Yuril spent several minutes looking out the front window of the pub and watched as people came and went. He took small sips from his water glass whenever he felt himself nodding off slightly. He was surprised that the waitresses were able to so easily figure out that he had gone to the dungeon, even more surprised that they were willing to all stay quiet about the incident. Yuril of course had no way of really knowing if they would all remain quiet and not rat him out to the Guild, but something told him deep down that they would keep their word. He enjoyed the silence that he had been left in, the only noises that he really picked up were the occasional loud remark from a drunken customer or thud when someone slammed their mug down onto their table. Though it was not long later after he had drifted off slightly he heard a stern voice call out to him as they started to quickly approach. "Yuril!" the familiar voice called out in a tone that reminded him of how mothers back in the village would talk to their children when they were misbehaving.
"What on earth do you think you are doing?" Syr asked him as she leaned closer towards his face, Yuril leaned to the side in his seat as he did Syr leaned closer. Yuril stuttered for a few seconds before Syr grabbed his right arm's wrist gently. "Come on Yuril, you are going back to bed right now. I left you a note and everything that you just need to rest and if you need anything just to call for me."
"Wait, note? What note, I didn't see any note?" Yuril said as he turned his head to the side slightly.
"I left you a note on the chair, but that's not important right now… let's just get you back to bed." Syr placed her left hand under his right shoulder and lifted him from his seat, he fumbled for a quick second before he was able to stand up straight with her help. As they started to make their way towards the stairs slowly he could feel several sets of eyes from the pub's patrons on him as they made their slow getaway.
They made it to the stairs and slowly started to climb them on step at a time, leaving behind a pub full of jealous customers that had watched a single white haired boy get attention from almost every waitress in the pub.
Once the two finally reached the top of the stairs Yuril stopped walking and Syr gave him a curious look, he reached out and grabbed the chair next to the top of the stairs. "Syr… can you let me go for a minute…?"
"But Yuril your leg—"
"I know… trust me I know… but I need to be able to move again on my own eventually… so please let go for a minute.. "Yuril said with a pleading look, reluctantly Syr retracted her hand and watched as Yuril wobbled for a moment and tightened his grip on the chair.
"Okay… but it looks like you are going to fall, I am grabbing you…" Syr said as she held her hands close to her chest with a cautious appearance on her face.
"Thanks Syr…" Yuril said to her softly as he nodded his head and started to make his way down the hallway. He slowly started to drag the chair across the floor, using it to keep himself on his feet as he made his way towards the spare bedroom.
Once he reached the door Syr stepped past him and opened the door for him, he made his way inside and she fetched a candle from the hallway to illuminate the room. As she walked across the length of the room she spotted the piece of paper that she had written to Yuril in the case that he had woken up. But in the dark and since he had used the chair to make his way to the stairs it must have fallen off and Yuril never noticed the sheet. Syr bent down and picked up the paper, since it turned out to be useless she crumpled up the paper and tossed it into a small bucket next to the table that was the room's garbage can. She set the candle down on the table as Yuril sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh, he was exhausted from just climbing the set of stairs and making it back to his temporary room. Yuril removed his jacket and handed it to Syr, she accepted the coat and hung it up on the hook near the door. He pulled his legs up and tucked them under the sheets, he arched his back slightly and slipped off his pants and then bunch up in a small ball at the foot of his bed.
Yuril closed his eyes as they had started to become difficult to just keep them open, he could hear Syr moving around the room fixing up the place and he decided to make small chit-chat with her until she was finished. "Syr, I had a question for you…" he said calmly which earned the waitress's attention.
"Hm? Yes Yuril, what is it?" Syr asked as she moved the chair far enough away from the bed so that Yuril could not reach it and use it to get up from the bed for a second time.
"My jacket, pants and stuff… how did those get fixed up?"
"Oh, I did that!" Syr said in a joyful manner.
"I see—wait you did?" Yuril fumbled over himself as he opened his right eye and saw Syr standing a foot away with her hands tucked behind her back and leaning forward towards him in a cute fashion.
"Mhm! I really like sewing and thought that fixing up your clothes for you would be good… I was not able to fix up your armour though sadly… sorry…" Syr said as she turned her head away slightly and rotated her body in place.
"N-no! Syr it's fine… that means a lot to me… that armour was worthless anyway…"
Syr giggled softly as she sat on the chair and kicked off her brown ankle high boots and set them next to the bed. Then she pulled off her waitress uniform and neatly folded it and placed it on the table before finally removing her leggings as she stood up and they fell in a small pile at her feet. She bent down and picked them up and quickly rolled them up and placed them with her uniform's gown. She leaned over and with a small puff of warm air blew out the candle that was the only thing illuminating the room, she giggled softly in the dark and made her move towards the young boy.
Yuril had been left speechless and before he knew what was happening she flipped the sheet up and crawled into the bed with him and tucked herself in under the covers, under the sheets Yuril could feel both of her legs tangle around his right leg and she wrapped her arms around his right arm. She rested her head on his shoulder and let out a small satisfied sigh "Now go to sleep Yuril. I am going to stay with you all night to make sure you don't go anywhere and get hurt again…" she whispered sweetly in his ear.
"But don't you still have wor—"
"Dont care." Syr interrupted the white haired boy before he could even finish his sentence.
No more words were spoken between the two as they fell asleep together in the single bed and for the first time in a short while Yuril had a decent night's sleep.
20Yuril groaned softly as he arched his back and stretched his legs enough so that his toes were just dangling off of the edge of the thin mattress that he slept on, he opened his eyes slowly and blinked several times in quick succession to help wake up. He was greeted with a familiar sight, Syr's sleeping face several inches from his own.
Since he had returned from the Hostess from the dungeon that fateful night where he nearly died she had slept with him every night, the first few nights the two stayed in the spare bedroom on the second floor. However after a few days passed and Yuril was able to move around a little bit better on his own he moved back up to the attic where he had previously been staying.
His injuries had mostly healed, he still walked around with a slight limp in his left leg which had been the more critically wounded one of the two limbs. His arms had healed up and he was able to regain a decent amount of his range of motion, though he still lacked much of the strength in his hands. His chest had healed up rather nicely but he still did catch himself often out of breath or finding it difficult to breath occasionally, he also found that he had less of an appetite. But he assumed that his lack of appetite was more related to the fact that after his first meal Syr had been quite consistent in cooking him three meals a day, he choked it down whenever she was present with a smile on his face.
She had cooked for him several times, he had thought that the soup was bad enough and he set his expectations rather low for her next dish and she still underperformed. She had cooked him a piece of chicken, or at the very least that was what she had said it was originally before she bastardized the poor bird. The meat was black, not a crispy brown but a dark hard black like she had started cooking the piece of meat and had simply forgotten about it until the smell of smoke got so bad it was impossible to not notice it. When Yuril finally managed to saw through the rock that could barely be considered food, the inside of the chicken was miraculously raw. How she had managed to burn the outside and leave the center raw Yuril could not even begin to fathom, he had a few pieces from the more cooked outer edges and stayed clear of the middle to try avoiding giving himself food poisoning. After a few bites he was able to convince her that he simply was not hungry that night.
Initially Syr had helped him dress himself for a few days, he tried to argue with her and dress himself but Syr just took the chair away that he used to move around and left him stuck in the bed. She refused to return it until he allowed her to help dress him in the mornings until he was better, while it had been a tad humiliating requiring help to just get dressed in the morning Syr was very polite and respectful about the act. Just a couple of days previously he woke up early and managed to do it by himself, Syr allowed him to do it by himself from then on but she did leave her offer on the table to help him any time he needed. It did hurt to move around for longer periods of time without rest and he did often find himself out of breath after climbing a simple flight of stairs.
He slowly escaped from the tight grasp of the grey haired waitress, she had wrapped herself around him similar to how she always did when she slept with him for a night and over the past several days he had grown to be rather skilled in escaping her sleeping hold. She stirred slightly as he got up from the bed and sat down on the chair next to the bed, he grabbed his light brown jacket that was hanging on the back of the chair he rested on and handed it to her. She snatched up the jacket with a cute smile on her face as she nuzzled the collar against her cheek in her sleep and hummed peacefully.
"Hmmm Yuuuriiill," she whispered softly to herself in her sleep as she rolled back over and faced away from Yuril, he chuckled to himself softly and shook his head as he fetched the rest of his clothes from the table next to the bed and began to dress himself. It was a rather slow and painful process with his still lingering injuries, but he could push through the pain and manage to do it despite the discomfort it caused. When he finished dressing himself he slowly eased up from his seat while placing his hands on his knees to brace himself, once he was on his feet he held the chair with his left hand and debated waking up Syr. She did not like Yuril going anywhere without at the very least letting her know after his accident, but she had taken care of him all week long despite having to work as well. She had not much time to rest herself and today was the first day off in over a week so he decided to let her sleep in for a while longer, she did deserve at the very least that much.
He tried to be as quiet as possible as he got ready to make his way towards the stairs that led to the attic, the only sounds that filled the room were the soft breaths of Syr and the soft chirping of birds outside in the early morning light. It took a moment for Yuril to acknowledge that there was another sound that he had not heard before, it was not very loud but with the lack of other noise it was rather noticeable. He made his way towards the small circular shaped window instead of the staircase like he had originally planned to head towards, he looked out the window and saw a peculiar sight.
Ryuu was standing alone in the small yard that the Hostess of Fertility had behind the building, there was a table with some benches and a fairly sized tree in the yard to fill in the area. Yuril had eaten outside with Syr at the table a small handful of times for lunches or brunches, but other than the few times he had been there with the waitress he had never seen another person in the yard. Ryuu was not wearing her waitress uniform which was another thing he found odd, he had seen her not wearing her uniform a select few times but a majority of the time when he saw her she was working and taking customers orders. She was wearing a loose plain white T-shirt with a pair of brown shorts that ended midway between her knees and her thighs, she was facing away from him and had a wooden sword in her right hand. She was swinging the wooden sword through the air and practicing her footwork, he watched her go through a small cycle of movements for a minute before she started them all over again from the beginning. The young white haired boy watched her for several minutes from the window, mesmerized by her stance and moments.
Eventually he shook his head from side to side to free himself from the small trance that he had put himself into and walked over to the stairs and slowly made his way down the stairs to the second floor. He kept a tight grip on the railing as he reached the second floor and with a few awkward steps with no support he reached the second staircase and held the railing firmly in his right hand. Eventually he managed to get down to the ground floor and looked around the empty pub, the chairs were stacked on the tables, the floors were swept and the windows were shined. Yuril would not deny the fact that the pub was spotless, he had rather quickly learned that Mama Mia never settled for anything less than perfection for her business and Yuril could respect her for that much. She was a dedicated, hardworking giant of a woman. Despite being a Dwarf she was rather tall, he had thought of mentioning something about her size and asking her why she was rather large compared to other Dwarfs he had seen. Luckily Lunoire had stopped and warned him before he asked her, so he had kept his lips shut when he remembered his grandfather mentioning just how much women hated talking about their weight or size with others.
With no real destination or plan for the day Yuril wandered into the back kitchen to make himself something small for breakfast, if he was quick enough he could get something to eat and sneak away from the Hostess before Syr cooked him another horrendous breakfast. As he pushed open the swinging doors to the kitchen he bumped into a small figure, far shorter than the pub's owner or even any of the waitresses.
"Watch where you are going nyah!" the short catgirl barked at him as she spun around and tilted her head back to look up at the young white haired boy, she placed her hands on her hips as she puffed out her flat chest slightly and huffed. "I am very busy preparing for tonight's supper service, so don't think I am cooking anything for you again nyah!" she said with a shrug. Syr was taking the day off so the catgirl would need to work harder than usual to get the pub ready for its patrons, so many dishes to prepare in such a short time. The smaller child sized catgirl in front of Yuril was the Head-Chef of the Hostess of Fertility, while she was nice most of the time when it did come to food standards she could be even scarier than Mama Mia. She had caught him eating a piece of nearly rotten bread with some butter for breakfast one morning and she threw a massive fit about eating healthy and how breakfast was the most important meal of the day.
She was wearing the standard Chefs outfit with a light orange ascot around her neck. On her feet she wore a pair of light grey heeled boots and on top of her head she wore a small light brown cap with two small holes for her cat ears to stick through the top.
"Sorry May… I didn't see you." Yuril said, cracking a small joke as she stretched her arms out and gave him a playful shove in response to the comment on her less than impressive height.
"Very funny nyah, now move I have work to do… unlike a certain freeloader…" she said with a bit of sass as she turned her head to the side and made a soft "hmph" sound.
Yuril simply chuckled and stepped to the side to let her pass, he entered the kitchen and started to look around for something to eat. After a few minutes spent rooting around he came up with an old apple that looked to be on its last legs and a half eaten bun. As he went to step outside and get a breath of fresh air while enjoying his breakfast he heard the Chef of the Hostess call out to him for a second time in a few minutes.
"Is that really your breakfast….?"
Yuril turned around and saw May with her head tilted back to look up at him and a small frown on her child-like face, she had her arms folded and the ears on the top of her head flicked occasionally every few seconds in a cute fashion. "Uh, that was the plan—"
"Idiot." She reached out and grabbed the food from his hands and tossed them into a barrel in the corner of the room that they used for waste. "How many times am I going to have to tell you that you need to eat properly, you can't keep living off scraps and the slop that Syr cooks up!" the Chef said with a small adorable pout on her face.
"I know that but—"
"No buts, ifs or ands! Now get out and let me do my work, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes!" the small Chef turned him around and lightly pushed him out of the kitchen's backdoor into the small backyard behind the Hostess.
Yuril stumbled out of the kitchen and May slammed the door shut so that he would not try to enter again and mess up with her system and rhythm. As the door had been roughly shut and created a rather loud noise the only person in the small courtyard was alerted to the albino boy's presence and stopped what they were doing for a moment and turned around to face them.
"Ah, Mr. Artwaltz… it is strange to see you up so early in the morning, I did not wake you with my training did I? If so I apologize..." the Elf asked as she set down the wooden training sword that she was doing to practice swings and movements. She walked over to where he was standing and brushed off her clothes and waited for a response.
"Oh no, no, no, not at all!" Yuril extended his arms out in front of him slightly and waved the back and forth lightly while shaking his head, "I just woke up early for once, you weren't bothering me at all. In fact I think I am the one disturbing you honestly." the young boy said with a slight chuckle to try and lighten the mood slightly. Though the Elf in front of him had the same expression on her face as she usually did, if Yuril was no wiser he would have sworn that the waitress was a statue.
"That is good, I would not have been pleased with myself if I woke up someone that is still recovering. How is that going by the way, I have seen you moving around a bit more as of late." Ryuu calmly spoke as she gestured towards the table for them to sit down and talk for a few minutes.
"I have been doing a bit better, still can't make it too far on my own but I just need some more time and to keep moving around… when I am not out of breath that is of course." Yuril said softly as he nodded at her invitation to sit down, in honesty he was hoping to sit down soon. The trip down the stairs and being shoved by May outside had taken a slight toll on his knees and collapsing in front of the Elf he was speaking to would have been rather embarrassing.
They both walked over to the table and sat down opposite of each other on the benches that were the only seats available in the yard besides the dirt ground. Ryuu had a far easier time getting herself situated in her seat than Yuril did, he had to use both hands to pull his legs up and over the bench one at a time before he could sit down. Once he had managed to get himself seated and comfortable he was the first person that restarted the conversation after a brief pause and realizing that the Elf likely would not be the first one to speak.
"So Ryuu… what were you training for exactly?" he said with a slight bit of hesitation, he knew that she was not a very talkative person and only had really opened up to Syr from what he had witnessed. But it was a question that had been on his mind since he had first seen her training, additionally she had mentioned that she had seen monster-caused wounds before, so did some of the other waitresses. At first he had thought that possibly they were in a familia and had been adventurers. He even debated questioning them to see if he could join one of the familias that they were associated with, but decided against it as it was a rather personal question and he really had no right to ask them such a thing.
"I was… simply keeping myself ready I suppose, just like a weapons edge a person's skill can begin to dull over time if it is not properly taken care of… I had begun to grow a bit rusty in some areas so I decided to start practicing again for my benefit." Ryuu calmly spoke as she adjusted herself on the bench to get comfortable herself.
"Ready for what?" Yuril asked with a slight tilt of the head to the side as he leaned forward, something about the question seemed to make the Elf uncomfortable in some way as there was a slight twitch and furrow of her brow. Before Yuril could come to realize the severity of the question that he had ignorantly asked the Elven waitress.
"I… I simply want to be prepared for any type of situation Mr. Artwaltz. My profession is rather susceptible to some forms of harassment… though Mama Mia's work environment while being rather busy it is quite safe. Not many people would try to do things to any of the waitresses in the pub, those that do are either morons or drunks. But to protect both my coworkers and myself I think that it is a benefit to be ready for anything ... that is my reason I suppose." Ryuu said as calmly as ever with not even the slightest change of tone in her voice. She did have other reasons that she trained and kept herself combat ready but those were all reasons she was still uncomfortable sharing with the white haired boy. Based purely off of his face and nodding of his head it seemed that the young boy had bought her bluff, though it was not as if she was completely lying to the boy. She was still always worried about the safety of Syr in the pub, she enjoyed meeting and conversing with people so much and one day that could land her in trouble. So Ryuu always made sure to keep a very close eye on her during dinner service.
"I… thank you very much, Ryuu!" Yuril said as he bowed his head to the Elf and held his head in the position, staring at the wooden planks that made up the table for several seconds before Ryuu responded to the boy.
"Why are you thanking me Mr. Artwaltz… if this is about bandaging you again I already told you I just did what was nes—"
"No it's not that! I… I meant to say thank you for training just to protect Syr…" Yuril said softly under his breath as he continued to look down on the tabletop.
"Mr. Artwaltz…"
"I… I am not able to protect Syr… I-I can't even defend myself from a few monsters… so, until I can get stronger to be able to defend Syr and others... please keep protecting her for me. I beg you! She… she has done so much for me already… when no one else would and I was nothing but a complete stranger to her… so one day I will pay her back for everything she has done for me." Yuril paused for a moment and turned his head back so that he was looking up from the table back towards the Elf that had a slightly different expression on her face.
For a few moments Ryuu did not respond, she had formed some opinions on the young white haired boy since she had met him. She tried not to form opinions of people and give most people the benefit of the doubt most of the time but she was still weary about the boy and questioned if he was simply using Syr's kindness to his advantage and would ditch her at his earliest convenience. But after hearing him speak his last small speech she had been swayed that she had possibly misjudged his intent.
"Mr. Artwaltz… may I ask you a rather… personal question. Of course if it is not something you are comfortable with answering then you do not have to answer…" Ryuu said calmly as she straightened up in her bench seat slightly to take a more proper posture.
Yuril himself had straightened up in his seat from the growing pain in his lower back from slouching in his own spot on the bench, he raised her arms and rested them on top of the table and nodded to the Elf. "Sure, I asked you a question so it's only fair I suppose." he said with a slight smile to try and lighten the tension.
"Are you upset at yourself for your lack of strength?" Ryuu bluntly asked the young white haired boy with not even the slightest change of her monotone pitch.
"I…" the young boy had stopped himself and dropped his head again as he tightened his hands into tight fists and bit down on the inside of his inner cheek. He did hate his inability to be able to join a familia. He did hate his inability to be able to properly fight just a small handful of monsters. He did hate his inability to be able to pay back the waitress that had given him so much and asked for nothing in return.
He hated himself as he currently was.
But, simply because he was not proud of his current self that did not mean that he could not actively take steps to better himself to become what he wanted to be for both others and himself. He could achieve everything he wanted to achieve; it would just require more hard work and some blood, sweat and tears. So long as he had blood coursing through his veins and air in his lungs he could keep working towards his goal.
"I… I do hate my own weakness yes… but, I won't let that stop me! I am going to keep working hard and one day… one day I will look back on all of this like a distant dream… I will join a familia no matter what it costs… I will go back into that dungeon again and it won't beat me like last time! I will become an adventurer…. and a hero.." Yuril said as he looked back up towards the Elf with a small confident smile.
Ryuu was impressed a bit, not many people would go into the dungeon without an actual blessing and even less people would come back out with their own lives after such a stupid action. But the really shocking thing was that even after all of that pain and suffering the white haired boy was still willing to become an adventurer and dive into the dungeon again, saying that he would with even a smile upon his face.
"Well then Mr. Artwaltz… what would you say to training together?" Ryuu softly said as she leaned forward in her bench seat slightly. Seeing the white haired boy's face light up like the early morning sun she was almost certain what his answer would be without him even speaking.
"W-wait… are you serious…?!" Yuril excitedly spoke aloud as he leaned even farther forward and had unclenched his fists to place his hands on the table to help support himself. To simply say that Yuril was ecstatic would be an understatement, he had heard of people possibly mentoring adventurers but that was mostly limited to only people in the same familia. He was not even in a familia and she was offering him such a valuable thing. Purchasing lessons from familias was an option too but that was not an option for Yuril with the little bit of money that he was desperately clinging onto, the lessons cost a few thousand valis on average and he had nowhere near that amount of money left to waste.
"Yes, I am already training almost every morning anyway so it is not as if I would be going incredibly far out of my way. I have not actually taught anyone before… so I may not be the best teacher, but I like to imagine that I would be able to teach you enough to survive the first section of the dungeon." Ryuu honestly spoke, she was not fully confident in her ability to teach Yuril to the same standard as other people who are more accustomed to teaching would be able to. But that was not to say that she would not try her very best to teach him to the best of her ability, not only for his own sake but for the sake of Syr as well. Ryuu could not even begin to imagine how Syr would react if Yuril ended up getting himself killed in the dungeon because he was inexperienced.
"Thank you Ryuu! I really mean it, thank you!" Yuril said excitedly as his smile grew wider, it was the first time that Ryuu had seen the boy smile to the same level as he had before he had been pummeled within inches of his life by monsters in the dungeon. "When can we start!?" Yuril asked as he suddenly felt a burst on energy. If the Elf told him that they were starting immediately he would have leaped from the bench, done a few cartwheels and got ready to start his training with how excited he honestly was, despite his lingering injuries.
"Whoa, Mr. Artwaltz calm down. You are still recovering yet from your previous delve, training while in poor condition is not a valuable use of time. It would be better spent healing from the fight and letting your wounds heal. Give it a couple of days and we can maybe get started." Ryuu had softly answered, starting to teach him while he was still recovering from the near death experience he had in the dungeon barely a week earlier would not be a good start.
"I understand…." Yuril said softly under his breath as he averted his gaze from the Elf to the side slightly. He understood her reasoning and it was a very fair point, but that did not change the fact that he very much wanted to start as soon as possible. But he did agree with her reasoning that training while injured would just end up doing more harm than good and only make his recovery period longer than what it would originally be without the added stress. "Well, I still can't wait to start training under you Ryuu!" he said happily with a larger smile.