"Looks like you're all fit to discharge now," said the doctor.
"Yippee!" I cheered loudly.
It was three days after I regained consciousness. My voice was still a little raspy but it felt so much better now. The marks were still visible but it was dissipating slowly. My body aches were mostly gone now and I can get back to training. The bottom line, I can finally leave this room.
Lily peeked into my door after she knocked. Seeing me acting all spry, she knew that I was fit for release. I began packing up and can finally wear my favourite emo outfit. Hospital gown is not something one wishes to wear for an extended period of time.
"Have you seen Rose recently?" I asked Lily.
"Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, it's her turn to care for the Paladin Lord today. I didn't get to see her much after the day you woke up," she answered.
Ugh, now I'm gonna be even more worried about her.
"Lily, can I ask you something sensitive? Is it— frowned upon for elves to marry humans instead of their own kind?" I asked straight to the point.
"W— w w w.. what're you trying to say? Are you asking me to marry you now?" she stuttered as she started getting flustered.
"I meant hypothetically. I want to know what elves think about humans and to those who chose to have humans as their partner," I asked honestly.
"Hmm— truth be told, elves do prefer their own kind due to our long lifespan in general. While it's not exactly frowned upon per se, those who chose humans as their partner are usually detested by other elves. Something about pure blood and such," she shrugged.
"Woah, if that's the case then why choose humans at all? We only live up to a century at most, provided we are lucky. Not worthy of being detested by your kind for such a short duration, isn't it?" I asked her.
"Well— a certain someone stole my heart when I was young. So I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she chuckled.
"That's the thing, Zen. No one is able to choose who they end up loving or who they have feelings for. Otherwise, everyone will end up choosing the most perfect, beautiful or handsome person in the world. Oh, don't you worry, my parents had already met you and they are sort of okay if we do end up getting together. They are more open-minded than your typical elves," she continued with a smile.
"Right, do extend my utmost gratitude to them for willing to help out in this war. Let me ask something else and this is purely hypothetical by the way, what will you do if I ended up not choosing you?" I asked her genuinely.
"If you want to thank them, they are expecting children, haha! There's a reason as to why I'm the only child. Female elves have difficulty in conceiving in the first place. Higher chance if their partner is a human but still much more difficult compared to humans. Perhaps it is the Goddess's way of ensuring we do not over populate, seeing that we have such long lifespan," explained Lily.
"Hmm— regarding your question, I guess I might just head back to the elven forest and spend some time with my parents and my relatives there," she placed her index finger on her lips.
I mood went sour upon hearing that. I guess we really won't be able to see her anymore if I don't choose her. Damn it. Feelings aside, there are just so many other factors to think of.
"Oh, don't you worry, I'll come over and visit both of you. Can't miss out in seeing your children with Rose," she smiled.
I returned her smile and nodded. Lily is so mature. I felt foolish and stupid for sticking to my principals of only having one wife. These two are women that adventurers are dying to even have a chance of asking them out on a date. But, I just know deep down that it's wrong. One thing I learned is to never play with a women's heart, and never ever make them sad. And that is just one woman in your life, having two is gonna be a world war. Three, perhaps the end of the world as we know it.
We made came upon the main entrance of the hospital door. Ah, the sweet freedom of finally being able to roam wherever I want. The city was still in bad shape to be operating normally, but at least there are no longer dead bodies in sight. I almost walked out the door until I realised that I need to inform Rose that we'll be waiting for her before I pay my visit to Rick. I thought that it would be better for us to go together. Lily told me that we can just pass the message to the reception counter and they will inform her directly, which we did. Rose had gotten extremely famous after the war, perhaps even more so than me who was the instigator. People knew her as "White Angel" even more so than her actual name.
Lily escorted me home. The Dark Guild's building looked miraculously unscathed somehow. Lily said her guild's building was in great condition as well. How odd, did those demons decided to not attack the guilds? Or perhaps there was barely any adventurers in it during the war, which basically means there was no point in attacking a relatively empty building.
"Are you planning to visit him tomorrow?" asked Lily.
"If Rose is willing to come over. Somehow, I have a feeling that she might not want to see me," I confessed.
"Why~? What did you do to her~? I had a feeling something was out of place when you started asking me those questions earlier," she asked me with a curious tone.
"Nothing bad happened. More like we discussed about— possibilities?" I put on a thinking face.
I opened the door to my room. Everything seems to be intact. All the rooms were in good condition and clean. Nice, I can actually relax and not think of cleaning for today. I'll probably start helping the city tomorrow.
Just then, I heard a knock on the door. Who could it be? It shouldn't be Rose as she needs to care of the Paladin Lord today. I rushed over to open the door to see who it was. Turns out, it was her. She made a surprised face when I opened the door as she wanted to knock again.
"Geez, you scared me, Onii-chan," she smiled.
Hmm? Seems like she's acting normal. I thought she'll be acting awkward or perhaps just don't wished to see me anymore. I'm glad that she's acting like usual.
"I thought you'll be taking care of the Paladin Lord today. Surprised to see you here," I told her.
"Someone overheard your message when the receptionist was passing it to me. She came over and insisted to take over my role to care for the Paladin Lord. She was a trusted person so I sort of caved when she insisted so much. Gosh, I really hate people calling me white angel," she sighed.
"The Dark Lord gave you that nickname. You should be honoured that your nickname is not some weird one. Better than my dark caped crusader," I rolled my eyes.
"Wait, you knew? It was only for a short duration when those gossips appeared. I'm surprised you even knew about it when it came about during the time when you were in the Eastern Continent," she explained.
Lily came over to join our conversation after coming out of the washroom. She had pretty much made herself at home now whenever she comes over to visit my place.
"Oh I know, it was when the both of you had gossips that you were engaged to this dark caped crusader," I laughed.
"Y— you knew?!" both of them shouted simultaneously.
Both of them started screaming. It seems as though they hated that gossip. They told me that everywhere they went, someone would always congratulate them. It was getting so annoying that they had to explain to so many people that they were not, in fact, engaged. I asked whether Lily had a nickname and Rose nodded. However, before Rose could say anything, Lily rushed over and closed her mouth with her hand. I, in turn, dragged Lily away from Rose because I wanted to hear it. Rose gave the most Anya grin and said that Lily's nickname was actually called the "Silver Head-Smasher".
"NOOOOOOO!!!" shouted Lily as covered her ears and crouched on the floor.
I kept a straight face and tried not to laugh. Lily turned her gaze to look at me with teary eyes and asked me that I won't laugh, right? I continued smiling but Rose came and whispered to me the nickname once again. I snorted at first but ended up bursting with laughter. I laughed so hard that I was literally on the floor clutching my stomach. I just couldn't stop laughing.
Lily stood up and had red glaring eyes as she bumped her fists together. Even without her gauntlets, her punches still hurt like crazy. I had to slap myself a couple of times to stop myself from laughing to prevent Lily from killing me. That nickname is not without its merit. Fuh, alright, no more laughing.
Lily was glaring at Rose which she hid behind me with a speechless face. Rose suddenly started giggling which triggered me to snort once again. Lily approached us while cracking her knuckles with killing intent and told us to stop laughing.
Both Rose and I ended up with a bump on the head. How can you do that to a patient that just discharged today.
"Are you planning to visit him today? We still have plenty of time and the day is still early," asked Rose.
I agreed and they led the way to Rick's grave. We made a quick stop to purchase some flowers from the florist and alcohol from the inn. This gave me an opportunity to check on the conditions of other parts of the city. It was certainly coming along with the repairs. Adventurers and civilians were working hard in rebuilding the city. Some of them waved at us or greeted us with a smile. Perhaps they don't know that the dark caped crusader was actually me, otherwise they would had been spitting at my foot for causing war. That reminds me, I should visit Peter tomorrow and meet with the so called appointed Council of New Orders. I fought hard to ensure that the City Of Pines would have a better future, and I intend to see that till the end.
It was noon by the time we arrived at his grave. It was— much fancier than I thought. I stared at both of them and Rose just gave a shrug, saying that she used the money from my royalty to honour him with one of the best coffin, cradle grave and stone that she could find. I sighed loudly. I was not angry that Rose have full access to my royalty money. It was one of her benefit for leaving her alone for four years. I was just not expecting such a fancy grave for Rick. A modest one would had suited him better. There were already some flowers placed by his grave. I placed my bouquet on top of the other flowers and said my prayers to him. I opened the bottle of alcohol and poured some of its contents on his stone.
This man willingly followed me to check on my grandfather's status and the reason as to why I decided to join the Dark guild. He was my senpai that taught me what I needed to know during my early years. We shared a lot of laughters, joy and memories together. To me, he was like a father I never had. He was always there when it matters to me.
I thought I won't be crying but tears just started leaking out as I was pouring the alcohol slowly while crouching. Both Rose and Lily comforted me as I started sobbing uncontrollably. It only dawned on me now that he's actually gone. I did not had the luxury of realising it during the war as I was too preoccupied with ending it as fast as I could. Not to mention someone impersonated him as well.
It took me a couple of minutes before I stopped crying. I held the alcohol bottle and resealed it. We will be drinking this tonight as a way of showing respect to him that we're sharing the last bottle with him. There was nothing else to be said, except—
"You never did gave up in the end, did you?" I gave a sad smile as I placed my hand on this gravestone before walking away.
***
"Innkeep! Bring me another pint! As a matter of fact, make it a megapint instead! Hahaha!!" shouted John while laughing loudly.
John had been celebrating for a couple of days now. He had gained a little bit of weight after the war and he said that it was due to him unable to lift due to his broken arm. After recovering, he will regain his shape back. I think the reason for his actual weight gain was due to him drinking like an actual viking for the past few days.
We finally met his partner. Surprisingly, she was not from the Viking guild but from the Elemental guild instead. She was an elf with blonde hair colour. Her name is Daffodil Vermouth. She is shorter than Lily but still taller than me. Damn it!
Lily began asking her on what she sees in John, who was busy cheering away at another table. She mentioned that she had a soft spot for large muscular men. When she first met John, it was love at first sight for her. He came over to visit the Elemental guild right after he had officially became the Viking Lord. Without realising who he was, she went over to him and asked whether he was willing to grab a drink with her. John was slow in realised it at first but eventually understood that she actually has feelings for him. Daffodil was the one who confessed to him and he said yes. The three of us gave John an unamused face who was at the another table and he noticed our stares. He eventually came over and asked what we were talking about.
"You actually allowed this sweet little elf to confess to you? And you call yourself a man?" asked Lily with an expressionless face.
"I— I didn't know she was interested in me. I thought she just liked my company," explained John.
"Which girl will constantly be asking you out if she's not interested in you?!" shouted Rose.
"I— didn't want break our friendship just because I assumed that she might be interested in me. You can back me up on this, right Zen?" he turned to look at me with a concerned look.
"I'm sorry brother, I'm not in a good position to be answering that myself," I started sweating and avoided any stare from Rose or Lily.
"Geez, guys these days are such herbivores that we have to put extra efforts into making you all notice it," complained Lily.
The chit-chat continued for some time. I whispered to John asking him on whether he chose this girl because she was an elf like Lily. He quickly denied on that and explained that she doesn't even remotely resembled Lily. If she was a human, he would had said yes to her as well. Race was irrelevant to him when personality mattered more. Well, he better be thankful that Daffodil was a beauty with curves in all the right places.
I took out the alcohol that was used for Rick's farewell. I poured all of them a small glass and handed one to each and everyone. All of them raised their glass and we clanked together.
"To Rick and his never ending laughter," I said.
"To Rick," said the others.
We drank the contents and I offered to pour more. Rose gave a firm no after the first cup. The others continued to drink until the bottle was completely empty. John was hammered at this point while his partner only had red cheeks. How is she going to carry him back home?
"Zen, how did you come through the window in the throne room? Isn't it like— a few stories high in order to reach it?" asked Lily.
"Ah, I was hoping none of you will be asking me on that. I used both Inazuma and Tengu-kaze to climb. It was a matter of summoning and resummoning them after I pull myself each time. Definitely not as easy as it seems when I thought it was a good idea in the first place," I chuckled.
Lily and Rose turned to look at each other and started laughing. Yea, I know it's not a good idea but at least it made for with my dramatic entrance.
"Thanks for saving me again, Zen. I'm gonna repay you back one of these days," said Lily as she leaned forward while swirling her cup contents. Is she— trying to seduce me with by exposing her cleavage? I must be thinking too much. Or am I just drunk?
I took an opportunity to listen to the atmosphere inside the inn. Things were getting back to normal from the looks of it. There was a lot of adventurers around. Majority were celebrating while a few were hiding in the corner. Probably some mishap happened to one of their members or something during the war. The bard was playing a really romantic song. Something about candle and wind. A table at the side of us had three adventurers, talking about going on some adventure.
"Hey Joe, you want to explore another zombie cave?" asked one of the adventurer.
"No, I don't want to explore another zombie cave, Joe!" replied one of them. Are both of them Joes? Does he have to be so angry about a zombie cave?
Another adventurer that caught my eye was a lady wearing what looked like a detective outfit. She had black hair with green highlight and had a detective hat. I wonder if she does detective work as her side job. I swear I saw the word Aki on her hat or something.
I excused myself, informing that I wanted to use the restroom. But I had another plan in store. I sneaked out the back door and headed to the alleyway that I previously had encounter with. This alleyway is special. On ordinary days, it's always empty. But when you have intention of finding something or someone, he appears. I don't know what triggered him previously but I suspected it was due to me wanting to find out what happened to my grandfather.
I walked into the alleyway and the atmosphere started changing. It was growing darker and colder as I headed deeper in. I rustled my pocket and found the poster I was looking for. I opened and showed it to that person.
"I was hoping, that you can show me the way," I lifted the poster of Tom Snapdragon to him.
A pinkish hair man wearing a knuckleduster appeared from the darkness and grinned.