Chapter 18 - Ranked

After the Beast of Carnage was killed, the mist that covered that entire part of the forest began to rapidly disappear. This meant that Pavagar City was officially free from the danger of the 'evil spirit' that had plagued it for the past few weeks.

Willow was elated. His heart was beating so fast in his chest that he could literally feel it against his skin. The sensation was... unique.

Soon, Aria came back from the trance-like state she had been in while the Beast of Carnage was sucking the life energy out of her. Lying with her back on the grass of that gray clearing, she saw Willow panting, her chest rising and falling. She also saw the creature that seemed to be made of pure darkness and steel disappearing. At that moment, she smiled and put one hand on the ground to sit up.

"Looks like you saved me." She said, looking straight ahead.

Willow turned towards her and held out her right hand, offering to help her up. "Luckily, yes."

Aria looked at his hand and took it. When she stood, she patted her skirt with her hands, brushing off the dust and bits of grass. Then she looked at Willow again and asked:

"Yes, I guess I was lucky. How did you find me? Don't tell me you've been following me all this time..." She turned sideways and gave him a quizzical look, as if she feared he would answer his theory in the affirmative.

"N-no! Of course not!" Willow tried at the same moment to clear any misinterpretation from Aria's mind.

"Puft~!" Aria let out some air through her mouth and smiled. "I know you don't, I'm just kidding! Hahahah!"

Willow's eyes widened, and he became a little shy as he watched such a beautiful elf laugh at him. Then he turned away to hide the redness on his face.

It took Aria a few seconds to calm down and when she finally did; she took a deep breath like someone who was almost out of breath.

"Ha... Anyway, I really have to thank you, Willow. If it hadn't been for you finding me, I don't know if I would have made it out of this alive. That creature took me and the others completely by surprise and by stealth. The boys wanted to separate ten meters from each other so that we could cover a better area, and also so that we wouldn't be trapped with an evil spirit in a tight space with so many trees. I went with their archer, while Petgeon and the other went together."

"So that's how Kevneth survived." Willow said.

"What? Did you see him? I only saw him running towards some bushes when the monster attacked me."

"Is he all right?"

"Well, I don't know about that. I only know that he was begging for help in one of the town squares. When I saw him, I went to talk to him to understand the situation, and I had to come, but he didn't come because he seemed a bit traumatized."

Aria sighed, looking relieved. "Ah, but that's good. At least one person I managed to help today... But that monster..." She looked at where the creature was.

"It wasn't an evil spirit." Willow said.

"I know... If it was, I would have been much more useful. Elves like me use spirit magic. So, as we're more sensitive, we can sense certain disturbances. When there's an evil spirit somewhere, we can feel a weird sensation, like a strange restlessness. This time, I didn't feel that. In fact, I didn't feel anything at all. It was as if, for some reason, when the mist appeared, the spirits also stopped talking."

"The thing we faced was a Beast of Carnage. At least, that's the most popular name. It's a Berserker-ranked creature, and it's a mist-shaped paranormal monster that can create a physical version of itself inside the mist. The easiest way to defeat it is by breaking the Iron Heart. Which is like a core that lies inside the 'Avatar' created by the mist."

"Oh~!" Aria was surprised as she listened to Willow explain about the monster. "You know a lot about monsters for a former farm slave."

Again, Willow's face turned red. "To be honest, I wasn't a slave, but a normal worker."

"But those clothes..."

"They were work clothes!"

"Okay, okay. I got it..."

Unfortunately, supernatural and paranormal monsters, unlike physical monsters, had no drops. So the only rewards Willow received for defeating the Beast of Carnage were the Experience Points for killing it and the rewards from the mission of opportunity. Still, he was happy, because as much as he hadn't gotten a rare shard, he had gotten something much more important.

When Aria and Willow finally reached the dirt road, they looked back briefly, admiring the green and noisy forest while comparing it to the memory of that place overtaken by mist. Suddenly, the contemplative silence was interrupted by a loud and unexpected sound.

*Grrr*

Willow even looked at his stomach, thinking it was his stomach. However, the stomach that had rumbled so loudly was actually that of the noble-looking elf next to him.

Aria widened her eyes and instinctively put her hand to her belly, as if trying to hide the noise. Willow raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Hungry again, Aria? After everything you devoured last night?" He asked with a hand in front of his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter.

Her cheeks tinged a light shade of pink, contrasting with the intense blue of her eyes that stared at the floor.

"It's not like I had any control over it... I used too much magic... and using mana makes anyone hungry."

"You knew the Beast was immune to magic, right?" He asked with a hint of teasing in his tone.

She squinted at him, frowning. "Well... I knew, yes. But I didn't have another card up my sleeve. Unlike you humans, elves don't tend to do much physical activity."

"And they're still known for their agility."

"That's because Sylvanor is basically made up of large forests."

"I see. So, since you're hungry, let me repay you for the dinner and the night in the tavern that you paid for me two years ago."

"You saved my life. I think we're even, really."

Willow nodded. "Even? No, I don't think so. Have you forgotten that you did me three favors?"

"Three?"

Willow smiled and held up his fingers, starting to count them one by one. "First, you paid for dinner." he said, unfolding his thumb. "Then you paid for the accommodation." He held out his second finger. "And lastly, you convinced those adventurers to give me a lift."

"That doesn't count, Willow. You just saved my life!"

"Where I come from, saving one life is worth two favors. That means there's one left. So here's my deal: let me take you to dinner." Willow replied, and he gestured with his head for him to follow. "Come on, Aria. I won't take no for an answer."

Aria sighed, shaking her head. "All right, all right. Since you're so insistent, I'll enjoy it."

Willow laughed briefly, but he had forgotten one "small" detail.

Less than an hour after they found a cheap inn in Pavagar, Aria already had a dozen bowls lined up next to her on the table.

Willow was once again amazed to see her eating so much. Aria devoured each bowl of stew quickly, and before he had even finished half his meal, she was already attacking a mushroom pie.

"You eat like there's no tomorrow," he commented, chuckling and breaking into a cold sweat as his wallet ached.

"I need to get my mana back somehow." Aria replied, wasting no time, her mouth almost full.

Willow laughed and joined her, enjoying every bite. Soon, the evening arrived, and for a moment, Willow even forgot that he wasn't from that world.

When they had finally finished eating, Willow asked for the bill. Aria was leaning back in her chair with a satisfied smile on her face, looking completely content. He was, however, overcome by a slight feeling of despair when he saw the total written on the paper the waiter handed over.

The amount was practically all he had!

2500 Drakis...

[Balance: 3000 Drakis].

"Well, I knew that wouldn't be cheap..." He sighed, materializing a bag of silver coins.

Willow weighed the bag of coins in his hands before handing it to the attendant. Her grateful smile didn't calm him down, but he decided not to overthink it. Willow wouldn't have the heart to complain, anyway; after all, they had been through a lot that day.

As the attendant counted the coins, he casually commented:

"You're adventurers, aren't you? Do you already have a place to spend the night? If not, please consider staying with us. We're offering a special discount for those who dine at the inn."

Willow opened his mouth to deny it, as he had already spent too much money and would even prefer to set up camp, but Aria spoke first.

"Willow, please let me repay you for dinner. After all, I ate a lot." She said, looking at him and then at the attendant. "How much would it be to spend the night here?"

"Well, with the discount applied, it's 200 Drakis per room. But if you want to save even more, we have rooms with an enormous bed that can fit two people. This one is 300 Drakis."

300 Drakis was equivalent to 6 bronze coins. It was very expensive. Normally, a normal worker would get that after a full day's work.

At that moment, Aria opened her coin purse and saw that there wasn't that much money left. "W-well, I think we'll take a large bedroom." She said with a nervous tone that made it obvious that she didn't have much money left.

"Aria, are you sure? That seems to be almost all you have..." Willow said.

She lifted her chin, unflustered. "We're already here. And, all things considered, it's only fair that we get a quiet night's sleep. Better to sleep with one less bed than none, don't you think?"

He laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, you're right."

The room they settled into was small, with a window facing the back of the inn. In the center, the bed, which was supposed to be a large bed, was actually only a little larger than a single, perhaps for a large person, and which was actually too small for two.

They exchanged glances and immediately both blushed, because they knew that this would cause them to sleep glued to each other.