Lothar opened his eyes, sunlight filtering through the windows, causing him to squint. Raising his body, he groaned and stretched, his back making some cracking noises in the process.
"Ughhh… What the hell happened…" Lothar yawned as his stomach grumbled, his mouth forming a frown as he laid his hand over his gut. "Forget that… I need food…"
Looking around the room, he spotted a tray with a cover laying atop the table.
Removing the covers off of his body, he got out of the bed and limped slowly to the table, his leg a bit numb due to somehow cutting off the blood flow by having his leg over it while he slept.
Lothar stumbled over to the table like a drunkard, his pinkie toe bumping against the table leg, eliciting a yelp of pain from the man. Grabbing the nearby chair's backrest, he drew it over and sat, his buttocks warm and cozy from the cushion.
Slumping on the table, he reached out for the cover and lifted the lid, the smell of beef stew hitting his nostrils as steam escaped from within.
With his mouth watering, Lothar gulped down his saliva as he set the lid back down on the table, his stomach grumbling fiercer than before.
Grabbing the spoon that was lying neatly beside the bowl, he brought the bowl of beef stew closer and breathed in the aroma, his stomach rumbling impatiently as it reminded the owner that the tank was empty.
Not wasting any time, Lothar scooped the stew with the spoon and brought it close to his mouth, only for his hand to tremble again and his mind to remind him of his previous death.
His breathing getting faster, Lothar quickly placed the spoon back inside the bowl so that it wouldn't drop to the table like last time and stain his clothes.
Sighing, Lothar leaned on the backrest, his stomach grumbling once more as he tried to get his breathing under control. This continued for a few minutes, his stomach still grumbling in protest.
It was only until a knock entered his ears that he snapped out of his trance and realized that his breathing was already stable.
"Sir? May I come in?" A familiar voice came from beyond the door, and Lothar let out a sigh of relief.
"Sure, come in." The door knob turned and the door opened, revealing the same elf maid that helped him yesterday and last night.
"Good morning, sir." The maid bowed and approached Lothar as he grabbed the spoon again and lifted it towards his mouth. His arm still trembling slightly, but not as much as earlier, he took a small mouthful of stew in his mouth as he began to chew slowly, his left foot tapping on the floor with no rhythm whatsoever as he did so.
"Good morning." Swallowing the food, he scooped another spoonful of stew and ate it in small bites. "Thank you for… Last night. Really, thank you."
"Oh, I am grateful for your thanks, sir. It is my duty as a maid to serve guests to the best of my ability." The maid cheerfully quipped, and Lothar gave out a tiny smile, which he hadn't done since he arrived in this village.
He continued to eat in silence, his trembling slowly dying down as he continued to eat small mouthfuls of food at a time.
A few minutes of silence later, Lothar was finally done eating and let out a sigh of bliss as he leaned on the backrest with a satisfied smile.
The elf maid then approached the table to clean up the mess Lothar made when he was eating, which wasn't a lot, only a few stains here and there due to his uncontrollable shaking. After that, she neatly arranged them in a pile so that the other maids tasked with hauling used utensils from rooms to the kitchen could do so without much trouble.
"By the way, I haven't gotten your name." Lothar looked at the maid, who stared back with a slight raise of her eyebrow. "Can I ask you, please?"
"As you wish." The maid did a curtsy as her modest breasts jiggled in place, Lothar's gaze being drawn to the two, fully covered mounds of flesh. "My name is Ashryn."
"Lothar. My name is Lothar Edwin." Standing up, Lothar patted his belly as he let out a tiny burp. "Anyway, I'm sure you didn't come here just to see me eat. I'm assuming Millana called for me again?"
"It is as you say, sir." The maid bobbed her head and I exhaled deeply, trying to forget the spell I had done yesterday. "Follow me; they're waiting for you at the training field."
"Training field?" Both of us headed out of the room and passed by another maid elf, who Ashryn gestured for her to grab the dishes from Lothar's room.
"Yes, training field." Ahryn didn't elaborate any further than that, as the two of them continued onward.
While they walked through the corridors, Lothar was already beginning to memorize the pathways. They passed by other elves, some guards, and most maids. What confused him, however, were not the scowls sent his way, but the stares of pity mixed with sympathy.
Deciding not to dwell on that observation, he ignored the stares and just let his feet do the walking, his mind going places as he thought of what Millana and Elora had in store for him.
Finally, after what seemed to be an hour, but in reality was just a few minutes, Lothar and Ashryn arrived at another fork in the path, but one of them directly led into a giant room that was big enough to fit an army of soldiers.
Inside said room, Millana and Elora were dressed in form-fitting clothes and working up a sweat by stretching.
Noticing us two standing in the doorway, Elora and Millana finished up their exercises as Lothar approached, Ashryn bowing behind him as she left the premises to finish her tasks for the day.
"Lothar, nice to see you on time." Elora, having finished her stretching, grabbed a bag that was sitting pretty on a nearby bench and tossed it to Lothar, who caught it with minor difficulty. "Get changed into those and meet us back here. The changing rooms are over there."
Lothar followed her hand and saw a few empty rooms where one could change without having their privacy violated.
Nodding at the two elves, Lothar moved to get changed, his previous attitude from the day before all but vanishing when told by the elf with a blade and a mean glare.