Chương 24: I Got a Job

POV: The Dark Lord, Milo Miles I stayed the night. Nyx had nagged me again yesterday night, but I told her I was working on a plan. She hurled insults that I would rather not reiterate, but at least I had bought myself a bit more time to explore. I was eating downstairs at the inn, lamb stew with root vegetables, a side of herb bread. Apparently, this dish is called the Patience Pot.

There was a story behind it; The old couple I had saved were, against all odds, still hopelessly in love after all these years, and the husband had named the stew after himself: a tribute to all the patience he had needed to survive his wife's endless demands back when they were young. The inn's name carried the same theme. Clasped Hands, for the way they would hold hands everywhere they went. I found out about this from the old man himself. I glanced toward the reception desk.

The old woman stood beside her husband, the two of them walking the clerk through some instructions, shoulders nearly touching. Then I looked back down at my stew. I envied them. I wanted the thing they had, with someone of my own someday. Right now, I don't even have someone to talk to, not really. Nyx cared about exactly one thing, and it wasn't me. Luke couldn't speak. And Evelisse, well, Evelisse was the Hero.

I had tried, more than once, to actually talk to her, but every time it was like pressing against a pane of glass she would never let me through. Which was fair. We had known each other only for a few days. Honestly, it was a small miracle she had been willing to speak to me at all. I had been bolder with her than I had any right to be, because I had believed the Eye of Love had done its magic, but when I asked her about it yesterday, she said did not seem to know the shape of the Eye of Love.

She only remembered something pink. Which meant her hesitation, her willingness to talk to me, all of it might have come from her. On its own. Not from the charm. That should have been a relief. And it was, mostly. When I had used the Eye of Love on her, it had been a panic move, a quick fix to a problem I had not thought through. But after actually talking to her, the idea that I might have wrecked her head with some feeling-altering trinket made me sick. So learning it probably did not work... yes.

That eased something. I had a real shot at doing this properly. But should I? Getting close to her would only make a mess for everyone, especially for Evelisse. Am I just that desperate to be loved?

"Deep in thought, Milo?" The voice yanked me out of the spiral. The blue-haired woman from the gate—Lunessa, I think—had already settled into the seat across from me, chin propped on her laced hands, elbows on the table, studying whatever sorry expression I had been wearing with open amusement.

"How did you know my name?" I asked. She tipped her head back toward the reception desk without turning to look, just a lazy flick of one thumb over her shoulder.

"Mr. Aldric told me." Aldric. That must have been the old man's name.

"Heard you saved the day," she went on.

"Ran off the louts who smashed up the ceramic stall."

"I just happened to be standing there when it kicked off, so..." I shrugged.

"Standing there. Right." She propped her chin again and looked at me, slow and assessing, the way you would size up a horse you were thinking of buying.

"And yet you scared off three B-ranks without being an adventurer yourself." There it was, the look of someone who had already decided I could be useful to her, and was just waiting for the polite moment to say so. I needed a story before she started wondering whether I was something shadier than a wandering nobody. The Dark Lord, for instance.

"My grandfather trained me hard, growing up," I said.

"Drilled all sorts of things into me. I still keep at it every day." Yeah right. I couldn't have picked my own grandfather out of a crowd of two. I don't even know his face since he passed away when I was two or three.

"Hmm." She made the sound without much interest, as if how I had gotten my strength did not matter. I took a sip of stew.

"Say." She leaned in.

"Can I hire you?" I choked.

"Oh, are you okay?" I was not okay. The stew had a kick to it on top of everything, and now my eyes were streaming and my face had gone hot and red while I hacked into my fist. Lunessa was already on her feet, sliding the water glass across and pressing it into my hand.

"Easy. Small sips." I took it, drank, coughed, drank again. I could feel a few heads turning at nearby tables. Wonderful. Very dignified, very not-suspicious behavior.

"Sorry." She sat back down.

"Should've waited until you'd swallowed. But I meant it."

"What do you mean, hire me?" I croaked.

"I work as a trade liaison." What in the world is that? She caught the blank look and laughed—a small, polished thing, more elegant than it had any right to be.

"You seem to have no idea what that is. It's fine, you don't need to. The short version is, I broker deals between people across the continent. And today I've got a quick errand out to Arkhay. Not far at all." This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Arkhay. The very place I had meant to go before I fumbled the landing.

"So you want a bodyguard?" I said.

"Yes." She nodded.

"The new Dark Lord's only just turned up, and there's been talk of villages getting attacked. I'd rather not take chances on the road."

"Okay, but why me? There are real services for this. Professionals."

"There are." She didn't blink.

"But I would have to pay them."

"... So you're not paying me?"

"Don't be like that. I'll get you a good meal." She smiled, all warmth and zero shame.

"Call it even for getting you through the gate?" Tight-fisted. Quite the merchant. But, annoyingly, it was true that I owed her a favor for letting me in here.

"Fine," I said.

"Wonderful." She thrust a hand across the table for me to shake.

"I'm Lunessa. I've got a good feeling about us!" I took her hand, and she shook it three times. I had no idea why I counted. When she let go, the warmth of it stayed on my palm.

"Hm? What're you staring at your hand for?" She turned her own over, inspecting it.

"Did I get something on you?"

"No, no, it's nothing!" I snapped both arms behind my back like a soldier caught slacking off. I needed to shake this acute-loneliness thing fast, or I was going to keep humiliating myself. She laughed again, softer this time.

"You're pretty funny." And she winked. Shoot. This woman is dangerous. I finished the Patience Pot while Lunessa headed out to deal with something about the carriage. Clean bowl, every last drop. Surprisingly good, or maybe just because it was free of charge. The old woman noticed the empty dish and came over.

"How was it, Milo? Food to your liking?" she asked, stacking the bowl onto her tray.

"It was great. Thanks for the meal."

"Good, good. We've got Hearthroot Pie tonight. I think you'll like that one even more. Feel free to drop by." Whatever that was. The names of the food out here never gave me much to work with.

"I saw you sitting with Lunessa earlier." She lowered her voice a touch.

"She rope you into guarding her?"

"Yeah, sort of. Said she's got business in Arkhay."

"Mm." She nodded slowly, like the news pleased her.

"Then she's in good hands. Look after her on the road, won't you? That girl's done more for this little inn than she'd ever let on. Everyone's fond of her." Huh. Popular woman. Right on cue, Lunessa's head popped out from behind the pillar by the entrance.

"Milo! Carriage is here. Let's move!" Heads turned toward the shout. A few diners frowned, plainly wondering why someone would bellow across a room instead of walking the ten steps to say it properly. Then they clocked who it was, and went straight back to their meals. I got up and headed out. Lunessa said we should reach Arkhay before noon. The business itself wouldn't take long, and we would be back in Eremiah by sundown. The carriage was nothing fancy.

A wooden cab that fit four at a squeeze, two horses up front, and a man in a faded bandana at the reins. He gave me a once-over, then looked past me to Lunessa.

"Yo. This the lucky one this time around?"

"That's him. And don't go scaring him off with your stories like you did the last one, Margol." She caught me by the wrist and tugged me toward the cab, which made my heart race for the next few seconds. The step was a low wooden block; she went up first, gathering her coat, and I climbed in after, ducking under the frame to keep from cracking my skull on it. We settled onto the benches facing each other. Margol clicked his tongue, snapped the reins, and the carriage lurched into motion.

There was a small window on either side and not much room between us, so I kept my legs carefully still; shift them the wrong way and our knees would knock.

"Watch yourself on this trip, kid," Margol called back over his shoulder.

"Our Lunessa's awful popular with thugs, bandits, and the mercenary sort. Comes with making a name as a negotiator. There's an unofficial bounty on her head." She did not mention that part to me during the recruitment process.

"Margol." Lunessa's voice sharpened.

"What did I just tell you about scaring him off?" Margol only guffawed. Before long, Eremiah fell behind us and we were trotting through the dirt, surrounded by generic trees. Lunessa asked where I was from. I told her I had come from Milly, then moved to Astrea, where I took up shopkeeping to put away a bit more coin. I had a day off, so I hitchhiked over to Eremiah just to look around. I thought it sounded decent for an impromptu answer.

"You must have been frightened for your family," she said.

"When the Dark Lord went and extorted food and drink out of Milly." I was the one who extorted them, actually. For the steady meals.

"Yeah," I said.

"But we got lucky, he never actually attacked the place."

"Small mercies." She looked out the window for a moment.

"They say he razed Lunareth not long before that. You hear how close it all was?"

"Heard bits." I kept my voice even.

"Mostly I just kept my head down."

"Sensible." A faint smile. We rode a while in not-uncomfortable quiet, the wheels rattling over the track.

"How old are you?" I asked. Her eyebrows lifted, and she blinked at me. Oh, no. I had just said it. The curiosity had been sitting there and it fell straight out of my mouth, and now I had gone and made myself look like a creep.

"S-sorry, I was just curious!" But her face eased, and she laughed.

"I'll be twenty-five this year." Five years older than me, then. She did carry a certain older-sister air, though not the overly strong kind. Now, how was I supposed to answer that?

"You... look great," I said. The instant it left me I knew I had misfired. Was that a thing you said when a woman told you her age? I had no idea. She laughed again.

"Why, thank you! Though I would hardly consider twenty-five old." Right. Of course. I had made it sound like she had just confessed to being fifty years old.

"You said Astrea, didn't you?" she went on.

"Then you might've met my little sister. She's twenty."

"You've got a sister?"

"I do. She's actually the—" The carriage jerked to a halt.

"Uh... kid? I might have jinxed it," Margol said. I leaned over and peered out. We were at a wooded stretch with trees crowding close on both sides. Two riders on brown horses blocked the road ahead; they were lean, plainly dressed in dark travelling leathers, hoods drawn low. I glanced over my shoulder at Lunessa. She looked oddly relaxed about the whole thing.

"Who?" she mouthed. I shaped a word back at her. Bandits? Mercenaries? She smiled and made a small motion with one hand—a shoo, but a gentler version. I assumed that meant it was time for me to do my job. So I hopped down from the carriage. Then a third rider eased out from the trees to the side. His horse was black, not brown like the others. Must have been the leader. He did not bother with a speech. Just a small nod and all of them swung down from their saddles, a knife coming into each hand.

Time to be the Hero again.