The aftermath of the massacre was enough to disrupt the whole town for days to come.
Someone had slipped under the nose of the army, including the hero party, and slaughtered a whole inn’s worth of people before slipping out unnoticed. All Rowan had for his efforts were a symbol hidden by a dead man.
“Why did I have to open my mouth and suggest a festival?” Rowan complained, dodging yet another thorn-covered vine on his way out of the wastes.
“Because you’re worried and you like to do nice things. To be fair though, the jury is still out on the topic of your intelligence,” Olivia teased, light on her feet and words because she wasn’t contributing to the transport of their hunt’s haul.
“I thought your mother was going to order a massacre,” Rowan protested. “I said the first thing that came to my mind.”
When Camilla Sutton had heard about what happened, she was absolutely livid. The fact that someone had ventured into their town and done such a thing? She was ready to flip the town upside down to find the culprit. It was beyond the fact that someone tried to assassinate the hero. It implied that someone or some force had strong, durable roots in the local settlement, and that no one was safe in the long term, from mayor to maid.
“She wouldn’t have done that,” Olivia said, serious now. “Someone who could do all that while we were outside would have to be either a very strong rare or epic. Even if we turned Rest’s Remorse upside down, we wouldn’t find them.”
“Either way, I’m glad we have a festival instead of some kind of austerity,” Rowan said. He had suggested the event to alleviate the mood of the town.
The only silver lining of the massacre was that Rowan had positioned the army to stop bystanders from wandering into the street which meant that news hadn’t spread throughout the town. As far as most people in Rest’s Remorse knew, their mayor and hero had suffered an assassination attempt and this was a triumph against the enemy.
An exciting, positive public event was just the sort of idea that Rowan’s tired brain could come up with to turn the mood of the town around.
That was why, for the first time since their training outings into the wastes, the army was hauling monster parts back to the town. They had elected to leave corpses behind in the past to stay nimble. But today, they needed to show their progress in more substantial forms.
The only ones spared from having to lug dead monsters were the support classes with the wrong stat distribution to meaningfully contribute. At the moment, there were exactly three of those in the army. A shaman, an alchemist, and a standard-bearer.
“Are you sure I can’t help out somehow, my lord?” the anxious-looking standard-bearer inquired.
“You get to sit out today, Burke. Just be quiet and happy for it. Trust me, you don’t want to be carrying a bunch of meat around in the humid confines of a jungle,” Rowan said.
Burke was, like Rayne, one of Rowan’s unexpected finds in the army. Even when nothing wrong was happening, the man looked vaguely worried. Burke claimed it was his eyebrows. They did, admittedly, give his entire face a complexion of quiet concern. Rowan though it was more than that. The eyebrows didn’t help, but Burke had a permanent slouch, like he was expecting a blow at any time, and would wring his hands like something was on his mind.
But appearances were deceiving. The man was one of the bravest and most loyal soldiers of Rowan’s army. Burke had received the class and embraced it about as well as anyone could have. Although his physical stats were far behind his peers, he would charge ahead of the army, inspire bravery, and offer buffs to the men and women behind him.
“Maybe we should get you some more monster meat to carry, hm? Rowan?” Olivia teased.
Rowan ignored her. If it weren’t for the fact that they’d be heading to the square immediately after their return for the planned festivities, Rowan would have liked to spend a solid hour straight washing himself.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before they broke through the cover of trees and today, the outline of the town in the distance was practically glowing.
The people under Camilla had gone full out on the preparations for the day. In spite of the approaching darkness of the night, the town was brighter than ever. The sound of song and music even carried all the way to the army.
As the army drew closer to the gate, they were greeted by a myriad of happy and hungry faces. Rowan’s soldiers fanned out and surrounded the hero party, keeping them firmly in the middle of the press of bodies.
Rowan waited until they were close enough that he could see the eyes of the town’s residents and hear their words.
“People of Rest’s Remorse,” Rowan called out. “Your army has returned. We’ve slain the monsters plaguing this town and taken the best cuts. The meat is for you. Only by sticking together through thick and thin can we rise above the demons. Enjoy.”
In less than a few minutes after entering the town, most of the soldiers were relieved of their burden. The citizens, like an industrious line of ants, quickly funneled the meat toward the town center, where bonfires blazed. The group of soldiers with Rowan’s party in the middle of the army moved slower, but that was mostly owed to Rowan refusing to relinquish his own pile of monster parts.
Part of that came down to him wanting to finish the journey on his own. Part was guarding his party’s portion of the upcoming meals, since an assassin could easily find a chance to apply poison. Finally, a very frustrating chunk of this came from Camilla’s advice.
She wanted people to see their hero working and sweating to provide for them. Even if none of them personally ate the meat he brought in, it would leave an impression that said their new mayor was doing his best to help the town. It was more than a little manipulative, but Rowan saw no legitimate reason to deny her request. Town management, he was learning, was full of these small tricks that chained together to something greater.
Once they finally made it to the square, Rowan dropped his burden and fully appreciated what Camilla Sutton had been able to organize.
The festivities weren’t overly ostentatious, or even a true festival at all. However, the baroness had sourced chefs to cook all the meat and plenty of drink to go around. That appeared to be all the people of Rest’s Remorse really needed.
After making sure that his meal was well guarded, Rowan made his way toward Camilla. Ironically, the baroness responsible for the festival stuck to the stage that had been erected for recruitment and kept herself separate from the celebratory mood. Rowan watched as she nursed a drink and scanned over the crowd, pausing only on the mercenaries who joined the festival and were enjoying the atmosphere.
“You think they’ll cause trouble?” Rowan asked.
“Hmm?” Camilla blinked before refocusing on the hero. “Oh no, they wouldn’t dare. But it’s good for them to know that I’m watching them. Metaphorically and literally.”
“Got it. Remind me to never cross you,” Rowan deadpanned.
A slight smile graced Camilla’s face as she turned away from Rowan and stood, pulling herself to her full length above the crowd below.
“A moment of your attention, please!” As always, Camilla’s voice carried easily, seemingly with no real effort on her part. The festival slowed to a halt as conversations quickly disappeared. “I would like to take a moment to thank Hero Rowan for helping organize this event. Your new mayor has both graciously provided the food for this gathering… and offered up the cards he and his party have fought and bled for in order to make the event more exciting!”
Of course, every single soul, from the most hopeless commoner to the most excited mercenary, knew what she was talking about. The festival wasn’t just about food and drink. They had attached an opportunity to the event: the card trading market.
“As you may well know, for the next twenty-four hours, everyone is invited to relax, feast, and browse the cards on offer. We have both an excellent collection of cards up to and including the rare tier, as well as a significant number of scrap cards of every rarity for purchase.
“If you’re lucky, you might just have the opportunity to set yourself and your family up for life! So, please, be merry and enjoy yourselves. I hope this will be a day you fondly remember for a very long time.”
A deafening applause and roars of approval answered Camilla’s speech and Rowan let it push him into one of the plush, comfortable seats that had been set up on the stage.
Camilla walked back from the edge of the stage and saw Rowan’s expression of content. “You look like you just avoided a fatal disaster.”
“I really thought you were going to make me join you and give a speech.” Rowan admitted. The prospect of talking to hundreds, even thousands, of people didn’t terrify him quite as much as it used to, but if the goal was to relax and enjoy the day, he definitely didn’t want to kick things off that way.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Not today.” Camilla had a small smile on her lips. “Rowan, you know, you’ve been nothing but surprises for me. At first, I thought that you were just going to be another hero who came to our world for a quick trip. But you weren’t. So today, you get to spend time with my daughter and simply enjoy yourself. Next time, though? It’ll be you giving the speech instead of me. You know that you’re at the center of all this.”
Rowan knew. He really did. With everything that was coming, he could hardly afford to pretend that he could stay by the side forever. The different clashing spheres of influence, desire, and thirst for power all had him in the middle. So far, he’d even taken some of the power for himself, even if it was only to protect the people he cared about.
“I think I’ll ask Olivia to take a walk with me,” Rowan tried, giving Camilla another look.
“Just remember what I told you about security. You can’t very well be of use to anyone if you’re not around anymore.”
Rowan didn’t reply, but he did subtly motion at some of the soldiers who were still on-duty for the current shift to follow at a respectable yet actionable distance. Quite frankly, though, he didn’t see as much point in it as Olivia’s mother did.
The two of them were stronger than most soldiers. So if anyone could protect Olivia, it would be him. In spite of that, it was better to keep the baroness happy.
Rowan found Olivia easily enough. She was just a short-distance away, chatting with an older lady who roasted the meat they’d brought in. She was using a custom blend of spices, which he figured was the reason she caught Olivia’s eye in the first place.
Rowan paused. He watched the way Olivia’s face flickered against the fire, the way she was relaxed and at ease for the first time in a considerable time. There was some of that underlying tension still there but for the first time in a while, she wasn’t thinking about how to kill monsters or practice chucking her combat potions.
I should do more events like this. If only for what it does for Olivia.
A few moments later, Olivia somehow felt his eyes on her and looked around. Their eyes met. Rowan’s feet took him closer to her.
“Would you like to walk around with me? Just the two of us? As a date?”
Rowan waited. He could feel each beat of his heart in his ears. He wondered how he could possibly be so bad at the whole thing. It wasn't his first experience with dating, but it sure felt like he was doing it all anew. For the first time, Rowan wondered what his intelligence and wisdom stats were doing.
All they seemed to do was make his mana pool bigger or speed up his mana regeneration.
“I’d absolutely love that,” Olivia chirped. Before Rowan knew what was happening, they were strolling down the street, each with a skewer of meat in their hands.
Rowan took a tentative bite and remembered the day he first tried the corrupted squirrel. There was no question that Olivia had good taste. The skewers with the lady’s special spice blend were scrumptious. He tried to commit the seller’s face to memory, but it kept escaping him. He was just happy to be spending time with Olivia, alone.
“What’s your favorite memory?”
“Hmm?” Olivia gave him a confused look, like the route he was taking through their conversation didn’t fit her expectations.
“We’ve been training and fighting ever since we got to know each other. It’s been nonstop.” Rowan lifted his hand and brought Olivia’s with his. “But this is nice. I really like this. Right now is probably one of my favorite memories since I came to this world.”
Olivia took a moment to think as her face went blank. “Before all of this. Back when father was still a duke. Everyone was always busy, mother, father, and brother, but one day, they took a break. It wasn’t even a holiday or a birthday or anything. We just spent the time together and went on a picnic at a lake. It wasn’t just us, but I remember how happy I was. I remember how wonderful the lake looked.”
Halfway through the description, Rowan stiffened slightly for two very different reasons. The first was Olivia herself. She wasn’t quite like him. Rowan never had a ton of friends, and for the most part, he was okay with that. She, on the other hand, thrived in the company of others. Sought it out. The second reason was because like Olivia, Rowan had a family. It was easy to forget that sometimes when fighting monsters with a spear but he had been in this world for months now, alone. He also couldn’t fully commit to staying. Not yet. So if their relationship progressed and one day the demon king was defeated?
Rowan shook his head, refusing to think about that.
“What about you? Favorite memory?” Olivia asked back.
It took a while for Rowan to shake his thoughts back into place. When they did, he dug through them for a cherished memory. “It was when I got my own apartment for the first time. Think of a castle but a different person lives in every room. I was in college and I couldn’t wait. Wait, do you know what college is?”
“Some kind of guild?” Olivia guessed.
“Close enough. Anyways, I had a terrible time at college before. Then I moved out to my own place and I got a pet cat. It was bliss. All alone with a nice warm drink and a feline friend. I was happy.”
“That’s fun,” Olivia said as she shot him a grin and pulled food from a vendor and shoved it in his direction.
Rowan was about to warn about poison before remembering who he was with. If Olivia’s experiments were anything to go by, she was an expert in all things toxic.
Fifteen minutes later, Rowan was regretting not stopping things sooner.
“This fruit juice. I haven’t had it since I was a kid,” Olivia said, radiant as ever. “You should try it.”
“I’m going to puke if I eat anything else,” Rowan tried.
“Juice doesn’t count.” Olivia thrust the drink forward again. “Come on. Just try a little sip.”
Rowan took the fruit juice and drank it down. A small part of him hoped he would throw up on her shoes. To his chagrin, he both liked it and didn’t puke.
It was the little things that made his evening. The way she smiled at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. The way she grinned when she knew he was. And the way she pushed him out of his comfort zone and tried to get him to try as many things as possible.
Rowan could honestly say that he was having more fun with Olivia Sutton that he ever did with Blake and Kayla or their… final, half-forgotten friend who didn’t need to go through the horrors of being summoned to another world.
Olivia knew it too. She was gradually honing in on Rowan’s tastes. At first, he liked about sixty percent of the stuff she was handing him. By the end, everything she gave him was wonderful and each time, Olivia had a tiny smile to go with the food.
Can I really go back to my own world when this is all over? Work a normal job and forget about the time I was a hero and fighting for my life? Or Olivia?
In that moment, Rowan wished desperately that he could take Olivia with him when he went back. But, even if that were possible, he’d be stealing her from everyone who she knew and placing her in a very, very confusing society.
Olivia ran off to one of the food stalls to the side and bought a mountain of food. Before Rowan could protest, she took a giant bite, leaving cheap sauce all over her left cheek.
Olivia belongs in this world. And maybe, just maybe, so do I.
That kind of resolution felt like it should be accompanied by a sufficiently dramatic gesture. Rowan leaned in. Somehow, Olivia intuited what he was about to do. He could almost taste their last dish on her lips, even though their lips hadn’t touched yet.
“I am so very glad that I could find you, Mayor Rowan.” The cool voice of Tamara cut through the refreshing evening air, and Rowan jerked away from Olivia as quickly as he could.
Olivia spun around and glared at the disgraced mage with such vitriol it could have spontaneously turned into a deadly spell, or at least a potion recipe she could brew and poison the woman with later.
“Can I help you?” Rowan asked brusquely.
“Do I come at a wrong time?” Tamara asked, suddenly wary and a bit confused. She seemed to genuinely not understand what had almost happened before she arrived, so Rowan decided to cut her a bit of slack.
“No, it’s fine. What did you want to say?” Rowan said.
“Hero Rowan, I want you to know I had nothing to do with the assassin. If you tried, you could probably dig up some kind of link between us. That’s also true for every mercenary in this town. Not everything is as clean as people would like to pretend it is,” said Tamara.
“And why are you telling me this?”
“Because, as far as I’m aware, we have common enemies, you and I.”
“Who?”
“The person who believes she’s the mayor.”
“Really? What makes you think I’m against the parents of the girl I am honestly extremely fond of?” Rowan said, his anger coming back again.
“I’m not strictly opposed to your in-laws.”
Rowan didn’t even bother with the correction. “I’ll note that you very carefully didn’t say you’re not opposed to me. That’s a bit of a concerning start for an alliance, isn’t it?”
The mage arched a brow as Rowan smiled back. That’s right, I’m a relatively quick study, and Camilla is scary when she wants you to memorize stuff like picking out hidden meanings in words.
“I understand,” Tamara said as she relaxed her shoulders. “Let me say this then. I’m not directly opposed to you. I have my goals, yes, and have to represent the goals of certain interested parties. However, there’s very little you have to worry about from me.”
“And why should I believe you?” Rowan asked.
“Because I’m here.”
“What about your fellows? Blood Reaver and the Mercenary King?”
“I’m not sure, at least when it comes to Florin. The Mercenary King is, was, and always will be loyal to the letter of the law. Even if he’s sometimes reluctant to follow through on the spirit of the agreements he’s signed.”
“The Mercenary King?” Rowan was really enjoying the use of these questions. He didn’t need to offer any new information while extracting the maximum possible from the woman.
“It’s a small thing. Unless you go around kicking kittens and puppies for fun, he won’t bother you. He’s rather fond of animals.”
“And Florin?”
“Ah, yes, Florin. Good old Florin. Don’t trust the snake, hero, no matter what he offers you. People tend to just die or disappear when it’s convenient for him. Can’t say too much on the subject of morality because I’m not much better myself. But, if he lives by any kind of code or believes in loyalty, it’s only to himself. First and foremost, always.”
Rowan frowned. None of this was new information but it almost sounded like she was sincerely trying to warn him of something. He took a second look at her. For a second, he wasn’t sure if he was still talking to Tamara. This woman was far more open. Far easier to see through. Flecks of her emotions seeped through the façade like she was a novice at the art of negotiations. This didn’t seem like it was the same woman he had met at the gathering.
Before Rowan could ask his next question, he was distracted by his spear. The weapon was turning cold and there was a cool stream trying to sneak up his arm. He looked down and noticed that it was struggling against something.
When the stream shattered against something strong and resilient, Rowan was suddenly the recipient of a mild headache. He looked to find Olivia stumbling slightly, slipping on the slight indentation of a sewer grate.
Rowan turned to face the mage. She was gone.
“Well, that was something. Suitably creepy. What was Tamara even trying to do?” Rowan muttered, drawing closer to Olivia.
“I think we need to talk to my mother about the whole thing,” Olivia said, looking around to see if the woman was still next to them.
“You think it can wait?” Rowan asked.
Olivia shrugged. “It can wait. Whatever she or the Reaver wants to do, I doubt it’ll happen tomorrow. We have better things to do today.”
Indeed, they did.
The mood, after their near kiss, was far better. Rowan knew she was interested. And now, she knew Rowan was too. From there, there was no reason to rush things.
They toured the celebration, checked out the cards people had traded, and even looked at the cards the mercenaries were peddling alongside the main attractions.
The selection wasn’t great, and it catered mostly to uncommon and common classes. Still, it was something, and it definitely helped broaden Rowan’s horizons on what cards made possible in his new world.
That evening, the two were once again together, and Rowan couldn’t help but notice that for all the teasing, Olivia’s family had never actively gotten in their way of exploring their feelings.
But with Olivia’s warmth in his arms, that hardly seemed to matter.
He didn’t even notice the ease with which he left his weapon by the door.