floor and headed to the main door while clutching Amba's figure in her arms. The nasty old man was still by the counter picking at his nails while grumbling about one thing or the other.
Myra quickened her pace so as to avoid meeting the old man. She was just about to open the door when she heard his guttural yell that sounded so scratchy the man might have well had sand in his throat.
"Ey! Where do you think yer goin' this late!?" he yelled at her back.
Myra trembled and could feel goosebumps forming on her back as she slowly turned around and stuttered. "Em, I…. I… I am going to…. Food and… em…"
The old man frowned when he saw her stuttering and grumbled something under his breath. "Yer know what? Not any business of mine. But if yer not back in an hour well, I will be shutting my doors. Did you hear me? Yer ladyship?"
Myra nodded her head vigorously and ran out of the inn. She didn't stop until she was a few meters away before breathing a sigh of relief. "He is really very scary isn't he Amba?" she whispered to the golem.
Amba nudged her hand to show her comfort and she calmed down. She was just about to start walking when she heard a small voice beside her speak up. "Eh? That is a cute doll! Where did you get it?"
She turned to the side and saw a small girl about her age with short black hair and brown eyes who was wearing a loose green dress staring passionately at Amba.
"Do you like him? His name is Amba" Myra showed Amba off to the little girl.
"Can I hold him?" the girl asked excitedly.
"Sure" Myra handed Amba over to her.
The little girl played with Amba for a bit as she laughed happily. Myra smiled and asked her. "What is your name?"
"Lana, what about you?" the girl answered now looking at Myra.
"Myra, I am just traveling through though"
"I know" Lana smiled at her. "We know everybody here"
"I live over there, there is a stream that way and my father owns a mill there." Lana pointed behind her at a place a little bit far from the settlement.
"A stream? Can you take me there? We can play in the water, right?" Myra's eyes shined as she heard about the stream.
"Yes, I play there every day. But not today, my mama said that it is dangerous at night so I shouldn't be out late. If I go back now, they won't let me go out and play again" Lana said seriously.
"Eh? Really?" Myra looked at the setting sun that was already far in its progress.
"But it is already late, you should be going back right?" she asked concerned.
"No don't worry about that Myra and let us play some more. I go back late sometimes and mama would want to spank me but then I start crying and she stops, it works every time" Lana chuckled mischievously.
Myra was a bit worried about the entire thing but under Lana's constant urging she relented. They took Amba with them and went playing around the settlement.
Myra and Lana continued playing for about an hour. They had fun running around the streets and laughing out loud while occasionally playing with Amba. They even bought some sweets from a kind woman who stayed not far from the inn. Myra couldn't remember the last time she had that much fun, she felt really happy playing around with someone her age and forgot herself.
They were just playing around a small well by an abandoned house at the edge of the settlement when they heard a guttural voice yell at them.
" I told yer to be back in an hour didn't I!? Are yer daft or just plain stupid?" it was the old man who had the inn and he was shambling towards them with huge strides.
They both looked up trembling at his menacing figure, Myra clutched Amba tightly as he towered over them.
He looked at Myra first before squinting his eyes at Lana. "Yer the miller's kid, aren't you? Very stupid of you to be going about when the moon is out. I'll make sure I tell yer parents about this I promise yer. Now go on! Go home!"
Lana took off like a frightened hare but not before giving Myra a smile and a wave with which she waved back. The old man watched her go towards the direction of the stream before shaking his head while muttering something under his breath. He looked up into the cloudy sky, the moon was up but the clouds prevented its light from shining down turning the night darker.
Myra heard him mutter something like "Something bad will happen tonight….. feel it in me bones" before he turned his beady eyes on her.
"Well what are yer waiting for yer little midget!? To the inn house now! On the double!"
Myra took off running and the man slowly shambled behind her. She reached the inn before him and took the stairs two at a time before rushing into the room and locking the door. She heaved heavily with her back to the door before slumping down.
After a while, she picked herself up and slowly walked to the bed and sat down. She dropped Amba on the bed beside her before laying down herself, tired.
"Today was quite fun, somehow wasn't it Amba?" she whispered to the golem.
Amba tucked himself near her on the bed and nodded his head.
Myra sighed as she thought about it. Just this morning she woke up after spending a night in the forest, meeting the hero, escaping from the village, fighting the green haired elf and treating both the hero and elf afterwards. Now here she was, laying down peacefully in an inn far away. It felt like a lot had happened in just one day.
She was still reminiscing when she heard slow footsteps downstairs, the sound of the door getting opened and shut before finally being locked.
'The old man is back' she thought in her mind.
"I wonder what everyone is scared of at night here, don't you Amba?" she asked the golem again.
Amba shrugged his shoulders before snuggling tighter to her. She turned around and wrapped her arms around the golem as she closed her eyes.
"It might be some scary magic monster maybe?" she muttered as she fell asleep.
"I got poisoned for two days straight! Maybe I'll get poisoned tomorrow? Or maybe after that!? Or after that!!? What the fuck man!" Reo was complaining incessantly at Natsu early in school before the day started. He had his face on the table and was drumming it repeatedly with his fingers in agitation.
"Huh, a few weeks in and you are already pathetic. Just that ordinary poison, do you know what it feels like to be poisoned by a Cachee?" Natsu looked at him in disdain as he sat at the edge of the table.
"What's that?" Reo looked up interested in the topic where they could both relate.
"It is a magical beast that lives in swamps, very territorial. It looks like a mud fish but it is like 3 meters long and a meter- a meter? Let's say a meter and a half wide. It uses its whiskers as stingers. When it gets you with just a little sting, your whole body would get so cold you would think you were standing in the arctic butt naked. Your muscles would just keep on trembling and shaking from the pain and you would quickly lose control of your body. After that, the Cachee would swallow you whole and slowly digest you in its stomach juices." Natsu gave him a very elaborate description.
"How grim man" Reo wrinkled his face before asking. "So how did you get out?"
"I don't know, I have never gotten stung" Natsu chuckled as he quickly retreated to his seat.
"Fuck you" Reo threw it at his retreating figure.
"Oh yeah man, when are you getting over? I could do with some protection….." Reo quickly asked "...and power leveling" he added with a mischievous smile.
"I got delayed man, you wouldn't believe me if I told you but, vampires! Dwarven vampires my dude. With the whole underground dungeon and everything. If someone told you dwarves won't make good vampires then sue them. Those guys are terrifying!" Natsu called back from his seat.
Just then, Mrs. Miu their homeroom teacher walked in and the whole class went quiet. Rastel laid his head down on the table facing sideways as he drummed his fingers while waiting for the attendance.
As soon as he turned his head, he noticed a girl sitting at the corner by the wall staring at him. She wore glasses and had her hair done up in braids. As soon as she noticed him staring back at her, she became flustered and quickly turned around pretending to be interested in something else.
"Huh?" Reo was confused.