Three days had passed and here we are standing in front of John's house awaiting for Daffodil to lead us in. Way to be subtle guys. Your house is way too big for just the three of you. I am talking about a three-storey house that can perhaps fit at least a 100 people at a time. Who is he expecting to come over? The entirety of his guild?
"Are you regretting in getting such a modest house when you are richer than John?" chuckled Rose as she saw me staring at the size of the house.
"Not at all. Can you imagine the both of us trying to clean the entirety of this house? That would be an insane task," I told her.
"I am sure they have maids to help them clean the house and such," she shrugged.
"Now why would I want someone to intrude in our little love nest? Did you forget the number of times we did it at… unique places in our house?" I smirked at her.
"Wha.. hey! You were the one who came on to me at those places. Don't blame me," she crossed her arms while being flustered.
"Uh huh, right. As though you were not the one who seduced me into jumping at you. Don't feign innocence here," I said as I poked her cheek.
She turned her head away while I can see her ears getting redder. I was sure I saw steams pouring out of her brain. Most probably remembering the memories of what happened during those times.
Someone opened the door and peeked at us. I thought it was Daffodil as I waved at the person hiding behind the door.
"May I help you?" asked the lady. Ok, that does not sound like Daffodil at all.
"We are here to meet with Miss Daffodil. She is supposed to be taking care of our child for a couple of days," said Rose.
"Your name?" she asked.
What is with the secrecy? Is there some secret that John is hiding in his home? Concubines or Mistresses? Or perhaps slaves?!
"Rose Starr and Daisy Hawthorn," answered Rose.
"Oh! Yes, we were expecting you. Let me call out to her," said the lady.
Who is this mysterious person in the first place? Why does it feel as though she is in control of the house or something? Shouldn't Daffodil be the boss of this house? Oh, maybe she is John's mother?
I heard footsteps running towards the door. Daffodil opened the door while panting and greeted us. My eyes were grew wide opened as I noticed something that I should not be seeing. Daffodil's cleavage was dangerously exposed and it was right in front of me. I leaned back and Rose slammed her hand on my eyes preventing me from seeing anything further. I had already shut them before she even slammed my eyes.
"Um, Daffodil? You must had been breast-feeding, I take it? You should adjust your clothing," said Rose with an awkward tone.
"Oh shit! I am so sorry!" shouted Daffodil as she turned away and adjusted her clothing.
"Ok, it is safe now," said Daffodil as she turned to face us. I just gave her an awkward smile.
"I am so sorry in showing you something horrible. Please forgive me," said Daffodil as she bowed to both of us.
"Think nothing of it. It was beautiful by the way," I smiled at her awkwardly.
"Zen.. you are only allowed to ogle at Lily and no other female elves," said Rose as she glared at me and pinched my hip.
"Why should I ogle at Lily's when my wife already have a beautiful pair?" I told her straight.
"What.. what are you saying?!" shouted Rose as she started smacking me while being flustered.
You would think seeing Daffodil's cleavage would have had some sort of reaction on my little buddy but seeing as Rose had drained me dry for the past 3 days, it was difficult for him to have any sort of reaction right now. Hopefully not forever. And she wanted me to have Lily as my second wife. I will be dead if I were to handle those two at the same time.
We headed inside while I held Daisy's hand and brought her in. She was gloomy and pouting without making so much as a peep. I guess I will need to talk with her properly after this. I do hope that she can understand that the both of us are needed to help out with this world's issues once in a while.
We took a seat at what looked like a living room. It is massive and had plenty of chairs and couches. A grand fireplace lighted up the room. I am surprised that John had not adopted light bulbs yet. There were numerous decorations of strange items all around including books. Lots of books. Perhaps Daffodil read them to pass the time taking care of her child.
"Once again, thank you for willing to take care of Daisy," bowed Rose.
"Don't mention it. Being able to help the both of you is a blessing on its own. At least Aloe will have someone to play with. I just hope Daisy is ok?" she looked at Daisy who was looking really down while sitting on the couch.
Even when Aloe came over to pull her hands, she made no expression whatsoever. It hurts to see her looking this sad when we don't really have much of a choice. I sat down on the floor facing her. She barely even made any movements. I moved closer to her until I touched her forehead with mine.
"Daisy, you are mommy and daddy's girl, right? You are a very brave girl. Are you ready for your first task given by a member of the four great powers?" I asked her.
Her eyes changed and she looked confused. I guess she had always assumed that she was being punished for not bringing her along. All I have to do is change her perspective.
"Daddy is going to give you your first task then. Help Miss Daffodil in whatever tasks that she asks of you to help with and be a good girl. If you finish this task when we returned, then you will get rewarded. How's that sound?" I asked her with a smile.
"Oh oh! What reward is it going to be?!" asked Daisy as her eyes started to sparkle.
"You will know when you finish it. Deal?" I raised my pinkie towards her with a smile.
"Deal!" she wrapped my pinkie with a promise.
Rose came over to hug Daisy and said her goodbye with a sad tone. But Daisy assured her that she is going to be good girl and help Daffodil in whatever way she can. Her smile brightened up the room and my heart.
Daffodil walked us to the front door. I asked a curious question about Aloe still being breastfed even though she is possibly around 4 or 5 years old now. Rose immediately poked me with her elbow for my insensitivity in asking such a question but I was really curious about it. Daffodil said that elves are genetically different than humans as their age differs from our logical sense despite both species being able conceive with one another. Elven baby will be breastfed until around 10 years old or more depending on their needs. They are built for longer lifespan after all.
I asked her further that even though Aloe is a hybrid, what is the percentage of her genes over John's? She said that due to elven blood being stronger than humans, Aloe is basically more like a third quarter elf rather than being a half and half. John is going to need to try his best to make more babies before he hits the afterlife.
It was time for us to head out. Daisy ran up to Rose for a last hug before we officially left the house. We gave our last goodbye and headed to the northern entrance. I thought of stopping by to check on Stein before we leave the city to see whether he had completed on the portable miniature stove that I had requested. It's a stretch but it doesn't hurt to swing by and check on the status when I know that it is going to come in handy in the northern continent seeing that we will hiding in caves most of the time.
Rose took out her pocket watch from her back pouch to check on the time. It seemed as though she had difficulty in finding the watch as she does not have any pockets on her clothing. We walked by a merchant shop and I thought of an idea. I told Rose to wait outside while I headed in to check on something. Thankfully the merchant happened to sell what I was looking for and I bought it immediately. It was a small chain that can fit into the circular metal at the top of the pocket watch. Now she can hang it from her neck and check it anytime she wants. Once again she gave me a hug for being so attentive to her. She never even thought of considering that as a hassle but who knew that I was always thinking of making her life easier.
We swung by Stein's workshop and to my surprise, the portable mini stove was actually completed. Stein said it was due to my complete idea that he had manage to create it this swiftly. We thought of a name and settled on calling it a lighter. Due to the fact that is was lighter than a stove and it creates light? I don't know, it felt right calling it that. It was small but surprisingly larger than the pocket watch that I have. Stein said that he happened to have this container available so he just used it for this prototype. He will be making changes to it once he thought of a better way to store the liquid gas.
I flicked the top of the lighter wheel. Sparks flew from the tip but there was no fire. Stein said that a few tries is needed so I continued to flick the wheel until fire appeared at the tip. Wow, this is going to come in handy more so than matches will ever be. Stein said he will hold onto the blueprint until I give my feedback on it. He needed someone to test it on the field as he was not exactly satisfied with its current design.
We said our farewell to him and officially headed to the northern entrance. Our carriage awaits us to ride us to the City Of Lilies Dahlee.
***
"Who knew it would be this hard to say goodbye to her," said Rose as she stretched up her arms.
We were inside the carriage heading towards north. She was not wearing her usual guild clothing as she knew that wearing white is only going to bring her trouble at the northern continent. Instead she opted for a different set of colour specially made for her. Who can deny the request of the white angel. She is also wearing a dragonhide cloak given to her by the Paladin Lord. She never told me which type of dragonhide it belonged to. Perhaps it is better than mine? Damn.
"Oh, I can certainly understand it since I am the one who had to go on quests often," I told her.
"Oh you. You're supposed to cheer me up," she pouted.
"I'll cheer you up later by carrying your things," I smiled at her.
We brought along our winter clothings as we knew that the City Of Lilies Dahlee is forever snowing. But those items will not be useful at the northern continent. We planned to leave some of our supplies there and only retrieve them on our way back.
I peeked out of the carriage. That's odd. The weather towards the direction of the city is usually dull and gloomy. But why is there no clouds or dark weather at all? Did something changed there? I held my suspense with confusion and curiosity as we headed closer.
***
I dropped the bags on the ground. And so did Rose. There is not a speck of snow anywhere in sight. What is going on? Did our world's climate changed this much that it affected this entire city? It is flourishing with life. Flowers were blooming all around and trees were bristling with fruits. Animals were walking around inside the city itself. Birds were flying all around dancing with one another. Are we even in the right place? This looked like something straight out of a classical Disney movie.
"Pinch me," I uttered.
Rose did not hesitate to do so. Ouch! Oh wait, did that even hurt? I am so confused right now.
"Onii-chan, I am not seeing things, right? This IS the City Of Lilies Dahlee, isn't it?" asked Rose with a confused tone.
"I.. I guess so? I am as confused as you are right now," I muttered.
It was then we saw Danny coming out of a house. He saw us mouth agape standing outside of the entrance. Everything feels so different that it looks almost unreal to be actually standing here.
"Oh hey, if it isn't Zen and Rose! What are ya standing there for? C'mon in, you two," smiled Danny.
"Hey Danny, what's going on? What.. happened here? What is with the sudden drastic change of weather? Did you all finally managed to burn all the snow or something?" I asked him.
"Haha! The weather changed for the better a couple of months back. It was unbelievable as it happened so drastically. Who knew the world can change this much all of a sudden," said Danny.
"I am glad you are smiling now, Mister Danny," said Rose as she bowed lightly to him.
"Wow, how much had you grown, Rose. How many years had it been since I last saw the two of you?" he asked.
"Hang on, are those.. marriage rings? Should I assume that you two are together?" he asked with a curious tone.
"That's right. We are married and have a daughter of our own," I held Rose hand tightly.
"Haha!! I knew you two would hit it off! You had always cared about her without even realising it. It was like you were raising a wife to suit your needs, eh?" said Danny as he poked me with his elbow.
"What? No! I only treated her as my little sister and nothing more. Don't give her any weird ideas," I chuckled.
"Haha! Come in, come in. Darcy had prepared some meals for us with spares. Let us celebrate on your marriage and daughter," said Danny as he gestured us in.
We headed into the city. I am still puzzled as to why they still call this place as a city when it was more like a town or village to me. We walked to the only tavern available here. Something black ran from the corner of my eyes. I turned to look at what it was but all I heard was rustling of leaves and nothing else. That was odd, I was sure I saw something short and black ran into the forest. Hmm.
As I turned my head to the front, I was shocked and surprised to see a young girl holding a teddy bear while wearing a winter coat staring at me. Why is she wearing a winter coat in this beautiful weather? I crouched down to talk to her.
"Hey, little girl. Why are you wearing a winter coat in this weather? Aren't you going to be hot?" I asked her.
"You should leave. This place is not safe for you," she said with her cute voice.
"W.. what do you mean?" I was surprised by her words.
"Zen? What's wrong? You suddenly disappear on us," asked Rose as she came to me. Both Rose and Danny had walked up ahead when I stopped to look at what was running from the corner of my vision.
"Oh, I was just talking to this…. young girl? Where did she go?" I looked around and she was nowhere in sight. Now that is weird. I can feel goosebumps at the back of my neck. Is something really wrong here?
Rose gave me a confused look and I just smiled awkwardly at her. We headed to the tavern and to my surprise, the tavern was bristling with people. Did this place always had this much people? I am so confused right now.
"Hey, if it isn't Zen and Rose! How long has it been? You've certainly grown up!" said Darcy as she gestured us over to the counter.
"Hey Darcy. I'm surprised you remembered us even after so long. How you been?" I asked her.
"Oh, who can forget about you two adorable younglings? There is barely any young adventurers that comes out here in the first place. Of course I'll remember you two helping us with that blood thirsty daarette," she said.
"Are you planning to stay the night? I just whipped out a nice meal if you're interested," she continued.
"Just a quick meal and we will be heading up north. We do want to leave some of our belongings here though. Is that fine with you?" I asked her.
"Why, of course. You can leave some of it here. I will take care of them," she smiled.
She brought us to a room that seems to be a storeroom. We placed whatever supplies we did not need to bring along in here. I was about to abandon all of our winter clothings but Rose insisted that we bring them along. I asked her why and she said that she had a gut feeling. Seeing as the weather changed so drastically here, I guess I can see why she is being so cautious about it. One thing that you should learn after getting married is to never argue with your wife.
We ate our meals and headed to the port where a boat and the captain was waiting for us. Danny came to bid us farewell before we boarded the boat and wished us luck.
It was evening now and we will most probably be reaching the northern continent by nightfall. I hope this captain is familiar with the route as the last thing I wish to worry about is being stranded in the middle of nowhere. I had some conversation with the captain as he was alone and I wanted to get acquainted with him. He was a nice guy to talk to and he have plenty of experience travelling up north. I feel better already after hearing that.
I decided to take a nap as the journey was still some ways from where we are. Rose came over to snuggle with me while I was resting on the sleeping bag that I rolled out earlier. I told her it won't fit both of us but she said she did not mind resting on the wooden deck directly. Ah well, her choice I guess.
***
I opened my eyes. It was dark now and relatively quiet. Rose was at my side sleeping. I stretched myself and wondered where we were. Did we reached the port yet? Something feels off. It was way too quiet. And there were no lights at all and there was no engine sound. I reached into my back pouch and took out the lighter. Using my touch senses alone, I managed to find it and light it up.
I headed to the pilothouse to check on the captain. It was dark and not a single light source in sight. As I approached closer to the pilothouse door, something tapped on my shoulder from behind. I screamed and turned to look at who it was that tapped me. It was Rose.
"Geez onii-chan, you don't have to scare me like that," she chuckled awkwardly.
"Y.. you were the one who scared me, Rose. I am trying to find out what happened and where are we," I said to her with a scared tone.
"The captain? Shouldn't he be…" she trailed off as she realised that the pilothouse was dark.
The both of us opened the pilothouse door which creaked loudly. My eyes were moving around quickly as the shadows were playing tricks on me. We went in and checked the entirety of the pilothouse which was small in the first place. The captain was nowhere to be found.