Chapter
2 –Bearing One Another
I feel like we’re lost. We’ve been wandering
around for what feels like hours and I’m sure we’ve lost our pursuers by now. “Are
we any closer to the town yet?”
“Uh, yes! We’re almost there. It’s just a bit
further!” I don’t trust that, ‘uh’, part of what she said, and sure enough, it
feels like it takes us another thirty minutes before we actually reach a town. “Ta-da!
I told you I’d get you here.” Sure, sure. I just want to rest now, so we head through
the town’s gates and go into an inn where we take a seat and look at the menu
before a waitress comes to us.
“Hiya! It’s good to see new faces in town.”
“We just got married! My name is Persephone.”
“We aren’t officially married yet.”
“But you said that God told you that I’m your
wife-to-be, so we basically are married.”
“Regardless, I’ll give you two the newlywed’s
discount. What would you two like to eat and drink?” After giving the waitress
our order, I look around the inn to see the many kinds of people here. It
still astounds me to see both normal humans and beastmen together in the same
room as if nothing is strange. Men with the heads of elephants, bodies of minotaurs,
legs of kangaroos, and so on are just some of the varieties of beastmen in this
room besides the bunny woman who took our order. It’s said that people being
born as beastmen is a result of the war that ended the future. The few who come
from the East say that this is the only place in the world that has beastmen and
that some of them mysteriously make their way from here to the East without a
boat by traversing a fog.
An archer approaches us and says, “Excuse me.
You wouldn’t happen to be Dominic, would you?”
“Yes, I am.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. Your unit passed
by about three hours ago. They gave us a description of what you look like and
told us that God told you what to do to obtain victory for them in their battle
against that beastmen stronghold that was just down the road.”
“They passed by here three hours ago?”
“Yeah. They immediately began the attack after
you lured away the wall’s defenses, won the battle in roughly twenty minutes,
and came back here to get help in trying to find you. I’m glad to see you’re
okay.”
We really were lost in the forest for hours
then. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to get back to them and back home as soon as I can.”
As the rabbit woman comes back with our meal,
she suggests, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation because of my big
ears. Why don’t you stay a bit? You two look exhausted.”
“She’s right, Dominic. I could just have one
of the mages conjure and send a messenger pigeon so that Priscilla and command know
that you’re alive.”
“Yeah, I think we should take their advice
and get some rest before heading out again. I’m exhausted.”
“I guess you guys are right.” The thought of
going back home and impressing Priscilla is still a priority in my mind when it
shouldn’t be. I did what God asked and now my new task is to be with
Persephone. “We’ll take a room for the night, please.”
“Dinner, the room, and tomorrow’s breakfast
will be on us because of your recent victory, Mr. Famous.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Is this what feeling
important is like? Is this what Priscilla experienced after all her notable
victories and accomplishments? I sure could get used to it, but knowing this is
just my fifteen minutes of fame, I enjoy it while it lasts. When I head into
the room given to us, I hardly take note of what’s in it and what Persephone is
saying to me before I just drop down in bed and fall asleep seconds later.
I wake up feeling well-rested and Persephone
lying on top of me. She looks at me, smiles, and then gives me a kiss on the
cheek. “Good morning!”
Again, with all the kisses. “You couldn’t
sleep anywhere else on the bed or in the room?”
“There’s nowhere else to and isn’t sleeping
on top of each other something that married people do?”
“Again, we’re not officially married yet.
Save sleeping together until after that.”
“Okay. Let’s go get our free breakfast. I’m
starving!”
Going downstairs, the rabbit woman from last
night comes to our table. “Good morning. Did you two lovebirds get a good night's
sleep?”
“We did! It was an especially nice night
because we cuddled together.”
“Persephone, you’re not just supposed to tell
people stuff like that.”
“Haha, well I’m glad you’ve enjoyed your night
together. Now, what would you like to eat?” After giving our order, I see that
the woman’s husband, who is half cat, complains to her that they haven’t
cuddled up like we did in a while to which she says that they’ll cuddle
tonight. We get our food soon after and start eating.
“So, how did you get that scar over your right
eye?”
“I got it during an intense battle. Why?”
“It just bothers me seeing you have it for
some reason. Does it bother you?”
“No, not at all. It hasn’t affected how I aim
my bow either. In fact, I’m more used to focusing on single targets now and can
do so pretty well.”
“Okay, but I still feel like I should do
something to make it better.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to kiss it or anything
to make it better.”
“Drat! How did you know that’s what I was thinking
about doing?”
“Because that’s what you’ve been doing when
you feel like it’s appropriate.” Persephone and I finish our breakfast, thank
the innkeepers for their hospitality, and walk outside.
“Okay. Where to now?”
“I’d like to head back home-”
“Sir Dominic! We could use your help! The
beastmen and bandits that were chasing you yesterday are out for revenge and
are taking it out on travelers along the road.”
“Really?! We better help them out, Dominic! They’re
after us after all.”
Seeing as how it would be selfish to say no,
I agree to help and conjure my crossbow. I also tell the other guards that we
won’t need their help, especially since I’m sure that Persephone would
accidentally hurt them. They tell us where the last attack was and investigate
the site. The bodies lay in body bags and there are dentations in the ground that
indicate the heaviness of the weapons of the beastmen. I also see obvious
tracks in the ground, which means the assailants could want us to follow it and
there’s a trap waiting for us. Following the trail, we find a group of about
ten beastmen gathered together dividing their spoils and preparing to eat their
captives and do things I’d rather not think about.
The head of the group seems to be a pigman
because of how he’s commanding each and every one of them. “Enjoy yourselves,
but don’t rest for too long. That trail we left and the trouble we’ve caused so
far should bring our prey to us soon enough, and we will soon get our revenge!”
The beastmen cheer at the pigman’s words as he holds a bottle of whiskey and
then downs in it a single glub. “The men of the Church will learn of the
strength of the beastmen and our gods while our brethren will learn of the foolishness
of their decision to serve them.”
“Alright, I’m ready! Let’s get to blasting!”
“Wait, hold on!” Before I can stop Persephone,
she fires several explosive arrows into the crowd of beastmen killing a couple,
injuring a few, and taking them all by surprise.
“Pick yourselves up, fools! You should’ve
known better than to bunch up because of that idiot with the explosive bow!”
“I’ll show you who’s an idiot!” Persephone
continues to wildly fire at the beastmen managing to kill another three and
injuring five. I’ve been finishing off the injured, so this group of beastmen
is quickly defeated even when their scouts and nearby help come by as
Persephone and I use the same tactic of focusing on one at a time and scattering
them with her explosive arrows.
“We did it! How did I do, Dominic?” As I survey
the carnage we caused, I look for the hostages and am both relieved and mortified
to see that they’re injured and not dead.
“Help me with the captives! They must’ve
gotten hurt during the fight.” Checking on their injuries, I do my best to
administer first aid to them to give them temporary relief.
“Wait, was this my fault?”
“Who else could have been when the
beastmen were focusing on us? Now, help me heal these people and get them
up.” Persephone does as I saw and at least she’s able to clean and wrap wounds
properly. Once we get everyone back to town, the guards and townspeople thank
us and the innkeepers from before inviting us for a free meal and another free
night at their inn. While we eat, I see that Persephone is still demoralized as
she tepidly eats and hasn’t looked at me in a while.
There’s no use being mad at her so I try to
put on my best smile as I say, “Are you okay?”
“No, not at all because of what I did. I was
reckless like always and got innocent people hurt again.”
“What do you mean again?”
“While training to be an archer, I got people
hurt and my parents sent me to the stronghold we met at. I was there to train
to be an archer and even there, people got hurt and I was so afraid of hurting
other people that I didn’t fight back when the beastmen attacked us. I’m worse
than useless!”
“No, you’re not. Without your help, I wouldn’t
have survived the last couple of battles. You just need more training. I’ll
help you with that tomorrow.”
“Really?! You’re going to help me become a
better archer?”
“Yes, I am going to be your husband after all,
which means I’m going to help you with all your needs and be here for you
whenever you need me.” Why do I feel like I’m going to regret saying that?
“Yay!” Persephone says before leaning over the
table to kiss me on the cheek during which she knocks over our drinks and
plates onto the floor. “Ah! I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t worry about it! It’s a free meal
anyway and it was worth seeing you two act cute together.”
I can already tell that the rest of my life
is going to involve me having to be really patient with Persephone. I know for
a fact it’s going to be painful and I pray to God that he gives me the strength
to deal with this woman He’s entrusted to me.
