Chapter 83 Abnormal Encounter

“Ah! Many thanks, my dear friend!” Lawrence laughed in joy.

“Mhm,” he nodded, “You were amazing back there, Lawrence. Are you sure you’re a Noble-rank? You seemed even better than Oswell at one point…”

Lawrence laughed again at this remark, “That’s the nature of being one of chaos, my dear friend. You can’t quite be certain of any match against such lavish unpredictability, can you?”

“–” He didn’t know how to respond.

Lawrence smiled, “Well, I’ll handle the rest from here. You two young ones should relax and rest your tired bodies–you’ve done spectacular on this day. I am ashamed to have had to rely on you two, but I am even more glad that I did.”

He shook his head, “No, thanks, Lawrence.”

“Yeah, thanks, clown guy!” Reno added.

The orange-haired man laughed, walking away as he waved, “Let us meet again on our journey through this wondrous world, my dear friends! Should we meet, let us dance in celebration and laugh of our tales. Till then.”

We didn’t end up seeing it ourselves, but it was the talk of the city after that: Lawrence handed Oswell off to the guards, who busted down the trafficking ring once it had been put in the hands of the Guild Foundation. Apparently, Lawrence has a lot of authority as an adventurer because the guards listened to him without question.

As for how the rest of the night went…He recalled.

The two ended up back at Reno’s shack, which was hardly a place for two people, which they both seemed to silently know, but he was completely exhausted, and Reno insisted on him doing so.

“C’mon already! I don’t bite!” Reno said.

“…I know, it’s just…” He scratched his cheek.

“It’s just what?” Reno asked.

“Nothing.”

With hesitation, he got onto the mattress directly beside the sapphire-eyed girl, finding himself as frozen as a statue as he didn’t know how to compose himself in such proximity to a girl of similar age.

Surprisingly, for just being a mattress laid directly on the ground, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Maybe I’m just super tired, but this isn’t too bad. Or maybe it’s because I’m laying with somebody…Who knows, he thought.

It was difficult to fall asleep though, since Reno fell into slumber before him and was surprisingly quite the snorer–and selfish with bedspace, as she nearly took the whole mattress for herself.

…I’m definitely not telling Vandread about this. I wonder if he’s out looking for me? No. That guy is all about “hands off” from what I can tell, he thought.

The thought came to his mind to leave and go check-in with Vandread, but glancing at the snoring girl, he decided to do so.

If I stay here, I might get some bad ideas! He thought.

It was an excuse for him to leave the awkward situation, and so, though he was exhausted, he began walking back towards the inn Vandread had checked out for them.

You can show me around the city tomorrow, Reno, he thought.

Though he could definitely say he didn’t like the vibe of the slums during the night as he constantly looked over his shoulder.

Definitely much less appealing than its already unsavory daytime counterpart! He thought.

It took a bit of work, but he did find himself back in the normal section of the city, which was still plenty lively, though not nearly as much as it had been during the day.

…Alright, where’s that inn? It had a lot of carriages parked in front of it, he thought.

There was a relaxing atmosphere to Elsia in the night; there was light in the form of illumination runes, though it was a gentle glow like the moonlight, and the people that strolled through the night carried themselves with respect for those who were already checked-in for the day.

Though, something caught his eye as he walked down one of the streets that was eerily empty–there was one person.

Just a single person, dressed in a gray cloak with a hood hiding their features, walking directly towards him.

What didn’t aid him in feeling uncomfortable with the sudden emptiness of the street was that it was completely silent; not a bird chirping or a cricket sounding out.

At first, he thought it might just be coincidence–that the stranger might simply just be heading that way, but as he moved to one side of the stone-paved road, the figure followed–still walking directly towards him.

…Who is this person? A beggar? He thought.

Just as he turned to face them, summoning his courage, “Who are–”

His words were stifled.

What he expected to be the cloaked figure was instead a woman; her beauty was unmatched by anything he’d seen. It wasn’t a question of preference; she possessed objective beauty.

She had lengthy, snow-white hair and golden eyes that imposed such power and authority he found himself shrinking beneath her gaze.

“Who…?” He muttered out.

The woman looked closely at him as if inspecting his very pores, bringing her hand up to her chin, which was clad in a black glove, “…It seems you enacted control today. Perhaps you may not yet be a problem.”

“Huh? Who are you?”

“Still, it means nothing,” the heavenly woman spoke, ignoring his question, “It changes nothing. You’re still a whelp; perhaps an incubating egg is a more apt term?”

“What’re you talking about?!” He asked.

As he tried to back away, being a blushing mess from having a woman of such beauty close to him, it was futile as she swiftly moved in closer, not allowing him to put any space between them.

“Emilio Dragonheart,” she spoke his name.

He was at a loss for words as she spoke his full name just like that, finding his words caught in his throat as his heart throbbed in his chest.

She knows my name? He thought.

Those eyes she possessed were almost inhuman; angelic, yet fierce and indignant. As he looked into those eyes, it felt like lies could not be spoken, as if the very truth was seen by those irises.

She leaned in closer, speaking directly into his ear with a soft whisper, “Be careful now. I happen to enjoy the show you’ve put on…for now. If you lose yourself to what’s within you, I won’t hesitate.”

“Hesitate to what…?”

As he found the courage to ask his question, he glanced over to find the snow-haired woman was already gone.

“…What the heck was that…?” He mumbled.

This world…is really strange sometimes. I’ve had about enough weirdness for one day, thank you…He thought.