Tales from a retired man

I was leaning on the door soaking wet until I heard the footsteps of someone approaching, I was about to speak the moment I opened the door but I saw Elizabeth’s father coming, he saw me and I closed the door slowly.

“What are you doing?”

“Elizabeth told me to take a bath but… I have not clothes or even a towel to dry myself out”

“…”

I heard Elizabeth's father walk away and I sigh, I was thinking about what to do but then I heard someone knocking at the door.

“Elizabeth? I’m sorry, I-“

“I’m not Elizabeth, young man… open the door”

I opened the door slowly and Elizabeth’s father gave me a towel along with some clothes, he then left and I closed the door, I felt strange, but I wanted to leave the room as soon as possible, I dried myself with the towel and put the clothes on.

A white shirt with a lace at top of the chest part and a baggy brown pant, I finally was looking like I was supposed to look in this time, I smile a bit and then exited the room with the towel in my head, a door was opened in the end of the hallway and I went there and saw Elizabeth’s father looking at a sword.

“Sorry…”

Elizbeth’s father looked at me as if I was a monster and he sighed.

“It’s you, you want something else?”

“No, I just want it to give you back the towel”

“Keep it, is the guest’s towel”

“Mmmh…”

What a horrendous atmosphere, dammit

I could feel how he didn’t want me there with him but I just couldn’t be in another place without dying from boredom. I approached him and looked at the sword.

“Were you an adventurer before?”

Elizabeth’s father gave me a side eye and saved his sword.

“Yeah, it was a long time ago”

“Can I see it?”

He was a bit cautious with his sword, a whole minute pass of silence that felt like an eternity before he could lend me his sword.

When I took it, I felt the weight of the sword, I was able to grab it but it was way heavier than I expected but it was not impossible to lift.

I look at the sheath with admiration and I sit down, I look it up and down and touch the leather.

“What creatures did you slay with this?”

“You are curious?... I didn’t go all the way into adventures to make a profit out of it but I did slay a giant ogre onetime”

“An ogre? Really?!”

I was excited and Elizabeth’s father started to talk about his story.

It was an expedition to hunt a wolf, they're just finished slaying it down when an ogre thrice the size of him appears, only a rag was covering his waist and he punched the floor, him along with his other comrades blind the ogre and he climbed behind the ogre.

When he was at the top, he lifted his sword.

“And I slayed the ogre with a single cut”

“That’s awesome, sir!”

“Right?! Neither my wife nor daughter hears my stories…”

“Wasn’t your wife at your party?”

“No, my wife was an actually one of the waitresses that help me when I came from every adventure”

“I see… well, you have a lovely family”

“I know, I love my wife and daughter but sometimes I want to go back to the thrill of putting my life at risk, but… I can’t do that now”

I looked at the sword of Elizabeth’s father and tried to unsheathe it, he stopped me and moved my hands so I could unleash it, I dragged out the sword and put myself in a position identical to the samurais.

“That’s a good posture but you lack confidence, young man”

Elizabeth’s father helped me with my posture and I lifted the sword up and down, cutting the air.

“Excellent”

I tried to save the sword in his sheath again but I was having problems until Elizabeth’s father helped me out.

“You know sir, I am planning on becoming an adventurer, I was on my way to the guild to make an entry”

“How old are you?”

“28”

“28?! You don’t look that old… It would be difficult; do you have any magic skills or something?”

“I do not…”

“Hmm… are you sure you want to be one?”

“I am a hundred percent sure, sir”

“Huh… you can’t go like that, at least you need some training, nobody is going to teach you”

“So do you know anyone who can help me out?”

“Are you dense? I will help you out, be ready for tomorrow, you and I are going to the wild fields”

I couldn't help but smile but I tried to hide it. Elizabeth's father saw me and hit my back.

“Don’t hide it, it is okay to feel excited… but I am not doing this for free, help us out with the customers, you know how to make those breads, right?”

“Yes, sir!”

I was going to go downstairs immediately but he stopped me and lent me a pair of socks and some shoes, I went down after a bit and I saw Elizabeth working hard and I went with Elizabeth’s mother.

“How can I help, miss?”

“Woah, you are going to help? That would be lovely, we need an order of 20 sandwiches, here it is the receipt of what they want”

“Understood!”

I started to fill the breads just with the ingredients that they requested, Elizabeth’s mother and father were away from me.

“Darling, did something happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, you look less stressed with him, did you talk with him?”

“Yeah, I am going to train him to be an adventurer”

“You?... You are not going to…”

“Of course not, my love, I had to take care of you two, my days are gone but… I feel something when I look at him… clumsy, but yet, if he can make a name for himself…”

“You always wanted a boy, right?”

“I do love my daughter more than anyone, but… I think I do need a son…”

“You want to try luck?”

“D-don’t tease me woman!”

I could see how Elizabeth was laughing while I prepared the sandwiches, I was focused on doing that while preparing some drinks too.

It was almost sunset and we were cleaning the store, I was laying on the stairs and Elizabeth offered me a drink.

“Oh, thank you…”

“Did you speak with my father? I notice he was being better with you”

“Yeah, something like that… we are having a training session tomorrow”

“Oh yeah? I guess that’s why, he loves to talk about his days of adventurer”

“You don’t like his stories”

“Oh, I love them but… I feel that if I get into it, he will get more excited and will miss that time more than being with us… Ah! I am not saying that you did something bad, it's just… I can’t deal with the idea”

I took a sip of my drink and poke the forehead of Elizabeth; she made a sound and covered her forehead.

“Don’t be dumb, he loves you, more than anything, he is not going to go back to his days even if we go to this training”

“I hope you are right…”

“Trust in him”

I finished my drink and started to stretch as I opened the door of the storage again.

“My, you are not going to sleep there again, right honey?”

“Mmmh?”

Elizabeth’s mother looked at me entering the storage room and pointed up.

“There’s a guest room, is a little small but there’s a bed in there, you can use that”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, take it, you will need to rest for tomorrow, don’t you?”

“I guess so, hahaha”

I went upstairs and opened the door, I saw a small room with a closet and a bed, I lay down in bed and felt the softness that I needed this week, I didn’t want to stand up or do anything at all, I let my body rest and I closed my eyes.

I was waking up by the punches of the door, I was drooling and I opened my door rubbing my eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Prepare, young man, we are leaving in 30 minutes, wash your face and put this on, it is cold at this hour”

“Yeah…”

I did what Elizabeth’s father told me and when I looked at the water falling down my face it hit me, I was going to train on the fields to be an adventurer, my energy restored by itself and I left that room as if I just had the blackest of the coffees.

“Let’s go!”

“Shhhh!”

I put my hand in my mouth while Elizabeth’s father was getting downstairs, I went down with him with a big smile on my face.