“Don’t worry about it. We’ll be right here!” Claire shouted, then turned to Momo to continue the conversation. “Yeah. He doesn’t understand that people need rest. He can’t expect us to work almost two weeks in a row without expecting a drop in our performance.” Claire wanted to abuse her boss even more than that, but she stayed her tongue so that it wouldn’t infect the rather friendly atmosphere. “So, you going to tell me about the audition?” Momo ferried the glass of delicious liquid to her cute lips. She swallowed it in a hurry, nearly choking, and excitedly told her friend all about her day.  

She even included the parts where a few mothers and a couple of people went out of their way to avoid her as if she carried the plague. “At first, I thought it was because we didn’t look like nobles, but then I realized it was because I was holding her hand. Servy and I were called some really awful names, but I didn’t let it get us down. Words are words, and they can hurt… They can break a person down until they’re a puddle of tears, but I can’t let that happen to me. If I ever feel sad about it, I just have to look at Servy, and that reminds me of why I’m doing this in the first place. Every time I see her smile, or whoever I hug her, it’s like I know that it doesn’t matter what tries to stop me from helping her, I just won’t quit.” 

After uttering that, she quickly started talking about the audition, how Servi got the part because she could cry on demand, the quirkiness of the director, her three new friends, and just how much she enjoyed it all.  

“Okay, first of all… I’m sorry that happened to you. Secondly, the offer to send Dineria after them is still on the table. If there’s one thing I know about her, it’s that she deeply cares about the well-being of her students. And thirdly, that’s totally amazing!!! Servi’s gonna be a star, isn’t she?” 

“I appreciate it, but they didn’t actually physically harm us. I don’t want to see Dineria get in trouble or anything… And Servy? Being a star? According to Wyima, he said that she’s gonna wear a cloak of invisibility to stand right beside the actresses. So she probably has to match their movements, then cry just as they would when the time is right.” 

“Honestly…” Claire drained about half her cup. “That sounds so much harder than if the actresses just cried themselves. They just have to focus on acting, but Servi has to match everything up. Is she going to be able to do that? You two are kind of connected at the hip. It's gonna be difficult to remain like that when she's on the stage.” 

“I know. And it’s gonna be hard to watch when she’s up there and I’m sitting in the audience… My hands are gonna be so lonely without my Servy right beside me… But I’m totally positive she can pull it off. Servy’s an amazing girl. If it’s impossible, then it’s possible for her.” When Momo said that, Servi picked up her glass and downed it in its entirety.  

Water dripped down from her upper lip, but the facial expression she had worn was still one of complete neutrality. It was like a blank surface. Her mouth refused to curl into even a solemn smile, nor did her eyes react to anything at all. Even when both her friends stared at her, she just refused to show any kind of emotion. 

Deep inside, Momo was a bit afraid that she wouldn’t ever see her Happy Servy ever again.  

“She is amazing,” Claire agreed. A few more minutes of idle chatter later, the Dwarf woman returned. She hobbled up the lonely road, singing a song from her childhood that focused on rocks and minerals.  

“Aye, sorry about that. Nearly busted right out of my britches, I almost did. Now, what do ye three want for supper?” She used her stout arms to adjust her apron and opened up the cooler of meat. “Like I said, there ain’t a lot to—” 

“Momo?! Servi?!” A familiar voice rudely interrupted the hard-working Dwarf, and three sets of eyes turned to look at the speaker.  

She wore a gray hood around her head that was connected to the cloak on her back. The bangs of her golden blond hair peeked out as she pushed it back, the movement causing her beautiful grassy eyes to show themselves. Her chest was protected by a high-quality leather chest piece, though it had iron reinforcements in the more sensitive areas. Four holsters, each filled with a throwing dagger, were attached to it by way of straps made from metal. Likewise, her upper and lower arms were also guarded by leather, but her elbows’ defenses had spiky points. Underneath it all was a dress of the finest chainmail, which offered a final layer of protection. Of course, it didn’t stop there.  

The reinforced pants she wore had extra padding around the hips to accommodate her rather ‘floaty’ style of fighting since the last thing she needed was for it to rip and tear while conquering a foul foe. The boots, which nearly came to her knees, had metal blocks in the toe area. A sturdy kick from it, and the receiver was going to be in some agonizing pain.  

“Woah… Cool armor, Srassa,” Momo said, offering a friendly smile. 

“Hey, Srassa,” Claire said her greetings, delivering them with a casual smile.  

“Hehe! Thanks! I was just taking a little stroll before we leave tomorrow morning for a quest. Umm…” The cute girl fidgeted in place, rubbing her gloved hands against each other.

Momo picked up on what she wanted, then pointed to the seat right beside Servi. “Do you wanna join us? We’re just about to have dinner. Oh, and what quest?” 

“Thanks!” cheered the girl. She sat her rump down in a hurry and folded her arms across the table attached to the cart. It was thin and narrow, only able to accommodate a row of plates. She had the perfect posture, benefitting a girl who once had to take a class on how a proper lady should behave.  

Right before Srassa could answer, Claire spoke up. “If I remember right, you three have to head down south and pick up some mushrooms from a cave? 

“Yep! I’ve done my research, and cavus mushrooms are used in making silver dye for fabrics  Silver, Despi, and I are leaving tomorrow morning. I was just so excited that I couldn’t sleep.” 

About that time, Claire realized they had completely ignored the Dwarven cook. She tapped a thick finger against the handle of her grilling utensil. Even though Srassa had just arrived, she quickly found the sudden change in atmosphere to be a bit heart-stopping. Claire and Momo quickly ordered an extra helping of the beef and pork, with Momo ordering a combination of the two for her lovely Servi. It was only when the Dwarf nodded did they let loose their held breath.  

With the pleasant sizzle of the grill and the wonderful scent of meant accompanying it, Srassa asked a question. “Hey, how’s Servi doing?” 

“She’s doing as fine as ever. It's been a while since she’s been in one of her happy moods. The only thing I can do is keep with it and make sure she’s safe.” The girl in question leaned over the table and rested her head against the hand not connected to Momo. Srassa felt a bit worried, so she rubbed Servi’s head a few times and offered a quick prayer.  

“Thanks for that,” Momo said, not at all jealous. In truth, she wasn’t. Perhaps her understanding of her love allowed her to realize that being selfish in who could touch her friend was the antithesis of who she needed to be.  

What Servy needs is the support of all of her friends… 

“Is that new armor,” asked Claire, who jumped into the conversation.  

“Yep! I bought it with strictly my share of the money earned since we started adventuring together. I thought it looked really cool... In fact, I even convinced myself to walk around it to get used to its weight. I left my sword and bow and arrows at the house, though.” The Dwarf running the grill gave a cup of water to Srassa and made sure everyone was topped off. 

“Is tomorrow the first time you’re traveling away from Canary for more than a day? In regards to adventuring, that is,” Claire asked.  

“Yes, it is.” 

“But what about your mom? And Jony?” 

Srassa answered Momo’s question. “Well… Mother will have Evie and the other maids and butlers. And Jony has departed towards Adenaford with my father. During the party, the one he had thrown a few days ago for my mother, he was called away. When he came back, he had this…look on his face. The kind of look you’d get if someone close to you had passed away. When I asked him about it, he patted my head and said everything was fine. 

“A few days passed, and I thought nothing of it until this morning. I went to show off my new gear, and father was suddenly packing his travel bags. Jony was in there helping him, and they were whispering to each other in hushed voices. To be honest, I am a bit worried, but my mother said everything was okay… I hope she’s right… For the baby’s sake, mother doesn’t need any undue stress. I don’t know… With him gone, she is going to be alone, so maybe I shouldn’t go.” Srassa pouted, letting loose a deep sigh filled the internal turmoil she had amassed while thinking about this issue.  

“You’re only going to be a day or two away, and it does sound like she’ll have a bunch of support… The choice is yours. But as an adventurer, you will be faced with them on a daily basis. The only advice I can give you is to make the one you won’t regret,” Claire said, offering her wisdom. Perhaps she had chosen wrong before, and the regret stayed with her? If something like that did happen, she certainly hadn’t shared it with Servi or Momo.  

“I suppose that’s true… I don’t know... Maybe I’m just overreacting.” 

“Being a loving daughter is not an overreaction. It’s only natural you’d worry. How about this? When you head back home, sit down and have a woman-to-woman conversation with her. The best thing to do in situations like this is to talk it out. Or in this case, tell her your worries.” 

“Hehe! It all sounds so simple, but I didn’t even think of that…” murmured Srassa. She lifted the hood of her cloak and pulled it down over her head. She looked like a dastardly rogue of darkness—a thief who was tasked with stealing a priceless vase from the home of a corrupt noble. In reality, she was just a daughter worried for her mother and unborn sibling. 

With the atmosphere on a downward spiral to depression, Momo sought to reverse it by explaining how Servi managed to snag a part in a play.  

The plan worked flawlessly.  

Srassa was a noble. As one, she was well aware of the world of arts. She had plentiful knowledge of all different kinds of musical instruments, the many kinds of art techniques, and the fantastical world of plays. Though she soon admitted she hadn’t acted in one, she had seen over a dozen different ones. Both at the Hurrah Theatre Hall and at the primary theatre hall in Adenaford.  

And as a girl who wanted to support her friends, Srassa had nothing but kind, encouraging words for her actress friend. When Momo asked if she knew anything about Wyima or Bartholomew, she regretfully shook her head.  

“I’ve never heard those names before. It's been a few years since I've seen one, but it isn't alarming to see new playwrights pop up here and there. Bartholomew could be someone new that's rising up through the ranks to become a staple name.” That was her response to that. “But The Lift of a Butterfly Will Cure Our Ailing Hearts? That’s a rather odd title.” 

“I thought the same. It is catchy, though. I never would've imagined it would have been a love story.” 

“Agreed. Oh, Momo?” 

“Yep?” 

“When you get the script, it may be a good idea to not tell anyone,” said Srassa.  

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. When you have a story, you don’t want someone to come up and say ‘the queen dies in the end,’ right?” 

“Oh, spoilers are the worst. I had a cousin—an older cousin—walk right up to me and blurt out the ending to a tale my grandmother was telling me,” Claire said.  

“That kinda sucks.” 

“It really does. Grandmother wasn’t a fan of it. She did get revenge by having one of her spirits follow him around and blabbing out incredibly embarrassing secrets whenever he was talking to a girl he fancied.” 

“Hahaha!” laughed Momo and Srassa.  

A little bit later, the Dwarf remarked that the food was finished, and she began to pass out plates. Small and round, they couldn’t display food in a way that nobles liked. But for the more down-to-earth patron, who only cared about the taste, they were more than fine with stacking their food like pancakes.  

Even better if it was different kinds of meat because the succulent juices would mix and combine. 

“Since they were gonna go bad,” said the Dwarf as she stacked food on top of food on the four plates she had handed out. “I figured I might as well grill ‘em up. Good news, ye are all getting the house special. Claire, ye need some meat on those bones. The same with ye, Singi. And the both of ye Humans as well. Really, ye are all too scrawny. As an adventurer, ye gotta eat when you can since ye never know where ye’s next meal will come from.” 

The towers of meat just kept going, and going, and going, not even stopping when they were 20 centimeters tall. The perfectly cooked steak just oozed juices out of its grill-marked body. The sausages were a golden brown with a light char to give it some added flavor.  

And there was enough here to fill Feral’s large appetite two or three times over.  

Srassa looked downright afraid at the plate she didn’t even order. An anxious swallow became caught in her throat, and sweat dripped down those lovely cheeks. She just didn’t have the heart to tell the nice cook she had already eaten dinner an hour ago.  

Momo and Claire, though, looked at their foolish prey of meat and relished the challenge. Hungry stomachs needed to be filled! And filled they were going to be! 

“It’s…. It’s so beautiful!!!” the pair cried in unison. Even Servi slightly reacted and lifted her head off the table. Her hand went for the fork placed nearby by the Dwarf and started to peck at her sausages. Delicious nectar squirted out, splashing on the strips of beef, which only enhanced the flavor.  

Wow… They’re… They’re really going at it… Srassa observed. Other than her, everyone else was devouring the food in near-total silence. Even with Servi the way she was, she wasn’t that far behind in what soon became an impromptu eating contest.  

Momo, using the spirit of her bestial ancestors, tapped into a primal strength to devour her plate of meat. She shoveled meat to her mouth, letting her chompers eviscerate the helpless prey before traveling down a one-way tunnel to her stomach.  

Claire wasn’t far behind, as she had a unique fondness for pork. Unlike most Elves, she was more a carnivore than most, choosing to favor the taste of meat more than veggies, though she did love both. 

Surprising them both was Servi, who really didn’t even need to chew her food. Since she could survive without breathing, choking on her food wouldn’t bother her at all. The way she carried the whole steak medallions to her mouth, gobbled them up, and forcefully swallowed defiled all common sense. Servi's lips became stained with grease, sauce, and meat, but Itarr was there to clean the moment it happened.

And then there was Srassa. Poor, poor, Srassa, who attempted to attack her food slowly and methodically, like a surgeon. Every second that passed her by made it seem as if the mountain of meat had the upper hand. In her eyes, it was just so mesmerizing. The world turned around, making it seem as if up was down, and down was up. To prevent passing out, she had to steady herself with a dramatic gulp of her water as sweat lined her brow. 

Even if she was hungry, she didn’t know if she could conqueror the task before her. As a noble, she had access to and exclusively ate the finest foods with their own exquisite preparation processes. Not before had she eaten something that had been slapped on a grill, flipped a few times, and thrown into a plate. Srassa was used to dry-aged beef, coated in the finest spices the common rabble only dreamt of. Then to have it be prepared by cooks that have had over two hundred years to master their craft? Even as a newborn, her taste buds were spoiled rotten.

I know very well that is something that has to change. If I’m out in the world with a chunk of meat, it isn’t as if I will have the liberty to properly prepare it. The most I could really do is make sure it’s cooked, which is most important. Edibility has to come before flavor when in a life-or-death situation.   

Speaking of that, it might be worth it to experience all this upcoming festival has to offer… I’ve only ever had the festival food in the noble district and not anywhere else. This might be the year to change that… 

Then again, I’m sure it wouldn’t be the worst thing to eat as much as I can, especially since I’m leaving tomorrow morning! If Momo’s tearing her food to pieces, then it has to be scrumptious! 

Of course it was. It was prepared and grilled by a Dwarf, after all. There was a distinct taste attached to the charcoal-grilled steaks, along with a hint of garlic and salt. Even the fatty pieces just oozed delectable juices. And it was tender as butter, able to be cut by just applying a bit of pressure with her fork. On top of that, it had a beautiful crust that just made it seem like a work of art.  

And like Momo, Srassa bit into a sausage, then rubbed it in the steaks’ flavor, which squeezed out at the tiniest bit of pressure. The magic of Dwarven-prepared pork and beef combined to give her a mouth a taste of what she had been missing her entire life.  

The small talk between the girls ceased to exist for a few short minutes, and it only resumed when Servi placed her fork down on a spotless plate. To say the Dwarf running the grill was surprised would be the understatement of the century.  

“Wha—how?! Explain!!!” exclaimed Claire. She still had half a plate left.  

“Woah…” The Singi who spoke had about a quarter left. 

“She’s like a bottomless pit…” noted Srassa. She wondered how Servi could be so thin and slim, yet eat as much as a Kobold. She couldn’t have known the secret laid within her inner soul, which housed a Goddess. “Oh, one more thing… I feel a bit bad wasting all this food. I’m sorry, ma’am, but I wasn’t really that hungry…” 

“Don’t worry about it, lass. As I’ve said before, it was going bad. I’d rather cook and waste it that way than just let it expire. Ye gotta respect the meat’s wishes to be prepared and served.” The Dwarf took Servi’s empty plate and stashed it in a drawer below the cart. It noisily clanked against the other unwashed dishes—the sharp sound causing some slight discomfort for Momo’s ears.  

“Still… Momo, Claire,” Srassa uttered while turning to her friends. “I hope you’ll allow me to pay for the food.” 

“Nope! I can’t ask you to do that. Neither can Servy,” Momo replied. She put a hand to her tummy, which was stuffed to the max. Even if her mind wanted her to finish off that delicious, savory assuage, she had to go against it for the sake of her belly.  

“I agree with Momo,” said Claire.  

“If it helps, can you think of it as me paying you three back for taking care of me? Without you and Servi, I wouldn’t have met Silver and Despi. And Claire, you answered all of my questions… I know that must’ve been a little bit annoying…” 

“Annoying? Not in the slightest. Momo and Servi asked just as many during their first month. Besides, it’s practically my job to do that. That's not to mention that I like to do that.” 

“And that doesn’t feel right… You don’t pay your friends for doing things a friend would do,” Momo added on.  

“Umm… Wh—What about—” 

“Just so you know, you only need to pay for what you would have received. The extras I pulled on top were just that. Extra. Think of it as a bonus to Claire here for being an excellent customer.” The Dwarf stepped in, trying to clear any confusion.  She really was telling the truth about the meat being thrown out if it wasn’t cooked.  

Suddenly, an idea popped into Claire’s head. “You said that you have to go back on the second of August, right? To the theatre hall?” 

“Yep.” 

“I have to work all day on the first, but I am scheduled to leave at five on the second. Srassa, how long is your quest expected to last?” 

“A few days at most. We should definitely be back by the first, though.” 

“Perfect! Okay, listen to this and tell me what you think.” Claire drank her water to wet her dry throat, then explained her thoughts. “Momo wants to learn how to cook, you want to pay for our dinner, and what Servi needs right now, more than anything, is the support of her friends. Are you with me so far?” 

Momo and Srassa nodded. Servi was back to leaning against the table, her eyes captivated by Claire’s flowing red hair. It was like liquid flame frozen in physical form, following the unwritten rules of the universe as it danced all around, responding to its wearer’s excitement.  

Momo wants to cook? Should… Should I learn as well? I’ve always had the maids and butlers do the cooking… They’ve even packed my lunches when my team and I went into the sewers… If I want to be independent, I can’t rely on them. I need to learn as well… 

“What if we have a small get-together at my house on the second? Srassa, let us pay for our meals tonight. If you want, you can buy the groceries for our little party. I can give out a cooking lesson at the same time, and it should just be a barrel of fun!” 

“Ooooh, that sounds amazing!” Momo’s eyes lit up like fireworks. “You hear that, Servy? A party!!!” 

“A party…?” murmured Srassa. She spoke the words as if they were foreign, but they shouldn’t have been. She was just at one a few days ago. “I can come, right?” Srassa, why’d you ask that?!?! Really, the poor Human felt like she had asked the question that had the most obvious answer.  

“Duh! You’re our friend, aren’t you? And what kind of person would ask someone to pay for food and not invite them? If I ever do that, please smack me as hard as you can.” Really, why would she ask that? Claire thought about it and couldn’t come up with an answer that didn’t sound horribly depressing.  

“And if you want, you can invite Silverado and Desperado to come as well. The more the merrier, am I right?” added Momo. She gently shook Servi because she thought she was asleep, but she wasn’t. Still, she leaned up and groggily wiped her blank eyes.  

“Speaking of that… Well, not really, but it’s in the same vein. You can count on me to come see the play. I don’t have that day off, but I’ll beg my boss to make an exception.” 

The conversation seemed to pass Srassa by at hypersonic speed. She still hadn’t responded to Momo’s extended invitation, but she hoped Momo knew she would pass that along to her party. “An—And I’ll be there as well! I wouldn’t want to miss Servi’s debut performance. And I’ll tell Silver and Despi about it as well.” 

“Okay. Oh, can you two do me a small favor?” Momo asked. “If you see Dineria, Feral, Fisher and his family, Riki, and Rakkire, could you tell them about it? I think it’ll be awesome if we all come out to support Servy. Though since she’ll be under a blanket of invisibility, we’ll only be able to hear her… Still, it’s the same thing, right?” 

“I think it is. She’s going to be handling all of the crying, which is still an odd thing, in my eyes, at least, but that’s going to be important,” Claire said. “A task like that isn’t going to be easy.” 

“Yeah… But I have faith in her.” 

“Oh, one more thing. I don’t know if Riki and Rakkire will be able to come. Before you two came back, they went off on a quest to the far south. Their location was a mine located about fifteen days or so away. A passing adventurer actually came by and put up the quest on behalf of the mine’s owner. That’s a bit odd, actually, because there’s a closer town just four days away. Don’t really know why he had to travel half a month unless he was heading this way and didn’t feel like making a detour,” Claire added. Momo found it a bit disheartened, but there wasn’t anything she could do except hope that her Dwarven friends were well.  

A few seconds later, Srassa piped up with a question about what groceries she needed to buy, and Claire said it might be good to all go to the market together. “It’ll be a late dinner, but that’s fine. We could all meet up at Warden at five. Now that I think about it, it depends on how long you and Servi have to be at the theatre hall.” 

“I don’t think that’ll take long. I’m expecting the director to hand out the scripts and schedules at most.” 

“He might do a readthrough,” Srassa added. “It’s where everyone sits down and reads the play together, with people speaking their lines out. Depending on the length, it could take anywhere from thirty minutes to a few hours.” 

“If he does, that’s fine. We have to be there at 10 in the morning, so that’s…8 hours? Yeah, 8 hours until 6 PM.” Momo was a bit slow in doing the math, but she got the proper answer in the end.  

“Oh, then that’s definitely enough time.” Srassa smiled.  

Claire realized it was getting pretty late, so she asked the Dwarf what they owed her, and everyone paid their tab. The group of friends thanked the Dwarf for the excellent meal, then walked away towards Claire’s house.  

“Well, this is where I leave you,” said the Elf. She held her jacket under one hand and stretched her other arm up, slightly moaning at the little pops and cracks. Tension and stiffness nearly encompassed her entire upper body, and she couldn’t wait to sleep it all off.  

“Claire, we’ll see you later, okay? Goodnight,” said Momo. Instead of speaking, Servi walked forward and wrapped her arms around her favorite Elf. Her hands found a nice spot clenched around her back, and she turned her head slightly so that her cheek rested across her chest.  

“Goodnight. Be safe when you’re walking home,” replied the Elf. She giggled and ruffled Servi’s hair, who returned back to her guardian. Claire turned around to walk to her front door. When she turned around, her friends’ backs were growing smaller and smaller. But she wasn’t sad—not by a long shot. A lovely, happy smile crawled into her mouth.  

Coming here has been the best decision of my life… I should write a few letters to send back home… It’s been a while, and I should let my family know I'm safe and sound.