Chapter 270: Particular Deliberations (1/2)
”This is good!” Cariel exclaimed, her words slightly muffled by the full sized turkey leg she was tearing into. At least Mike thought it was a turkey leg. He was a little scared to use Appraise. To make matters worse, she'd also apparently forgotten about the strangely flat fork and knife laying beside her plate, and was using her hands instead.
[Well, Lifestyle Magic makes it easy to clean up after yourself, so this should be alright. I'll just ignore the stares she's getting.]
In the meantime he was savoring a bite of roasted duck. The dish superficially resembled something he'd been fond of before he came to this world, at least until he took a bite. Unlike the cuisine back on Earth, the Almiran style duck was apparently soaked in some kind of fruit-based sauce, which permeated the meat, giving it a sweet and slightly sour taste that he initially didn't like. The more he ate of it, however, the more it started to grow on him.
[It doesn't quite taste like a citrus fruit, so maybe plum or perhaps a kind of berry?]
”Hoho, what do we have here? Mixing it up with dancing girls now?” Brenden teased as he slid into the seat next to Mike. ”You should be careful. I don't think Tal and Sera would appreciate you flirting with other women...You know, any more than usually do.”
Mike shot him a dark look. ”Tell me honestly. When looking at that, do you really think they have any reason to worry?”
He pointed at the paladin, who was now in the process of draining an entire bottle of wine she'd acquired somewhere. Noticing the attention, Cariel stopped, unleashed a powerful belch, and then gave them a blank look. ”What? Do you want some?”
Brenden's face fell at the disappointing sight. ”I see what you...Wait a minute. You're that warrior who fought with me against that Death Knight.”
Cariel tilted her head to one side. ”Did I? I've fought a lot of things with a lot of people, recently.”
”That was like two days ago! How have you forgotten already?!”
She just shrugged. ”Maybe Julia would know?”
Mike patted his friend's shoulder sympathetically. ”Don't let it get to you. I think that's just the way she is.”
Brenden sighed, ”Whatever. How much longer are you planning on staying here, anyway? I think there are still a few events planned, but nothing too critical.”
”Honestly, the only thing I wanted to do here was enjoy the food. Once I'm done, I fully plan on sneaking out.” Mike replied while passing a duck leg to Audra, who promptly began to devour it, bone and all.
[Hmm, she's starting to eat more again, even though I've been keeping her supplied with mana. I'll have to get Red to ask Murthinax if that is normal. Although, he may not know anything about Wyrms.]
”In that case, some friends of mine are throwing a very different kind of party down by the docks, if you are interested.”
”Eh, I don't know. Heading home and getting some sleep for a change sounds pretty good right now.”
Brenden threw one arm around his shoulders. ”Come on. The night's still young, and this will be a good time, I promise. Besides, I may or may not have told Tal and Sera that you'd be taking them there.”
”...Why?”
”Well, you'll be leaving the country pretty soon. Who knows how many more chances you'll have to celebrate before you're on the road again. I think you and I can both agree that they deserve to have a little fun before you go.”
Mike sighed. ”Alright, alright, you win. No need to guilt me anymore. Where are they? We should probably take them home and give them a chance to change. I'm guessing the kind of celebrations your friends have in mind don't exactly require formal wear.”
”Ha. I think they should still be in the ballroom.”
Turning to Cariel, who had finished her 'turkey' leg and was now working her way through an entire pot of soup, Mike asked, ”Did you ever remember what you needed to say to me?”
The paladin squinted, as if a thought suddenly occurred to her, but then her face returned to its usual grin. ”Ah, I forgot that's what I was supposed to be doing.”
He chuckled. ”Well, if you ever remember, you can locate me through the University, at least in the short term. I hope you enjoy the rest of your night.”
”Bye, bye. May you walk in the blessings of the light.” She replied distractedly as she returned to guzzling down the soup.
[I don't think I've heard that one before. Something to do with her religion, I suppose?] He thought while following after Brenden, only to quickly forget about the strange paladin as another wave of fans nearly overwhelmed him from an unexpected angle.
Extricating himself from the situation, and tracking down the other two took a great deal of effort on his part, but within the hour, they were on their way to Brenden's friends' party
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Mike woke up the next day feeling refreshed and relaxed for the first time in a very long while. Of course, to be fair, he hadn't actually slept in weeks. So that really wasn't saying much. Still he was feeling great, and decided that he would work the occasional night of rest into his schedule every so often, simply for the psychological benefits it seemed to provide.
The party they'd gone to last night had turned out to be a drunken and debauched extravaganza, just like he expected. A combination of freely flowing alcohol (courtesy of the King of Thieves) and the jubilant air of triumph had made the party-goers cheerful and a little bit too wild. In fact the celebrations themselves were actually still going on when the sun started creeping over the horizon The morning light had found a stone-cold sober Mike (courtesy of his ridiculous poison resistance) leading his intoxicated friends back to the dorms. While he could have used a bit of Healing Magic to fix their conditions, he decided to let them have their fun.
[Still feels a little weird to see teenagers drinking so openly, but I suppose it's just part of the culture here. Besides, it seems like the people here are a little more robust than back on Earth, so maybe it doesn't affect them as badly.]
As far as he could tell, the humans of Ea were more resistant to illness and even lived longer than their Earthling counterparts. It was not uncommon for him to spot people in their 90s and 100s, despite an almost complete lack of institutionalized healthcare. Some of it probably stemmed from the sanitation benefits of Lifestyle Magic, but he guessed that mana played a large role in extending human lifespans.
Taking a moment to wax philosophical on the inherent differences between the two worlds he'd been to so far, Mike stretched and sat up, only to realize far too late that he wasn't alone in bed. As his hand came down on something soft and squishy, he heard a faint exhalation of breath that was distinctly feminine.
His mind blanked for a moment, before ramping into high gear. [Alright brain, think. You went to bed alone immediately after making sure Tal and Sera were safely in their rooms. The door was closed, but not locked. Audra was in her usual pillow nest at the foot of the bed, and Brenden stayed with his other friends, having no intention of coming back here. As this section of the dorms is closed to all but a handful of individuals, I can therefore safely conclude that the identity of this mystery person is…]
He glanced down and met Lily's bleary eyed gaze. She was still in the process of waking up, so he did his best to quickly and smoothly slide out of the bed without disturbing her. Once he was a safe distance away, he casually cleared his throat and asked. ”Um, Lily? What are you doing here?”
She yawned and stretched, quickly demonstrating that she was only wearing a thin blouse and a pair of loose linen trousers that reminded him of the sleepwear available on Earth. While this was better than he was expecting, it was still a far cry from being completely comfortable for him.
Giving him a heavy lidded look, she mumbled her response. ”Came to talk, but you were asleep, so I joined you.”
Mike started to reply, but stopped once he realized that she wouldn't really understand why this kind of behavior could be a problem. After running through a few possible scenarios, he sighed and decided to forget about it. ”What did you want to talk about?”
She yawned again, before staring at him with mild confusion. ”You're leaving soon, right? I want to go, too.”
”I'm not sure if that's a good idea…”
”Why?”
[Of course she has to ask the hard questions.]
”Well, don't you still have classes to go to? You don't want to get behind in your studies, do you?”
”I only care about Alchemy, and I can practice with you while we travel. I think you already know more than the teacher, anyway.”
[I suppose that's fair.] He thought before coming up with another counter argument.
”Okay, but what about your family? Surely they wouldn't approve of you traveling with a bunch of people they've never met before, right?”
She frowned as if giving the matter a great deal of thought. Finally, she said, ”Maybe William would know.”
Guessing that this situation wouldn't get resolved until he discussed the matter with him anyway, Mike followed Lily out into the common room. The butler was easy enough to track down, since he was sitting fretfully by the window, a cup of tea clasped in his shaky hands. Mike explained the situation, trying to get a read on the man's sudden nervousness. His fears were confirmed when William shot back with a most unexpected answer.
”This is perfect!” He shouted exultantly.
”Uh...Are you sure you understand what I'm talking about? I'll be leaving the country, and I don't intend to return any time soon. If Lily goes with me, I can't exactly promise that she'll be safe. In fact, I'm somewhat notorious for being a danger magnet.”
”You misunderstand, sir. While this is by no means an ideal situation for milady, and will likely harm her chances of a favorable marriage in the future, there is something far more dire in the works that requires an immediate solution.”