"It's going to take us three days to reach the village on foot, a day and a half by carriage. Going by our expenses, we should be safe if we consider lodging as well."
"For a kid, you know your stuff. Are you sure you're just eleven?"
"Hai, Toshirou-nii."
"Cut it with -nii shit. I'm not anyone's older brother."
"Hehe." Joel smiled while scratching his cheek. "But you have that feel, you know."
"Well, whatever," Toshirou replied, dismissively.
The two were sitting under a palm tree, a long way from the guild they had come from. Their surroundings were filled with fresh green grasses, soft to the touch and pleasant to the eye. With a very new scent of flowers, the two boys sat under the palm tree. Toshirou laid his back on the tree and napped for a while, leaving Joel to his own thoughts on everything that had just happened.
It all occurred so fast. Yesterday, he woke up all ready to face life and today, he's following a stranger who has never met in his life and helping him on top of that
'Life is funny', the boy thought.
Gazing at Toshirou's sleeping face, the boy couldn't help but admire his features.
He's probably one of those runaway royalties. I'm surprised he even allowed me to tag along with him. I have to do my very best. I left my job to follow him, but I have no idea of what his goals are. I do hope he'll eventually come to trust me and tell me more about him.
Taking a post beside him, Joel sat under the tree with his knees to his chest, and buried his face in them, taking a small nap as well.
Both boys drifted off peacefully into a calm slumber. With the cool afternoon breeze and the scent of magnolias and sunflowers, the peace around them seemed surreal. At least, for now.
...
"*Yaaawn*, I reeeaally needed that" The blue-haired teen stretched out his hands, easing up his stiffed torso and stood up from his sitting position.
It was already evening, and the sky was bright orange with the sun receding behind the clouds saying its final goodbye for the day. The landscape they were on was still as pretty as it had been and Toshirou looked down his left and noticed his purple-haired companion, still fast asleep on the soft-looking grass.
Toshirou-nii, huh.
He thought to himself as he looked down at the boy. Somehow, it sounds really good. But I don't think I have what it takes to be a big brother.
At that moment, Joel began to stir out of his slumber. He sluggishly wiped his eyes with the back of his palm and looked up. As his eyes met contact with Toshirou's, he instantly brightened up and took a quick look at his surroundings.
"Huh? Where are we? No, I think I overslept. Oh no, because of me we're going to be late. Toshirou-nii I-"
"Cut yourself some slack, you've done enough already. It's just.."- Toshirou checked the time on his watch- "..4:30. If what you said earlier is true, then before eight we'll get there."
Joel nodded his head in response. He moved his head to the right and looked up at Toshirou's right wrist.
"What's that?" He asked, pointing at the object on his wrist.
"This? It's a watch. It tells the time of the day." Toshirou replied.
S-Sugoi, the little boy's eyes shone with fascination.
"How does it work?" Joel asked.
"Don't ask me, I'm not the one who made it. If you wanna find out how it works, go look for the damn creator."
"Oh, okay. Sorry for asking." The boy said, dejectedly.
The little shit is trying to guilt-trip me.
A vein popped on Toshirou's forehead. But well whatever.
Sharply but carefully, he pulled Joel up from the floor with one arm and with steady movements, put him on his back. A piggyback ride to be exact.
"To-Toshirou-nii?!"
"You're probably still exhausted after all that happened today. Don't overexert yourself, you're still a kid. I'll tell you all about watches as we move."
Joel was, needless to say, stunned at this act from Toshirou. He giggled a little and laid his full weight on him.
Smiling on his back, he said, with an emotional voice, "You're very kind, Toshirou-nii."
This kid. He sighed softly and turned his gaze away from him. Somehow, he reminds me of a certain someone.
"I'm glad you think that, Joel."
The only response was soft breathing on his nape and silent snores from behind him. The little boy had fallen asleep.
...
"Sire!!"
A young man, wearing a black kimono with something that looked like a wooden backpack strapped to his back, knelt before the seats of seven elders.
A short distanced staircase led from the ground to a bit higher floor. Seven seats were arranged around a round table on the higher floor. The seats were made of fine mahogany wood and cushioned with purple linen material. Underneath the linen was foam, that provided a soft and pleasant feeling to the touch. The round table was painted a light brown colour but was made from cedar.
Cedar is a type of wood gotten from cedar trees that were found only in the Min-ji village. Min-ji is a village or even considered a city, that is known for its excellent wood and timber in the kingdom of Yeong-won. It's a prosperous land, which made most of its profits from wood carving and selling of woods and timbers for construction purposes.
"Speak up, messenger. Has our request reached the ears of the Adventurer's Guild, the one by the river of Thaimes?"
"Yes, my lord. The request was successfully delivered to the guild earlier today."
"Is there something wrong, Messenger?" One of the elders asked.
The messenger hesitated for a split second before replying. "Yes, my lord. Unfortunately, Enel-sama is not the adventurer that would be fulfilling the request."
"What!?" All the elders shouted in an uproar.
"It is as I said, my lord. Another adventurer has chosen to complete the request sent out by my lords. According to the rumours, Enel-sama was defeated in an instant by a new adventurer."
There was murmuring among the seven elders, confusion mixed with astonishment was present among the elders.
"And who might this new adventurer be?" An elder asked.
"I'm afraid there's no information concerning him, my lords."
"Hmmm, this is certainly troubling. We have already made arrangements with Enel-kun. This certainly throws our plans into jeopardy." One of the elders stroked his beard as he made this comment.
"Very well, let the adventurer make his presence before us. Then we might determine what kind of man he is."
"Yes, my lord."
The oldest of the elders rose from his seat and, looking upwards, shouted with a loud voice.
"Proclaim this word throughout the land of Min-ji, our days of reckoning have come to an end, for our redemption is at hand!"
The messenger nodded his head and spoke firmly. "As it has been said, so it shall be done." And he disappeared from the palace.
Still staring up at the wooden ceiling of the palace, the elder sighed through his nose and brought down his head with a solemn expression etched onto it.
"We must not allow them to acquire the artefact. It will not happen again."
...
"Give me back my shoe!!!"
"Huuuh?! Was your name written on it?!"
"It doesn't have to, are you a dumbass?!! "
"What did you call me?!!"
"Shut up the both of you!!!"
"Make us!!"
The entire building was bustling with activity and noise as Toshirou and Joel entered inside. After coming a long way from the green valley, Toshirou was directed to an inn, a housekeeper guild as it was called, by Joel, who had woken up sometime earlier before arriving at the guild.
The building of the guild wasn't too fancy but was decently done. A three-storey building with extra semi-detached houses connected to the back, providing extra rooms for visitors. A semicircular kind of roof was covered over it. It was made out of aluminium but coated with hay and straw-like materials. Its purpose was to reduce the impact of rain on the roof to prevent rusting. Metal windows were fixed to the walls of the buildings, and the construct itself was painted brown, in and out. To be precise, different shades of brown, but overall, had a very lively and homely atmosphere to it.
Toshirou and Joel walked into the Housekeeper guild, with Toshirou still covering his head with his hood, most possibly to prevent any unnecessary attractions.
The interior of the guild was quite spacious, even more so than the Adventurers guild. A staircase at the head of the guild ran upwards to a higher floor. The inside walls were decorated with portraits of various species of humans and different types of weapons. Weaponry and unique shapes of antiques were found on pedestals in different corners of the guild. The interior was painted a light shade of grey, with red and orange curtains on the windows.
"Could you wait at this table, I'll get us a room and a meal," Joel said.
"Wakatta," Toshirou replied, taking a chair at one of the numerous round tables in the guild. The table he sat at was labelled with the number, 8.
Joel nodded and scurried off to the counter to get a room and food for the both of them with the little change he had on him.
No one approached Toshirou's table, and to be honest, he was quite pleased. To prevent meaningless confrontation, (and to avoid being another babysitter), it was best to keep his identity hidden, at least till he got comfortable with this world.
Man, I miss Kaa-chan's cooking. I wonder how they're doing back home. He suddenly felt nostalgia as he reminisced about his mother's homemade cooking. I wish all this would be over in a flash. He sighed.
At that moment, he felt a presence looming over him. Sharply, he turned his head upwards and came face to face with a young, pink-haired girl.
"Hello, Stranger-san, do you mind if I take this seat here?" She asked, with a light, cheery voice that matched her equally visible bubbly personality.
Confused as to why she would want to seat close to him, he reluctantly agreed.
"No, I don't mind."
"Arigatou!" She replied, taking a chair.
What the hell is Joel doing? How long does it take someone to book a damn room? He sighed. I just want to go to bed.
But in reality, he was finding the companionship of the pink-haired girl very uncomfortable. It has been a while since he sat with anybody apart from Chiyo, so his tolerance towards girls, or people, in general, was considered average. He looked over at her and made out her features, pink wavy hair that reached the tip of her shoulders, bright yellow eyes that matched her personality, and strange greyish bunny ears which was her most odd trait, at least in Toshirou's opinion. She was clothed in a greyish-white skirt, held together on her hip with an amber pin, thin layers of white clothing which lay crisscross covered her chest but left her lower stomach bare, and she sported a golden bracelet on her right hand.
"Soooo, are you done checking me out, Stranger-san?"
"Hm?"
He looked up at her. Having fully accessed her, he tilted his neck to the right, popping the bones in them, and matched her smug gaze with his monotone one.
"I'm not interested in flat-chested kids."
Thwack!!!
"What brings you to the Housekeeper guild, Stranger-san?" The young girl asked, in a singsong manner.
This b*tch. A large bump grew out of his head which was very noticeable as it stretched out his hood.
"Nothing much. Why did you choose to sit next to someone you've never met."
"Hmmm, I wonder. Maybe it's because you seemed all lonely and sad, so I came to brighten up your day." She gave him a cheery smile.
"Can't say you're doing a good job at that."
"How mean."— she pouted— "And here I thought you would be pleased that a cute girl came to sit with you."
"Sorry, but I'm not so keen on being friendly with strangers."
"That's what you say, but it's refreshing seeing a new face around here once in a while." She leaned back on her chair and dropped her hands from the table.
"I see, so you're a frequent customer here?"
"Hmmm, something like that. Hihihi." She giggled.
Where the hell is Joel, dammit!!?
"Don't worry about your buddy, he'll be back soon."
"How did yo-"
"Shhhh, that's a secret." She put a finger on her lip and gave him a wink.
"But on a serious note, what you're planning to do is quite dangerous, don't you think?"
This girl, does she know? I can't take any chances. Judging from how she responded earlier, that must mean she...
"You don't have to be so cautious around me. If anything, I could prove to be extremely useful to you,
Toshirou-san."
She put both her arms on the table and rested her head in her palms, a deadly glint visible in her yellow eyes despite the smile on her face. A very dangerous warning.
"Are you thinking about putting me in danger? Don't worry, I'm not as fragile as Chi- Hou?"
This boy... It's the first time someone has outrightly stopped my ability. He quickly stopped having any thoughts, he blocked his mind. Not many people can easily do that.
"It's almost scary how quick he did it." She said out loud with a grin.
"It's rude to read people's minds, you know."
"Yeah yeah." The girl shrugged. "It's not a pretty thing to do, but you gotta do what you gotta do to ensure the safety of others."
This girl.
"I'm going to be straight with you, are you an ally, or an enemy?"
A tense atmosphere enveloped them. The air was so thick, a knife could be pierced through. The two stared at each other intensely, each silently analyzing the other, down to the last detail.
The girl began to giggle. Gradually, it turned into full-blown laughter.
Toshirou raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I'm sorry, pfft, it's just that, who in the world, pfft, asks someone that kind of question out of the blue." She asked, still trying to stifle her giggles.
"I'm glad I could help to humour you," Toshirou replied, dryly. "But, I'm not here to mess around."
"I can tooootally see that." She said, sarcastically.
"But if I may, will you really be fulfilled if you could, hypothetically speaking, get the heads of the Hosts?"
"If? You're gravely mistaken, I am going to slay the Archangels, and everyone else who stands in my way. That's a promise."
"Really now?"
"Really."
She gazed at him for a few good minutes before standing up from her chair and stretching out her hand towards him.
"You are a funny one, Stranger-san. I've never met anyone with as much resolve as you. Join my guild, and I would lend you my full support."
He looked at her hand suspiciously and matched her gaze with his own.
"And what's in it for you?"
She smirked, and placed her index finger on her lips and gave him a wink.
"That's, a, secret." She said.
"Sorry, but I'm not so eager to trust someone I just met."
She sighed and pulled back her hand.
"Let's do it this way, join my guild, and I will give you free lodging, food and rewards. Oh, and I will also give Joel-kun a stable job too. I'll take him in as family and cater for all his needs, he is your primary concern after all. Do you see now, you don't have to trust me now, but we can start little by little." She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the right, giving him a winning smile.
There is surprisingly no con to it, well it doesn't matter. The only con is that I'll kill her if she pulls a fast one on me. At the very least, Joel will live a better life.
He took her hand and gave her a soft handshake.
"Wakatta" —he pulled back the hood on his head, revealing his face.— "I accept your offer."
"Hihihi." She giggled, but slightly tilted her head away from him, with a small blush tinting her cheeks.
"Now that that's settled. Where the hell is Joe-"
Splat!!!
A huge piece of cake slammed full force into Toshirou's face.
"Bwahahaha!!!"
The entire guild ruptured in laughter at the scene that just took place.
"H-hey, Toshirou-kun, are you okay?"
Wiping the splattered cake off his face, with a grimace he replied.
"I'm fin-"
"Ho, Bonnie-chan! Come join us for a drink!!" A gruff and yet cheerful voice shouted out to the pink-haired girl.
"Gomen, gomen, Borgle-san! I'm full for today." She shouted back.
"Awwww!!!" The entire guild said, obviously disappointed at her not joining them for a drink.
"Heh, but you can start partying, there's cause for celebration and a lot of food and booze in the crates!!"
"Yeeeeeaaaah!!!" The guild burst into a loud cheerful noise and the place became even rowdier with the extra booze and food.
The pink-haired girl, Bonnie, sat down on her chair with a sigh and grinned up at Toshirou.
"You must be popular, for you to have that kind of influence." Toshirou sat next to her and had to speak up, due to the singing and music that went up loud in the guild.
"It's only natural y'know. I mean I am the guild master after all." She laughed
Toshirou's eyes widened in surprise before giving out a chuckle of his own.
"Figures." He said, with a small smile.
Bonnie took up a handkerchief and wiped the remaining cake off his face.
"Thanks." He said to her.
"No problem." She replied.
"I really need to hit the sac-"
Baam!!!
A slab of meat made a clean impact with Toshirou's face.
"You son of a b*tch!!" And Toshirou retaliated with the same piece of meat which made a powerful contact with the smug face of the dark-haired man who threw it.
"FOOD FIGHT!!!"
And it was total chaos. Food was thrown everywhere and at everyone in the guild. If you stood outside, you would be able to hear loud music and see large chunks of food splash on the windows.
"Toshirou-nii, I'm back. Eh, Toshirou-nii?"
Joel widened his eyes as he witnessed Toshirou fighting against a guild member with food in his hands. He saw a girl with pink hair trying to hold him back but to no avail, as he and a young dark-haired man were still throwing fists, or food rather at each other. Everyone in the building was shouting, celebrating and laughing together.
Everyone seems happy, I wouldn't mind staying here a little longer. Joel thought to himself with a happy smile.