The Beginning of a new Journey..?

As Kylie and I walked back into the throne room, we were greeted by the king, who was still sitting in his fancy chair (as per usual). Wearing a satisfactory expression, it seems like he had been waiting for us to complete and resolve the riot, just as he had intended for us to.

"Ah, I see you have returned, Variant." Nardlebarg nodded, seemingly satisfied with our work. "The village is at peace once again thanks to the efforts of you and the adventurers."

"I barely had anything to do with it, your majesty. Since I'm untrained in combat, it was mainly just her protecting my skin," I said, pointing at Kylie, who was behind me.

"Hi Mr. Nardlebarg! Remember me? I'm Kylie, the chimera your researchers created!" Kylie said, in an earnest and eager voice. "I'm all grown up now; serving in the guild has made me stronger!"

The king seemed joyous, as he had clapped his hands to celebrate. These two make it look as though as if Nardlebarg was just some great-uncle of Kylie... Hmm... I guess I might not be that far off, since Nardlebarg is big, corpulent and beardy... Almost as if he's not only human.

Well, no point in dwelling about it.

"What brings you here though, Kylie? Were you not returning to the guild?" Nardlebarg asked curiously.

"I'm working with Junji now. He seems like a nice person, and I'm getting a gut feeling that something cool would happen if I travelled with him!" Kylie said, flapping her arms happily. Glad to know that she finds me interesting. Also first name? Guess we're friends now.

"Very well then. As of now, there are no more missions or emergency threats that require the help of the Variant. Why not go explore the village with Kylie, Variant?" Nardlebarg said.

This would be a great opportunity for me to gather intel and practice local customs. Maybe get some new clothes as well, since I look like an alien in this T-shirt apparently. Or try out some food here. It definitely won't beat fast food though. Shit's amazing, and I already miss it.

There's also some other stuff I wanted to look at, stuff like merchant shops and motels and other shit like that. Do they have an essentials store somewhere as well I wonder?

Kylie, hearing that we get a break, lit up with an expression that screams "That's a great idea".

"Come on, you heard that Junji! Let's go find an Inn to stay at." Kylie said, dragging me along with her.

"Wait, what about our reward money?"

"I got that already! Come on, let's go!"

And so with that, we exited the castle, and I had begun my first day living a normal life in an Isekai.

"Man, it's still only halfway into the morning? Can't believe we resolved the whole thing so quickly." I said, staring straight in the sun's direction, while shielding my eyes with my hand so that I don't get blinded.

"No silly, it's halfway into the afternoon." Kylie said teasingly. "Remember that the sun comes up from the west and down the east!" She said, pointing and creating an arc with her feathery finger.

"Wait, the sun goes up from the west?"

"Yeah..? It's common knowledge here." Kylie said, her expression lightening up. "Ooh, is it different in your world?"

"The sun goes up from the east and down the west in my world." I said, crossing my arms and looking down.

"That's intriguing... Hey, I know! Let's go grab something to eat at a tavern. We can get to know each other more, and you can tell me stories of your world!" Kylie said, all energetic and ready to go.

I guess chimeras have a knack for food after all. I mean, they are an amalgamation of multiple beasts. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to get to know Kylie more. Despite her outward, scary appearance, she's got a nice and gentle face, so I wouldn't mind going out with her.

Also I want food. Food is life. Eat, sleep, play and repeat. Such is but the ideal life.

"Alright, why the fuck not." I said, following after her. We then went into town again, this time without all the chaos and rioting happening.

Part of the village town was still in shambles; I mean, the rioters were going around assaulting everyone and breaking anything that got in their way. It was a rude and disgraceful display of violence. However, these shambled ruins were quickly being repaired, as I witnessed all sorts of people come together to fix problems; wizards from magic shops were levitating parts back into place with their levitation magic, and various bouncers from different taverns were hulking the large rubble away, clearing the path for many residents. The town was quite united; something that you wouldn't see in a typical residential area back on Earth, as people have become quite isolated from each other over the decades.

"Oh look! Isn't he the second Variant, from what I've heard?..."

"You think? He looks much more timid than Fargo though. I don't think he's the second variant?..."

Various people looked in our direction and gossiped as I was walking past. It's probably because of the clothes I was wearing, and the fact that we looked battered from battle is probably what was drawing attention.

"Ah, isn't the girl following her that rumored monster human?..."

"She looks scary, yet I don't sense intimidation from her..."

Man people love whispering loudly, huh? My face when people gossip so loudly I can hear all the details, yet I'm too chickenshit to say anything back to them: 💀

"Hey, mister! Thanks for saving my sister!"

A young girl suddenly walked up to me, tugging me on the shirt. She wore a nice white mob cap that fit her head, and had light brown hair.

(Wait hold the fuck up I swear to god I've seen this scene before-)

"Truly, thank you two for saving my life back there."

A woman, along with the young girl, walked towards us and faced me, thanking us for saving her life. It was the woman from earlier, whom we saved from a rioter that nearly killed her.

I could tell, because her long legs showed me that the bandage on her ankle ain't looking too tightly wrapped (I didn't pass first-aid). She also had bright green eyes, and it's important to note that no one would forget her light brown hair, since it was so long that it reached her knees.

So this little kid's sister is her huh... Guess she's not too far off my age.

"Oh, it's you! Are you feeling better now?" Kylie responded, also recognizing the woman.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better, thanks to you two. I am in your debt." The woman bowed, and thanked us gracefully. "My name is Annabelle Hughes. I work at the local Silver Dress Tavern, and I would like to treat you two there."

"I would love that." I responded, knowing that there is probably free food. "You'd want that too, right Kylie?"

"If you don't mind me being there, then..!" Kylie responded, somewhat hesitantly. I guess she's a little sensitive about her being a chimera after all.

"Don't beat yourself up over your appearance, Miss Kylie." Annabelle smiled, comforting Kylie.

"Yeah! Miss is a good person! She saved my sister!" The younger sister replied, all cheery.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you! She's my little sister, Ruby. She's been wanting to find you two and thank you as well."

If only kids were that nice back on Earth...

"Good girl. I like honest kids." I said, kneeling and rubbing her head. She smiled in response.

"Shall we get going then?" Annabelle said, directing our attention towards her. With our ready faces, we nodded and began following her, while passing through the folk in town and admiring the natural beauty of it, despite some of its mouthy residents.

***

Damn...

This tavern's... not doing too well, huh?

The tavern's location was already somewhat secluded; though the general location was that of a busy street, we had to take multiple turns in an alley to get here. Upon entering, there's only around 3 or 4 other customers, and a load of empty tables and chairs. The place itself is not bad, but it seems like the environment's lacking in some ways.

"I apologize for the silent environment. We're not exactly the best tavernkeepers in town..." Annabella said, bowing again.

Well this is awkward.

"Annabelle, don't go apologizing to customers... We're supposed to be serving them with a smile, right?"

A voice came from behind Annabelle. A western man, with some light stubble on his chin and a buzzcut, was cleaning the bar counter.

"Ah, sorry..." Annabelle then turned towards us. "That is my boyfriend, Rex. He and I are currently running this tavern, which we inherited from his parents."

"That must be hard but honest work." I said, sitting down at a nearby chair. Kylie followed after, and sat down on a seat next to me. "For now, you should go help him do some maintenance. Focus on serving us later."

"...Right! I'll get right to it!" Annabelle said, motivated. "Ruby, go upstairs back to your room for now, alright?"

"Yes, big sister!" Ruby said, running up the stairwell.

I wonder if this place serves as an inn as well... It'd make a nice place.

"Hey, Junji... They seem like nice people, so do you think we can do anything to help them?" Kylie whispered, leaning towards me.

"Unfortunately, with our current circumstances, not really. We need some more money."

"Then we should go get some quests at the adventurer's guild!"

"Kylie, the guild is over at the outskirts of town, remember..? Besides, I kind of wanna take it easy for now. Get to know the world a bit." I said, putting my hands behind my head, lying back on the chair.

"Oh, you're right... I'm kind of a bird brain, aren't I?" Kylie said, laughing.

"You are part harpy, Miss Bird Brain."

"Hey, that's rude! So ungentlemanly..."

"Haha. Anyways If this tavern also doubles as an Inn, we can probably try and help out by registering here. And frequent here more often." I said. "We still have the reward money from earlier right?"

"Oh right! Well, I'll get to asking them for food and services then. Anything that you want, Junji?" Kylie said, getting up from the chair.

"Get me the cheapest food item you can find on the menu." I said, with a serious face.

"Alright! Excuse me, Annabelle?" Kylie said, walking towards the counter.

Just realized that I had my duffle bag strapped to me the whole time during combat. I'm surprised that I haven't lost it yet. I wouldn't want to either. Who knows what people in this world would do to it.

Leaving me alone at the table, I pulled out my earphones and my phone, opened up my music app, and played some game OSTs. It's good stuff. Everyone loves Karaoke OSTs. I then started bopping to the beat. Not sure if other people looked my way since I was moving and bopping quite a bit, but it should be no big deal.

I wonder if I'd draw attention if I started singing midway...

"All done! We should get our order anytime soon, I think." Kylie said, sitting back down next to me. "Ooh, What's that in your ears? And that strange object you're holding..."

Noticing my phone and earphones, Kylie leaned in towards me in an attempt to inspect my stuff. As a chimera, moving around in general makes a lot of noise, so I wanted her to stop doing that.

"Oh my fuck Kylie! Stop doing that!" I stated, trying to get her off me. "I'll show you all my stuff once we settle down somewhere, okay?"

"Aww... But I wanna see now..."

"Stop being such a kid." I said, putting away my earphones and phone. At the same time, Annabelle walked over with trays of meals, now in her tavernkeeper uniform.

"Excuse me, here are your orders. Enjoy!" Annabelle said, leaving our dishes at the table. She then returned over to the counter.

I gave my meal a glance. It looked pretty simple and straightforward; it was just bread and blocks of cheese. I'd assume they'd expect me to tear the bread and eat it with the cheese, but I have a better idea for how I'm going to consume this.

"Hey Kylie... Can you use fire magic?" I turned to Kylie, who was happily eating her plate of what seems to be mushroom stir-fry. 

"Mmph." Kylie swallowed what she was chewing, and turned to me. "It's the only magic I can use, but I'm not the best at it... Hence my big trusty hammer."

"Don't worry, I just need a fire around the size of the base of your palm. Can you do that?"

"I haven't used fire in a while since it burns my feathers, but I'll give it a shot...!" Kylie said, readying her hand. 

"Come forth, Ember!"

Small sparks gathered around her hand, eventually forming a flame. It was small like a candle flame, but it will do.

"What are you going to use the flame for?" Kylie asked, tilting her head curiously.

I grabbed my cheese, and placed it right at where the fire was burning. Slowly, it became somewhat melty and sticky, exactly the effect I was after.

"That's right. I was making a grilled cheese!"

Whoops, said that out loud.

"What's a grilled cheese?" Kylie asked, spectating me as I took the cheese from her palm.

"You'll see."

I picked up the bread, tore it into bite sized pieces, and spread cheese over all of them.

"Damn it, my palm's all cheesy now."

"Whoa! That looks delicious!" Kylie said, marveling at what I did. "Can I have one!?"

"You're really a gluttonous one, you know..." I replied, noticing that she had finished her stir-fry while I was spreading the cheese over the bread.

With that, I gave her some of the bread and we finished our meals. And damn, it tasted nice.

"That was some good shit." I said, getting up from my seat. "Let's go ask Annabelle for options regarding temporary stay."

"Okay. Those were good meals, weren't they?" Kylie said, also standing up.

"Yeah, they were."

Surprisingly, despite the tavern's not so good-looking conditions, the meals they served weren't of poor quality. I'd honestly wish I could help, so to start off, I'll see if they have a hotel service.

Walking up to the counter, I asked Annabelle about crashing for the night.

"You'd want to stay? At a place like this? I've never been so happy..." Annabelle said, with a relieved expression.

"I'd honestly help with spicing up this place as well, but I'm not well equipped for that yet at the moment, so is it alright if you just assign us two rooms?" I said, leaving two gold coins on the table.

"Two gold coins?! That's a bit too much... Two rooms for one night is only 4 silver coins..."

"Don't feel too guilty about it. Besides, the food was great." I said, smiling to myself. "And I still have more gold coins from the riot earlier. It's all good."

"We're in your debt, Mr. Nanami!" Annabelle bowed, and turned towards her boyfriend, smiling. "Here are your keys, please enjoy your stay!"

"Come on, Kylie. We're leaving our stuff there, and we're going for a walk in the village afterward." I said, heading towards the stairs. "Might as well show you how stuff from my world works. You've been curious about us variants your whole life, right?"

"Mm! I can't wait..!" Kylie said, with a big wide smile on our face.

With that, we went upstairs. Looks like life will play out just fine for me, even in another world.