Chapter 5

Inside a small inn named Madam Rose's Bouquet, located near the center of the town of Mudfall, a naked dark-skinned child who looked to be nine or ten could be seen lying next to an equally naked elven woman with a caramel skin tone.

Sigh.

"What have I done?" Lillian whispered as she looked at the child that was sharing her bed.

"I guess I got a little carried away," Adrian said as he reached out and fixed her hair, gazing into her emerald green eyes while they lay side by side.

"I... I guess we both did, but..." Lillian was about to ask Adrian to forget about what they had just done and to explain that she truly wasn't that type of person, but before she could formulate a full sentence, tears began to flow from her eyes.

Sniff. Sniff.

"Lillian?" Adrian called her name as he saw her starting to tear up.

Sniff.

Lillian didn't say anything and just let her tears flow. Before Adrian brought her into his embrace, which seemed to have the opposite effect than he had intended, as she began crying loudly into his arms.

....

(ten minutes later)

"Are you alright?" Adrian asked in a compassionate tone while genuinely trying to comfort his newest investment, the dark elf archer, Lillian, as she silently sobbed against his chest.

Lillian didn't answer Adrian and just hugged his waist. But Adrian didn't mind and continued to caress her head while pondering what might have caused her sobbing episode so suddenly after they had sex.

Time passed in silence as the two cuddled and comforted each other. Finally, after twenty minutes of quiet , Lillian spoke.

"Adrian..." Lillian called out his name after breaking away from his chest and looking into his hazel-blue eyes.

"Yes..." Adrian replied while moving his hand toward her face and wiping away her remaining tears.

"Do you have a lover... or someone you're interested in romantically?" Lillian asked, a blush appearing on her face.

"I do have someone I'm interested in, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that she's the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on," Adrian said, staring lovingly into Lillian's eyes.

"Can you tell me her name?" Lillian asked as she pressed her body against Adrian, her emerald green eyes shining with anticipation. 

"Lillian... That's the name of the woman I currently have my eyes on," Adrian smiled and answered before he leaned in closer towards her soft caramel lips.

Hehe.

"Aren't you quite the flirt?" Lillian giggled and then leaned forward to accept his kiss.

....

Inside a small inn with eat-in service, named Madam Rose's Bouquet, located near the center of the town of Mudfall, a elven woman with a caramel skin tone could be seen talking with a dark-skinned child as they had just finished bathing.

"do you want to get something to eat?" Adrian asked while he dried himself off with a damp cloth, he had previously used to clean himself.

"I could eat, but I think this inn's lunchtime specials are no longer available?" Lillian said as she wet a cloth in a bucket of water, squeezed it dry , and then used it to dry herself.

Adrian just nodded before he suggested they go to a food stall nearby , to which Lillian agreed to go after they got dressed.

.... 

(a few minutes later )

"Adrian?" A middle-aged woman with dark brown hair suddenly said as she saw a child she recognized standing next to a dark elf. That was dressed in in leather bikini armor and wearing brown leather satchels, to hold her bow and arrows, one on her back and the other on waist.

"Madam Rose, glad to see you again" Adrian said with a smile, as he had long anticipated this encounter given where he currently was.

"Boy, it is you. God, you had me worried sick, thinking you were lying in a ditch somewhere after you just disappeared out of nowhere!" The middle-aged woman said with a sigh of relief as she spun some room keys in her hand. 

Swiss.

" Hahaha . Did I worry you that much, madam?" Adrian laughed before responding to her.

"You almost gave me a heart attack, boy. And look at what I see in front of me, a child laughing at a mature maiden's worries, " Madam Rose said in a feigned saddened tone while wiping her nonexistent tears from her eyes. Before she burst out into laughter.

Pfft.

"Hahahaha. I can't take myself seriously, so Adrian where have you been all this time?" she asked Adrian with a smile on her face.

"I've been around taking copper-ranked tasks at the guild, hunting wild animals, and selling what I could to the Dark Heart's Smithery. But as much as I would like to go into details, I can't, since I've got a meal date with this maiden next to me, and I don't want to keep her stomach growling after I've promised to take her to one of the best food stalls I know, " Adrian said in a joyful tone.

"Then I won't keep the two of you any longer. It was nice talking to you again, boy," Madam Rose said before she leaned into his ear and whispered,

"And make sure you take good care of your little lady friend over there , okay, mister?" Madam Rose briefly flashed a knowing smile at Lillian and then focused her attention back on Adrian.

"Was it that noticeable?" Adrian asked in a whisper, as he had a hunch about why Madam Rose said those words.

"No. But the walls of our inn are quite thin, and a nosy little bird informed me of your arrival with your companion before they heard... Well, just be more careful and choose an inn with thick walls next time, okay, Adrian, my boy?" Madam Rose said in a teasing tone before she pinched Adrian's cheek, then pulled back from him and gave Lillian a wink, as she wasn't naïve enough to believe that an elven woman like herself couldn't have overheard her and Adrian's conversations simply because they were whispering.

....

(Three hours till Nightfall)

At the gates of Mudfall, located at the north side of the town wall. A party consisting of a lizardman, three humans and a dark elf. could be seen passing through the exit gate of the town, while riding in a lizard drawn carriage. 

"Kid, I know you're a wizard and all, but what kind of magic did you cast on our dear little Lilian to have her acting like this?" the lizardman said in a teasing tone while looking at a dark elf who was lovingly laying her head down on the shoulders of a dark-skinned child who claimed to be thirteen.

"Oh, come on , Zarr. Don 't tease our little wizard friend like that," a red-haired woman said while cleaning her battle axe.

"Oh, right, you two were passed out an-actually... I'll tell you guys after we're back," a dark-skinned man was about to share the scandal he had witnessed at the tavern while the two had passed out but decided against it, as he didn't want to potentially start a feud between the relatively new couple in front of him.

February 9th of the holy calendar.Within a lizard-drawn carriage that was traveling out of Mudfall, a group of Adventurers, consisting of two swordsmen , an axe wielder , a self-proclaimed wizard, and an elven archer, traveled together toward the Whispering Forest in search of wealth and adventure.