After walking for a while, Tiona arrived at a restaurant Fern had never seen before. Fern stopped at the entrance, hesitant to go in since she was so dirty.
But Tiona grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.
Feeling ashamed, Fern lowered her head and remained silent.
"What do you want to eat? You can choose anything," Tiona said, handing Fern a menu and waiting for her to decide.
Fern looked at the menu for a while and chose something inexpensive.
"Are you sure you only want that? Don't you want some meat? The meat here is really good."
"Just the pasta is enough…" Fern replied.
"Hmmm…" Tiona quickly realized what Fern was doing. When placing the order, she added a large plate of meat for Fern as well.
Fern noticed and stared at Tiona.
"What is it?" Tiona asked.
"It's nothing…" Fern muttered, lowering her head again.
Time began to pass quickly. Tiona kept trying to talk to Fern, asking her things like:
"What happened to your mother?"
"Where is your father?"
"Where do you live?"
When it came to her parents, Fern didn't say much. She only mentioned that they had disappeared a long time ago. She didn't say they had died, and because of that, Tiona became convinced that Fern had been abandoned.
That made Tiona wonder: Who raised her all these years? There's no way Fern survived on the streets for so long. She's too young.
"Heiter," Fern finally said.
"Heiter…" Tiona murmured the name, and then someone came to mind. "Wait, do you mean that Heiter? The Heiter from the Freya Familia?"
"..." Fern nodded.
"You were raised by that Heiter? I can't picture that old man taking care of a child. What happened to him? I haven't seen him in a long time."
"He died," Fern answered coldly.
"Ah…" Tiona's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. That old man died? How old was he? She didn't know exactly, but the last time she had seen him, he looked healthy.
And how could he have died without the Freya Familia making it public? No one knew Heiter was dead.
And where was his body?
Tiona wanted to ask Fern many questions, but she decided against it.
Soon, the food began to arrive.
Fern's stomach growled as she stared at the plates in front of her, but she didn't touch the food. She waited for Tiona's permission.
"What are you waiting for? Eat as much as you can."
"..."
Fern finally began to eat in silence. She ate so quickly she almost choked.
"Hey, you can slow down. The food isn't going anywhere," Tiona laughed, and Fern started eating more calmly.
Watching from nearby, Tione tugged Tiona's arm and pulled her aside.
"What are you going to do after feeding her? We need to head back."
"I'll wait for her to finish, talk a bit, and give her some money."
"Fine." Tione let go of her.
"Did you hear that? Heiter was taking care of this child, and now he's dead. Did you know about that?"
"Heiter? That old drunk? He's dead?"
"You weren't listening to our conversation?"
"No."
"Well, yes, I'm talking about that old man. I didn't know he had died."
"Neither did I… what a surprise."
"What surprises me even more is that he actually took in a child. I never would've expected that." Tiona gave a small laugh. "I'll go back to her, she seems a little nervous."
"I'll wait outside," Tione sighed and left the restaurant.
Tiona sat back down next to Fern.
She watched with a smile as Fern devoured the food. When Fern finally finished, Tiona asked, "Are you full?"
"..." Fern simply nodded.
"Great. I'll pay the bill and then we can leave."
"Wait."
"Hm?"
"I want to ask you something. Please."
"Of course, anything," Tiona said with a smile.
"I'm looking for someone. Can you help me?"
"Someone? Your mother or father?"
"No, I'm looking for a woman." Fern began to describe the woman she had seen before — the beautiful elf who had smiled at her. As Tiona listened, she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Pfft!
She burst out laughing.
What an incredible coincidence.
The person Fern was looking for was one of Tiona's "friends" — and a member of the same Familia.
####
POV: Frieren
Some time passed, and finally the houses were ready to be used. We divided the elves into two groups of five — five in one house, five in the other.
We decided Lyuu would stay with them.
For now, we're all living close to the World Tree.
Serie and I share one house, five elves in another, and the other five in the last one.
The only thing that bothered me was the lack of space. Since the houses were small, we had to put mattresses in the living room, and even in the kitchen.
But since the elves only use the houses to sleep, I suppose it's fine.
Now that they all had a proper place to rest, I finally began training them.
Serie had already taught them the basics: about the world, the countries, adventurers, gods, and so on. She also drilled into their minds that all gods and humans are enemies.
I think that's a bit extreme, but I don't feel the need to change their mindset right now.
"All right, now we'll finally begin our lesson on magic," I said, looking at all the elves. Even Lyuu wanted to join in.
But… will I really be able to do this properly? The last time I taught anyone was literally centuries ago.
####
Read more chapters on my patr eon: patr eon.com/parodygirl