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“Competition day!” Tafel sat up in bed and raised her hands into the air. Vur groaned and snorted before rolling over onto his side. Tafel frowned and shook his shoulder until his eyes opened halfway. “It’s competition day!”
Vur yawned while shutting his eyes before rolling over once again, smothering his face with the pillow. Stella squeaked from somewhere on his head.
“Vur. Vur. Hey, Vur.” Tafel nudged Vur repeatedly until he fell off the bed. “We have to wake up early to buy weapons before the competition starts, remember? You’re not hungover, right?”
Vur blinked twice before sighing at the ceiling. “I’m sleepy still. Dragons need to sleep lots. Dad sleeps for months at a time—I inherited his sleepiness. Five more minutes?”
You didn’t inherit anything from Vernon! Tafel bit her lower lip. “Get up! Alice is probably already waiting downstairs. You don’t want to keep a lady waiting, do you?”
“If it means I can sleep for five more minutes…”
“No!” Tafel grabbed Vur’s arm and heaved him over her shoulder before marching to the bathroom that was attached to their room.
Several minutes later, a fully dressed demon and her dressed-in-skintight-blue-armor husband walked down the stairs of the inn, entering the tavern that was the first floor. Alice waved at the duo from a corner seat with a meal already set out. The plate in front of her was empty with remains of food left on it. “You’re late,” she said when Tafel and Vur sat across from her. Vur’s head was drooping, his chin almost touching his chest. “I hate late people.”
“Sorry,” Tafel said as she equipped herself with her fork and knife.
Alice snorted and adjusted her glasses. “You’re not sorry. Hurry up and eat. We’re on a tight schedule since you put off buying a weapon for so long. What kind of adventurer adventures without a weapon?”
“You’re taking that truth curse pretty well,” Tafel said, biting into her omelet.
“I’ll admit it feels great to say whatever is on my mind. I feel free,” Alice said and sighed. “I wish I was cursed a lot earlier. Maybe things would’ve been different if I was more open with my thoughts.”
“Like not being single at your age?” Vur asked, tilting his head.
“Die! I’m 22! 22! That’s young! I am young!” Alice exhaled and fanned herself with her hands before closing her eyes. Her red face returned to its normal pale color, and she opened her eyes. “I was referring to my stupid nickname that I simply loath. I’m only a bit unsatisfied with my relationship status, okay? So what if I cry myself to sleep some nights? I bet everyone here has done it before.”
Tafel winced as Alice turned her head away.
“I haven’t,” Vur and Stella said at the same time.
Alice glared at Vur. “Someone as simple as you has no worries!” She pointed at Stella. “And you’ve only been alive for a month; you have no right to speak anywhere. It’s nonsense how your vote counts just as much as mine.”
Stella stuck her tongue out at Alice before retrieving an apple from a nearby plate.
Alice sighed. “It’s 7:20 right now. The weapon store will open in ten minutes. The opening ceremony of the competition begins at eight. It’ll take us five minutes to walk to the store, so you have five minutes left to eat.” She stared at Vur who was still yawning. “Don’t complain to me when you get hungry later.”
“Ettins are competing, right?” Vur asked and blinked. “I’ll just eat at the competition.”
“Killing’s not allowed!”
“It’s not like they’ll die if they lose an arm,” Vur grumbled.
“Let’s not eat people at the competition, please,” Tafel said and nudged Vur’s plate closer to him. He blinked at it and yawned again, so Tafel stuffed a piece of her omelet into his mouth.
“Ah, young love,” Alice said and wrinkled her nose. “It makes me sick. Why am I working for the two of you? You don’t even have any money to pay me with.” She sighed and shook her head while mumbling to herself. “Thankfully, the store’s on the way to the competition, or we really wouldn’t make it in time.”
After the party finished eating with Tafel feeding Vur the whole time, they left the inn and arrived at a wide alley with stalls lined up along the walls. Staves and wands were propped up and laid on the ground. “Here we are,” Alice said. “Weapons for black mages. They’re a bit hard to find since the holy dragons frown upon black magic.”
“…I’m a spellblade,” Tafel said and furrowed her brow.
“…Huh. I forgot.” Alice scratched her head. “Well, there’s a few swords over there. They’re a bit sketchy though, since this street isn’t exactly legal.”
“Sketchy?” Tafel asked.
Alice shrugged. “You know: Cursed. Unlucky. Stolen from the dwarves.”
“Then they’re good quality?” Tafel asked as she approached a stall. The vendor was wearing a cloak that concealed their whole body, not even showing their eyes or mouth.
Vur browsed the other stalls while Tafel tested out the weapons. Stella flew off of his head and approached the end of the alley where candied apples were on display. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at them. “Vur. Apple.”
Vur turned his attention away from a cauldron that had bubbling green liquid inside of it and glanced at Stella. Alice frowned at the fairy queen. “Candied apples in this alley? …There’s something wrong with them. Don’t buy it.”
Stella flew forward and grabbed the stick that an apple was attached to. “I want.”
“50 silver,” a deep voice said from within the stand.
Alice sighed as she placed a pouch of coins in Vur’s hand. “I hope something bad happens and you learn to listen to my words, but for now, I’ll indulge you.” Just as she finished speaking, a white circle of light enveloped the stand of apples, trapping Stella and the vendor inside.
“Stella!” Vur’s sleepiness disappeared in an instant as he lunged forward, appearing next to Stella in the blink of an eye before either Tafel or Alice could say anything.
Tafel turned her head just in time to see Vur grab the fairy queen. A bright flash blinded her, and when her vision returned, the stall was missing, Stella and Vur included.
“…Vur?” Tafel frowned as she grabbed Alice and dragged her over to the empty space at the end of the alley. “…Did someone just teleport him away?”
Alice bit her lower lip as she stared at the ground. “There are a few clans who specialize in catching rare creatures…. A fairy queen is extremely expensive.”
Tafel sighed as she squatted and traced her fingers along the ground. “I’m not good enough to tell where they were transported to.” She shook her head before standing and approaching the stall of swords once again.
“Uh, Tafel?” Alice asked, a wrinkle on her forehead. “Aren’t you concerned?”
“Yes. That’s why I need a good weapon,” Tafel said and nodded. She picked up a purple curved sword that was taller than her. A massive red eye opened in the middle of the blade. It made a hissing noise as the eye glared at her. “This doesn’t look too weak. And it’s kind of cute. How much is it?”
“Twenty gold.”
Tafel looked at Alice who pursed her lips and forked over the money to the vendor. “You don’t seem very concerned about Vur,” Alice said as she followed Tafel out of the alley.
“After seeing Vur catch a meteor, there is nothing in the world that would make me concerned for Vur,” Tafel said and pursed her lips. “We should be more concerned for ourselves. Do you still think we can win the competition without him and Stella?”
“You’re unbelievable,” Alice said. “You’re not worried about reuniting with him at all? How are you going to find him?”
Tafel snorted. “We already made plans for something like this—a contest of sorts. We’d compete on making a name for ourselves, and whoever hears about the other first loses. It was my idea, of course.”
“You’re both ridiculous.”
“Maybe that’s why we make such a great pair?”