It has been a lot of small talk. And by a lot, I mean at least one hour of it, which was close to a new record for me. And the whole time of feigning to be friendly, I just wanted to tear Irminsul apart. For lying about the benefits of saving Sofie, and for bringing us together once more.
But even as we arrived at the stationary ’Wandering Inn‘, I couldn’t understand why she did it. She must have known I murdered the last reincarnator I met, so shouldn’t she fear that the same fate would befall her apostle? But it had to be her. No other god would gain anything from us meeting and I was sure I would detect if Aska tried anything funny. It could only be her.
“Here we are!” I exclaimed and opened the door happily. The sounds of laughter and heated conversations arrived at my ears in an instant and remainded me that I still had stuff to do in this inn. But first, Sofie and I needed to bring a surprisingly weak Hannah into her bed which we promptly started to do.
We squeezed us through a few tables upon with mugs of beer were and soon arrived at the counter where the friendly bar owner greeted us.
“I’ll suppose your sister isn’t going to join us tonight?” He asked while looking at Hannah who still had to steady herself using my shoulder.
“I fear not.” I answered and gently guided her to the stairs. Sofie chose to stay behind for the time being, especially because Hannah managed to take the first few steps sin her own somehow.
“Uhh…” She said after a long time of embarrassing struggle against the stairs. At least we managed to get her upstairs and into the bed shortly afterwards. She immediately fell asleep once her head hit the pillow which was honestly quite cute. I really, really wanted to accompany her, but I did promise to entertain the guests and moving out with a drunken Hannah in tow was definitely not something I was willing to do.
Heavy hearted, I thus closed the door behind me once more, locked it and went downstairs towards Sofie who was chatting with the owner of the bar.
“Hey, I heard you will sing later?” That my voice was more than popular was apparently their topic of discussion, even though I would like it if the tavern owner toned it down a little. But still, I could only nod as this was indeed something I would be doing.
“Only if we are allowed to stay past eight in the morning.” I said towards the owner. In truth, I just wanted to give Hannah a bit more time to relax and didn’t wouldn’t bother too much about paying for another day.
“The new guests arrive at twelve, so don’t worry about that. More than enough time to clean everything up.” I nodded towards the owner and then smiled at Sofie.
“Thanks a lot for helping us out. You are a lifesaver.” I explained and bowed in front of her. She immediately waved her hands in front of her chest embarrassed about the display.
“Oh, I am glad I could help out and secure a place at this lodging … so, can I ask for a song?” She asked and smiled brightly. Once again, kindness but also a strange interest radiated from her eyes. And I was willing to deliver to both of these emotions.
“Sure.” I said and stood upright once more.
“Can I have an elfish song?” Was she testing me if what I claimed was real? That I was indeed adopted by an elfish family? It didn’t look that way, but I also couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. After all, she was an apostle from the goddess of life and I didn’t know for sure if she could face the emotions her soul radiated through her eyes.
“At once.” I said while smiling innocently and strolled towards a little stool. Standing up on it, I faced the crowd and waited until they turned more or less silent. “Hello my dear friends at this late hour. Today is the last day I will stay here, and this it is the last chance to hear me sing! I hope your ears are all pointed outwards, because my helper in need asked for an elfish song. Keep in mind that the elven language is slightly different, but I will give my best to keep the translation close to the original.
May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh how far you are from home
Believe and you will find your way back
Towards the elven wonderland
May be your guide your heart
To let you not astray.
May it be you journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun”
It is was more of a poem than an actual song but hey, my saintly voice was enough to make my performance captivating. Even Sofie who had yet to say anything to my voice looked at me in amazement as I stepped down from the stool again and strolled towards the first table.
“A tale of two lovebirds” The three men said in unison and made me smile bitterly. Turning around on my heels towards the stool, I couldn’t help but think these men just liked to see me use foul words. But even then, I still sang what they asked for and purposefully put the emphasis on the unladylike words in that melody and made quite a few guests laugh out loud. Even Sofie was somewhat amused by it despite her probable disapproval of swear words in general.
Time and time again, I was asked for different songs all of which I, the freak who rarely forgot anything if it was somewhat important, knew all of them. Surely, it was a fun time for everyone except me and thus, I was quite glad as everyone did hear their favourite song. Feigning to be a bit tired, I leaned against the bar right next to Sofie.
“The usual please.” I cleared my throat and sat down upon the next stool.
“You shouldn’t drink alcohol.” Sofie said in disapproval even though the legal drinking age was thirteen.
“Why? It is legal and everyone is doing it.” I said and waved my hands around to all the men and woman drinking alcoholic beverages in plain sight.
“Your sister clearly overdid it. And even if you stop before that it is bad for your health.“ There was really no point in arguing with her about the dangers alcohol had, mostly because I had the feeling she had knowledge others in that room didn’t.
“I see. Is spikeapple juice also bad for my health?” I asked, smiled amused and took the filled mug out of the barkeeper’s hand. It was filled with a yellow juice, smelling distinctly like honey.
“Oh … I didn’t won’t to … sorry, I just assumed you would drink alcohol.”
“Never in my life” would I drink a tiny amount of alcohol in public. There was simply no need to risk my carefully constructed shell covering my usual self. And besides, a tiny amount of alcohol did nothing to me and the masses I needed to drink to feel anything were truly too much to be unsuspicious. “But hey, I suppose it was fair for you to assume that after everything that happened so far. Do you want one of these too? Hey, Lars, one for her as well.”
“This one is on the house.” He said and immediately filled another mug with the same liquid before heading of to one of the tables behind our backs.
“It is pretty rare to see someone with your opinion on alcohol though. Especially the villages have a higher consumption of beer than water mostly because beer proofed to be safer. Again and again, villagers got ill because they drank water, but not so as they consumed beer. How do you explain that?”
“The water was contaminated.” She answered in a way a scholar would, that was for sure.
“It was crystal clear water from a nearby pond.” I explained and tilted my head in winder. I desperately wanted to gauge her knowledge about various things in particular because she was most certainly from another world.
“Just because it is clear, it doesn’t mean it is safe to drink.” She said which already showed she had a higher understanding than most others.
“Hmm? But there is nothing else in there?” I asked and presented her with exactly the level of knowledge this world had. Nothing they couldn’t see, except magic and a few laws like gravity existed for people in this world.
“…. I suppose you are right.” And she immediately blocked off. I supposed it would take a lot more work for her to reveal what she knew exactly probably because she had been already laughed at for claiming little animals lived in the water and made us ill. “But still, wouldn’t it explain everything if there were things we couldn’t see?” And she closed off with a rethorical question I certainly didn’t want to answer.
“I … would honestly need to think about that. I’m not that smart, you know?” I said and smirked while giggling a bit.
“Are you sure? You do seem open minded enough to become a respectable researcher.” Did I really? Well, not laughing at her take on germs was probably more than expected.
“A researcher? No, I want to become a historian. Rather than looking at the things we don’t understand, I want to explore the knowledge we once had.“ I smiled brightly, but not because of what I said, but rather because what it entailed. A lot of cuddling with my favourite human of course!
“That’s cool. I want to become a wandering doctor and help those who need it the most. But I think in these times we live in, it simply isn’t possible.”
“Don’t let your past stop you from becoming the person you want to be.” I proposed bitterly. I knew for a fact that my past would always come and haunt me, no matter what I did.
“It’s not my past … it is the future I am worried about.“ She said full of melancholy. “Anyways” She said, shaking off the moody atmosphere between us. “It’s rather late already and I have to wake up early tomorrow, soo …” She picked up the key laying right in front of her since the very beginning and eyed the number on it. “I think I’ll go to bed now.”
“It was nice to meet you.” I said and gave her my hand just after she stood up.
“Likewise. I really do hope we see each other again in the future.” We shook our hands and smiled a bit before she eventually turned around and headed upstairs.
“Hopefully under better stars.” I mumbled, just loud enough for the barkeeper to hear me. “Hey, I’ll head upstairs as well. And Lars, please don’t throw us out of the bed that early.” I said winked to him and followed Sofie upstairs. The hallway was already deserted as I arrived and thus, I opened the door to our little apartment without any interruption.
Hannah was slumbering in the bed and continued to do so as I closed the door behind me, locked it and undressed myself. Only as I slipped underneath the blanket did she wake up. She wasn’t completely drunk anymore, a testimony to her high level of resistance against poison, but she was still heavily intoxicated.
“Do we need to murder her as well?” She mumbled quietly, conscious about the very thin walls.
“There is no chance that naïve girl will ever become a threat to us.” I whispered into her right ear and soon found myself pressing my cheek into her bosom. Truly, it was the last night pretending to be normal for a little while but I would make sure to enjoy Hannah’s company even afterwards.
It has been a lot of small talk. And by a lot, I mean at least one hour of it, which was close to a new record for me. And the whole time of feigning to be friendly, I just wanted to tear Irminsul apart. For lying about the benefits of saving Sofie, and for bringing us together once more.
But even as we arrived at the stationary ’Wandering Inn‘, I couldn’t understand why she did it. She must have known I murdered the last reincarnator I met, so shouldn’t she fear that the same fate would befall her apostle? But it had to be her. No other god would gain anything from us meeting and I was sure I would detect if Aska tried anything funny. It could only be her.
“Here we are!” I exclaimed and opened the door happily. The sounds of laughter and heated conversations arrived at my ears in an instant and remainded me that I still had stuff to do in this inn. But first, Sofie and I needed to bring a surprisingly weak Hannah into her bed which we promptly started to do.
We squeezed us through a few tables upon with mugs of beer were and soon arrived at the counter where the friendly bar owner greeted us.
“I’ll suppose your sister isn’t going to join us tonight?” He asked while looking at Hannah who still had to steady herself using my shoulder.
“I fear not.” I answered and gently guided her to the stairs. Sofie chose to stay behind for the time being, especially because Hannah managed to take the first few steps sin her own somehow.
“Uhh…” She said after a long time of embarrassing struggle against the stairs. At least we managed to get her upstairs and into the bed shortly afterwards. She immediately fell asleep once her head hit the pillow which was honestly quite cute. I really, really wanted to accompany her, but I did promise to entertain the guests and moving out with a drunken Hannah in tow was definitely not something I was willing to do.
Heavy hearted, I thus closed the door behind me once more, locked it and went downstairs towards Sofie who was chatting with the owner of the bar.
“Hey, I heard you will sing later?” That my voice was more than popular was apparently their topic of discussion, even though I would like it if the tavern owner toned it down a little. But still, I could only nod as this was indeed something I would be doing.
“Only if we are allowed to stay past eight in the morning.” I said towards the owner. In truth, I just wanted to give Hannah a bit more time to relax and didn’t wouldn’t bother too much about paying for another day.
“The new guests arrive at twelve, so don’t worry about that. More than enough time to clean everything up.” I nodded towards the owner and then smiled at Sofie.
“Thanks a lot for helping us out. You are a lifesaver.” I explained and bowed in front of her. She immediately waved her hands in front of her chest embarrassed about the display.
“Oh, I am glad I could help out and secure a place at this lodging … so, can I ask for a song?” She asked and smiled brightly. Once again, kindness but also a strange interest radiated from her eyes. And I was willing to deliver to both of these emotions.
“Sure.” I said and stood upright once more.
“Can I have an elfish song?” Was she testing me if what I claimed was real? That I was indeed adopted by an elfish family? It didn’t look that way, but I also couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. After all, she was an apostle from the goddess of life and I didn’t know for sure if she could face the emotions her soul radiated through her eyes.
“At once.” I said while smiling innocently and strolled towards a little stool. Standing up on it, I faced the crowd and waited until they turned more or less silent. “Hello my dear friends at this late hour. Today is the last day I will stay here, and this it is the last chance to hear me sing! I hope your ears are all pointed outwards, because my helper in need asked for an elfish song. Keep in mind that the elven language is slightly different, but I will give my best to keep the translation close to the original.
May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh how far you are from home
Believe and you will find your way back
Towards the elven wonderland
May be your guide your heart
To let you not astray.
May it be you journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun”
It is was more of a poem than an actual song but hey, my saintly voice was enough to make my performance captivating. Even Sofie who had yet to say anything to my voice looked at me in amazement as I stepped down from the stool again and strolled towards the first table.
“A tale of two lovebirds” The three men said in unison and made me smile bitterly. Turning around on my heels towards the stool, I couldn’t help but think these men just liked to see me use foul words. But even then, I still sang what they asked for and purposefully put the emphasis on the unladylike words in that melody and made quite a few guests laugh out loud. Even Sofie was somewhat amused by it despite her probable disapproval of swear words in general.
Time and time again, I was asked for different songs all of which I, the freak who rarely forgot anything if it was somewhat important, knew all of them. Surely, it was a fun time for everyone except me and thus, I was quite glad as everyone did hear their favourite song. Feigning to be a bit tired, I leaned against the bar right next to Sofie.
“The usual please.” I cleared my throat and sat down upon the next stool.
“You shouldn’t drink alcohol.” Sofie said in disapproval even though the legal drinking age was thirteen.
“Why? It is legal and everyone is doing it.” I said and waved my hands around to all the men and woman drinking alcoholic beverages in plain sight.
“Your sister clearly overdid it. And even if you stop before that it is bad for your health.“ There was really no point in arguing with her about the dangers alcohol had, mostly because I had the feeling she had knowledge others in that room didn’t.
“I see. Is spikeapple juice also bad for my health?” I asked, smiled amused and took the filled mug out of the barkeeper’s hand. It was filled with a yellow juice, smelling distinctly like honey.
“Oh … I didn’t won’t to … sorry, I just assumed you would drink alcohol.”
“Never in my life” would I drink a tiny amount of alcohol in public. There was simply no need to risk my carefully constructed shell covering my usual self. And besides, a tiny amount of alcohol did nothing to me and the masses I needed to drink to feel anything were truly too much to be unsuspicious. “But hey, I suppose it was fair for you to assume that after everything that happened so far. Do you want one of these too? Hey, Lars, one for her as well.”
“This one is on the house.” He said and immediately filled another mug with the same liquid before heading of to one of the tables behind our backs.
“It is pretty rare to see someone with your opinion on alcohol though. Especially the villages have a higher consumption of beer than water mostly because beer proofed to be safer. Again and again, villagers got ill because they drank water, but not so as they consumed beer. How do you explain that?”
“The water was contaminated.” She answered in a way a scholar would, that was for sure.
“It was crystal clear water from a nearby pond.” I explained and tilted my head in winder. I desperately wanted to gauge her knowledge about various things in particular because she was most certainly from another world.
“Just because it is clear, it doesn’t mean it is safe to drink.” She said which already showed she had a higher understanding than most others.
“Hmm? But there is nothing else in there?” I asked and presented her with exactly the level of knowledge this world had. Nothing they couldn’t see, except magic and a few laws like gravity existed for people in this world.
“…. I suppose you are right.” And she immediately blocked off. I supposed it would take a lot more work for her to reveal what she knew exactly probably because she had been already laughed at for claiming little animals lived in the water and made us ill. “But still, wouldn’t it explain everything if there were things we couldn’t see?” And she closed off with a rethorical question I certainly didn’t want to answer.
“I … would honestly need to think about that. I’m not that smart, you know?” I said and smirked while giggling a bit.
“Are you sure? You do seem open minded enough to become a respectable researcher.” Did I really? Well, not laughing at her take on germs was probably more than expected.
“A researcher? No, I want to become a historian. Rather than looking at the things we don’t understand, I want to explore the knowledge we once had.“ I smiled brightly, but not because of what I said, but rather because what it entailed. A lot of cuddling with my favourite human of course!
“That’s cool. I want to become a wandering doctor and help those who need it the most. But I think in these times we live in, it simply isn’t possible.”
“Don’t let your past stop you from becoming the person you want to be.” I proposed bitterly. I knew for a fact that my past would always come and haunt me, no matter what I did.
“It’s not my past … it is the future I am worried about.“ She said full of melancholy. “Anyways” She said, shaking off the moody atmosphere between us. “It’s rather late already and I have to wake up early tomorrow, soo …” She picked up the key laying right in front of her since the very beginning and eyed the number on it. “I think I’ll go to bed now.”
“It was nice to meet you.” I said and gave her my hand just after she stood up.
“Likewise. I really do hope we see each other again in the future.” We shook our hands and smiled a bit before she eventually turned around and headed upstairs.
“Hopefully under better stars.” I mumbled, just loud enough for the barkeeper to hear me. “Hey, I’ll head upstairs as well. And Lars, please don’t throw us out of the bed that early.” I said winked to him and followed Sofie upstairs. The hallway was already deserted as I arrived and thus, I opened the door to our little apartment without any interruption.
Hannah was slumbering in the bed and continued to do so as I closed the door behind me, locked it and undressed myself. Only as I slipped underneath the blanket did she wake up. She wasn’t completely drunk anymore, a testimony to her high level of resistance against poison, but she was still heavily intoxicated.
“Do we need to murder her as well?” She mumbled quietly, conscious about the very thin walls.
“There is no chance that naïve girl will ever become a threat to us.” I whispered into her right ear and soon found myself pressing my cheek into her bosom. Truly, it was the last night pretending to be normal for a little while but I would make sure to enjoy Hannah’s company even afterwards.
