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Chapter 8 - Chapter 8 Fantasy World (6)

"Pardon?" Both Sein and Leiya were surprised at the sudden proposal.

"Seeing that it's late, how about you both stay here? I'll be glad if you take up on the offer." Lady Amelia, although visibly tired, softly smiled at them.

"Ah, no—" Sein was about to refuse, when suddenly, he was cut off by Leiya.

"Ah, yes, thank you very much. We would appreciate it." Leiya bumped Sein's shoulder with her elbow.

Hearing that they accepted her offer, Lady Amelia's expression showed a sign of relief.

"Thank goodness, I'm glad to hear that." Lady Amelia turned her head to the old butler, "Clover, please prepare two rooms for our dear guests."

"Yes, my lady." The old butler bowed his head.

The old butler turned around, "You two, please follow me."

"Ah, yes…" Sein and Leiya followed the old butler.

But, before they fully left the room, they bowed their heads in courtesy, and bid farewell to Lady Amelia.

"We wish you great health, Lady Amelia." Sein said in goodwill.

Lady Amelia responded in turn, "Thank you for the goodwill. I appreciate it."

Sein nodded with a warm smile.

Afterwards, they fully got out of Lady Amelia's room.

Clack.

The door closed behind them.

They then continued to walk the castle following the old butler's lead.

As Sein and Leiya followed the old butler, a sound of someone's stomach suddenly growled.

Groooowl!

The group suddenly stopped and turned to look at the source.

It turns out, it came from Leiya.

Leiya quickly covered her stomach in a flash with pursed lips and flushed cheeks.

At the same time, the old butler and Sein turned to stare at Leiya.

Leiya's face flushed with embarrassment, "S-sorry, it's just that we haven't even had lunch yet because we were so busy! A-and, it's almost dinner too…"

Sein, seeing that she was embarrassed about it, hurriedly said he was hungry too, even though he was actually not.

"N-now that you've said it, I'm also hungry too." Sein laughed awkwardly.

Sein turned his head to look at the old butler.

The old butler, being quick-witted, understood and said, "...I shall quickly prepare a meal for the two distinguished guests."

"Thank you!" Sein's mouth widened in a smile.

Soon, the old butler took them to their distinguished rooms.

"These will be the rooms you two will be staying in." The old butler introduced them to the two rooms that were hastily prepared for the two of them.

Sein and Leiya nodded.

"…Or perhaps, would you two like to share a room together?" The old butler asked in consideration after a short moment of thought.

"Ah! No, no, no. This is enough!" They both waved their hands at the butler.

"…Is that so? Then, please excuse me. I will quickly prepare your dinner and deliver it to your rooms." The old butler was confused at their reaction, but didn't inquire about it any further.

The old butler quietly left the both of them.

After the old butler left, Sein and Leiya were left alone once again.

They were both silent.

As the atmosphere between the two of them was about to go awkward, Sein talked first.

"…Uhh… I'm gonna choose this room, is that okay with you?"

"…Sure, go on ahead." Leiya replied curtly.

Seeing that it was quite awkward between them, Sein silently made his way to his room.

But, before he could go inside, Leiya suddenly said, "…Umm… T-thank you for helping me with my embarrassment earlier."

Hearing her thanks, Sein turned around to see her face.

However, Leiya was already in her room before he could even see it.

Sein's mouth twitched in amusement, "…What a tsundere."

After mumbling that, Sein entered his room.

As he entered, he exclaimed a sound of amazement at the sight of his room.

"Woah… it's quite spacious in here." Sein exclaimed.

While it couldn't be compared to a modern room, it was genuinely much more impressive than the inn he was staying at.

Additionally, this was a guest room that was hastily prepared, but yet, it was quite lavish in decoration and spacious in area too.

Sein sat on the bed.

"Ohhh. It's quite soft too. Comparable to a modern high-end mattress you see at five-star hotels."

The room too was neither hot nor cold, it was just the right temperature.

Sein wondered if it was because of magic, since after all, it is quite impossible to achieve such a thing unless their technology level was quite high, which was also unlikely since their civilization seems to be still set in the medieval ages.

Or so, what he observed.

'I'll ask later if I have the chance.' Sein thought.

As he explored the room and fiddled with some things here and there, a knock sounded.

Knock, knock.

'Hm?' Sein wondered who it was.

"Come on in."

The door opened, and a maid pushing a cart with trays in it entered.

The maid bowed in greetings.

"Hello, dear guest. I have come here to deliver your dinner."

"O-oh, sure, thank you." Sein was a bit flustered since he wasn't accustomed to such service much, even in the real world.

After receiving permission from Sein, the maid quickly set up the table, placed the covered meals one by one until all the plates on the tray were served.

"Please enjoy your meal."

"Thank you, I'll enjoy it."

The maid quietly bowed as she left the room silently without much noise.

Sein, after seeing the maid leave, quickly shifted his attention to the meals served on the table.

Although Sein was not hungry, he was still curious as to what meals were served on the table.

So, he quickly got on to sit on the table, and opened the cover covering the meals.

As he opened it, his eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

"Ohhh~"

As soon as the cover lid was lifted, one soup, two side dishes, and one main dish appeared.

First, let us describe the soup.

The soup was clear, and was garnished with chopped green onions.

The two side dishes, on the other hand, were simple. Just some sauteèd vegetables and fried peanuts.

And lastly, the main dish was a big piece of steak with a mountain of chopped fried garlic on top.

…With a separate bowl of rice to pair it with.

Seeing the main dish in front of him, it reminded him of Chaliapin steak don, a quite famous dish that appeared in an anime called, "Sh*kug*ki no So*ma." But, instead of caramelized onions, it was replaced with minced fried garlic on top.

Sein gulped.

"…Ok, I've changed my mind. I'm actually hungry."

Sein grabbed a knife and fork and proceeded to cut away at it.

Sizzling~

The steak sizzled as he cut away a huge piece of meat, along with a lot of minced fried garlic in it.

Shortly after, he stabbed it with his fork and placed it into his mouth.

'Delicious!' Sein's eyes widened.

The steak was tender, and it paired well with the minced fried garlic in it. In fact, Sein thought that it would pair very well with rice.

Therefore, Sein put away his knife and grabbed a spoon, and ate it with rice this time.

The moment he ate it with rice, the savoriness of the steak and the taste of the fried garlic complemented each other, raising the dish to another level.

After eating the steak with rice for a few times, he moved on to the soup to cleanse his palate.

He placed his spoon into the clear soup, grabbed a spoonful of it, and took a sip.

As Sein expected, the soup was refreshing and was not greasy nor oily. It perfectly pairs well with the strong flavor of the steak with minced fried garlic in it.

The side dishes were quite good as well.

And so, Sein took his time to eat his dinner.

…A few moments later…

"Haa~ that was satisfying." Sein breathed out, as relief came.

'…Now then, since we've eaten a delicious meal, should we take a stroll outside?' Sein mischievously grinned as a great idea came to him.

'Hehe, since it's not everyday I get to enter a castle in actuality, and I don't feel sleepy as well, let's take a stroll then!'

With that said, Sein stood up and made his way to the door.

He quietly opened it, looked around and made sure no one was outside.

After confirming no one was around, he quietly got out of his room and closed it without much of a noise.

As it was already evening, the castle hallway was pretty dark as only the moonlight seeped through the windows allowing for little visibility.

Sein walked slowly, taking in as much view as possible.

He walked through corridors to corridors, sometimes encountering a guard or a maid passing by, however, it wasn't a problem since he quickly hid himself to avoid being seen. But, other times, he was out strolling casually amidst the castle.

By the time that he felt that he had explored the castle enough already, he happened to come across a door that was slightly open with lights from candles leaking.

Driven by curiosity, Sein took a peek.

What Sein saw made his eyes slightly widen, as it turned out, the Guard Captain Arnold was there inside the room talking with a man seated on a desk.

'The Guard Captain Arnold?...And who?' Sein thought, as a question mark arose in his head.

'But, what is he doing here?'

Sein decided to eavesdrop for a little bit.

"Guard Captain Arnold, give your report."

"Yes, my lord. According to the reports compiled and given to me, signs of a monster stampede were occurring as expected. Furthermore, judging by the footprints, destruction, and activities of the monsters outside the city, we were able to confirm that a huge monster stampede is about to happen this year."

The man seated on the desk caressed his beard, as he looked down in thought.

"I see. What about the monsters that are gonna appear in this year's monster stampede?"

"According to the report: Ogres, Wyverns, Goblins, Gnolls, and Bluish Wolves are expected to appear in this year's monster stampede… And, um…"

"Hmm…?" The man tapped his finger on the desk.

"Speak. What is it?"

Guard Captain Arnold hesitated to tell, but eventually, he cleared his throat before saying, "...Demonic beings were also speculated to appear according to what we have found in the traces found in the forbidden forest…"

The man froze.

"..."

"..."

"...What did you say?" The man's expression was grim.

The Guard Captain Arnold hurriedly clarified, "Actually, it still hasn't been thoroughly verified, but, according to the traces left behind, we could only conclude that the chance of demonic beings appearing is high."

"..."

"But, it's just merely a speculation! That's all!!"

"..."

The man's hand slowly clenched into a fist.

"This is a grave matter. Quickly inform the Adventurer's guild and the Mercenary guild of this. Make sure to request a large-scale emergency quest with the City Lord Mansion backing it."

Seeing the man's face turning serious, the Guard Captain hurriedly stopped his explanation, and answered,

"Yes! Understood, City Lord!" The Guard Captain Arnold quickly saluted and dismissed himself.

Sein, seeing this, quickly hid silently in a corner without alerting the both of them.

Clack.

As the Guard Captain was about to leave, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at a corner.

He surveyed the surroundings for a while.

'…Is it just my imagination?'

Seeing that there was nothing, the Guard Captain finally left the vicinity.

'That was close. I almost got found out.' Sein thought in cold sweat a bit.

'…I guess that was to be expected, after all, he's the guard captain of the city. Even if my experience of stealth hiding in my training days was significant, that was still quite a feat.' Sein thought.

'However, their conversation?'

"...Now, that was interesting." Sein let out a smirk.

After confirming that the Guard Captain had finally left, Sein quietly sneaked out of the corridor, and returned to his room quickly after a short moment of detour.

As he closed the door behind him, Sein chuckled,

"...That was truly an unexpected find."

'If I'm right, the man on the desk was probably the City Lord—no, I'm certain of it.' Sein thought as he sat on the bed.

'Didn't the Guard Captain say "Yes, City Lord!" in the last sentence?'

'So, yeah, that was definitely the City Lord.'

'But, anyways, rather than that, what's concerning is the monster stampede. Specifically, the 'demonic beings'. What makes them such a threat that even the City Lord made such a grim expression?'

'Do demonic beings refer to demons? Or is it referring to beings infested with demonic energy? I haven't seen one personally yet, but I have seen plenty of them in novels, comic books, and etc., after all.'

'As far as I know, the monsters mentioned by Guard Captain Arnold were still pretty much a serious threat as I've heard from the guys in the bar, however, when the Guard Captain brought it up, the City Lord's expression was pretty calm to say the least. Yet, when 'demonic beings' were brought up into the topic, his face suddenly turned grim at once…'

Sein frowned.

"Haa… never mind, I'm not gonna think much of it now, no matter what I think about it, there's nothing I can do about it anyways." Sein breathed out a sigh.

As he laid down his body to rest on the bed, he suddenly thought of something he had never pondered before.

'…Now that I think about it, it has not been a while since I slept again, right?' Sein narrowed his eyes in thought.

'What happens if I sleep again? Would I wake up or sleep normally in a dream?'

"If the latter happens… For some reason, I'm actually curious." Sein whispered to himself.

So, Sein tried it.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

As time passed by, he gradually felt sleepy, and began to fall asleep.

"........"

"....."

"..."

"..."

"..Zzzz….."

***

Night had passed and it was now morning.

The sun had risen in the sky, and its light had already reached Sein's room through the windows.

The sunlight was openly shining upon Sein's face.

Tweet~ Tweet~

"...Ughh…"

Sein groaned as he covered his face, blocking the sunlight.

"So bright… Who turned on the lights?" Sein muttered, as he slowly opened his eyes while covering them.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw that he was still in the guest room, and not in the familiar room he has in the real world.

Seeing this, he got up and yawned.

"Yawn~" He stretched out his arms.

"... So… I'm still here, huh?" Sein mumbled as he scratched his head.

He got out of his bed, and made his way to the bathroom to wash his face.

After washing his face, he grabbed a towel and wiped his face dry.

Then, Sein proceeded to look at the mirror.

"Hm… Now that I've thought about it, this is the first time I've actually looked at my face so closely in a dream."

While he had seen his own face in the dream plenty of times already, especially at the inn, it was never really in his head to closely inspect it.

As Sein was admiring his face for a while, thinking that he looked somewhat better in the dream rather than in the real world, a knock sounded at the door.

Knock, knock.

Sein looked over and said, "Huh? Just a second!"

Sein quickly finished preparing himself and opened the door.

There, a maid stood waiting.

"Dear guest, Lady Amelia has invited you for breakfast." The maid said.

Sein blinked, "Oh, really? Okay."

"Please follow me." The maid gestured.

Sein followed her with no concerns.

Shortly after, they arrived at the dining room.

As Sein arrived at the dining room, he observed the people sitting on the dining table.

There were three people at the dining table, first was Leiya, his guide and partner for the quest. Second, was Lady Amelia, smiling softly at him even though her face was a bit pale. And lastly, a bearded man with grand stature sitting at the head of the rectangular dining table.

"Good morning, Mr. Sein." Lady Amelia greeted Sein.

"Good morning to you too, Lady Amelia." Sein returned the greeting as he sat down beside Leiya at the dining table.

Sein glanced at the bearded man sitting at the head of the dining table, thinking, 'So, that's the City Lord, huh?'

While he did manage to sneak a glance last night, he didn't fully manage to look carefully.

All of a sudden, the bearded man—or the City Lord inquired with a sharp gaze, "So, I heard you two were the ones that accepted the apothecary's quest?"

"Ah, yes, sir." Sein affirmed.

"I see. First of all, I would like to thank the both of you for sending the medicine packet on behalf of the apothecary."

"Ah, no, it was nothing." Sein lifted his hand modestly, brushing off the gratitude. He wasn't quite sure how to react under the City Lord's sharp gaze, so he settled for a polite gesture.

"Yes, we were just doing our job." Leiya added with a calm smile, softening the atmosphere at the table.

"Nonetheless, I would still like to extend my thanks to the both of you." The City Lord continued, firm with his decision.

"It's really not necessary."

"Yes, I agree with Leiya."

They both waved their hands.

"No, I still insist." The City Lord was stubborn about it.

As Sein and Leiya were beginning to not know how to react any further, Lady Amelia smoothly interrupted the conversation.

"Father, perhaps we should let them enjoy their meal first before giving our gratitude to them. Sein, Leiya, please don't mind my father and continue to eat in peace."

"Ah, yes, thank you, Lady Amelia." The both of them replied in unison, and quickly stuffed their mouths with food.

"But, I was just—"

"Shush, father, please eat before the food gets cold." Lady Amelia smiled firmly,

"...Very well…" the City Lord muttered, finally relenting under his daughter's persistence.

The clinking of cutlery resumed, filling the silence in the dining room.

Still, the silence didn't last long as Lady Amelia broke it by initiating a short talk with Sein and Leiya in a light-hearted manner, making the conversation fun and relaxing.

Meanwhile, throughout the morning meal, the City Lord continued to be quiet so as to not interrupt the relaxed atmosphere.

He realized that he was making them uncomfortable, so he decided to just observe them for a while before raising the matter once more at a better time.

For now, he simply wants to enjoy seeing his daughter having fun talking along with strangers for a long while.

The City Lord subtly smiled in satisfaction in a way not detectable to others, especially to those who do not know him much personally.

And thus, the breakfast ended smoothly.

After finishing their meal, Sein and Leiya rose from their seats as the servants swiftly moved to clear the table.

"Lady Amelia, and the City Lord, it's time for us to go now. We thank you for the hospitality." Sein expressed with a slight bow, alongside Leiya.

Lady Amelia softly smiled and waved her hand, "Your welcome. But, before you go…" She turned her head to look at her father, "Father, I believe you have something to give them."

The City Lord, seeing this, said, "Indeed. Since you two have delivered the medicine packet to us, it's only right I will reward you two."

The City Lord gestured for a servant to give the rewards to Sein and Leiya.

The servant stepped forward and presented their rewards.

"I will give the two of you three gold coins, and twenty silver coins each, and a scroll pertaining additional rewards to the Adventurer's guild's channel. And lastly, an insignia that symbolizes that you two are recognized by the City Lord Mansion personally by the City Lord himself." The City Lord smiled.

"!!!" Both Sein and Leiya were speechless.

"T-this is too generous for us, sir!" Leiya was visibly startled by it.

"T-that's right!" Sein was also visibly startled by the generous rewards.

The City Lord, seeing their reactions, couldn't help but chuckle.

"This is nothing. After all, by delivering the medicine packet, you have saved my daughter. So, please don't be polite and take it." The City Lord gestured with his hand.

"Father is right. Therefore, Mr. Sein, Ms. Leiya, please take it without feeling any burden whatsoever." Lady Amelia also insisted.

Since the City Lord and Lady Amelia were insisting for both of them to take it, they could only take it with hesitation.

"T-Then, in that case, we won't be polite… thank you very much!" Sein said as he received it with both hands.

"Y-yes, thank you very much!" Leiya also said as she received her portion of the reward as well.

The City Lord and Lady Amelia chuckled at their reactions.

"Umm… We will go now." Sein bowed slightly, so did Leiya, as they bid their goodbye.

"Yes, stay safe." Lady Amelia waved them goodbye.

Sein and Leiya nodded.

They left the City Lord Mansion with hefty pockets.

Along the way, they decided to return to the guild first before returning home.

As they made their way to the guild, they both didn't talk to each other and just silently walked throughout the way.

Finally, they arrived at the Adventurer's guild.

Sein pushed open the door, and Leiya followed behind.

As they entered, they felt the heavy atmosphere surrounding the guild.

"…Huh?" Sein was the first to break the silence.

"What happened here?" He muttered.

They stood there for a short moment, but since they couldn't figure it out themselves, they decided to go to a receptionist first to officially end their quest and receive their rewards.

At the same time, they also planned to ask about the heavy atmosphere in the guild.

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