Lilith said her goodbyes and returned to the camp. She had a paladin to interrogate.

“What are we going to do now?” I asked Lucy. We did not really have any duties, currently. “Should we search the Inquisition's camp? Maybe we can find something about their leader." I suggested.

“Eh. That sounds tedious. We could just let the army do the work. I am sure they will call us if something comes up. How about a stroll through the city?” She asked.

I scratched my head. “Hm. Technically we are just guests for the negotiations.”

“We are not harming anyone. And who is going to stop us? Come on, let’s find a cafe. You know you want to.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

I laughed.

“Ok, you win. Let’s find some food. Lily, you can go back to the camp.”

“As you wish, my ladies.” She responded and left.

We did not know the layout of the city. So we simply started walking. The guards at the duke’s mansion did not stop us as we left.

It took us a while to leave the noble district. Eventually we found an area with shops. The streets were relatively empty. It occurred to me that most people would not know that the siege was over. It’s not like they had a phone, or tv, to watch the news.

We found a nice cafe with some tables outside. The weather was a bit chilly for humans but it did not bother us. It did not take long for a nervous waitress to appear.

“Welcome! I… I haven’t seen you here before.” She said.

Of course there were no travellers or tourists during a siege. You did not expect a stranger to simply show up. Night elves were likely rare in the city.

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“Hello! You might see a lot more new faces soon. The siege is over.” I told her.

“It is? How?” She looked surprised.

“We are part of a friendly force fighting against the Inquisition.” I explained.

Her eyes widened. “Friendly force…” She muttered. “I mean, welcome to our fine city and thank you for your help! Please, anything I can do for you let me know!” She handed us the menu and fled.

I scratched my head.

“She probably thinks the Dominion invaded.” Lucy pointed out.

“Oh. I suppose the Empire does not have any friends. Us coming to help seems unlikely to any resident here.” I would leave a large tip. Maybe that would help. For now, I studied the menu.

The waitress returned, seeming even more nervous now. “Have you decided?”

“I would like a black coffee and a strawberry tart.” I said.

“I am sorry! We are out of strawberries!” She apologised.

“Oh. Well, what do you recommend?” I asked.

“We… we do have a pecan pie.” She stammered.

“Sure, I will take that.”

“For me too.” Lucy said. “And some green tea please.”

“Certainly!” The waitress fled again.

I sighed. “I wish I could make her less nervous. But I think telling her we mean no harm will make things even worse.”

“You should tell her you are just an elf.” Lucy teased.

“And you are just a foxkin. We are just two normal mortals enjoying some food, clearly.”

“I wonder what they would have said if we brought Lily in her demon form.” Lucy said.

“Or Shani. She would probably try to order blood.” I smiled. “Clearly we are normal people, with normal friends.”

“Speaking of normal people, do you think I should take my family to the city? How long are we going to stay here?” She wondered.

“I am not sure. I suspect we will soon march towards Unitera. Depends on how long it takes to search the enemy camp and if they still need to negotiate things with the duke. It will also depend on how the Inquisition reacts. Are they going to push for Unitera even harder?” I wondered.

“Depends on their plan, I guess. Do they have a way to breach the palace?” Lucy said.

“Hm. That shield we saw when the war started looked impressive. But I did not have a lot of time to inspect it. Anything will run out of power eventually though. Unless they have enough mages inside to refuel it. And we don’t know how many defenders there are either. Surely the Emperor has quite a few loyal troops.” I mused.

“If the Inquisition got their hands on some of the generals though…” Lucy said.

“True. Mind control makes this all a bit more unpredictable.”

Our food and drinks arrived. The poor waitress was almost shaking. I thanked her and dug in.

“This is a great pie.” I said. “It does taste different than I had expected though. I wonder if this world has different pecans. Or maybe they add some sort of spice?”

“There is something really nice about it, true. It tastes a bit spicy, right?” Lucy asked.

“Yes. We should ask for the recipe. It’s a shame that the waitress is so nervous.”

“You could always go inside and see if there is someone else.” Lucy suggested.

“I am not sure if I am that curious. It is a great pie though.” Then I frowned. “Did the fork get darker?”