Rose was alone, just sitting on a stool behind the bar and reading a book. Looking up at the door opening, she brightened after seeing who had returned. “Welcome back! Looks like everyone is staying out late tonight.”

“Oh?”

“Normally the girl I was telling you about this morning, Rin, is back around 7 or 8, but she’s running quite late tonight.”

Alissa was happy to have her curiosity sated and shrugged, “Well, I hope she comes back soon. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the lauded Hero up close.”

Rose laughed, “I’m sure you’ll be fast friends. Would you all like anything to eat? Maybe a drink, Alissa and Adrest?”

It was Adrest’s turn to smile and ordered two orange beers, another special barrel Rose had saved with them in mind.

The family rushed off to clean up in the baths before taking theirs seats at the bar across Rose, the two oldest with large frothy mugs of beer, and the youngest with juice pouting at them.

“But I want to drink what you guys do too, you always act like it’s so delicious, and you two are always so excited about it. You’re leaving me out.” Belle gave them the best sad puppy eyes Adrest had ever seen, but he couldn’t give in this time, shaking his head at the pitiable figure.

It was Alissa who couldn’t take it anymore, “Fine, it’s pretty common for noble children grow up trying various wines occasionally. Let’s treat it as that, but just this once. After, you’ll either have to wait two years or get to C rank.”

“Yay! Thank you Big sis Ali! You’re the best!” Belle took Alissa’s offered mug taking a big sip from it, as if before Alissa could change her mind, and scrunched up her face.

“Ugh, it’s bitter...”

Laughing, Alissa took her mug back and patted Belle on her head, “It’s something you get a taste for, and there’s all sorts of different kinds and flavors of alcohol. As soon as your body grows a bit more I’ll teach you all about it and we'll find something you like.”

Belle had recovered from the drink’s unexpected flavor and took a sip of her juice, seeming to enjoy that far more. Rose smiled warmly at the entire exchange, it brought her back to memories of her own childhood. As her parents had owned an inn her entire life, Rose had been as curious as Belle. She seemed to remember reacting the same way Belle had as well.

It was nearly 11 in the evening and just as Rose was becoming worried for her new friend and considering going to the guild house to report it, the heavy doors creaked open and a girl on the small side of average walked in looking completely exhausted, with small cuts and scrapes in her clothing. Her medium brown hair was in disarray and she was dragging her feet looking half ready to collapse.

However the bedraggled woman perked up and bounced over as she saw Rose and her eyes brimmed in curiosity at the three strangers sitting in front of her.

Going right up to the bar to join the little group, She introduced herself, “Hello! My name is Rin, it’s nice to meet all of you.”

She had a quality to her voice that soothed the listener and bright, clear eyes without any ulterior motives or lies behind them. It made Adrest immediately trust Rin, and started their side of introductions, “Nice to meet you Rin, my name’s Adrest, this is Alissa, and she’s Belle.”

Alissa walked right up to the girl and took her hand in both her own, “Are you okay Rin? You’re cut all over the place.”

Rin squeezed the hands back and smiled at her new friend, “Oh, it’s nothing. There was just a Venom Shredder out today so I had to take care of it. It was tougher than it looked.”

“Oh my, you must be pretty strong Even in B rank, those are near the top, right?”

Rin looked at Alissa with admiration for her knowledge, “That’s right! Their shells are really hard, and they have a really nasty poison. I had to be really careful and slowly whittle away at it all day and most of the night.”

“That sounds exciting, I’d love to hear the story sometime. But, I’m sure you’re exhausted-“ Alissa couldn’t finish her words before Rin Jumped in.

“No! Just give me a few minutes to clean up, and I’d love to tell you all about it, but you have to tell me more about yourself too Alissa.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

With both girls now wearing identical smiles, Alissa replied, “Perfect, we’ll be waiting then.”

Rin rushed off to bathe and change, while Rose went to the back to make something for the hero to eat. Alissa’s eyes lit up as she spoke to Adrest and Belle, “She’s strong! Not even close to me obviously, but by most races standards, she’d probably be in the top 20% or so.”

Adrest’s eyes opened in surprise, “Really? That’s amazing from someone so young.”

Belle’s eyes also shone in awe, and Alissa continued quietly, “I get the feeling she could kill an A rank if she needed to, make sure you pay attention to the way she fights if you get a chance Belle, she is a little similar to you and you might get some inspiration.”

Belle nodded, “Do you really think I’ll be that strong someday Big Sis?”

Patting the younger sister on her head, Alissa grinned viciously “Belle, you’re aiming too low. When I’m done with the two of you, even the dragons back home will tremble.”

Adrest sighed at her lofty goals, and could only imagine the spartan training ahead of them in the coming years.

As they waited for Rin to return, Belle decided to get some sleep as the excitement and cold had worn her out.

“Tell Rose I said goodnight, and promise to tell me all about Rin in the morning.”

“We can talk all about it while we’re out tomorrow, see you in a bit Belle.”

A while after Belle walked up to their room, a freshly cleaned Rin returned from the bath.

Her chestnut brown hair was glittering with unshed water, and without the layer of the days grime and blood, Adrest could now see the pale and flawless skin below. There was no longer a single cut that he could see, not even a scar. That paired with her thin build, which was even more obvious in her plain white sleeveless shirt and black shorts, made it impossible for him to imagine how she could kill something in the C rank, let alone A.

“I’m back! Huh, where’d Belle go?” Rin approached excitedly while noticing the absent figure.

Adrest answered for the pair, “Oh, it was a really long day for her so Belle went to sleep first.”

Rin was a little disappointed but cheered back up as Adrest pushed a mug towards her, it was the special brew opened today. Taking a small curious sip, Rin was amazed and downed half the drink while taking a seat beside Alissa who was just observing.

“Ahh that’s so good! I’ve been trying to get Rose to open that for days now. It was worth the wait.”

Alissa was always happy to hear someone agreeing with her taste, “If I’d known this was waiting for me, we would’ve come back sooner.”

Adrest jumped in, “Feeling better Rin?”

“Much! I feel like a new person! I’m starving though, I haven’t eaten since this morning.”

As if on cue, Rose came in with a tray filled to the brim with eggs sausage and buttered bread. Rose explained, “There wasn’t much left from dinner, so I dipped into tomorrow’s breakfast.”

Rin’s eye’s sparkled seeing the hill of food coming her way, and Adrest politely pretended to not notice the bit of drool at the corners of her mouth.

They waited for Rin to finish devouring her meal before continuing their small talk, learning more about her as it got later in the night.

“I mostly grew up in a little orphanage in little town a day or so ride from the capital, it’s a really pretty town nestled in a bunch of hills and a huge waterfall of the outskirts of the city.”

“I didn’t go to the capital until I was 12. Because the orphanage got some of it’s funding from the Adventurer’s Guild, everyone has to get their talents tested. When the employee saw that I had a blessing from Blade Lord Xyleth he almost tripped over himself running to get a manager. From there, it was a lot of smiling strangers and congratulations from the sisters and kids from the orphanage, and the next thing I know I’m moving into a room at the Adventure’s Academy.”

“I honestly haven’t seen much of Rylith, I’ve been there for 4 years, but I almost never get to leave the school grounds, especially alone. It might be huge, but it got really boring after so long, I felt like i was starting to go crazy.”

At this, Alissa felt a sense of camaraderie, “Tell me about it. My father wouldn’t let me leave his side for 20 years!”

Rin with her thoughts dulled a little from the drinks, was confused, the girl in front of her looked at most a year or two older than herself. Then, belatedly, her eyes landed on the pair of deep purple horns half-hidden in the lavender hair.

“Ohhh. Dragonkin live a really really long time right?”

Deciding to not correct the girls assumption, Alissa complained, “But that’s not the point! It was the first 20 years of my life, how can it not feel like an eternity, plus how can I meet people like you and Rose if I’m cooped up at home with no one but my father and some tutors?”

Rin put her arm around the girl’s shoulders in a placating half hug, and they drained their drinks together. Adrest stuck to himself as he had a pretty average childhood with no woes to relate to the girls’ struggle.

Late into the night they drank, even getting Rose to join in, to the point her cream pale skin was bright red and she regularly tripped over her words. They swapped stories, though mostly Alissa and Rin talking about trips they’d been forced to go on.

It was irresponsibly late into the night before the three customers stumbled around and helped Rose clean up the room and headed to their respective rooms. As Adrest and Alissa entered the doorway to the pitch-black room, they could see Belle’s small form breathing steadily under her thick blanket with just her ears slightly poking out. Adrest made his way over to his own bed and to no one’s surprise he was tackled from behind silently by an affectionate Alissa. Now that it had become somewhat of a habit, after a few drinks she wasn’t shy in the least anymore.

She whispered into the dark, “Ady, get under the blanket. It’s cold and I’m tired.”

Adrest was happy to oblige as he noticed he always got the best sleep with Alissa by his side. As he took his place laying his head into the soft and thick pillows, Alissa nearly climbed on top of him and settled into a comforting weight and warmth. Resting her head on his chest and leaning her entire body into him, Alissa seemed to have been lulled into sleep by the beat of his heart as she didn’t respond when he said goodnight.