Chapter 326: Of Teeth and Sandwiches

Chapter 326: Of Teeth and Sandwiches

Garina stared at Lee in shock, but Lee was far more preoccupied with the new meal she’d claimed for herself. She studied the spiny fish for a few seconds, then raised the whole thing to her mouth and took a bite – from the spines.

Loud cracking noises came from her mouth as she chewed. A moment later, she swallowed. “Mm. Crunchy. That’s good.”

She didn’t give Garina any time to ask for her meal back. Within just a few seconds, Lee had mowed through the majority of the spikey fish, leaving Garina with nothing but the food Lee had given her.

After one last glance at Lee, Garina snagged one of the much easier to eat fishes from Lee’s plate and popped the whole thing into her mouth. And, even in spite of her cold features, a look of delight spread across her features.

“This is actually pretty good,” Garina allowed.

Disaster seemingly averted, everyone dug into their meals in full. Lee, as usual, was the first to finish, but the others didn’t take much longer. The food was fantastic, and before long, all of their plates had been polished clean.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

Lee let out a curse and rubbed at her mouth.

“I bit my tongue,” Lee said, scrunching her nose in annoyance. “I don’t get how you haven’t bit yourself while we were talking. These teeth are too long.”

“Did you... copy my teeth?” Garina asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. I told you they looked cool, didn’t I?” Lee asked, giving Garina an open-mouthed smile. “They’re not very functional, though. Why’d you make them so big? Was it just because they looked cool?”

Garina looked down to her own, empty plate, then cleared her throat. “I’d never make a decision for such a petty reason. My only concern is accomplishing my goals, not how I look while doing it.”

Lee shrugged. “Okay. Thanks for the fish. It tasted good.”

Garina’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand you at all.”

“Thanks.”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” Garina said. “Your order was clearly better than mine. Why did you swap our plates, then thank me for giving you the worse one?”

“Because it looked like you didn’t like the spikey thing and I knew I’d like it just as much as the stuff I ordered, so more people would be happy if we swapped.”

“We have nothing between us. Beyond that – we’re clearly directly opposed. Your view of life is stupid and infantile. What’s the point of doing something like that?” Garina demanded. “We have no reason to help each other.”

“I don’t need a reason. It’s fun to make people happy, and it’s not like I got any sadder because of it.” Lee shrugged. “And you liked my fish more than yours, right? So I was right. Thus, you were wrong, not me.”

“Are you saying that my acceptance of your fish is equivalent to losing our argument?”

“Yep.”

“That has absolutely nothing to do with it, though!”

“You’re the one who took the fish,” Lee said with a snicker. “I didn’t give it to you because I’m scared of you. How do you justify that?”

Garina opened her mouth, then closed it as her brow furrowed in abject confusion. Noah didn’t blame her. Half the time, he didn’t understand Lee either.

The waiter returned to their table and everyone paid for their meals. The prices were high, but Lee didn’t even blink at having to pay for his food. Everyone’s food had run around fifty gold, which was obscenely expensive for a single meal – but Noah couldn’t help but feel that it had been worth it.

“Okay. Nice meeting you,” Lee said. “I want to sleep now. Can we go back?”

“Sure,” Noah said with a relieved laugh. It looked like they were somehow going to make it out of this without a fight. “It’s been a pleasure. I hope the two of you find the thing you’re looking for.”

“Another thing I took on. I do not disagree with the Church of Repose,” Ferdinand replied, still not sure why he was giving Garina as much information as he was. “I think they do good in the world. They gave me powerful Runes and have ensured that I do not want for much, so I have done my work dutifully, for the most part. On the other hand, Lee actually believed what she said. I find that respectable.”

“So do you agree with her or not?” Garina demanded. “Stop skirting the damn question.”

“She said a lot of things,” Ferdinand said carefully. “I did not agree with all of them, but I did with some. I think that power is a means to an end rather than an ultimate goal, and the pursuit of it is not fulfilling. I do not feel as strongly as she did about love, though. Perhaps I would if I had established any meaningful connections within the Church, but alas, that never happened.”

Garina leaned back, looking up into the night sky. “You disagree that power is the only thing we need, then.”

“I do. I do not think power makes people respect you. It makes them fear you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being feared. It’s no different than being awed, which is what the avatar of your Church does.”

“It is,” Ferdinand allowed. “And I’d imagine both paths are equally as lonesome.”

“You’re suddenly real philosophical. Did you decide that you weren’t scared of me anymore?”

“I think anyone that isn’t scared of you is a fool,” Ferdinand said with a dry laugh. “But I have spent enough time in your presence to believe that you would not kill me for no reason. Perhaps you will prove me wrong.”

Garina grunted. Ferdinand snuck a glance at her out of the corner of his eye, and he was surprised to find that she was studying the ground, a small frown on her lips and her expression downcast.

“I’m not sure if it means much, but I find your company rather enjoyable when you aren’t trying to kill me,” Ferdinand said. “It would have been boring traveling alone.”

Garina looked up at him, a flash of surprise crossing her face before she snuffed it out. “Very funny. Softening me up isn’t going to work, though. I prefer it when my men are scared.”

“Then I suspect you rarely have issue in that department.”

“Flatterer,” Garina said, rolling her eyes. Her stomach rumbled, and she cleared her throat as Ferdinand gave her an aghast look.

“You’re still hungry?”

“Got a problem with that?”

“No. It was just a question.” Ferdinand reached into his bag and pulled out a wrapped package, revealing a sandwich within it. The sandwich had gotten rather squished, but it still looked mostly as it should. He held it out. “Here.”

Garina eyed the sandwich, then took it from his hands. “You said you were out.”

“I lied.”

“Do you have any more?” Garina’s tone made it clear that lying again was going to be disadvantageous for Ferdinand’s continued health.

“I’m afraid not. That’s it. I’ll make more tomorrow.”

Garina grunted. She took a bite out of the sandwich, and the two sat in silence for a few more seconds. Ferdinand busied himself studying the garden. It wasn’t the most beautiful garden he’d ever seen – the Church had a grand one that would have put anything in the Arbalest Empire to shame.

No, the garden in front of him was fairly plain. In some ways, it was almost ugly. The vines were sharp and thorny, and there were far too few flowers. Even the scents were weak – and yet, it was still enjoyable.

Garina touched Ferdinand on the shoulder, and he nearly leapt out of his skin in surprise. He looked down to find that she was holding out one half of his sandwich. Blinking in disbelief, he took it.

“Don’t get used to it.” Garina’s eyes were firmly fixed on the garden before them. “And make more next time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”