Narrator's POV
"I'm...your wife?"
A few seconds of awkward silence passed on that calm dirt road, the food stall belonging to The Chef was still blocking the way, and outside of the it, The Hero, The Chef and The Shadow just remained entirely in silence.
The Shadow's blue eyes slowly stared to the side, clearly embarrassed by what she had just said.
The Hero's only golden eyes was already locked onto his mother, staring at her blankly.
While The Chef herself just blinked innocently at her son with a little smile.
"That's what you get!" A voice came out of The Hero's metal box.
"Did that box just talk?" The Silver-haired thief blinked a little with some confusion.
In response, The Hero just turned around and gave one step forward, the ground cracking a little as he had already gotten completely ready to run away as fast as possible
But the way that The Chef's hand closed around him wrist had completely stopped him from immediately fleeing the scene.
"Where are you going, dear?" The crimson-haired woman asked with a smile.
"I have a very important mission, mom, I can't stay for long" He answered blankly trying to free himself from his mother's grasp.
"But you just got here~"
"It's VERY important, mom" a small grunt came out of him as he continued to try and yank his hand free.
"More important than your mother?"
"...I guess I can stay for lunch..." A defeated sigh came out of him.
"Yay~ I'll go prepare something then" The Chef finally let go of her son's wrist, then her eyes moved from him, to The Shadow "You two...can get to know each other in the meantime" a little smirk formed on her face.
The Chef just hopped her way back into the food stall with a wide and clearly happy smile, leaving The Hero and The Shadow outside in another awkward silence.
"So..." The Shadow tried to strike conversation. "You like food?" Clearly in a horrible way.
.....
"Here it is~"
The Chef happily mused as she set 2 plates on a table inside the stall, The Hero, The Shadow and even the still limbless Demon King remained sitting on their chairs as the crimson-haired woman set down the other 2 plates.
"Please eat to your hearts content" Sitting down, The Chef poured some water in each of their glasses. "Mr.Demon King, should I spoon feed you?"
"Please do" the Demon said.
"Don't, I'll do it mom" The Hero voice turned stern as he stared at the Demon.
"No! You'll purposely poke my tongue with the fork" The Demon King barked at the one-eyed Hero.
"Don't complain, you're the Demon King"
"Sweetie, don't be so rude to our guest" The Chef pouted.
"He's a Demon not a guest"
While the three started to go back and forth, The Shadow just stared in silence as she gave a small sip of her glass of water, her other hand already taking the fork to poke the sliced meat.
"I feel so out of place..." She thought looking at the scene.
"Hmph! Fine, I guess beating some shady, scrawny guy makes you man enough to not obey your mother" The Chef crossed her arms over her chest looking away seemingly offended.
"Weren't you on my side?!" The Demon King blurted out.
"Mom, just eat! I'll take care of this guy" The Hero grabbed a fork, stabbing a small slice of meat and stuffing it right on the Demon King's mouth. "He bites and if he ends up hurting you I'll have to cut off his head as well"
"Awwww~ so you're just worried about your mommy~?" The Chef immediately smiled having completely flipped her mood.
"This woman changes moods too quickly..." The Shadow thought with a nervous smile. "T-The food is very tasty"
"Thank you dear! I do my best" The woman smiled proudly before looking at her son. "Unfortunately, my son didn't inherit my cooking skills"
"I can agree with that" The Demon King spoke with a frown directed at The Hero. "I'd say eating dirt would be better than whatever this guy prepares"
"He got a lot of things from his father and almost none from me..." A little sigh came out of The Chef before she stared directly at the Shadow. "That's why I'm looking for a woman that helps him in his life~"
"Mom—" The Hero started to talk but his mother immediately cut him off.
"No! You're 24 already, you're on the peak of adulthood and this pretty lady..." The Chef briefly stopped talking to look at The Shadow. "How old are you?"
"I-I'm 22..."
"This pretty lady is in dire need of a man to love and that loves her back" she slammed her hands on the table.
"I'm not marrying this woman, mom, I don't even know her" he looked at his mom who frowned lightly.
"Your father didn't know me either and we got married anyways!"
"After 5 years of being together"
"Bah! 5 years, 5 minutes it's the same"
"P-please don't fight over something like that, I can't get married anyways" The Shadow raised her hands s little anxious.
"No, no, keep fighting, I like it" The Demon King spoke with a smirk.
"Shut up!" Both, The Hero snd The Chef raised their voices to shut up the Demon King making him shrink on his seat.
"Dear, don't let the stubbornness of my son scare you" The Chef immediately smiled at the Silver-haired thief.
"No no, it's not that, I admit that your son is...uhm...a little good-looking, but I can't get married" she shook her head looking down slightly. "I have something very important to do and I can't postpone it...b-besides I need permission from my family to get married or stuff just as important"
"Oh? So you're from a good family~?" The crimson-haired woman smiled sweetly at the thief.
"Mom, that's enough,you heard her, we're NOT getting married" The Hero crossed his arms making the woman sigh.
"...you said you have something important to do didn't you?" The smile returned to The Chef's face as her eyes moved towards The Shadow.
"Mom...what are you playing at now?"
"Oh nothing~ but dear, you're a Hero aren't you?" She walked around the table and stood behind the Silver-haired thief putting her hands on The Shadow's shoulders. "You know what I see right here? A lady in dire need of help"
"W-What?" The thief looked up and behind her to stare at the older woman.
"A Hero wouldn't a blind eye to a woman in distress would he? She stole from me, yes, but she has a kind heart~"
"Mom, I have something important to do as well, I can't just stop and help everyone in my path, besides, isn't she just a thief?"
"Oh! But she's just not a thief, she's rather quick on her feet~ she's decent at fighting and who knows what utensils and tools she has in her magic bag! I'm sure she'll be of great help to you~" She smiled proudly as if she were actually presenting the thief. "You'd only need to take care of her and turn a blind eye to whatever she steals~"
"You're asking me to be a Hero...while also asking me to turn a blind eye to her stealing?" He crossed his arms over his chest dryly staring at his mother.
"Exactly!" She beamed immediately as an answer.
The table remained in silence for a few seconds, the Demon King just spit the fork from his mouth after swallowing the meat, The Shadow just looked away feeling somewhat awkward, The Chef blankly stared at her dear son not even blinking as she waited for him to answer, while the Red-Haired man just closed his eye and let out a heavy sigh.
"...fine, she has 20 minutes to get ready, If she's not ready then I'll be leaving without her" He said looking directly at his mother. "We'll be outside" he announced standing up and picking up the blonde Demon over his shoulder.
"H-Hey! I wasn't done eating!" The Demon King complained flailing a little.
"You're a Demon, you don't need food" his dry voice came out mildly annoyed as he took the Demon King outside of the food stall.
"...see~? Isn't he just the sweetest?" The Chef leaned down on The Shadow with a smile.
"I think he just agreed to stop the arguing...I'm sure he'd either leave soon or ditch me at the first chance" a little nervous smile came out of her.
"It doesn't change the results~ I hope you're of help to my son" the older woman let go of The Shadow's shoulders. "Now finish your food, you'll need all the energy you can get"
"I'll...try to help? Sorry everything is just a little overwhelming, what am I supposed to do anyways?"
"Just whatever you need to dear~ the only thing I need is that you remain close to my son"
"Miss...I already told you, I can't get married on my own I need my family's permission" the Silver-haired thief slowly stood up from the seat after finishing her food.
"I heard you~ just stay close to him okay? He's a good kid, but he can be a little too dry and narrow-minded, he needs someone to properly ground him from time to time~" The Chef smiled starting to pick up the dishes. "He's too much like his father in that regard, thankfully he had me...and I hope he can have you~"
The young woman flinched a little and looked away. "T-thank you? I'll try to do my best..."
"You better do~"
...
The Hero closed the lid of the metal box, locking it tight after a short fight against the flailing and offended Demon King who had barely managed to taste The Chef's cooking, but after securing the lock of the box he lifted it up and passed his arms through the straps, starting to carry it on his back yet again.
"Sorry if I took long"
The Hero looked behind him to see The Shadow approaching a little nervous, her hands quickly smoothing out her clothes before staring up at him.
"Don't pay attention to what my mother says" The Hero said staring at her. "She's been trying for a long time already, so just play along for now, you can leave as soon as we're away from her"
"Sweetie! That's cheating!"
The two of them looked at the food stall, The Chef had walked out of it apparently hearing what her son had just said, her steps took her to the pair and she immediately stretched her arm forward, showing them a somewhat large bag.
"Uh? What's this?" The Shadow leaned closer to the bag.
"Food! I can't have my future daughter-in-law dying of hunger because my son can't cook for the life of him!" She announced proudly with a smile.
In response to her words The Hero's single eye twitched slightly while The Shadow just smiled nervously, her hands then grabbed the bag carefully.
"I'll take care of this then..." She laughed nervously before getting the bag close to her magic bag and opening it, the endless void almost immediately sucked the bigger bag inside of it.
"Okay~" The Chef beamed at her before staring up at her son with a warm smile. "Please take care okay? Make sure to rest, eat properly and make a lot of friends on the way~"
"....I'll try to, mom" a little soft smile formed on his face. "Take care of yourself too, don't overwork yourself or get into trouble, I'll try to finish this as soon as possible so I can help you"
"Oh dear~ you're being a worrywart again, if I enjoy work that just means I'll enjoy overworking as well" She smiled up at her son, raising up a hand to pat the top of his head.
"I don't think it works like that, mom" the smile disappeared from his face as he sighed.
"Okay~ I'll be leaving now, I gotta get to the next village, have fun you two~"
A quick wave of hand was the last thing she did before going back to her food stall, making sure to close the windows and the door before moving to the front grabbing the rope and attaching it to the stall...before starting to effortlessly pull on the rope, pulling on the entire food stall by herself with the help of the wheels.
"She...really does pull it by herself huh?" The Shadow smiled nervously.
"Yeah...she does" He said sounding somewhat proud before turning around and starting to walk.
The Shadow looked at him before reacting and quickly following him. "So...where are we going?"
He stared down at her for a few seconds before answering. "Rune City, I need to find some people and I heard that people from every place go there, sl I'll ask around"
"That... doesn't sound effective" she walked a little faster and stood in front of him. "Wait wait...you need information right? How about we go to Hartasna? It's on the way to Rune City and it also has the largest information network of the continent"
"If it's on the way I guess we can...but let's not take too long, I need to meet someone in Rune City as well" He said walking past the young woman. "He's patient but easily distracted"
"Okay!"
...
"You said it was on the way to Rune City..."
"Sorry I kind of lied"
The Hero and The Shadow walked side by side, after 2 days of travelling on foot, they already saw Hartasna in the distance...even though the young woman had completely tricked him by saying it was on the way to Rune City.
"But it is on the way! Just a little off to the side, I thought that if I told you, you would've said no..." She laughed nervously.
"I would have" he answered dryly.
"See?! U-uhm...anyways, let's go, I know my way around Hartasna so there shouldn't be much problem"
Passing across a few trees, they saw a small group of three men apparently looking directly at the gate trying to stay hidden, though they briefly stopped spying on the gate to look at both of them as they walked through.
"Pst! Hey...that guy with the eye patch is kinda cool"
"He looks like a brooding and bland protagonist from a novel"
The Hero's eye twitched a little hearing the whispers. "Why did we even come here?"
"C'mon~ I told you that if what you want is information, Hartasna is a very good place" an amused smile formed on her face "Besides, it's on the way to Rune City, and you're going there aren't you?"
"I guess that's a fair point..." He sighed in response they walked through the lowered wooden bridge.
When they reached the gates of the city, their eyes moved slightly to the side, seeing the gate Guard apparently having a chat with another man, The Shadow casually waved her hand at the Guard who responded the greeting with a small nod.
"Did you know that person?" The Hero asked after they passed through the gate.
"I'm just being polite...but yeah, kinda" she smiled softly before she quickly slapped her cheeks gently. "Anyways! I have something to do here as well, there's an Inn two blocks forward and then three to the right, it's rather cheap but the rooms are good"
"I'll be going then, how long will your situation take?"
"Well...I'm not really sure, it's nothing Illegal though, in fact, after I'm done, helping you with the information you're looking for will be much easier" she said with a little smile. "I'll meet you at the Inn after I'm done!"
The Hero didn't say much as he watched the silver-haired thief run off, he wasn't exactly sure if she was truly going to do some legal or not...but it's not exactly his problem, instead of thinking more about it, he followed her instructions and walked in search of the Inn.
.....
The Shadow's boots stepped on the stone road beneath her, her blue eyes staring at the large manor on the other side of the gate she had just stopped in front of.
There were no guards in sight, but the thin layer of magic across the gate and walls surrounding the manor was quite noticeable.
The Silver-haired thief breathed in slowly before exhaling, with trembling hands she removed the right glove of her hand, pressing her palm against the cneter of the gate a flicker of magic made her close her eyes briefly as the gate slowly opened to her.
When the gate fully opened, she walked through them with her eyes half open, her gaze directly aiming down before she looked forward, seeing various guards with the Treasdia Family symbol already surrounding her with their weapons drawn.
"Who are you?! How did you get in?!" One of the guards spoke.
A small breath came out of The Shadow as her hands moved to the magic bag on her belt and in a quick movement she opened it and turned it upside down, letting dozens, hundreds and thousands of copper, silver and gold coins fall one by one on the floor.
"Drop your weapons..." She spoke with a mildly colder voice. "And go tell Lord Treasdia..."
After the last coin dropped from the magic bag, a wide and tall circle of coins had formed around her, the mountain of coins easily reaching her waist as she stared at the guards.
"That his daughter came to pay off her debt"
★ ★ ★
A/N: I have to seriously lock-in.