Her mother glanced at Gwenvair, her look veiled but considering and she both groaned at what her mother was going to do as well as desperately tried to hide her excitement. As an Eccentric, trying to guess his age was quite difficult. Most Eccentrics were hundreds and even thousands of years old. If he was only two hundred years old… Maybe he’s only a hundred… or less than a hundred! Gwenvair shut her thoughts down. An Eccentric only a hundred years old was already the stuff of legends and while she still would be grateful for a marriage to such a powerful Eccentric, the age difference, as always, was difficult to overcome, the experiences gained with age making youth appear grating and a misery to interact with. But… Kilniara is very young! Her mother continued the conversation, politely attempting to discover his age.
“So… what age do your people usually marry and have children?”
Joe shrugged, obviously unconcerned with offering the reply, “My people are now marrying much older and having children older as well. Some do not marry until thirty or forty, but those who are able to find true partners and true love can and do marry in their early twenties. Most of my clan now marry between twenty and thirty, I believe.”
His response sent a spike surging through mother and daughter, both hiccupping in their breath for a short moment before normal breathing returned. Her mother did not look at her, now frozen in her stare at the man as the Matriarch returned to the room.
“You are less than thirty?”
“Less than twenty, actually. I’m only nineteen.”
He’s my age… He’s my age! He’s my AGE! The thought echoed through her mind, bouncing within like a monarch slime uncontrollably in a rage, shattering any coherent thought. A second thought joined the first, echoing through her mind uncontrollably. Eleven digits! The two thoughts shattered any ability to rejoin the conversation, and she heard her mother drone on with the man... no... young man... almost... a boy... same as me... for several moments speaking polite small talk before she was able to return to the conversation, her aloof calm long shattered as she realized that the peasant cloth armorer girl was engaged in a romantic relationship with an eleven digit Eccentric of their age. A comment that her mother made snapped her back to the conversation.
“… could I ask a boon of you? My daughter … we… I am concerned for my daughter’s well-being. There are forces at play within my own clan that… may see her dead or worse. Could I ask for your protection for her?”
Gwenvair froze at her mother’s request, recognizing it as a method to bring her closer to him. He considered carefully before shaking his head with a sigh. Seeing the shaking head, her thoughts zeroed out, as blank emptiness hallowed her out entirely. She cut off her sigh.
“I’m sorry,” the Eccentric said, “I’m unwilling to become her bodyguard. I have personal responsibilities to my apprentices and a time limit on a personal requirement as well. I cannot spend time being her body guard.”
The Matriarch’s face flushed a bit red as she quickly rejected his statement, “I apologize! I did not seek your services. I only requested a boon, or … something.”
The Eccentric cocked his head in thought and replied, “What would that thing be?”
“Keep her safe.”
The Eccentric sighed, shaking his head again, “I am uncertain I could do so without being by her side and I cannot offer a promise to her safety, but if you have need of me or desire me for a short time, simply ask for me. I cannot promise her safety, even if I were to be her bodyguard, as it is impossible to keep someone alive. I can only promise to try.”
Her eyes had dimmed as he spoke but quickly brightened when he did state he was willing to try. Her mother also brightened as well, the Matriarch fading away once the mother’s need was met.
“You are willing to accept my call?”
The Eccentric laughed, “You didn’t need to ask? Of course I would be willing to help, if my help would be useful for anything,” he ended with a shrug.
“You… are too kind.”
The Eccentric shrugged again, “Friends do so, do they not?”
“We are friends?”
The Eccentric smiled at that, “Becoming ones soon, I believe? Or not?”
Her mother smiled brilliantly, the room brightening as she chuckled softly, a light tinkle that filled the room, “I would be more than willing and able to do so.”
The Eccentric nodded, saying nothing, unconcerned with his promise and Gwenvair struggled to keep her breathing soft and slow while her heart rejected her efforts at calmness, galloping rapidly through her chest. While she wasn’t completely calm, she had to return to the conversation to offer her own thanks.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“I am very grateful, Eccentric. To have your concern is… heartening.”
“You helped me carefully and well. I’m willing to help in return. Things must be really bad if you are worried for your heir?”
Her mother smiled and shook her head, “I am not overly concerned. I was, originally, but with your gift of the slime cores, the danger is virtually non-existent. Still, you seem to be kind and considerate, so I wished to ask for your help if only for the next few days.”
The Eccentric nodded and replied kindly, “You may always ask. If it is to help protect, I will likely say yes,” he offered with a smile before continuing, “Other requests I will consider at my own discretion,” he finished, the easy smile replaced with a polite but firm and unsmiling face.
Her mother smiled brightly in response instead, grateful that he was willing to help at all, “I am more than grateful for your offer. Thank you. Truly.”
The Eccentric smiled and shrugged, “It’s fine. Really. If it was so dangerous or life threatening, don’t wait so long next time. You can simply be blunt if you need. No need to spend so much time asking.”
Gwenvair replied quickly, realizing that the Eccentric believed the request was the reason for their meeting, “Oh. I’m sorry. My mother just took the opportunity to ask. Our meeting is for a different purpose.”
“Oh. Sorry. I jumped to conclusions. I apologize,” The Eccentric quickly offered an apology.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry. I don’t know why my mom was so worried about me. Probably nothing is going to happen!”
“Probably?”
Gwenvair smiled at that and offered her own shrug, “Probably.”
Joe chuckled at that and nodded, “OK. You guys know, so I’ll believe you, but I can only help if you call me fast enough. Even then, I’m not sure what I’m going to be able to do or if I can help, to be honest. There will be things I will be unable to help with or situations that may be too difficult. I can only do my best, and if my best is still failure, then I can only apologize.”
Gwenvair’s smile faded, her face now serious as she nodded, “That you try is enough for me.”
“Thank you,” the Eccentric replied, “So, how can I help you?”
“Shall we order first? I am a bit hungry,” Gwenvair countered.
The Eccentric laughed and bowed, “Ah. Apologies, my fair lady. Of course you may order.”
The three shifted to small talk while the Eccentric asked after the various dishes before choosing a meat and vegetable dish with another fruit dish that he ask to be brought after the meal was finished. He did ask for grains, which appeared to be a common peasant dish when he explained, but to find such a peasant dish within the inner city would be almost impossible and almost offended the waiter enough for the man to challenge him. However, her mother was careful enough to bring the man up short and he kept his upset swallowed.
Joe proved disappointed that here were no grains, but accepted the other dishes for his meal. When the waiter did finally leave, Gwenvair leaned forward, dropping her privacy artifact in the center of the table where it linked up with the array embedded into the surface of the table beneath its protective veneer. Most would never even know the privacy array was there nor could they engage it as it could only do so with the Matriarch’s or those In Line’s privacy artifacts which were built to be attuned to the array.
Joe quickly looked forward in interest when she dropped her privacy artifact on the table and emitted mana into it, directing it down and into the table. Her mana quickly dropped, spraying through the artifact and down into the array, flooding it with her mana until the lines of the array fairly glowed with the power of her mana as they completed their formation and lit, a flash of power that erupted from the table and surrounded the room before the residual mana in the array fled from the array lines back to the center of the array to a mana bank. The mana bank was not large, so she did not need to infuse too much of her mana, but the bank was large enough to hold the mana necessary to power the array for close to two greater bells. She infused it fully, which was usually a waste as she could not return the mana used in activating the array. Usually, she would activate the array at the minimum to allow the array to last about ten minutes, then activate it again if necessary.
However, out of respect for the Eccentric, she felt the need to reveal a bit of her mana abilities, expressing fully half of her mana into the array. It’ll be a week and a half to get that mana back, but… She glanced up at Joe, seeing his avid attention following the array lines and mana flow before his gaze rapidly snapped back to the mana bank when her mana filled the mana bank. She was stunned to see his control and ability to sense the mana, but also grinned in excitement as his control was just as incredible as his power. There had been no news revealing his magical capabilities as he appeared to be primarily a martial class, but to see evidence of his mana control and sensing. She shivered, wondering what his abilities with mana were.
The Eccentric glanced back up, seeing both her and her mother staring at him, and he blushed, a slight flush of his cheeks which she now knew was genuine. Only nineteen! She calmed herself and smiled back.
“Interesting?”
“Very. I have so many questions, but I’m here for you, so please.”
Gwenvair nodded and smiled, “Thank you for allowing us some privacy!”
The Eccentric laughed, “I know my peoples’ willingness to share knowledge is… unusual, but I do understand other people and their ways, even if they’re wrong,” the Eccentric finished with mocking joviality.
Gwenvair took it as it was meant, and rebutted with her own cutting comment, “Children always think they're more enlightened and their knowledgeable elders are wrong!”
The Eccentric’s eye’s widened quickly joined with a brilliant large smile, “Oh hoh! Someone’s got some quick wit! I’m sure that intelligence will be very useful the next time we run from a Boss or King slime. I’m sure your aged bones will keep up well!”
Gwenvair felt her heart rate spike, surprise flitting through her as he so easily dismissed the power of a Boss or King monster, although it didn’t stop her from countering, “Why run? I would simply kill it!”
The Eccentric’s playful banter ended and he looked at her with some thoughtful consideration, “You can kill a Boss or King? Impressive”
Embarrassment suffused her as she replied quickly, “I… no, I’m sorry. I was only playing.”
“Ah. Well, no need to feel bad. Even master slimes can be tough to kill, but you are right, intelligently fighting monsters will help you fight very powerful monsters much more easily than simply smacking them.”