Alphonse knew that no amount of perception or specialized skills would solve this predicament. It didn't matter if he was a native or outworlder - stats or no stats. A satisfactory result relied on his unwavering patience and undeterred focus, honed from his training on Earth and Hovestile.
He rested his hands delicately on the wooden table. He inhaled deeply and released slowly to clear his head. The song of a bird from outside had just concluded with no encore. The silence worked well in his favor. He needed every advantage with this new challenge placed before him.
Alphonse stared at the strange tea that Kureha had brewed for him. The liquid's surface seemed to shift color in the directed light from the ceiling window of the tea shop as he changed his viewing angle. When his eyes were level with the rim of the cup the liquid shifted to a greenish hue. When he gazed at it from above it turned into more of a muggy orange. Even stranger, if he looked at it from an angle somewhere in the middle it assumed a clearer appearance like regular water.
How the hell did she get it to work that way? he wondered.
He glanced up at an enthusiastic Kureha. The wolf demihuman sat across from him at the two-person table with a brilliant smile on her face. She propped her elbows on the table and laced her fingers beneath her chin. Her wolf ears twitched with anticipation and her fluffy tail swayed back and forth with barely-contained enthusiasm.
“So, um, what exactly did you put in this tea?” Alphonse asked. He didn't realize he'd been holding his breath after the initial observation. He settled his face over the tea and inhaled through his nose. There was a mixed smell of ginger and...something else.
Kureha's tail wagged back and forth at an increased pace when she answered, “Lemon, mint and bridgetara leaves, blue lake weed, soaked ginger root”–She paused for dramatic emphasis–“and a mystery ingredient.”
“Mystery ingredient?” Alphonse asked incredulously. His arms pressing against the table nearly lifted him out of his seat.
Kureha gave him a sly wink and stuck her tongue out at him. “Yup yup!”
“I'm an outworlder. Give me something else to work with.”
The wolf girl's response was immediate, “Nope!”
Alphonse attempted to provoke her with a feigned look of irritation, but the wolf girl simply took it in stride by leaning forward and resting her face in her hands. She pressed her cheeks up and rocked back and forth in harmony with her tail. Her eyes never left his as she hummed a soft tune that taunted him playfully.
Ugh...how...? He looked back down at the tea and tapped the side of the cup. He wasn't familiar with two of the named ingredients, but it didn't seem like they could possibly mix together well. There was the subtle smell of the ginger, but the rest of the contents seemed to be completely masked by it. She mentioned the 'mystery ingredient' as if the other portions were natural for a hot beverage.
Kureha's challenge was to figure out how to properly drink the tea for its full flavor. He never imagined that the demihuman could come up with tea experiments at a chemistry level of difficulty – or more like an alchemical level of difficult. He wondered if she stole some tips from the mysterious alchemist who seldom resided on the second floor of the shop.
He settled his fingers on the handle of the wooden cup and swirled the contents as if he were the true connoisseur she claimed him to be. Spots of brown appeared as the contents moved. This was certainly intriguing. It would've made more sense if the ingredients became more distinct or solidified if he let the drink settle, but this reaction was quite the opposite.
So, I shouldn't swirl it? Is that right? he wondered.
He looked up and saw that Kureha's tail whipped back and forth with even more enthusiasm. Her arms now rested flat on the table as she leaned forward.
Wait! He observed Kureha's tail as he conducted a few more subtle experiments. Her tail was also twirling ever so slightly.
A hint? I'm on the right track? Alphonse thought. Perhaps it does need to be swirled. Right! But not just swirled!
The splotches of brown rose to the surface as he maintained the steady rotation of his wrist. They were like lily pads floating on a pond. Kureha's tea experiments were always unique, but this one held more mysteries than any other he'd tried today. The first two were clearly just a warm-up. He found himself wanting to please her with his understanding of the drink.
Another idea occurred to him. He blew gently on the liquid's surface and noticed that the array of colors seemed to blend on the ripples.
He glanced up once again for confirmation and realized that Kureha had shifted her chair around the table to sit next to him. He watched as her tail continued to sway faster and brushed against his arm.
Alphonse made an unsuccessful attempt to suppress the heat rising in his face as he glanced down at her. She inched closer until there was barely any space between them.
Too close! Alphonse swirled the contents faster. No! Focus!
This time Kureha blew on the surface of the drink for him. The spots remained separate from each other the whole time, as if they all held the same magnetic charge that forced them apart.
"You've almost got it," Kureha said. She gave him one of her encouraging smiles.
Alphonse didn't find the tea nearly as captivating anymore.
No! I need to get this right! He averted his eyes to suppress any budding fantasies.
Alphonse took a sip and made sure the brown portion was near the surface. He only took in one and let the contents sit in his mouth for a full second before he let the drink ease down his throat. The taste of ginger seemed to rest at the top of his mouth. Then there was the hint of lemon that tingled on his tongue. He took another quick sip of a clear portion of the tea and the tastes intermixed to create a whole new flavor.
It was like nothing he'd ever tasted before. More importantly, it was delicious. He wasn't sure if he drank the mystery tea correctly. He could have missed another taste somehow, but the calming sensation after drinking the tea gave it full marks.
He was given his answer when Kureha bolted from her seat and clasped her hands. “That's it! You got it! I knew I made you my tea buddy for a reason!”
Alphonse set the cup down with dramatic slowness and rose from his seat in a similar fashion. He maintained this pose of feigned immodesty and propped himself up with one hand on the table. “Well, this one was certainly a challenge. A tea truly worthy of my considerable talents.” He rested a hand on his hip and gave her an exaggerated thumbs-up. “I'll admit, I was skeptical at first, but I give this unique brew my solid recommendation! Well done!”
Kureha jumped forward and squeezed Alphonse in a tight hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You're such a great help!”
Alphonse's face was in full bloom now. He was glad that she couldn't see it. She stood next to him and lifted his arm up like a wrestler who had just defeated his opponent. “Victory goes to team-”
“Will you two stop making such a ruckus?”
Alphonse turned to the voice and saw Ash standing at the base of the stairs behind the counter with a deep scowl marring her face. She stepped around the counter and approached them with heavy, intimidating steps. Her light brunette hair was tied into a long braid and bobbed angrily over her shoulder. Her injured arm was supported by a mesh sling and two leather straps with buckles, something much more suitable than the one fashioned from bandages.
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She lifted her healthy arm and pointed at them, but glared at Kureha first. “Stop wasting my ingredients on your silly experiments. We could never sell such a complicated tea.”
Kureha's tail brushed the floor and she let go of Alphonse. She pressed her fingers together and lowered her head. “S-sorry, I thought it might work.”
Alphonse steeled himself as Ash leveled an unreadable stare in his direction. The lack of emotion made it that much worse. “And you...just...why are you always here? Don't you have a place to stay at the Guild Union?”
“Well, I thought maybe this would be the best place to do some light reading and lay low,” Alphonse said. He gave her an impish grin. “And I am a paying customer.”
Kureha stepped next to him and seemed to recover from Ash's berating. She rested a furtive hand over her mouth to hide her own smile. “Yes, our modest customer deserves our first-rate hospitality.”
It was hard to argue with their logic. Ash's mouth tightened into a thin line as she held back a retort and looked between the two of them. She glanced at a stack of abandoned books on another table.
“Well, at least you're somewhat productive,” she said. She took a few steps forward to read some of the book covers and visibly winced when she moved her slung arm to avoid a stray chair.
Alphonse didn't fail to notice her expression. “By the way, how are you holding up?”
Ash's expression softened a bit, and she wiggled the suspended arm a bit. “Not too bad. I can do most of my daily routine, but it won't be fully healed for another couple weeks.”
Alphonse felt the faint twinge of his own aches and pains at the thought. Normal recovery could take months with certain injuries back on Earth, but the miracles of healing magic on Hovestile reduced it to weeks depending on how long someone decided to rest.
It seemed likely that it would take a bit longer for Ash since she insisted on taking care of her bonsai tree sitting in front of the tea shop. She didn't trust anyone else to care for it properly. She almost allowed Kirie and Asa to do the physical work while she instructed them, but when Kirie held up a pair of pruning sheers with all her fingers like she was about to bludgeon the poor plant Ash thought better of it.
He focused on her arm again. Emily had done a solid job healing what she could of the fox woman's shoulder, despite doing so long after the body's own self-repair.
They hadn't heard much from the siblings since they returned to the capital. Alphonse had turned in their quest at the Guild Union (he didn't mention the dark ogre) when they arrived and told the receptionists to hold onto Emily and Liam's portion of the reward.. The siblings still hadn't picked up their share, and two days already passed.
They were understandably shaken up by the whole ordeal with the ogre and the emergence of the dungeon. His own well-being had also been in Emily's hands as Asa erected the barrier to protect them from the mana surge. It was a terrible burden to place on a novice adventurer, but she had reacted with a resolve befitting a veteran.
Liam had submitted to a more somber mood when they traveled back to the capital. The adrenaline and relief had been quelled by the grim reality set before him. He'd been left with too much time to think, and Alphonse knew that he was wallowing in a deep sense of inadequacy, despite what he and Ash said after the battle. The techniques he utilized with his glaive proved that the lessons from his father were not those of an amateur.
Their first mission had gone from a simple deirgu hunting quest to one of terrible uncertainty with Fate professedly conspiring against them. It was life or death with one catastrophic event after another. Alphonse wouldn't have been surprised if this experience prompted the siblings to give up on adventuring for good. It would be a shame. He'd grown to like the brother and sister duo.
Alphonse brought himself back to his present setting when he heard Ash speak, “So, any news on that weird dungeon?”
Alphonse shrugged. “Not much. They sealed the place off for now. Not like anyone wants to go in anyway.”
“The military must have something, right?” Kureha asked.
“Probably. If they do, they're keeping it under wraps,” Alphonse reasoned.
“And they have that whole problem at the western border to deal with,” Ash added.
It made sense if that was the case. If a dungeon less than a day from the capital held powerful monsters, then it would cause even more panic amongst the populace. Once the large procession of nobility left for La'abrine, some regular citizens began their retreat further south to stay with family or seek temporary lodging. It wasn't that they thought a dungeon might sit underneath the capital city. Anyone would have noticed it during the construction of the sewer system and with the conversion of the underground ruins. There was also no sign of stray mana residue. The walls of the city were also much safer than the port city's defenses. But distance was comfort for some people.
And it wasn't just regular citizens who were concerned. The current information might dissuade adventurers from exploring once the dungeon's quarantine was lifted. Alphonse had no doubt that those in higher authority would want exceptional adventurers to explore further, and those best suited were the scouts.
Ash seemed to read the conflict on Alphonse's face. She gestured to a large table and they all sat together wordlessly for a short time. Kureha forced a smile when she saw Alphonse swirl his tea and take another sip. He returned the gesture as he rested the cup down gently.
For the first time in a long while, Alphonse felt like he was wandering aimlessly. The rise of the dungeon threw a wrench in his plans. They had strayed down many unexpected paths, but the main destination was always still in plain sight. He thought that resting up from his injuries would provide ample opportunity to consider their options.
Emily and Liam confined themselves to the lower district of the city with their parents. He hadn't seen Anya and Derek for some time after their last joint quest. He recently learned that Kaede was apparently taking care of her younger brother since he'd grown ill. Cynthia was still missing in action, and Alphonse wondered if it was because she usually worked with Kaede. It was a pretty strange coincidence. And he still didn't know where Field Master Hanlon and his spellcaster friend, Evelyn, stood in the whole scheme of things.
Alphonse knew he wasn't in any condition to deal with much of anything. He was far off his mental and physical game, so he found himself occupied with books from the library, and his catgirl companions would sometimes join him on occasion.
Kirie mostly focused on research concerning battle tactics and active skills. He was surprised that she even bothered to pick up a book in the first place. Asa became engrossed in mana management and the creation of more specific shapes of protection in order to conserve mana that would otherwise be wasted on pointless space.
Asa also sat in on a class at the university in the upper district when one of the instructors approved of her presence. That had come as a surprise, mostly since she was a demihuman.
They managed to be at least somewhat productive. But Alphonse failed to recall the last time he'd been, for lack of a better word, bored.
All his work from the past few months caught up to him, and he was grateful that Kureha pulled him aside to try her experimental tea. Her personality was infectious, and he found himself more animated than usual. He had to admit, there were worse ways to spend his time. Testing tea for a kindhearted, beautiful demihuman and getting to know her on a more personal level wasn't something to complain about.
Alphonse felt a strange, tingling sensation that prodded him and discerned some movement that seemed notable in his peripheral vision. He glanced at Kureha, who was sitting adjacent to him and noticed her staring at him. Kureha quickly averted her gaze and played with a strand of her hair. Her fingers grasped at an empty space above the table, as if she were blindly reaching for a drink, even though she hadn't made one for herself.
Alphonse stared blankly as she turned back to him and fiddled with her hands in her lap. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but she was interrupted as the front door of the tea shop opened, and the waning light from outside drew their attention. The silhouettes of Kirie and Asa were obvious, but Alphonse noticed that there were other shapes moving in behind them. He instantly reacted by pulling his scarf up.
Kirie planted her hands on her hips with one of those grins she displayed when she had big news to share. Asa entered quietly with her typical neutral expression, content to let her sister take the lead.
“We have visitors!” Kirie announced.
Ah yes, Alphonse thought. Making her grand entrance as usual.
Kureha jumped from her seat and patted down her waitress outfit. “I'll, um, prepare the water. Yes! That!” She scampered off to the back before Alphonse had a chance to say anything. He stared after her curiously.
When he turned around, he realized that from her angle she had seen the unknown individuals. Adventurers. He recognized them as the light shifted.
It was impossible to forget the young woman with the disheveled, tomboyish appearance and short, messy brown hair. Her most noteworthy feature was the grin on her face that spoke volumes of her optimism. Alphonse's spirits lifted upon seeing the enthusiastic archer, almost enough to completely mask his surprise.
Anya gave him a crisp salute. “Greetings, comrade! How are you this fine evening?”
As expected, her warrior companion, Derek, appeared through the doorway with his burly frame, along with two others at his heels. One was a disgruntled-looking spellcaster draped in blue robes with a matching, gnarled staff. But her perpetual look of annoyance paled in comparison to the other warrior standing next to her.
Alphonse suppressed a frown when he recognized the burly warrior that entered the tea shop last. His impressive armor and large double-edged axe cast a brief sheen in the dying light from outside. He ran a hand through his close-shaved black hair and scanned the room with his intense gaze, as if there was nobody but himself present in the room.
It was the former guild leader of Forward Earth, Ruslin Vasiliev.