16 Chapter 16 Thomas and Cali’s Visit to The Market

Upon waking up, Thomas seen a familiar roof, the roof of Lily's bedroom. Thomas stared at it for a moment or two before sitting up and holding his head with his jacket off and his bandaged left hand and arm as he said, "My head is killing me." After a moment or two, Thomas noticed that his entire left hand and arm had been bandaged neatly. Thomas stared at his hand for a moment as he said, "I must've fallen asleep at some point… but when did I come back here… and why am I in Lily's bed?" Thomas stared at the door for a moment before standing up and glancing at Lily's bed. He stared at it for a moment as he said, "Sleeping in a bed ain't bad… but it's definitely too hot for me." After heading downstairs, Thomas seen Lily and Scarlett talking at the counter with Cali as he said "Oh right… I forgot about her." Thomas sat down beside Lily as he asked, "So what did I miss?" The three of them all stared at him in silence for a short while before he asked, "Is something wrong?" Cali stared at him for another moment before she said, "You've been asleep for three days." Lily nodded as she said, "Yeah, you wouldn't wake up!" Scarlett continued to stare at him for a short while before asking, "Weren't your eyes grey?" Thomas shrugged as he said, "Probably." Lily stared at his eyes intently as she said, "She's right, your eyes are back to orange and blue." Thomas glanced at Cali as he said, "Ignoring the eye thing right now… I'll take it you brought me back after I fell asleep?" Cali nodded as she said, "I also bandaged you and recognized your other injuries." Cali grabbed his left hand as she said, "The burns should be gone on your hand; however, you have three broken bones in your left-hand, so I don't think you'll be using any magic in that arm for a while." Thomas stared at her as he asked, "Why not?" Cali pointed to the three spots where his arm was broken as she said, "Having even a slight crack in a bone can cause mana problems… but with a broken one, you won't even be able to get mana to go through properly."

After mentioning this, Lily stared at Thomas excitedly as she asked, "Is it true you can now use fire magic?" Thomas held his right hand up and said blaze, causing his hand to catch on fire as he nodded and said, "Yeah… but only from my hands… but I can control the heat and size of it if I pour in more mana." Cali nodded as she said, "Yes and that's exactly why your hands were burnt, that spell only protects your hands from a certain degree of heat, once you go over that limit you'll start taking damage as well." Thomas sat there thinking for a moment as he said, "But other than that I'm fine right?" Cali nodded as she said, "Generally speaking." Thomas then glanced at Lily and Scarlett as he then asked, "So what about you two?" Lily smiled excitedly as she said, "I've been doing some quests with Scarlett." Lily paused for a moment and then said, "But I also waited around for you to wake up for a while… but Cali said she'd take care of you." Thomas glanced at Cali with a look of surprise for a moment before she said, "Don't look so surprised, even I have a soft spot for people." Lily then glanced at Cali as she said, "Yeah, but you act so cold towards everyone." Cali stared at her as she said, "Cold? Since when have I acted cold towards anyone?" Lily stared at her for a moment as she said, "It's not that you're trying to be cold… it's just that your reactions are pretty bland." Cali thought for a moment before nodding and saying, "I suppose that's true." Cali stared at Lily and Thomas for a moment as she said, "If you two do go out to do more of those quests together, be careful, remember that your left arm is broken right now." Thomas rose his injured arm as he asked, "How long will it take to heal?" Cali stared at it for a moment before saying, "If you put it in a sling and don't move it for a while… I'd say a little over a month." Thomas stared at his arm for a moment as he asked, "And what's a sling?" Cali reached beneath the counter and pulled out a sling for a broken arm as she said, "It's something that carries the weight of your arm, so you won't have to move it." Upon putting it on, Cali said, "You should be fine for now… just remember not to move it."

After another moment or two Cali reached back underneath the counter and handed Thomas his jacket back as she said, "Oh, and before I forget, I fixed it as best I could but with the giant hole in the back it was quite difficult." Thomas took the jacket and then put it on as he said, "Looks the same to me… before I got a hole punched through me… not after." Cali nodded as she said, "I assumed as much, besides I doubt you'd insult my efforts." Thomas put his hands into the pockets of the jacket as he asked, "Is that really something I would never do?" Cali nodded as she said, "Correct, you're definitely too nice." Scarlett nodded as she said this and then said, "She's right, you even spared me despite me being a part of the demon lord's army." Thomas began to blush a little as he said with a slightly embarrassed look, "That's… kinda odd to hear." Cali thought for a moment and then blushed as well as she nervously said, "W-wait, I didn't mean it like that!" Scarlett continued to stare at them as she said, "What I said doesn't quite sound as flirty as what you said." Cali glanced at her with a bright red face while shouting, "It just sounded wrong, It wasn't meant to sound like that." Lily stared at Cali with a big smile as she excitedly said, "I've never seen you act this lively before!" Cali glanced at her with her still red face as she said, "Please… forget you ever saw this." Lily smiled smugly as she excitedly said, "Never!" Cali seemed disappointed in herself as she mumbled, "I should've thought my sentence through." While Cali was sulking, Lily glanced at Thomas and asked, "So do you wanna do a quest now that you're awake?" Thomas thought for a moment before saying, "I think I'll stick to some minor quests for a little while." While Thomas was standing there, a blue box appeared that read "Special event recognized! Spend the day with Cali!" Thomas stared at the box with a confused look as he mumbled, "The heck is this?" Thomas glanced at Cali, who was fidgeting with her hands as he said, "I think I'll just stay at the inn today." Lily seemed disappointed at the sound of this, but soon cheered up as she said, "Looks like it's just you and me again today, Scarlett."

Thomas glanced back at the box as he looked at the reward to see once again that it was just three question marks. Once Scarlett and Lily were gone, Cali asked, "Is there a reason you didn't go with them?" Thomas shrugged as he said, "Not really… just aimless curiosity." Cali flinched at the sound of this and blushed again as she asked, "And what does that mean?" Thomas shrugged once more as he said, "Dunno, like I said, it's just aimless curiosity." Cali began to fidget with her hands once more before saying, "T-then… would you like to go to the market with me… and purchase some ingredients for the inn guests?" Thomas stared at her for a moment and then nodded as he thought to himself, "I've gotta stick with her for the whole day? I wonder what the reward will be?" Once the two of them left Cali kept glancing at him with a semi red face without saying a word, Thomas didn't think much of it, however, but he was interested in this market she mentioned. After walking for a short while the two of them arrived at a store that had a wide open front with no door, the entire place was walk in and there were counters and stands and all sorts of tables with dozens of different kinds of food items on them, they were old made from what looked to be an old wood in fact, the entire store seemed quite old, the wooden support beams looked so old that they looked as though they might collapse at any minute, but they also looked quite sturdy. Upon entering Cali waves to the store owner and said, "Hello again sir, are there any deals I should be aware of?" The man also seemed very old, and he had to squint in order to see Cali from the small distance in between them as he said, "Yes… the potatoes have a deal on them… for every ten pounds bought… you get two pounds free." Cali glanced at the potatoes that were sitting in barrels and then at Thomas while slightly blushing as she asked, "W-would you mind… helping me carry them?" Thomas glanced at his broken arm and then held up his other hand as he asked, "Is it alright if I use storage magic to carry it around?"

Cali nodded with her still red face as she nervously said, "Y-yes… that's fine… just don't exhaust yourself." After purchasing two dozen pounds of potatoes and some other items, Thomas stored them all away and then asked, "Is there anywhere else we need to go?" After a moment or two of thinking, Cali's face became even more red, and then she nodded and said "I-I… I suppose… I suppose there's one place we can go for a short while." After following Cali once again, she led him to the dock and said, "W-we can buy some fish here." Thomas seemed intrigued by this as he walked towards the edge of the dock and said, "Even though I've seen it recently, it still surprises me." As Thomas spoke his mind while standing there, Cali mumbled "I can't think straight… between what Grace said a few days ago and my embarrassing slip up today, I just can't focus." Cali stared at him for another moment and then shook her head as she mumbled, "We elves are supposed to be able to read most creatures rather easily… but I can't figure out nothing about him… not even life span or age." While standing there trying to think, Thomas walked over to her and stood there silently for a moment listening to her mutter to herself before asking, "Is that thing from earlier still bothering you?" Cali glanced at him and stood there in silence for a moment as her face became as red as an apple, asking, "W-what's your age?" Thomas stood there thinking for a moment before saying, "My age?" After standing there in silence for a moment, Thomas shrugged and said, "No clue." Cali seemed incredibly embarrassed as she asked, "Are you not telling me your age… because I didn't tell you mine?" Thomas stood there in silence for a moment, staring at her red face as he smirked and then began laughing as he said, "You seriously think I'd do something like that?" Cali's face became even more red as she said, "No… it's just that… I've been thinking… about what Grace said… and about what I had previously said earlier… also about what you said when you stayed there despite Lily and Scarlett offering you to go with them."

Thomas stood there in silence once more thinking about what he had said before saying "Are you referring to the aimless curiosity thing?" Cali nodded nervously as she said, "Y-you said that… and I couldn't figure out what you meant by it… but it sounded as though it was towards me." Thomas thought for a moment and then nodded as he said, "That's a fair way to describe it." Cali blushed even harder than before as she said, "D-don't you have any issues saying something like that?" After a bit of thought, Thomas said, "No… why? Should I?" Cali stood there in silence as she thought to herself, "Is… is he… is he messing with me or just openly flirting with me?" After a moment or two, Cali stared at him with bright red face and then asked "A-are you… by chance interested in me?" Thomas thought about her magic that she was using to disguise her ears as he nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess you could say that." Cali froze while standing there, completely unable to move as she thought to herself, "Why is my heart beating so fast? I'm two thousand years old… and yet… some… no not just some demi-human… this man… who, despite having such a short life span… is openly hitting on me… and it's working?" Thomas waved his hand in front of her as he asked, "Hey, you alright? Maybe I should take you back to the inn for now, and we can finish up the shopping later." Just as he said this, Cali unfroze and then said, "I think I'll need more time before I can give you an answer." Thomas stared at her in confusion as he said, "Sure… I guess?" After saying this, the blue box reappeared with the text "Special event completed successfully!" Thomas stared at it for a moment as he said, "But the day isn't even over yet?" Upon saying this, Cali blushed even more as she said, "I-it's not… what are you planning to do?" Thomas didn't seem to hear her as he mumbled, "What the hell is this special event anyway?" Thomas then glanced at the reward and then muttered, "Cali's affection… obtained?" Cali stared at Thomas, still blushing a little as she said, "W-we should stop for the day… and although I doubt Jason or Lily will have any objections to this, I'd much rather keep it secret for now." Thomas stared at her for a short while in confusion before saying, "Sure?"