Book 2: Chapter 31 (1/2)

“Competition day!” Tafel sat up in bed and raised her hands into the air. Vur groaned and snorted before rolling over onto his side. Tafel frowned and shook his shoulder until his eyes opened halfway. “It’s competition day!”

Vur yawned while shutting his eyes before rolling over once again, smothering his face with the pillow. Stella squeaked from somewhere on his head.

“Vur. Vur. Hey, Vur.” Tafel nudged Vur repeatedly until he fell off the bed. “We have to wake up early to buy weapons before the competition starts, remember? You’re not hungover, right?”

Vur blinked twice before sighing at the ceiling. “I’m sleepy still. Dragons need to sleep lots. Dad sleeps for months at a time—I inherited his sleepiness. Five more minutes?”

You didn’t inherit anything from Vernon! Tafel bit her lower lip. “Get up! Alice is probably already waiting downstairs. You don’t want to keep a lady waiting, do you?”

“If it means I can sleep for five more minutes…”

“No!” Tafel grabbed Vur’s arm and heaved him over her shoulder before marching to the bathroom that was attached to their room.

Several minutes later, a fully dressed demon and her dressed-in-skintight-blue-armor husband walked down the stairs of the inn, entering the tavern that was the first floor. Alice waved at the duo from a corner seat with a meal already set out. The plate in front of her was empty with remains of food left on it. “You’re late,” she said when Tafel and Vur sat across from her. Vur’s head was drooping, his chin almost touching his chest. “I hate late people.”

“Sorry,” Tafel said as she equipped herself with her fork and knife.

Alice snorted and adjusted her glasses. “You’re not sorry. Hurry up and eat. We’re on a tight schedule since you put off buying a weapon for so long. What kind of adventurer adventures without a weapon?”

“You’re taking that truth curse pretty well,” Tafel said, biting into her omelet.

“I’ll admit it feels great to say whatever is on my mind. I feel free,” Alice said and sighed. “I wish I was cursed a lot earlier. Maybe things would’ve been different if I was more open with my thoughts.”

“Like not being single at your age?” Vur asked, tilting his head.

“Die! I’m 22! 22! That’s young! I am young!” Alice exhaled and fanned herself with her hands before closing her eyes. Her red face returned to its normal pale color, and she opened her eyes. “I was referring to my stupid nickname that I simply loath. I’m only a bit unsatisfied with my relationship status, okay? So what if I cry myself to sleep some nights? I bet everyone here has done it before.”

Tafel winced as Alice turned her head away.

“I haven’t,” Vur and Stella said at the same time.

Alice glared at Vur. “Someone as simple as you has no worries!” She pointed at Stella. “And you’ve only been alive for a month; you have no right to speak anywhere. It’s nonsense how your vote counts just as much as mine.”

Stella stuck her tongue out at Alice before retrieving an apple from a nearby plate.

Alice sighed. “It’s 7:20 right now. The weapon store will open in ten minutes. The opening ceremony of the competition begins at eight. It’ll take us five minutes to walk to the store, so you have five minutes left to eat.” She stared at Vur who was still yawning. “Don’t complain to me when you get hungry later.”

“Ettins are competing, right?” Vur asked and blinked. “I’ll just eat at the competition.”

“Killing’s not allowed!”

“It’s not like they’ll die if they lose an arm,” Vur grumbled.

“Let’s not eat people at the competition, please,” Tafel said and nudged Vur’s plate closer to him. He blinked at it and yawned again, so Tafel stuffed a piece of her omelet into his mouth.

“Ah, young love,” Alice said and wrinkled her nose. “It makes me sick. Why am I working for the two of you? You don’t even have any money to pay me with.” She sighed and shook her head while mumbling to herself. “Thankfully, the store’s on the way to the competition, or we really wouldn’t make it in time.”

After the party finished eating with Tafel feeding Vur the whole time, they left the inn and arrived at a wide alley with stalls lined up along the walls. Staves and wands were propped up and laid on the ground. “Here we are,” Alice said. “Weapons for black mages. They’re a bit hard to find since the holy dragons frown upon black magic.”