Tom and the spider walked in the middle of the road, the little girl on her spider legs and carrying the luggage to provide herself with some shadow. I walked off the road, to make certain, I wouldn't be bothered by forests anymore.

I didn't think the two compared, but back on Earth, when I was a kid, I hurt my leg, jumping over fences. Because I didn't try again, I became afraid of it. As time went on, the idea of jumping over one, became more and more impossible. So now... I'd strike while the iron was hot.

I closed my eyes and clogged my ears with mana. I took the first step and another. After a while, something brushed against my left hand. I stopped myself from lashing out and waved my arm around. It was just a bush. Normal, leafy bush. I continued.

Something tickled my ankles. I felt my body tense up and squatted. It was just tall grass and some flowers. I got up and moved on.

Suddenly, I banged my head against something and fell on my ass. I opened my eyes. There was a tree before me. I shook my head and laughed.

Tom and the spiderling were looking towards me, the little one tilting her head. They were in the full sunlight. They looked just so sparkly. I waved to them and got up.

I pulled a book out of my backbag and secured it on a manapane. While sidestepping the tree, I opened the book. It was a cookbook. It began with recipes for scrambled eggs.

Once I reached the third recipe - on really butter-rich method, that resulted in a cream-like consistency - I remembered it wouldn't hurt to work on my magic. I formed a fiery halo above my head and made it swirl.

Occasionally I bumped into trees and slowly, began having a blast. It was.. refreshing. Would I develop a habit of walking into walls to lift my spirits?

I giggled. I imagined a tall, Devil woman, wearing magnificent Overlord robes, purposefully walking into walls after a difficult battle. Would I walk through the walls, or still just bang my head though? An answer for the future me. Would future me laugh at it, or scowl, that the past me came up with developing such a stupid habit?

I got taken out of my thoughts by another close encounter with a tree. I put down the book and spread my legs, leaning on my arms, stretched behind my back.

I smiled at the tree and bounced off towards Tom. With a small help of mana, I got on his shoulder and pointed forward "To glory!!"

The spiderling climbed onto the cat too. Once she sat down, she withdrew her spider limbs back into herself, dropping the luggage on our heads. I barely secured it, but the bags and furs were not in a neat pile anymore. One fur slid off and fell on the ground.

I poked the girl. She grumbled and picked up the fur, securing it back on the pile. Then, Tom took off.

We blew past Bogin's hovel, without giving it a chance to come out and tempt us.

The fields came into view rather swiftly, fresh saplings growing in place of the wheat before. I wasn't exhausted this time and noticed the smoke beyond them and some red and green roofs on the horizon.

The mountain, too, began to loom over the skyline. Some of the largest towers on it were distinguishable to a certain extent. For now, just toothpicks... but damn, they had to be a sight from up close.

I wondered, if poking them, would make dragon heads pop out to yell angrily. I'd totally do a trip ringing their doorbells if they had those. Annoying old people, was the appropriate thing to do for a child, wasn't it?

Tom reached the small village. There was about a dozen wooden, one storey houses, all of them painted white, with blue and green floral patterns on them. Some had fences, painted green, but most had open backyards.

At the end of the village, was a three-storey brick building, with small windows. It had raw, red brick walls, cut through with wooden beams. At its front, hung a swing sign, with a picture of a bed, occupied by a fat dragon. Maybe dragons were too lazy to come over and tell the owner to change it, or they had a sense of humour.

In front of the tavern, stood a lone carriage, of slightly lower quality than the one Madeline travelled in. I couldn't see any horses or guards around it.

The villagers were milling about, kids playing on the road and most adults just lazing around on deck chairs. Magical farming left you with free time, I supposed.

Most of the people looked like basic humans of various ethnicities, but there seemed to be two families of ratlings. Or maybe one family of ratlings and one of the mouse people. The former being taller than the humans and the latter significantly shorter.

On the left, behind the village was an apple orchard. The trees were covered in white flowers.

Tom tapped on my leg. "Hey, isn't that the guy who was climbing the ladder?"

I looked towards the house he was pointing at. I couldn't tell. Maybe if he'd climb up on the house, but I couldn't recognize the face of someone, whose only feature I saw, was the ass. In the middle of a massive thunderstorm.

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"Isn't him. On the ladder was Wania, that guy is Piotr." The spiderling threw in and that was that.

I bonked the cat on the head. "Not all humans look the same." There sadly, were no housecats for me to mistake him with.

The kid lowered his head and looked like a kicked kitten. I patted him and ruffled his fur.

"This guy does look like an ass, a little bit." I kindly informed Tom. I was such a magnanimous devil.

The cat chuckled.

We reached the tavern and entered through a large, dark wooden door. The open floor inside, extended through the first storey, providing a lot of room to breathe. A single floor was about two Toms high. Inside, the walls were painted beige, with a stone floor, packed with long wooden tables. 

At the far wall, was a rustic bar, with rows of bottles behind on the shelves. By the left wall, were stairs leading towards a balcony with higher class looking tables and a polished balustrade at the edge. On the right of the bar, were stairs to higher floors. Behind the bar, stood a large woman, in a simple red shirt and an apron.

There were two groups of teenagers in the tavern. One sat at a table by the bar. The other group, sat in the right corner, by the door-wall. There was also one younger kid seating alone, by one of the windows on the right and a family with two children at a table in the middle of the room.

We took a seat at a table by the stairs. I dropped our bags by the wall and piled the furs to raise my sitting. Tom mumbled something about a toilet and run off towards the bar. The spiderling put a decorated box set of sushi on the table, alongside with a cup of tea I presumed and stared off into the distance, eating the sushi with her hands.

I looked around at the other people. The bar group looked to be elves. All three had long, blonde hair and pale skin. They wore green, silk dresses and ate some steaks and drank some yellow juice. I couldn't tell the gender of any of them, but they were undeniably beautiful. Even if, somehow, their faces were rather forgettable.

The corner group, consisting of a tiny, orange catkin in blue robes, a large dark-skinned human with Asian features and bald head and a dwarf. She wore a cropped, white shirt and a checkered, long, green skirt. She had a nicely trimmed black beard and a total mess of a birds nest for hair. The catkin ate some soup, the human a large steak and a bowl of salad, while the dwarf had a pile of beans with sausages. The dwarf drank from a large mug, while the other two had the same juice the elves had.

The lone kid was a gnome. He sat on his table, poking at a plate of salad. His small, brown gambeson was torn up and he wasn't wearing shoes. His hair was in a worse state than the gambeson, most of it gone.

The last group had snake tails. The mother and children wore ornate, red dresses, while the man wore a red, parted robe, tied with a wide, yellow belt. At his side, hung a curved sabre, in a golden scabbard. The adults sat at the wide benches, while the kids had some sort of raised, wide chairs. The kids were eating spaghetti. The parents only drank some wine. The entire family had tanned skin and Slavic features, dark green tails and dark, greenish hair. Both of the children looked to be around seven and it seemed one was a boy. I supposed robes or dresses were the only reasonable options for wijs.

As I finished looking around, a younger version of the barwoman came up.

"Would you like anything to eat?" She looked over to the spiderling while asking. "We would appreciate if you didn't eat your own food."

The spiderling just looked up and spread a toothy smile. The black fangs must have unnerved the woman, or she thought the spider was a noble, having such distinct racial features. Maybe it was the eyes, or the sharp spider legs the girl spread. Anyhow, she shivered and turned back to me. Her eyes lingered on my horns for a second before she focused on my face.

"Certainly, two steaks, for me and a currently absent friend," I explained and thought for a second, then continued. "We would also like a jug of apple-orange juice if you have it. For three." I flashed the woman a cute smile. She shivered again. I smushed my cheeks, wondering if there was something wrong with my face.

"Of course, it will be two silver coins and..." I interrupted her, by handing her three silvers. She began searching for change in her pouch, so I waved her off. Each second she spent looking for the change, was a second she spent not informing the cook about our order.

Some of the people in the tavern seemed to be studying our interaction, but they quickly returned to their meals and conversations. Clearly not all that interested.

Tom came back soon after the waitress went to give our order to the kitchen. He looked around a bit and sat next to me.

"It's quite early for nobles to be travelling to the Academy." The cat said, tilting his head towards the wij family.

"Is it? I don't really know much about it?" I asked, looking towards him.

"Well, it's already a couple of months into this semester," Tom answered helpfully. I nodded, then shrugged turning towards my backbag.

I pulled out my violin and sat at the edge of the table. What would make for good practice in a tavern? I chose some simple swing.

The wij woman turned towards us with an angry scowl and opened her mouth. I thought it was the first time she looked towards us, as her face turned surprised. She looked conflicted for a moment, then turned back to her table. She then began whispering angrily at her partner.

I tilted my head, but I couldn't hear what they were talking about. Tom turned towards the nobles' table and twitched his ears. He listened for a while and smirked.

He turned towards me and whispered, "She thinks we are some high nobles children." After those words, he paused, focusing on my horns, then turned towards the spiderling. He looked up to the ceiling and sighed. His lips were twitching up.

"She is not correct then. Mother is the Queen, but we are just normal citizens." The spiderling said, putting on a sagely expression. Tom quirked an eyebrow at that and waved his head.

I chuckled and kept playing until our food came. 

The waitress came carrying the juice jug and glass on a tray on her right hand; and the plates on her left hand and biceps. She professionally set everything on our table and with a smile wished us a nice meal. She was a little stiff while turning away.

Before she could leave, Tom called out to her, "Excuse me, where can we ask for a room for the night?"

"Oh... My mother, by bar. She gives rooms." She fumbled her words and her face reddened. She turned and walked away before the cat could say his thanks. He scratched his head and dug into the steak.

As potentially the oldest, I took it upon myself to pour the drinks. Trying it with magic required a bit too much finesse, so I just walked onto the table and poured to old fashioned way.

The spider shook her head when I gave her a glass, so I explained. "It should be really good."

The girl looked at the glass sceptically, but after a moment took a sip and smiled. "It's passable."

I ruffled her hair, which earned me a scowl. With a giggle, I returned to my seat and ate. Food made by a proper chef was so much better than road grub.