That night I didn't dream of anything; I only saw darkness. The only new thing was an unintelligible voice.
Since everything was dark, I just searched for the source of that sound... I think it was the voice of a person; from the tone of the voice, it must be a young man... I heard that voice trying to pronounce a word...
...Harm...
What...?
“Don’t harm them… or I’ll kill you.”
“AH!” I woke up screaming. “What the hell was that dream? Who am I not supposed to harm?”
Even though I screamed very loudly, Chizze is still sleeping next to me, and the dryad is still asleep in her bed. I feel so uncomfortable because of that dream that I prefer to leave the cabin.
I leave my room and look at the closed door of the elf and her little princess’s room... I suppose Raiza and Kharla are still sleeping in their room, but I have no intention of looking inside.
Once outside the house, I see the sunrise. It's a beautiful sight, although the view of the city of Nessy in the distance depresses me. I guess the closer I get to the demon zone, the worse things will get...
I notice a series of peddlers who arrived this morning at the city entrance. Since the incident happened last night, the merchants must be shocked to hear what happened.
Now that I think about it, I haven’t slept at all; I think I slept less than an hour. But oh well, I guess I still have some adrenaline left in my body.
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I head to the city entrance, where the merchants are gathered since they came to work in Nessy. However, they only found the military police controlling the damage. Indifferently, I notice that some of these merchants are selling fruit.
I know I could ask the dryad to help us with as much fruit as we want... But I prefer to get things myself. I approach everyone I see who sells things that interest me. In total, I bought apples, oranges, mint leaves, and different types of tea leaves.
With my morning purchases, I went to the cabin, heated some water on the stove, and had some herbal tea with mint leaves. Honestly, preparing that tea made me feel so much better.
“Hey, tell me you made enough tea for both of us,” Raiza said.
“I guess you can’t sleep either.”
“It’s not that, Ester. It’s because of that tea. It’s the same tea my father used to make. As soon as I smelled it, I instinctively went out to look for Dad, but he died a long time ago. Since you revived those memories when you healed my mind, I remember that smell more vividly.”
I’m left speechless because, as an orphan, I have no parents. Although the master can be a father figure, I was always fine with being alone...
Who am I kidding? I miss my friends... Yubel, Eduard, and my Amelia. I guess Raiza must miss her father in a similar way to how I miss my friends...
I say nothing.
I serve a cup of tea, and together we watch the city landscape while we drink our tea. No matter how much I look at Nessy, I can’t get used to it; yesterday, it was a beautiful city, but now I only see an empty shell of what it once was...
At first glance, a stranger wouldn't notice anything strange since the buildings remain intact, and there isn’t much difference in how the city looks... but I don’t see it the same. I see it in the faces of these people, how they walk with the fear that something bad might happen again...
That psychological damage that changes people forever... Even I feel disturbed, even though we killed Blodsai, we lost; it was Charlotte who truly won...
Although the taste of defeat from not being able to prevent the city’s tragedy is strong, the sweet taste of hot tea helps us get rid of the taste of shit in our mouths... a small comfort in this tragedy...