Chapter 6

  Meeting New People 1

  After a minute of walking at a hurried pace, Ellyn and Rigel arrived at a small and humble-looking building, a compact place with thin smoke coming out the awning windows. The building stood out from its neighbors as particularly oddly shaped and smaller than the rest. Not that the other buildings were particularly large, but this one had a visible effort put into its appearance to look like it had come out of a picture book for children as the warm autumn colors completely the friendly and cozy image constructed. A beautiful gem hidden in this village that only the locals knew about. Gazing at it, Ellyn felt like the first of the outside world to discover it.

  “Alright, we arrived.” Rigel said, pretending the last few minutes never took place.

  Ellyn smelled the faint aroma coming from the building, “What is this place?”

  Rigel faintly smiled, “This is Luka’s bar, my friend’s family business that serves my favorite food in the village.”

  “Oh, I see…” After a brief pause, Ellyn pointed at their hands “By the way…”

  Not aware he was still holding her after they ran away from his mother, he desperately let go of her. A single squeal came out of him as the embarrassment seethed in. Cheeks blushed; he attempted to focus on anything but Ellyn. He swore vengeance to both Sherry and Maya for the terrible teasing he had been victim to. Such offense cannot stand!

  “Ah! I’m sorry.” He stuttered, “I-I didn’t notice, and I was still... Uh-”

  Equally flustered, Ellyn tried to reassure him, “N-no, it’s fine, I also forgot about it after we ran away from Maya.”

  The mention of his mother seemed to flip a switch on the boy, because soon enough a tinge of anger took hold of him. Seeing Rigel cross his arms and complain about his mother while his face was still bright red was oddly adorable for her, “Tch. I swear, mom should learn to stop messing around with people, it’s seriously annoying. No one likes it, but that doesn’t stop her, where’s the consideration?”

  The way he began firing off into a rant of how his mother would not care about his personal space or his interest. Interrupting his activities with whatever chore she put on him or just talking non-stop. Losing quick interest the moment he tried to do conversation with her of his own accord, or making him accompany her buying food only to stay at the same vendor for hours as she was unable to decide but would not hear anyone's advice either. Anyone's except Marco's, and even that was a coin toss.... It all looked terribly cute to her. It wasn’t something she could say she was familiar with, 'complaining about your parents' that is. So naturally she found it rather interesting to hear about.

  “Hehe. Has she always been like that?” She asked with a faint smile on her face.

  “Mom?” He replied, “As far as I’ve been in this world... Yes, she always has been like that. I’m sorry she puts you through so much to satisfy her weird fantasies.”

  “I-it’s fine! The clothes I’ve tried are ones that she no longer has any use for. So, it’s good that they are put to use... or so she says.”

  “Still.” Rigel lamented, “She is way too pushy about it.”

  “Ahahaha... Maybe, but I think she means well in the end.”

  “Hm?” Rigel raised an eyebrow out of curiosity and invited her to continue.

  “I mean, the only clothes I was using were that dress for patients and nothing else, even if she is pushy about it... It’s nice to have something to wear outside.” Ellyn tried to explain.

  Rigel looked at her for a second, fixated on her awkward smile, her clumsy attempt to put together what she thought. He didn’t think for long until a warm smile cracked on his lips too. He almost seemed relieved with his answer, but Ellyn never caught on that smile detail.

  “I see.” He conceded, “That’s good then, nice to know that you don’t feel absolutely awful towards her.”

  “She’s a good person, Rigel. You should spend more time with her instead of me.”

  As she spoke, the raven-haired girl walked away from the boy and into the bar. Her face shifted; a lonely look swept across her face.

  “Since I won’t be around for much longer.”

  Rigel’s eyes opened wide as the cold; distant words of the girl reached him. It was just for a single moment, but he was sure of the lonely smile and tired eyes that his eyes saw in her. And once more, his mind went back to the completely beaten person he saw all those months ago—walking away into a place of no return.

  “Hey-”

  “Now! I am famished, let us eat now, and this place you told me better live up to the hype!”

  He tried to call out to her, but before he could say a word, Ellyn gave off her normal, polite smile that guarded everything and everyone. Leaving his words interrupted without a moment’s hesitation.

  Rigel stumbled on his words before replying.

  “Ah... Yes, let’s go.”

  Ellyn entered the bar and the first thing she did was to scan the inside with utmost wariness, though nobody seemed to be paying attention to her. Rigel followed shortly after, wondering why she was looking around as if she anticipated an ambush. However, no one seemed to even noticed she was there, instead the people enjoyed a type of food Ellyn was not familiar with. A half-moon-shaped dish of goldish color wrapped in paper tissue. The food was shown to be filled with meat, or in some people’s cases cheese. Some even have vegetables—It was an odd-looking food.

  What’s curious to her was that the people held it with their hands like a piece of bread, but it clearly wasn’t. So, what was it, then? She had never once seen that type of food before and, sure, it may have been because she didn’t pay that much attention when lived on the move, but a dish as peculiar as that surely couldn’t go as easily unnoticed. Almost everyone seemed to be having it, too—at least as far as she could see, was it really that good?

  The two stepped forward inside and headed towards the counter, sitting next to another five people who delightedly ate that half-moon thing and drank coffee, tea or beer. On the counter itself she could see more of that half-moon food right in front of her put in baskets and encased in glass—Undeniably the house’s most popular item, but what was it? One look at Rigel proved that he eagerly looked her way with high expectations, so he probably wouldn't explain it to her until they were about to eat.

  The inside was decorated with warm colors, the same as well-baked bread. Small windows near the ceiling helped the smoke from the kitchen escape outside, wall paintings of fields with flowers that... weren't really that pretty to her, in her opinion. An interesting point that her eyes noticed, however, was how mismatched the chairs were. While an effort was done to make them look as similar as possible, certain tables seemed to have completely different style of seating. Same with the plates. It really brought the point to her that the place was really someone's house partially converted into a dinner.

  “Ah, there he is.” Rigel pointed out

  While Ellyn tried to look around to where “He” was, an old man entered and made his way to a seat at the middle of the counter. Just as quickly as he sat down, a young man all the way at the end of the counter shouted:

  “Father! Old man Jean is here, you know how he likes it.”

  “Aye,” The father replied, “I’m coming right up. Your coffee with milk today too?”

  “Hoo, do I really order the same thing that much?”

  “It would be embarrassing if I didn’t know at this point, Jean.”

  The tall man with gray hair, wearing white clothes and an apron, Luka, smiled at the old Jean as he served him a warm cup of coffee. Old Jean on his part laughed with a tinge of embarrassment as he accepted the drink, their exchange was so casual it seemed not like customer service and more like preparing breakfast for your own grandfather. Ellyn thought maybe it that was the great advantage a place like this held.

  “Hehehe. Thank you, Luka.”

  As Luka served the elderly man his food, he noticed Rigel and Ellyn sitting a few spots away from the old man. Rigel gave a silent greeting paired with a smile while Ellyn’s gaze was lost on the ceiling, still looking at her surroundings with caution. The man replied with a greeting of his own before calling the attention of someone behind him on his side of the counter.

  “Hey Alan! They lookin’ for you!”

  “I’m coming!”

  From the other side of the bar, a young man with gray hair signaled Rigel to come closer. The boy nodded, and casually tapped Ellyn’s shoulder to accompany him.

  “Ellyn. Let’s sit down.” Rigel suggested.

  “Eh? Ah. Yeah, hm.”

  Ellyn was distracted by the activity inside the bar. For starters, it was actually more spacious on the inside than it appeared on the outside, something she only noticed the more she walked around it. The crowd inside filled the whole place with jokes and laughter that blessed it with a hard-to-get-rid-of-cheery mood. It was a pleasant business, which made her wary of something. Something she couldn't put her finger on, but it was something that nagged at her.

  As she followed Rigel to the end of the counter, making a good distance from the rest of the customers, she kept looking at the people eating. How much they enjoyed themselves in food and conversation, making her mouth water and her stomach grumble. Rigel politely pulled one of the available seats and politely offered it to the raven-haired girl. Neither Ellyn nor he thought twice about his gesture, and she thanked him before taking the seat.

  “Here, let’s wait for Alan until he is done.”

  Ellyn smiled, “Thanks.”

  The two sat down and quietly waited for the gray-haired man to finish tending the other customers. Ellyn took the opportunity to give a good look at the young man Rigel seemed to know. He wore a white shirt with long sleeves, long black pants, and an apron black apron, nothing seemed too extraordinary in his choice of clothing but it was probably because of his role as a waiter. However, His strong facial features were something that distinctly stood out. His eyes were sharpers than a knife and his jaw was incredibly defined. Paired with ash-gray hair he look way older than he probably was.

  While he wore a gentle smile as he properly served the customers, the overly sharp-looking teeth transformed what would be the smile of a gentleman into the look of a thug that would make anyone cross to the other side of the street. Yet none of the customers were even slightly bothered by his scary appearance, rather, they seemed to enjoy his presence, as evidenced that every customer greeted him by name and had small chat in each table.

  Everything she observed about him was the jarring opposite of what his appearance suggested.

  “Rigel, do you know him?” Ellyn whispered, hiding her face from the grey-haired male.

  “Eh? Do you mean Alan? Hm, we’re friends. I’m a bit of a regular here, so I get served by him most of the time.”

  “Really? He looks a bit... Sorry, it’s not my place to say.”

  Rigel seemed confused by her comment.

  “Well, I do know he is scary looking. He is a great guy, though.”

  Ellyn looked at Alan attend the remaining customers with manners proper of a trained butler, kind enough to even make the older ladies have a flustered laugh. Yet Ellyn still distrusted her eyes. Alan’s facial features scream ‘Thug’, the kind that looks for a fight with however he finds on the street. Sure, one might have to keep a certain behavior while working, but once the shift ends, people often break loose and are true to themselves. She read as much in a book about a month ago.

  She frowned, letting a muffled sound escaped her lips as she kept her guard up. Rigel let out a sigh, as he lamented her childishly pre-judgmental attitude, even if he understood where it came from.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Still, she didn′t let her guard down.

  Rigel took a sip of water, “Gee, you surely hold back with any new person you meet, don’t you?”

  “Y-You shouldn’t be carefree with strangers…” She warned, “You don’t know what they could be up to.”

  Ellyn’s voice stumbled a bit when she tried to explain herself to Rigel, a tinge of blush colored her cheeks pinkish red.

  “Didn’t I tell you that I know Alan? Can’t you take my word for it?”

  “I do trust you but...” She hesitated, “Sorry, I can’t help it.”

  Rigel was confused by Ellyn’s attitude; she was cautious like a feral dog ready to tackle any new threat. But from another angle, she looked like a shut-in that was scared of meeting new people.

  He had figured for a while that she didn’t have many friends to fall back on since the incident from five months ago. No contact to rely on for shelter nor a home to return to, but he didn’t expect her social ineptitude to run so deep, especially considering that she most likely hailed from a distant country, having crossed land and ocean to end up at Vigram, she would need to talk to people in order to make the trip even possible. Assuming she did talked to people and didn't just smuggle herself across borders.

  Worst of all... Something was telling him that her problem probably ran deeper than this.

  He sighed, “I swear... I know that face doesn’t do him any favors but... Look, you’ll see for yourself.”

  The two noticed Alan approaching their place with a polite smile. There, Ellyn noticed the bright yellow color of his eyes that once again reinforced even further the dangerous look that he wore so well. Ellyn’s body straightened up on its own, while Rigel’s dropped with exhaustion.

  “I’m very sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Welcome to my father’s bar! My name’s Alan and I’ll be serving you today.”

  “… Eh?!” She yelped.

  Soft. His voice was so soft. It didn’t match at all with his looks. Those hard features under his eyes, the wrinkles, the yellow, menacing color just don’t go at all with that soft voice of a prince. Did the gods get them by error at birth?

  “Morning, Alan. It looks like you got your hands full today. Ah, please forgive the idiot over here; she seems to have a hard time meeting new folk.”

  Ellyn grunted, “Ngh...”

  “Stop spacing out, you rude idiot. Present yourself at least.”

  Rigel slightly tapped Ellyn on the arm, which brought her back to reality. She knew she was being impolite, and so she tried her best to accept the discrepancy between the young man’s looks and attitude as a simple fact of life. Alan just continued smiling politely and waited patiently for her.

  “I’m sorry... My name’s Ellyn.”

  Alan lifted his eyebrows in curiosity. As if the name ‘Ellyn’ seemed to ring a bell, “Ellyn... So, you are the girl that was in Marco’s care. Rigel told us a little about you.”

  For a second, Ellyn’s face looked alarmed before she changed into a neutral expression, “...What did he say?”

  Rigel noticed the uncomfortable tone in her voice, and so he tried to intervene.

  “Nothing particularly importa-” but she took a hold of his arm behind the counter and pressured it, letting the sudden pain silence him. It wasn't like she intended to hurt him, but she needed him quiet for a second.

  Alan noticed the exchange between the two, and promptly intervened.

  “Don’t worry.” He explained, “He didn’t say anything embarrassing. I’d even say he barely told us about you. Something about a girl in Ms. Marco’s care that would escape all the time and gets constantly toyed by Rigel’s mother.”

  Her shoulders drop at the explanation. Her expression softened as she sighed on relief before playing with her hair.

  “I see... Sorry about that, Rigel.”

  “You know I wouldn’t do something like that. So don’t worry about it... Let me finish next time.” He said.

  “... Hm.” She nodded.

  Having finished their exchange, Ellyn and Rigel turned to their patient waiter who nodded in response, “So, what can I get for you both, we have our signature pasties with different fillings and salads, and we just finished baking a new round of bread so bread and potatoes are also at their best right now.”

  Despite his scary looks, he exercised impeccably practiced manners as a waiter. Keeping perfect track of what food is available, what to recommend and how to lead customers into wanting a taste of it.

  At least Ellyn thought as much.

  “I will take the same as always.” He turned to Ellyn, “Is there anything that calls your attention?”

  Ellyn’s eyes wandered into the display. The half-moon-shaped dish that everyone ate kept appearing in her line of sight, but she doesn’t know if she will order them.

  “Maybe just the bread and potatoes...” She thought.

  “I’ll just take-”

  “If I may intervene...” The young man leaned in, “Since it’s your first time, and by the look of it I assume you’ve never tried it before, how about pasties? They are our specialty.”

  He winked at her as he finished. However, to her, his scary face backfired the gesture, but she didn’t comment on it, not after him behaving so nicely. That would be too rude and she was polite too. Never mind silencing Rigel with pain. He earned it.

  She turned to the boy, “Pasties... What do you think, Rigel?”

  “Leave it up to him! Pasties are the best, trust me!”

  Rigel’s eyes shone with enthusiasm as he said. Ellyn was taken slightly aback by his sudden energetic response but decided to trust his word.

  “Then... I’ll be in your care.”

  “Right away.”

  After slightly bowing, he headed into the kitchen, leaving the two with nothing to do but wait. Ellyn wondered for a moment why not just take the ones already in the counter, but maybe those were for display only. It could also be that since Rigel seemed to be close friends with Alan that he received a nicer treatment by getting freshly made ones. That would be great if it were the case.

  “He seems... nice, but really...”

  “He IS very nice. The kindest person I know.”

  The comment made Ellyn crack a small smile on her face. Seeing the warm expression in young Rigel’s eyes as he said it told her all about how he felt about him.

  “So, what about those pasties,” She asked, “Are they even good?”

  “I’ll have you know that pasties are the ultimate breakfast food ever conceived. Now, I don’t know where his parents got it or if they invented it themselves, but it is absolutely incredible, and I can never get tired of it!”

  Rigel enthusiastically rambled about the dish everyone ate there, him being a particularly hardcore fan of it. Ellyn couldn’t help but find it amusing how energetic he is about it in contrast with everything else of his interest. Even if the words just completely flew over her head and she could only understand that it was delicious.

  “Hehehe...”

  Alarmed, his enthusiasm faded, “... What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing...” A curvy smile showed on her rosy cheeks, she felt silent while feeling envious of the joy that brimmed inside of him.

  “You are teasing me again!”

  “This... smells really nice.” Ellyn said with a soft voice.

  The food was served; a set of four pasties that shared the same basket, and two cups of light-brown coffee in front of the two, brought an enticing scent right into her nose and make her mouth eager to have both a bite and a sip. Everything about it looked like homemade cooking, down to the small imperfections in each pastie, the signs of long time usage in the basket and cups, all nailed the homey feeling to it. Perhaps because it was homemade cooking, as he heard a woman's voice throughout the kitchen whom Alan and Luka sometimes went inside to talk to, whom she assumed was Alan's mother. This time, however, it seemed it was Alan who prepared the dishes according to Rigel.

  “I don’t know if you wanted it fried or baked, so I prepared one of each for you, Rigel likes his fried, so those two are for him. I also put sugar in the coffee already. Here’s some more just in case.” He said as he organized the table for the two customers.

  “O-oh... Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  He smiled. Once again, his scary face made for an uncanny look whenever she looked at him. However, Ellyn was already past the initial shock, so his face was finally starting to look less scary than before. While Rigel wasted no time and grabbed one of the pasties and took a large bite with full enthusiasm. His face showed absolute delight at the taste of the dish. Full marks.

  “Mngu! So good! As expected of Alan, you really are something.”

  Ellyn silently took a careful bite. Trying to take as much as she can for a first impression-

  “Uh-... Oh!” She howled.

  Alan and Rigel stared at her with confidence in their eyes and a smile of pure pride. For they can tell what that sound just meant.

  The flavor of the baked dough was soft inside and crunchy on the outside, with the ham at a perfect temperature and enough flavor to fully taste every part within the tongue, not too hot to burn nor too hard to chew for a long time. The fried pasties hinged entirely on an enticing crunchy texture and sweetness put into the dough before cooking and it completely nailed it. Inside of it, there was melting cheese with perfect levels of saltiness. When passed down with the sweet coffee, it rounds the perfect balance of the two pasties into something nothing less than amazing.

  In truth, the idea was simple, incredibly simple even. Prepare the dough and then bake it or fry it with the filling already inside, and yet...

  “Mhn! This is...!” She beamed with excitement.

  “The pride of my family.” He puffed out his chest, satisfied.

  Rigel chimed in, “It’s the best breakfast food in the world.”

  “Right? Nothing comes close to one of these in the morning.”

  Ellyn quickly finished one of her pasties and began the second one, allowing immense joy to fill her just as the food itself.

  “So, what’s the verdict?” Alan asked.

  “I can already tell. But I want to hear from you.”

  Ellyn nodded at them before swallowing and downing it with the warm coffee, which was excellent too. Then, after clearing her voice:

  “You’ll be a wonderful husband.”

  After a moment of blank silence, Alan came to his senses, “Eh?!”

  “Keep cooking like this and any woman will fall for you.” Ellyn said as bluntly as possible.

  “What are you even saying?!”

  He was taken aback by her comment. Unfortunately, before he could recover from it, Rigel leaned in to intervene as well.

  “Ooh, I agree. But if he was taken, he wouldn’t be able to serve us as much, right...?” He said with a grin on his face.

  “You too?!” He yelped.

  Ellyn giggled at the combined teasing they threw at him. After she was done, a warm expression held her smile before locking directly with Alan.

  “It was delicious. Thank you very much.” She said.

  Alan looked at her expression for a few seconds without any thoughts in his mind. Shortly after, however, he politely smiled with the softest face he had shown yet.

  “Haha- I’m glad you liked them...”

  “I must say. You might compliment my skills, but they are nothing compared to my mother. I’m an amateur right next to her.” Alan said as he retrieved the pair’s dishes.

  “R-really?” She tilted her head, “But I think you feel like a pro to me.”

  “Ellyn. Alan is pretty amazing, but you are not ready.” He stressed, “You are not ready.”

  “What’s with that ominous comment?”

  The three of them talked for an hour after finishing breakfast. Ellyn got an opportunity to get to know Alan slightly more, the business they run, and small details about his family, though nothing meaningful about the man himself. They had been running that business for only one generation—two if one counted Alan himself. His family came over ten years ago, way before he was born and settled when the village was far smaller than what it is now. Using everything they had they made the current establishment and made themselves a core part of the community. Alan, being born amidst all of it, had grown up as much as a child of the community as he was a child of his parents, and held great amounts of love for the people living here. A heartfelt story that made Ellyn smile thoroughly as she listened to it.

  After Rigel paid, they were ready to leave to their next destination.

  “By the way, Alan.” He wondered, “Those two are probably outside in their routine, right?”

  After a moment thinking, Alan replied, “Hm... Yes, I suppose they should be on their way back from their daily routine by this hour.”

  “Yeah, figured as much. Alright! Let’s go, Ellyn.”

  She felt a bit out of the loop. Go where?

  “Um...” She hesitated, “Who are you talking about?”

  “Well, we are going to say hello to Darius and Olivia, some other friends of Alan and mine.” He explained.

  Ellyn’s expression slightly contorted at the idea. Meeting more people was... Alan was a thing, but he was just one. Two more people was starting to hit the limit of her social intake, and she was starting to want to go back to Marco's house in order to avoid trouble...

  “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. Trust me.”

  Rigel placed his hand on Ellyn’s shoulder in an attempt to reassure her. She saw him smile at her with a confident look in his eyes before being drawn to Alan’s voice, who also wore a similar expression.

  Alan intervened, “I can attest. Those two are harmless and wonderful friends. There’s nothing to be shy about.”

  Ellyn thought about it for a minute. She took a long breath before nodding once to him.

  “Alright then. I’ll go.”

  “It’s decided, then.” Rigel then turned to his friend, “We’ll see you later, Alan!”

  He bowed in a perfectly trained motion, “Thanks for coming! Please come again!”

  As Alan saw Ellyn and Rigel leave with a gentle smile on his face. He felt rather unsatisfied with her exchanges with Ellyn. He couldn't tell that he got a grasp on what kind of person she is, but it least it was a good start.

  “The girl in Dr. Marco’s care, huh? Interesting. Seems like a nice girl... I guess appearances can be deceitful.” He thought.

  He clenched his teeth, hard enough to cause pain in his jaw.

  “It’s crazy to think that she is responsible for the mess we are in with the Wood Fang. Given how she looks...”

  He clenches his fist. His nails slowly sank into the skin, deep enough to pierce the skin.

  “And it’s even crazier to think Rigel is just casually walking around that criminal! What is he thinking?! This village is about to be wiped out, and he is just... All the people she is putting at risk too! Forgive me, my friend, but I cannot let this stand!”

  He took a deep breath before returning to his duties at the bat, “I hope you have good reasons to be this carefree, and for that girl to not be locked up or worse for the horrible danger she has put us all in, because I struggle to think of a single one...”