After we ate our dinner, we decided to hit the hay—literally. There's hay in the carriage–and sleep for the night...

...But I'm too occupied thinking to the point I don't have any space left in my thoughts to consider sleeping.

— "Who is Lida... What does she mean by being 'fateless'... How come I've been so lucky with the dangerous encounters and have yet to find a cute girl to travel with... I guess I'm lucky but I'm not that lucky."

Leo groaned and rolled in his sleep before being promptly awakened.

— "Can you shut up and stop thinking aloud, Owens?!"

I bet he's still salty about eating Mushroom Boar stew.

— "R-Right..."

I better sleep as well. I laid my head back in the hay and snoozed for tomorrow...

...And I woke up after sleeping for nine hours, fine and dandy. I genuinely wonder how I was able to sleep without thinking about getting kidnapped again.

When I sat up on the hay, I noticed a small paper slip from my bag. It was for a delivery for an adventuring guild in Aevum. And it's due by tomorrow! It's a good thing those people that kidnapped us didn't take anything from the carriage.

I looked around and noticed that Leo is still sleeping and so I did what I would naturally do: shake him awake. And he clearly didn't like that.

— "What is seriously wrong with you, Owens?! I was sleeping here!!"

I immediately regretted what I did and tried to back-pedal.

— "Alright! Alright! I know you're still mad about the Mushroom Boar stew! I promise I'll make it up to you later; we'll be stopping by Aevum laters. Just be patient, okay?"

That somehow calmed him down and in that instant, he forgot why he was mad right away.

At any rate, we hit up the forest trail again. But this time, I didn't get lost on my way to Aevum–Like that would ever happen! We instead ended up back into Azale, into the High Forest trail, and back on the way to Ms. Florenza's manor. Why am I so horrible at following directions?!

— "Are you really this stupid or do you just want me to say goodbye to my master first?"

— "*Sigh* Both."

— "I'm glad you admit your own stupidity."

It's too late to turn back now. And I'm pretty sure Old Man Edwards knows where Aevum is...

But the first thing I saw in front of the manor's gate was Amaelia who was standing there looking at me and Leo with a scowl on her face.

Seriously, is she rude naturally or did we both do something that ticked her off?

Regardless, I pulled up in front of the gate with my carriage.

— "What are you doing here, Owens? Shouldn't you be doing your job instead of fooling around and beating around the bush?"

She asked coldly in disdain as if we've done something horrible or irritable.

— "Just let us through, Amaelia. Please?"

She nodded and complied. That's rare for her to do.

We went through and tired Silven to a post along with the carriage as me and Leo went inside of the manor. Oh no, this place again. This maze is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

— "What's with you, Owens?"

— "I still don't know the ins and outs of this manor."

— "Oh, yeah, I forgot you're an idiot. Rest your poor idiotic soul, Owens. My master is definitely not inside of the manor."

— "Where is she, then?"

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

At this point, I just ignore each time he calls me an idiot as it would only gouge a reaction out of me.

— "I bet she's in the hollow, marbled, hut, thingy in the garden."

— "What?"

— "I know you're stupid and all, Owens. But I feel like you know what I mean."

— "Do you mean the gazebo?"

— "Ohhh so that's what it's called."

How can this child know a lot about magic and still not know what a gazebo is. I guess he's still a child at the end of the day.

— "What are you looking at me for? Is there something in my ears or something?"

Now that I looked at him, his fox ears are definitely genuine. A Demi-Human, hm. Demi-Humans aren't uncommon nowadays but I'm still sort of fascinated by them.

Anyhow, we went around the manor and went to the garden to find Ms. Florenza talking to one of her guests. The gazebo was made by pure-white high-quality marbles that the shade of white itself reminds of a familiar place–anyways.

She started to notice our presence as we went along the garden's path, being careful not to trample on the beautiful flowers along the cracks on the floor. But what I'm more interested about is that Leo isn't misbehaving when in her presence.

— "It's you two. What brings you two in here?"

— "Are they your friends, Florenza?"

— "Yes, they are. Please excuse us as they might have something of importance to say."

She turned to us and temporarily held her talk with her guest.

— "I came to say goodbye, my master. I want to accompany this STUPID Owens."

Did he really have to say that about me? I'm not that stupid; I'm just bad at general navigation which is... Kind of stupid. Regardless, I stayed quiet because I knew Leo was just exaggerating and was just joking around.

— "I suppose I can't refuse your request, little one. If Owens found a use for you then that's a good thing. Although, I have one thing to say to you, Owens."

My brows shot up in surprise, she addressed me subtly. What does she have to say? I'm kind of getting nervous as she's taking a long time to assess her thoughts together.

— "I'm sorry for sneaking Leo in the carriage, Owens. I only wanted you to be safe and so I felt as if that–"

I immediately cut her off. I don't want her to apologize because she doesn't need to at all. I understand her concern; I don't know and had no way to defend myself before I was able to use magic.

— "You don't have to apologize, Ms. Florenza. I can understand your concern about me."

From what I could tell from her facial expression, she is relieved that I understand how she feels regarding my safety. I have my faith in her. If it wasn't for her and her, I won't be here where I stand...

...But this beautiful exchange is broken when she asked:

— "But what happened to you two to be missing for a day straight? I thought you started to detest me after I recommended that you come back to your parents. I know that you've always come and go in the manor. But I felt something was wrong when I heard nothing from you two for a day straight."

Her saying all of that reminded us of when we were kidnapped yesterday.

— "I-It's nothing, really! It's a long story."

— "I-It's definitely long. You wouldn't want to hear it."

— "Anyhow, we better get going. S-See you sooner or later, Ms. Florenza."

We started to walk back out of the garden. Being careful not to trample the flowers. But before we exit the garden's gate, I heard a small bit of Ms. Florenza and her guest's conversation.

— "...You sure have eccentric friends, Florenza."

— "Maybe I do, but I cherish my connection with the people around me."

I didn't want to eavesdrop and we went on our way back to Silven and the carriage to find Edwards tending to his Land Dragons–oh, that reminds me, I should ask him for a map to Aevum. And so I walked towards him.

— "Excuse me, Edwards. Do you happen to have the directions to Aevum? That would be great".

— "Still horrible at navigation, huh, Owens. Well, it's not uncommon to be lost nowadays."

He gave me a map that is detailed enough that I could follow it flawlessly.

— "Now get going, you two."

We both nodded and untied Silven and the carriage from the post and went out of the gate and back to the forest road but not before Amaelia gave us another scowl.

It was a quiet ride as it only took us about two hours to travel from the forest to Aevum.

Aevum was a better kingdom than Azale—and as many people say about it: "It's a modern Shangri-La '' because of the convenience that this kingdom provides. This was also the kingdom that had the most clock-towers.

We entered the gate effortlessly without the guards having second thoughts about us. The roads are straight stone and narrow. The sidewalk is visibly separated from the road itself. People walked and some looked at my carriage and my Land Dragon. I guess majestic creatures like Silven aren't common in this kingdom.

After some time strolling around the inside of the kingdom, we found the adventuring guild that I am supposed to stop by and drop off the deliveries. This sure is a profitable month–and also an unlucky one because of what had happened.

Anyway, we entered the guild and went to the reception to find the guild receptionist waiting for us.

— "You must be Owens, I assume. And who's this little fella you're with?"

She looked at Leo with adoring eyes before returning her glance back up at me.

— "Yes, that would be me. And this is my companion, Leo."

— "Hi!"

— "We're here to deliver the order you made. It's in the carriage so you'll need people to carry it out."

— "Right on time, then. The payment, however, will be delayed because of our funds being focused on the adventurers this month. It will take roughly five business days. But as compensation for the long transaction, we're willing to pay for five nights at the inn in the capital."

— "Sure. It's not like we have anything else to do anyway. Right, Leo?"

— "Definitely not."

— "That settles it, then. Thanks for doing business with us."

— "With pleasure, sir Owens."

— "Wait! Owens, you forgot about your promise this morning!-"

Leo was then promptly cut off by a high-pitched voice and the loud thud of the guild's door opening.

— "Enter the hero! Revere to me, your savior!"

This month could not get any weirder than it already is.