197: Spicy

Entering the house, I couldn’t help but notice that Raymond was looking around nervously, though this could have been because he was being glared at by Lily and Liane.

“Follow me. We’ll head to the office. There are plenty of chairs there.”

I noticed Raymond was shaking and visibly pale while looking around, clearly terrified, his eyes lingering on the statue of Sylverith as we walked by. Soon we made it into the office, catching Milo’s attention as we walked past the entrance to the library, but he made no move to interfere. Though it didn’t escape my attention that Liane vanished from behind Raymond, appearing next to Milo, likely filling him in on some information.

Inside the office, I took the seat behind the desk, which felt very odd, while Crisplet and Lily continued to stay next to me. Across the desk sat Raymond, whose head was bowed, and I really got to get a good look at the man. Back in the guild, he was large and bulky, a head taller than I was, with a smirk on his face, and appeared to be incredibly confident.

Now, though? Now he looked like a shell of that. A beard half grown in, with long hair, visible bags under his eyes, and noticeably pale… he looked broken.

“So, why did you come to me?” I asked curiously.

He looked around, his eyes landing on Sylverith before taking a deep breath.

“I came to apologise. No, I needed to apologise. I’ve lost everything. I can’t sleep; nightmares constantly plague me, the thought of the shadows attacking me. My party left, and if I didn’t do something, I would have hit the bottle or descended into madness,” Raymond said, his head down constantly.

I didn’t say anything, mostly because what do you say to that? Raymond, however, continued.

“I understand if you can’t forgive me…” he started to say.

At this, I needed to stop him, though. “I’ll be honest, Raymond. I didn’t think much of you until I heard your party was attacked, and I’m sorry for that. Lily thought she was doing what was best for me, and although overzealous, I can’t fault her. A lot had happened, but I don’t hate you, and I accept your apology.”

Raymond looked up, looking me in the eye for the first time, but I continued.

“That said, though, I think the whole practice of attacking new adventurers is terrible, especially us orphans. We spend our years learning nothing and then get thrown into the world to die or learn the hard way, but that’s not your fault, I suppose,” I sighed.

“Symptom of the system,” Liane mumbled from behind, clearly having returned at some point.

“You’re right. I thought nothing of it at the time,” Raymond said, bowing his head.

“Well, what now, then? You’ve apologised. You know Lily isn’t hunting you in the night,” I said.

Raymond, looking up, just shrugged. “I don’t really know. I didn’t think that far ahead.”

Sylverith gave a small cough, sitting on her chair at the back. “If I could make a suggestion, dear.”

I nodded. I wouldn’t have ever told her no, but still.

“Young Micca is in need of guards still. I wouldn’t recommend housing him here, but perhaps she can put him to use once he’s had some rest. You humans still pay penance through hard work, right?” she asked.

“Are you sure about that?” Liane asked, clearly unsure about keeping him around.

“I’m sure. What he’s said has all been honest. He has nowhere to go other than back to the Adventurer’s Guild,” Sylverith answered.

Raymond didn’t say anything, just nodding.

Sylverith pulled a coin out of her pocket, holding it out to Raymond, as he just stared at both the coin and Sylverith.

“Most people hesitate to take a coin from a dragon, though in this case I assure you it’s perfectly fine,” Sylverith smiled.

Raymond reached out but paused, staring at Sylverith before recoiling his hand. “D…Dragon?”

“We can be impatient creatures at times, so please take the coin,” she said.

Raymond this time didn’t hesitate, taking the coin from her hand, visibly shaking.

“Excellent. You’re of course free to leave, but I know you were broke. That should be enough to get you a week or two at the inns in the city. If you wish to work, clean up and meet me at the Ember Cafe in four days, or leave town. It’s up to you,” Sylverith said.

Liane had a scowl on her face and clearly disapproved of all of this.

“Why?” Raymond asked.

Sylverith didn’t answer, just pointed at the door, making it very clear he should leave.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Raymond took one last look back at me; I just shrugged. “We’re all good. Lily is not hunting you, right, Lily?”

There was no answer. As expected, she just stared at Raymond before Crisplet let off a single ember.

“Excellent! That’s a no. Thank you for visiting,” I said happily.

After a moment looking around, Raymond got up from his chair, bowing to everyone as he left the room, closing the door behind him. Liane took his seat in a second, sitting on it sideways to see both Sylverith and myself.

“Why keep him around? He’s worthless,” Liane said, clearly annoyed.

Sylverith let out a very light laugh. “Call it a curiosity, but he won’t pose an issue for you. That much I can tell for certain. Right now he’s sprinting out the front door and not looking back.”

I just shook my head. “I still don’t understand why he came at all.”

“That wasn’t for you. He was doing it for himself, dear,” Sylverith said.