37 - Play Date

"Uhm... So, Van... Where did you and your dad come from? Were you living near the capital after he separated from the party?" Liz asked as they dined.

"Well... Uh..." Van hesitated, glancing at Amoria as if looking for cues. She simply smiled back, clearly enjoying watching him squirm.

'She's getting a kick out of this, huh...?' Van thought, a touch of resignation in his mental tone.

"We just... traveled around, really. Never stayed in one place too long, so we never really had a 'home' as such. I guess you could say I've been on the road all sixteen years of my life..." Van said, trailing off a bit at the end.

"Woah...! That sounds so cool... Have you been to the golden grasslands? Oh, and I've always wanted to see the elven kingdom. Have you been there?" Liz asked, her excitement bubbling over.

'Ah, the elven kingdom... Proposed to their queen once. Got executed for my trouble. Lovely place, though,' Van reminisced wryly to himself.

'She's really excited... But that place would probably just overwhelm her with culture shock. She'd be running for the hills before sundown,' he thought, amused by her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, the elven lands are uh... fascinating, I suppose. Forget the sights, they have an array of unique dishes. Just a dash of salt on some of their local game, and it's like a little slice of heaven..." Van mused, his tone nostalgic as Liz's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"WOW!! You've had meals cooked by the elves?!" Liz exclaimed, her earlier embarrassment fading into sheer awe.

'... The closest I got to 'elf-cooked' meals was dodging flaming arrows...' Van thought wryly, observing her enthusiasm. Despite his reservations, he found himself not wanting to burst her bubble.

"Uh, yeah, I've had elven cuisine, the.. uh... Game I told you about," Van conceded, bending the truth just a tad.

'Technically, the horned deer from there counts... though they're sacred or something. That also might have been why they were so angry with me... Hopefully she doesn't catch onto how elves are herbivores...' he recalled silently, reflecting on the cultural faux pas.

"Wait, but aren't elves herbivores?" Liz suddenly interjected, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Caught off guard by her insight, Van faltered for a moment. Glancing at Amoria and finding reassurance in her serene expression, he relaxed and returned his attention to Liz with an easy smile.

"Don't tell an elf if you meet one, but my dad hunted a sacred horned deer for us to eat," Van began nonchalantly, causing Liz to gasp and cover her mouth with her hand.

"Oh my..! That's their sacred animal, how could you?!!" she exclaimed, eyes wide as she looked at Van.

"Yeah," Van continued, unfazed, "The elven cuisine I mentioned? It was just that... We cooked it right in the middle of their forest." Liz's expression grew solemn, but her fascination with Van's tale only intensified, much like Amoria's.

"Then, they had us completely surrounded, threatening us with arrows and shouting about execution. Starving and not in the mood for their fruit, my dad and I packed up the deer right in front of them while trying to calm them down. Then we bolted, sprinting away as they chased us, shrieking like banshees," he described with a casual shrug.

"YOU'RE SO TERRIBLE!!! THE POOR DEER!" Liz yelled, laughter mingling with her mock outrage. Amoria also chuckled, clearly entertained by the story.

"But eventually, they cut us off. We were captured and brought before their queen," Van added, his tone still light.

"You met the ELVEN QUEEN HERSELF?! AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE?!" Liz interjected, her eyes practically bulging with awe.

"Well, depends who you ask. Seeing no way out, my dad just went for it and proposed to the elven queen, ring and all. True story," Van concluded, as if recounting a casual day out rather than a brush with death.

Liz burst into laughter again. "What!? That's ridiculous!" she exclaimed, while Amoria eyed Van with a mischievous grin.

"DID he now...?" she prodded, her smile laced with curiosity and a tinge of envy.

Van shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Y-yeah... So, the Elven Queen, utterly insulted by a human's proposal—and by a human who had just hunted their sacred deer, no less—had him executed right there."

Liz hung on every word as Van elaborated on the story.

"Feeling a bit of pity for me, since I was just a kid, she let me go with a stern warning. I met up with my dad outside the forest. They didn't realize he could revive after death, so that was our lucky break," he concluded.

"Wait... So... Your father... died?" Liz asked, puzzled.

'Huh...? What kind of question is that?'

"Uh... yeah. He died, and then revived later. His Dark Soul passive... you haven't heard about it?" Van asked, slightly confused.

'I thought everyone in this world knew by now. I mean, how else could I have survived with a party full of monsters?'

"Your father... can revive after dying? What!?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with awe and skepticism.

Bewildered, Van looked at Amoria. Her expression had turned stern.

"...Well, since you said it, there's no point keeping it a secret anymore, at least not from Liz," she sighed.

"Lizzy, your uncle Van could revive after every death. Only the royal family, their first battalion of royal knights, and us know about it," Amoria revealed.

"Seriously? I thought everyone knew, except maybe the elves who live in their own world..." Van remarked.

Amoria shook her head.

"We all kept it a secret. Every enemy that killed your father died before they could spread it. The king knew that if this secret got out, it could be used against him and the party," she explained.

Van's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Wow, I had no idea."

"That's why, Lizzy, you need to keep this to yourself. Understand?" Amoria asked, locking eyes with her.

She nodded. "Alright... I will!"

'To think this was such a closely guarded secret all this time... I didn't expect that from them. I should...'

'...I should give them more credit.'