Ed and Bailis stared at the hard wooden plank bed that was clearly not spacious enough for two people to stretch out comfortably.
They fell into silence together.
“What should we do?”
Ed asked for the second time.
“I don’t know.” Bailis looked completely lost.
“Alright then.”
Ed sighed again while rubbing his forehead.
“I’ll ask the innkeeper later and see if I can find some things to set up a floor bed. No matter what, it’s better than sleeping on rocks.”
“Sleeping on the floor?”
The girl relaxed a little and let out a soft breath.
“Then remember to lay down several layers, Ed. If it’s too thin, my back will ache.”
Ed shot her a strange look but said nothing. He simply pointed toward the bathroom attached to the room.
“Go take a bath first,” he said.
“We’ve stayed in that cave for so many days. I’m afraid your body might start to smell musty.”
Hearing this, the girl quickly lowered her head to sniff herself.
But her clothes were stained with blood splattered from the demon wolves.
Aside from the pungent smell of blood, she could not detect anything else.
“There is no musty smell…” she muttered softly. Yet her body obediently moved toward the bathroom.
“Um… Ed?”
At the bathroom door, she suddenly turned back and called out to the boy who was about to leave the room to find materials for the floor bed.
“What is it?”
Her eyes, as brilliant as rubies, stared directly at him.
“Don’t peek, okay?”
Ed could not help but laugh.
“Do I look like that kind of person?”
“Doesn’t… seem like it.” Bailis hesitated.
Come to think of it, if Ed truly had no sense of decency, whether she could stand here properly right now would be questionable.
Ed shrugged.
“Instead of worrying about that kind of thing, hurry up and wash. Once you’re done, it’ll be my turn.”
He tugged at the tattered cloak on his body, covered in large patches of bloodstains, and pulled at the collar of his leather armor.
“I haven’t taken a single bath since leaving Hilos. My body smells of both sweat and blood. I feel like I’ve fermented into some strange odor.”
“How strange?” the girl asked curiously.
“How come I didn’t smell it?”
“Maybe you’re used to it. Anyway, I’m heading out now.”
With that, Ed walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Then he opened the door again.
“I left the new clothes on the bed. Remember to grab them yourself. The narrower set is for you, and the wider set is for me. Don’t be an idiot and mix them up.”
Bang.
The door closed once more.
The girl stomped her foot. The wooden floor let out a creak, creak of protest.
“Who are you calling an idiot? You’re the idiot!”
“Idiot Ed!”
The two of them quickly washed themselves clean.
Bailis, barefoot, plopped down quite naturally onto the floor bed that Ed had just prepared.
“Ah, a soft bed.” She sighed softly. “I thought I would never be able to sleep in a bed again for the rest of my life.”
Ed stood by the window, squinting as he watched the bustling adventurers downstairs setting out from the town in groups.
“Before you left Hilos, weren’t you living like this too?” he asked casually.
“That’s—completely different,” Bailis drawled.
The floor bed Ed had prepared was right next to the wooden bed.
She scooted over on her bottom, stretched out horizontally, tilted her head back, and extended her arms, lazily leaning against the edge of the bed.
The girl had just bathed and wore only a thin garment. Her slightly open collar revealed a glimpse of flawless white skin.
Her gently curved body rose and fell with each breath.
Ed glanced over and happened to catch this scene. He immediately turned his face away somewhat unnaturally.
“How is it different?”
As if trying to hide his awkwardness, he continued staring out the window as he asked.
The adventurers outside had already left the downstairs area.
There were temporarily no more adventurers in sight nearby—except for one somewhat familiar young adventurer who was looking around.
“It’s different in every single way!”
The girl showed no awareness of her current appearance.
She simply gestured with her hands, as if trying to measure the distance between her past and present lives that way.
“My home back in Hilos was shabby too, but at least there was a bed. I didn’t have to eat the same grilled fish every single day.”
The silver-haired witch’s small face scrunched up tightly.
“Now, the smell of grilled fish alone makes me want to throw up.” She complained.
“Want to eat something delicious?”
“Definitely!” Bailis suddenly jumped up from the floor bed.
Her beautiful silver hair fluttered in the air.
“Ever since we left the cave, we haven’t had even one breadcrumb! I feel like I’m going to starve flat!”
Ed, by watching the young adventurer who seemed to be searching for someone, finally managed to shake off that strange and awkward feeling.
“Alright. I’ll take you later then.”
He said while rubbing his brow.
The young adventurer seemed unable to find his target.
He was eventually pulled away by a young girl with light purple hair and disappeared from the window’s view.
“Not right now?”
Ed was actually feeling quite tired.
From breaking through the final layer of rock, to dealing with the demon wolf pack, and finally rushing all the way to Loren Town, it had taken nearly an entire morning.
Although some “accidents” had refreshed him a bit, the exhaustion in his body could not be concealed.
“Wait a moment. I’m feeling a little sleepy. Let me take a short nap first, just ten minutes.”
He yawned, turned around, and directed his gaze toward the girl standing on the floor bed.
The two of them stared at each other like that.
The girl blinked.
“What?” she asked.
“I need to rest,” he said. “But right now, you’ve taken my spot.”
“Your spot?” The girl turned her head to look at the wooden bed.
“Isn’t this still empty?”
When she turned back around, a finger suddenly poked her forehead.
She stumbled back two steps and sat down heavily on the wooden bed.
“Why did you suddenly poke me!” She glared at the boy.
“There we go.”
Ed took off his shoes and sat down in the position where the girl had just been standing.
“Now I have a spot to rest.”
“Eh?”
Bailis stared blankly as the boy lay down on the floor bed she had thought was meant for her.
“Why… I… I thought…”
She suddenly became incoherent.
Ed let out another long yawn.
“Did you really think I would make you sleep on the floor?”
He asked with his back facing Bailis.
“Come on, no matter what, I am still from a noble family. Although I didn’t properly learn the etiquette my family taught me, I still remember the general idea—at the very least, I wouldn’t let a girl younger than myself sleep on the floor while I take the bed. If others heard about that, I would be laughed at.”
“Noble?” Bailis sat dazed on the bed.
“Yes, noble.”
Ed continued speaking, his voice growing softer. “I should have told you my full name—Ed Grieves.”
Bailis understood.
In this world, ordinary people like her usually did not have family names.
Only nobles possessed surnames that represented their families.
Ed let out a third yawn.
“Mm… I’m really sleepy. Can you stop disturbing me for a bit? Just a while, just a while is fine.”
But Bailis suddenly showed an angry expression.
She yanked hard with her hand and pulled the unprepared boy straight up into a sitting position from the floor bed!
“Bailis?” Ed looked bewildered.
“You!” She stood up and pointed at the bed behind her.
“Come sleep here! I am not some little girl who needs you to take care of her in every single way! I am a witch, the witch Bailis!”
Ed was startled by her loud voice, and much of his drowsiness faded.
“Shh, keep your voice down. It’ll be trouble if someone hears!”
“I don’t care!” The girl stubbornly fixed her gaze on him.
“Anyway, you have to sleep on the bed!”
“Fine, fine.” Ed helplessly raised his hands in surrender.
“I’ll go, I’ll go. Then what about you? What will you do?”
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” she said as if it were obvious.
“It’s still better than rocks anyway.”
“This is completely messed up.” Ed sighed sorrowfully.
“If my father is alright, he would definitely criticize me. He definitely would.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.