Both men were suddenly woken up by some sudden shoving. Turns out it was from someone softly kicking Kaio's back, making him groan as he slowly woke up, the sky being a lovely dark pink from the sun's earliest morning rays.
"Oi, wake up, you two're in the way." The person shoving said, with a thick accent. As both men looked at the person, it seemed to be a travelling merchant, with a large carriage behind him. He was wearing a thick coat, a cigarette in his mouth as he looked at the both of them with an air of disgust. Especially… at Agrippa. "Don't want your kind attracting daemons to my wares." He said with a cold tone.
The fox beastman shrugged, standing up as he held his hand to help Kaio stand up too, as both men stood to the side of the road as the merchant passed by with his carriage full of items.
"What… did he mean by that?" Kaio whispered.
"Some old folktale that my blood attracts daemons, which is why most of them were slaughtered in the past, with a few of them being mostly used by Guilded adventurers to attract said daemons. It's just a baseless rumor that got too out of hand." Agrippa said in return, crossing his arms over his large chest. "Anyway, speaking off, we should head out to the Guild branch ASAP, I'm really hungry."
A sudden chuckle emanated ahead, from the merchant. "What guild? The one that used to be closest to here shut down months ago." He said, taking a puff out of his cigarette. "Not enough new adventurers to keep themselves afloat in that meager village. Now, the nearest one is in Sava, two days away from here."
That last sentence elicited a groat from both men, but mostly from Kaio. "Two more days of walking…" he whimpered, his posture and expression more defeated.
"Eh, we can still take a rest at the next village we're going to, Ilya. It's just a few more hours of walking, just hang on for a lil while." Agrippa said, petting Kaio's head, making him blush a bit. He nodded in return, walking towards the village.
As they kept walking, and the sun started to rise higher and higher in the sky, Kaio's head began to think about some stuff, mainly the fact that today is supposed to be Valentine's Day over in his world, though he's unsure how much time has passed over there, even if at all.
Kaio never hated Valentine's Day, though he doesn't like that day either. Countless times throughout his childhood and early teenagehood, he only remembers being turned down for dates when he asked people out on that day, both men and women alike, before he really knew he was more into men.
Shaking those thoughts off, they finally arrived at the village of Ilya. The village was fairly small, with only a couple dozen houses in sight, no less than 80 as Kaio tried to guess. The village was cut down the middle by a small river, with a plaza-looking area on the other side, where most of the villagers were on.
"Big bro 'Grippa!" Some kids immediately surrounded the fox beastman, making his tail wag automatically.
"Heh. Hey kids. Missed me?" He picked up one of the kids, putting them on top of his back as they rode him like a horse, gripping his fox-ears hard, but not too hard. Looks like Agrippa might have told them time and time again to not do that.
"Hmph. We didn't at all!" One of the kids, a little boy, said sarcastically, turning his back on him. "My opinion might change if you brought us a gift, though~" He winked back at the fox, giggling a bit.
"Well, your opinion will not change though, I haven't brought anything. It was a bit of a hectic day back at my guild so I may have…" He bit his lip softly. "...been kicked out of it. Again."
"Aw, 'Grippa, that was the fifth time in the past two years!" The kid on top of his back, a little girl, said, looking down at him with disappointment.
"I know, I know, but like I said many times before, it's hard to find good work when you're not only a beastman, but also one that's not a really good caster. Being able to pack some Vulpes punches will only get you so far when the opponent can cast a flood to wash you away!" He said, flexing his arm with a self-depricating wink, which made the children chuckle in return. Kaio only watched from the sidelines, giggling as well by the view.
"Alright, alright, fair enough," The boy said "but you have to promise us you must bring us a gift next time!"
"I promise!" He set the young girl down, and waved at them as they ran back to the plaza.
"Someone's really good with kids, huh?" Kaio said, and giggled as he saw Agrippa blushing and huffing, as he looked away.
"They're just really easy to entertain, ok?"
As they chuckled, they noticed a weird noise nearby, as if someone was cranking a machine. As they walked near the noise to investigate, what they saw was marvelous.
Near the bridge, there was a young woman near a cylinder of sorts, with a short tube at the bottom, and as she cranked it, a brown-ish sludge came out of it, falling into a vat at the bottom.
"This smell…" Kaio said, sniffing the air. No doubt, this sweet scent could only be… "Ice cream!"
"You're right on the mark!" The woman said, taking a few scoops out of the vat and putting it into a small wooden bowl. "Want some? The villagers really love it." She offered with a small smile. "It used to be a nobles-only snack, but I managed to build an exact replica of it just by using some scraps!" He said, in a proud manner. "You wouldn't believe how easy it is to make some, just put milk and whatever fruit or chocolate you want in the larger cylinder, cast some ice and put it in the smaller cylinder, mix it by cranking for a few minutes, and bam! Ice cream!" Her excitement for her own inventions was palpable, to say the least.
The woman was about the same height as Kaio, wavy blond hair, bright purple eyes surrounded by bags, which meant she likely spent many nights awake often, wearing a basic white shirt and brown pants, all covered in pockets, all filled with random tools. "The name's Maya." She said, extending a hand to Kaio in specific. "I'm already well-acquainted with that big oaf next to you, but I don't think I've seen you before."
Agrippa grunted, playfully messing her hair as he stood next to her. "Who you're callin' a big oaf?"
"Who else in this village asks for thirds on their meals constantly?"
Kaio only chuckled in return from the playful banter between the two of them. "My name's Kaio. Monobe Kaio."
"Well, then, Kaio, how'd you meet this big guy here?" Maya said, putting two bowls of ice cream on the table next to the machine.
"Oh, it's a long story…" Kaio muttered, not wanting to think about the panic attack he had when he first met Agrippa.
"Yeah, just some random circumstances…" Agrippa said, waving his hand as he grabbed the bowl, licking his lips. "In another note, this smells great, Maya!" He said, grabbing a nearby wooden spoon as he started digging in the ice cream with gusto.
Maya could only roll her eyes. "Met a ton of beastman in my youth, none are as animalistic as you." She said, chuckling a bit.
Kaio also took his spoon, and took a little bite of the ice cream. The taste wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. It felt like a weird mixture between dark chocolate and the earthy, natural taste of an açaí bowl. It was a really interesting flavor.
Maybe it wasn't the Valentine's Day ideal date he had in mind, but he sure was far away from complaining about it though.