The banquet was every bit as loud and lively as they pictured it to be.

While Nikolay and Raine had expected there to be some sort of ceremonial portion of the night, it mainly felt like an ordinary banquet. Minus the fact that they were sitting on a stage for everyone to see, and the priest sitting opposite them.

“How are you finding the food?” the priest asked politely. “I hope it is to your tastes. The chefs used recipes imported from overseas, so that it is more familiar to you.”

To be frank, they hadn’t tasted much of traditional Kosiran food. Since they were always travelling, imported cans were the only foodstuffs that could survive the trek. And whatever they could buy at inns, it was usually globalised food like steak and salad, too.

Anyway, it seems that the people here weren’t aware that ‘overseas’ could mean a lot of different cuisines. The particular style of food here, however, looked to be derived from Asian cultures. Bone broth, hand-pulled noodles, sticky rice — all sorts of mouthwatering plates were placed on their table.

Which, unfortunately, neither Raine nor Nikolay were too familiar with. At least, to the extent that they would call it ‘home’.

“It’s great,” Raine replied simply, not wanting to get into the finer details of worldwide cuisine. “Give our compliments to the chefs for taking the extra effort.”

Beside him, Nikolay was cautiously testing each food before allowing it to go anywhere near his mouth.

“I’m pleased you both are enjoying the meal!” the priest exclaimed jubilantly, oblivious to Nikolay’s reaction. “Once dessert is served, a few of the townsfolk wish to speak to you. I will take my leave to begin organising them.”

The priest stood up, leaving his untouched plate and cutlery on the table. He walked down the steps and began talking to a few of the maids standing by the walls.

With so many dishes in front of them, it wasn’t long before Nikolay and Raine had eaten their fill — though there was simply too much food for two people to scrape clean. Noticing that they’d stopped eating, a handful of waiters appeared to take away everything on the table, leaving the bare wood.

Shortly after, the distinct sound of a connecting microphone echoed throughout the banquet hall.

“Dear guests,” the priest’s voice boomed. “The time has come to present your offerings and requests to the Chosen One. Please follow the guidance of the humble maid assistants.”

Like ants on a hot summer day, the guests slowly but surely migrated towards the centre of the room, forming a messy line. A handful of maids stood on either side of the winding line, ensuring none of the drunken guests became too rowdy.

Nikolay watched the display before him with an impassive expression. From the position of the grovelling civilians, he must’ve looked completely indifferent to their best efforts.

But up close, Raine could see that the stony mask hid a multitude of different emotions. Now that he thought about it, this wasn’t the first time Nikolay had dealt with being in such a position. As the leader of the Crown Guild, with several hundreds of sorcerers and immortals under his command, this must’ve been a common sight. Of course, Raine was more than aware that those memories weren’t all too pleasant.

The first person in line knelt on one knee before the stairs to their stairs. “I wish to gain riches beyond my greatest dreams. O Chosen One, please bless me with the luck needed to reach this goal.”

“You wish to earn money?” Nikolay asked flatly. “I believe a businessman or a gambler would be more suited to your question. Here is my opinion: a fish scouring for water in a desert could be hardworking or lucky, but it will never reach what it desires.”

Apparently, his advice went over the civilian’s head, because the man looked confused. Nonetheless, he gave Nikolay a deep bow down to the floor, and uttered typical words of reverence before leaving the line.

The wishes of the townsfolk were all roughly the same, in terms of shallow, materialistic ambitions. Occasionally, all that was needed was Nikolay’s blessing, which he gave much more in a much more straightforward manner.

Raine began to suspect that his patience was waning after several dozen of these wishes, after the most recent civilian was told to ‘take matters into his own hands, because even the gods can’t solve laziness’.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“How about we stop the procession for now, and take a walk around the hall?” Raine suggested quietly to him.

Nikolay nodded and relayed the idea to the maid standing by them. She gave them a slight bow and quickly made her way down the stairs, talking to the civilians in the line.

There were a few louder complaints, but eventually, the line dispersed.

“So? How was being the Chosen One?” Raine jokingly asked, a smirk on his face.

Nikolay still had a careful blank expression, surveying the room. “It was fine. I have experience in these things, even if I dislike doing these sorts of displays.”

“Really? You’ll have to tell me more when-”

A familiar face crashed into Nikolay, prematurely ending their only conversation since the banquet began.

“AH! I- I’m sorry!” the shopkeeper first apologised, then he realised who he had just ran into. “I didn’t realise you were the Chosen One. I should’ve welcomed you in a way fit for your status.”

As much as Raine wanted to reassure the poor man, it felt odd to step in while he was still masquerading as the Chosen One’s companion. Unluckily for the shopkeeper, Nikolay wasn’t nearly as inclined towards empathy as Raine was.

“You would’ve ended up much worse if you had recognised me,” Nikolay frankly replied.

The shopkeeper was clearly confused, but out of fear of Nikolay, he simply nodded in agreement. “Y- Yes, of course.”

Raine went to tug discreetly on Nikolay’s sleeve, alerting him to the fact that this man wanted to leave the conversation as quickly as possible. Just as his fingers brushed against the cool, dark fabric, Nikolay shifted away from him.

“Is there anything else you’d like to ask me, Geoyr?”

Raine thought the shopkeeper couldn’t get any more scared, but he managed to jump even higher this time.

“H- How do you know my name? Did the head priest mention me? Am I in trouble?!”

“No. The sign that you dropped — it had your name on it. Geoyr’s General Goods. Am I correct?”

“Yes, but…” he trailed off quickly, biting his tongue. “I’ll leave the Chosen One and his consort to their evening. You must be busy with more important things.”

Nikolay nodded curtly and went to turn away, but Raine sensed that Geoyr was still struggling with something. He stood where he was, watching the quivering shopkeeper muster the confidence to speak again.

“If I can bother you for a few more seconds-”

The alleged Chosen One halted abruptly. His back still facing Geoyr, he turned his head slightly to indicate he was listening.

“Speak.”

“Y- Yes!” Geoyr squeaked, all of his gathered courage suddenly dissipated. “I… I think that you should be careful.”

“If that’s all,” Nikolay said, walking away. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

—

The night progressed slowly after that — between being swarmed by curious civilians and ushered by maids, Nikolay and Raine barely had a chance to rest.

Eventually, Raine’s eyelids began feeling heavy, and he was struggling to stay standing upright. There wasn’t a single clock in the room to tell him what time it was, but it felt as though he should’ve been asleep a while ago.

His gradual sleepiness didn’t go unnoticed by Nikolay, who wrapped a supportive arm around his waist and let Raine lean against him.

“Thanks,” Raine mumbled.

Together, Nikolay guided them towards the nearest maid. She turned towards them immediately with an attentive gaze, a polite smile on her face.

Nikolay said to her, “We are going to retire for the night. The civilians can continue the festivities if they wish, but the sun is about to rise in a few hours.”

“Of course, O Chosen One,” the maid curtsied deeply. “I shall escort you both to your respective rooms immediately. Please follow me.”

Ever the vigilant protector, Nikolay picked up on her implication. “Respective? If you are planning to place us in separate rooms, I’d like for us to be in the one room.”

“Oh, no need for such humility! The rooms are so luxurious that you could stay in separate rooms. Each is a miniature mansion in its own right!”

“Are you questioning the Chosen One?” Nikolay asked, a dangerous tone lining his voice.

Amidst the fogginess of his fatigue, Raine cracked a smile. It seemed like Nikolay was willing to play into the situation when it came to things like this.

“N-No, I wouldn’t dare! My sincerest apologies!”

Seemingly afraid of invoking Nikolay’s wrath again, the maid quickly led them out of the large chamber. They went down several winding hallways and passed numerous busy maids, before the maid stopped in front of a set of regal-looking double doors.

“This is your accommodation for tonight. Please explore it at your leisure,” she said, bowing deeply. “And ring the bell if you need anything.”

Now that her job was done, the maid practically ran down the hallway to get out of Nikolay’s proximity.

Throwing open the door, they realised that the maid wasn’t exaggerating when she said it was like a miniature mansion. In a similar style to the banquet hall, the gold-inlaid and rich brown wooden beams highlighted the grandeur of the massive bedroom. A large lantern dangled from the ceiling, bathing the entire room in a warm orange light.

Right underneath the lantern, almost as if it was under a spotlight, was the bed. Nikolay eyed the piece of furniture with a dubious expression, noticing how it looked… suggestive. Instead of regal or straight-up expensive sheets, the pillows and blankets were something more akin to something found in honeymoon hotel rooms. Everything was a varying shade of pink or red, standing out quite obviously in the brown and white coloured room.

Though Raine was too tired to notice the implication, because he immediately passed out as soon as he hit the bed.

—

Raine awoke with a start. Somebody was shaking his shoulders, hard. He weakly slapped them away, blinking a few times before realising the culprit was Nikolay.

Although he was still groggy from sleep, he could tell that something was wrong. It was hot. Excessively hot, even for a summer night.

He heard the roaring sound of blazing flames — and breaking wooden beams.

Over the chaotic noise outside, Nikolay was shouting something in his ear. Still dazed from his sleep, he tried his best to focus on the words.

Slowly but surely, Raine finally made out what was being said.

“The inn is on fire! We have to leave!”