Unwilling to stand up immediately, Arin crawled over to the sleeping lizard. He picked it up carefully, and after some thought, tucked it into the collar of his cloak. Without waking up, the lizard settled its small body at the base of his throat and wound its slender tail around his neck. After a brief pause of surprise, Arin let it be.
Leaning back to rest on his elbows, he took a deep breath. The air in the orchard was pleasant, smelling of the earth and sweetness, with just a hint of rot. The warm sunlight of late afternoon filtered through the canopy and dappled the dirt with specks of gold. Arin could see dust swirling like golden fairy dust in those spots.
Having taken a moment to rest, Arin threw his cloak back over his shoulders and shifted to unbutton his shirt with one hand. Shrugging it off his right shoulder, he twisted around to assess the damage that had been dealt by the lake's furious swipe.
There was a small cut just above his right shoulder blade, small specks of dried blood visible around the broken skin. In the area surrounding it was an angry, red bruise that spread from his shoulder, down his back, to the side of his chest.
While painful, Arin ultimately decided that it definitely wasn't as bad as it could've been. After all, he could still move his arm, and his ribcage and spine seemed to have escaped the worst of the damage. He had to acknowledge that this was all thanks to both luck and Rin's exceptionally well-maintained physique. The same blow on his own office-drone body might have left him bedridden for a few days.
Stretching his back as much as he could to relieve some stiffness, Arin clothed himself again, then finally stood up to walk over to an apple tree. Hesitantly, he reached out a hand to touch its rough bark. After some more thought, he jumped and reached out to pull a fruit from a low-hanging branch. Missing the first time, he tried again, and successfully picked the reddish-yellow apple this time.
There was no unholy lightning or sudden earthquake. No guardian beast or raging spirit appeared to fight him for the fruit. It seemed that the white-haired man truly hadn't had any hidden intentions when he'd sent him here. Arin almost couldn't believe it. He looked down at the firm, sweet-smelling, and perfectly ordinary apple he held in his hand.
Huh.
It really was just low-hanging fruit.
Then again, it wasn't like he was breezing through the errand. After all, that annoying man had asked him to return back the same day, and before sundown at that. And the sun, indifferent to his needs, had long since started its descent towards the western horizon.
Keeping at their earlier pace, they might have managed to make it back to the tower with minutes to spare before nightfall. However, with the dragon now as exhausted as it was, Arin didn't think it would be in any shape to fly any time soon. He doubted whether it would wake up that day at all…
Deep in thought, Arin tossed the apple up and caught it. He then brought it up to his lips and took a bite. Sweet juice flowed into his mouth as his teeth tore through the crisp flesh. It looked like he was going to be spending the night, so it made sense to fill his own stomach for now. He might as well make a fresher pick for the white-haired man the following morning.
Mind made up, Arin helped himself to a few more apples from the orchard. After that, he followed the footpath leading towards the village he had seen earlier.
He didn't encounter anyone else along the way. Walking out of the cover of trees, he could see a low wall that marked the boundary of the settlement. A weathered contraption of mud and stones, it lay in a state of disrepair. Parts of it had even collapsed entirely.
To Arin, it didn't look like something capable of keeping intruders out; its presence was decorative at best. There wasn't a single person standing by the rusted gate that opened into the settlement, let alone a guard post of any sort.
Sandals crunching on the gravel with each step, Arin slowly walked up to the gate. It suddenly struck him that he hadn't noticed any activity when he'd seen the place from the sky. No people bustling about in the fields, nor any animals making their way back home after a day of grazing. But even as the thought came into his mind, he had already entered the village.
Almost as soon as he did, he realized that the place wasn't as empty as he'd thought at all! A couple of old men had been lounging under some shade a few feet from the wall, just low enough to have been obscured from view. They paused their conversation when he entered. Arin also noticed a small girl at the entrance of one of the houses nearby, who, upon meeting his gaze, shyly hid her face and ran back inside. He heard faint snippets of conversation from the neighboring house. He even saw a lone chicken pecking at some dirt in the shade of a bush.
As he stood taking in the view, one of the old men called out to him in a friendly voice.
'And what brings such a handsome young man to these decrepit hovels?'
The man next to him laughed, retorting playfully, 'Hey! There's no better hovel for miles!'
Arin smiled back. He'd noticed this before, but doing so made his face feel unnaturally stretched. Rin, apparently, had not been a big fan of smiling. Arin just hoped that his expression didn't seem as unnatural as it felt to him.
'Hello,' he greeted a little awkwardly. 'I'm looking for a place to spend the night, if it's not too much trouble.'
One of the men not-so-discretely elbowed his companion in the ribs, saying, 'Well, for someone who looks like you, I know there are quite a few unwed women in town who would happily offer up a spare bed for the night.'
'They would! That's right!' His friend laughed boomingly in agreement.
'Do accept my apologies for their behavior,' a pleasant voice interrupted their banter from somewhere behind Arin.
Startled, he turned around to see a beautiful, apple-cheeked lady, who had come up behind him at some point. Meeting his gaze, she smiled, a lovely dimple appearing on one cheek.
'Our village is small, visitors are rare, and the days are slow. I hope you won't disdain them for taking this chance to joke around with a newcomer.'
'N-No, of course not!'
Leaving Arin to stumble over his words, the young lady continued with a sweet laugh. 'Rest assured. Isolated as we are, we can quite comfortably put you up for the night. With that said, allow me to welcome you to our village!'