Cain silently walked inside, taking a seat in a nearby chair to take off his armor. On his way up he had met Memi and she said they were getting them hot water, he needed to wipe the hydra’s blood so he hurried up.
“What?” he said, noticing the girls staring at him with fearful eyes. It was that painful staring match for a few seconds.
“They are scared of what you have say-nya,” Selena told him, breaking the awkward silence. Hearing her words it finally clicked in his head.
Are they scared I’m angry at them? I wouldn’t say I’m not mad but is it a reason for them to feel that scared? Say that they aren’t going to get punished might get things worse, let’s prolong it until we get back home.
“Don’t, I’m not that angry and you won’t be punished until we return home.” Cain declared, ‘It will be a bit awkward having them scream in here.’ Cain thought of what might happen if he punished the here. In the end, deciding to give them more time to relax.
Sofia and Alice on the other hand felt the opposite, the painful waiting was just killing them and they wanted to get done with it as soon as possible.
Sofia saw Cain’s wounds from afar, she had her stomach turns. It was her idea to join the Hydra’s fight in the first place, she thought it was normal for him to smack her for getting to the death door.
Alice on the other hand was a bit calmer, even though she agreed with Sofia, she did heal him when he got injured.
Knock! Knock! Alice covered herself as she heard the knocking at the door, Cain went to open the door. Two women were standing at the door with what looked like a big wooden bathtub, filled with hot water. In their hands a batch of clean white towels.
“Thank you, Selena come help me get it in,” Cain called Selena, together they dragged it inside. It was extremely heavy to the point Cain wondered how did those two women get it up here in the first place.
Cain quickly took the white towels, distributing them to the girls. “Let’s clean quickly, Dolrig will return at any time,” Cain stated as he took his clothes off and started wiping his body.
The girls quickly followed his example, starting to clean themselves. Selena and Cain were the dirtiest as they fought at the front line, Sofia and Alice only had to clean the sweat off.
“Cain I will wash your back!” Sofia gathered her strength, reaching to Cain’s back with her towel. He didn’t mind letting her help him.
Seeing her actions, Alice resolved herself and approached his legs, “I will help as well.” she started wiping his legs starting from his knees.
Cain had already cleaned his arms and chest, having the girls help was a blessing as reaching his back was going to be annoying.
Selena just stared at them from the background, eventually joining them as well. With each one helping the other, they quickly finished cleaning.
As they were about to get a change of clothes, Sofia and Alice were poking each other as if they wanted to do something.
Knock! Knock! “Excuse me, someone called Dolrig is asking for you.” A woman’s voice came from outside the door, interrupting them.
“We’re coming, tell him to wait just a minute!” Cain replied, drying himself and getting ready. Bearing a sad look, Alice and Sofia put on their clothes as well.
“Alice, you stay here and keep on resting.” Staying morphed into her human form for a long time was exhausting, if she had some time to rest in her devil form she better use it.
Alice didn’t say a word and just nodded, sitting back on the bed.
After changing, Cain headed down to meet Dolrig alongside Selena. Sofia stayed with Alice in the room as they seemed to have something to talk about.
Downstairs, the Inn was starting to slowly fill up, as the lock-down was lifted people started to move again. Dolrig was sitting at a table in the corner having a drink.
“Dolrig, That was quick. Or did you just leave them loading the wagon with ores?” Cain asked, he had expected him to take a bit longer.
Dolrig had a troubled face, he didn’t seem to bear good news. “Sadly, they are out of ores.” he started explaining.
The city’s great mine seems to have been infested with monsters, making the mining Almost impossible.
A few days ago they ran into a new cave system that hosted notorious monsters with unimaginable numbers. The guild expected it to be a dungeon break underground so they sent most of their capable adventurer to investigate, even the lower ranks have been deployed to guard the mine entrance.
Hearing that Selena had an exhausted look on her face, she was hoping they get the rest of the day off as she was still sore from the fight.
At this rate, they would have to wait a couple of days to get the ores. This was an unexpected situation that Dolrig didn’t think of.
A dungeon break, Cain couldn’t believe that. In his past life, he had never heard of a dungeon break this close to Furberg before the catastrophe.
“Dungeon break? Do we have to fight again-nya?” Selena was visibly exhausted, she must have used a lot of energy in the hydra’s fight. Cain looked visibly worried as he ruffled her head.
She was right, they are exhausted and hungry, and going from one fight to another is a bad idea. Cain stared at the glittering pieces of meat being grilled in the inn’s kitchen, they should leave this matter to the guild for the time being.
“Dolrig, did you sell the meat yet?” Cain asked. The prey Selena hunted last night, she might feel better after a meal. And he was getting hungry as the smell of the grilled meat teased his nose.
Dolrig stood up, he still haven’t sold the meat.
“I was intending to go sell it when the wagon is being loaded, do you want me to bring it in?”
Cain nodded, it’s probably a better use for that meat rather than just selling it for money.
“Wagner, we have some meat. Would you mind cooking it for us?” Hearing Cain’s question the innkeeper smiled. It was a favor asked by the man who slew the hydra, he wasn’t going to reject him.
“No problem, bring it to the kitchen.” He said rolling up his sleeves.
Cain and Selena helped Bring the meat inside, the amount was just astounding. It even made Wagner pale, thinking about how much work he just accepted.
It was still morning and the inn was just getting filled so Cain got back to his room with Selena to wait. There was no need for them to sit downstairs and he honestly wanted to lay down.
‘We should check the mines after we eat’ Cain thought, there should be a way to get the ores and return quickly. He still had to prepare the petrifying traps from the Basilisk eyes back at home and deal with Gracie’s problem.
Knock! “It’s me” Cain opened the door after asking permission, he didn’t want to scare Alice who was in her devil form.
Alice and Sofia were waiting on top of the bed, their gazes quickly shifted toward Cain when he got in, they seem to have just finished discussing something.
“Cain, could you listen to us for a moment?” Sofia asked in a quiet voice, clearly hesitating to speak.
Feeling the awkward air starting to settle in, Cain moved a chair close to the bed and sat on it. He has a feeling this conversation is going to be hard to swallow.
Sofia’s eyes were twitching as she tried to open her mouth, words didn’t seem to come out no matter how she tried to speak.
“Please punish us here, we can’t bear the long wait until we got home!” Alice was the one to speak first. It seemed that the anxiety and stress were getting to them.
‘Say what? I believe I said we will wait until we get back home!’ Cain had no idea how to punish them, he didn’t want to do it.
Cain looked at Selena as if asking for help, he didn’t want to deal with that here. He was hoping she will help him convince them it wasn’t their mistake, but she wasn’t on the same page as him.
“Want to hold them in place-nya?” She misunderstood his glance, assuming he wanted her to help punish them.
When they were in the wagon, he could have told them off then, he felt that he gave up easily at that time, it wasn’t his right to get angry at them. Somehow, he was feeling it was his mistake not to take control at that moment.
He gave up, they want punishment, they will get it. Cain stood up
——————————————————
Finally I started to feel a bit better, I should be able to write normally now. Thanks for your support!
