Chapter 63: Encroaching Darkness (4)

The terror in the cat girl’s eyes were real. “We’re going outside?” she squeaked.

“Of course we are! What’s wrong with that? You’ve been outside before haven’t you?” Christina asked.

“Yeah, but…” Esaa looked down at Teta.

“Travelers are outside. Travelers like cats.” Teta sighed with downcast look.

Christina looked from Teta to Esaa in confusion. The only Traveler she knew was Thadius, and he wasn’t the type to ellicit this type of fear from her friends. A fact that she would make known. “Well not all Travelers are bad.” she said, rubbing Esaa’s shoulders.

“How do you know?” Esaa asked. She was on the brink of panic

“I know because you met one not too long ago. Remember my friend Thadius? He’s a Traveler you know.” she said proudly.

“What!? For real!?” Esaa jumped in surprise.

“Yep. So don’t worry about it so much. Besides, I can protect you now. Leave it me!” Christina said, striking a pose with her hands on her hips.

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Teta and Esaa exchanged looks, then Esaa’s tension slowly ebbed away. “Well, I guess...it might not be so scary.” she said as she look at Christina, then she looked further back. “But if we go, then you have to tell us who that is!” she pointed directly at the ‘Vanished’ Yuna.

Christina looked around stiffly, her ruse that she’d upheld for days was dangerously close to being blown. “I don’t see anyone...who are you talking about exactly?” Christina asked innocently.

Esaa’s eyes narrowed. “I have really good hearing, you know. I hear you talking to her sometimes, even now I can hear her belly squishing. Plus your feet snore at night sometimes, so I know something’s up!” she said, stomping her foot.

“Okay, okay! Keep it down!” Christina whispered fiercely. “I’ll tell you. But you have to keep it a secret, understand?”

“I can keep a secret! I have plenty of secrets!” Esaa said as she crossed her arms. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Teta moved next to Christina and motioned for her to bend down. “Sometimes, she licks herself instead of taking a bath.” she whispered.

“It’s not a secret if you tell it, Teta!” Esaa hissed.

“Well, now. It looks like you have no choice but to keep quiet now, huh?” Christina smiled mischievously.

“That’s not fair! What about trust!?” Esaa protested, but Christina just put her arm around her and walked towards the front temple doors.

“We’ll just have to trust each other now, won’t we?” she said as they walked outside.

----

The sun was high in the sky when they walked out, promising plenty of time for the girls to explore the city. Christina looked to the clouds, closing her eyes and letting the sun warm her skin.

’It’s good to be outside, especially after today…’ she smiled. Yet, as she reflected on her extraordinary morning, her body stiffened.

“Oh!” she suddenly shouted and turned to look back at the church doors. Her friends looked at her in concern.

“What is it?” Esaa asked nervously. She was constantly scanning the streets, and her ears twitched restlessly.

Christina stamped her foot. “I forgot to ask about the other one!” she huffed.

“Other one?” Teta looked at the door curiously, tilting her head to the side. Her pigtails swayed adorably with the motion.

“Nothing…” Christina sighed and shook her head while moving to the front to take the lead. “Come on.”

She quickly led them to the side of the church where the windows were high above their heads. The risk of anyone inside the church seeing her mysterious protector was low, and she wanted to keep it that way.

“Now remember your promises, okay? This has to be a secret!” Christina said, giving her friends one more warning look. Teta and Esaa both nodded in unison. “Alright then. Yuna, you can come out now.”

To Teta and Esaa, a young woman suddenly appeared out of thin air. She was just as pretty as Christina, with a flowing robe outfit and white-violet hair. Yet, her shorter frame contained a fierce air, which was a stark contrast to the gentle and kind Christina. With one glance at the sword on her back, and the look in her dark silver eyes that seemed to look through them, the young initiates could tell that this Yuna was undoubtedly strong.

“Wow! She looks super strong!” Esaa exclaimed, her eyes glittering. All her fear and uneasiness was temporarily forgotten in front of this little swordswoman.

Yuna nodded proudly and crossed her arms in a heroic pose. “I am strong.”

“She trained with Thadius, so she should be just as strong as he is. So while we’re out, we won’t have to worry since Yuna is our secret weapon!” Christina smiled.

Despite Christina’s words, Esaa was instantly nervous. “Is-is she a Traveler too?” she asked.

“No, but...” Christina sighed helplessly, then placed her hands on Teta and Esaa. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear about Travelers.”

Esaa was unconvinced. “But-”

“Have you met all Travelers?” Yuna interrupted. Esaa shook her head. Seeing that, Yuna smiled as she recalled the words Thadius spoke when he defended Tegaia.“Well until you get all the facts and have actually met every single one of them, try not to think too badly of them.”

Esaa looked from Yuna to Christina, who had a comforting smile, then she looked a Teta who she’d known the longest.

“Facts first.” Teta nodded in agreement.

“T-there’s a lot of good people in the world, so there must be a lot of good Travelers too, right?” Esaa smiled weakly, succumbing to the peer pressure of her friends.

“Definitely.” Yuna nodded.

After the girls encouraged Esaa, they quickly set out to find a suitable place to eat. Christina led the way as they searched, and she refused to celebrate such an eventful day in a mediocre restaurant. Unfortunately, her standard for food had risen to an unreasonable level because of Thadius’ home cooked meals. Although Todos didn't lack for restaurants, the better cooks would most likely be cooking for the nobility, leaving only the lesser skilled cooks to the rest of the city.

“Whoa! Look! It’s an actual cat-girl!”

“Man, she’s hot. But what’s she doing this far north?”

Esaa seemed to shrink as the comments reached her ears. Stares from many males, especially Travelers, seemed to gravitate toward her. Thankfully, their eyes were quick to shift to Christina.

“Bro!! She's even hotter!!”

“And she's an initiate! Priestess is the perfect class for her!”

“Just ignore them, Esaa. Yuna and I are with you, so they can't come near you.” Christina whispered.

“Okay…” Esaa nodded meekly. Todos citizens didn't have favourable impressions for Travelers for various reasons. It was inevitable that the dark rumors spread throughout the city to the point where even those who had little contact with Travelers had prejudice against them. Esaa’s unease was deeply rooted, and it was only multiplied by the fact that Travelers were hard to distinguish from everyday people.

The four wandered around the city searching for a suitable place to eat. They passed almost a dozen restaurants after Christina turned them down for the limited food selection, while the other half-dozen were turned down by Yuna for being too dirty.

When the others fussed at the goddess for being too picky, she said ‘They can't even keep the tables clean and you guys trusts what comes out of their kitchen!?’. Christina could only shake her head at the girl who had been exposed to Thadius’ methodical cooking habits for years.

It was a few minutes past noon when the girls finally stopped at a promising venue. The sign outside the restaurant said ‘Game Grub’. Just the name was enough for them all to stop and eye the sign with a puzzled expressions.

“Game Grub? Do we get to play games inside?” Esaa asked.

Yuna shook her head. “I think this is a Traveler restaurant. I asked Thadius if he was scared of dying. He said that Traveler’s fear death like us, but for them, this world is just somewhere to play. No matter how many times they die, they can just learn from it and get stronger. It’s all a game...and they can’t lose.” she said.

They all looked at the sign solemnly. Anyone that could look at their world and call it a ‘game’ was someone to be feared. They would be tempted to do anything they wanted if they only looked at the world as a playground.

“Thadius doesn’t see it that way.” Christina said quietly.

“Of course he doesn’t.” Yuna replied with her chin raised.

Esaa glanced about restlessly off to the side. “Well, are we going in? Are we even allowed?” she asked, tensed at the thought of walking into what could possibly be a Traveler only establishment. She felt like a cat about to be dragged into a wolf den.

Just then, a group walked inside, only giving Christina and her friends a curious look as they passed. They especially looked at Yuna, whose fighting spirit immediately made her stand out from the group. Seeing the lack of suspicion on their faces, Christina motioned for the others to gather around.

“I think it’s okay if we go in. They might not all be Travelers. Besides, I think Travelers are like us and can’t tell natives apart from other Travelers. So if we go in, we’ll just have to do a little pretending.” Christina suggested as she gave the people walking in and out quick glances.

“But what do Travelers act like?” Esaa asked.

“Well…” Christina pursed her lips as she thought. “If you couldn’t die, how would you act?”

“I guess...I’d be a little happy.” Esaa replied.

“I’d be fearless.” Yuna added.

“Strong.” Teta said.

“Well then let’s be all of those. We’ll fearlessly walk in, happily eat our food, and walk out just a little bit stronger.” Christina said confidently, wrapping her arms around her friends. The others nodded in agreement, and then with Christina leading the way, the four walked into Game Grub.

To their surprise, the inside design wasn’t very different from the other restaurants. There were plenty of tables filled with people. The only major difference was that the chefs in the kitchen could be seen bustling about to prepare the meals for their guests.

Christina and Yuna gave an approving nod and went to stand behind the group that just entered and were waiting to be seated. After a few moments, it was their turn.

A hostess welcomed them warmly at a small podium. “Welcome to Game Grub! Will you be needing a table for four?” she asked Christina, who was standing at the front. Christina nodded in reply.

The hostess paused for a moment and then made a few motions with her finger in the air. “Luckily we have a few tables available. Follow me.” she smiled.

Yuna shared a knowing look with Christina before following the hostess through a throng of tables and people. There were mages with a brightly colored robes and formidable looking warriors wearing heavy armor. As they passed, many of the patrons gave them curious looks. Especially Yuna, who had broken the limits of her fighting spirit by several fold after being trained by Corban.

“Here you are.” the hostess said after leading them to an empty table. Christina and the others sat down quickly, but the young woman lingered at the table.

Esaa and Teta looked at the woman nervously. They were expecting to be caught at any second. They looked to Yuna, who was the strongest among them, but Christina was the closest to her, so she took the initiative.

“Is...there a problem?” she asked.

“Not at all. It’s just,” The hostess took a look around before coming in closer to whisper. “Your eyes are really pretty. How did you get them to glow like that? I’ve been looking everywhere online for unique eye colors, but I haven’t found any clues.”

Christina was completely caught off guard. She’d often been asked why her eyes glowed, but being asked by someone who was certainly a Traveler, she truly didn’t know how to answer without giving herself away. “Uh...”

“It’s probably some type of hidden quest, right? You don’t have to say it, I was just curious.” The hostess said with a smile, mistaking Christina’s hesitation as reluctance.

“Sorry…” Christina said, not bothering to clear up the misunderstanding. The hostess shook her head.

“It’s fine. Secrecy is kind of our thing right?” she said before passing out the menus and heading to back to the podium.

Christina let out a lengthy sigh. “This is a lot more stressful than I thought.” she grumbled. Yuna and the others couldn’t help but nod in unison before browsing the menus and seeing what the restaurant had to offer.

“She was a Traveler, right? I didn’t think they would have Travelers serving us. Aren’t they supposed to be mighty adventurers?” Esaa commented quietly from behind her menu.

“Not all of them fight, and even Travelers need coin. If master didn’t leave us some money, Thadius and I would have been poor.” Yuna grumbled while she browsed the menu like a mage studying a tome of ancient knowledge.

The others had to ask Yuna about some of the dishes that were foreign to them. Once everyone made their selections, the waitress made her timely appearance.

“Are you ready to order?” she asked.

The girls gave their order in turn starting with Christina, who ordered her first hamburger. Esaa ordered a steak with a few sides while Teta took the safe route by ordering spaghetti. When Yuna’s turn came around, the others all looked at her with curious eyes. Christina was especially curious since she felt that Yuna considered chefs other than Thadius inferior.

The scene that followed, however, left them a little speechless.

“Let’s see...I want to start off with the chicken soup to help digest the rest of the meal. Does the soup come with breadsticks?” Yuna asked. The waitress nodded. “Then I’ll have those as soon as possible please--I’m famished. For the main course, I’ll also have the steak, except I want mine well done. Now are the mashed potatoes that come with it loaded? You know, with little chunks of potatoes, vegetables, and bacon mixed in.”

The waitress remained professional as she replied,”I could ask the chef to make adjustments, but it’ll be a little extra. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine, but I’d like the stuffing as well as the potatoes to be twice the serving size. I want the gravy to come in a small bowl so I can pour it myself, and to top it off, I’d like to try the cornbread. I’ve never tasted it and a dear friend of mine strongly recommended it. All of that with a cup of lemonade…” Yuna paused and frowned at the waitress. “Do you need to write this down?”

“A bowl of veggie soup and breadsticks as an appetizer, followed by a well done steak and double servings of both ‘loaded’ mashed potatoes and stuffing with a slice of cornbread on the side. All of that served with a separate serving of gravy and lemonade to wash it all down.” the woman repeated with a small smile.

To everyone’s disbelief, Yuna merely nodded and continued. “For dessert, I’d like some apple pie. Please inform the chef that I will strictly judge the dish and that my impression of his culinary prowess hangs on it. Should it satisfy my taste, I’ll gladly pay its weight in gold.”

The waitress nodded. “Our chef enjoys challenges, so I’ll make sure he gets the message. Will that be all?”

“Yes.” Yuna smiled happily in anticipation. After the waitress walked away, she finally noticed her friends astonished looks.

“What?” she asked.

“Are you going to eat all of that?” Christina whispered.

“Of course I will. I’m really hungry after all.” she pouted, somewhat hurt.

“Okay, then.” Christina said with disbelieving eyes. She didn’t think Yuna would waste food, but she didn’t know where the young goddess would put it all.

The girls chatted amongst themselves while they waited. They whispered excitedly after seeing various people in massive armor or exotic robes.

Further down at another table, a small party of four was doing the exact same thing while looking toward their direction.

They were a party of friends that met in a nearby dungeon. With the basic formation of a priest, warrior, mage and rogue, they’ve had smooth sailing so far. Today they were simply enjoying some down time in the game.

“Look at the one with the sword. You think she maxed her fighting spirit?” the mage asked.

“Probably. Either that, or she’s leveling her Pressure.” the priest replied after taking a bite of his sandwich.

“She’s pretty cute though. I wonder if she came back to power level her friends. I haven’t seen her around here.” the bald warrior commented as his curious gaze rested on the warrior chatting away with her friends.

“Uh oh, here he goes again. You gonna try hitting on this one too Rave?” the rogue laughed. His deep scarlet leather armor seemed to burn with trapped flames.

The bald warrior, Rave, laughed. “You know me. I have to try at least.”

The priest shook his head. “She’s too young for you bro.”

“She’s playing Chaos Online, right? She’s legal.” Rave countered. Then he drained the contents of his mug and strode over to the female warrior’s table.

Yuna was obviously the first one to notice the man’s approach, and turned as he made a beeline for her.

“Pardon my interruption ladies, but when a group of beautiful young women such as yourselves walks in, I at least have to say hello.” Rave smiled at each of them. As his eyes fell on Esaa, she shuddered.

Yuna frowned after seeing her friends reaction. “It was kind of you to greet us, but my friend is terribly shy around strangers, so if you could-”

“I mean no harm.” Rave cut in. By now he was skilled at delaying rejection. “And in all honesty, I came over to talk to you.” he smiled again as he looked at Yuna.

“What did you want to talk about.” Yuna asked with a cautious glance at her surroundings. By now, many other patrons had turned their eyes to the spectacle.

Rave rubbed his head with a shaking hand. The critical moment had come. “Well...we have an extra spot in our party, and we’re looking for another warrior to clear higher level dungeons. You’re with your friends now, but maybe you’d like to join us afterwards?”

“I’m sorry. Once my brother returns, I’ll be joining him in his adventures.”

“That’s fine. We can all be friends! Right guys!?” Rave called out to his party. If time had taught him anything, it was that not extending invitations to the friends of the target was a fast track to rejection. However, everyone at his table suddenly found something else interesting to look at as they turned their heads.

Rave could only sigh at his abandonment before he turned back to the young woman. “At least let me add you as a friend! That way, after you’re free, you and your brother can come join us!”

Yuna couldn’t help but hesitate at the man’s enthusiasm. She took a another glance around the restaurant, meeting the eyes of the thoroughly entertained crowd, before once again turning to the bald warrior. “I don’t need anymore friends.” she said coldly.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to adventure with the man. It was the fact that he wanted to ‘add her’ as a friend. Thadius had long since tried and failed. She was a native of this world that Travelers saw as a game. A fact that she couldn’t reveal in the current situation.

“I know I might come off as a little strong but-” Rave reached out for Yuna’s shoulder. It was a mistake that resulted in his face being instantly pressed against the table.

The comical scene had suddenly turned hostile, but the transition was truly too fast. Some patrons were still chuckling at Rave’s imminent rejection while others were just beginning to register what happened.