*I've been here before.*
When I opened my eyes in the morning, the same familiar face was there to greet me.
"Are you obsessed with my face?" I joked.
"What? No!" Riche said, overreacting. "How dare you fall asleep in front of me before apologizing!"
I look over to Emma, who was sitting up with bags under her eyes.
"What does your brother eat?" I asked. "You better get on the same diet to keep up with him."
"You look over here, miss!" Riche said, forcibly turning me towards him.
"Huh... miss?"
*He's talking about me?*
"Yes, you! I can't understand why Emma thinks you're a boy. You're obviously a girl!"
"..."
"..."
"Ahem." Riche awkwardly cleared his throat. "Back to the point. Apologize to me now!"
"For what?"
I still didn't know what he was so worked up about.
"For-! Obviously-! ... Emma, why does she need to apologize to me again?"
"Haaaaaah~ ... Because... you think he put me in danger... which I've been TRYING to tell you didn't happen!" Emma said, yawning.
"See? She said she's fine. Let it go, okay?" I got up and patted Riche on the shoulder.
"But-! You-!"
I jumped out of the carriage before Riche could finish his stuttering thoughts.
I'd notice we weren't moving, so did that mean we'd arrived at our destination?
*I didn't see anything special out the window...*
"There you are, sleepyhead," said Ruby. "We've almost finished up mealtime, but I've saved something for you."
*So she was out here.*
I hadn't gotten a good look at her earlier, so it was only apparent now that she was rather small - quite a bit shorter than me.
Her flowing, wavy green hair was tied up in twin pigtails and her sharp green eyes were almost blinding to look at. Her ears were quite long and pointed, which meant she was probably...?
*>System Quest: Discover 7 of Tolkein's fantasy races. 1/7 - You've discovered the elves!*
*You're kidding me. SEVEN?*
*>System Message: This quest does not expire soon. Take your time.*
*Okay, System, so that means it *does* expire. Do you mind letting me know when? And same with the other quest, too, if you don't mind.*
*>System Quest: Imagine new magic - Expires in 3 days | Discover 7 races - Expires in 3 years*
*That's quite the difference... still, the fact that you've given me that much time means it'll be quite the journey.*
...
*Thanks for the response.*
"Hey, you!" Ruby yelled, handing me a... something.
"Oh, thanks."
I accept it with curiosity.
"Could you be a little more grateful?" Ruby condescendingly asked. "It's made of lavender truffles."
"Are those rare?"
*Truffles... sounds expensive, I think.*
"Are you serious?? It's more than just rare. Have you seriously not heard of lavender truffles before?"
"No."
"I can't believe how good the Imlans are at finding the most ungrateful brats possible," Ruby scoffed.
"I said thanks."
*It's not like I'm even being ungrateful...*
"Hmph!"
Ruby stepped inside the carriage without another word.
"Haha... I don't think she believes our words about you," the guard captain said, approaching me.
"Why's that? Didn't she hear what happened last night?"
"Seems like you really are green when it comes to magic," he said, shaking his head. "She nearly ran out of mana last night healing us. You see Fern over there? She nearly died. It took Ruby's full efforts to resuscitate her."
"Are you saying that running low on mana makes you pass out harder?"
"When you say 'pass out harder', if you mean 'forces one into deep slumber', then yes, you are correct."
*I see.*
I wasn't really paying attention to her, but now that I think about it, when I reentered the carriage last night, she was still fast asleep on the seat.
"Anyway, that purple truffle devil is one hell of a dish. We were saving it for one of the princes, but you deserve it more than he does."
"Uh huh..."
*I feel like this just might cause some problems down the road.*