Several…hours…later, I'm walking through Avalon's main square outside the palace with Ilina and Klaus.
"Oi, Mizuki!"
I look towards the sound of the voice, and see Kudra, the elderly kur'kes vendor from our first tour of the city, waving politely at us. I smile and wave back, and we make our way towards him.
He seemed more than a little suspicious of me our first meeting, but it came from a good place – his concern for his princess, Ilina. It's hard to take that personally. After seeing me pass through his shop for over a week now, though, I'd say we're downright friendly.
As we approach Kudra, he gives a brief bow to Ilina.
"Princess Ilina, you look lovely as always. I see you're still touring Mizuki around Avalon regularly. How has the people's reception of you been?" (Kudra)
Kudra looks on intently, waiting for an answer.
"Thank you, Kudra, I hope your business has been well. As for our reception…I'd say the number of hostile or fearful stares have dropped considerably, though I still wouldn't consider Mizuki a favorite of the townspeople." (Ilina)
Ouch…but, yeah, that's pretty much how I see it, too. Kudra nods for a moment, then smiles.
"Well, that's good to hear. Even widespread indifference towards Mizuki would be desirable. As for my business, it's been thriving lately. I don't know if you've heard, but there's a human in town who seems completely incapable of basic math! He's a regular at my shop, and grossly overpays each time, so I've had very healthy profit margins." (Kudra)
I smirk at Kudra, and he pretends to not notice. Ilina is more amused.
"Fufufu…I guess Mizuki must have managed to befriend another elf after all. If a citizen of Avalon knows him so well, I suppose he's not a totally lost cause!" (Ilina)
I can hear Klaus cackling in response to Ilina's comment behind me, but I pay him no mind. After a moment, Kudra turns somewhat serious and directs his gaze towards me.
"Hey, Mizuki, my jokes aside…hang in there. Word of you has been getting around the town, and I've shared my opinion that you're an earnest young man that we don't need to fear. There are some elves that are very wary of you, but I'd say you fall more in the realm of a local curiosity at this point. That's progress!" (Kudra)
I give him a very appreciative smile.
"Thanks, Kudra…that means a lot to me. On that note, I guess we should go talk to more elves that dislike me. We'll stop back by your stand on our way home though!" (Mizuki)
Kudra nods approvingly and we say our farewells, then Ilina leads us out of the main square and down Avalon's busiest street.
There are pop-up stands at the edges of the street, and numerous permanent stores along the sidewalks. Every few minutes, a horse-drawn cart will whiz past carrying supplies – I'm always surprised by how fast they drive them on this street.
The sidewalks are relatively trafficked by elves, and after only an hour I'd say that I've passed over a hundred elven pedestrians. To my delight, less than ten of them gave me dirty looks, and most just looked at me in surprise then went about their day.
Occasionally, some of them would even smile and wave at me! That could be just because I'm with their princess, but I choose to credit my warm personality.
When we're about halfway to the city outskirts along the main street, I'm watching another horse-drawn cart zoom towards us, when a rubber-like ball rolls into the street about ten meters ahead of the horses. To my horror, an elven boy that's about 8 years old comes running after it.
Based on the horses' speed and proximity, it looks like he'll almost certainly get hit in the next few seconds.
I slow time as much as possible and survey the area around me. We're about 30 meters from him, and only Klaus seems to have noticed, but he wouldn't be able to do anything. From my vantage point, I don't see anyone else around the boy looking his way.
I swear under my breath…there's a decent chance that if I don't do anything he could die, but I'd risk exposing myself to scrutiny. I sigh deeply…I'll just avoid explicit magic.
I sprint towards the boy at top speed in slowed time, and the boy has seemingly noticed the speeding horses a couple of meters from him. At this point, I apply a max defensive spell on the boy to protect him from my rough handling.
When I finally grab him, the horses are only about a meter away, and I yank us both to the sidewalk in a crouch then drop the time and defense spells. I hear the horses thunder past us without slowing.
I'm nearly eye-level with the boy, and I assess him for injuries. He seems fine physically, but he's visibly shaken, and he's staring at me in shock. I smile at him reassuringly.
"Hey little dude, that was a close one! Are you okay?" (Mizuki)
The elven boy nods his head in a daze, but before he can respond, a late-20s looking elven woman comes running out of a nearby building and crouches down to hug him frantically. She has brown eyes and long brown hair that's matted to her forehead with sweat, and she's wearing an apron.
As she wraps the boy in a hug, she speaks at him shrilly.
"Cera, are you okay!? Did that cart hit you!? How many times have I told you to be careful and stay out of this street!" (elf woman)
The boy, Cera, nods back a bit fearfully, shaken from his earlier stupor.
"Yes, I'm okay Mom…I'm sorry…I just lost my ball." (Cera)
As Cera speaks, his mom inspects him carefully. Seeing no injuries, she breathes a huge sigh of relief and smiles, then begins speaking to me.
"That's good, I'm glad you're okay. Sir, I saw you pull my son out of the way of that cart as I tried to get over here in time…I really don't know how to thank you for saving him. My name's Kara, and if there's anything I…" (Kara)
Kara looks over towards me for the first time after she begins to speak, and she freezes mid-sentence. Her expression of relief and gratitude transitions to one of shock and fear, and she pulls Cera a little closer to her. So, I guess she's not a fan of humans.
I try to put on a reassuring smile.
"You don't need to worry Kara; you don't owe me anything. I'm sure my being human has given you quite the fright, and I apologize for that. I'll just be on my way so you can look after Cera in peace." (Mizuki)
As I stand and turn to leave, I hear footsteps behind me. Ilina and Klaus are running towards me with concerned expressions.
"Mizuki, is everything okay!? Why did you disappear suddenly? What happened?" (Ilina)
So, Klaus didn't have a chance to explain yet, I guess. I don't want to stick around here scaring Kara and her kid any longer, so I make a dismissive gesture and smile at Ilina as I walk towards them.
"Sorry about that, it's all fine! I just saw something that needed my attention quickly. We should probably head back to the palace now!" (Mizuki)
Klaus looks like he's about to interject, but before he can, I hear Kara call out from behind me.
"Wait! Please!" (Kara)
We all turn our attention to her in surprise. She's standing again now, and Cera is wrapped around one of her legs looking at me curiously. Kara's terrorized expression has been mostly replaced by embarrassment and guilt, and she's struggling to meet my gaze.
"I'm…very sorry for how I reacted. Even after watching you save my son's life, I treated you like a criminal out to harm him. I'm deeply ashamed of that, and I'd like the chance to make it up to you…please?" (Kara)
I wave my hands in a placating gesture and smile reassuringly.
"No, no, I promise that you don't need to do that. You were worried about your kid, and I won't pretend that humans at large haven't rightfully garnered some distrust from other races. You have my word, whatever it's worth – I'm not offended, and you don't owe me a debt. I'm just glad everything worked out." (Mizuki)
I turn to leave again, but Kara is insistent.
"Wait! I'm sorry, but please reconsider. I'm embarrassed to say so, but it's at least as much for me as it is for you. My husband died recently. He was a very kind man, you see, and…I can't help but think he'd be disappointed in how I acted just now. I don't think I'll be able to sleep if I leave things like this. I work at this tavern here, so can I at least treat you to a meal? Please?" (Kara)
So…that's why she had the apron. Was she forced to bring her kid to work because she's a single mother? I can already feel my heart breaking for them. I can't say no now…I nod my agreement at Kara. Her face seems to melt in relief.
"That sounds wonderful, thank you. However, I can't agree to letting you pay for our food. Perhaps instead you could just find a table where my presence won't scare your other customers, and where extra attention won't inconvenience Princess Ilina?" (Mizuki)
Kara becomes confused, then glances towards Ilina seriously for the first time. Her eyes go wide upon seeing Ilina. Did she…not know? I thought rumors of a human roaming the city with Princess Ilina had spread? Why else would she offer food to a human waltzing around a country where they're forbidden?
"P-Princess Ilina, it's very nice to m-meet you! I'm so sorry that I didn't greet you sooner!" (Kara)
Kara bows deeply to Ilina, and forces Cera's head down with her. Ilina just looks uncomfortable.
"That's quite alright, I promise. Why don't we just move somewhere quieter in the tavern to talk? I'm concerned about the attention we're garnering here." (Ilina)
Indeed, I can see several elves stopping and looking at us curiously. Kara nods quickly, then takes off into the tavern with Cera and waves for us to follow her. She leads us past the other customers to a back area, then walks off to frantically talk to an elderly man behind the tavern bar while gesturing at us. His eyes seem to go wide in shock, and he nods at her quickly.
Kara returns to us with a nervous smile, then leads us to a private room nearby with a large table and chairs inside. She gestures for us all to sit.
"Okay, I spoke to the owner and this room will be all yours. I'll be your personal waitress, so please ask me for whatever you want to order." (Kara)
She gestures to a large wooden menu on the wall of the room, and she smiles patiently. While we begin looking over the menu, Cera speaks up for the first time.
"Mom, can I eat with them, too?" (Cera)
Kara's face goes pale, and I can see that she's about to reprimand him. I interject before she can, though…I don't want her to have the additional stress of watching a kid while she works her shift.
"I think that would be a wonderful idea, Cera! Do you mind, Kara? Having a new friendly face around would be nice, and I promise that we'll look after him whenever you're out of the room." (Mizuki)
Kara looks conflicted for a moment, but Ilina piles on.
"Mizuki's offer is sincere. I promise that he'll be safe and welcome." (Ilina)
Kara nods reluctantly, but I see relief on her face as well…it makes me feel a little better.