I mentally prepared myself for another long, boring night. Fully sleeping would make the time pass faster and would be preferable over this, but if I was in a position to do things like this, I would.

That’s what I thought at least. Several long hours later, I could feel exhaustion start to set in. I imagined it was possible that staying half awake and half asleep for multiple days in a row wasn’t exactly a solution. My spider brain obviously needed rest as well.

A headache grew over the next couple of hours. Not even my healing light spell could alleviate the pain. I was secretly hoping Cellestra had something that would help against it, but I didn’t want to wake her up. Besides that, I was doubting she had something that could help…

I was more than happy when the sun finally rose above the horizon. Although the pain remained, hopefully some social interaction would help to distract from it. I forcibly woke my elven half up as soon as Cellestra stirred.

At least having my other brain awake removed some of the exhaustion on my spider one, but I still felt like I would need to get some proper rest soon.

“Morning,” Cellestra let out while yawning.

I groaned and wished her a good morning in return.

“Didn’t sleep well?” She asked.

I didn’t bother to raise my elven half from my back. I was far too comfortable and felt like I could just fall asleep again any second.

“I don’t know if that’s the case. I half slept like a rock, but I feel like I’m slowly being drained by not fully sleeping.”

“Sounds like you should have that then, tonight,” Cellestra stated.

“Thank you,” I said with an arm over my forehead. “Ugh, this headache sucks, and the day hasn’t even started yet.”

“Which head?” The elf asked.

“The one with eight eyes. Though, part of it has seeped into this one too. Do you have anything for that?”

“Headaches?” Cellestra asked. “Not really I’m afraid.” She turned her head and ran a hand through my soft hair. “You just need to get your sleep.”

I smiled at her words and soft petting. “Unfortunate,” I said as I raised myself. “But I’ve been in worse situations. Come, let’s get ready and see if we can gather some info.”

“By the way,” Cellestra said as she rummaged through the large bag. “Have you tried sleeping the other way around?”

I thought for a second before I got what she meant. She was talking about my elven half staying awake.

“I haven’t. I’m not sure if I can do that. Guess I should try that someday.”

“Not tonight,” Cellestra said sternly. “I don’t want you exerting yourself.”

I chuckled softly. “Thanks, Cellestra.”

The elf finished her breakfast. After a brief moment of loading our belongings back onto me, we were on our way towards the village. It wasn’t too far, especially considering I could run at my faster speed once more. I couldn’t help but look forward to what would come after…

I could already feel the elf’s soft hair in my fingers.

“Did you bring shampoo?” I asked out of the blue, not long before we would reach the outer perimeter of the village.

“I did. Are you looking forward to it that much?” She asked, a surprised look on her face.

“I am, actually.”

“Well then,” She replied. “Better not scare the farmers around here, though.”

“You know there is very little I can do about that.”

I looked at the fields surrounding the village. Surprisingly, the fields around here didn’t have corn in them, but instead smaller plants that I recognized as potatoes. It had been many years since I’d seen those, but I didn’t think I would be able to forget as the farmer that had fields next to ours farmed that specific crop.

I didn’t see any people tending the farms. In fact, I didn’t see anyone outside the settlement.

“It looks like there is nobody to scare in the first place. Maybe that’s for the better.”

As I approached the wooden palisade, I could see two guards standing on either side of a road that led inside. As I had expected, they pulled their swords from their scabbards. I instantly stopped and held up my hands.

“What brings you here, monster?” One of them said with a deep, male voice in the human language. He appeared to be a rough type. It was made clear from both his appearance and the way he spoke. He wore simple mail armor and plate grieves. His arms were left bare and showed a thick layer of hair on them.

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“Easy there,” The second guard spoke. She wore the same armor type, which wasn’t anywhere near what I was used to, but for a small village like this, I imagined it would be enough to keep the populace under control. I reckoned the most dangerous person out here would perhaps be a random person with a dagger. “That’s a bit unnecessary now, isn’t it?”

The female guard was clearly the more civilized person here.

“Have you even looked at that?” The male guard said before spitting in my direction. His spit didn’t get anywhere close, but it did tell me a thing or two about him.

“So? Who cares? She doesn’t seem to be hostile.” She shook her head.

“Sorry for my… companion,” She said as she turned her head towards me. “Please state your intentions.”

She still held her sword in her hand, but didn’t seem to be eager to use it. If anything, it seemed to be meant as a deterrent.

“We’re just here for directions. Do you know how we can get to Len Asari?”

“Len Asari?” She asked. “I’m afraid you still got a journey ahead of you then.”

“You’re not thinking about actually helping her, are you?” The male asked.

“Oh, shush you.” She turned to us once more and took a good look at both me, and then Cellestra who was leaning to the side. “Len Asari is that way,” She said, using her sword to point into the same direction we’d been heading. It seemed we had kept a straight course, which was a relief. “Also, I would suggest staying out of town. Elves aren’t exactly welcome here, let alone an elf that looks like you.”

Her words were harsh, but she was at least honest about things.

“Yeah, I get that,” I said before sighing. “We won’t set a foot in here. Thanks for the help.”

“Good luck,” She said while sheathing her sword and watching as we walked around the village, keeping a good distance from the walls.

After we left the two guards behind, I looked at the sky with my elven eyes and sighed. “It seems what you told me about elves and humans is true. That wasn’t exactly a warm welcome.”

“We were lucky there. It seemed the other guard was ready to attack you.”

“That would have been foolish,” I said. “I’m sure I could have him without breaking a sweat.”

“As am I, but you know how rumors go. Before you know it, you’re branded as someone who mercilessly attacked a human guard. Goddess knows what happens after that.”

“You’re right,” I concluded.

“I’m impressed we stayed on the correct course,” Cellestra said, after I started running again. I wanted to create distance between us and that village.

“Yeah, I’m quite happy about that myself. I was never good with orientation, so this is a surprise for me.”

“It’s still quite a ways out, apparently, though.” Cellestra repeated the human’s words.

I shrugged. “I don’t think we should be surprised at this point. Maybe I should have asked how far it was, though… I seem to keep forgetting about it.”

“Does it really matter? Maybe it’s better that we don’t know. You’re pushing yourself as it is. You can’t do more than that,” Cellestra said.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“And I’m having a hard time getting you to take things a bit easy. Speaking of taking things easy, when did you want me to do your hair?"

“I wanted to do it after visiting that village, but I don’t know. I think that little interaction has soured my mood.”

“It’s okay,” The elf said. “We can do it later.”

Cellestra reached into her backpack and I saw her pull out a comb. “I can still fix most of your hair in the meantime if you’d like.”

Her words put a smile back on my face, and I leaned my body back slightly so she could access my hair better, seeing as there were some items separating us both.

“Sounds like a great idea. Just be careful getting the braids out.”

“No worries,” Cellestra reassured me. “I’ll be gentle. I’d hate to ruin your hair.”

I had to admit, I looked ridiculous when I walked in this manner with my elven torso leaning backwards. I couldn’t help but smile at the situation I found myself in with the elf carefully removing the braids from my long hair.