I frown. “You didn’t have to repeat yourselves,” I mutter. “But, um… why?”
The other girl pulls the gobling closer to her, hiding it behind her legs. Her face is set in reproachful determination. “Do you really have to ask that?”
Damn. She got me. “I guess not. Though…” I jerk a thumb at Rice. “Is it okay if she stays? Her sprint drake really needs the rest, and so does she. Also, unlike me, she isn’t a child-murderer or anything like that. That’s fine, right?”
“That’s…” They frown at her. Clearly, they’re making the internal connection that if you’re friends with a monster, then you, too, must be a monster. But, on the other hand, she also killed the monster once… Doesn’t that absolve it? They turn to each other. Bundling together, they begin to whisper. While they discuss things, Rice creeps up behind me, her face set in a worried expression. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah, of course,” I whisper back to her. “It’s not like I need a good place to sleep or whatever. It’d be a waste to leave if you could stay.”
“I don’t know… I’m sure we can find someplace, we just have to…”
“Grandma needs the rest,” I say, knowing very well that she won’t be able to refute it. “And so do you. I don’t.” I smile at her. “Trust me. I’ll be fine.”
Grumbling, she turns away from me. “Alright. Depends on if…”
“It’s fine,” Glyph says from across the room. “She can stay. But you…” She makes a face. “Stay at least ten meters away from the church grounds during the entire night. And if you meet any of the kids, don’t touch them. If you do something to them…”
“You’ll alert the Server Alliance, who’ll alert the nearby kingdoms so they can come and arrest me again. Got it.”
Her eyes go wide, and she blinks at me. “Uh… Y—yeah! That’s exactly it. That’s what we’ll do. So, um… Don’t do that! Right.” She draws back a little, still trying to keep herself in between me and the kid. As though I’ll do something to it. As though I’m still the type of person who’d do those kinds of things.
…Am I? Aren’t I? I don’t really feel like I’ve changed, but even without the innocent adoration skill, looking at this child…
It retreats further behind the girls’ protective forms.
…Yeah, no.
Scratching the back of my head, I return my gaze to Glyph. “Alright, I’ll get going now. I’ll knock on the door tomorrow at… Let’s say nine, so we get some sleep, and then I can get my quest and we’ll be out of here.”
She hesitates to answer me. “Seven,” she says, after some time. “Seven works better. Mom… The Goddess of Children usually comes at seven-thirty to read a story for the kids. So, if you come around that time, you’ll be able to catch Her before then.”
“Alright, sounds good. Thank you,” I say, and head for the door. Before leaving fully, I pat Rice on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll tether Grandma somewhere suitable. You go get some sleep, alright?”
“Right. Thanks.”
She hugs me goodnight, and then I exit the door, closing it behind me. Since that’s the way it was before I arrived, I slide the brick back into place.
…Right! Glad that everything worked out in the end. While I lead Grandma to the back, where I think I can spot a stable of some sort, I’ll consider my options for the night.
Although I might not have FPB anymore, I think I can still sneak inside and take a look around if I want to. However, with the way things are looking, I’ll probably get to see the inside tomorrow morning, so there’s no need to. Everything will work out fine. For now, I just have to—
I get about five steps into the back of the house before I snag my foot on a bare root and trip, eating dirt.
What the…?
Oh. Hm. For some reason, I expected the back of the house to be in a moderately better shape. This is… Not very good? I think this is supposed to be a garden, but it’s hard to tell. Everything is overgrown, and what little there is is so badly shaded by the encroaching forest that it’s having difficulty growing. So the entire garden is basically a waist-deep patch of creeping vines and roots, nestled across and atop each other, squeezing the life out of anything that might at one point have tried to survive here. At least the shed and accompanying stable is visible through the thicket, though I’m not sure how I’ll get there. Maybe if I had some hedge-clippers, then…
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I look down at my hands. At my inch-long claws.
Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about those.
Pushing myself to my feet, I tie Grandma to a nearby pillar. “Watch this,” I mumble at her, downright excited to show off my divine abilities.
And, after only a few minutes, I am proud to report that I was able to shear through the vines like butter! There is now a path running straight to the stables, which is excellent. Hehe. Untying Grandma, I hum as I lead her over to the stables. They’re covered in more vines than paint, but I’m able to shear through that as well, exposing bare wood and rusted metal. Thankfully, there’s no lock for me to shear through, so we just enter.
This place has definitely seen better days. There isn’t even any hay for Grandma to lie on! Zero stars, horrible service. After only a little bit of contemplation, I pull out a bunch of pelts from my inventory, layer them on the floor, and lead Grandma over. She’s not laying down though. No, instead, she’s peering back at the door, her tail wagging anxiously.
I pat the side of her face. “There, there. Rice will be sleeping in the warmth. Don’t worry. I’ll be here with you, okay?” She still seems fidgety though, so I feed her a few redleapers, which she swallows whole. Most impressive, as always. Then, before letting her go to sleep, I dry her off, remove her harnesses, saddle and such, and give her another little treat for being such a good girl.
Once all that’s done, I let her lie down, wrap her in a blanket, and make my own preparations. Technically speaking, I don’t need to sleep, but Grandma doesn’t like it if I move around too much. She’s happiest when everyone’s together, doing the same thing, so I have no choice but to join her, making sure to get myself my own blanket. I did, at one point, try sharing a blanket with her, but it did not go well. She’s a real blanket hog.
Which means that, now, all I have to do is go to sleep. Yep. Easy peasy. Sleeping, as one of the core tenants of human behaviour, comes easy to someone such as me.
No issues whatsoever. All I have to do is close my eyes, and I’m in dreamland! Where unicorns share tea with dragons, and witches ensnare young maidens in horrible mind puzzles, demanding babies all the while…
…Yep. Sleep. Good stuff. Love it, really.
Just have to… let it come.
One sheep, two sheep, three sheep… What’s the plural for sheep again? Shoop? Or is that the singular…? One shoop… Yeah, that sounds about—
{::w::}/!
Hm? What is it, Simon? You must have a very good reason for interrupting my all-important beauty sleep.
Oh! A message from someone who tolerates me? How queer! Let’s open it up.
[WARNING: some parts of this message could not be properly translated. We apologize for the inconvenience.] Prince they do not understand me our languages are different and I am scared. I believe they may want me to […] Help?? […] I know you can not enter the […] but please what is their are usernames? I need to speak to them somehow. I miss you and I miss Grandmother. TTFN Grain> …Never before have I seen a message get so utterly butchered by the translation. I can kind of parse what she’s trying to say, but it’s still… Yeah. Unfortunately, she’s asking for something I can’t really help with. Nevertheless, I get to typing. Ye um sorry bt I dont rly knoe wt their uns are… like 1 of thm is named glyph bt thats it sry> Only seconds later, a reply drops in. [WARNING: some parts of this message could not be properly translated. We apologize for the inconvenience.] What> She couldn’t understand it? Do I need— …Do I need to write, like, actually…? Sighing, I crack my knuckles. Been a while since I made an effort to write, but… If someone deserves it, it’s Rice. Sorry, I do not know their usernames. I believe one was named Glyph, however, I am uncertain as to whether this is enough information to find the rest of her name or not. Perchance you could ask them to write it? May you game good, //Kitty> My fingers ache. My brain is steaming. That was painful. Nevertheless, an artist must persist in their craft! And so, I send it off, secure in the knowledge that, with this, she’ll finally understand me… [WARNING: some parts of this message could not be properly translated. We apologize for the inconvenience.] What> …Right. Okay. idk> [WARNING: some parts of this message could not be properly translated. We apologize for the inconvenience.] Oh I see that is unfortunate [...] bad. I will attempt to [...] but we will see if it works. Pray for me dear friend. TTFN> OK> End of communications.