As the morning came, so did my will to work again.
I haven't managed to do anything major given the storm that it was, and even though it's still there, tempting and trying to lure me to the shadows. I can see clearly now.
After a perfectly comfortable breakfast, alongside my beloved, we departed again, she to the afterlife, and I to Axel, because to find slime on my own would be a waste of time when I can just check up on Luna and ask for a location.
I got in my car and drove off to Axel. The weather today was perfect, lazy clouds drifting, the sun shining, I couldn't help but allow myself to immerse myself in this lovely view.
I felt at peace, my mind still clinging to yesterday... those promises were pure, providing us a stable ground in this marriage in the soul.
Soon enough I reached one of the gates of Axel, before deciding on catching up with my friends.
As I entered they ran to me from the hall yelling. "Darkness!"
The three, Megumin, Aqua, and Kazuma, looked at me weirdly. "Huh?"
"Sup guys. It's been a while. Decided to come and visit since... I don't know, no reason."
"Svetislav, do something, you are a lord go use your privilege to get Darkness to speak with us?" Aqua cried to me, grabbing me and shaking me with surprising strength.
"W-hy?" W-ha-t ha-ppe-ned?" I say, my voice sounding weird because of the motion.
Kazuma handed me a letter, making Aqua stop, allowing me to read.
On it is written. "Please forgive me for suddenly springing this on you, I am sorry. But things have become rather complex. I have realized this is selfish, but I am afraid I have to leave. To that end, I ask that you find a new frontline fighter for the group. I am very grateful to the four of you. So much so that I couldn't fully express my feelings-" It was all about her leaving and being thankful for the adventurers...
"What could have made her leave?" I asked confused.
"How are we supposed to know?" Kazuma shot back. "She doesn't even want to talk to us about it."
I sigh and shake my head. "Any other information I need to know? I will go deal with this."
"Vanir said some aura of destruction and that disaster is about to hit her family or something. The thing is we don't know anything about what's happing." Kazuma explained.
"And that's why we are trying to talk to her!" Aqua barged in on the conversation.
I tilted my head for a second, turning around. "Alright then."
I moved to the car, they seemed to not be following. I just looked at them.
"Are you guys coming or not?"
And so they did, Aqua sat on the passanger seat while Kazuma and Megumin sat on the backmatress.
I drove off, with them impressed by my creation.
Soon enough we reached the front gates of the fense of the dustiness manor. I looked back at my friends. "If they chased you away once, don't try it twice. I will go speak one on one - yall stay here. I will open the window so you don't suffocate."
They gave me a thumbs up and so I jumped out of the car before walking to the gates. For a minute or so I just stood out, before, quietly, the butler that came to deliver that letter from Iris came out of the mansion walking to the gate. "I'm sorry, Milady is refusing to see any visitors."
"Could you at least tell us why her family's in danger?" I asked, arms crossed, my right hand facing the sky.
"I'm sorry, but I can't discuss that."
"If Darkness won't meet us, perhaps I could speak with her father. After all, I'm also a noble. Maybe I could help, make a deal..." I suggested, my tone becoming questioning at the end.
"Sadly, milord is in no condition to speak with anyone."
"Why?"
"He just isn't."
"Why?"
"Because-"
"Why?" I pressed a third time, like a curious child.
"Because he is sick!" the butler snalled at last.
"We have a priest in the part," I said, gesturing to Aqua in the car.
Through the open window Aqua yelled, "Healing magic doesn't cure natural causes!"
I turned back to the butler. "Well... can't I do something? I'm trying to help her family. She's a friend."
"I'm sorry, but I can't."
I sigher. "Fine then..." I turned around. "Have a great day."
"You too..."
Back in Acat, I muttered, "Man, this sucks... How are we supposed to solve a problem without even knowing what it is?"
And with that I drove them home, well, Aqua for that, and then drove Kazuma and Megumin to the guild, cuz without Darkness, Kazuma would have to find a replacement. While there I might as well get some job done, so I went to the reception. "Ey, Luna, it's been a while. How have you been?"
"Oh, Svetislav! I've been well, you?"
"Me as well. So I came here to ask if you know any locations where slime's have been spotted. I'm planning on making a glue factory."
"Well, not in this region... But with your machine you could probably get to other cities."
"Mhhm..." I nod, leaning in, my voice dropping as if we are discussing a conspiracy. "Do you know anything about the situation with Darkness? Have you heard of it?"
Luna shook her head. "No... Although a rumor has been going around that she is going to get married to lord Alderp."
"The fuck? Why?"
"No one knows except the two sides."
"Damn... Oh well, nothing I can do. Imma get going. See you?" I said, pushing my off from the desk.
"Bye, Svetislav!" She lifted her hand from the desk.
And so I left, realizing I missed one thing. To get Aqua's opinion the alcohols I have been brewing. For that I drove back to the mansion. Opening the door I yelled. "AQUA!"
"WHAT!" She yelled back from what I could judge to be the living room.
I walk in. "I need you to test some alcohols I prepared."
She was in disbelief, her eyes lighting up instantly. "Really?"
"Yeah, I got some wine, cider, rum... rakia."
She made a sound of happiness as she placed the pillow with an egg? on it to the side, running up to me and sitting as I place the four alcohols in bottles on the table.
I begin pointing them, from left to right. "This is rakia, a brew from Bulgaria, actually all the balkans, but whatever; rum, which is a pirate drink; wine - which is self-explanatory; and finally cider. You can taste them in whichever order you like."
She immediately went for the wine, which delighted her immensely, then the cider, another happy expression, but the moment she drunk from the rum, she winced, and the rakia made her cough violently.
"What is this?! Fire water?"
"Nah. Like, seventy five percent alcohol?"
"Get these away from me. I don't like those two." She said, pushing both the rum and rakia away.
I shrug. "So, the wine. one to ten, how would you rate it?"
"Well... I guess a ten? It's better than any other wine I have ever tried." She replied, her expression relaxing once more.
"Yippee. Thanks." I give a thumbs up.
"You're welcome... so, where's my payment?"
"What?"
"Don't I get a free-for-life supply of wine for helping you?"
I snort. "No. But the supply's abundant. I'll sell it cheapp. But I'm still not distributing yet soooo-"
She pouted at my response.
"Fine, here's some. Don't drink it all in one night." I said, placing four more bottles on the table and taking in the rakia and rum bottles, because I'm not taking the cider one after she has drunk from it.
"Anyways. I'm leaving. See you tomorrow. I'll be waiting for updates."
"Oh, ok. Bye."
And with that I moved out of the mansion, back to Acat and drove back home, because I was on the clock... WAIT! I need meat, I want to eat meat tonight. So I bought some - damn, I should make a contract with a trusted butcher, rancher whatever.
Now I drove back home.
Just on time, the sun draped on the horizon. The world felt clean again, washed free.
Eris was waiting for me on the balcony, looking quietly.
"Hello, my love..." She said, her eyes soft as they met mine.
I sat down beside her. "Hello, my dear."
"How was your day?"
"Busy," I said with a smile. "Went to Axel, met with the others... Darkness left, apparently something's wrong with her family... her father's sick. Aqua tried my new drinks - loved the wine, hated the strong stuff. I also checked for quests with slime creatures, because I need glue, but no luck there..."
Eris a gentle smile formed on her face. "Sounds like you've been moing forward again. That's good."
"What about you?" I asked.
"I felt... lighter... It was easier to focus. I managed to help the souls who arrived today, and for once, my mind didn't wander so much. Though - she paused, glancing down- "there were moments. Thoughts that crept in. But I let them pass. They don't control me anymore."
"Same here," I said. "They visit, but they don't stay."
Later that evening, we cooked together. I grounded the meat I bought and rolled it into meatballs, so I can flatten them and cook them better. Alongside it, I made a green salad with lettuce, cucumber, and green onion freshly grown in a pot just now.
The smell of cooked meat filled the air, cozy and homely. I seasoned the salad generously with salt, olive oil, and lemon juine. As I squeezed the lemon, my fingers dug into the pulp to get the last of it - Eris turned her gaze away suddenly... I didn't need to ask what she thought of, I could see it too...
I stopped, disolving the leftover lemon into mana, and so we ate in peace.
Dinner was wonderful. Simple, but full of life.
Afterward came the shower. I was the first to go. We both knew what it could lead to, and what we wanted it not to.
"I wish it were easier," I admitted before stepping in. "Till we detox our minds, it'll be hard to resist. Even now, i'm reacting."
Eris approached, her expression calm but tender. She kisseed me lightly on the cheek. "It's alright," she whispered. "Take your shower without me. I'll bathe after you."
So i did...
Then we switched.
As she bathed I just laid in bed, my mind blank.
Then she joined me, the silence between us was peaceful. My hand rested at her waist - too close, perhaps - but I held it there, refusing to let instinct guide me. Instead, I pulled her closer.
"All that is sinful," I murmured, "is a lie. I refuse to see you for less than you truly are. Because in you, I see Him. Through this, we have managed to elevate. Even if you don't see Him... do you believe in Him, in your heart?"
Her eyes softened in the dim light of the streetlights outside. "I don't see Him," she said slowly, "not the way you do. But I feel Him - every time you look at me, every time your love isn't hunger but warmth. When you hold me and nothing more... that's when I feel closest to Him."
I smiled faintly.
She placed her hand over my chest, right above my heard. "And in you, I see what He must see in us. Not perfection... but persistence."
We stayed like that for a while. No need for words. The whisper of the shuffling leaves outside gave us a peaceful atmosphere, beside the one we outselves created.
I realized something.
What I had - what we had - was enough.