Eugene retreated from the door and sat at the driver's seat as the three adventurers approached. Just as he expected, they were heading his way.
As the trio walked up to Eugene, one of the men stepped forward. He had a fairly lean but muscular build but looked fairly average with black hair and a generic face. The man walked up to Eugene and leaned in close.
"Hey there. You might have guessed, but we are adventurers. I'm Sunny, he's Dean, and she's Esther." The man, Sunny, introduced his group. "This might be quite sudden, but we were wondering if you might be in need of protection or anything of the sort."
Eugene raised an eyebrow at that. The man's tone and demeanor actually seemed sincere. However, he was not in need of any protection. There was no way these adventurers could help him. Instead, they would be a liability to him.
"Thank you, but I am fine. I appreciate the offer, though." Eugene shook his head and settled in his seat.
"Aw, that's too bad. I guess we can find work somewhere else." Sunny rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile before turning away with his friends. They looked around a bit before walking into a small wooden building some distance away. A plaque hung from the front of the building with the emblem of the adventurers' guild, a sword and staff crossed over a shield.
"Suspicious people, Sahar. We need to be careful of who we stick around." Eugene said with a sigh. He then got up and went to open the automobile before entering. He picked up a few things that he had used to sleep at night before closing it back up and returning to the guest house. He would sleep there for the night and leave Pitfall Town first thing in the morning the next day.
Hours passed as Eugene spent time with his avian companion. He also made plans on what he would do after leaving Pitfall Town. He perused a map that he had gotten for a few copper. It was not very detailed and lacked a lot of features, but it portrayed the basic geographical division of this part of Warsong.
"I can skip Deserte and Mando then head straight to Snake City. At that point, I can cool down a bit." Eugene mumbled to himself as he stared at the map and made small markings. Beside him, Sahar watched while tilting his head from side to side. He found what his human did as fascinating.
"Alright, I guess we can call that a plan!" Eugene sighed and put down the map. He held a hand to his forehead and let out another sigh before turning to Sahar. "Do you want to sleep inside tonight?"
Of course, Eugene did not mean inside the guest house, but inside the automobile. With the mall head sized hole at the front, Sahar could easily come in and go out if anything came up.
As if understanding clearly, Sahar jumped up and landed on the edge of the opening before tilting his head at Eugene.
"Great. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, buddy. Be careful. If anyone tries anything, I'm sure you can raise a ruckus in time." Eugene blabbed on before turning and entering the guest house. He already had the key to his room so he went up without wasting time. He was not hungry and just wanted a good night's rest. A soft bed was what his mind was on right now.
Creak~
The door creaked slightly as it swung open. The room was dark, but Eugene recalled that there was an oil lantern on the bedside table, along with a matchbox to light the fire.
However, a step into the room, Eugene felt as if something was wrong. With a twitch of his wrist, his glaive appeared in his hand.
Whoosh...
A cool breeze blew into the room from the open window. Had he left the window open earlier?
With a bit of thought, he recalled that he had indeed left it open earlier.
Squeak!
A little squeak rang out as a furry creature jumped onto the nightstand with a nut in its hands. It looked at Eugene once before jumping out of the window. With it gone, the strange feeling that had haunted Eugene left as well.
'Was it just my senses telling me that there was something else was in this room aside from me?' Eugene thought as he allowed his heart to calm down. He walked over to the nightstand and lit up the oil lantern without putting down his weapon. When the room was lit up, he proceeded to check every nook and cranny of the room to make sure there was no one in it aside him.
"Phew... Just this one night, I hope nothing funny goes down." Eugene breathed out tiredly and mumbled to himself before laying down on the bed. He contemplated about his future for a while before eventually falling asleep after scouring the room one more time and locking the door and window.
.
.
As Eugene slept, two once-powerful Demons conversed within his Sea of Soul.
"The boy is coping well. I did not expect this level of maturity from him at this stage." Mundi commented as he held his chin. He was sitting under the sole tree that was surrounded by dry desert sand within Eugene's mind.
"Of course." Argon nodded his head in a sagely manner. "I did not choose him for nothing."
The two of them had been closely studying Eugene for the past while and were impressed at how well he had adjusted to the situation. They had been expecting a particularly more drastic breakdown from him at this point, but seeing as he held himself together decently, they were surprised.
"Humans are stronger than what I had expected. I have come across strong human warriors in the past, but I have always attributed their strong wills to their power. It is refreshing to see someone weak have such a strong will." Mundi hummed.