"Stella, we should get right back out to adventuring. I want to watch my body increase naturally."
"I get how you feel, Heo. It's kinda exciting, probably more for you knowing you can get skills at the next level."
"Don't remind me or we are staying a month in those tall dungeons."
"Wait, we are forgetting something."
"What?"
"The riddle!"
"OH! You're right!" I still had the clothes I bought in my hands.
"Let's head to the restaurant again."
When we got there the call of hunger had us step in. It was around two pm. We had missed the lunch rush but also missed eating breakfast. That was just today we missed more because we slept all day after spending a whole night fighting.
When we opened the doors the old man had his head down on the table sleeping. The jingle of the door didn't wake him. The restaurant was empty besides some people in the side room being extremely quiet. We sat the cake down gently on the table and a much younger employee came out from behind the curtain. He took our order without waking the old man and glanced curiously at the cake.
He said nothing and went back behind the curtain. We waited on our phones for our food. I sent a message to my friend from high school about our achievements. She sent back almost instantly that she was more than a head deep in a dungeon and would call me later. My parents congratulated me and asked when I'd come back from Fayha.
I didn't know how long I plan to stay. It really depends on Stella since I'm fine with adventuring for my whole life. I then texted Rex about it.
"Congratualtion, and your texting a priest about this?"
"Well I thought you'd want to hear how Fayha's been."
"Are you guys handling yourself?"
"Besides the disappearances recently, Fayha has been nice."
"Disapperances?"
"Yeah a lot I think. Fayhian culture still has people out but it seems to be new adventurers being targeted."
"The Queen of the country not doing anything about this?"
"For some reason it's gone on for four ish days. I don't think her ability is working to stop the kidnapper and enforce the law."
"I don't want you guys staying there if that's going on."
"Fair enough, but I have one more thing to say."
"What?"
"I've met the festive knight of the Queen of Fayha and got trained by him along with training by a high ranking adventurer and met the Queen."
"How?"
I texted him how it happened and didn't respond back to me. So much for not wanting me to stay here. I was actually just not going to text him without the context and leave him on read but he could just teleport here.
After twenty minutes the food was out here and smelled really nice. We picked up our plates from the counter and walked away to leave the old man a quiet place to sleep. Our glutinous meals almost fell on the ground as the old man awoke from the table.
"You kids can sit here if you want."
"Oh did we wake you?" Stella said apologetically.
"No. It's three, this is when my break ends."
"Oh, cool." We sat back down.
"You kids look well, messy."
"We have been working hard and took on a little dungeon too." I said.
"I assumed you kids were new to adventuring. I guess I was wrong." The old man gave a warm smile.
"We are, that was our second quest ever."
"Oh."
The old man chuckled. He looked at us and then at our filled backpacks. Stella's had two staffs on the side. The wooden one she started with and the new light yellow and brown staff.
"Maybe you did take a dungeon.."
We told him our adventure down there and how we hauled around his cake. The old man's gentle smile grew so bright as he laughed hard enough to shake the restaurant.
"Wow, what two little goblins I have causally buying the most expensive food in Fayha! And in cash!"
"Heh he. Yeah, just give us a year and we will shock you." I said.
"I bet you two will." his voice settled down and looked at our cake with two slices missing. "Did you only eat it once?
"Yeah we're saving it for someone." Stella said.
"You didn't sound confident in that. You know what here." He left before returning with two slices of cake the exact size of the slices we took. He placed them in the box and did something to the box recharging the enchantment. "Thats for telling me such a great story."
"But we didn't pay for it." Stella stuttered
"We don't have money for it either."
"The price is only just high because the Queen really likes the cake. It's so childish really but it's one of the small pleasures she allows herself."
"We actually met her the other day."
"Oh did she hunt you down for the cake?"
"No, she actually just came and introduced herself while we were with the festive knight Jace."
"So you two are close with him. That's why you sat right next to him before." The old man casted a spell on our food and re heated it. "Sorry for stopping you from eating, please enjoy." He turned and retreated behind the curtain.
We finished our food and I begrudgingly put on the dress. There were no straps holding up the dress so the most brutal part of the scar was clearly showing. My mutilated left shoulder made Stella shutter at the sight. She pulled up her jacket and followed me into the ally behind the restaurant. We got to the end and it ended like it did normally.
"Ugh."
"Heo, did we even solve the riddle?"
"I don't think so."
"Let's go back to the restaurant." We stepped back into the restaurant and the old man came back out from behind the curtain.
"Your back?" He saw the giant scar and raised an eyebrow at it and flinched at the sight of most of it.
"Could we sit in here and look at something really quick?" Stella asked.
"Sure, anywhere is fine." He said maybe wanting to distance himself from the scar.
We sat in the side room at the back. This time only getting watched because of the scar and not that I wasn't dressed up.
"Let's go back through the riddle." I said. "The riddle was 'If you wish to seek the night Queen you must be more than happy, and follow the inside at next. Though a light must be on doesn't mean that you're home. If you were to recite perceptive, doubt, I'm, you're, follow, and joy you could find my truth, but your eye might turn a show and the world shall shrink.' right?"
"We also have that card that said the Queen requires all secrecy and the moon." Stella added.
"Maybe it's at night because of the moon?"
"Maybe it's the moon phase?"
"Wait! Maybe it's the next moon phase from the last time?"
"That sounds correct? But why isn't that in the riddle but on a little extra note?"
"Good point that might not be the answer to the riddle."
"Alright it lists perceptive, doubt, I'm, you're, follow, and joy. What could we do with these?"
"I'm lost on that point." I recited the riddle out loud. "If you wish to seek the night Queen you must be more than… perceptive?"
"And doubt.. the inside at next. Next moon phase!"
"Though a light must be on doesn't mean that I'm home! So the recite was telling us to swap the words for the other ones. Then eyes a show and world shall shrink means the location of the home of the Queen of the night."
"So we just need to wait till night and we can complete the riddle and stop the kidnapper. But what if this is how she kidnaps us?"
"I'm more mad that I bought this dumb dress!" I started pulling it up off of myself. Stella jumped and pulled it back down.
"Heo! You aren't at home, you can't do that."
"Fine." I sat back down with a humph.
I got to take the dress off in the restroom and shoved it into my backpack. I'm going back and getting a refund. That will probably kill time before night. I stood up and we headed out. Halfway there, I took it out and folded it properly.