A night on the fair

Jay at first thought he had heard wrong and then inquired about Mia's comment. She stated that not only she but Haggard and about half of the garrison knew how close the two had gotten.

As for Mia, it was no problem at all if he added a skilled scout to his "team". Even the Commander who had taken her in from a young age was seemingly pleased with her choice, though that was no wonder as he had high hopes for Jay.

"Is it possible to get a room for tonight?"J.

"Do you just need it to freshen up or really for the night, huh?" M.

"Well, that depends… Sorry." J.

Mia only shook her head with a grin to the youth who then hurriedly fled into the kitchen. Like he had feared the atmosphere had become strange, unrelated to Mia gladly giving her consent.

To distract himself and not get nervous Jay helped Marcus in the kitchen for a while until Mia came in and brought the key to his room, stating he should get ready not to let a beauty wait.

Doing as his savior from back then said, Jay went up to wash and style himself as he wanted to look good for Kathariel. Then he chose some of his more casual clothes as neither his adventurer gear nor even slightly formal clothes would fit the situation.

They were going to visit a fair after all, even if Jay had no idea what it meant in this world.

Back down in the dining hall the girls all nodded to his appearance and wished him a joyful evening. Except Ellie that is, as she kept grumbling at a table in the corner. Knowing he had no way of upping her mood, Jay said goodbye and left the Inn.

On his way over to the Garrison he already saw the bustling on the fair, though all he really could see was the tents back and the guests as he could peek through the gaps. The noises though were enough to tell him that the fair should be quite similar to the ones back in his old world.

Then he reached the Garrison and like always didn't need to identify himself. The Guards even commented that he got eagerly awaited…

Jay entered the Garrison and made his way over to the main building. He barely managed to pass the front door when a beautiful redhead elf came walking down the stairs. She wore a plain but beautiful yellow dress and captivated Jay's eyes until she stood right before him with a wide grin.

"You look breathtaking!" J.

"Don't flatter me too much, but thank you. You as well!" K.

Even though she tried to answer smartly, her fierce blush from the compliment betrayed her. But Jay had meant what he said.

The dress she wore was plain but tight fit, clinging to her sporty figure. It didn't even reach her knees, showing of her slender and smooth legs, though it was by no means revealing.

Jay offered her his arm and she hooked in, then the two went down the hallway to the door. It was then that Commander Haggard looked out of the meeting room, smiled wide and gave Jay a thumbs up. Kathariel of course noticed it, but she seemingly took no offense and only shook her head smiling about the old man.

In the end leaving the Garrison caused way more attention than either of the two had wanted. While most of the soldiers only greeted or applauded, some of the men even whistled out loud. They all had come to see their Lieutenant off with her hopefully soon to be boyfriend.

Finally out on the road, Kathariel breathed a sigh of relieve.

While she hadn't showed it, she really was nervous so Jay took her hand and directly marched on. Distraction was the best she could do to calm her nerves, and what better distraction was there than a fair?

Pulling her by small and slender hand, Jay crossed the last few dozens of steps in a hurry and in no time passed the entrance gate together with Kathariel. While he had been surprised there was no entrance fee to pay, it was nothing in compare to how the fare looked from inside.

There were way more of the dark violet tents that Jay had seen getting erected before, all in different sizes, as well as other stands. On the far end of the fair Jay spotted even a stage, though it didn't seem to be in use at that moment from what Jay could see through the crowd.

After glancing around once, it was Kathariel that took the lead again, pulling Jay after her towards the closest tent.

"So, where to first?" K.

"That's up to you. I'm still slightly ...overwhelmed!" J.

Following a laugh showing her agreement with Jay, Kathariel pulled him further to the second tent from where they started. As they passed the first Jay got a glimpse at what was in the first smaller tent and had spotted a Goblin handing out tickets.

The second tent held yet another surprise as a big and burly Tauren was happily cooking and serving food from a pot while a slender and exotic looking elf kept serving drinks.

After Kathariel waved her over she ordered two drinks Jay had no idea of what they were. A minute later he held a decorated mug in his hands just like Kathariel next to him and tasted it through a drinking straw. What the beautiful redhead had chosen was a fruity and sweet rum cocktail that was really tasty.

While still drinking she nudged Jay to follow her and they went to the next attraction.

Jay first thought he was seeing wrong, but some crazy engineer had seemingly created steam powered mini tanks that could be remote controlled. In a small area there were four of them fighting each other in something like a battle royal.

The Child, young man and adult from another world in Jay took over when he got the chance to. For the next twenty minutes he decimated his opponents in the small ring. Over quite a few rounds, all ending with the other tanks toppling over, Jay won quite a lot of prize tickets.

Only when the female Orc watching over the attraction had come walking over anew and stated not too amused that others wanted to play as well, did Jay leave his terminal. Kathariel had given it a try as well, but Jay then mercilessly attacked her remote controlled tank as well, ending in her pouting.

But as Jay had paid for it and wanted to give her the tickets, she declined and said it had been a joke. Then she pointed towards another attraction and Jay felt slight panic.

What he saw there was a big cannon that just then shot somebody diagonally over the crowd on the fair and into a giant web installed there. There had even been target markings and the moment the person hit one, a bell rang out.

Kathariel was watching this as well but only then understood the look on Jay's face.

"Not that one! Look over there…" K.

As Jay looked over to where she pointed, some yards next to the giant cannon, he found a tall and burly woman arm wrestling with an Adventurer. It only took a few seconds for the man to loose and the small crowd surrounding them dispersed.

Jay followed Kathariel over there and they got the rules explained. For a small fee one could challenge Kerry Hicks, the "strongest woman alive", in arm wrestling. Should they manage to stall her or even win, they would gain a ticket or even two.

Without wait Kathariel accepted the challenge, only to get defeated in a mere second. Jay paid for two more rounds but after she lost once more, Kathariel declined with a pout and asked Jay to switch with her. He had found out their trick long before they started of course. A guy called Arnold that hid in with the spectators was the true culprit there as he used a mana string affixed to Kerry's arm to toss it and make her win with ease, even against the strongest opponents.

Holding his arm up, Jay didn't need to put much strength into it when they started the last round.

Jay had simply circulated his mana to cut the string so Kerry got no support. He could see the shock in her eyes for a moment and then watched as the surprisingly strong woman gave it her all to move his arm, but it was for naught.

A moment later Jay pulled his arm back with a smile and stated it was a draw, even waiving his wins though Kathariel claimed them. As Jay shot Arnold a glance, she was already zipping over to the next tent.

Like Jay did with his prize before, she abstained to participate in this though and Jay was more than glad. Free hugs from a ten foot ogre where just what they sounded like: crushing!

When he spotted tables sat up on the opposite side of the fare, Jay asked Kathariel if she wanted to eat something. Following her nodding, they strolled over and found a free spot right in the middle. Not even a minute later the waiter came limping over and donned them the menu.

Jay was a bit baffled to his looks and Kathariel looked completely shocked. The reason was not only his metal jaw but the fact that it was an Undead. But aside from a strange dialect and horrendous voice, the man welcomed them friendly and even explained the menu of the day.

All in all the food was quite good and the prices completely reasonable. If they ignored the waiter and the fact that a Goblin and a somehow female looking Tauren were the chefs, this would have been a completely normal restaurant.

With their bellies full, the two of them continued their exploration of the fair for some time until the beautiful redhead kept standing at a stall selling brooches, rings, chains and other trinkets. They took their time and Jay used it to analyze each and every thing there. While the displayed goods looked like there were multiple of the same kind, most of those were of lesser quality or even had no enchantments at all. Only a few of them were of higher and even really good quality.

A certain brooch had picked Kathariel's interest and as Jay saw it was one of superior quality, he decided to buy it for her. She told him that she could afford it herself but Jay ignored her. There was the situation where the merchant tried to exchange the darkmoon-brooch with a lesser quality one, but Jay demanded it to be the one she had held. After he affixed the brooch to her dress she noticed it was a magical one and from then on couldn't help but keep smiling wide.

Even when they reached the next stall where a female orc was reigning in some kids, the Elf's expression didn't change.

As he looked more precisely, Jay noticed it wasn't really a stall but a big cart where countless furs and the likes got placed on. Just when he tried to read a small wooden sign set up next to it, a quest prompt appeared before his eyes, asking him to donate to the fair in exchange for reputation points.

After accepting it, he closed the window and left the place as the Orc hadn't even reacted to them coming there and kept reprimanding the - seemingly also an orc - kid. From there Jay pulled Kathariel over to the next attraction where they could trow rings over cones. He paid for three rounds each and both of them played successful.

To his surprise he didn't only gain tickets this time but also gained reputation how his System notified him.

He decided to ignore the fact and continued his fun date with Kathariel, strolling over the fair until they reached the other side of it. He hadn't really noticed it but it seemed the number of visitors had risen once again, or at least the area they had ended in was more crowded.

At that moment they stood near the set up stage Jay had wondered about before.

"Hey, I was wondering... do you know what the stage is for?" J.

"That's the reason I wanted you to come here today…" K.

Kathariel smiled beautiful at Jay but didn't disclose anything more. She looked around for a moment and then pulled him even closer to the stage. Just as they reached a spot at the center, not even ten yards from the quite big stage did a small Goblin in a suit, complete with a top-hat and white gloves, walk onto it.

"Ladies and Gentlewomen, dear guests and Adventurers, everybody! I welcome you to today's special attraction on our beloved Midnight Fair: The elite brain smashers!!!! Have fun and don't forget to redeem your tickets, 'cause you know: everybody is a winner!"

The moment the Goblin's screechy voice ended, the thick black curtain behind him got pulled open, revealing a Tauren with a giant guitar on the stage. Further behind it, Jay could see a blue skinned humanoid he couldn't analyze as a set of drums blocked his view. To the side stood a tall blonde Elven guy, holding a double headed guitar, while on the other side was yet another Undead holding a gigantic bass.

"I totally love their music!" K.

As if to signal the band to start, the moment Kathariel had gotten her comment out, the loud sound of the guitar made the crowd scream. Not having expected to come across heavy metal like sounding music in this world, Jay couldn't help but smile and enjoy the concert.

A slender beauty jumping around next to him with the right bounce on her and occasional head banging was the true reason of course.

More than two hours after the initial surprise for Jay, the rock concert ended. All the people around Jay and Kathariel had danced like them and the overall atmosphere was great. The two walked over to a tent where they got a few drinks, just like they had done in the small pause at the middle of the concert.

Another hour later they left the fair in high spirits and in Kathariel's case slightly tipsy. Jay had noticed it before, but as she had wanted one more drink he had given in while demanding that he would therefore bring her home without complaints. Her mischievous grin didn't escape his eyes in that moment, but it didn't really matter to Jay anyways.

On their way back Jay supported Kathariel a bit, though it was more holding her in his arm while walking than anything else. She didn't complain and even held him herself, making both feel like they were a couple since a while.

A short bit before they reached the Garrison, Kathariel suddenly asked where Jay was staying the night. He got her intention and explained that he booked a room for himself as he had found anything else inappropriate. The beauty in his arms knew he was "close" to Mia and understood what he meant, blushing a bit.

Jay wasn't sure if it was due to the fact of her knowing he already had some relationship or because he was so interested in her to even book a room for himself.

As they closed in on the front gate of the garrison, Kathariel pulled her arm back but showed no signs he had to pull back as well. Jay still did so and under the looks of the two guards stationed there, the atmosphere got slightly awkward until…

"You know, I came across a reeealy nice rum a while ago. As I'm sure you'd like it, want to have a last drink for tonight? It's the least I can do after you paid the whole evening…" K.