Leon

Leon

I was sitting at a table in what had been dubbed "the mess hall".

I stared at the food before me.

It was all I could do to not puke after having a bite.

It was completely tasteless yet it was slimy and stuck to one's teeth. You had to swallow several times for it to really go down.

"It can't be that bad, right?" Asseylum asked as she sat across from me.

She took a spoonful of the soup into her mouth.

Her expression was hilarious, yet I couldn't bring myself to laugh as I was just the same.

After swallowing it with a painful expression, she said, "I think I'd rather eat monsters."

"I know how you feel. This stuff is disgusting." I said.

There was a somewhat long pause before she said, "So, should I call you Prince Leon from now on?"

I managed to force another spoonful down before saying, "Leon is fine. I doubt noble identities will help us much here. According to that countdown we have almost three days before the next floor opens. When it does, what will you do? Will a noble title help you then?"

"Fair enough. I shall dispense with formalities then. What do you plan to do from now on?" Asseylum asked.

"About him you mean? Nothing. Even if we wanted to, I doubt we could do something about the current situation. For now, it's better to be prudent." I said.

"You make a fair point however, we can't just leave it like this." Asseylum said.

"Alright, then you go deal with him." I said.

"What's that, you don't have the guts to do it yourself? If that's the case, don't try and goad me into doing it for you. I will deal with him on my own terms." I said after a momentary pause.

I turned my attention back to my food, slowly swallowing it down, little by little.