Arrival

-----Yui's POV

Things went as smooth as we expected. With the 30 minute breaks during the days, it made for a perfect time for Kaede to get the blood she needed from me. Thank god for Olivia's weak bladder as it might have been a lot harder doing it discreetly. Also during the 2 days that past, Olivia has grown more comfortable on the idea of sleeping on my lap like before, little by little slowly breaking that master/servant relationship of ours. Kaede for the most part wasn't against it thankfully, but I'll be sure to give her one as well if she needs it. Maybe on our trip back we can re-arrange something.

Suddenly, the carriage comes to a halt, causing everyone to wake up, but I continue to rest my head on Kaede like I've been doing.

Caravan Driver: "We're here!"

Wait, we're here? It was a different announcement like all the other stops, could it be? I move my head up from Kaede's shoulder and take a peak outside. There I see that we have arrived in a town of some sort.

Kaede: "Let's go!"

Yui: "H-hey, hold up~"

She immediately bolted out of the caravan filled with excitement.

Yui: "Olive, we've arrived. Lets go."

Olivia: "Mmm, okay."

The moment Olivia frees my leg from her head, I also get up to chase after Kaede with Olivia following close behind. She didn't run too far thankfully, only a few feet in front of the caravan waiting for us.

Yui: "So this is Azalea?"

Kaede: "Mhmm! Come. We're going straight to the guild!"

Looking around, Azalea was a lot different than the other towns, even the buildings were different styles from both Maemont and Pontia. I look behind me to make sure Olivia is with us as we both follow Kaede. Looking at her from the side, I could see just how excited she is, with a smile I haven't seen in a long time as her eyes are focused in the direction we're heading.

It didn't take us too long until we stumbled upon the guild. We were walking quite fast so the other adventurers from the caravans were still far behind us, making us the first to arrive inside the guild. Upon entering, I immediately noticed how much smaller it was compared to the other guilds, and also the lady at the desk looked to have feathers around her ears or something? I could tell she's a demi-human but this is the first time seeing one working behind the reception desk.

?: "Kaede!"

Kaede: "I'm home!"

The lady at the desk immediately stopped what she was doing and ran up to Kaede as they both share in a deep embrace. My initial thought was out of jealousy at how close these two seem, but I was quickly calmed down once I heard her name.

Kaede: "It took a while Fleur, but here I am~"

So this was the same Fleur in all those letters...

Fleur: "Took you long enough. I take it this is Yui?"

Yui: "Yes, it's nice to meet you Fleur!"

I bow my head towards her before raising my head a few moments later, but the moment I do she attacks me next in the form of a hug. It was at this point I realized how friendly Fleur is as I gingerly wrap my arms around her, reciprocating her hug.

Fleur: "Nice to meet you too!"

She lets me go as I go back to join Kaede's side.

Kaede: "Where's Faye?"

Fleur: "She's tending to the wounded right now. The attacks recently has brought us more work than ever, so the medics need the extra hand."

Kaede: "Where is she? I can help."

Fleur: "She should be at the barracks near the west gate. Oh but also-"

Mell: "Kaede!"

She must've heard the commotion as Mell could be seen running down the stairs. Kaede bends down just in time for Mell to run straight into her arms, almost toppling her over from the amount of force.

Kaede: "Told you I'd be back, hehe."

Seeing Kaede like this, patting Mell's head only makes her look more like a mother.

Olivia: "Uhm. My name's Olivia..."

Fleur: "Hmm? Oh sorry. You also a friend of Kaede?"

Olivia: "M-hmm."

More footsteps could be heard coming from upstairs as two more heads peak down revealing the familiar faces of-

Sicily/Lillian: "Kaede!"

She sure is popular huh, getting swarmed by all these people. Just like Mell, they rushed downstairs only to jump into Kaede's arms as well. But unlike Mell, Sicily and Lillian both had hoods over their heads.

Sicily: "I see you brought Yui along with you. Hey Yui~"

Yui: "Hello again."

Kaede: "Glad to see you guys are doing okay."

Lillian: "Mhmm. Fleur and Faye have been a huge help for us, giving us a reliable source of income. Thank you again."

Fleur: "It's really nothing. A friend of Kaede's is a friend of ours."

Kaede: "Actually about that. Fleur, if you're free later tonight, I'd like to talk with you about something."

Fleur: "Sure! Faye will be taking the night shift when she gets back so I should be free."

Kaede: "Okay great."

?: "Sis! I got off early. Some adventurers came by and took over so-"

Someone came through the door who has the same appearance as Fleur; the same green hair and feather-like ears. I can only assume that her 'sister' would be Fleur. Not a moment later after stopping her sentence, she rushes forward to Kaede, hugging just like everyone else had. She was slightly shorter than Kaede with Fleur being just a little taller instead.

Kaede: "Hey Faye, long time no see."

Faye: "How long have you been here! Sis?!"

Kaede: "Oh, don't worry, I just got here. And actually I was planning on heading out to find you, haha."

Faye: "Okay good! I didn't want to miss this."

Kaede: "Faye, this here is Yui, and Olivia here is my friend."

Once more, I bow to Faye, but unlike her sister, she opted to mimic me and bow back instead which I thought was quite funny.

Yui: "Nice to meet you Faye."

Oliva: "Yes! Nice to meet you also. My name's Olivia"

Faye: "Mmm! Kaede has talked a lot about you before she left. I'm glad to finally meet you. Nice to meet you too Olivia."

Finally, I believe that's all the greetings out of the way. I do wonder what it is that Kaede wants to talk about with Fleur, but I wont get in the way as the look on Kaede's face from before looked a tad bit serious.

Sicily: "How long will you guys be staying here?"

Kaede: "Well, we're on break for a while now. So I'd say maybe a couple weeks?"

Yui: "We're also here to help out with the current monster threat."

Faye: "I knew this timing was weird. So you all came with those other adventurers then?"

Yui/Kaede/Olivia: "Yes."

Yui: "But we wanted to come here first. I really wanted to meet you two, the people who raised Kaede."

Fleur: "Hehe. Well I guess she was a little kid when we took her in huh."

Faye: "Mhmm! She sure made things difficult. Especially when you brought home Silver with you, haha."

Silver? Are they talking about the metal? But from the way she said it, it seems more like a person or something.

Kaede: "Ah... I hope he's been behaving."

Faye: "He has. He actually makes for an excellent way to get rid of left overs from the diner."

So Silver IS a person, or- wait no, an animal?

Yui: "Silver is?"

Kaede: "Oh! Yeah lemme show you guys."

Once again, Kaede led us towards the back room of the guild. Normally this would be for staff only, but as I look over my shoulder, Fleur gives a smile as if saying it's okay while she goes back to attending to the other adventurers. Faye on the other hand decided to follow us as well.

We walk out a back door as we're now back outside, the wind blowing against our hair as I see what looked to be a small little house, almost like a dog house in a way. That was when I saw a white fur coated animal walk out of said house, looking to be the size of a large dog back in my old world.

Faye: "I ended up making him a little home while you were gone. He seems to like it."

Kaede: "Thank you for looking after him Faye."

Faye: "No problem! He gives me great company as well."

As she says that, she bends down on her knees as the wolf-like dog approaches her, rubbing his neck up against her as she begins to ruffle his neck.

Kaede: "This is Silver. It's shocking to see how much he's grown now."

Yui/Olivia: "Wow~"

Olivia: "Aren't wolves monsters? How is he so-"

Faye: "I have no clue. Kaede just brought him back one night and ever since, he's been domesticated just like a horse."

I couldn't voice my thoughts with Olivia here, but I do think it's because Kaede's a monster as well in some way? Maybe Silver sees her as a leader, doing what she says. But then again, Faye was the one that Silver walked up to.

Kaede: "Well, he was a small pup back then, so maybe the monster inside him never fully emerged?"

Faye: "Yeah, that's the conclusion Fleur and I came to, haha."

I go to bend down on my knees next to Faye, with Olivia following suit as I extend my hand out towards Silver. He sniffs my hand briefly before pushing his muzzle under my hand, bringing me to start patting him. I never had a dog back home, but my grandparent's did. I used to go over to their house every so often with my parents. They lived out on the country side, with not much of a population, making it a very quiet and peaceful place compared to the city life. I find myself smiling thinking about those memories as my hands drifts over Silver's head, with Olivia joining me moments later.

Faye: "I'll reserves a couple rooms for you guys next to Kaede's room where Sicily and the others are staying. I feel like the place will be filled up in no time."

Yui: "Thank you Faye."

Olivia: "Yes! Thank you very much."

For my first interaction with a demi-human, they don't seem all that bad. Kaede said we'd be here for a couple weeks, and so far I find myself looking forward to it.