Night Talks

“HAH?!” Vesper was so surprised that her voice sounded deeper than usual. She cleared her throat before speaking with her usual cadence. “S-Sorry. I mean, are you serious?”

Nona nodded enthusiastically. “Totally. I mean, it would be understandable if you didn’t want to accompany us all the way, but Hairur’s Fence is not too far away from here. And since we’ll probably have to stay in the capital for a few days, we'll be able to help you find those monsters you want to find.”

Vesper bit her lower lip before tucking a non-existent lock of hair behind her ear, in what seemed to be her signature nervous gesture.

“I admit that I’m really curious to observe other creatures aside from the local ones” She gulped before softly pressing Noba’s hands. “Let me sleep on it. I’ll give you my answer tomorrow morning.”

“Ah, don’t worry. We are close, but we still haven’t gathered all the money we need. So you don’t need to decide tomorrow. And also,” Nona pressed Vesper’s hand and smiled at the druid, “even if the answer is no in the end, I’m really happy to have met you. And I hope we can still be friends.”

Vesper smiled back. “I would love to, Nona.”

Nona and Thorny left the shop right after that. On their way to the tent that the druids had lent them during their stay Nona addressed Thorny.

“I’m surprised that you didn’t protest for inviting Vesper to the team.”

“Eh? Why should I protest? I mean, a druid that can turn into big animals and talk to them is way better than a mage that cannot throw a spell without ending with a pumpkin-size head. So for once, it was a logical, strategic move: well done!”

“...”

“...Let me guess, you only offered her to join us because you liked the girl, right?” Thorny sighed with exasperation. “Seriously, you’re lucky to be so strong, or you would be dead by now with that innocence of yours.”

After a short pause Nona talked again.

“Can I ask you something, Thorny?”

“Yep, but if the question is dumb, you’ll have to invite me to buns again.”

“If it weren’t for that, would you still want to travel with me?”

“Nope.”

“What?! You didn’t even hesitate!”

“What can I say, dummy. I’m an imp. If you wanted a nice, agreeable companion, you should have thought about it twice before associating with me.” Thorny’s words caused Nona to pout, which only caused Thorny to offer a pointy smile to her. “And the question was dumb indeed, so you owe me some buns, hehehe.”

Nona sighed with resignation, but her tone was fond when talking again.

“Well, for the record, if our position were reversed, I would still travel with you.”

“Good for you, but I didn’t ask.”

Nona’s lips curved up in a smile after catching a glimpse of the light blush that appeared in Thorny’s cheeks before the imp sped up his flight.

They reached their tent in a couple of minutes. Nona removed her boots, left them outside the tent, and pulled back the flaps of the tent to enter. She stopped mid-movement when seeing Adish was inside.

Or well, she deduced it was Adish because of the robes, since his face was almost unrecognizable.

“Sweet Goddess, what’s happened to you?!” Nona exclaimed, causing Adish to bring a chubbier-than-usual finger to his also-swollen lips.

“Sssh, don’t be so loud, it’s late!” Nona did as instructed before crouching in front of Adish, her eyes showing a deep concern that made Adish talk rapidly again. “Don’t worry, this reaction is pretty standard, so I should be good in just a couple of hours.”

“Damn, you know that we’re working our ass off to have money for your antidote, right? So it would be nice that you wouldn’t die while we’re on it.” Thorny facepalmed. “Seriously, how can someone so dumb have such a high intelligence stat–?”

Thorny was still talking when Adish threw something in Thorny’s direction, causing the imp to shut up while catching it with a heavy ‘oof’.

“What the hell is this? A rock?” Thorny’s eyes almost left their orbits. “Wait a minute, i-is this–?”

“The reason why I ended up like this is because I helped some druids dispelling some barriers from an old mine that had been blocked for quite some time. And as compensation, they gave me that. And yes, imp,” Adish raised his chin towards Thorny, “it is a diamond that can be sold for almost twice the money we need.”

Thorny swallowed thickly before snorting. “You should stop talking with that triumphant, slightly condescending tone when you look like an oversized potato because you sound–”

“So cool!!” Nona exclaimed sincerely while sitting next to Adish, causing this one to blush and Thorny to look at her in disbelief. “But you shouldn’t do it on your own. We are a team, so you could have asked us for help.”

Adish shrugged. “Maybe, but I wanted to do something besides going after runaway chickens.” After a pause, Adish looked at Nona straight in the eye. “And to be completely honest, I wasn’t sure that you still wanted me on your team.”

Nona’s eyes snapped wide. “What? Why?”

“Because I made fun of your beliefs, and that was uncalled for, so I’m sorry.” Adish sighed and shook his head. “It’s not an excuse, but my hometown experienced first hand a fraud that proclaimed himself a Wish Bearer. He took advantage of the faith of the villagers and led them to ruin, all to satisfy his selfish needs.”

Nona gulped before leaning her head against Adish's shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Adish.”

She would have liked to say more, but the probability of saying something that ended up revealing her identity was high. After all, she had never been good at keeping secrets. And considering Adish’s past, he doubted that the mage would see her mission with good eyes.

Thorny’s loud yawn snapped Nona out of her thoughts.

“Anyway, I don’t know about you two, but I’m exhausted from all those sidequests, so I’m going to hit the sack.”

“Wait, before you go to sleep,” Nona stopped leaning against Adish and crossed her arms over her chest while tilting her head. “You owe Adish an apology.”

“HAH? Why?!”

“Because you called him dumb when he has been working as hard as us, so it’s not fair.”

“Pfff, sorry, but imps do not apologize. It would be totally out of character.”

“Thorny…”

“It’s okay, Nona. It would be stupid to try to change an imp’s nature. But…” Adish frowned at Thorny, “stop calling me ‘weakling’. I don’t like it.”

Thorny sighed loudly before crossing his arms, mimicking Nona’s posture.

“Can I still call you four-eyes at least?”

Adish rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of a resigned smile in his face, probably because Nona was poorly suppressing her laughter. “Yes, I don’t mind it that much.”

With a happy snicker Thorny disappeared inside the birdhouse that Nona had built for him when she was a child - the same birdhouse that Thorny had stubbornly refused to use until they started the trip, though he never admitted to liking it.

“Anyway, I should come back to my tent,” Adish announced, standing up. “I just passed by to let you guys know that we could resume the trip tomorrow.”

“Adish,” Nona waited until Adish looked at her to smile at him. “I still want you on my team.”

Adish blushed a little before making a grimace that Nona interpreted as an attempt of a smile.

“Nice. That means that I will survive until Hairur’s Fence.”

“And also that I don’t have to be worried about being petrified.”

“Hey, don’t push your luck. Even with the correct dose of antidote, it takes a lot of energy to cast Great Restoration.”

Nona chuckled. “I’ll do my best to be careful then. Good night, Adish.”

“Good night, Nona.”

Nona was still smiling when changing into her sleeping clothes and lying down in bed. She was about to close her eyes when Thorny suddenly sneaked his head out of the birdhouse.

“Do you have a crush on that weakl–four-eyes?”

“A crush?” Nona blinked, confused. “I don’t think so? I’ve never had one.”

Thorny half-closed his eyes and after a pause shook his head. “Nah, it doesn’t seem like it. Good. I don’t have to warn you then.”

“Wait, warn me about what?” There was no answer. “Thorny, don’t let me hanging. Warn me about what?”

“Zzz.”

“Thorny, you are literally making that sound. I know you are awake?”

“Zzz”

“...You are so mean. I won’t buy you buns anymore.”

But she did the next morning when they went to have breakfast after gathering their things. Eventually, everything they bought turned out cheaper than they expected, since the druids had taken a liking on them and gave them discounts.

“Well, it seems like the detour to the settlement was worth it, hehehe.”

“I can’t believe you let him buy ALL those buns.”

“Hey, don’t throw me that reproaching look, four-eyes, because now we can finally afford it.”

“I had never had a magic backpack before. It really comes in handy that you can group objects of the same kind and that they occupy the space of one.” Nona stopped when Adish and Thorny were about to go towards the settlement exit. “Wait, we need to pass by the herbalist’s shop before leaving.”

“Nah, we don’t need to.”

Nona was about to protest when hearing Thorny when she pinpointed Vesper coming in her direction.

“Wait…” Nona’s eyes lighted up with anticipation when seeing the rather big backpack Vesper was carrying. “Does that mean that you are coming with us?!”

Vesper smiled timidly and nodded.

“Both my mother and grandma threatened me with cutting me out of their will if I decided to stay here because of them. So if the offer still stands–”

“It does!” Nona hugged Vesper happily, causing the druid to blush lightly before hugging her back. “I’ve always wanted to have a girl bestie!”

“Hehehe.”

“Why are you looking at me like that, imp?”

“Because our brute leader wasn’t that effusive when you joined. Aren’t you jealous that she likes her new companion more than you?”

“Gosh, how old are you, five?”

“I-I must warn you though.” Vesper said after separating. “Even if I’m a level six druid, I still have difficulties shapeshifting into big animals. So if we happen to go into battle, I will act mainly as support.”

“What?!” Thorny exclaimed, clearly disappointed. “But the main appeal of having a druid in the group was its capacity to transform into big beasts to have more combat force! We are clearly unbalanced with just one warrior, a non-animal-shifter druid and a completely useless mage that cannot use magic.”

“I tell you that I CAN USE MAGIC!”

“Don’t worry, Vesper,” Nona said with a confident tone while Adish and Thorny engaged in a new argument. “We are pretty close to Hairur’s Fence, so the rest of the trip towards the capital should go smoothly!”

Just a few hours later, Nona discovered that maybe Thorny wasn’t that wrong when saying that making such statements was the best way to jinx things.