"Allow us to introduce ourselves!"

On a patterned sheet, Denz, Emilia, and I sat gathered around a basket with sandwiches and the sort inside.

Denz made a declaration, and Emilia shot him a look.

Denz lowered his voice. He cleared his throat.

"My name is-"

"This is Denz, the rank one adventurer. I am Emilia, an earthen mage, although I guess you figured that out already. Nice to meet you," Emilia said, extending her hand towards me.

"Nice to meet you," I said, meeting her handshake.

"Oi! Don't go interrupting me! You've ruined my grand intro!" Denz complained.

Emilia crossed her arms. "If I let you continue, you'll go into some unnecessarily long-winded exaggeration of your accomplishments with a self-introduction competitive enough to match lengths with the Holy (and Exhaustive) Manual of Priestly and Non-Priestly Duties."

"At least you could've let me say my name..." Denz sobbed.

"Fine. Say your name," Emilia said.

"It's too late for that!"

The two went back and forth.

Emilia turned to me. "How does your body feel?"

I sat still. "Fine. Thank you for your help."

"It's no problem. A little bit of healing magic goes a long way. It feels strange though. I'm not used to receiving gratitude, for many reasons." Emilia glared at Denz.

"Hey! I said 'thanks' too, ya know?" Denz said.

"Maybe this one time, but all the other times? Anyway, there are many reasons." Emilia shuffled in her seat and looked away and around. She wiped her forehead with a patterned handkerchief.

Denz untied the red-white headband on his head. He clapped his hands together and prayed a prayer.

Emilia didn't bother his ritual. I watched him as he muttered quietly to himself. It's the quietest I've seen him.

"Time to eat!" Denz exclaimed.

Emilia glared at him.

"Eh... Thank you for the food, I mean!"

Denz grabbed sandwiches from the basket and stuffed himself with a large smile.

Emilia offered me a sandwich.

"Go ahead and eat," she said.

I moved back a little. "It's fine. I'm not hungry right now."

"Are you sure?" Emilia asked.

"I'm sure," I said.

"Ah..." Emilia muttered. "If you're sure, then I won't force you."

I eyed the sandwiches. My stomach rumbled silently.

"Oi, boyo," Denz said, mouth stuffed with food.

I looked at him.

"Eat. That's a command."

"Eh?" Emilia muttered. "Hey, Denz! Don't be so rude. What are you saying?"

"You're hungry, right? Eat. What's so complicated about that? Let me tell you from personal experience."

Denz slid to my side and put his arm around me. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Oi, I don't know what your deal is, and frankly, I don't really care. I'm in the middle of a job and I got injured thanks to you. The least you can do is please this woman and eat. She doesn't like being turned down, you know? It brings back past trauma."

He lowered his voice. "More importantly, you're hungry, right? It's not good to skip a meal, especially when you're so thin already. Eat up. It's my—I mean, our—treat. It'll be bad for my conscious if I don't see you eat right here, right now in front of me. If my conscious is messed, then my job performance will further decline, you understand? Trust me, the food's good. Her sandwiches are bomb—and I'm not talking about her explosive magic."

He raised his voice so Emilia could finally hear again. "Food tastes best when it's free, so eat up!"

"It's not free. I'm taking this out of your earnings," Emilia remarked.

"My earnings!?" Denz exclaimed. "Jokes on you! I haven't had good work for the past week!"

"I know... I was there with you the whole time..."

"And due to the nature of my business, all of my earnings are small scale and off-the-walls enough to avoid tax reporting! That means, officially, I am unemployed and without a proper income!"

"You just said something very shameful without a second thought. Please take that back!"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I take it back!"

"It's too late! Ugh... I feel ashamed myself for being associated with you."

Denz scarfed down his food with tears in his eyes. "If only I could find solid work..." he muttered.

In my hand was a sandwich. Denz had placed it in my hand. It was nice and warm, thanks to Emilia's heating magic.

I looked at it for a while.

Emilia placed her hand on my shoulder. "You really don't have to eat if you don't want to, you know?"

I simply nodded. She scooted closer to me. She leaned in and whispered to my ear.

"By the way, just so we're clear, I'm not this guy's partner or anything." She shook her head. "That is, I'm not partying with this guy." She shook her head again. "That is! I'm not adventuring together with him. He's simply taking up a job request of mine and I have no choice but to tag along with him until it's finished."

Just so we're clear, she added.

I simply nodded.

Denz looked our way but disregarded our secrecy.

Emilia returned to her spot and ate. Her dress was neatly tucked under her legs as she sat. Her hair bobbed in the wind. She used a separate napkin to wipe the corners of her mouth.

Denz ate heartily.

Not a minute passed before they started bickering again.

I looked back down at the sandwich and took a bite.

Then I took another one, and another one right after.

I didn't swallow yet and I took yet another bit.

It warmed my mouth. So this was heating magic, huh?

Magic has its out-of-combat applications.

The sandwich plopped down to my empty stomach and filled it, warmed it.

Its warmth almost touched my heart.

Free food... huh...

The two people in front of me reminded me of a time in a non-collapsed house, before the medications. Homemade tea, classic BLT's, and dark chocolate dessert. There was laughter in that house. It was loud, peaceful and fortunate enough to afford the more-than-occasional argument or two.

Slowly, their presence crept on me like the inescapable clutches of something blood-bound, and homely.

"Hey, boyo," Denz said to me.

"Oi, Denz!" Emilia interrupted. "Sorry about that, we forgot to ask for your name. Do you mind introducing yourself?"

I sat still.

I was back on the patterned sheet, in front of the sandwich basket.

I nodded.

"My name is Elias. I..."

I paused.

"I've come from a distant land," I said.

Denz looked puzzled. "From your looks, could it be... You come from the land of snow?" He asked.

I didn't know whether to confirm or not. I shuffled uncomfortably.

"Hey, Denz!" Emilia scolded. "Don't worry about him. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. We won't pry." She glared at Denz.

"Ah... My bad, my bad. Here, take another sandwich. My treat."

"Those are my sandwiches!" Emilia snatched the sandwich from Denz. "Here. My treat." She offered it to me.

I accepted it with quick hands.

"But..." Denz said to no one in particular, "if you do come from the land of snow—and this is just me rambling to myself—then that's great news." He looked at Emilia and grinned candidly.

Emilia kicked at Denz's foot. She glared at him.

"Don't worry about it, really. We won't pester you about this any longer." She looked at my hair, then back down at me. "You're a lone adventurer, huh?"

"... Accelerated aging?" Denz interrupted.

Emilia kicked at Denz's foot. She glared at him.

"... or a tourist?" Denz added, shielding his injured foot.

"Ah, you may be right," Emilia admitted. "You're not quite dressed the part. Is that true..?"

Hmm.

I looked down. Tattered clothes from another world.

"Yes. You can say I'm a tourist," I said.

"Did you not come with anyone else?" Emilia asked.

"I am a lone tourist."

Ah...

"Did ya run away from home? That's no good," Denz said. "A young kid like you shouldn't run away from home. You must've been through heaven and deep seas to get here all the way from Striciidium." Denz frowned.

"It must've been something..." he muttered to himself.

He looked in the distance, his eyes blanking for a moment. Then, he regained his usual vigor.

"Anyway, feel free to tag along with us until we get back to Luxtown, where we're from. A word from me, and I can get you hooked up with a nice room for the night. On the house." He grinned.

"You're just trying to get referral points from old man Rim, right-"

"-From there on, however, you're on your own."

"Denz. Don't ignore me. Also, don't you think it's a bit harsh to leave him on his own after a night? Can't we do something more?"

"Who do you think I am, Emilia? I'm trying to run a business. If someone could cover my living expenses for a night, I'd be more than grateful. However, I used up all my referral points at old man Rim's. The world isn't so kind."

"So you're just using him..."

"It's a win-win-lose scenario for everyone."

"Who's losing!?"

"Business is a zero-sum game. Someone has to take the hit."

"And it has to be me!?"

Emilia huffed.

"Anyway, we're not your parents," Denz said, "although that is obvious, isn't it. We won't babysit you. We won't help you either."

Denz extended his hand.

"We'll help you help yourself. I sound cool, don't I?" Denz smiled to himself.

I paused, looking at the two kind (albeit conflicted/conflicting/conflict-inducing) strangers.

I slowly extended my hand. Denz's hand reached for mine and grasped firmly.

It was warm, like the sandwiches. He smiled. His cheek nested a fading scar.

"Our next order of business," he declared, releasing his grip and looking back at Emilia. "Is to get my sword back from that freakin' mole goblin."

"Eh? We're actually going to follow through with that?" Emilia asked.

"Right on, missus-"

"Don't call me missus."

"-Right on, earth mage," Denz correct himself. "We're changing quests." He pulled out a torn page that read,

Mole Goblin Subjugation

***************************************

********************

************************

**************************************

**************

***

**************!!!

Reward: 500,000 PSO

"... You're serious?" Emilia asked.

"I'm serious." Denz smiled, his canines showing.

"Can you fight, boyo?" Denz asked me.

"Elias. Not 'boyo'." Emilia corrected him.

I met Denz's gaze.

"I can," I replied.

"Are you sure about that? You did miss a point-blank punch-"

"I'm a mage," I said.

"Right, right. Huddle together party."

Emilia and I gathered close. Denz darted his eyes between the two of us.

"I have a plan." He said, his canines in full, unabashed view.