The evening hum of the tavern enveloped them like a warm blanket. After the dampness and gloom of the Dungeon, after the cold austerity of the Guild offices, this noise, laughter, and clinking of mugs seemed like the music of life.
I sat at our table by the wall, lazily twirling long pasta swimming in thick tomato sauce onto my fork. My body ached pleasantly. It wasn't that exhausting fatigue where you just want to fall down and never get up, but a "correct" heaviness in the muscles—proof that the day had not been lived in vain.
Across from me sat Raine. He had already finished his portion and now, leaning back in his chair, was leisurely sipping fruit water. The lights of the magic lamps reflected in his amber eyes, and he looked... content.
I caught myself smiling. Stupid, probably, but I couldn't stop thinking about today. About how Miss Eina's face had changed. First anger, then disbelief, and then—respect.
"We proved that we have the right to call ourselves adventurers," Raine's words still echoed in my head.
This feeling of recognition was intoxicating. All my life I had listened to stories about heroes, dreamed of being like them, but I had always remained just Bell—the boy who needed protecting. Today, for the first time, I felt that I myself could protect someone. And Miss Eina... she saw that.
She was strict, yes. But behind that strictness lay sincere care. And she's beautiful. Smart, elegant, with those glasses of hers that she adjusts when she's nervous... And she invited us to dinner. Well, or we invited her. Doesn't matter. The main thing is that we'll see each other outside the Guild walls.
I looked up from my plate and immediately ran into Raine's mocking squint. He was looking at me with that special, "big brotherly" warmth, in which, however, a slight irony could be read.
"And what are we dreaming about so intently, staring into a plate of pasta?" he asked quietly, and the corner of his lip twitched upward. "Or did you see the reflection of a beautiful elf in the sauce?"
I flinched, nearly dropping my fork. My heart jumped traitorously.
"W-what?" I tried to give my voice an indignant firmness, but felt my cheeks start to burn. "Nothing like that! Just... just the food is tasty. And I was thinking about strategy. About what we need to buy tomorrow."
Raine laughed quietly, shaking his head.
"Strategy, you say? Bell, everything you're thinking is written on your face in large print. You've been shining like a polished basin from the moment Eina agreed to dinner."
I lowered my head, realizing it was useless to deny it. Raine knew me too well.
"She... she's just a good person," I muttered, picking at the remains of the food with my fork. "And I'm glad she stopped considering us children."
"She's a beautiful woman, Bell. And there's nothing shameful about liking her," Raine's voice became more serious. "You've grown. You've become stronger. It's quite natural that you're starting to pay attention to... your surroundings."
He leaned across the table a little closer.
"By the way, about the dinner. I'm not going."
I froze, fork halfway to my mouth.
"What? Why?" sincere bewilderment displaced my embarrassment. "But we agreed! It's our shared 'punishment.' And we're a team!"
"Precisely because we are a team, I sometimes have to give you room to maneuver," Raine winked. "Think for yourself. If I go, it will be a business meeting: discussion of tactics, finances, future plans. I'll talk about boring things, and Eina will make notes in a notebook. But if you go alone... it will be a date."
The word "date" hung in the air, making me blush even harder, if that were even possible.
"A-a date?! No, Raine, you misunderstand! She's my advisor! She's older, more experienced, she..."
"She is a woman intrigued by a young, promising, and, let's face it, good-looking guy who achieved the impossible," Raine interrupted me. "Don't sell yourself short, Bell. You showed class today. You earned this evening. And I have things to do. Need to check the sword's sharpening, look around the city... In short, I'll find something to occupy myself. This is your chance, Bell. Don't miss it. Just be yourself."
I looked at him, feeling a mixture of panic and gratitude. Raine was doing it again—pushing me forward, forcing me out of my comfort zone. He believed in me even in those things where I doubted myself.
"I... I'll try," I exhaled.
At that moment, the air near our table changed imperceptibly. As if someone had opened a window in winter—a chill wafted in, but not physical, rather some internal, alarming one.
"What are you boys whispering about so intently?" a melodic voice rang out.
I flinched and turned my head. Syr was standing next to our table. In her hands, she held a tray with refill drinks we hadn't ordered.
She was smiling. Her ashen hair softly framed her face, and her gray eyes looked, it seemed, with habitual kindness. But there was something... strange in that gaze. As if a shadow had run across the bottom of a clear lake. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"S-Syr!" I tried to smile back, feeling caught red-handed, although we hadn't done anything wrong. "Oh, nothing... just discussing the day."
She set the mugs on the table a little sharper than usual. The sound of wood hitting wood sounded like a gunshot.
"The day?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "You look so... excited. Especially you, Bell. Your eyes are shining. Did something good happen? Or... someone good?"
Her voice was soft as velvet, but for some reason, goosebumps ran down my spine. It was like that feeling in the forest when you realize a predator you can't see yet is watching you.
"Well... yes!" I decided to be honest. After all, Syr is our friend; she treated me when I was down. "We were in the Dungeon today! And we made it! We got a bunch of stones, and our advisor at the Guild... she was in shock! She even praised us!"
Syr's face relaxed a little, but her gaze remained tenacious.
"Advisor?" she asked. "That strict elf you talked about?"
"Yes! Miss Eina!" I continued, not sensing the trap, encouraged by the memories. "She scolded us at first, but then... She's so smart and caring. We even agreed to meet her tomorrow evening, after hours, to..."
BAM!
Sharp pain pierced my shin. I gasped, jerked, and nearly banged my knees on the tabletop. Words stuck in my throat, replaced by a strangled hiss.
I stared uncomprehendingly at Raine. He sat with an absolutely imperturbable face, as if nothing had happened, but his leg under the table was eloquently pressing into mine.
"...to discuss further training strategy," Raine finished for me instantly, his voice smooth as polished stone. "But we are so tired that we would most likely have gone straight to sleep if not for your wonderful food, Syr."
Raine turned to the waitress and smiled his most charming, yet restrained smile.
"We were discussing how lucky we were to find this place. And how deliciously you cook. Bell just wanted to say that even the advisor's praise doesn't compare to your dinner. Right, Bell?"
He looked at me. Written in his gaze was: "Nod, you idiot, if you want to live."
I, still rubbing my bruised leg and completely not understanding what was happening, nodded like a bobblehead.
"Y-yes! Exactly! The food is just super! Thank you, Syr!"
Syr froze for a second. Her gaze darted from me to Raine and back. It seemed she was scanning us, trying to catch a lie. In those moments, something frightening flashed in her gray eyes. As if she were deciding our fate.
But then the mask fell. She became the sweet waitress again.
"Is that so?" she laughed quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm glad you like it. Eat to your health, boys. You need strength, since you've become real adventurers."
She beamed a radiant smile at me—a smile that usually warmed my soul, but now for some reason made me cold—and, turning on her heels, fluttered away to serve other customers.
As soon as she moved a safe distance away, I exhaled and pounced on Raine.
"Ouch!" I rubbed my leg. "What was that for?! You almost broke my bone! I was just telling her about Eina!"
Raine looked at me like I was insane. He slowly took a sip from his mug, as if calming his nerves.
"Bell..." he said with frightening seriousness. "Tell me honestly. Are you suicidal? Or do you completely lack a self-preservation instinct outside of combat?"
"What are you talking about?" I genuinely didn't understand.
"You were about to tell a girl who is clearly showing interest in you... no, don't interrupt, only a blind man wouldn't see it... you were about to tell her that you are going on a date with another girl?"
"With Syr? Interest?" I felt my ears flare up again. "No way! She's just kind!"
"Bell," Raine sighed, looking at me with sympathy, like at a sick person. "She brought us free drinks as soon as we sat down. She's been hovering around our table all evening. And when you started talking about Eina... didn't you notice how the temperature in the room dropped sharply?"
I thought about it, recalling the strange chill and her frozen smile.
"Well... she looked a little... strange."
"'Strange,'" Raine mimicked. "That wasn't 'strange.' That was jealousy, Bell. And believe me, a woman's jealousy is more dangerous than any monster. You can kill a monster with a sword. But a scorned woman can slip laxatives in your soup, or, what's worse, make your life hell without even touching you."
He shook his head.
"Never. Do you hear me? Never talk to one woman about another in that tone. That is survival rule number one."
I digested his words. The thought that Syr might like me seemed fantastic. She was so beautiful, mysterious... And me? Just a rookie. But Raine's words sounded convincing. And the pain in my leg was real.
"Thanks... I guess," I said uncertainly. "I didn't want to offend her."
"You didn't want to, but you could have," Raine nodded. "Be smarter next time. Now finish eating. We need strength. Tomorrow you have an important evening, and I have a hard day of preparation. And for the love of all that is holy, Bell, when you are with Eina... try not to mention Syr."
I chuckled nervously.
"Got it. Silence is golden."
I went back to eating, but now I kept casting fearful glances toward the kitchen, where the top of Syr's gray head flickered. Orario was truly full of dangers, and it seemed not all of them were hidden underground. Some smiled at you and brought refills.