Chirp! Chirp!

“Ehmm… huh..?”

   I slowly opened my eyes and I was greeted by the morning sunlight that peered through the creek of the wooden window and the sounds of birds singing from outside. I quickly got up, checked my whole body and it seems to be in a normal condition, no sweating, and no encounter with the purple mist-covered figure that has been in my dreams for these past few days. 

   Man, the bed in this inn’s no joke… I slept instantly last night… But this is weird... I always meet with It in that cursed place, each time I fell asleep… what is happening to me..?

Knock Knock

   Sounds of knocking were heard by the door.

“Excuse me, Dian! Here’s the hot water!” Shouted the familiar voice from the other side of the door.

   Aunt Loris..?

“Yes! Just a minute!”

   I got up from the bed and wore my cloak.

   She even works in the morning..? Isn’t she tired of working from night..?

    I then hurried and open the door.

   I opened the door and I saw aunt Loris with a kind smile holding a wooden bucket filled with hot water with her right arm.

“Good morning, Dian! Here’s the water!” aunt Loris said cheerfully.

“Huh..? hot water..? what for?”

   Aunt Loris staggered for a moment, then tries real hard to hold her laugh.

“Pfft- hahaha! Oh, you silly goose, this is for bathing!”

“W- what?! O- oh yeah, of course!” I said as I scratch my head.

“What a jokester you are in this morning!” aunt Loris said with a satisfied smile on her face.

   Duh! It’s obviously for bathing! How didn’t I thought of that???

“Ahaha… okay, okay, where’s the tray?”

“Oh, right here, aunty.”

   I quickly picked up the tray by the table and handed it to aunt Loris.

“There it is!” aunt Loris said as she trades the bucket for the tray.

“If you’re done with it, just leave the bucket by the door, okay?”

“Thank you so much, aunt Loris! You went through all the trouble just to deliver this…” I said as I bow to aunt Loris.

   I’m sure she’s really busy, I should’ve taken the bucket by myself…

“Oh, you… raise your head!”

“…” I quickly rose my head.

   I saw aunt Loris’s face looking a bit annoyed.

“Dian, all of this is my job, serving customers with eagerness and making them happy is this Inn’s motto. So, don’t be troubled and weight yourself because of it.” Aunt Loris said with a faint smile and a confident look on her face.

   …

“Yes… I understand, aunt Loris…” I said as I slowly avert my gaze to the floor.

“Come on now, cheer up! You don’t want to ruin your date with Isabella looking like that, right?”

“D- Date?! N- No, aunt Loris! This is all a misunderstanding!”

“Hehehe! Oh, youth… enjoy the date, then!”

“A- Aunt Loris! Wai-“

   Aunt Loris stormed downstairs before I finish my sentence.

   Drat… she ran away before I could explain all of it…

   I then went back into my room and closed the door behind me.

   Well… I guess I’ll take a bath then… this bucket thankfully came with a wet towel…

   I put the bucket down and take off all of my clothes, then put my clothes on the bed. I started to thoroughly wash my body with a wet towel. I remembered the first time I woke up on a bed at Clara's house there was a purple-colored wound-like mark on my chest, but it seems like it is gone for good.

Knock Knock

   Sounds of knocking were heard by the door.

   Hmm..? who is it now?

“D- Dian… are… you ready..?” Said the soft and familiar voice on the other side of the door.

   Bella?!

“I- Uhh! I’m still taking a bath!”

   Were she waiting for me?!

“Eep! S- sorry… I… I’ll wait in my room…” Bella said in a fluster.

“O- Okay! Sorry, Bella!"

   Sound of faint footsteps was heard walking away.

   This is bad! I have to be quick!

   I wash my remaining spots in a rush and then I wore all of my clothes, cloak, backpack, and sword back. I then exit my room and lock it, and started to slowly walk to the front of Bella’s room, ready to knock on her door.

“Gulp…” I gulped down, filled with nervousness.

Knock Knock

“Bella..? it’s me…”

   Please tell me she’s not angry…

Creaaak

   The door opens and I see Bella, looking extraordinarily different from yesterday.

“…” I was taken aback and stunned by the glorious sight as my jaw dropped.

   Who… is this..?

   I saw Bella, wearing a gorgeous white and blue-colored fancy dress and with a waterfall style braid on her shining light gray hair. Bella, whose face is already red, gets even redder like a tomato by the second as she averts her gaze from mine.

“Do I… look weird..?” Isabella said with a brimming red face and full of nervousness as she fidgets in her white dress.

“… A- ah! N- Not at all Bella! You look… rather stunning today…” I said as I avert my gaze to the floor.

   I… I’m speechless… one second longer and I would’ve fallen for her…

“T- thank you…” Bella said nervously and in a fluster.

   We both kept looking at the floor nervously as the situation between us turns awkward.

“Uhh… so… shall we..?”

“…” Isabella silently nods, hiding her face.

   We both walked downstairs awkwardly.

   Huh… as I thought, the Inn is silent in the morning… all of them are probably continuing their activities. Some of them are asleep, sitting with their head resting on the table… It must be quite a party last night…

“There you are! You two are finally at it, eh?” Said a familiar voice.

“Wha-“ I said as I look over to the voice.

   I saw aunt Loris, with a big smile on her face behind the counter.

   Aunt Loris then checked Bella out.

“Hoo..? hehehe… I hope the long-awaited date went well, you two!” aunt Loris said with a happy look on her face.

   Bella’s face brims even redder and is embarrassed to death.

“A- aunty! I told you, this is all a misunderstanding!”

“Hahaha! Yea, yea… young’ uns these days… hehe…”

   Haa… it’s gonna be hard to convince her…

“Oh, Dian, come here for a second.”

   I nervously walked to the counter.

“W- what is it, aunty..?”

“Drop your room key to me. So, how about it? Do you still want to stay here?”

   Truthfully… I don’t have anywhere to go to spend a night in… if I want to keep staying here I better take on a quest from the Adventurer’s Guild for money…

   I reached onto my pants pocket and gave my room key to aunt Loris.

“Yes, aunt Loris… I don’t have anywhere else to spend the night…”

“Oh, poor you… okay then, we can talk about this later, we can’t keep your girlfriend waiting now, can we? Oh, and one more thing, I will make room 21 vacant only for you.” Aunt Loris said with a grin on her face.

“She's… oh nevermind… thank you, aunt Loris…”

   There is no use to try and clear this misunderstanding to aunt Loris… I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t believe what I say even if I did explain it to her…

   I turned around and slowly walk to Bella.

“Ooookay then… shall we continue..?”

   Bella nervously nods and then walks out of the Inn, I follow her soon after.

   As soon as I got out of the Inn, I was greeted by the beautiful sunny weather on the clear blue sky and a lot of people walking along the streets.

   Whoa… what a crowded street… oh yeah, before I forgot.

“Bella? Can we go to the clothing store first..? I’m sorry for asking this all of the sudden…”

 “No, it’s okay…”

   Bella starts to walk and I follow after.

 

…

 

 

   Really… it’s difficult to even keep my head straight forward… she looks too captivating, even though she’s already beautiful yesterday… this version of her is just overkill…

   After a couple of walks, I saw some kids playing tag with each other on the side of the road.

“Gyahaha! What a slowpoke!”

“Grr… I’ll get you!”

   Kids..?

“Oi! You brats! Don’t play around here!” Said an old food vendor behind his cart near where the children are playing.

“Ahaha! Old man Will is mad!”

“Runaway!”

   This town is full of livelihood this fine morning… and some of them… are half-humans..? and if I looked closer, they are wearing some dirty clothes… are they..?

   The group of kids ran and went our direction and went past us, almost crashing onto us.

   Whoa! That was close… where are their parents..? how could-

“They’re… orphans…” Bella said.

“What..?”

“Those kids… were abandoned by their parents…” Bella said with a little downcast.

   As I thought…

“You… know them, Bella..?”

“… yes… those kids sometimes ask me to play with them…”

“…”

   Why… ever since I walk together with Bella, I see that people distanced themselves from Bella… some of them are putting a terrified expression on their faces… but, those kids don’t seem to mind playing with her… what is going on..?

“Umm… Dian..? we’re here…”

   I snapped from my thought as I almost crashed to a wooden pole.

“Ah! Oh, um… sorry. I was having some thought, haha…”

   I took a step back and noticed a clothe symbol on the top of the pole, hanging.

   It seems like finding stores is not as hard as I thought… they have these symbols in front of them…

“Bella? I… want to buy clothes… if you don’t mind..?”

“… I don’t mind, Dian… take your time…” Bella said with a faint smile on her face.

“…” I quickly avert my gaze from Bella and head into the store.

   A- again… her smile… why is she so gorgeous…. I don’t get it…

“Ah! Welcome, welcome! Please, take a look around!” Said the store clerk by the counter eagerly.

“Aah, if you say so…”

   I then checked around the store.

   Well, it’s not surprising… these clothes do look like they’re from the medieval times… similar designs, at least…

   I took a dark-green tunic and a pair of leather boots.

   Honestly, nothing piqued my interest… so, I’ll just pick these up because they look common and cheap.

   I looked over at the store clerk and I saw her smiling while talking with Bella.

   Hmm… looks like that woman is kind to Bella… thank goodness…

   I then looked around for a place to change.

   That cubicle is probably the changing room.

   I head towards the cubicle and changed.

   Huh, the size fits me… it’s a little bit lose on the sleeves, but that’s okay. Surprisingly, this tunic and leather boots are more comfortable than what I initially thought.

   I put my uniform in my bag and then get out of the changing room.

“!!!” I was surprised when I saw the store clerk outside of the changing room, staring at me, full of anticipation.

“How is it? Comfortable enough for you?” Asked the store clerk with a smile on her face.

“Y- yes, uh… I think I’ll buy it..?”

“Excellent choice! Come!” The store clerk said happily as she starts to lead me to the cashier.

   As soon as we’re in the cashier, the store clerk examined my tunic and leather boots.

“A tunic and a pair of leather boots… it’ll be 5 iron coins.”

   5 iron coins, huh..? cheaper than what I imagined.

   I  took a silver coin from my pouch and gave it to the store clerk, she then gave me 5 iron coins in return.

“Thank you for your patronage!” The store clerk said with a delightful expression on her face.

“Thank you too, miss...”

“Yea, yea… enjoy your date you two, hehehe…” The store clerk said with a smile on her face as she giggles.

“!!!” I was taken aback by what the store clerk said.

   Wha- how did she know about the da- I- I mean! Know about that?!

   I looked over to Bella and she looks down to the floor with a red and embarrassed face. The store clerk then examined me from top to bottom in the midst of my confusion.

“One more thing! Take good care of Isabella, okay?” The store clerk said as she looks at me with her sharp gaze.

“Y- yes, ma’am..?”

   The store clerk then smiled at both me and Bella, then we exited the store with a red face on the both of us.

“So… uhh… you know that store clerk, Bella..?” I said as I’m too embarrassed and shy to look onto Bella.

“She’s… aunt Loris’s little sister… she was the one who gave me this dress for…” Bella said softly.

“For..?”

“…” Bella stayed silent, looking down to the ground with a beet-red face.

   D- Don’t tell me… aunt Loris’s little sister misunderstood the whole situation too… I- I mean! Why did asking for a guide turned into a date???

“A- alright then! Let’s continue, shall we..?”

   Why is this happening… I’ve never done something like this in my whole life… this is so embarrassing…

“…” Bella silently nods as she starts to walk, continuing the guide.

   Bella took me to the equipment store. The store contains different kinds of armor, helm, shield, even variations of things starting from swords to maces, you name it. I don’t need new equipment right now, mine is already good enough as it is, and I don’t want to engage in combat, my [Defense] stat is really bad and I could get a leather chest plate or something like that, but I don’t want to spend the money Garren kindly gave to me… I just have to manage with my [Agility] and my [Perception] if things go wrong during a quest… my [Skills] and [Special Skills] are pretty nice for detection and running away.

   Next, Bella guided me to the magic shop. The magic shop has so many things related to magic in this world, like staves, magic books, and even orbs that are similar to what Khan and Hendrick used to interrogate me. I’m interested in magic in this world, I mean… magic! Magic!!! Not just slight of hands or card tricks or anything like that, but it’s real magic. Maybe I could try and buy one of these books at the magic shop. Last time, my [Absorb] skill managed to get me some amazing results from the knowledge that resides within the [Basics of Magic] book, and raised my [Magic] stat… I wonder what skills I’ll get if I used [Absorb] on other magic books?

   After that, Bella guided me to a couple of important places in this town, like the market, Lissen’s plaza, and so on until the skies turn orange and are already in the afternoon.

 Growl

   My stomach was growling, in need of food.

   My stomach… I hope Bella didn’t hear that… now that I think about it, I haven’t had breakfast this morning, and the day is turning dark now…

   I then smell a juicy and delicious scent of smoked meat that’s being cooked by a food vendor on the side of the road.

   Why does that succulent aroma have to linger now..? all of the food vendors that we came across are tempting with the food that they’re selling… I’m reminded of satay…

   I noticed that Bella was staring at me.

“W- what is it, Bella?!” I asked as I wiped the drool that came out of my mouth.

“Dian… you’re hungry… aren’t you..?” Bella said with concern towards me.

“I… am, yes… but it’s fine. I can eat later at the Inn.” I said as I put a smile on my face.

“…” Bella paused for a second, then head to a nearby food stand.

“2 smoked meat, please…” Bella said to the food vendor.

“Sure, it’ll be 4 copper coins.” Said the food vendor.

   Bella took 4 copper coins from her pouch and gave it to the food vendor.

“What?! Bell-“

   Bella squints at me with her index finger in front of her mouth, telling me to shush.

“Thank you very much, here it is. Enjoy it while it’s hot.” The food vendor said as he gave Bella 2 skewered lumps of meat.

“Thank you… sir…”

   Bella then turns to me and offers me one of her skewered meats.

“But… Bella…”

“Dian… it’s okay… take it…”

   What have I done… why did my stomach have to growl like that…

   Bella keeps trying to hand me her skewered meat with a blank look on her face.

“A… alright, then… thank you so much, Bella…” I said as I take one of her skewered meat.

“Hehe…” Bella giggles with a happy expression on her face.

   She’s…

“Bella, before we eat this… can I ask this one request..?”

“What is it, Dian..?” Bella said, looking a little confused.

“Can we eat at a place with a good scenic view..?”

“… sure…”

   Bella then took me to an empty, stone tower-like building with a round stairway leading up, we climbed the stairs and arrived at the top of the building with pretty nice scenery of the town.

“Whoa…”

   What an amazing view… not as atmospheric as the first time I saw this town from an edge of a cliff, but…

   Bella sat on the edge of the stone tower and tapped her hand beside her as she looks at me, telling me to sit beside her. I then slowly head to the edge of the stone tower and sat beside Bella.

“This… is my favorite place to be…” Bella said softly as she eats her smoked meat.

   I looked at Bella’s face, her face is slightly red and she looks shy as she eats away with her head facing forward to the setting sun, her hand fixing her wavy, silver, and shining hair that got breezed by the warm afternoon winds. The orange sky slowly turns into a dark shade of brown.

“…” Our eyes met and Bella’s usual cold, expressionless face turns red and embarrassed.

“W… what is it, Dian..?” Bella asked with a red and embarrassed face, noticed that I stared at her a bit too long.

“!!! I- it’s nothing!” I said, a little bit startled as I looked away from Bella.

   T- that was close… I don’t know what’s more beautiful… this town’s scenery or… her… why does she have to dress like that... it’s not fair…

   We both continued to eat our food until it’s finished while we enjoy Lissen’s scenery.

   Is it okay for me to be accompanied by her..? she must’ve missed a lot of important things if she didn’t spend her time with me… I meant to cancel the guide, but…

“Bella… I just want to say… thank you…”

   No matter how much I say thank you, I’m the one who is guilty of everything that I’ve done…

“… For what..?” Bella said with a faint confusion on her face.

 “For everything… you’ve wasted your precious time… for me… I’m sure that you must have other important things other than guiding me throughout the town… right..?”

   I shouldn’t have even spoken to Bella about 'guidance’ or anything like that, a dead weight like me is only a burden to everyone…

“Dian,” Bella said.

   I slowly turned my head to Bella, she looks at me with a serious and a little annoyed look on her face.

“Dian… all the time I guided you, I was so very happy… spending my time with you… is the happiest I’ve ever felt…”

“…”

“And… you’re my friend, Dian… being together with you... is important and precious for me…” Bella said with a bright smile and full of happiness that I’ve never seen from her.

“Bella…”

   Friend..?

   Tears started to unconsciously flow from my eyes.

“Huh..? why..? haha…” I said as I try to stop the tears that are running from my eyes.

   Friend…

   My tears flow for a while as Bella comforted me with her kind smile. We spend the rest of the guide in silence, viewing the town as the sun sets and the sky turns dark, there were only sounds from the crowded Lissen’s streets that are below us, illuminated by the lamp poles throughout the streets, filling the silence between us.

 

 

...

 

 

   Time flies and we agreed to head back to the Inn. We both entered the crowded Inn that is filled with customers in the night, enjoying their time at the mess hall. As soon as we walked to the counter, aunt Loris is smiling rather widely at both of us.

“Hehehe… how was the date?” aunt Loris asked with a happy and curious look on her face.

“It was not-“

   Ugh, why is aunt Loris have to be like this???

   I then looked at Bella and she has a redder and embarrassed face than me with her gaze at the floor.

“Uhm… aunt Loris… I’ll excuse myself…” Bella said shyly, then she hurried and ran to the upper floor with her hands covering her beet-red face.

“Hoho… seems like it went well! How did it go? Tell me!” aunt Loris said, eager to know.

“It was… fun… I think…”

“Aww come on, don’t be shy! Okay then, you better tell me the whole story someday, Dian.”

“I- uhh… sure..?”

“Great! So how about it? Do you still want to spend the night here?”

   Whew… I managed to dodge a bullet there… I think I should spend the night in the Inn again, I still have 5 silver coins and 9 iron coins, I really should take a quest at the guild tomorrow if I want to have stable finance…

“Yes, I think I will… I want a room and a regular meal…” I said as I gave 3 iron coins to aunt Loris.

“Not a problem! … okay! Here it is.” Aunt Loris said as she gave me the key to room 21.

   Should I order the meal for breakfast..? I regretted that I ate the meal during the night…

“Umm… aunt Loris? could I maybe have the meal for tomorrow morning?”

“Ah, that’s not a problem at all! I’ll deliver it in front of your door tomorrow, okay?” aunt Loris said with a cheery look on her face.

“Y- yes.. thank you, aunt Loris…”

   I then walked up the stairs and walk through the hallway and head to room 21.