Food Glorious food!
Previously:
“Tora wanted me to tell you to something”.
“This is the last thing he said. ‘Watch out for his Maid, Ultri.’ Whether you believe this or not is up to you” Mace replied firmly.
“What?!”
Present:
“What do you mean by that?!” she questioned in haste.
“Tora wanted him to say something? what could he mean by that, he’s Tora, isn’t he?” she thought; but right now what’s more important is the statement he made regarding the maid.
“I said what he told you, watch out for Edward and his maid, well Ultri was one of the many he’d seen with Edward but she’s the only one he could name.”
“And don’t call me Tora anymore” He replied as if knowing what she’s thinking.
“You’ve got to be lying, we’ve loved each other for 4 years. Ever since you’ve been sent away - I’ve been lonely without you being there for me and he’d come to my aid in your absence. He loves me and I love him, Tora, aren’t you taking your jealousy a bit too far-” she quickly realised what she’d said to Tora. She never wanted him to know that she knew his feelings and yet couldn’t reciprocate it but it’d slipped out mistakenly.
Mace looked at her dead in the eye. A cold glare directly into the core of her being before repeating what he’d said.
“Believe it or not and there’s nothing for me to be jealous about. The old Tora would have been jealous but he’s not here no more.”
“What?! What do you mean Tora’s not here anymore? You’re Tora.” she replied, attempting to take the attention away from what she’d said earlier.
Mace knew this all to well but didn’t care enough to do anything about it.
“The Tora you knew and cared for dearly, well not dear enough since you’re marrying his worst enemy and bully… anyway, he’s Dead.”
“…”
she was stunned by those bold words...
“He’s dead. Take it how you will, so don’t call me by his name anymore. My name Is Mace. Nothing More, Nothing Less.” Mace replied, beginning to succumb to his weakening, hunger-stricken body.
“Figuratively, he meant it figuratively.” she thought to herself.
She took It as if he’s stating that he’s old ways are no more and that he’s a new man but failed to take it literally.
Mace saw this too but once again didn’t have enough energy nor care to inform her properly.
“Now leave. Whatever you do with his last advice is up to you.”
She left the shed, contemplating what’d occurred all the while clicking her heels steadily down the broken footway. It lead to and from the shed from a long stretch of road that goes beyond the horizon on one side and towards the Kingdom on the other.
Mace looked out to see what she’d arrived here on. He was thinking that it would take quite a while to get here from anywhere, going off from Tora’s memories;
She’d looked like she’d just arrived directly from the Capital City so he was curious to see what brought her here. He peered out of the makeshift window and saw 2 built, black stallions with red strip of hair running from the top of their heads to the tail. They didn’t look like normal horses that Mace knew from Earth, they were twice as big, and their eyes and mannerism screamed ferocity at anyone that laid their gaze upon them. These two beasts were carrying a dark red coach with flags and ribbons containing the Clements’ crest - the Clements being Leyla’s family name. They were one of the minor noble families in Rosa Kingdom who are well versed in Water Magic so the marriage between her and Edward Waterlily looked to establish closeness between the two Water proficient families.
After arriving at the coach, Leyla looked a final time towards the window, hoping to see Mace looking out but he was already lying on the floor – weakened due to the intense hunger. She sighed and looked away, entering her coach that had been opened for her by her butler.
~Back in the shed~
Mace grew restless.
“SYSTEM” He shouted, now in even more rush for food.
{in the Mind of Mace}
[System activated]
Food….
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: Pity]
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: Shock]
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: worry]
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: shock]
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: sorrow]
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: Shock]
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: Annoyance]
[Alert: Leyla’s Emotion: anger]
[--]
[--]
[--]
Turn it off, I don’t need a large income of notifications right now, just show me how much I have.
[Ep: 4.1]
4?!! F...
What could I get with that!!!
[2 full course meals]
BUY
[Deduct 4 Eps]
{out of Mace’s Mind}
On the floor appeared 8 plates of food. The foods containing meat, bread, fish etc all heated and cooked to perfection.
Mace’s mouth began to water!
“FOOD!!” he exclaimed in boundless joy.
Mace began to dig down on the first two plates instantaneously. The meal felt holy with every single bite. Mace cried tears of genuine joy while stuffing his meal down.
He began to choke on the meal and looked for any sort of water around.
“Water!!” he thought, and the system instantly deducted the remaining 0.1 Ep for the bottle of beverage.
Mace began to drink it down and luckily survived.
“That was close” he thought - breathing heavily.
After a few more minutes of eating, Mace had finally finished his meal. His stomach full to the brim and his face containing the largest grin.
{in the Mind of Mace}
Bell, you there
[Yes Master]
Show me how much Ep I have left now.
{{Name: Mace}}
{{… Level: 0}}
{{Ep: 0}}
{{Rp: 0}}
{{System Level: 0}}
{{Experience Points: 0}}
Wow, I used all those Eps for that one meal and drink. I’ve got nothing left now…
[That’s correct. Will you begin hunting?]
Hunting? You mean for experience points or Ep.
[Currently with your body being unfit for battles along with your … level being Zero, you can’t hunt for experience points just yet. Instead look to make 10000 Eps to begin the upgrade for your …]
10 Thousand Ep?! Isn’t that a too much?
[The System level is currently Level 0. This is very dangerous as it can't provide you aid other than providing provisions. When you level up your system, you'll be able to receive Minor Missions.]
Well…
…
Fine… I need to get to moving right now, I must reach the nearest town outside the kingdom by midnight at least.
[currently it’s 1.30pm, for Master to reach the nearest town, it’ll take more than just till midnight]
Stop being pessimistic damn it.
[The calculations show that-]
ahh, the more we wait, the more sunlight we burn!
Let’s head out!
{out of Mace’s Mind}
Mace began to collect the little items around the small shed of a house. Knife, coat, the half full bottle of water etc.
“I’m ready”. Mace came out with a white shirt that Tora had worn when going to the capital as well as short green pants that went up to his knees. He’d held his jacket in his hand and had all the other items within a bag that he put on his back. The item’s of this world – when it came to clothing, don't differ much from Earth – at least, that’s what Mace had believed.
[Master, the nearest town is to the left. The shed faces towards the Kingdom and the area around you is a field full of sunflowers and grass so it could be a bit confusing]
“No need to worry. I have you here.”
[That’s true]
To be continued…