"Did you make sure you have everything?"
"Yes, Lily didn't forget anything."
"Even that thing?"
"Yes, even that!"
Lily pats her pocket with confidence. It's safe to assume that we are on the same page.
"Okay, I'm locking the room now. You can head downstairs, I'll only be 2 seconds behind."
Lily nods and walks toward the staircase. I lock the door with the key card, and head down as well.
"!"
As we were walking down the stairs, I accidentally made a misstep and lightly bumped into Lily.
"Vex, are you alright?!"
I catch my balance.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a simple mistake, that's all. My bad, Lily."
"That's okay, Lily's not mad. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah yeah, I did. Now let's keep going, we are almost at the lobby."
Perhaps all of those sourberry cocktails were a little too effective. I was able to fall asleep easily, but I hardly remember what happened after I left the bar…
Upon arriving at the lobby, I head to the front desk to return the room key to the receptionist lady. For some reason, she is avoiding eye contact with me, looking away bashfully.
"Thank you for doing business with Guzz Inn. Please, come again!"
Before I could walk out the door, I heard Emby whisper something.
"..."
"Eh? What did you say?"
"...sorry…"
"Look, if you want to effectively communicate with me, you're going to need to speak up."
Emby takes a deep breath, finally looking directly at me.
"I SAID THAT I'M SORRY FOR LAST NIGHT!"
Her voice echoed throughout the lobby, drawing the attention of the other staff and guests. I wanted her to speak up, but this is too extreme!
"Last night? What are you talking about?"
I respond to her in a quiet voice in an attempt to get her to lower her tone. It didn't help much.
"You know, that. When you asked me to do…that?"
I asked her to do something? Dang it, last night was a blur…oh I think I remember what she's talking about.
"Oh, that favor? You were a bit clumsy, but I'll take part of the blame. I forgot to say it then, but I appreciated it. You didn't tell anyone as you promised?"
"No, I DID NOT tell ANYONE about what we did…kind of."
The other receptionist, who all happened to be women, looked at me with utter contempt. Not to mention the varying reactions from the other guests.
"...what did you tell them?"
"Nothing! I didn't give any details! I just told them that you persuaded me last night to do you a special favor and go with you to your room alone!"
"Why would you phrase it like that? That's too easy to take out of context in the worst ways possible!"
"Oh, so he doesn't deny it."
"He just admitted to it!"
"What a pervert. He should rot in hell!"
One by one, the lady receptionists clearly let me know how much they despised me. I think one of them even spit in my direction.
SIZZLE
Okay then, that's not normal spit…
"If you're going to be a bigmouth, you might as well tell them the full story. You consented to everything!"
"You pressured me to take off your clothes! And then…I-I can't say anymore! It's too embarrassing!"
"What is your definition of 'pressured'? I simply asked you to help me take off my cloak so I could wash it! It's not my fault you were clumsy in execution and ended up leaving me like that."
"Hmph! First the little demi-human girl, and now our coworker? When will your perversion end?"
"Gasp, is he going to come for us next?!"
"I wonder if he's got anything else to admit to? Die you pervert!"
By the looks on their faces and their words, their verbal assault is about to become physical. Curse my luck! It's like the more I try to explain the context, the worse the misunderstanding becomes…oh right, now I get it.
"Vex, why are those ladies mad? Lily doesn't understand…"
"Lily, just step outside. We need to go now!"
I dash out the door, doing my best to avoid the other guests. I can hear screeching from the reception ladies.
"And don't come back ever again! You will be dealt with accordingly!"
Just when I think I couldn't possibly hate humanity any more, life always proves me wrong.
___________________________________________________________________________
"So, you didn't hear from the goddess last night?"
"Sorry…"
As we were walking towards our next destination, I decided to ask Lily about her dreams. Unfortunately, she apparently did not get a chance to speak with the goddess, so that means we still have no idea where to find Gannet's crystal…
"It's not your fault, Lily. We have no choice but to wait for her response. In the meantime, we will just press forward and look around ourselves."
"That sounds fun, Lily likes to explore! By the way, where are we going, Vex?"
Crap, I forgot to tell Lily the details about our whereabouts this morning since I woke up a bit late and had to rush out before checkout time. There was no way that I was gonna pay an extension fee.
"We're going to eat breakfast before leaving. I found this decent restaurant last night."
"Last night? Just like that lady said?"
"Don't worry about the details...or about that lady. What's more important is that you eat enough food to sustain your energy for the remaining 2 hours it'll take to get to the capital. Though don't eat too much that you feel bloated; I don't want to carry you again."
"Okay."
"Alright, this is the place. Stay within my sight at all times."
"Fine, but Lily orders first!"
And just like that, Lily rushes ahead of me and enters the diner.
"Hey wait up, I'm the one paying!"
Inside the diner, there actually aren't that many people here compared to last night. Though it is a little bit too crowded for the typical early morning period. There has to be something special going on.
"Why, good morning handsome! Looks like you came after all. I knew that I could convince you, Vex!"
"?"
Suddenly, a woman's voice ambushes me. That annoyingly teasing tone still rings fresh in my memory. It can't be…
I look over to where the voice came from.
"Aisha?!"
"Aww, you even remember my name. I'm not the only one who enjoyed our night together, huh."
A crowd of men glare at me intensely. I can hear them exhale curses under their breath. Lily looks at the two of us in wonder.
"Vex, is this lady your girl–"
"No, I don't even know her. Aisha, don't say things like that. Especially in broad daylight with all of these onlookers."
"Oh I get it, we need to keep this to ourselves at night. If that's what makes you satisfied, I'll do whatever!"
"What?! He's even on a first name basis with her?!"
"She is willing to do whatever he wants?! Lucky bastard!"
As predicted, these bozos took the bait and no longer bothered keeping their curses to themselves. I can't stand being the center of attention like this, but I should try to avoid playing into Aisha's hands.
"Forget it. How are you still alive?"
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be?"
"Did you forget? You drank dragon blood. You know, a poisonous substance?"
"Oh that? It was delicious! It did make me feel a little tipsy though, but that's normal when you drink at a bar, no?"
Is she…trolling me? It's either that or this is related to her curse. I'm tempted to bring misfortune upon her…
"Miss, do you like Vex?"
Lily, who was quietly observing the citation, now directed her question towards Aisha herself. Big mistake.
"Oh, are you his little friend? Hmm, I wouldn't mind tasting him, so I guess you could say I am interested in him."
"Alright that's it, get him!!!"
"!!!!"
Crap.
Upon hearing Aisha's final words, the envious crowd of men jump Vex creating a cloud of chaos. As a result, Aisha and Lily are left alone for a moment, seemingly unfazed by what has transpired.
"Whoops, I didn't mean to start another fight. Men are so silly, aren't they?"
"It's okay, Vex is strong. You can win Vex, fight fight fight!"
Aisha's nose twitches. She closes her eyes as she tries to identify the cause.
"Sniff sniff. That smell…"
"Smell? You mean the food? Lily thinks it smells good too."
"No no, there's a smell coming from your pocket. It smells familiar to me. Can you show me?"
Lily touches her pocket, guarding its contents. After a brief moment of hesitation, she continues.
"Since you and Vex seem to know each other, I suppose that it's fine. But you can only look, okay?"
"Okay, I understand. Thank you!"
Lily removes her hand from her pocket and shows the crystal orb to Aisha, holding it tightly.
"Oh yeah, I've seen that kind of crystal before! Though it was a different color I think…"
"Umm, miss? Are you okay?"
Aisha starts drooling a bit as she drifts off into a daze as if the crystal were hypnotizing her. This situation makes Lily feel slightly uncomfortable, so she slowly puts the crystal back in her pocket.
"This is why I dislike people…"
Vex returns from the scramble, appearing mostly unscathed. Behind him, several men laid unconsciously. Vex turns his attention back to Aisha.
"Why are you drooling? Lily, what did she say to you?"
"She knows about the crystals! She remembered about it when I showed my crystal to her."
"Oh, so you really know about the crystals we are looking for?"
"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you. But remember our deal–you have to beat me in today's food eating contest first!"
"...What if someone else wins? Would you then give him the information instead?"
"No need to worry about that, it's just me and you. After all, you just knocked out the other competitors."
Those men? I don't think they really cared about the competition in the first place. Heck, I'm not much better since I'm desperate for info about the crystals…
"Very well, what are the rules?"
"It's simple, I assure you. Hey bartender, care to explain to him? I like the way you do it."
"Sigh, you already know my name by now, Aisha. It's Lenon."
"Yeah, but bartender is a much better nickname, don't you think?"
Lenon's expression makes it clear that I'm not the only one who has had to deal with Aisha's shenanigans. My condolences.
"Anyway, the first one to eat all of my wife's leftover dishes wins. As thanks for helping me, your meals will be on the house for 4 months. I only do this event 3 times a year, so consider this a golden opportunity."
"Why are you thanking us? How is giving away free food helping you–"
"Explanation time is over! It's 9 o'clock, so it's time to get started. Contestants, please have your seats over at this booth."
"Slurp! I can't wait to see what your wife cooked this time. Vex, I refuse to go easy on you, you know. But maybe if you beg…"
"Could you not lick your lips like that while staring at me?"
We finally took our seats at the booth. Aisha and I sit directly across from each other at a wide table. I don't get the appeal of eating contests. Food is meant to be savored and consumed in reasonable doses…not to mention the absurdly high calorie intake. Fortunately, my metabolism is high, so I should be fine if I overindulge just a little.
"Vex, please win. Lily believes in you!"
Watching from the sidelines, my personal cheerleader gives me encouragement. Well, her words themselves aren't encouraging me since I know that I am not trained for this kind of thing, but it's the thought that counts, I suppose.
I give a thumbs-up to Lily, acknowledging her words. I take a deep breath.
"The food is ready, and so are the two sole competitors! Get ready for round one!"
As a man, I should be able to eat more than Aisha, but she is a supposed champ, so I can't underestimate her. I'll give it my all starting round one.
__________________________________________________________________________
"And the winner is Aisha, who finished all 10 rounds before Vex could even finish the 1st one! Congratulations, once again."
"Tehe, thank you thank you, it was my pleasure!"
"..."
I could see it…I could see my life flash before my eyes. The miasma of the "food"--no, I cant even call it that. The miasma of the ### was powerful enough to make my face numb. The appearance of the ### makes a rotten corpse look like a dish served to nobles in comparison. My body told me not to do it, but against my better judgment…
Just one bite…
…the taste…
…indescribable with human language.
Am I still alive?
My vision is blurry, but I can still faintly hear voices…
"Vex?! Vex?! Are you okay? Please wake up!"
"And of course, we have another poor victim. Aisha, you did warn him beforehand, right?"
"Why would I warn him about delicious food?"
"Sigh, I should have known. Fortunately, I have a special drink for this."
Lenon takes out an empty glass, then proceeds to open a mini-portal with his other hand. A clear liquid pours off of the portal into the glass.
"This is sparkling water with mystic herbs; it'll help break down the indigestible food. Young girl, if you'd please."
"Yes, I'll give it to him!"
Lily grabs the drink from Lenon and pours it into Vex's mouth.
"Please drink up. It'll make you feel better."
"..."
"There, all done. Do you feel better, Vex?"
"I feel…"
"Yes?"
"I feel…"
"Yes?!"
SMACK!
"PISSED OFF!"
"You call that food?! That's false advertising! Are you trying to kill me? Did you and that woman set me up?!"
My hand is a little red from how hard I slammed the table, but I don't care. I need an explanation!
"It wasn't a set-up Vex, it was a real competition. Hmm, I guess I should have told you that my curse prevents me from eating edible food, so I get my nourishment from literally everything else."
"Why didn't you tell me those details before?!"
"You didn't ask. After all, you weren't interested in me, right? Anyway, you lost so no information for you!"
You know what, that's what I get for being desperate. Lesson learned.
"Come on Lily, let's get out here. We wasted enough time."
"However, since you are cute, I will tell you helpful information anyway with no strings attached. Are you in?"
"..."
"Your body is telling me yes! As I told this little girl earlier, I've seen a crystal orb like that before…ah yes, I'm sure of it. It was a pinkish color, I think."
"So do you have it? I'll buy it from you at any price."
I'm willing to spend literally all of my money on this. It wouldn't be ideal, but I'd just have to work overtime. The amount of time that it would save would make it worth it.
"Hmm? These crystals mean that much to you? Are you a treasure hunter too? We share more in common than I thought."
"Sigh, we are looking for the crystals for personal reasons. The details don't matter, just name your price already."
"Well, I wouldn't mind giving it to you for free since I have no need for it. But…"
"But?"
Aisha licks her lips.
"...it was delicious!"
Aisha wears a gleeful smile.
"You ate the crystal?!"
"I more so sucked on it before swallowing it, since it was really hard. Tasted like what you'd consider to be candy, but it didn't make me puke. Sorry, but it's impossible to get it from my poop since my stomach completely digested it!"
Aisha winks at me, sticking her tongue out a bit.
"I was never considering going that far in the first place! So the only information that you have is that there are pink crystal orbs that are in another country that also taste like candy. Gee, how useful."
"Oh, but I'm not finished. You came to Gannet to find one of those crystals here, right? I've never seen them here before, but I know someone who does know…probably."
"?"
"Since we both are heading to the capital, why don't we ride in a carriage together? I'll tell you the details on the way. Don't worry, I'll cover the entire fare."
"..."
This sounds like a set-up that's too good to be true. Even if it isn't, I don't want to be around this woman for any longer than necessary…but a free ride to the capital in a fraction of the time would be too foolish to pass up. Besides, my gut feels somewhat wonky due to that poison disguised as "food", which would make walking for 9 kilometers more of a pain…
"All right, we will go with you."
"Fantastic! I promise, you won't be disappointed."
Aisha gazes at me, with a gleeful smirk on her face. I swear, it seemed like she licked her lips for a split second.