When they finished discussing Stanley, it didn't take long before the others started to get bored with just waiting there. Elmo wasn't as bored as the others looked, but he didn't object to letting the king back in. Largely because he didn't really care. He knew that he didn't exactly have a vote in the matter. After all, he trusted Jonas and Kim to make decisions like that anyway. So if they were fine with it, Elmo didn't see a reason to say anything contrary to the matter.
The king seemed like he was surprised at them having made a decision already. Which Elmo wondered if there was a reason he'd been surprised. Although, as he glanced at Owen, he wondered if he should ask Owen about it later. As he was sure that Owen was able to read the king's thoughts on what reasons he had.
Although, as he thought of Owen's ability to read minds, he couldn't help but wonder why Owen wasn't able to tell if the king was sincere about his offer to help them earlier. If the king was trying something underhanded, then wouldn't he at least be somewhat aware of it in his conscious thoughts?
However, Elmo shrugged that off. He could always ask about that later on. It may not be that important overall, but it is something to consider later on. Especially if Owen became an opponent for whatever reason.
Which, as Elmo thought about it, realized that Owen would probably also be aware of that, and so might not be willing to explain how his ability to read thoughts worked.
The king walked back in after Elwin had let him know they were ready to give him their decision. The look the king gave seemed to be rather resigned to Elmo. Like he expected bad news.
"So, what's your decision?" the king asked as he walked back towards the center of the room.
"We all decided to accept your offer," Owen replied simply.'
Elmo couldn't help but chuckle as the king's eyes widened in surprise. It was clear that the king hadn't expected them to agree, or that he'd determined them coming to a decision so quickly meant that they weren't going to accept.
"May I ask your reason?" the king asked, sounding a little out of breath as he asked the simple question.
"It's simple," Kim replied before anyone else had a chance to. "We liked the idea of having a place we could rest and train rather than worrying about getting the money to stay at an inn or anything like that."
The king looked at Kim and Elmo wondered if anyone else was going to add what else they'd discussed as why they should accept, but it looked like they didn't plan on it, so Elmo kept quiet himself. The closest he'd had to this kind of situation was back when he was in high school. Not that he remembered that occurrence very well.
"So, you're just looking at me like a meal ticket?" the king asked dryly.
"Pretty much," Patricia replied. "After all, we've kinda had a difficult time getting money without resorting to crime, and it's more comfortable to sleep in an inn rather than on the roadside."
"Plus it's a lot warmer at night when it rains in an inn," Patrick added, which for some reason Elmo could figure out caused Patricia to start snickering.
The king nodded. "I see. Yes, I can imagine that would make things a little difficult to deal with. Especially when you don't know what the next challenge might be."
"If you would like, I could bring a few other contestants here," Jonas offered.
Elmo looked at Jonas in surprise. Was he thinking of letting Stanley in on this when they'd just agreed that he was a potential enemy to the rest of them?
"Of course," the king said. "As long as you know for sure that they're part of this current competition and friends of yours, then they'll be welcome to rest in my palace as well."
Jonas nodded. "There were two additional members that were part of my group that decided to remain in the village that we came from. I'll send word to see if they're interested in coming over," Jonas said.
Elmo felt like he should slap himself, if not backhand himself. He should have thought about Heather and Sonya rather than just the likely leader of the group that they could very well have to fight somewhere down the road. That they knew they couldn't trust.
"No matter when they come, they'll be welcome. If you move on before they get here, I'll give you a letter to send to them that will let them be known to me without having to wait for any of you to get back," the king replied.
Jonas nodded, though Elmo wasn't sure exactly what was said. He was pretty sure he followed the train of thought, but he wasn't sure if he was right. It felt like he could have gotten lost somewhere in that statement.
"So, what's your next challenge?" the king asked, apparently ready to just get into the thick of things.
Elmo felt left out as most of the others burst out laughing. The only ones Elmo could see who weren't laughing were the king, Bart, Elin, and himself. Elmo wasn't sure if he should count Elin as 'not laughing' simply because she was still asleep.
"So, what's so funny?" the king asked calmly when the laughter started to die out after a couple minutes, looking to Elmo like the king might get this reaction more than he'd think.
"It's just that no challenge has been given yet," Kim answered as she was wiping tears from laughing out of her eyes. "The announcer merely said that we'd be given the day to relax, so I suspect they'll announce it this evening."
The king nodded as he sighed. "It would be nice if you had been given the challenge, but if it hasn't been given then there's nothing we can do about it right now," he said. Then as he started to make his way towards the door he added, "Let's meet up again this evening and discuss this matter further."
The king waited a minute before turning to leave. Elmo assumed he waited in case anyone had anything they wanted to say to him, but it didn't appear to be the case. Not that Elmo had anything he wanted to say in general. He was interested in getting his own nap in. He couldn't say why his stamina and MP didn't recover like they usually did while he slept.
Although, to be fair, his MP typically was much slower in its recovery than his stamina, but he couldn't say if he thought it was slower at this time than at others simply because of how low his stamina was.
He couldn't think of why it wouldn't recover so well. Especially since when they had been in the dungeon his stamina didn't seem to have trouble recovering, even when he had a hard time getting any sleep. Even if it was difficulty falling asleep because of how uncomfortable the stone floor in the dungeon was. After all, it wasn't like he had access to a mattress in there, and while he didn't have a mattress when he fell asleep after they'd stopped the assassination attempt, the ground outside was much more comfortable than the dungeon floor had ever been. Even when he had his back leaned against the stone wall.
When the king was gone, it almost felt like that was the signal for everyone to break up the 'meeting' they had been having. Patricia and Patrick were walking towards the door closest to the front entrance while Owen, Leon, Elwin, and Bart were huddling together, quite possibly discussing their next move.
The only ones that didn't seem inclined to move was Jonas, and Kim. Elin was still asleep, so it wasn't like she'd be interested in moving nw, other than any movements she made normally when she was asleep. Elmo himself wasn't sure what he should do at this time anyway.
"You know, I think I'll see if Lance is around," Jonas suddenly said. "He might be able to direct us to some rooms we can stay in. We can always go back to the inn later on to get our stuff."
"Uh, didn't the king say that he'd get us whatever we needed?" Elmo asked, not sure if the king might get upset about them seeking help from Lance and his family.
Jonas waved his hand in the air like he was trying to get rid of a bad odor. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'd understand. But all the same, if you really want to go to where the king lives, go right ahead. I'm sure he'll welcome you," Jonas answered, but the paused as if he just thought of something. "Although, if you do that, I'm not sure how much more walking that'll take."
Elmo sighed. He recognized the point Jonas was making, and he couldn't say anything to refute it. He could tell that it did make more sense to at least get a room in this place for the day before moving over to the king's palace. Especially since they were still worn out from the night before.
With that thought in mind, Elmo got up to follow Jonas. He certainly would like to get a bed sooner rather than later himself and he was sure that if he kept up with Jonas, then he'd likely be able to get a bed to sleep in that much sooner.