Ten minutes passed and they didn't fall asleep, so I called an end to the tub soaking. Both Maylia and Afyne were disappointed and I reminded them that we needed to go eat. Afyne perked right up and climbed out of the tub.
“Hey.” I said and caught her arm. “Dry off first.”
“What?” Afyne looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Why would I do that?”
“So you're not wet when you put on new clothes.” I said.
“Just humor him.” Maylia said and stood up, then stepped out of the tub. “He gets cranky if you walk round and drip water everywhere.”
“What does he do when it rains?” Afyne asked and looked genuinely curious.
“I don't know.” Maylia smiled and looked at me. “He'll probably sulk about the world dripping on him and getting water all over the place.”
“Did you hear that?” Afyne shook her fist in the air and laughed. “Dry off, world!”
“Ha. Ha.” I said and stood up myself. “It's so you can be comfortable when you put on fresh clothes and they don't stick to you.”
Afyne rolled her eyes and Maylia chuckled.
I tossed Maylia a towel and picked one up myself, then pointed at Afyne. “Double team.”
Afyne looked at me. “What does that...”
Maylia and I quickly dried her off from head to foot in less than a minute. Her wide-eyed stare was so cute combined with her messy hair that I just stood there and stared right back at her and smiled. After a few moments, a slightly wet towel slapped me across the face as it landed on my head.
“Hey! You're dripping all over the place.” Maylia said and Afyne laughed and snorted at the same time. I laughed and tossed my towel at Maylia, which she easily caught and turned over before she started to dry herself off with its dry side. I took the towel off my head and dried myself off with it.
“We need a good hair brushing, too.” I said and took out the large wrapped package along with the fancier clothes we had bought the first time in that shop. I hadn't expected to actually need them, because I had only bought them to thank the sales lady for answering our questions, and here I was taking them out to wear to supper. “Afyne first.”
“My hair will...” Afyne stared to say.
“Sit.” Maylia commanded the young girl and pointed to the edge of the bed. Afyne looked like she was going to say no, then sighed and sat down. Maylia climbed onto the bed behind her and I handed her the brush. I finished getting the clothes ready and Maylia finished brushing Afyne's shoulder length light brown hair.
I handed a second brush to Afyne and told her to switch places with Maylia. She looked at me like I was weird, so I motioned for her to hurry up. She sighed again and Maylia slid forward and sat on the edge of the bed. She started to brush Maylia's long blonde hair from the top of her head and I climbed onto the bed beside her.
“You need to start at the end, or you're going to get the hair all tangled about halfway down.” I said and started to brush the hair properly.
“Where did you learn that?” Afyne asked, surprised.
“I spent quite a bit of time with a woman that loved brushing hair.” I said and then smiled. “It took me a while to get the hang of doing it right and now it bothers me when it's not.”
Afyne reached up and touched her own hair and I reached out and touched it myself.
“Before you think I judged you, it can only be properly brushed after a good washing.” I said. “That's the only time that my urge to brush it kicks in.”
Afyne nodded and we both worked on Maylia's hair. It was done fairly quickly and I asked her if she wanted to leave it down or put it up.
“If we're getting dressed up, I better leave it down.” Maylia said and motioned to the fancy clothes.
“I was thinking the same thing for myself.” I said and we switched places. Maylia and Afyne brushed my hair out and Afyne kept asking Maylia to make sure that she was doing it right. When they were done, I turned towards them. “Thank you.” I said and they both had slightly surprised expressions. “It's time to get dressed.”
Maylia nodded and opened one of the small packages and gave a new pair of underwear to Afyne, who kept her slightly surprised expression as she put them on. Socks were next and Afyne just stared at them like she had never seen them before. I put on new underwear and socks myself, then put on a pair of pants that were very similar to dress pants for a suit.
Maylia opened another small package and put on her own slightly lacy underwear, both a top and a bottom, and Afyne's mouth had fallen open at the sight of them. She looked down at her normal underwear and then at Maylia's to compare the two different styles. Maylia smiled and leaned down to whisper in her ear and Afyne's face flushed to a bright red.
“What are you telling her?” I asked as I put on a stiff white shirt.
“What the difference in our underwear means.” Maylia said and put on thin and also lacy socks.
I noticed the difference and looked at her face. She smiled and held a hand out to me, so I walked over to her and took the hand, bent over it, and kissed her fingers. It was her turn for her face to flush red.
“I actually wanted Afyne's package.” Maylia said with a soft voice.
“Oh. Just a second.” I said and walked over to pick it up and brought it over. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Maylia said and took my hand. She held it for a few seconds and then put the package on the bed.
“I haven't had new pants in a long time.” Afyne said excitedly and stepped close to the bed as Maylia opened the package. “I can't wait to...” She gasped as Maylia lifted up the fancy white dress. Her face showed shock and surprise and she didn't say anything else as we put the dress on her. The only mirror in the room was the small one above the sink, so I pointed to it. Afyne walked over to it and tried to hop up and see herself.
I created a Presence box, colored it green with mana to make it visible, then made it solid. “Try this.”
Afyne turned around and saw the green box with wide eyes. I held a hand out to her and she took it and stepped up onto the box, then slowly turned around to face the mirror. She was far enough away that she could see most of herself in the reflection and her eyes started to tear up. Maylia handed me a small square cloth with ridges on it and I guessed that it was a cloth handkerchief.
“You look very pretty.” I said and used the handkerchief to catch Afyne's tears before they dropped onto the dress. She hiccuped and tried hard not to cry, so I used a little bit of Presence to make a connection between us, then used a mental technique to calm down and shared that with her. Her breathing slowed down and matched mine after a few moments.
“I guess I need to watch how I compliment you, too.” I said with a smile and she smiled back.
“I hope I can get used to it soon.” Maylia said and leaned close to Afyne. “He kind of surprises you and gives them almost at random.”
“R-really?” Afyne asked, and Maylia nodded.
“I know for a fact that he's trying not to tell me the same thing he just told you.” Maylia said. “It's the first time I'm wearing this fancy of a dress, too.”
Afyne looked at her dress and then up at Maylia's face and saw that her long blonde hair flowed around her. “You do look pretty.”
“Thank you.” Maylia said without batting an eye.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Hey, that's not fair.” I said with a smile. “How can she compliment you and you don't react, and yet if I said...”
Maylia held a hand up to stop me. “It's not the compliment, it's the source.”
I held in both my chuckle and my sigh. “What if I said it like a woman?” I asked and they both looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Ahem.” I coughed and cleared my throat a couple of times, then made my voice as high pitched as possible. “You both look very pretty.” I squeaked out and it sounded like a certain mouse cartoon character.
Both Maylia and Afyne burst out laughing.
“It's not funny! You're both beautiful!” I squeaked and they laughed harder. I waited as they laughed and I let my voice go back to normal. “Is everyone ready?”
“My boots!” Afyne exclaimed and went to the chair and reached into her bag of holding and took out the boots. She carefully put them on the floor and slipped her feet into them. Surprisingly, the boots changed their appearance and now matched the dress. Both Afyne and Maylia caught their breath.
“Us, too.” I said and put my boots on. They were already black so they went with my almost suit-like outfit and I put on the outfit's overcoat. Maylia's dress was long enough that it covered her boots when she put them on and we were all set. I put my belt back on and transferred some silver and copper coins into my pockets before I tucked everything we had into my bag of holding, that way there was nothing left in the room when we left to go eat.
I started to put on my blast shield and Afyne's hand touched my elbow. “What is it?” I asked.
“Can you... leave it off?” Afyne asked.
I looked into her eyes for a moment. “I suppose.” I said and she beamed a smile at me. I couldn't help but smile back and put the blast shield into my bag of holding. She took my hand and dragged me towards the door.
“Is someone a little eager to show off her new dress?” Maylia asked with a smile and followed us out of the room and shut the door. I handed her the key and she locked the door with it, then handed the key back to me. We went downstairs and were met by several gasps and a lot of muttered whispers. The lobby was kind of crowded, so we crossed it in a twisting path around several people and left the inn.
I reminded Afyne of the directions the innkeeper gave us and we followed them to a restaurant that had no one waiting outside. I didn't think that was odd until we went inside and the place was almost completely empty.
“Customers!” A woman exclaimed and ran over to us, and several other shouts were heard from nearby. When I looked, I saw three men and two women in the kitchen and they were bustling around like we had stirred up a hornet's nest.
“I guess that means you don't get a lot of business.” I said.
“Not at odd times like this.” The woman said.
“Odd times?” I asked.
“Um... well...” The woman shifted her eyes from side to side. “I probably shouldn't say. I don't want to ruin your meal.”
“Is it about the monster?” Afyne asked and the woman looked startled for a moment.
“M-m-monster? There's no monster.” The woman said and the Presence wavered.
I glanced at Maylia and she shrugged. “I heard this was a great place for good food.” I said instead of asking what I wanted to ask.
“Yes! We have the best food!” The woman said and waved us over to a round table with four chairs around it. “I'll be right back with the menus.”
I held a chair out for Maylia and she sat down. Afyne raised her eyebrows at me and I waved to the chair beside Maylia. She sat down on it and I slid it into the table and then took my own seat. Afyne leaned over and started to whisper to Maylia about something, so I turned my head to listen to the people in the kitchen and used Presence to draw the sounds to my ears.
“They asked about the monster.” The woman said.
“Did you tell them it doesn't exist?” A man dressed as a cook asked.
“Of course.” She said. “If word gets out that people are missing, no one will come to our town ever again.”
“If they asked about it, doesn't that mean they already know about it?” One of the other men asked.
“Suspecting it exists and confirming it exists are two different things.” The first man said. “We can't let rumors destroy our town's reputation.”
“At least it hasn't taken any visitors.” The woman said. “I don't know how we would explain that.”
One of the other women sighed. “I hope they send someone to help soon.”
“I heard an armored woman showed up at the inn earlier.” The third man said and stoked the fire.
“Really? That's great!” The woman that sat us said. “I hope the rest of her party shows up.” She said happily. “Maybe they can get rid of it!”
“You better get back out there.” The first man said and handed her the menus. “They might think you got lost.”
I turned my head back to face Maylia and whispered. “There's people missing. They don't want to admit it because it might scare people away.”
Maylia nodded and stayed quiet as the woman came back and gave us the menus. I looked over mine and saw a wide range of dishes. I was a bit surprised by the selection, considering this was a small town. I picked the chicken and rice and Maylia chose the steak and potatoes. Afyne just stared at the menu and didn't say anything. Maylia leaned over and they whispered back and forth for a minute.
“I'd like two chicken legs and fried potatoes, please.” Afyne said.
“That's a great choice.” The woman said and took the menus back. “I'll be right back with some water.”
The woman left and came back with a big pitcher of water and three glasses, left again and came back with a woven basket full of bread buns. I waited until she left again before I poked one of the buns and found out how hard they were.
“They are either old or cooked too long.” I whispered and took one. I dug my thumbs into it and pulled, and the inside was dry and tough. “It seems to be a mix of both.”
“Pity.” Maylia said. “The last meal we had at the inn in the capital had great bread.”
“Hopefully this isn't an example of the quality of all the food.” I said and slipped the bun into my bag of holding.
“Why are you taking it?” Afyne asked.
“If I leave it on the table or put it back into the basket, they'll know I don't like it.” I said. “When they bring the other food, I'll try it and see if it's any good. If it is, I won't mention the buns and just put it on the side of my plate. If it's not any good, or just okay, I'll put the bun on the table and tell them the truth.”
Afyne looked at me and I could see that she didn't understand.
“I don't want to assume anything because of the buns. I also don't want to hurt their feelings before knowing how well they can cook.”
“Ohhh.” Afyne said. “You don't want to make them mad.”
“Not without more proof, anyway.” I said and smiled.
“Are we going to take a look around the town before going back to the inn?” Maylia asked.
“I'm tempted to.” I said. “We kind of stand out dressed like this and everyone will know we're here.”
“With a town this small, there's no doubt that word of us will spread quite quickly.”
I nodded. “We can also ask around about any sightings and see who's lying.”
“If we aren't dressed as adventurers, will they all lie? You said the ones here are worried about scaring us off if we find out about the monster.”
“I'm sure a lot will try to cover it up. It's the honest ones we need to talk to, though. I think we could get more reliable information from them.”
“That's a good point.” Maylia said. “We can reveal our true purpose for being here after that.”
I nodded and glanced at Afyne, who had sat there quietly while Maylia and I talked. “What do you think?”
“Huh?” Afyne blinked her eyes. “About what?”
“About our plan for rooting out the real story on the monster.” I said. “Do you think it's a good idea, or should we wait until the morning and go around dressed in our adventuring gear instead?”
“I...” Afyne looked at Maylia and back at me. “I don't know.”
“Well, we'll try it my way first. If we don't find anyone willing to talk to us dressed like this, we'll try again in the morning.”
We sat there quietly after that and waited for the food. When it came, it looked and smelled good.
“Enjoy.” The woman said and stepped back slightly and waited. I reached for a spoon and Maylia took my hand.
“We are sitting down to a formal dinner. You can't intentionally ignore it, now that you know the truth.” Maylia said.
I sighed. “You know I don't like being forced to do something.”
Maylia smiled. “I'm not forcing you to do it. I'm forcing you to face the decision to do it.”
I sighed again and put the spoon down and turned my hand over so she could hold it properly, then we each held a hand out to Afyne. She looked at our hands and back at us.
“Hunter is going to pray.” Maylia said.
“Ohhh.” Afyne said and took our hands.
I took a deep breath and let it out. “Dear god, thank you for the food we are about to eat.”
A pulse of Presence and mana swirled around us and through our hands and into each other. Afyne's mouth dropped open as she felt it.
“Don't forget to mention your blessing.” Maylia whispered.
“Oh. Right.” I said. “Dear god, I really didn't want a blessing by you know who, so thanks a lot for blessing me instead.”
The mana and Presence increased in intensity.
“I just wish I knew what the blessing was for.” I said as an afterthought. “Amen.”
I felt an intense stab of pain right behind my forehead and then everything went black.
*
“HUNTER!” Maylia and Afyne yelled as Hunter's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward onto his plate of food, unconscious. The mana and Presence doubled in strength for a moment, then cut off completely. Maylia and Afyne tried to let their hands go so that they could pick his face out of the food, and they couldn't. All three of them had their hands locked together somehow.
Maylia let anger spur her emotions and created a Mana Hand, and she used that to lift Hunter's head out of the food. Some of the rice and a chunk of chicken were stuck to his face, so she turned his head to the side and gently rested it beside the plate.
Afyne's eyes were on the verge of tears. “Wh-what happened?”
“I don't know.” Maylia said and used the Mana Hand to brush Hunter's hair up and out of the way and the food off of his face. “He's not hurt and he seems to be breathing fine.”
“I... I'll get the healer.” The woman that stood beside the table said and stepped back.
“It's not necessary.” Maylia said and dismissed the Mana Hand. “I said he wasn't hurt.”
“What do we do?” Afyne asked slightly panicked, then she took Maylia's calm state as a cue to stay calm herself, despite not feeling calm at all.
“We wait.” Maylia said. “If I heard his words correctly, he just asked for divine help.”
The woman beside the table gasped and took another step back, and another, then she left the room at a jog and went into the kitchen.
*
“Ugh.” I said and rubbed my head as I opened my eyes to see a blue room. “What hit me?”
“Shock.” A disembodied and amused voice said. “You really should be careful what you ask for.”
“I know I should have been more careful; but, Maylia said that I shouldn't ignore...” I stopped talking and looked around. “Hey, where are Maylia and Afyne?”
“They are still holding your hands back at the restaurant.” The deep voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw a man dressed in a nice blue suit, eerily similar to the one I wore.
“Who are you?” I asked, even though I suspected who it was.
“You know who I am.” He said and smiled. “You've been talking to me since you were a child. Both times.”
“Yeah, I definitely need to be more careful about what I ask for.” I said, and he laughed.