The Morning After

I put my finger up against my lips, signaling the old man not to say anything.

Now would not be a good time to attract too much attention. It would definitely hinder my plan to leave for the Holy Capital the next morning.

Finor stares at us for a second and breaks down laughing. The crowd turns their focus back onto him to see what's so funny.

"HA-HA! Our Goddess is an ironic one, isn't she!" Finor exclaims.

"Ironic?" Astra mumbles.

"Ah," an elf says, "Old Man Finor has finally gone mad."

The crowd laughs and disperses, leaving the old man cackling by himself beside the fire.

"Well, we should probably also get out of here," I say, and I see Lohikaarmi's shocked face.

"Hey, Lohikaarmi?" I ask.

She snaps out of it and looks at me, "S-Sorry, Master."

"What's wrong?"

"I… I didn't know it was an elf who helped me that day," she says.

Oh right. It's so difficult to keep in mind that the story the elf was telling from 900 years ago was also history lived through by Lohikaarmi. How bizarre.

"So, it was all true?" I ask.

"I believe so, Master."

Huh, I wonder what she is feeling right now, not that I have a clue from her expression, except for the mere fact that Lohikaarmi is surprised

"Hey, I'm tired. Can we go to bed?" Astra asks while rubbing her eyes and tugging my sleeve.

It is getting late. People are leaving the square, and fire is dying out.

I turn to Lohikaarmi, "Take tonight to think about it, and you can tell me anything tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Yes, Master."

I lead them to walk back to the tavern. It's now packed. Every seat is taken, filling the room with loud commotion. The group of elves from earlier aren't there anymore. Tiasha is busy with the customers, so I decide to not bother her and just walk through the floor to the stairs.

After we get in our room, Astra flops onto her bed and starts snoring. I ask Lohikaarmi to light the extinguished lantern again and sit down on my bed.

"Lohikaarmi, share the bed with Astra," I say.

She nods and lies down beside the little girl. The second she closes her eyes, I can tell that she has drifted off into the land of dreams. Like the previous night, I lie there wide awake for a good minute. There has just been so much that happened in the first two days after I arrived in Eden, my thoughts need this time of quiet to process everything, but I still can't.

In the bed across the room from me is a dragon and a Goddess, and below me is a room full of drunk elves. What am I supposed to make of this? Oh well, there is no point in tangling my brain over this. Tomorrow will probably be even stranger.

…

I wake to the sound of birds. It's going to take a while for me to get used to it. When I open my eyes, the morning sun shines directly through the window onto my face. I grunt softly as I shield my eyes from the bright white.

Leisurely, I sit up in my bed and look outside. Elves are up and about already, despite how late the festival lasted the previous night. With the warm sunlight on me, I turn to the girls. They are still peacefully snoring. Astra is cuddling Lohikaarmi like a pillow.

There is no time telling device for me to see, but by the position of the sun and the time of year, it's probably seven or eight o'clock. How long did Tiasha say the trip to the Holy Capital was going to take? A couple of days? Well, we should probably head out as soon as possible.

As I get out of my bed to stretch my arms, I yawn loudly.

I walk over to the girls. "Oi, it's morning." I shake them on the shoulders.

Lohikaarmi slowly opens her eyes. She looks at me and pushes herself up.

"Good morning, Master," she says while rubbing her tired eyes.

It looks like I have taught her well.

"Good morning, Lohikaarmi," I say and continue trying to wake Astra up. It's like she's gone unconscious again. She hasn't, has she?

"Ah… one more minute, please…" Astra mumbles with her eyes still closed.

"Rise and shine, little girl. If you get up now, I will give you a syrup candy," I say while taking my pouch from the table between the bed and jingling it above her.

"Syrup candy… heh-heh…"

Nope. I didn't know why I thought that would work.

"Lohikaarmi, I will leave the job of waking her up to you. I have to go downstairs first to ask a few questions," I say.

"Yes, Master."

There is still a bit of drowsiness in my head as I walk down the stairs. The tavern, as I expected, is once again empty. Behind the counter are two elf girls, neither of whom I recognize, and both of them are about Faye's age, which I guess means nothing since they can apparently live up to a thousand years old. I wonder how old Faye or Tiasha actually is.

"EEEK!" When the girls see me appearing from the second floor, they shriek in delight.

Ah, my head does not like loud noises in the morning, but I am glad I am gaining a reputation for myself already.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I ask.

"You are the bishop, aren't you?" One of the girls with a French braid asks

"The bish- oh yes, that's right, I am he."

French Braid turns to her friend, who has a beautifully done lace, and the both of them shriek again.

"Am I supposed to call him Your Excellency?" French Braid asks.

"I-I think so?" Lace answers.

I am not sure if they mean to keep their conversation private, but I can hear them loud and clear, too loud, in fact.

"You don't need to. Kris is fine," I say as I sit down at the counter.

"Kris! What a handsome name!" French Braid says.

Lace nods.

Is it?

The two of them put their elbows on the wooden countertop and smile at me, leaning in way too close.

"Is Tiasha here?" I ask.

"Mom? No, she had to work pretty late last night because of the festival. She is sleeping right now," Lace says.

Mom? Tiasha doesn't look five years older than these girls.

"Wait, how old are you? I ask Lace.

"Me? I just turned nineteen."

Okay, I can see that.

"And how old is your mother?"

"She is…" Lace thinks about it for a second, "Two hundred… fifty-six?"

That I can not see.

"Huh… Anyways, I came down here to ask how I can get to the Holy Capital."

"Oh, you want to go to the capital?" French Braid says, "To the north of the square, there is a stable. Uncle Gael watches it. He's got horses and carriages you can borrow."

"The North, huh? Thanks."

"Aw, Kris, you are the one we should thank." Lace says.

"That's right! You donated so much to the village!" French Braid adds.

"Of course. It's what anybody would have done."

Yeah, no, it's definitely not.

"You do know that some of your bishop friends take girls from our village, right?" Lace asks.

"Uh… yes, but I am not one of them."

"We can see that," French Braid says, "but we wouldn't mind if you had to take us with you."

What? Why do these girls think I would want to take them with me? I don't need them. They'd serve no purpose other than just being eye candy.

"AHHH!"