Arthur Pendragon had been feeling really excited to go and meet his future bride. And not only that but to solidify his position within the kingdom and secure the Lionheart's as his true allies was a great boon for him.
During the crossing of the straight of Uther and the following conquest of the southern most island of the main island of Albion. The Lionheart's led by None other than Reinhardt had been a great help to King Uther.
In fact without the Lionheart's, or the Westfield's along with their friends, King Uther could never have succeeded in his quest like he had. They were families of great significance now and with their own benefits which he needed to have on his side once he became king.
While the Westfield's had moved west to claim the vast and warmer lands in the west of Albion, like so becoming the breadbasket of the Kingdom. The Lionheart's had turned to the East and there found seaside caves filled with easily accessible mineral resources.
In fact on the small island of Lions Landing from where Duke Leo rules, there are vast deposits of Iron to be found there within the seaside caves. And because of this they have not only become quite wealthy, but they hold the majority of the iron within the kingdom, which was why he also needed them if he ever wanted to really equip his army with proper weapons and armour.
Also the Island of Lions Landing is separated from the main island of Albion by a single, but somewhat wide river. The river being important as because of it and the single stone bridge leading to the island the place is extremely hard to besiege, that is if he ever needed to do so.
So because of all these reasons and so much more, he really did wish to make this marriage work. Even Reinhardt seemed quite anxious to see him get married. With great anticipation for what was to come he had ridden over the stone bridge, came into view of the port town and Castle Leo that overlooked the whole town and beyond.
He had then also been immediately given a warm reception by the whole family. With the 3 sons of Duke Leo, his wife and Leo himself they all had feasted, drank and had a good time. Later he had gone off to spar with the 3 boys who he already knew from his past, having played with them as a child.
Of course he had been quick to beat them in their practice duels, making sure to show them who there great and mighty future King was. And then he had turned to Duchess Hilma who had amazing tits. It was quite distracting, but nonetheless he really did like to talk with her and Duke Leo as well about politics, making money and advancing their future mining exploits and industrial business plans.
Overall it had been a great day at Castle Leo. However after a day of waiting and no bride to be seen, he was quick to question Duke Leo about this. And as he did so the big muscular warrior Duke Leo had actually become nervous.
Questioning the man on this matter it had then quickly become apparent that there in fact was no daughter to be married within the castle. Arthur could hardly believe it, now this seemed like a huge scandal in the waiting. And Reinhardt had also gotten quite furious with his son Leo, but no matter how they questioned Leo on this matter it did indeed seem that the girl had run off some time ago and no amount of arguing would bring her back.
Duke Leo had although already hired some mercenaries to go and find the girl, but still after a day of supposed searching nothing had come of it. The girl had seemingly just vanished and was nowhere to be seen. Still Duke Leo seemed sure that he would find her soon.
While he didn't doubt this as it wasn't easy for a beautiful 8 year old daughter of a Duke to just vanish. After all someone would surely notice such a girl somewhere right, if she truly was as beautiful as Duke Leo said her to be.
Of course he did offer to go help in the search and he even tried to ask for her name and maybe a portrait of her to go off of. But alas Duke Leo denied this, for whatever reason he was reluctant to say anything about the girl to him or Reinhardt.
It was all quite strange, but for him this alliance was important so for the alliance's sake, he decided to let it be. He would not question Leo on the matter anymore and would let the man introduce this mysterious girl to him in time.
So while Duke Leo searched for his daughter, he sadly though didn't have time to play around anymore. He was a Prince on a mission to cleanse the land of all monsters and fantastical creatures that sought to harm his people. So he along with the apologetic Reinhardt had left back the way they came again.
Though it still did bother him greatly why did his bride run away like so? Sure they had 6 years of an age gap, but no surely that couldn't have been it.
In the capital all the women looked to him with wanting gazes and great admiration, all his subjects loved him there. And all the women wanted him, so why would this girl run from him? He was a perfect 10 after all, right?
Although as he rode along the road thinking of all of that had happened, his thoughts were then quickly turned to that girl at the lake side. Just like was typical for most of the Lionheart's, she too had their deep blue eyes. Those beautiful eyes that he very much wanted to see again.
Lord Fosters lands were quite far, but thinking of it he decided to just in case ride past them so as to maybe catch a glimpse of her again. And sadly he didn't have time now, but in the future he would for sure visit Lord Fosters little wooden Castle and hopefully there see this daughter of his. He might not be able to marry her now, but if Duke Leo's daughter was unwilling and unavailable then there wouldn't be a problem. He would have her and make her his little bride.
Thinking of it, a grin quickly appeared upon his devilishly handsome face as he then picked up his speed. Like the wind he made his mighty steed gallop at an incredible speed with that one sweet little thing on his mind.
***
Pulling down her black hood, Lili revealed her cute face and her long silky smooth hair that was mostly tucked into her cloak, hidden away from sight. With her big deep ocean-blue eyes, she looked up at the top of the Dancing Dragon Inn sign that had a big carving of a western-style red dragon and under it was the name of the Inn.
Looking at the long text under the nice looking red dragon she could make out a few of the letters there although they did look quite strange.
Obviously she knew that the first letter was probably a D but this D looked more like a C that was turned around with multiple extra lines attached to its open part, not only this, but it also had lines in the middle making it look more like an O.
After that the rest of the sign just seemed like a mess, it was something that resembled the fantasy elvish language she had once seen in her previous life.
At least the Inn part was somewhat readable except for the fact that the two, nns, seemed like a single, m.
Seeing all of this Lili quickly realized that she couldn't read for shit. Only if she really tried she could maybe slowly start to read this text, but it would be like an 8-year-old practicing reading for the first time.
Not only did the thought of this horrify her but she also felt great shame. By all means, she now needed to keep this fact a secret or else risk great embarrassment.
Luckily she was in a period where most likely the majority of the people here probably didn't know how to read anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Although it was still something that she definitely couldn't let be.
To begin with she had already been quite bad at reading and writing in her past and now she basically knew nothing.
So if she didn't want to be an illiterate adult in some years time then she'd really have to start learning and soon. But right now that wasn't really the biggest thing on her mind. After all she had come here for other much more important things. Namely she really wanted to start eating all the tasty foods this world had to offer, and hopefully some hamburgers as well. In her past she really liked to eat hamburgers, drink beer sometimes and eat plenty of donuts as well. Oh boy, she really hoped that they had those things here and then some.
Pushing open the large double doors of the Inn, Lili was imminently met by the brilliant light of dozens of bright candlelights, loud noises of people talking and laughing away, and there in front of her to her disbelief she actually saw a large Inn packed full of people. Truly there were a lot of people here, a lot more than she had ever seen in this world before. In fact by the looks of it all, it seemed as if the entire village was there.
There were people of all ages there, families, friends, some hooded strangers in the corner of the Inn, some people playing poker by the looks of it and betting coins of some kind, and just plain old happy families having a good time out. Of course there were also a lot of people just sitting around their large round tables, drinking beer from large wooden mugs and having a good old drunk time with their friends. And to her horror it even seemed that some kids were drinking beer as well and getting a bit tipsy too.
Seeing it all, hearing the laughter, the lively conversations of them all Lili almost couldn't believe it. She was actually amongst people again. She had found a real medieval civilization here.
For the past 8 years she hadn't even once gotten to see such a well lit place. Seeing all the candles and their lights in itself was an amazing thing for her, for in the forest she was always mostly in the dark or had just the light of her campfire to guide her.
Secondly the place was, well it was unlike anything she had seen in her past 8 years here. All the tables, stools, the bar, there was even a decent sized stage at the side, then there were stairs going up to where she assumed the rooms for rent were at. Honestly just seeing a real, nicely built building, even if it was medieval and made only of wood was truly quite amazing to her.
And thirdly and most importantly Lili could hardly believe that she was actually seeing so many people before her. Just some time ago she had wondered if she had been alone within this world, but no, she truly wasn't alone here.
But looking at the people she was also quick to notice something strange. For whatever reason, here everyone was actually quite ugly looking. Their blonde hairs seemed all dirty and greasy, definitely not silky smooth like hers or that boys.
Even their white skins seemed a bit oily, some of the gambling poker players had scars, some had freckles, pimples were to be seen on many faces and overall their skins seemed to be full of all sorts of imperfections. They were nothing like her in this regard, or that boy she had met in the woods.
Also the yellowish crooked teeth were not hard to miss. Only the youngest of the children seemed somewhat decent looking, but mostly all were much like the old man Al at the walls.
Of course she could somewhat understand this as it was the medieval ages after all. Many hygienic things simply hadn't yet been invented or simply just weren't as advanced or well understood as in the modern age.
But then why was it that the boy she met at her place seemed so, well just so good-looking in comparison to everybody else here? Clearly the boy knew something about taking care of one's self and looking good, while these people clearly didn't.
And she also did wonder how was it that everyone here had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and were white? Just where was the diversity, the blacks, Latinos, the native Americans, Arabs, Indians, Filipinos, the Chinese or overall just where were the other white people or everyone else for that matter?
While lost in thought at all that she saw, Lili failed to realise just how out of place she looked standing there at the doorway. Quickly eyes started being drawn to her and people began to whisper, as some youngsters looked in awe.
Though soon Lili was brought out of her thoughts as a woman sitting at a table close to her with her family suddenly called out to her.
"Are you looking for something sweetie, you wouldn't happen to be lost, would you? If you'd like my son could help you find your parents? How about it?"
Hearing the woman's sweet words followed by some men from another table laughing lightly, Lili felt her heart ache. She felt insulted, she was no sweetie, she was a grown adult and a man.
Annoyed by this Lili wanted to yell to them that she was no sweetie and she wasn't a she or a girl, but she managed to hold in her little rage. Instead she put back on her hood realising herself probably looking odd here and then simply said.
"No thank you, I'm ok. I'm just looking that's all."
And with that said, Lili wandered further into the Inn with wonder and slight annoyance visible on her face. Though as she went further she quickly realised that people were really staring at her now.
Women looked to her with curious adoring eyes, men were also staring at her and whispering to eachother strangely, while kids pointed and stared. And everyone was seemingly speaking behind her back. Just what was up with these people?
Quickly she started to feel nervous. Why were everyone so weird here? She was the one who wanted to wander around and look at them and stuff. But now they were looking at her and it felt so odd.
Checking herself quickly she couldn't find any buggers in her nose or anything strange on her face. Besides her black cloak hid most of her figure so there shouldn't have been much to see anyway.
It was strange for never in her past even when being as tall as she had been and as muscular as she had been had anyone really ever dared to stare at her, or so much as look at her like this. To her these reactions were something completely new that she couldn't really quite understand.
Sure she had a lighter coloured blonde hair that was silky smooth, she had deep blue eyes unlike anyone here, she was a bit sweaty but overall her skin was good and she just looked quite good, but still it wasn't that strange or noticeable was it? Well it shouldn't have been.
Then she suddenly found herself having wandered next to the stage. It was a tall stage coming up to her chest hight with stairs at the side. And then she noticed there against the back wall of the empty stage a dusty old Lute. It was an old medieval musical instrument kind of like the guitar, but with less strings, and so it had a different sound as well, a sound quite familiar and nostalgic to her ears.
In her past life, she had been a great fan of a certain Dandelion who was a great Lute player in a fictional world. Inspired by him she had actually even managed to get herself a Lute in the past and then learned to play it. Sure she wasn't an expert at it, but she did know a few songs.
In fact seeing the Lute, she really would have liked to play a few notes right about now, but the old man did say to always ask permission first. So looking around some more she could see the bar to the right of her, past many tables and people that blocked her path. And behind the bar she could see a door leading to what seemed like the kitchen. Though to her what was important was the fat man standing at the bar giving out drinks. This man seemed like the bartender and so he was the man to be asked for permission to play the Lute, and more importantly from him she could probably get her food as well.
Although there didn't seem to be any hamburgers or donuts here sadly, a meaty pie was the best thing that she could really see. Still her target was now set, her imaginary mark was on the fat man, as she then started to make her way through the bustling Inn towards him.
Carefully as not to get crushed by the big people Lili made her way pass many tables filled with smelly people and the good scents of their food. She ignored the children's gazes and a teen-age boy that for some reason said a quick hello. To him she merely nodded in response and continued onwards.
Coming to the bar, Lili sadly noticed it to be quite high, making it impossible for her to make eye contact with the bartender. Luckily there was a free stool for her to sit on and so she did.
Climbing on the high stool, Lilis legs dangled in the air as she leaned on the wooden bar and waved her hand at the fat man fiercely to gain his attention.
Though with his back turned to her, she was forced to shout at the man.
"Excuse me, sir! Excuse me! I would like some service over here, please!"
Hearing her high-pitched, but sweet girly voice the men sitting close to her turned to look at her as did the fat man. Seeing him coming closer she then heard him speak to her with a surprisingly soft tone of a voice as if he were speaking to a little kid.
"Well hello there little missy. Haven't seen you around here before. What is it that I can do for you? If it's your parents that you've lost, then don't worry my daughter would most certainly be happy to help you find them. Kids lose their way around here all the time so don't you worry about that."
Shaking her head in denial she opened up her cloak and showed the fat man her leather pouch that held her strawberries and peas inside. The man seemed confused as she then started to explain.
"I want to sell you all of this. Here have a look they are in quite good condition and really tasty too."
She then handed the man a strawberry, which he took happily and then had a small bite of the thing. Nodding his head he then looked to Lili and said approvingly.
"Well, the taste is indeed quite good. Hmm, and they seem to be good as well, but how much are you selling them for?"
Hearing this Lili was about to say give me ten dollars, but then froze as she realised that she had no idea what the currency here was. Quickly looking around Lili could see people having some small coin pouches and the poker players betting with what seemed like copper coins.
She wasn't sure, but it seemed that here these coins were the currency. Though how much was a strawberry worth in coins Lili didn't know. Overall she had about 23 or so strawberries and a few handfuls of peas, so it had to be at least a tasty meals worth? However much a tasty meal was worth anyway that is.
Lost in her thoughts the fat man then interrupted her by asking.
"Listen kid, if its only this that you came here to sell then make it quick. I don't have all night, so what's it gonna be?"
Lost as to what she should do, she just blurted out her desire.
"Could you give me some bread and soup. And make it fast please I'm really hungry."
Hearing this the fat man seemed a bit hesitant, but then said.
"I see, well we don't usually exchange food for food here. After all you cannot pay taxes with food, we use coins here you see. But I guess in your case I can make an exception little miss. However know that this much is not enough for a full meal. If you want something better then you'll have to pay for it with coins. So I suggest after eating you scurry off back home and fast before your parents get worried about you, ok. Then come back with them next time and pay with actual coins and not berries, ok."
Hearing this Lili couldn't help but put her little hands into small fists and cheer in a silent victory for having completed her first trade within this world, as she simultaneously nodded profusely at the man's words and gave him her peas and berries.
The man gave her a strange look, took her stuff and walked to the kitchen behind the bar seemingly having accepted her offer. Lili Without realizing it had automatically started kicking her feet back and forth in the air as she waited in excitement for her food to arrive.
Though she did wonder why this man thought of her as some runaway. Sure she was alone and all, but in her opinion she looked quite strong and independent. She had after all been training really hard, she had a knife, her own made gear and a cool cloak. If anything they should have mistaken her for an adventurer like in those fantasy world's, but sadly not.
While thinking of this she noticed the fat man reappear from the kitchen. He told her that the food would be ready soon and then headed off to service the other customers.
Curiously Lili watched him filling up people's mugs by pouring beer out from big wooden barrels into the mugs. He also was taking quite a few orders for food back to the kitchen as well. The man actually moved around quite a lot causing him to start sweating quite a bit.
Though Lili couldn't help but feel that this bartender was quite lacking in his bartending skills. Here there was no cool mixing of drinks or doing, well doing much of anything, it was all quite simple.
Truly within this world there seemed to be many things lacking, meaning that there were many things that she would definitely need to do something about. After all she wanted to help people, make their lives better, get money and then help more people with that money.
Already Lili could feel her head start to be filled with all sorts of ideas. Until the man sitting next to her drinking his beer then looked at her and asked.
"So girly, which family do you belong to? By the looks of you, you gotta be a part of some wealthy family right? Or well with your bartering skills I'd say your not at least a kid from a rich merchant family, hahaha."
Rolling her eyes at the comment Lili merely glanced at the man and his crooked teethed as she casually said.
"Yeah very funny, ha ha ha. I'm still learning, ok. Plus Its none of your business what family or whatever I belong to, buddy."
Though Lili knew her words to be maybe a bit harsh, they didn't seem to work on this man sitting next to her. All she wanted was to have something to eat and be left alone for a moment, she wasn't that much of a people person and the man stunk, especially his breath was bad as talked.
"Oh don't be like that girly. Here, have something to drink, it will lighten up your mood. I for one always feel better after eating well and drinking well."
Suddenly the man pushed his huge mug of ale before her eyes. Seeing it Lili wanted to imminently push it away, but then noticing its bubbly and somehow tasty looking contents Lili was intrigued. And with some encouragement from the man Lili grabbed the heavy feeling mug and managed to take a sip out of it. And to Lilis surprise it was kind of sweet, like a sweet liquid bread. Although she could immediately feel the alcohol within it hit her head, the beer was truly strong or maybe she was just too weak to it.
Either way Lili suddenly found herself actually enjoying herself as the man named Jeff encouraged her onwards. And so she drank, although quickly she felt chills hit her as the man's hand came onto her shoulder. It was strange, but his massaging her a little did feel kind of nice.
Though as his hand suddenly started moving downwards, coming dangerously close to her ass Lili felt creeped out. Was the dude gay or something, no freaking way? Quickly Lili showed him her serious pouting face, which luckily was enough to get his hand off of her. The dude merely scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.
Lili didn't know what was up with the man, but he was kind of weird. Luckily a girl a little bit taller than her appeared from the kitchen with a small bowl of soup and a small piece of bread soon. While the sight of her was strange seeing as how small the bowl was and the slice of bread wasn't all that great either. It did luckily take her thoughts away from Jeff and to something else.
In wonder, she watched the girl until she suddenly came and placed the bowl before her along with the bread and happily said.
"Here you go. All done, have a good meal."
Confused Lili took the bowl in hand and asked.
"This is for me?"
Nodding her head the little girl said.
"Yes, its yours. Since you were the one who ordered bread and soup. You're welcome."
Looking at the small bowl that was half full with what seemed like a few small thumb-sized pieces of fish, some small pieces of vegetables mixed in with water, and a small slice of bread there next to it, Lili was not impressed. Though she couldn't be mad at the girl and so she calmly showed a smile and said.
"Thank you."
With that said the girl happily walked back into the bar and out of her sight. Then the fat man came to give her a wooden spoon and said nothing. The man merely gave her a serious look and was about to turn away, until stopped him by saying.
"Hey, what's this all about? Where is the rest of my food? Surely there is more?"
Shrugging his fat shoulders the man just spoke dumbly and said.
"What do you mean? You just asked for soup and bread, and there before you is soup and bread. So what's the problem? If you want more then go get your parents and come buy more."
Hearing this the few men around Lili just laughed lightly and seemingly cheering the fat man on, as Jeff again placed his hand on Lili and said.
"Don't worry girly, I'll give you more beer if you want. Just ask and your big brother here will help you out."
Lili wanted to push the mans hand away and yell at him. Her parents weren't home no matter how much she wanted them to be, her mother was already dead and her father was somewhere..She didn't have anyone to look up to for help or coins like they said. Though as she thought of this she felt that these men were kind of right.
What if her dad was in fact at her mother's tomb right now, and she was here so far away? If it was like that, then he must have been really worried about her at this point, right?
Still Lilis pretty little face turned into a frown as she felt herself just having been cheated by this fat man. No matter his intentions, he could have at least given her a bit more right? Feeling defeated by this fat man, Lili then was forced to accept her fate, she said nothing and then just started to eat that what she had.
Luckily Jeff took his hand away and she found a moment of peace just then. Grabbing her spoon Lili then began to eat the shitty soup out of the way first, and to her surprise it was kind of alright. It wasn't great, but it at least wasn't more berries.
Having taken a few spoonfuls of the soup and tasted the vegetables and fish within the soup, Lili then moved to the bread. Taking hold of the small slice of bread, Lili then dipped it into the soup to soften it up. Then she bit into it and could immediately feel its softness, and even it's the little pieces of broken grain within it. With the bread in her hands and small bits of it within her mouth, Lili could already start to feel her anger subsiding as she then bit into the thing again.
Pulling a bigger chunk out of it this time, Lili chewed it happily in her mouth feeling its softness and the hard grains in it that made a hard scraping sound against her teeth as she ate it.
Then realization came to her and she immediately spit the thing back into the bowl. She wasn't sure why but the bread seemed to be full of small stones like sand. Looking at the bread closer she could even see the small little things.
Glancing around the Inn she then began to realize why it was that all these people had the horrible teeth that they had. In her previous life, she remembered hearing that many peasants in the early medieval times used bad grinding stones to grind the grain into flower, which then caused some small pieces of the grinding stone to get mixed in with the bread.
Horrified by this realization of this she quickly felt her appetite for the food disappear. Gone was her want for bread now she actually just wanted her strawberries back. In frustration, Lili called out to the fat man.
"Hey, you bartender. Why did you give me bread full of stones where is the good stuff? Surely with that windmill and all you have better bread than this?"
Hearing this the bartender turned to her with a questioning look on his fat face, he seemed to be ready to say something but then Jeff next to her suddenly spoke first.
"What are you talking about girly? It might be a small piece of bread, but there is no doubt that's the Dancing Dragons famous bread. By the looks of that piece its even completely fresh and recently baked right there in the In-kitchen behind the bar. Around here its extremely famous for its light texture and its soft, also its tasty insides have nice really small pieces of the grinding stone within it unlike most others that have a lot more and a lot bigger pieces. Here eating the bread is actually nice, the sound it produces is in fact like music to the ear, nice and crunchy."
Lili could hardly believe it, was this man for real? Surely he couldn't mean it, or maybe he just didn't know any better? While horrified by the man's words the Fatman walked over, took a small bite out of the bread and said.
"No, I see nothing wrong with this. This bread is just like the rest. We don't have any more varieties of bread here. Sure there might be some small pieces of the grinding stone inside, but I assure you that they are much less than what most other grinding stones leave behind. Not only that but they are also a lot smaller pieces which is why it does not hurt once teeth when eaten, instead, it creates a sound like my good man over here described. And it should be enough to get you home, so eat up and don't complain, little missy."
Mouth agape and eyes wide, a new realization just hit her then. Holy shit this medieval food might not be as tasty as I had hoped for it to be. There definitely is no tasty bread with peanut butter in it. Even if these people could maybe make something like pies or other nice dishes here it didn't matter if such a fundamental part of the food like the grinding process was flawed.
But now she was faced with another problem.
The food she just ate filled maybe one-third of her little belly. She would definitely need more, and she wasn't eating anymore of that bread or soup any more, not after the fat man had taken a bite of it. And she definitely wasn't drinking anymore bear, she didn't want to become drunk after all no matter how much Jeff tried to get her like so.
Though if she didn't want to starve to death and have food for the journey back home. Then she would somehow need to get more food and a place to sleep the night. Already she was feeling quite exhausted from the long trip here and now all this that had happened. With this in mind she looked at Fatman and spoke.
"Hey, bartender. What do I need to do in order to get a room around here and something else to eat, maybe apples would be nice? Could I maybe work in the kitchen or sweep the floors, or something like that?"
Raising an eyebrow at her question the Fatman then laughed and said.
"Hahaha! Sorry kid but there ain't no baby-sized rooms here for you and my wife and daughter already have the kitchen and cleaning covered, but if you have something else you can trade then I might be able to give you something more to eat."
Putting her little hand on her little chin, Lili went into thought as she then looked around again. She found it strange that the entire town seemed to be celebrating here in the Inn during the night. Didn't these people have any work to do in the morning or was all the work just meant to be done by the women in the morning as it seemed like there were more men here than women?
Curious of this she then found that the Fatman had already left to attend to some other people so she had to turn to Jeff as she then said.
"Hey man, what is it that you are all celebrating here tonight? What's the occasion?"
Turning away from what seemed like a mug of ale the man looked at her and said.
"Oh, you don't know? We are celebrating the completion of the windmill. You might not know this then, but its an invention that is the work of our great Prince Arthur. It's thanks to the windmill our future work on the land has become much easier, leaving us with more time to drink and celebrate our brilliant prince. It's not often that you get rulers as great as the Pendragon's. If it wasn't for them and their inventions, our fields would be a lot smaller now as we wouldn't simply have the time to tend to bigger fields. And if the fields were smaller then the harvest would have been really bad last year due to the rain and cold winter, but it wasn't. Sure the grain wasn't of high quality, but there was a lot of it and so we thrive on the land with full bellies and mugs of beer in our hands."
Hearing this Lili felt a bit confused. How could a man like that come up with not only a windmill but the Tower Windmill for all things? Wait did he just say Prince Arthur like the dude from the fairy tale? Wait didn't that arrogant boy say something about finding him in Camelot?
Lost in thought Lili was then rudely interrupted by the bartender who stood in front of her now and said.
"Hey, kid. You gonna sit there all night or what? If you ain't got any coins or intent to eat the rest of your food then I kindly will have to ask you to leave that seat. That seats only for paying customers you see."
Hearing this Lilis face turned into a pout as an idea came to her as she said.
"Hey man, what if I sang a few songs? Could I then have something to eat then? You see I can sing and even play the Lute which I saw that you have on the stage. So could I please use that to earn some food?"
Eyebrow raised once more, the Fatman seemed suspicious as he questioned her.
"Hmm, well everything depends on if you have any actual talent. I find it hard to believe that a little girl knows any reasonable songs to be sung, or even how to play the Lute good enough to sing them. Then again I know very little of your noble kind, well if you truly can sing and play then feel free the stage is all yours. Play well and I even might just gift you that Lute along with some food as well. So go and play to your heart's content. But I do warn you the Lute Is an old thing left behind by an old traveling minstrel who died some years ago up on that very stage."
Taken aback by this Lili asked.
"What? How did he die?"
A smile spread on the fat man's face as he seemed like he was recalling something funny as he then said.
"Honestly I have no idea. One moment the man was singing and the next he was lying on the stage holding his chest in pain then he started spasming like he was possessed by a demon and then he just died. After that nobody has dared to touch that Lute as they believe it to be the cause of the man's death as if it were cursed, but I think its just nonsense to be honest."
To Lili it sounded like the man might have had a heart attack. It was too bad for the man since nobody here probably had any idea of what to do in that situation. Nodding her head in understanding of the fat man's words Lili then said.
"Well, I will make sure to honor that old minstrels memory. I will use his Lute to put some smiles on these peoples faces. Prepare to be amazed, soon you will see how a star is made."
Hopping off her high stool Lili quickly sped off towards the stage leaving the Fatman and the Jackass in confusion wondering what she meant by making a star. Could she actually create stars they wondered?
Coming to the small stage that came to about her waist height Lili placed her small hands on it and with the ease of a well-trained little girl climbed on the stage earning a few onlookers' attention. Standing up on stage she immediately felt a bit nervous realizing that now she was sticking out quite greatly.
Taking in a deep calming breath calming breath of air she formed a picture in her mind of the stage and all the people around the big room. In her mind, she imagined herself back in uniform looking over just another big group of gang bangers that she was about to arrest or just gun down.
With this image in her mind, she felt her fears wash away, now she was in charge and all these other people were like shit under her boots which she didn't have, but this was just her imagination and she went with it as it gave her strength. There was always something about wearing her uniform that just seemed to block out all the peoples stares, the uniform was like a mental shield to her.
Walking over to the old Lute she took it in hand and blew away all the dust that had accumulated on it over its many neglected years. Now she, a neglected child and this neglected Lute were like family. Lili instantly felt a connection with the thing and happy memories of her slaying monsters in games and playing the lute along with Dandelion as he sang his songs it came to her.
As she adjusted the strings she felt a memory of a certain song coming to her. From under her black hood, she caught a glimpse of some children close to the stage looking at her and at that moment she remembered the song. It was a song that every child loved and no adult at least that she knew of hated, a perfect song to start this off.
Placing her little fingers on the Lute strings she started out with a small test round of the beat, that went something like.
A one-two, three and four and a one-two, three and four. Pam pam, pa pa pa pa pam pam.
Stopping after that she felt that she had just the right beat set, now it was time for the song.
Then she realized that the entire room had gone silent only small whispers of people could be heard as they all looked upon her with expecting eyes.
In the far corner, she could see 3 hooded figures that looked just like some low-budged assassins creed characters were sitting and glancing at her as they whispered amongst one another. In the center of the room, even the poker poker-playing gamblers had stopped and looked at her. To her right the Fatman also watched.
And, right in front of her there was a large group of kids of different ages hugging the stage, then a little girl from among the group yelled at her.
"Do it again! I want to hear more!"
In response to this, the other children yelled.
"Yeah! Do it again!"
Seeing all this attention Lili felt quite shocked, she hadn't even started to sing yet. Didn't these people listen to music at all? Surely her playing wasn't that amazing. Then she remembered, oh yeah they cant listen to music here unless somebody comes in person and actually sings or plays the Lute. And, thinking of the Lute it too probably wasn't all that common around here so yeah maybe these children especially had never heard the Lute being played.
Feeling motivated to do her absolute best to teach these kids what real music was about, she raised her little fist into the air and said.
"Ok kids, let's rock and roll!"
The kids had no idea what she just said, but they cheered anyway as she once again started the beat.
"A one-two, three and four and a one-two, three and four. Pam pam, pa pa pa pa pam pam. Then she started to sing along with the beat.
"Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.
And on that farm he had a pig, E-I-E-I-O.
With a oink-oink here and a oink-oink there.
Here a oink, there a oink, everywhere a oink-oink."
Then there came the pause in the song but she kept on playing and used the time to shout to the dirty peasant kids who all seemed super excited as they were hopping up and down.
"Come on kids sing along!"
The next part of the song she started out a bit slower so that the excited kids could hop on board the song and together they all started to sing.
"Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.
And on that farm he had a duck, E-I-E-I-O.
With a quack-quack here and a quack-quack there.
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack-quack.
Oink-oink here and a oink-oink there.
Here a oink, there a oink, everywhere a oink-oink.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O."
Once more a pause came and one man in the back turned to his friend and asked.
"Hey, who is this old MacDonald fellow? You know him?"
Thinking on it for a few seconds the other man then said.
"Not sure, but I think I heard there being some noble family up north called the MacDonalds. Maybe she's singing about them. But who cares, She sounds like an angel and this song is really catchy and I like it."
After saying that the man started to sing along and soon all joined in on the song to the best of their abilities.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O."
For a good few minutes, Lili and the audience sang along to her song and then as the music stopped the audience erupted into loud applause. Hearing all this Lili couldn't help but feel embarrassed as she thanked them all and did a small bow.
To see such reactions and realized just what the fuck she had sung, Lili couldn't help but cringe as she thought of grown men singing kids songs while drinking at a bar and getting absolutely hammered. Oh God, what had she just done to these poor people?
Despite this thought she for sure couldn't hold back her singing now could she? If she played her cards right here then maybe this was her path to greatness and money that she could then use to change this world for the better. Standing back up from a bow she accidentally made her hood slip off revealing her face to all.
Immediately gasps could be heard in the crowd amongst the women and many whispers were heard from the men as the kids seemed to have stars in their eyes. Unknown to Lili she with her appearance looked like a little goddess amongst these peasants and not only this but her voice also greatly matched this vision which was the largest contributor to the crowd's cheers. Then the same girl as before spoke as she said.
"Are you an Angel?"
Taking this as a joke Lili just smiled and said.
"Maybe. Hihihi."
To her right, a thin teenage boy with dark hair then yelled.
"Sing it again!"
Soon other children joined in and she was forced to submit to the crowd's demands, so the song started once more, but this time the song sounded much better as the audience actually remembered most of the song this time around.