The room was quiet, save for the crinkling sound of me unwrapping my food. The obnoxious cacophony of paper twitched the eyes of the others as we stood in a circle in the room. I quietly gnawed at the skewer poking out. Gale rubbed his face, before he opened and ate his own.
I looked at the others while I tore into the snack. Mirabelle and Draven wouldn’t look at each other, or on the occasion their glances met, I could have sworn I saw a bolt of lightning strike between them. Is this flirting? How shameless.
I bit at the skewer stick, only to realize I’d already finished it. I looked mournfully at my food. All out. Wait, there was still something left! I looked over at Gale. He had finished about half, but the remaining morsels pulled my eyes like a magnet. I nudged my shoulder into his, and looked up pitifully. I batted my eyelashes, trying to garner any sympathy I could.
Gale looked down, lips twitching as he saw my expression. He tried to hold back his smile as he lowered the skewer to my mouth. I leaned my head forward eagerly, only to fall into despair when, in a traitorous turn of events, Gale brought the skewer to his mouth and bit off the rest. I frowned.
He flicked the stick at me, bouncing it off my protruding chest.I reached over to pinch his arm when Draven’s voice interrupted me.
“Need I remind you we have things to do today?”
“Pray tell,” Mira said, her voice scornful.
“Was your friend not stabbed a day ago?”
I frowned. How did he know that? We hadn’t seen him before we met at the church, and I had already healed myself by then.
“Have you been following me?”
He smiled at me, his look patronizing. “Do you take me for a stalker? You told me last night when we were drinking.”
A silence fell across the group. Had I? Last night was blurry. We’d swapped so many stories, it was possible I had mentioned it but couldn’t remember. Gale crossed his arms.
“You showing up is too convenient. We’ll play along, but if you do anything towards Aria or Mira, I will personally bury you.”
Draven raised his hands. “I’m not some common pervert.”
Mira scoffed, but said nothing. Gale looked intently at him. “Swear it.” ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel[f]ire.net
“Fine. I swear not to make a move on either your fiancée or the shrimp.”
Mira’s fist struck his arm. He rubbed the sore spot as he grinned at us.
She folded her arms. “So what ‘plans’ were you speaking of?”
“The one who stabbed Aria,” He said, “Was part of a group I tracked down in the third layer. Bunch of amateurs, dunno where they found the courage to hit one of the hottest targets in the city.”
Gale stared at Draven to the point of the latter sweating. “Different kind of hot.”
Mira looked at Gale. “News of the Hero’s Party have spread wide, surely. It is no surprise the Saintess was targeted.”
“Is it because I’m valuable to the church?” I asked.
“Precisely,” Draven said, “You and your boyfriend are the first ones to pull the sword in hundreds of years.”
I scratched my head. Right, the hero story. Didn’t that mean that, by running away after taking an important artifact from the church, they’d be… really mad? I voiced my concern to the others.
Draven laughed. “Of course they’d be pissed. The two of you would be used as the Church’s sword and shield, a hammer to knock every loose nail back into place. I doubt you’d be able to set out for whatever it is you intend on doing for a number of years, if ever.”
“It is unlikely for the church to let such important figures disappear without supervision, at least,” Mira conceded.
“Well, we can’t get stuck up in their business,” I said, “We have to finish our mission.”
Draven and Mira looked at me, curious. Mira spoke, “Mission? I don’t suppose we’ve spoken of our ambitions.”
I nodded, reaching for Gale’s hand, holding it. “We have to kill the Demon Lord.”
Her eyes widened. “I had guessed it was something of that nature, but to hear it spoken outright…”
“You really think you’re capable of that?” Draven asked, “You couldn’t even defeat Sylvia. You stand no chance against the Demon Lord.”
“Then we’ll train,” Gale said.
“Training won’t be enough.”
“Then we’ll train more.”
“I’m telling you, simple training won’t cut i—”
“This isn’t a whim,” I said, “This is something that will happen, with or without your help.”
Draven stared at Gale, his eyes challenging, before he crossed his arms and sighed. He scratched his head. “Fine. You can’t help me if you die, so whatever. I’ll just have to keep you alive.”
“What is it you can do?” I asked.
Draven cracked his knuckles, sending a flirtatious smile at me. The sight gave me chills, but the anticipation of fire magic filled my heart.
“I’m a multi-elemental mage,” He said, “Though my highest affinity is fire.”
“What’s an affinity?” I had seen the term used in the system, but the concept was still strange to me. I had the highest shadow affinity now, but what did that mean?
“We don’t have time for a magic lesson right now. I can teach you later, but we need to get moving. This safe-house won’t be safe for long.”
Mira’s eyes flickered towards the door. “He is right. The church will soon come looking for us, as will any who wish to hamper their influence. A Hero and a Saintess both would dramatically shift the scales of power.”
I shifted my weight, my mouth pressing into a thin, neutral line. Power struggles, conspiracies, Demon Lords? Why had the system picked me - I wasn’t cut out for this! I could barely keep my fake plants alive, much less navigate something !
When in doubt, the only thing to do is to surround yourself by the competent and ride their coattails. Mira, Gale, Draven — Thanks for the ride! I put a serious expression on my face, hiding my confusion. Gale put a hand to my lower back, gently rubbing it.
He leaned in to my ear. “You can ask me later if you’re confused.”
I pecked his cheek with a kiss, flashing a grin. “You’re the best.”
“By the way,” Mira said, “It would do all of us well for you to withhold your urges until you have privacy.”
I flushed scarlet. They had seen us…? Oh god, they had seen us. I chose not to answer, hiding behind Gale’s back. This bastard could tank the damage for me.
I pushed him to the door, his body a shield from the others, and walked outside. He planted his feet five steps out of the walkway, making my arms fold, and my body crashed into him. Gale turned his head, his eyes finding Draven.
“What exactly are we doing?”
“You don’t want revenge? Or information on the people that stabbed your little sweetheart?”
A dark aura passed over Gale’s face. He smiled at Draven, but the look was anything but happy.
“Lead the way,” He said.