Paro Ridge

"Sounds like you've had a rough past couple of days. So then, you don't know where Katherine might've ended up either, correct? That is, rather a worrying situation. I can only hope that Katherine made it out safe and sound."

After Paro found them inside the diner, Din told him everything that had happened yesterday. Tal and Mun were having their own little conversation as Din and his uncle caught up.

Din asked, "How did you find us here, Uncle Paro? We were just about to leave for Sebraten in a few minutes, but then you showed up just in time."

Paro smiled. He crossed his arms as he spoke.

"Don't you know? I'm the village chief for both Teril and Sebraten. After hearing that three strangers had appeared in Teril, I just had to come visit."

At first, Din scoffed, but realizing that Paro wasn't joking, he was left dumbfounded. After putting his thoughts together, he asked, "Wha—but when did that happen? How did that happen?"

With his right hand on his chin, Paro thought briefly. He then removed his hand as he seemed to have found the answer he was looking for.

"Well, the answer to those are practically the same. There was a flu that had spread throughout this village a few weeks before I arrived. I was able to cure the villagers of the flu before it got too serious. The villagers then asked me to become the chief since the previous village elder was getting quite frail and he didn't have a son to lead the village."

"I knew you were an amazing doctor, but that's just… I'm amazed, Uncle Paro!"

Paro shook his head.

"I honestly didn't do much. It was the same flu that spread through Ravenwalt a few months before it spread here so I already knew what we were dealing with. The villagers just needed someone that knew which herbs to gather. And after that, all they had to do was stay warm."

One of the other guests spoke from behind us.

"The doc just be as modest as always. We wouldn't even be here without ye, doc! Especially me ma. So know that we appreciate ye."

He was a man with brown beard that covered most of his face. He was a short man, but his physique was quite large.

He took off his hat and bowed before leaving the diner.

Paro rubbed his hands together and then stood up.

"How about we start heading to Sebraten now? It's close but the snow might pick up if we dawdle on for too long."

—The path to Sebraten was a beautiful white. The snow not only covered the ground, but also the large trees as well. No matter which way you looked, it was all white.

Without a guide, it would be challenging to find your way through all this snow.

Even though the scenery was enjoyable, it was not the right time to be enjoying them.

Paro had a grim expression as he spoke.

"The whole situation with Lorelei is something I've never ran across with all my years of studying. None of my father's stories mention anything of the sort either. Someone who has died is somehow still walking right next to you..."

Din joked, "She isn't exactly walking next to me, but I get what you mean."

Ignoring his jest entirely, Paro continued, "And then there's the fact that you were able to remove the black eyes that Spirits have. If I had to guess, you being a Spirit is the answer. Your Wish could be what allowed her to appear as a ghost just for you."

With a sigh, Paro stopped walking. He then turned around and looked at Din.

"There's one more reason I can think of that only you can see her."

The others stopped as well, listening for his answer.

"Lorelei might've actually died that night, but the Lorelei that you think you can see now… that might just be your mind playing tricks on—"

"—No!"

Paro was caught off guard as he was interrupted by Din.

"She's real. She's still alive, even if her body is gone. She's right here with me."

The look on Din's eyes were serious, but it felt rather than trying to convince Paro, he might've been more so trying to convince himself. I let my hand float above his shoulders.

"Don't worry, Din. Even if nobody else can see me, it's fine as long as I can still talk with you."

I made sure to say that with the best smile I could form. I wanted to ease his concern even if just a little bit.

Din placed his hands over mine and even though his hand just passed through mine, I could still feel the warm and gentle touch.

At this point, Mun was standing next to Din, staring at him while he was touching his own shoulder with a smile on his face.

Mun whispered.

"What the fuck?"

—It wasn't much longer that they finally reached Sebraten. Even though it was a small village, there were about twice as many buildings as there were in Teril. The village was surrounded by large mountains on one side while a deep forest surrounded the other. There were many tall wooden towers with guards inside located on the outer edges of the village.

Small farms with a few animals here and there filled most of the space near the entrance, but the place with the most people was in front of a large building that looked to be a tavern.

Noticing Paro passing by, many of the villagers greeted him. Some even gave him things such as fruit.

"Take it to ye wife, doc. We's made good collecting for this week. We's rarely get to show our appreciation so we's would be glad to offer it to ye."

Paro took the basket of apples from the older lady before parting ways.

With the sky as cloudy as today, the torches were already lit throughout the village and not many stood outside the buildings.

Paro led the group past the tavern to a house with a wooden fence surrounding it. He looked up at the sky and then gladly nodded to himself.

"Good thing we left when we did. Looks like it might snow any moment now. How about the three of you stay at my lodging while you're here?"

Din smiled.

"That'll be great, Uncle Paro. Oh you wouldn't happen to have a change of clothes, would you? I don't have any of my belongings with me."

"We can see if my old wares fit you. I used to be a tad bit rounder than you so they might be a little big for you. As long as you stay indoors, you should be all right."

"I'm not really planning on heading out. I do say the hay bed wasn't as bad as I thought they'd be."

Paro laughed.

"We can get you into the barn if you'd prefer the hay bed."

"No, no, a normal bed will do."

The group took off their robes after they entered the house. Paro headed for upstairs while the rest of them lit up the fireplace and sat in front of it. After a while, Paro came back downstairs, followed by a frail woman with tanned skin and long brown hair.

"My, we have many guests today. Which one is your nephew?"

"That would be the one with blonde hair."

She showed a big smile while facing Din. Her brown eyes were warm and comforting to look into, but something about her made her appear sickly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Din. I'm your uncle's wife, Karlyn. He's mentioned you so many times before so it's great to finally meet you."

Din scratched his cheeks while trying his best not to smile too hard.

"It's nice to meet you, Karlyn. I'm sorry, but I didn't actually know my uncle had married yet."

Paro interrupted, "That's given though since I didn't really keep up with my sister after I'd left. Speaking of which, how's she doing anyways?"

Din rarely spoke of his parents so I was curious as well.

"She's… fine. After all that happened yesterday, I didn't really get a chance to see her before I left."

"Oh yeah, that's understandable. I was just asking in general though, does she still help the maids?"

Paro turned to Karlyn, "Aria would go around doing the maids' jobs when I still lived with them. I think she just felt too guilty getting other people to do stuff for her. She'd get yelled a lot by our father all the time, telling her to just let the maids to their job."

He laughed to himself.

Karlyn laughed along while heading towards the kitchen, "Well, you all must be very hungry after your journey here so let me see what I can cook up."

Paro happily rubbed his hands together before heading towards the table.

"Oh man, I can't wait, I'm starving. Din, you won't believe how great her curry tastes."

From the kitchen, Karlyn said, "We won't be having curry today, honey. We can save that for tomorrow. For today, we can have vegetable soup."

All the excitement exited Paro's face.

Din, Tal, and Mun joined Paro at the table. Tal thanked Paro, "Thank you for letting us stay here. It's very generous of you, sir."

"You two did save my nephew so I owe you at least this much. Your name was Tal, correct? And you're Mun?"

They both nodded.

"We just have some questions we have to ask about Spirits and then we'll be gone hopefully by tomorrow night."

"Oh so soon?"

Din joined in, "I'll probably be leaving then too. I was hoping you could help us figure out Lorelei's situation, but we might just have to visit Tal's guild leader and see if they know anything."

Din and Tal nodded to one another.

Suddenly, Paro said, "You won't be leaving, Din."

Taken aback, Din asked, "What?"

Paro faced Din and spoke with a stern expression, "I won't allow you to leave Sebraten."