Early Evening - Late Fall : The Golden Lotus, Northern Market District (Valtivar)

"So you're saying that Bahamut is getting involved with investigating the Helvig estate, but even though they knew I was the one who did it, I wasn't charged with anything?" Amara was still struggling to wrap her head around the situation while we sipped on the remaining Piotita.

"Sort of, yes. Originally, he was probably planning to interrogate us, but I stumbled across a more serious problem which turned his attention elsewhere." Leaning back in my seat, I reached down and rubbed Ilios's belly.

"What problem could possibly pull someone in the foreign intelligence division away from a case?" She gave me a curious look as she fell deep into thought.

"Betrayal, for starters." I said it so nonchalantly that it caught Amara off guard.

"What did you say?!" She stared at me with a look of awe. "How in the world did you get him to betray the Foreign Intelligence Division?"

"Pfft-Hahaha! I didn’t get him to betray anyone, I just noticed a discrepancy in the information he was given."

"Hm? What do you mean by 'discrepancy'?"

Her growing curiosity quickly brought a smile to my face. "Well, according to his information, of the 83 people killed, only one was a dragon. Since that was such a stark difference from what you told me, I figured someone up the hierarchy wanted to hide something and simply brought it to the interrogator's attention."

"But he actually believed you? The loyalty of those in the Foreign Intelligence Division might as well be limitless."

Finally finishing my glass of alcohol, I set it on the table and moved over to the couch to let Ilios lie with me. "I mean, what is more trustworthy, people he might not even know, or a high noble swearing under Bahamut's name."

Her eyes went wide.

-Hm?- "What's wrong? It's not like I lied, nor did I have ill intentions when I swore."

"But.. what if I accidentally told you the wrong number of dragons that were killed?"

"Well, did you?"

"N..no?"

"Then that's that." Patting my chest, Ilios hopped up on the couch and found a comfy spot next to me.

"But I definitely didn't see everyone Ilios killed... What if he-"

"Just don't worry about it. Worst comes to worst, I'll just go to Bahamut and clean things up myself."

She gave me a look of guilt before finally calming back down. "Haah..." There was a short pause before she looked back up at me. "If something like that does happen.. please tell me... At the very least, I'm sure my family will be helpful to you."

I glanced at her as I contemplated saying something before deciding not to. "Just don't worry yourself over it."

Silence filled the room for several minutes after that, but I eventually noticed some familiar auras approaching the inn from down the street. -They’re finally back… Where did they even go?-

Around a minute later, they finally got to our room and opened up the door. *Click*

"Oh, you guys are already back?" Yolanda was smiling from cheek to cheek.

Amara, finally shaking off her lingering guilt, put on a smile as well. "Yeah, we got back about half an hour ago. Where did you guys end up going? I thought you’d be back before us."

"We just explored the gambling district and played around. We ended up running into a few old friends that lent us some money to play with." The moderately sized leather sack in her hands made a distinct noise as she set it on the table. *ching*

Thoughtlessly, I pushed some aura into the sack to see several dozen gold and around five platinum. -Damn, to think someone as immature as her can be good at gambling...-

Bjorn let out a chuckle as he walked over to the table. "Haha, sometimes I really question how she does it. She only lost a few bets the whole day today." *Creak* The chair creaked as he sat down and went to pour himself the very last glass of Piotita.

I had left it for Amara to have, so it didn't bother me too much, but Amara herself looked heartbroken.

She could do nothing but watch helplessly as Bjorn set the mug to his lips and finally took a sip.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"PPPFFFTT!" He spat it out instantly.

"AYE!" Amara looked horrified as she used magic to grab what he spat into the air. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

Bjorn had absolutely no idea what she was mad about. "Huh? What? I'm sorry!" He jumped back and apologized before he could gather a single clue of what was happening.

Thankfully though, Amara was quick to get her anger under control. "That alcohol is worth more than you can imagine! Don't just spit it out like that!" Looking intently at the accumulation of liquid she gathered, she slowly tried to pick out the impurities.

I thought about helping her but ended up doing nothing. -She's not doing that bad of a job...-

Finally calming down enough to think things through, Bjorn lowered his arms from in front of his face to look at Amara. "Sorry! I didn't know it was that expensive! It was just so bitter that my body kind of just.. ejected it..."

Amara and I immediately gave each other a confused glance. ""It tastes bitter to you?""

"Y..yeah..." He just looked confused.

-I guess dragon taste buds are a bit more different from humanoids than I thought...- "It must just be.. an acquired taste."

Realizing what I was doing, Amara was quick to play along. "R..right, not liking it is understandable.. but still, please be careful with it." Carefully looking through the liquid floating in the air again, she cleaned a few more specs out of it and poured it back into Bjorn's cup.

Entranced by her control over magic, Bjorn was quick to calm down again. "I'll.. be sure to be more careful in the future then..."

Silence wrapped around the room for another minute before I finally changed the subject. "So what is the plan for tomorrow?"

Everyone turned to me immediately, but Amara was the only one to respond. "I sort of assumed we would just relax here until we needed to leave, but if anyone has any better ideas, I'm alright with anything."

But as if she was waiting for the moment, Yolanda voiced her opinion immediately. "I'm fine with sleeping in late!"

"Haha, of course you are." Bjorn gave her a warm smile before turning back to Amara. "It's not like we could go do a whole lot tomorrow anyway, so I'm alright with that."

Amara gave a light nod before finally turning to me. "What about you, Vasilias?"

Everyone turned to look at me like I had the final say in the matter.

"I’m okay with whatever you guys decide." -I'm just looking forward to the actual event… How will millions of people attend a single prayer?- But before I got sidetracked, there was something I needed to ask. "What all do I need to know before we go, by the way? Like what time it is or religious rules or something…"

Amara gave me a surprised look for a moment before letting out a quick breath. "Oh, right."

-Did you seriously forget I'm not from around here?-

Not noticing my unimpressed look, she continued casually. "For starters, the prayer is right at sundown, when the sun and moon are on opposing horizons, so we will leave sometime in the afternoon." She glanced at me to make sure I was listening before continuing. "As for the more religious side of things, you should avoid alcohol and food for the day, as well as anything sexual or dangerous. It is not only disgraceful to those around you, but also to the gods."

-Fair enough…-

"A priest can legally kill you if you are seen doing anything taboo on the day of prayer."

I jolted a bit as I realized what she said. -Good f*cking lord!- I looked over at her to see if she was joking, but her face was completely indifferent. "Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"It's just a part of the culture here. Since it's how people are taught growing up, it's never been seen as a big deal."

Although what she said was true, I still struggled to believe it. "What’s the priest's justification for it though?"

"Those who commit those taboos are considered to be rebelling against the gods, and are executed to let the gods pass judgment on them." She casually took a sip of Piotita as she finished. "It's honestly not much different from the Coming-of-Age Festival in Baham-"

Yolanda and I immediately went wide-eyed as we used magic to mute Amara's voice.

At first, Amara was just a little startled and confused, but that was when she finally realized what she had said.

Bjorn was still clueless though. "Baha- what?"

"NOTHING! It was nothing!" Amara stood up from her seat in a panic. "In any case, I think we have covered everything for tomorrow. Does anyone else have anything to add before we go to bed?" She scanned the room in a hurry, before gulping down the rest of her Piotita and hastily continuing. "Since no one else has anything to add, I shall go to bed first. Sleep well, everyone!" Not wasting a single extra second, she darted into her room and slammed the door behind her. *Wham*

Bjorn could only look at her bedroom door in shock and confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"

Yolanda and I both glanced at each other while wondering what to do before I figured Bjorn wasn’t curious enough to dig too deep. "Don't worry about it. If you ever need to know, you will."

He raised his eyebrow at me for a moment before finally letting go of his curiosity, as I expected. "Haah, alright. In that case, I will head to bed as well. Good night, Vasilias. Good night, Yolanda!" *click*

As the door closed behind him, Yolanda glanced at Amara’s room with an odd expression. "Sometimes I really wonder how she’s 40 years older than me..."

"Yeah… She’s over 80 years older than me, as well. Sometimes it doesn't make much sense."

Yolanda was quick to turn back to me with an unamused expression. "You’re a freak of nature, of course that wouldn't make sense…" Her look slowly shifted to a joking smile. "You have your moments, but you could have told me you were an ancient and I would have believed you…"

"Haha, is that so?" -I still think I act younger when I'm with you guys though…-

"Anyways, I'm a bit tired from gambling all day, so I’ll head out as well."

"Alright, sleep well, Yolanda."

"Goodnight, Vasilias!" *click*

Left alone in the living room again, I stared up at the ceiling at rubbed Ilios's head. -I should be excited about tomorrow... so why do I feel so uneasy...-

But as if he could read my mind, Ilios crawled up and licked my face, making the feeling in my gut immediately disappear.

"Haah... I really wonder how you do that sometimes..." Deciding not to think much more about it, I just laid back and relaxed. -Maybe I'm just overthinking things...-