The past week had been rough in some ways but Sayla was in a great mood, having accomplished everything she set out to do. They had visited every food place in the town- an ordeal that not many were brave enough to do in such a short time span. All of the running around had worn her out and every night, she dropped to sleep in seconds. Despite that, thoughts of the thief still lingered in her mind and she would occasionally think about Len and everything she told them.
"What's wrong?"
It was Norris. He pulled up a chair and sat down. They were at a crowded restaurant- one that allegedly served the best food in town. Norris had been preoccupied with some forms so he had insisted she go on ahead without him.
"I just can't get that thief out of my mind." Sayla said. Norris shot her a questioning look and she rushed to elaborate-
"I mean so much of him doesn't make sense. His sudden death, the abilities he has, his other conditions and why he was always so unhappy...Len told us that he had a genetic defect, right? So then why did he decide to keep stealing? Len has a job and lives in a nice place."
"Maybe he just wanted to give her something." Norris stated blankly, "I don't think someone like him could find a reasonable job. Thieving is the easiest thing to do for survival."
"You said his abilities were weird though!" Sayla said a little too loudly, quickly lowering her voice as the other patrons shot them dirty looks. A waitress kept a close eye on them from afar, unable to come up to them because she had already ordered for both of them a few minutes prior.
"They are but I'm no magic expert. Besides-" He raised an eyebrow "-Why does any of this matter right now? The thief is dead and his sister got the purse. Our job here is done."
"You're right." Sayla relented, sighing and looking down at the fancy tablecloth. "There's something that keeps nagging at me about the way he used his powers. They were just so..." Unable to find the word she was looking for, she settled for the best she could come up with- "Cool."
Norris shook his head. "I'm sure they were."
The waitress from before quickly walked up to two of them with two plates of the local specialty- violet cabbage and sweet potatoes. She set down the plates, opening her mouth as if wanting to ask something before quickly deciding better of it and walking away.
"Anyway!" Sayla quickly changed topics, "Where do you think we should go next?"
"I don't know." Norris said unhelpfully, already digging into the meal.
Sayla followed suit, taking a bite and feeling the flavours explode in her mouth. The crisp freshness of the cabbage complimented the slight sweet and mushy texture of the sweet potatoes. There was an aromatic sauce hidden between the layers which tied everything together perfectly and the food definitely looked appealing with all the bright colours.
"This is good!" She said, no longer thinking about their next location. The two of them ate in silence for a while, completely focused on the food. When they were finally done, they both leaned back against their chairs contently.
"It was great." Sayla re-affirmed, "But I don't think it can beat the spinning zortwer or fresh roast corn."
Norris nodded, seriously with the gaze of a somber food critic. "It was good. I think the food from back home is still better though."
"The food from back home?" Sayla's eyes practically lit up. She was one step away from grabbing Norris by the collar and shaking more information out of him. Whenever he volunteered anything new about himself, she couldn't help but feel like she hit the jackpot. Learning more about Norris was now in her head an important side quest without which she couldn't complete her journey.
"Yeah..." Norris gave her a wary look but continued, "I grew up in a tourist town, I suppose. Most of the people were travellers, only a few were actually locals. It's a fairly remote place, not many people from this kingdom go there."
"Why not?"
"It's on the outskirts. Near a large forest."
"Then why do so many travellers go there?" She couldn't help but wonder about the contradiction. If nobody from their own kingdom was that interested in the place then why did so many travellers go there? Could it be that they were...getting scammed??
"It's a magic hotspot."
"A magic what?! We have to go there!" And if there was a scam about magic then Sayla would likely be the first to fall victim to it. Norris gestured for her to sit down. She hadn't even realized she had gotten up. The other patrons seemed to have grown accustomed to them, only giving them annoyed side-eyes as opposed to properly staring at them.
"That's what they say." Norris remarked as if talking about some vague myth about a place he had never seen in person, "This being the only kingdom with known magic, tourists jump at the chance to go to places supposedly rife with it. Locals don't care as much because they already know and see magic everyday. To them, it's going out of their way to see the exact same thing in a different place."
"But you lived there! Wouldn't you know if it was true or not?"
"Excuse me, customers." The waitress from before was making another re-appearance, smiling nervously at them. "If you're done, could you please leave? It's rush hour right now."
"Oh, I'm really sorry!" Sayla got up at once, riffling through her pockets for the money she needed to pay, only to feel despair as she remembered all her money was in another set of clothes. She continued the futile search, giving the waitress apologetic looks every once in a while as the waitress continued to stand and wait with a patient smile.
"Here." Norris reached out from the other side, full sum in hand. "I apologize for the disturbance." He said grimly. Sayla couldn't help but feel like he was overdoing it. The waitress seemed to think the same way based on her facial expression which seemed to say she wanted nothing more than to leave.
With their reputation mostly ruined, the two of them walked left the premises, strolling around town so that they could continue their discussion. In Sayla's opinion, strolling around was the best way to have any discussion. Looking at the sights, inhaling the fresh air, listening to the music that was a bustling place- it helped clear her mind and was infinitely better than being confined to a room the whole time.
"I did live there." Norris started, picking up from where they left off. "I didn't see anything particularly impressive. It was just another ordinary place with people trying to live their lives. The tourist population was higher but that's really all that's different about there."
"I see..." Sayla pondered on it for a while, "I still think we should go there though. You can visit your home and I can check off another tourist destination from my list, it's a win-win, isn't it?"
"If you insist."
Hearing that, she had a feeling he wasn't so averse to it after all. Norris said everything he did so that she wouldn't expect too much of the place and then be disappointed when it didn't meet those impossible expectations. She imagined herself in his shoes, having to take someone to visit her home and she couldn't help but feel like it was difficult. Home is precious to everyone so if someone comes to one's home and complains about it or feels extremely negatively then it would certainly be hard to bear.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have a great time there!" She said patting his back and hoping to lighten the load. She didn't want Norris to feel any more pressured taking her there as opposed to somewhere else.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm sure." He answered confused and she quickly removed her hand with a look of- 'I should have known'. It was one of his positive traits through a certain lens- the ability to be completely unbothered even though it was technically his job to be taking her around to places and explaining them.
As she walked a bit faster, hoping to get to their inn as soon as possible so she could begin packing again- she missed the slight smile on the face of her mostly unbothered guide.