The group of three at the dining table was today joined by another.
Her legs swung under the chair and her platinum blonde hair fluttered from side to side as the girl with pointed ears, Tiana, sat next to Elric, who was swinging his head in the same way.
Claude and Erika were already used to Elric being annoying in the morning and attributed to his high values of Elricphine, but with another person in the mix they were downright jealous of the energy they held in the mornings.
"So," Claude coughed, watching the elf and the human chomp down on the slice of bread laced with jam. "When do you plan to go back?"
"Nom nom…"
"Um. What was her name again?" Claude asked in a whisper.
"Tiana," Erika answered.
"Rigth. Tiana, when do you plan to go back to your home?"
"Nom nom…"
"Tiana—"
"Tsk. I am eating man! Ruler of Rulers, tell him!"
Elric stopped nibbling too and glared at Claude.
"I'll measure your height if you don't stop."
Claude sighed at that. "At least stick to your own shtick,"
Like wind on an autumn morning, Elric completely ignored the man's words and turned toward the elf again. He lightly patted her head and spoke. "Don't worry, he's just a dwarf anyway."
"What? I am taller than you. The ELF is taller than you!"
"Amongst orcs."
"Apologize, apologize right now to dwarves all over the world."
The two were then ignored till the other two finished their food. Surprisingly enough, the elf was just as small a eater as Elric and was unable to eat the single slice till the very end, but still forced herself to.
Only then did they all sit down on a couch and did Claude speak up.
"Go home."
Unfortunately, for being denied the right to speak up, he had also got rid of the time option. It was fair trade in Claude's eyes.
Anyway, since she knew not one bit about Hyden, it didn't seem like
"EH!"
Elric and Tiana yelped.
"You can't force her out!" Elric complained.
"What if she has people chasing after her?"
"We'll help her!"
"And what if the attack…" Claude leaned forward and spoke in a low tone. "At night?"
Elric immediately got off the seat and moved over to Claude's side. "Yup, go home."
"Water of Ruler you turncoat!"
"I am sorry, but I can't give up my sleep for the world."
Erika sighed.
"Stop bullying her," she said and placed a hand on Tiana's shoulder. "Do you have someone chasing after you?"
"Not that I know of."
"Do you not have to go back home? If you want we can escort you."
The girl lowered her head. She looked away and sweat started dripping down her face.
"I don't really have a home."
She was as good a liar as Elric.
Claude sighed again. The second day in the house was filled with sighs. Why had they taken her in? It was their responsibility now. Claude almost wanted to go back in time and let Elric toss this whimsical elf out, but he couldn't do so anymore since the tosser was against it.
Why did she not want to go home?
What was up with Hyden.
And why was she sleeping here?
There were many more thoughts in Claude's mind.
But a few words rang out loud.
As if someone had taken a megaphone and was screaming into his ears.
The words that he had heard not long ago kept pounding in his head.
The distinctions he had barely made came surfacing in, their lines blurring over.
Two tragedies.
Claude had already been involved in two tragedies. No matter how Elric played with words to reduce his own feelings, Claude couldn't help but feel complicated.
He was guilty, no.
But he was brought here as a hero.
And he had seen first hand what not sticking to one had brought.
In some way, was he not responsible for it?
He didn't feel guilty, not at all. It was… a sense of responsibility.
Duty.
No. Those were excuses too. He was just deluding himself.
There was only one thing Claude wanted to avoid, and that was losing his comfort. In no ways less than one, having another problem break out would make things all the more uncomfortable.
Not just for him.
He remembered the crying Erika. The struggles he had faced with Elric in the forest.
This whole damned world was accursed. It was actual, moving trash.
But this was his home now. He had already died where he was, going back felt like but a distant dream.
So, to make sure he could live without any problems, he had to avoid similar scenarios.
And if this suspicious elf was involved in such things, he wanted to keep her fine.
"So you have no home?" he asked again.
"I have nowhere to go…" the elf answered. She then excitedly raised her head and beamed at them. "If you, if you let me live here I'll handle chores! And, and, elves are really good luck and stuff? So I should totally let you know that. If I am around you're going to have great luck! And and, well, I found this place first, so like finders keepers? I would be magnami… what was the word?"
"Magnanimous?"
"Yes! I'll be magnanimous and let you share the house with me! What do you say?"
Claude placed a hand over his head and sighed.
"Fuck it. Fine."
"YAY!" Tiana jumped up.
"You two got any problems?"
Erika shook her head. "It feels like a pain, but I am happy to have her here." freewebno(v)el.com
"I reject this arrangement."
All of them turned toward Elric once more.
"Damn it Ruler man!" Complained Tiana. "Why?"
Claude sighed too.
"Weren't you so stuck on keeping her around? Then why?"
"It's simple," Elric smirked, his upturned lips ready to steal any and everyone's hearts. "She should acknowledge her position as my sidekick."
"Sidekick?" Tiana tilted her head.
"Yes. Accept that you're now my sidekick and I will accept you being with us."
"Um, but…" Tiana folded her arms, sweat dripped from her forehead.
Claude tried. He tried his best to hold back, but being the straight man wasn't an easy job.
"Damn it! You think his demands are worth such serious deliberation? I bet you're thinking this useless thing more than you thought about rooming with us!"
The elf and the boy flicked their hair and smirked.
"You won't get it, dwarf." freew ebnovel.com
"This is about pride, it's more important than a room or two."
"That's one tiny little pride if someone like Elric can shake it."
Elric scoffed. "Says the person who couldn't even fight the vampire."
"OH!? Need I remind you who finished her off?"
"You wouldn't have if I wasn't there!"
"And you would have died if I was not."
Erika wanted to intervene and say that both of them were fairly useless, but she being the worst of them all did not have the courage to do that.
Claude sighed, his sigh meter for the day was closing in on the jackpot mark.
"Alright. So you're going to room here, you're gonna pay rent."
"You're going to make the elf pay rent?" asked Erika. "Do you have any money on you, Tiana?"
"Uh… I am actually a prince… and I gave all my money in someone's bank account for free…"
Here stood the scammer that bothered everyone on earth!
"She can just work," said Claude.
"But how? What if someone finds out she's an elf? That will cause more problems than you're planning to solve."
Claude hummed.
That was true. She couldn't just work any job.
It was then that Elric grinned.
"Thankfully, I know just the perfect job that needs you to speak with the tiniest amount of people and be on the road all the time. No suspicion."
All of them turned to him.
"The world hasn't changed, the definition hasn't either!"
***
"Right… so you just found the last member of your group?"
The receptionist of the adventurer guild asked, handing over a contract to the girl that had forgotten to get her card in an elf confusion.
"That's right," Elric answered, an enchanting smile on his face.
"And… she also can't show off her face because she has a face curse that makes people lose their ability to see faces?"
Elric sniffled and wiped his fake tears.
"I've heard the disease is so bad that it sticks with you even if you get reincarnated in an eroge."
"What is an eroge."
"Doesn't matter," Elric said. "Can she be registered?"
"Her? This super suspicious person?"
Elric nodded.
"I don't see why not! Here you go, dearie, the first of the soul stones are on the house. Please just place a drop of blood on it and your stats will be revealed."
Tiana, hidden underneath the cloak, reached out and grabbed the soul stone and the small tack the receptionist handed.
She lightly pricked her thumb, and her blood fell on the stone.
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