During Sunny's outlandish and impossible-sounding proclamation, Gilderien had slowly lowered his hand, eyes widening and mouth opening slightly as he stared wordlessly at Sunny calmly detailed the length of his existence.
By the time he had finished, the old man's mouth gaped and his eyes were bugging.
"You... how... you don't... speaking no lies? How is this possible?"
Sunny forced down his mirth and frowned slightly.
"Have you never met a deity before?"
Gilderien's eyes bugged further, but before he could say anything, Sunny continued, looking fondly into the air as though reminiscing.
"I have. Me and my companions slaughtered four immortal beings with daggers created by the gods to be their singular flaws, all in order to free a daemon they had imprisoned because they didn't want her being worshipped by the people of the Chained Isles. I exchanged a few words with her personally before she departed back to her personal realm, or wherever it is deity's dwell."
Gilderien began to shake slightly.
"...You have companions like that?"
Sunny nodded, enthused.
"Of course! One was my best friend, an incredibly gifted archer who had been given artificial skin, since his first set had been burnt off by a dragon he'd defied. He later killed the same dragon and was rewarded with a set of armor made out of his scales.
The other was an eleven year old girl who had been raised by a clan of warrior-women who's philosophy was that pain and endless training was the only way to refine one's battle skills and become stronger, so they pretty much tortured her every day for a couple months until we were able to give her a hand and wipe them and their clan out of existence, also retrieving on of the aforementioned daggers.
At one point I was captured- caught off guard, of course!- and they stuck me in an arena which nullified all of my powers and restricted access to my tools, all by slapping a collar infused with the magic of a-different-daemon around my neck. Then they forced me to fight off scores of abominations day after day for their entertainment. Eventually, I let them cut off my head in order to trick one of my captors and catch him off guard, then stuck it back on once the collar had come off.
Probably the least impressive of our achievements, nowadays..."
He let a small smile play on his lips as he gazed wistfully at the ceiling.
"I miss our adventures together."
Gilderien had become stock still, an expression not very fitting for his status plaguing his refined features.
Then, seeming to finally realize how telegraphed his reaction was, he snapped his jaw back up and dragged a hand down his face, seeming even more exhausted.
"You are no longer under inquisition, at least for the time being. I thank you on behalf of my people for your cooperation..."
His voice trailed off toward the end.
"I apologize. I am much too exhausted to keep up this conversation, and must now rest. If you have nowhere else to spend the night, could I offer you my cot? It is not much, but it is comfortable. You should sleep well."
Sunny laughed, aloud this time.
"No, thank you. I appreciate the sentiment, but I am not so cruel as to displace an old man such as yourself from his own bed. Besides, I have already set up a temporary shelter to spend the night."
Gilderien raised a silver eyebrow in surprise.
"Oh? When did you find the time to do such a thing?"
Sunny gave him a strange look.
"We've had an entire afternoon on our side, have we not? While I do enjoy my leisure to a great extent, I am not sloth. That's a sin, you know."
Gilderien looked at Sunny with confusion. Already, the old man seemed to have recovered somewhat, but from what it had been that he was exerting so much energy, Sunny could only guess.
Then, Gilderien sighed, and his signature smile made an appearance once more.
"Well, I thank you for your time, but I must rest now. Could I accompany you to your shelter, to see you off?"
Sunny returned the smile with a grin.
'Want to see where I live, huh? Sorry, I don't trust you enough for that, geezer...'
"No need. Could I visit in the morning? I've got some questions of my own."
The old man didn't look too put-out by his response, nodding.
"Of course. I'm sure you, too, have some things that you wish to ponder about in solitude before morn comes. Farewell, Master Sunless, Sunny."
He smiled once more, and rose from his chair in a polite gesture meant to see him off.
Sunny's grin grew even wider.
"See you tomorrow, old man."
Standing, he took two steps towards the door, then simply... hopped into its shadow, hair trailing above him as he disappeared. A moment later, it was as though he was never there.
Gilderien stared at the place where he had vanished for a moment, before returning to rubbing the bridge of his nose, shoulders sagging slightly. Then, he chuckled.
"Old man, huh... I don't think I've been referred to as something so simple for quite some time. And he said it twice! Such an interesting boy..."
Laughing to himself good-naturedly, he meandered to the door of his porch, sliding it open and revealing the bioluminescent lake, the waters of which had been lit by similar orbs as those that lit his own, humble home. These were colored blue, and emanated a soft glow into the air, throwing about shimmering lines on the stones that ringed the pond. Fireflies danced above the surface of the water, and the sound of crickets could be heard in the distance.
"Such a shame. I was looking forward to seeing his reaction to this place at night. I don't get much chance to show it off, you know."
He knelt on the porch and laid his palms on his thighs relaxedly, his long hair swinging gently with his movements and sliding over his shoulders like a river of melted silver. He smiled slightly, and began to meditate, humming quietly.