Fast Friends

We followed Lily's directions, leading us toward the outskirts of the city.

It was more countryside over here. There were cabins made of logs, crops growing out in the fields, there were even cows and horses roaming around.

Soon, we arrived at the place we would be staying. In front of us wasn't a house. It wasn't a cabin. And it wasn't some Inn.

The place in front of our gazes was a mansion. A giant, luxurious mansion. The courtyard had a wonderful fountain, spewing water from the top. There was also a cute garden off to the side, there, I could see roses and daisy's, waiting for tomorrow's sunlight. Right now, they'd have to make do with the moon's light instead.

"Hm." Katsu looked up at the mansion's giant structure, "Honestly, I was not expecting her home to be a place like this."

Definetaly not. I thought we might've been heading to a cabin or something, which wasn't all that bad in itself. As long as there was roof over my head, I'd be fine. Unless...the place was some smelly low quality-Inn.

Lamplights lit the walkway, leading to front doors of the mansion.

"Shall we head inside?" Lily asked, a bright smile on her face.

Carrying Emi's sleeping body over my shoulder's, I whispered.

"...Lead the way..."

Once inside, Lily showed me to a room where I could lay Emi down. Gently, I let her off my shoulders, place her on the bed in front of me. Her head rested on a fluffy white pillow.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite." I pulled the blanket over Emi's shoulders, up to Emi's. tucking her in comfortably.

My footsteps were silent, I crept out of the room, closing the door behind.

Lily and I returned to the main hall, where Katsu was waiting patiently, a brown sack over his shoulder.

"So, is this mansion yours's?" I asked, glancing at Lily.

With a proud smirk, she gave a firm nod. "Indeed, it is." She went on, "Actually, It was handed down to me from my parents when they moved away." Her smirk quickly faded into a frown, "Now, I'm left with this gigantic mansion and nobody to keep me company."

"Aww. Don't worry, we'll keep you company while we're here." I looked over to Katsu, "Isn't that, right?"

"We'll try." he said. His word changed the topic, "Is there a place where I can put this?" he was referring to the sack over his shoulder. The weight was probably getting him tired.

"Ah. Right. How rude of me." Lily giggled, "You can go ahead and chose any room you'd like. None are occupied, of course."

"Appreciated." Katsu muttered as he passed by. He headed up the staircase.

Knowing him, he was probably going to choose a room that had a good view of the surroundings. He was just prepared like that.

I'd wait a bit till finding a room for myself, I wanted to talk a bit with Lily.

Both of us took a seat on the softness of the sofa.

"Oh! Would you like some tea?" Lily asked.

"I would. That sounds great." I replied.

"For sure!"

She left down the hall, heading to what I'm sure was the kitchen area. When she returned, she placed a warm cup of green tea on the table in front. Eyes closed, and a gentle smile, Lily leaned back on the sofa, taking a sip of her tea.

"Ahhh." a sigh released from between her lips. Her cheeks brightened up, "I forgot how good this kind of tea is."

Call me crazy, but I don't remember green tea being all that amazing. Sure, it was good, but not extraordinary.

I gave it a try, putting my lips on the edge of the cup.

Sipp...

As the warmness of the tea entered my mouth, a sweet flavor made my taste buds jump. It almost tasted like the sweetness of caramel.

"Woah..." I murmured, "...Is this really green tea? Doesn't tase anything like it. It's a lot sweeter than I remember." Not that I was complaining. It was super tasty.

Lily giggled, her palm over her lips, "That's because it's not green tea."

"Huh?"

My mistake. I had assumed it was green tea because of how it looked. But, if it wasn't green tea, then what exactly was it?

Lily raised her finger as she explained.

"You see, it's a special kind of tea. One that costs a fortune. It's called 'Elven tea' I'm sure you can guess where it comes form based of the name."

Until now, I didn't realize the luxury I'd been enjoying. So, my mouth was sure to savor the taste with each sip I took.

"If it costs a fortune, is it really okay for me to be drinking this?" I asked.

"Sure it is. No prob. I have a good friend that gets lots of this stuff. Too much of it, if you ask me." Lily shifted the topic, "So. What made you decide to come to the capitol? Did you come for sight-seeing? Or did you come for one of the numerous quests?"

Katsu and I came here to investigate something. But as far as that goes, he hasn't told me what it was that we're investigating. I was totally in the dark about it.

But if we were talking about my real reason for coming to the capitol, then it was to prevent the end of the world. If I just said that, it probably wouldn't sound believable. Especially once I mentioned that the goddess put me up to the task.

"Well, we came to investigate something." I said.

"Oooh. An investigation??" Lily sat at the edge of her seat, intrigued, "I love mysteries!" She struck me with a blizzard of questions, all at once, "What are you investigating? Is it a murder?? What about a robbery? Maybe some dark secret about the kingdom that you're brining to light?? Or what about a missing persons case? Perhaps you're in search of a magical item?"

Truthfully, I couldn't confirm nor deny any of these questions. I wasn't even aware what we were investigating.

Speaking of that, Katsu was supposed to fill me in once we got here.

I'll bother him about it later.

To keep the conversation going, I lied and said we were searching for a serial killer.

Just as I expected, Lily had a gaping mouth expression. She was in suspense and wanted to know more.

Before we knew it, one thing led to another, the two of us were talking about different kinds of things. Hobbies, favorites foods, favorites colors, all the kinds of questions you ask a new friend.

We stayed up for hours, just talking it up. Lily and I barley met today, yet; we were already fast friends. Soon, we yawned and decided to call it a night. Lily was the first to leave for some nice shut-eye. Her figure faded down the hall.

When I took that final sip of sweet caramel-like tea, I too, was ready to clock in for the night. I left for upstairs and picked chose the perfect room for myself. A room that had a nice view of sparkling city lights.

Door shut, lights off, this was a moment I had all to myself. A moment to gaze at the luminous city, as well as the starry night sky, both at the same time. Every couple of seconds or so, there was a cold breeze that would come through my window and blow my hair aside.

This night was perfect.

But little did I know, there was someone else enjoying this scene right beside me.

A familiar face.

It was my familiar face.

My other self: Maya.

When I noticed her staring at the city view over my shoulder, I almost jolted back. Her eyes had the same ice-cold look as before, even while taking in the wonderful sight. It's like, she simply didn't care, or simply could feel anything. An entire lack of emotion.

More importantly, how is she here? Doesn't she only live inside my mind?

As if Maya could read my thoughts, she answered my questions.

"You're correct. I do live inside your mind. But I can take on a ghostly form as such as this one." not once did she pay any mind to me, she kept her gaze directed out the window, "Only you can see me. Even if we were standing in the center of the city, only you would be aware of my presence."

She turned around and walked right over to the bed, then sat down. Her eyes shifted toward me. She finally acknowledged my presence.

"Earlier, you were terribly beaten by slimes. That was a disappointment."

"Y-you were watching all that??"

"We do share the same eyes after all." Maya nodded, "You failed to utilize your skills effectively. And you failed to come up with a solution."

What exactly was I supposed to do in a situation like that? those slimes were pretty darn powerful. Their health points were high, but not only that, they had the ability to regenerate from all damage within moments. With my current power, what solution was there? If there even was a solution.

Maya crossed her legs. Her of her hands pressed together. The moonlight shone through the window, giving a blue shine to her eyes.

"There was a solution. If I were the one in control, I would've specifically utilized the analyze skill to the fullest. You know that skill's importance depends on how you use it. Almost anything can be analyzed. Footprints, body language, spells, weaknesses, you name it. If you wanted to, you could've come up with a solution, simply by analyzing the best course of action."

Of course, most of what she said went over my head. But some of it did get through. There sounded to be a lot that I didn't understand about my [Analyze] skill.

Maya stood up.

"For example. Let's I was to charge at you with a blade in hand. You could use analyze to come up with a solution. Assuming you had the time."

I sort of got it.

This was how my other persona thinks. It sounded like she was better at everything. My current self was nothing in comparison.

What was the point of her saying all of this? Was she trying break me or something?

What was the goal?

I sat on the ledge of the window.

"You're simply better. I get it... Can you please get to the point?" I tried to hide my frown, but there was just no hiding anything from my other persona. She knew everything about me, we shared a body after all.

Maya explained, "I'm not saying all of this for no reason at all. Remember this: everything I do has a meaning behind it. Nothing is done for the sole reason of doing."

Then, what was she getting at?

She kept on, "You asked me to make you stronger. Didn't you?"

I did.

That one night in the forest, emotions were flooding me. I guess I was still adjusting to this new world. I remember what I said. While crying, this is what left my mouth: "Show me...show me how to be stronger..."

Since then, there's been no change in my mindset. I still wanted to grow stronger, at all costs.

"So, where do I start?" I asked.

"Hm." Briefly, Maya's eyes looked at the ceiling in thought, "You can start by utilizing your skills to their fullest. If you can use them creatively, even stronger monsters will fall to you."

Somewhere along the lines, the drowsiness started to kick in. My ability to pay attention wasn't at its best. But I can recall a few things that Maya said.

For one, she gave me encouragement. She said that with my current power, I could defeat an S-rank monster if I played my cards right. Though, it wouldn't be easy.

And the last thing Maya mentioned was about Katsu. She mentioned that i should pay attention to the way he handles things. His tactics, his knowledge, all of it was vital to growing stronger.

In her own words, she said this before leaving:

"Katsu is a special one. Keep him close."

It wasn't clear why my alternate persona had taken a liking to Katsu, yet I agreed with her thoughts.

There was a bunch that I could learn from him.