Chapter 51

Before Lily could even process what was happening she found herself back in the war room, a concerned looking Vonder standing in front of her as the coal haired man now has his back turned, arms crossed as he mumbles something to himself.

Shara looked equally concerned, but not for Lily’s safety, rather it was clear she hadn’t seen her husband like this in who knows how long.

Aida and Vonder look at each other, now wondering what to do before finally the swordsman speaks up.

“So, uh, is everything alright?” Vonder’s voice is clearly a bit shaky, now nervous as to what the king may have seen.

“Yes, everything is just fine… you may take your leave for now, I’ll have someone deliver your pendant as soon as possible.” The King says, still not looking back at them, seemingly still processing what he saw. “Now you’re dismissed.”

“Right! Thank you sir!” Vonder replies quickly before hastily leading Lily out of the room and subsequently the castle as well.

Once they were outside the castle gates Vonder let out a sigh of relief and looked at Lily. “Are you okay? I’ve never seen Flann so serious before… I mean you got approved, so that’s good, but something had to have happened in there.”

“No, not that I know of… I just saw an old memory of mine and then I was back out here.” Lily replies, now walking in front of Vonder. “Maybe he’s just confused at seeing an outlander’s memories?”

“Maybe, though it usually takes more than that to unnerve a trained slayer like him.” Aida comments loosely as she looks back. “Whatever he saw back there? It must’ve shaken him to the core.”

“Well, no use lingering on it, if you don’t know then only he knows the answer.” Vonder says with a shrug. “Besides we did what we came here for, now we just need to wait for your pendant and you’ll be good to travel anywhere you want.”

“Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask, what’s with the pendants anyway?” Lily lightly asks as she stops and looks back at him. “I mean I personally figured it would’ve been some formal decree or something, not a piece of jewelry.”

“You’re technically right as the Pendant acts as their decree, those carrying official ones are seen as honorary knights and are allowed to travel freely without restrictions.” Vonder says as he holds up his own. “Otherwise you’d have to go through a whole process, but that’s just to protect the average citizen from what’s going on right now.”

“Alright, but why specifically pendants? They could’ve chosen anything else.” Lily asks, pausing and looking at his pendant for a brief moment.

Something about it seems to catch the eye like nothing else, almost jarringly so in comparison to even his swords.

“It’s a small item easy to implant one of a kind identification enchantments into, and according to the head enchanter…” Vonder clears his throat and changes his tone to a calmer and more studious one. “Inanimate objects hold memories longer than any living creature, creating the perfect database for verification.”

“Sounds pretty advanced for something so simple…” Lily quietly replies, now a little more impressed.

“Eh I guess, but that’s just magic in general.” Vonder shrugs while walking in front of her now. “Hey, how about we all go get some food? To celebrate a smooth acceptance?”

“Oh, where are you thinking of going?” Aida asks, now flying down in front of them. “The Drunken Dragon? Or perhaps The Dark Cauldron?”

“As good as those places are, they're kinda chaotic, you have to admit.” Vonder replies while admiring Aida’s enthusiasm. “I was thinking something a little more quiet right now, like say… Queller’s Relief?”

Suddenly Aida’s eyes went wide with excitement, a tiny gasp escaping her. “Really?! You best not be joking about that!”

“I’m not, I’m not, I wouldn’t joke about something like that.” He calmly reassures her before looking at Lily. “So, what do you say? You joining us?”

“Sure, I’m curious what this place is now after Aida got all excited about it.” Lily replies, genuinely curious about the place they were going.

“Alright, then let’s go! Hopefully it hasn’t gotten too crowded yet.” Vonder happily replies before quickly moving forward, almost leaving Aida and Lily behind as he navigates through the crowds and streets with ease.

Soon they come upon a little shop, one that’d be easily overlooked anywhere else.

It’s entrance was barely wider than the old wooden door hanging open, a couple of faint lights coming from inside.

There were a couple of people hanging around outside, seeming to just enjoy the atmosphere of it as well.

“Oh good, looks like we’re not too late!” Vonder states as he heads on in, Aida quickly dragging Lily in as well.

The inside of the building was drastically different from the exterior, boasting a larger than life interior thanks to it being built into the ground, the old wood turning into polished dark oak as they walked down steps into the actual shop.

The room was easily over 20 feet tall with dark blue lights draping the place in an almost oceanic feel, tiny orbs of soft multicolor light dancing through the high ceiling.

Plenty of tables lined the floor, alongside a couple of booths and a bar with a rather kindly looking old man behind it.

Surprisingly only a handful of people were present at this time, giving them ample opportunity to pick wherever they wanted to sit.

Without wasting a minute Vonder picked a table that looked to be sitting in front of a stage of some sort, though it was too dark to properly tell.

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Aida sat in an empty spot on the table, leaving Lily to sit across from Vonder.

As she did it was clear that the table was made of the same wood, though now she could also smell the scent of sea salt in the air.

“What is this place?” She asked as she looked around, taking in all the sights with curiosity she hadn’t felt in a long while.

“This place is Queller’s Relief, the best dining spot in all of Resovult, though it’s considered a hidden gem by some.” Aida happily replies. “The food and drinks are top notch, and the atmosphere is a nice change of pace from all the other taverns… oh and if you come at the right time you’ll get to see a spectacular show!”

“And you’re just in time, our next show will be starting in a little over 15 minutes.” A new voice, a surprisingly soft and kind one, reminding Lily of Thelman himself.

Looking over she sees the man from the bar standing at the table now, a bright and joyous smile on his face. “Vonder, Aida, it’s so good to see you both again! And you’ve actually brought a friend for once, it’s always nice to see a new addition to the family here!”

Vonder lets out a tiny chuckle at this. “It’s good to see you again too, gramps, glad to see you’ve gotten better since that little fall. How's Maria and the kids?”

“Oh they’re doing just fine, thanks for asking, Maria is back to making maps, Thomas is back to making maps and Vernan is off becoming the knight he’d always dreamed of.” The kind old man looks at Lily. “I apologize for not introducing myself sooner, I’m Gerfan Loksheed, but everyone here just calls me Gramps.”

“I’m Lily, it’s nice to meet you Gramps, I’m excited to see the show later.” Lily admits, though a bit nervously as she’d never been to such a place before.

“Well you’re in for a treat, our star will be performing the entire night!” Gramps excitedly states before pulling out a piece of parchment and a pen. “Now, what would you two like?”

Lily looked a bit concerned as he said this, she hadn’t even seen a menu or any of the sort upon sitting down, what would they even serve here?

Cautiously she glanced at Vonder who picked up the cue.

“You know what, we’ll do potato wedges, fresh peppers and salamander style steak, for all three of us.” Vonder says as he pulls out a coin that seems to shimmer brilliantly amidst the lighting. “And don’t worry about the change Gramps.”

The old man takes it and his eyes instantly go wide, inspecting it closely and freezes, looking at Vonder shocked.

He seemed to want to return it but Vonder simply held up a hand, wanting the old man to keep it.

Gramps can barely get a word out before finally uttering. “Right, thank you so much!” and then he quickly darts off to the counter and into the back.

Though before Lily can question anything a fairly large bottle and three cups suddenly land on the table, seeming to have phased in out of the blue.

“How the…” She looks around, but doesn’t spot anyone who could’ve thrown it to their table.

“Teleportation, it’s Gramps’ specialty.” Vonder calmly says, scooping the bottle up with one hand and whistling slightly. “Seriously? He didn’t have to go for such an expensive choice…”

Right, magic did exist here… it shouldn’t be a surprise when these things occur but to Lily it was still something she couldn’t fully wrap her head around.

Even with everything she’s seen and is currently experiencing it was tricky to remember that magic was more than just attacks.

Quietly she looked at Vonder who was now casually pouring himself a cup of whatever that drink was, probably some kind of liquor from the smell of it.

When Vonder noticed her stare he politely held out the bottle to her. “Want a drink?”

Hesitantly Lily took the bottle and looked at it, the label read “Halig Wine, aged 10000 years.” Cautiously she held it up to her nose and smelled… it honestly wasn’t that bad, it smelled kind of fruity now that she could smell more than just the alcohol.

“What is it?” She asked, lightly swirling the bottle now.

“Halig Wine is the invention of an old artist and drunkard from Eltherum in the northern island off Terminus’ coast.” Aida chimed in proudly. “It’s a honey wine blended with spices, rozen berries and finished off with a hint of raw mana extract.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not the lethal kind you’ll find in most mines, it’s the purified kind used in potions.” Vonder reassures. “You know, the kind that forms the crystals, not just remains liquid.”

“So why aren’t there any crystals in this then?” Lily asks while swirling the bottle around a little bit.

“That’s the fun part, there is!” Aida chimes in once more. “You can’t see them because of the liquid and bottle but there are tiny little mana crystals floating around in there, which helps give the drink its unique tinge when drinking.”

Lily pauses and thinks for a moment before sighing, what the heck? It’d likely be the only time she’d get to try a drink like this, once she went back to the real world even if she wanted wine there’d be nothing like it there.

So she grabbed her cup and poured a decent helping into it and took the first swig… only to be instantly blown away by the flavor.

It was sweet, but not too sweet, Honey, Strawberries, Cherry, Cinnamon and a tinge of ice like crystals swept through her, surprising her that any liquor could taste this good.

“Good right?” Vonder says with a smile. “Just don’t get used to it, that stuff is a rarity even for the high class.”

Though Lily didn’t care, it was just nice to enjoy such an amazing drink, one she knew she’d not try again.

Then, just as she was drinking their food appeared on the table in front of them.

It looked like steak, fries and sliced bell peppers, nothing too fancy about it but it still smelled amazing.

Quickly she cut off a piece of steak and bit into it, and it was every bit as good as she was hoping it would be.

“Good, right? Gramps always knows how to cook the best food.” Aida replies while starting on her own miniature portion.

“It’s the best food I've eaten since I got here.” Lily earnestly admits, savoring every little bite.

“Well if you really like it that much we can get more if you’re hungry.” he says with his usual smile while raising his glass up a bit. “To this!” he toasts before taking a big swig of his drink.

Lily looks at Vonder questioningly, trying not to laugh a bit. “To this?”

“It’s what he decides to toast to all the time.” Aida sighs. “To this, this moment, this feeling… whatever it is.” Aida laughs a bit before raising her glass as well. “So… To this!” with that she takes a big swig of her drink as well.

Lily is stunned as she watches this but lifts her own glass as well. “To this!” She cheers and takes another drink, right as the lights dim and the show begins.

Everything about this was perfect to Lily, easily letting her lose herself in the moment.

For her, this was what she always wanted.

Not a stark white room where she simply existed, living another day only to find out her body was still shutting down.

Lights, atmosphere, memories, laughter, good food, adventures, all of it.

This is what she’d always wanted.

She wanted to make friends.

She wanted to see the world.

She wanted to feel alive.