3-13 Last night

The end of the day had arrived but the town was still in a clamour. Some were still working while some were celebrating their survival to this day. The town’s survival of a large monster horde’s attack was a story to be told for generations. Many rode on this narrative’s coattails to garner attention for the sake of their vanity. One person followed the other. Before anyone knew it, it became a festival of who could tell the story better, which gave birth to continuous celebrations.

However, none of those were Erin’s concerns. She had saved the town and what happened after was out of her hands. She had her own worries to take care of. More precisely, she had a god to appease. She had dally long enough in this town and she had garnered enough rest. She couldn’t stay here forever. She knew it was only a matter of time before Nyx began to pester her in a very unceremonious way. Still, farewells may have been easy for Erin but now that she was no longer the solitary individual she was, she found it to be one of the most wrenching things to do.

It was currently the eve of her departure and the last night in Quinteburgh, she was spending it alone. It was by choice as she needed some time to clear her mind and what better for her to clear her mind than to shadow spar with her sword and the company of flowers.

It had been quite some time since she had time for herself. Shadow sparring would not make her stronger but it would prevent her skills from getting impaired. Dressed in a light attire that showed off the full length of her bare arm and the deep valley of her ample bosom, she swung her sword as if the breeze was her opponent. With her eyes kept close, she used the touch of the wind to find her footing. Even now, she still found her heightened sense of hearing and smell extremely remarkable. It was one of the many aspects she was grateful for.

As the heat of her body rose due to her repeated motions of shadow sparring, she reflected on her eventual parting with Celia. She had told Celia of their eventual parting more times than she liked. Celia had merely nodded at those words with a saddened gaze every time. Whatever happens tomorrow, Celia would have to stay. Her journey was no place for the likes of children.

“You look troubled,” came a familiar voice that made Erin jump.

“Can’t you just approach me like any normal person would?” Erin asked, annoyed. She stopped her sparring with shadows and turned to meet her unexpected guest.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Iris replied with a complacent grin and a shrug.

Wiping the sweat beads gathering on her forehead with a towel, Erin shot the Umbrun a glare. “What do you want?”

“Nothing in particular.”

Erin continued to glare.

“I just want your company, how’s that for an excuse?”

“Coming from a merchant, that sounds unbelievable. And your choice of words is a tad ironic.”

“Maybe,” Iris admitted, vaguely. “Siv’s drinking with her former fellow workers. Lyra is playing with Celia in the church. Just curious about what you were doing.”

“I was training. Now that you know, will you take your leave?”

Iris chuckled softly. “Am I that unwelcomed?” she asked with a saddened smile. “Am I not your friend?”

“Pardon me for being sceptical but…” Erin sheathed her sword. “You’re a merchant first and foremost. You only do things that you have something to gain from.”

“Now that is just not true, my dear Erin. I am capable of compassion and altruism too.”

“Compassion for gold, altruism for prestige.”

“You’re not wrong about that. Although, it really pains me to know that I don’t even have the trust of my sole friend.”

“Sole friend?” Erin raised an eyebrow. “You’re serious?”

“You’re the only one that I could truly call a friend. The others are… acquaintances at best, though they seem to think otherwise but that’s their mistake.”

“What about Aedan? Is he not a friend?”

“...I do not know what we are actually. We’re certainly not friends and we’re not quite lovers. Though I do recall him addressing me as a friend with benefits.”

“Friend with benefits? What does that mean?”

“I have no idea too. He said that it’s better not knowing.”

“That it must be something very rude.”

“I am of the same opinion. I did… something to him and got an apology from him.” Iris giggled. “Ah~ what a good memory that was.”

Erin returned a wry smile and took a seat on a nearby bench. “You said truly love Aedan but… not enough to discard your status, I gather.”

“Love isn’t an easy choice, Erin,” Iris said and took a seat just beside Erin.

“I don’t remember offering your a seat,” Erin said, dryly.

“Don’t worry, you are forgiven,” Iris retorted with a titter.

“It’s a wonder that you would have any friends at all.”

“You’re as blunt as ever, Erin.”

“Really? I haven’t noticed,” Erin retorted with her eyes rolled up. “You really need to—” she paused.

Iris had laid her head on the Fox-kin’s shoulder. “You show me the cold shoulders but you’re quite warm.”

Erin let her frown shown. “This is unpleasant.”

“Well, too bad. I ain’t moving unless you make me.”

“I doubt I could even if I try. You’re no fighter but I don’t think you would have any trouble handling someone of my level.”

“You won’t know unless you try,”

Erin’s frown deepened. “You really want me to hurt you, huh.”

“As I have said, I’m just looking for your company.”

“Last time you sought out my company, you were looking to warm my bed. But I don’t smell any heat from you.”

Iris giggled. “This is the last night with you. We may not be seeing each other for a long time.” She wrapped her arms around Erin’s shoulders and pulled herself closer together.

“...You’re really pushing the boundaries of friends.”

“You can push me away if you dislike it.” Iris tittered. “But you consider me a friend. I am glad.”

“Are you perhaps drunk?” Erin asked. She took a whiff and caught a faint scent of liquor.

“No,” Iris answered. She lifted her head and stared at Erin. “But this will certainly make me drunk,” she said and pulled out a bottle of liquor seemingly out of nowhere.

Erin’s eyes fell on the peculiar ring on Iris’ left index finger. “Is that ring on your finger a present from Aedan?”

“I wish it was but no, it isn’t. I had it commissioned from someone else. Don’t tell anyone about this ring.”

“Why? Do you think someone’s going to rob you for it? You, Iris of Eternal Moon, getting robbed? Can’t paint a single portion of that picture in my mind.”

“Someone definitely will. This kind of ring can sell for thousands of gold. I use it in front of you because I trust you. Now, would you care to share this drink with me?”

“I don’t drink.”

“You don’t? But I’m pretty sure you were drenched in alcohol’s fumes when we spent the night together with Lyra.”

“Precisely why.”

“You’re afraid of what happened last time?”

Erin grimaced. “That and more.”

Iris tittered with her fingers on her lips. “That you don’t have to worry. This is a special brew. I purchased it personally from a Fae tribe. You can get drunk but not too drunk.”

“And I’m supposed to just take your word for it?”

“I would be thrilled you will. You don’t trust your friend?”

Erin sighed. “Fine. For the sake of our friendship and since we won’t be seeing each other for a while, I’ll indulge you.”

“Thank you so much,” Iris said with a wide smile. Two opulent glass cups appeared in her left palm at her wish.

“How vast is the space of your storage ring?” Erin asked.

“A trunk full,” Iris answered and poured the liquor into the two cups.

The fragrance of the liquor emanated from the stream stringing out from the bottle to the cup, drifting into Erin’s nose. She jumped a little from the smell but not at the prospect of getting drunk. It smelled extremely good and for once, she wasn’t assaulted by dizziness just from the smell. She took the cup and brought it to her nose. Her ears twitched along with her nose as she gave a whiff.

“Someone’s already enjoying themself I see,” Iris remarked with a smile.

“You can tell?” Erin asked with a slight frown.

“Your ears and tails are just that honest.”

Erin widened her eyes and looked over her shoulder, at her tails, which were wagging around gleefully. “Gosh, I hate it when they do that...”

“Here’s to the future,” Iris said and brought up her cup. “May it be bright and full of wonders.”

“I’ll just settle with bright alone,” Erin replied and clanged their cups together. “I can do without the wonders.”

The two drank their fill respectively. Erin took merely a small sip but Iris had already empty half of the cup.

Iris gasped in delight. “Ah~ This is truly some good liquor.”

“Hmm. I really don’t feel wobbly or anything.”

“Now do you believe me?” Iris asked, coyly.

Whirling the liquor in the cup, Erin took another sip. “I apologized for my suspicions,” she said.

“It’s alright. It’s only right to be suspicious of me. I know what I have done and what I deserve.”

“Then maybe… don’t you think you should change for the better?”

Iris chuckled but her tone wasn’t coy. Instead, it was somehow self-deprecating. “In my line of profession, we don’t put our trust in each others’ character. We put our trust in each others’ interests.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Iris chuckled. She shot Erin a furtive glance before emptying her cup. “There are things needed to be changed but there are also things better off staying the same. Changes can be and will be exploited. I fear my change might be used by some unsavoury people. But the feeling’s mutual. I would do the same too.” she said, gazing at her empty glass.

“Wow, were you always this gracious?”

“Actually, I’m a much better person than I was. In the old days, I was… very spiteful and always felt disgruntled by the ones better than me, even in other aspects. And I preferred the sweet lies and empty praises over the harsh and bitter truth.”

“And what changed.”

“You could say time changes all but you could also it’s because I met Aedan. He’s blunt but not because he’s a dimwit.”

“Blunt people are dimwits?”

“Of the many people I met, I would say yes. They’re blunt because they don’t understand empathy and lack sympathy. Some of them don’t even know what they did when they were receiving glares from others as a result of their upfront attitude.”

“And Aedan’s different?”

“Different than all of the people I met, definitely. He’s blunt precisely because he knew how people would respond. It seems to be the way he gauges a person’s character. What’s interesting is that he has empathy but no sympathy. He said he was tired of giving out sympathy he don’t mean anything of. I still remember the first time I met him. I was so close to having him killed.”

“Oh… that was… quite unexpected but… I did imagine you to be capable of something like that.”

“I still am capable of such things but I would like to believe I am more… behaved, nowadays. He exposed my schemes and made me lose a hefty investment. So, the night of that same day, I sent my assassins after him but he killed them all instead.”

“Ah… figures.”

“Then he confronted me. I thought it was going to be the last day of my life.”

“He spared you?”

“He destroyed me in a different sense. He assaulted me with words and not once did he lay a finger on me, not even brush on my skin. And he left, just like that. His words etched into my mind. Those demeaning words never left my mind. The anger I felt for him grew over the days. He did not come back for me, as if he was sure I would never try something like that again.”

“Did you try again?”

“I confronted him personally and even brought some muscles with me, expensive muscles. Waited for him at a place that he frequented. I ambushed him and like what you expected, he came out victorious. And he showed me mercy again. And I didn’t let him walk away like last time. I demand to know why he let me live and his answer was… completely unexpected.”

“I’m guessing it was something dumb?”

“You could say that. He let me live because I was a very alluring woman and it would be a shame to kill me before he could have a taste.”

Whatever expression Erin, all of them dropped at Iris’ revelation. “You’re serious?”

“I am. I couldn’t believe what I heard either but that’s how our relationship started. I figure I would take advantage of his lust and get what I can out of him but… I was the one who got taken advantage of. I can’t win against him in a fight or with words. I wanted to win against him in other matters, at the very least. I wanted to be the one looking down but in the end, I was always completely destroyed. In bed, of course.”

Erin cupped her ears. “I do not need to know that.”

Iris tittered. “We have developed a strange bond since then. Once in a while, he serves as my muscle, advisor, and night companion.”

“That doesn't sound like him but at the same time, I can imagine it clearly.”

“Well, he was a very different person then. He was prideful. He is always thirsting for knowledge and craving excitement. He was lustful. Women were just respite to him, even me.”

“What changed him?”

“I do not know what changed him. When I met him again after a long period, he became… docile. His lust was no longer that of a rabbit’s. And he couldn’t care less when someone trampled on his pride. I was surprised but that made me love him even more. He changed but for the better. I do miss his old self from time to time but I certainly like the current Aedan much more.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Erin said.

“Why are you sorry? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I misjudged you. I had the wrong notion of love. I doubted your love for Aedan but after hearing your story, I am convinced that you truly love him. It was my mistake to think that your love wasn’t real just because I failed to understand it.”

“In that case,” Iris filled Erin’s cup, “I accept your apology. Cheers.”

“Cheers. Here’s to your love. Hope it ends well.”

“I doubt that. I think he would sooner fall in love with you than me.”

Erin narrowed her gaze. “We are not like that.”

“The way he talks about you. The way he looks at you. I know him and never had I seen that expression of his. Just plain… infatuation, if that’s what it is. What about you? Do you feel the same?”

“Do I feel the same? I don’t like men if you didn’t know.”

“Well, have you bedded with a man before?”

“No,” Erin answered firmly.

“Then how do you know you don’t like men? Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

“I am not curious.”

“Not even a little?” Iris asked, her grin widened more and more as she furthered her question.

Erin didn’t answer. It was a question that she was afraid of answering. She knew Iris was right, she had indeed felt curious but the vestige of her past self was holding her back.

“I was once a plain lily too. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to have a taste of man. It didn’t turn out as great as everyone said but… it wasn’t bad. Of course, Aedan was different.”

She frowned and downed her drink. She immediately asked for another round. “If that’s our topic for our conversation, I will need to down the whole bottle.”

“Don’t be reserved, Erin. I still have a few more bottles. And look at us now. We’re getting along just fine.”

“...I suppose we are… I have definitely misjudged you.”

Iris grinned, pouring another round into Erin’s cup. “Well, I won’t say you completely misjudged me… The night is still young. You still have plenty of time to decided whether you have misjudged me or not.”