11 Chapter 11: Reward
"Um.." said the receptionist
"Yes?" I asked
"This is a goblin king's head right?"
"Yes.. I believe so..?"
With her palm on her face, the receptionist breathed in an attempt to relieve herself of stress
"And that girl on your back..."
"Like i just said, She was captured by goblins and before she reached their settlement i saved her. However since we were close, the Goblin King decided to go outside and fight us. After an intense battle i cut off his head and froze the remaining goblins which he had summoned to help him in the fight"
The receptionist, made a perplexed expression as she looked at me
"Okay.. So what you're saying is, you, took out a goblin settlement and a goblin King by yourself"
"Yes. That's what we've been telling you this whole time!" Ariel intervened
"Okay.. Wait just a moment, i'll be back."
Said the receptionist as she headed towards the backroom of the guild with the bag.
Shortly after she came back carrying a bag full of coins.
"Okay this is your reward for subjugating 10 Goblins and a goblin lord, 5 Gold coins and 20 SIlver"
"5.. Gold coins!?" Ariel said out loud
She really is more open now, huh, That's good.
"Y-yes. You shouldn't be saying the amount you receive out loud, young girl.."
"Yes.. Sorry."
The receptionist was right. After ariel had shouted out our reward i felt a few glazes on my back.
"Well then, what do we do about this girl?"
"Hmm.. You can leave her here with us. We'll lend her a room to rest while we wait for her to recover and explain what happened."
"Alright."
I handed the girl onto the receptionist and thanked her before making my way towards the exit.
"Wow.. We now have 6 Gold coins in total. This should last us for a few days" Ariel happily said
"Yep, we can also buy new clothes. Having just 1 set feels awkward" I replied
As we made our way towards the inn. We were stopped by 3 Guys who were carrying knifes.
"Give us all the money you got, kid."
They didn't look strong and had barely any magical power so they probably couldn't use magic strengthening. But i had no energy left from the goblin fight and carrying the girl from the forest straight to the kingdom.
Ariel could easily take them on, but she doesn't know how to properly control her power yet and might end up killing them.
As i wondered what to do. Ariel stepped up.
"L-Leave us alone.. We earned this money through hard work. If you really want to earn money then go do quests yourself!"
She really has changed huh. Seeing her stand up for us makes me feel sort of happy.
"The h.e.l.l'd you say brat?" said one of the guys before swinging the knife at Ariel.
Ariel who saw the knife coming, took a step back and dodged. She also doesn't look like she wants to fight which is why she hasn't pulled out her dagger yet..
"If you try that again, I'll be forced to resort to violence." She said
"Hey guys listen to this? She's going to resort to violence, Hahaha" Said the guy and his accomplices as they laughed
"So what are you going to do? Going to swing that little dagger at us?" He asked as he stretched his arms out to grab her.
Before she could avoid it, i grabbed on to his arm.
"Oi.. What did you just try to do to my precious partner?"
I glared at him as i continued to grip tightly on to his arm while using the little remaining amount of magic power i had to strengthen it
"W-Wait S-Stop, you're gonna break it. P-Please stop!"
I let go of his hand before breaking it and he fell to the ground.
His other companions looked frightened as they saw him sit on the ground
"So, you still want to fight? You might end up like the orc King we fought though." I said with a threatening tone
"We won't forget this!?" The three said before hastily running away.
I turned to Ariel who had a satisfied smile on her face before saying "Thank you for standing up to me"
"What are you talking about? weren't you the one that said partners are supposed to help each other? You don't have to thank me" She said
Oh wow, she definitely changed
We went inside the inn and decided to take a shower before having our meal. As we went up the stairs i heard Ariel quietly saying "Precious partner.." with a happy look on her face. But i decided not to question it.
We arrived at our rooms and laid down on tiredly laid down on the bed. It was so fluffy compared to the ground at the forest and i felt like i was drowning in heaven.
Ariel who had been stretching her arms as she laid down also had a satisfied expression on her face.
"Mnnn" She said in satisfaction
After around around 5 minutes, i started to get drowsy and neither me nor Ariel were moving. At this rate. we'll fall asleep without eating or taking a shower.
Just as i had thought that, Ariel got up
"I'll be going in first,"
First? Where? W-Wait, there's only one place she could be going right now.. The showers! C-Calm down. It hasn't been confirmed yet, I might just be imagining things.
"Where are you going?" I asked
"Showers, where else?" She replied
...
"W-wait a moment, I'll go heat up t-the water and i'll be back soon."
"Thank you" She said
I walked into bath area and placed my arm above the bucket.
"I never tried this before so it might
Imagine.. Imagine that water heating up as my mana is transforming into thermal energy.. And imagine that energy being transferred to the bucket of water..
After a few tries, i finally managed to heat up the buckets, i made sure they were no longer cold before slowly making my way back to the room
"Alright, the water's heated. You can go take a shower now."
"Mn, what about you?" she asked
"I'll go take one after" I replied
"I see.. but wouldn't it be faster if we just took one together?"
...
"W-what did you just say?"
"I said.. Wouldn't it be faster if we just took one together? I used took take showers with uncle to help him wash himself after he became ill. It was also faster than taking one individually"
...
"T-true it's faster, but i can't.."
"Why?" She asked with a confused expression
"Y-You shouldn't take a shower with just any guy you know."
"But john is john? John isn't any guy.." She replied
... what's happening
"T-That's not the problem! 2 teens of the opposite gender shouldn't be taking showers together.."
"Why?" She asked
"Y-You just cant!"
"Mn.." She replied as she nodded her head
Shortly after, she went inside and started taking a shower. After the interaction i had with Ariel, i wasn't able to think straight so decided to take a stroll around the inn to calm myself down.
"G.o.d.. She's too innocent.. Saying things like that... People could take advantage of that.. Argh.. I'll to properly teach her later.."
After going down the stairs, i noticed that the innkeeper was still behind the counter. The sun had already set and it would be dangerous for a kid with proper clothes to be walking outside So i decided to go have a chat with the innkeeper.
"Hey"
"Sup? You're the kid that the girl brought in, aren't you?"
He knows about that? Well, he is the innkeeper, so i guess it's natural
"Yeah.."
"So, what do you need young man?"
"Nothing much.. Just looking for someone to chat to."
"Hmm, i'm all ears."
"Thanks, say, How long have you been in this place sir?"
"By place, you mean inn? I've been here for 5 years"
"No, not inn. Kingdom, what's this kingdom called? Are there others, what are they called?"
"Whoa, slow down young man. I thought you came here looking for small talk."
"Sorry.."
"It's all good. Give me a second, I should have a map in the storage.. keep watch for me while i go search for one."
"Yes, thank you"
Hmm, so he has a map. Perfect, now i'll be able to find out more about this world i'm living in.
The man came back with a map on his hands and showed me where we were. The map contained the names of the towns and kingdoms so he didn't have to go over much.
The kingdom that i was currently residing in was called Halfaust, it was just one big capital with vast territory. Compared to the other kingdoms on the map which had separate cities, it wasn't really that big or much like a kingdom. There might have been some sort of special reason as to why my starting point was in this kingdom.
Around the kingdom there were neighbouring kingdoms. North of halfaust was the kingdom of atlas, to reach it, one would have to travel by boat through the sea. East of halfaust was the kingdom of Ashtar and South of it was the kingdom of Threlfad.
The continent the kingdom of Halfaust was in is called Gilda. Including Gilda, there were 5 continents in total, Finra, Resta, Tempest and Diabla and they each have other kingdoms that i haven't mentioned but going over it would be too long.
Diabla is the most dangerous one and it is home to those of the demon race. Still the map was very useful. It had a detailed portrayal of the kingdoms and continents in the world and even had their names.
After i finished a.n.a.lysing the map. I thanked the innkeeper and gave him 10 silver coins as payment for the info. He thanked me with a smile on his face as if he already expected it.
"Thank you for your patronage "
I nodded at the innkeeper before heading back to my room. I opened the door only to find Ariel laying down on the bed with clean clothes. I had washed her clothes and dried them out for her, while she was in the shower.
After noticing that i had returned, Ariel wordlessly got up and made her way towards me before placing her head on my chest and staring at the ground. In this position i couldn't really tell what kind of face she was making.
"W-where were you..?" She asked
"Ah, i went to ask the innkeeper for some information.."
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to go earlier..."
"W-well, you were in the middle of a shower, and i didn't think i'd take long so..."
"Next time tell me, i-idiot.. I thought something might've happened to you..." She quietly said as she remained motionless
I'm inconsiderate.. How could i have forgotten that she had lost her parents.. If i were to suddenly disappear without warning, she'd obviously be worried.
"Sorry... I promise that next time i'll tell you before suddenly heading somewhere.." I said
"okay.. But please don't leave me.." She said with slight trembles in her voice
As i heard her words, i felt a sting in my heart.. They reminded me of the time my parents had died.. Those were the exact same words i said to them on their final moments..
Before i even realised it, i had hugged her. As i held her as tightly as i could, i whispered in her ear
"Yeah.. I promise i'll never leave you."
"Yes.." She said as i continued to hold on to her
We spent at least a minute frozen in that position. I couldn't move. Not because i lacked strength but simply because i didn't know what to do.. My heart was beating faster than it ever did and any thoughts that appeared in my mind would be gone the next moment..
I'm not sure what this feeling could be as i barely interacted with other kids my age. I was home-schooled after my parents throughout most of my life, and after i had turned 14 i pa.s.sed the entrance exam with the highest score to get into a prestigious school.
In my previous life all i ever did was study, because i genuinely believed that if i had a bright future my parents would be proud.. But after meeting Ariel, i'm starting to wonder what my life could have been like if i had interacted with others.
As such thoughts filled my mind, i decided to release the hug.
Ariel who had been silent the whole time, had bright red cheeks and swollen eyes.. It was only then that i realised, that she had been crying.
In an attempt to get rid of the awkward tension between us, i changed the topic..
"W-well then, i'll go take a shower, after that we'll go get something to eat"
"Y-yes.." she said as she nodded
Like i said, I washed my clothes, took a shower and went downstairs with Ariel to have dinner. It wasn't anything special, it was just soup with potatoes and meat, but i have to admit it was pretty good.
After dinner we went back to our room.
"Did you enjoy the meal?" I curiously asked
"Mn, it was good" She said
"Great. Let's go to sleep early, Now that we have money, i'm planning on exploring the city tomorrow and look for some new clothes. We'll take a day off to get some rest, we've been through a lot today after all"
I took off my leather boots and laid down on the bed. Shortly after, Ariel did the same and laid down right next to me. Shortly after she closed her eyes and began to fall asleep. There was only one pillow and i had given it to her.
"John are you awake..?"
"Yeah.."
"Thank you.."
"Ah? Don't worry about it, i don't need a pillow to sleep."
"Not for that.. For everything" She said as she let out a soft giggle
"Then, i also have to thank you.. Ever since we've met I've experienced and learned many new things... Thank you too" I replied
Without a reply, she simply showed me a bright smile which s.h.i.+ned in the moonlight. The scene left me speechless. I was surprised at how one smile could make me feel so happy. The scene was the greatest reward by far that i have received today.
I wasn't sure why seeing her smile would make me happy or seeing her cry would make me sad.. But i wanted to treasure these feelings. I wanted things to things to continue staying this way. I wanted to be able to explore the world with her. As it thought such things, the fatigue caught up and I fell asleep.