Garden Of The Abyss

An unexpected roar from his stomach ruined any semblance of heroism he tried to put on display, tinting his cheeks with an embarrassed hue of pink.

"How about some dinner?"

Adelaide offered, still holding a smile, this time at the price of his own humility. Just the thought of food was such an exciting idea to him--as this would be his first meal in this new world.

"That sounds great right about now, I used a lot of energy saving you from those heinous thugs, ya' know?"

His attempt at a joke fell flat, not even earning himself a laugh of pity from Adelaide. Not that he expected her to bust a gut at it--but she didn't even look at him.

--Just when I thought maybe my charisma stat had increased in this world...maybe she just has high resistance to that kind of stuff?

As he took a step forward to follow her to what he assumed would be the kitchen, Ren froze in place at a sudden realization. It was the first time in his entire life he had been alone with a girl, besides the woman who raised him. Just the concept of it made thoughts he'd rather not share race through his mind before he smacked his cheeks to rid himself of their scarlet tint.

Stepping into the corridor, it was just as plain as the barren room he woke up in, save for a few potted plants accompanying the olive walls. He chalked it up to her just being a minimalist, but the care she must've put into her own appearance made that feel like a moot point.

"Not to be rude or anything...but isn't it kind of plain here?"

"That is a rude thing to ask, especially to a lady."

"I know, I know! Bah, forget I said anything."

Ren pressed his palms together and bowed his head as if apologizing to the tight-lipped woman. A sight left her mouth, causing him to raise his head again as she turned away from him, rummaging through a basket formed of straws.

"I'm usually busy with requests or helping around the town, so I'm not home very often. So excuse me if my humble cottage isn't up to your standards."

Even though she was obviously poking fun at him, her delivery was so dry that it felt more like actual contempt.

"Requests? You're an adventurer, right? So do you get to fight goblins--or even dragons?"

A sparkly flashed in his hazel irises as Ren prodded the girl for information. She pulled out a couple of potatoes before setting them onto a wooden cutting board, taking her time before answering.

"There really isn't much action around Franseid, it's a peaceful area. That's why it's the perfect spot to attract fragile merchants who are scared of monster attacks. Though, there are the occasional katzens or goblins that need taking care of."

Adelaide smiled as the topic hovered to economics, flipping a potato in her hand before setting it back down.

--This girl is a shrewd businesswoman!

"What're you making?"

Ren snooped around like a beggar, covering his stomach with a slight blush as it growled at the sight of the unprepared food.

"Steamed potatoes."

"Ah, want me to grab the pot--"

"--Not necessary."

She stopped him in place, placing her palm above the potatoes before closing her eyes.

"Wasser, Feuer--Dampf."

Magical particles of red and blue intersected above the helpless potatoes before settling down upon the food. A mixture of fire and water used in unison created a small burst of steam, instantly steaming the potatoes.

"What the--did you just steam the potatoes with magic?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"...no."

Ren accepted the magically steamed potato, feeling the fresh heat lightly burn against his uncalloused skin. After taking a large chunk out of the potato--flavorless was the only way he could describe it, but his hungry body didn't care as he performed a magic trick of his own, making it disappear into his stomach within seconds.

There was nothing to do, without the existence of technology, Ren didn't know what to do with himself. It's not like he was great at talking with girls unless he decided to conjure the thousands of lines of dialogue from visual novels he ingrained into himself.

"--We should head to the guild before nightfall."

Adelaide suddenly piped up after taking in a long breath.

"Right, I totally forgot about that! Is it close?"

"Just a dragon's tail walk."

"Is that really a unit of measurement or are you messing with me?"

Ren asked, his question being ignored as he followed Adelaide outside. The layout of the village was already a mystery to him, but wherever Adelaide's house was, it sat in a completely different corner of the community. There wasn't a rambunctious flood of people crowding the streets--in fact, there was hardly anyone around.

"Not that I'm complaining, but where is everyone? It was like a flea market earlier."

Ren asked Adelaide as he walked a hair behind her, glancing around as he kept his new phobia in check: alleyways.

"There is a curfew set for the villagers."

"And you aren't following it?"

"My guild is the one enforcing it."

He was starting to feel like this guild was less like a high-spirited band of heroic adventurers, and something more along the lines of the mafia or yakuza.

--Seriously, what kind of guild of adventurers taxes villagers and sets a curfew?

It had been no more than half an hour since he witnessed the sun begin to settle before somehow, the skies became shrouded in the darkness of the night. A draft picked up, the chilly wind grazing over his body as he shuddered.

"--Cold."

Ren commented, hugging himself as he massaged his own arms in an attempt to get his blood flowing.

"It's as cold as any other night, deal with it."

"Easy for you to say--you've got that whole robe to keep yourself warm!"

He whined, quickly shutting himself up as he caught a stink eye from one of the villagers, sitting on their porch. During his complaining, Ren didn't realize they had stumbled into a less than prosperous part of the village. The cottages were smaller, built from a variety of different materials, resulting in Frankenstein houses. Besides that, the people had a gloomy look in their eyes--until they saw Adelaide. That vacant look in their eyes devoid of hope turned into fear as they cautiously watched them pass.

"...what's with them?"

Ren whispered to Adelaide, keeping a lookout as he was taking no chances getting shanked in the slums during his first day in his otherworld journey.

"Don't worry about them. Obviously, they aren't happy with the hand dealt to them, so they use me to blame their own shortcomings on. I can't blame them--I am partially to blame for the situation they're in, but that's life."

"Isn't that a bit...harsh? The village pays your guild to take care of it, so the least you could do is show some compassion'¦"

"What good will pitying them do? It's not like coins grow on trees, we can't do anything to help them. There will always be those with money and those without it, that's an unavoidable part of life, Ren."

Adelaide didn't bother to lower her voice as she spoke, showing no ounce of empathy--Ren now was on high alert of incoming stabs.