[Randall's POV]
"Nnnngh…"
After finally arriving yesterday at the Capital, we headed straight for the palace, had dinner, and went to sleep.
… Only to be summoned in the middle of the night, and have another task handed to us. Because apparently, we have a fairly good success rate. Even if the only good thing we did was save Princess Ladenia.
Anyway, the mission: We were told to visit Edelchia, the country of the elves, and destroy a deposit of the demon race. Which gave me many questions.
As for how the meeting went? Well…
'Why is there a warehouse, belonging to the demons, in elven land? I thought the relationship between the elves and the humans was good…?' was the very first thing I questioned back then. But I didn't voice it out loud.
Breaking into someone else's territory and destroying facilities might be considered a declaration of war.
"Do you have any questions, Randall?"
I stood there for a moment or two, only to shake my head. 'Nevermind, it's not worth asking. They probably have their reasons… I hope.'
"I see… In that case, we'll have to prepare a few things for this mission, so your group should focus on resting. You'll be summoned when everything is ready," declared Orwell, with a serious expression I had grown accustomed to.
"We understand, Monarch," replied Jean, as she bowed down slightly.
And then, we left… Straight to our rooms, since Orwell had called us in the middle of the night.
And that was it.
Currently, I'm lying on my mattress, with the sheets out of my reach.
'Time to rise, and shine…'
The sound of someone knocking on my door grabbed my attention, enough to force me to sit up.
"Randall, are you awake??"
'Nevermind, that's Jean… Maybe I should pretend to be asleep?'
…nah, that wouldn't be funny.
I got up, and walked towards the wooden door.
And opened it.
A dark haired beauty–actually scratch that, Ren's here too, so make it two… or is it still one, considering Ren has white hair?... Anyway, they both stood in front of the door, seemingly waiting for anything to happen.
"... Isn't it too early to start doing stuff?" I asked, letting out a fairly quiet yawn.
"Randall, you've slept for long enough…"
It is what it is, I guess.
And five minutes later, they ended up dragging me out of the room in order to have lunch.
In a large space, four long tables rested beside each other. The tablecloth, whose creamy yellow took in the sunlight of the door-like windows thrusted into the walls, served to separate the refined, dark wood from the almost flawless silverware.
We ended up walking to the corner, with Ren and I sitting on the sides, and Jean in the middle.
"Any ideas on how to spend these few days?" I asked, curious to hear their ideas.
After all, we weren't going to Edelchia just yet. According to Orwell, some preparations had to be done.
"We could get some food?" suggested the beast-woman.
"Personally, I think it would be wiser going to the Palace's library. There's a lot of useful information for you, Randall… As for you, Hiyo, we can continue our sessions there."
Information… Indeed, that'd be useful, given how my knowledge is lacking in a lot of important areas.
I don't even know the human kingdoms' shared name. I do remember it started with "Jobber", though.
'I hope I can find some good books… Or maybe even literature.'
"Yes, Hiyoshin. Reading is important, after all."
'.... The fuck did I just hear?'
I came back to my senses, and asked them what they were talking about.
"Not much. I was just reminding Hiyo that learning how to read is important."
The panda-woman's face stood still for a mere moment, before munching on the steaming hot, baked potato resting in the insides of her mouth.
The panda slowly nodded.
"I... I-I don't know what to say…"
I really didn't. Thus, I didn't say anything. And just downed my food.
Mashed potatoes with sliced tomatoes.
… Though, instead of using a fork and a knife, I was given a mix of both items… Something that resembled a knork in concept, but not in… design.
With the 4-tined fork in the back, and the knife ahead, I faced a few problems wielding this instrument.
As I wondered whether I was supposed to hold it by the blade or not, I heard a rather loud sigh.
"Have neither of you ever used a pincerknife before?"
"A pincerwhat?"
The crimson eyed woman stared at me with her usual deadpan expression, and picked up the fork-knife near her plate, where a seemingly healthy salad rested.
With her index finger straightened towards the blade's end, the thumb and middle fingers supported it from behind.
The thumb on top accompanied it, and the middle in the bottom of the half-way point mark.
… Both Ren and I tried to replicate it, but it sort of didn't work out.
"... Nevermind.."
Ren resorted to gripping the "pincerknife" like a sword's hilt, stabbing the meat mercilessly, and ending the process by bringing the cooker meat to her mouth.
And chew.
"Hiyo, your mouth."
"Ah! Right," she exclaimed, almost flustered, still ensuring her mouth did not stay open while chewing.
We spent a while there, eating. With the occasional joke and laugh sprinkled in. Though, even when silence took over our table… I felt strangely comfortable.
Anyway, we all finished about eleven minutes later. With Jean ranking in first place, and Ren wanting to go to the bathroom due to drinking too much water.
"... This is nice."
"What do you mean?" asked Jean.
"Just having an enjoyable meal in a relaxing environment. That's it," I told them, rubbing my fed-up belly.
Such a good meal… The sort that I couldn't enjoy in my last few years living on Earth.
The dark haired human looked at me almost curiously, while the panda… Her tongue licked every inch of the food-filled plate she was given, leaving nothing behind. She seemed to be enjoying it, too.
'God, I wish that was me.'
... Actually, no. I don't. Nor shouldn't.
Regardless, after finishing our food, we carried our dishes and utensils back to the corner of the hall, where the waiters would bring the used instruments back to the kitchen.
I caught a few of them looking in our direction, probably amused that we did this. However, I didn't pay any attention to their gazes.
We had important things to do.
"Now, to the library!... Where is it?"
"Sector C, Randall…"
"Sector C! Right, thanks Jean."
She inquired how I didn't know that yet, and I merely gave her a simple answer. "I haven't memorized the Palace's layout yet. That's why."
And with that, I indirectly seemed to have requested her to give me a reminder.
"The Palace is divided into three sectors. A, B and C. We're currently in Sector B, where the kitchen, the dining hall and a few other places are located."
"I see, and where are we headed to?"
"Sector C, since the library is there."
And so, we walked towards that place.
Leaving through one of the main doors, we entered a hallway, only for Jean to lead us into a spacious room. A big, towering wooden door imposed itself on the wall, leading to the courtyard.
'How refreshing,' I thought, as the warm sunlight revitalized the parts of my body not shielded by my overcoat.
A smile appeared in the faces of my companions, one of which spent a moment in stretching her human body.
As we walked, Ren looked up, her paws approaching the hood covering her head… But that's it. She didn't take it off.
Walking through the road, made out of stone slabs and decorated with a few statues, made of pure ice, along with one erected in the center of the yard.
A shining, golden statue of a man rose far above in the garden. It stood on top of a large, quartz platform, pointing a spear towards the sky.
The man almost reminded me of Orwell, for some reason.
"Who is that?" I asked, looking towards the statue.
"That… That's Angelo Orwell, the former Monarch of our Kingdom… And Mr. Orwell's late son."
The mood grew slightly somber, but we went on our way.
"He died ten years ago, giving a speech to the people, due to a demon succeeding in his assassination attempt… I was sixteen back when it happened," commented Jean, only to go quiet afterwards.
"Did you know him?" I inquired, curiously.
"No, Randall. However, my dad did, and he had always spoken well about the man. According to him, Fegendale would be much worse, had it not been for the deeds he performed as a Monarch."
I nodded along, unsure of how to reply. Mostly due to the almost oppressive atmosphere.
"... Sorry for asking."
She turned around to face me, as if realizing something. "It's fine, you don't have to apologize for wanting to learn about our kingdom's history."
I didn't know what to do, so I thanked her, and let the silence be our companion until we reached the library.