After wrapping up our various adventures in the market, we dragged our exhausted bodies back to the inn.
The market had been a lot of fun.
Every corner was bursting with life, filled with merchants and exotic items that were fascinating to look at.
Oh, and there was that massive lizardman skewer too!
It was a refreshing, joyful experience.
But, as always, good times flew by too quickly, and now fatigue had completely taken over my body.
“Huaahhh… I’m so tired.”
I collapsed onto the bed with a thud, letting out a deep sigh.
Harp was sitting on the bed next to mine, quietly reading a book, while Sua ignored her own bed entirely, choosing instead to perch at the foot of my bed, gently swinging her feet back and forth.
“Still, the market was fun, wasn’t it? I thought the lizardman skewer was the best. It’s always been good, but with this kid’s body, it tasted even better!”
“Yes, it was fun, but we have to leave early tomorrow, so please go to sleep already,”
I muttered, my voice muffled by the pillow.
“Hmph, you’re acting way too tired, Eve,”
Sua teased, lightly tapping the tips of my feet with her own.
“I’m not pretending to be tired. I’m genuinely exhausted. Do you have any idea how much I got dragged around today?”
“Come on, holding hands with Harp and running around was fun, wasn’t it? Admit it!”
“It was fun running with Harp. You? Not so much.”
“Wow. Harsh.”
I pulled the blanket over my head, signaling that I was officially done for the day.
“Don’t call me Hero; just call me Sua. It’s not like this little body of mine is intimidating or anything.”
“Sure. Whatever. Just go to sleep already. Please.”
“Teacher, stop letting the Hero bother you,”
Harp chimed in, looking up from her book.
“Hey, Harp, just call me Sua too. No need to be formal; you can even speak casually with me.”
“Leave the Teacher alone.”
“Wow. Tough crowd.”
“Uh, wow, that’s… kind of scary,” Sua muttered, her voice trembling slightly.
Even though I couldn’t see her, thanks to the blanket over my head, I could tell that Harp’s glare had made Sua flinch.
“Fine, fine. Stop glaring. I’ll go to bed, okay?” Sua relented, her voice unusually soft.
“Good,” Harp replied curtly.
…Wait.
Did the mighty Hero just back down from Harp?
Pfft.
“…Eve, why are you laughing all of a sudden?” Sua asked suspiciously.
“Oh, no reason. I just found something a bit funny.”
“Ugh… That makes me feel worse, somehow.”
“I’m turning the lights off now. Goodnight, Teacher,” Harp announced.
“Goodnight,” I mumbled in return.
The room quickly fell into darkness.
I started counting bald guys in my head—Alex’s shining bald head serving as my mental image.
One bald guy.
Two bald guys.
Three ba—ugh! Too shiny!
“Hey, Eve…”
Sua’s voice broke through my thoughts just as I was about to drift off.
“What now?”
I grumbled.
“Are you really okay with me joining your orphanage? Like… as one of your kids?”
Her voice was quieter, more hesitant than usual. It felt strange, coming from someone who had been so excited and energetic about the idea just minutes ago.
I paused to think for a moment, then sighed softly.
“I said yes because it’s fine. But remember—you have to stick to the conditions.”
“…Got it.”
“Good.”
A short silence followed.
“…Again? Do you have something else to say?”
“Don’t you want to know why?” Sua asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Why what?”
“Why I want to join your orphanage.”
“Let me guess,” I interrupted, already sensing where this story was going.
“That girl in your dream was the reason for… all this, wasn’t she?”
Sua let out a small chuckle, sounding a mix of nostalgic and bitter.
“Bingo. That’s the moment I became what you’d call an… early adopter of my current preferences.”
I sighed, running a hand over my face.
“And here I was, hoping this story would explain things in a way that made more sense. Instead, it’s just making me regret asking.”
“No, no, listen! It’s not what you think,” Sua said, her tone earnest now.
“At first, I didn’t even realize what the dream meant. I just thought it was one of those weird, random dreams, you know? But…”
“But?” Harp’s voice cut in. She had apparently been quietly listening from her bed.
“But after that, every night—every single night—I had the same dream,”
Sua continued.
“The same girl. The same adorable smile. Every time I saw her, it felt like my heart was going to burst.”
“Uh-huh…” I muttered, not sure where this was headed.
“It was like… like the dream was trying to tell me something. And before I knew it, I couldn’t stop thinking about her—not just in my dreams, but in real life too.”
Sua paused, her voice dropping to a softer tone.
“I thought she might be my… destiny.”
The room went quiet for a moment.
“So… you’re saying,” Harp said, breaking the silence, “that your whole ‘thing’ started because of some recurring dream about a kid?”
“Well… yeah,” Sua admitted, scratching her head sheepishly.
“That’s… concerning,” I said bluntly, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
Sua shrugged.
“Maybe it is. But that dream changed my life, you know? It gave me purpose. It’s the reason I became the Hero I am today.”
“You became a Hero to… find a dream girl? Really?” Harp deadpanned.
“Hey, don’t make it sound so bad! It’s romantic!” Sua protested.
“It’s weird,” I replied, shaking my head. “Really, really weird.”
Sua sighed dramatically, flopping backward onto the bed.
“You just don’t get it. When you meet the one person who makes your heart race, you’ll understand.”
“Let’s hope I don’t meet them in a dream,” I muttered, pulling the blanket back over my head.
“Now, can we all go to sleep? We’ve got a long trip tomorrow.”
“Fine, fine,” Sua grumbled, though her tone still carried a hint of playfulness.
“But don’t think this is the last you’ll hear of my epic tale of destiny.”
“Goodnight, Sua,” Harp said firmly, her voice tinged with exasperation.
“Goodnight, Teacher. Sweet dreams,” Sua said sweetly, though I could practically hear the smirk in her voice.
“Let’s hope not,” I mumbled, closing my eyes.
“Confirmation? What do you mean by that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sua’s expression shifted into one of pure mischief, her grin widening like a child plotting a prank.
“You know… spending time with you, observing your every move, learning all your little quirks,” she said, her tone practically dripping with amusement.
“That way, I’ll know for sure if you’re *the one.*”
“…You make it sound way creepier than it needs to be,” I replied, inching away from her slightly.
Sua didn’t seem the least bit fazed.
Instead, she tilted her head, her smile never fading.
“Hey, it’s important to be thorough. I mean, what if I accidentally let my soulmate slip away? I’d regret it for the rest of my life!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, exhaling deeply.
“Look, I think you’re putting way too much stock into a single dream you had years ago.”
“But it wasn’t just *any* dream!” Sua insisted, leaning in closer.
“It was vivid, powerful, life-changing! How can I ignore something like that?”
“You could just… move on?” I suggested, though I doubted she’d take my advice.
“Nope! Not a chance,” Sua said with a firm shake of her head.
“Okay, fine. But let me just clarify something,” I said, locking eyes with her.
“Even if—*if*—I turned out to be this dream girl of yours, that doesn’t mean I’ll just… go along with it.”
Sua gasped dramatically, clutching her chest like I’d just stabbed her. “Eve, how could you say that?!”
“Because I have free will?” I replied flatly.
“But… fate! Destiny!”
“Reality,” I shot back.
“Man, you’re no fun,” Sua pouted, crossing her arms and flopping backward onto the bed.
Harp, who had been silently listening from her bed, let out a small sigh.
“So, in short, you’re just going to keep pestering the Teacher until you figure it out?”
“Pretty much!”
Sua replied cheerfully, completely unbothered by Harp’s exasperation.
“Well, good luck with that,” Harp said, closing her book.
“Thanks! I’ll take good care of Eve while I’m investigating,” Sua said, winking at me.
“Please don’t,” I muttered, already feeling a headache coming on.
“Too late. You’ve been chosen by fate!”
“Or cursed,” I grumbled under my breath.
At this point, arguing felt like shouting into a void.
There was no winning against Sua’s bizarre logic.
All I could do was hope she’d eventually get bored and move on.
“Spending time together will help me figure it out. The more time I spend with you, the more I’ll find things that match the girl from my dream.”
“…What?”
Does that even make sense?
“Isn’t that a bit too vague?”
Harp’s voice quietly cut through the dimly lit room from the corner.
“Hmph. Well, time will solve everything,” Sua replied with a casual shrug, completely unbothered.
“Or you could remember first, Eve,” Sua continued, smirking.
“Remember just how adorable and amazing I was in the dream!”
“…Yeah, that’s even harder,” I muttered before pulling the blanket back over my head.
After a long and exhausting day, hearing such absurd stories only made me feel more drained—both mentally and physically.
The room fell into a brief silence after that.
Sua didn’t say anything further, and Harp, though still awake, seemed to be lying quietly under her blanket.
“Harp, now that I think about it, you were reading earlier, weren’t you? What book was that? What were you reading?”
“Oh, this?” Harp responded, her voice a little drowsy. “It’s a book about the legends of the capital. It tells stories about the heroes who founded the city.”
“Legends, huh…”
“Wait, does it mention me?” Sua suddenly sat up, looking in Harp’s direction with wide eyes.
“Yeah. One of the heroes in the story has some similarities to you,” Harp replied casually, turning a page.
“Oh? Really?” Sua’s expression brightened.
“Yep. The legendary hero is also described as having… uh, let’s say, a rather peculiar taste,” Harp added with a sly tone.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s just a joke. That part’s not in there. It just says the hero had such a quirky personality that it exhausted everyone around them.”
Harp replied calmly, though the hint of a mocking chuckle escaped her lips, unable to completely hide her amusement.
“…Harp, I really think you’re going to grow up to be quite the scary person.”
“I was only stating facts,” Harp said matter-of-factly.
“D-did you hear that, Eve? This girl is actually teasing a hero!” Sua exclaimed, looking at me with a mix of disbelief and desperation.
“…Sua, I’m exhausted. Please stop saying weird things and just go to sleep.”
“See? Even Eve agrees!”
“Ugh, fine! I’m going to bed!” Sua huffed, looking genuinely offended, as she pulled the blanket over her head.
“Already? That’s pretty early for a hero to be turning in for the night.”
“I’m preserving my strength for tomorrow!”
“Mm-hmm, sure. Sleep tight.”
After that, only the faint sound of Sua grumbling and Harp stifling laughter filled the room before silence finally fell.
‘Goodnight, everyone…’ I thought to myself, exhaling deeply.
What a chaotic day it had been.
“Eve, do you know another way to say ‘orphan’?” Sua’s muffled voice suddenly broke the peace.
“…What now?”
“Organic.”
Oh, come on.