Do the tour of the town

And now that I am alone again, I shall resume reading Akemi's journal. At least, that's what I want to do. However, the double vision I am seeing from both mine and Akemi's eyes starts to make my head spin. Our breakfasts are threatening to spill out if this goes on. Since there's probably not going to be anyone coming to Akemi's room until noon at least, I decide to just let her body take an early nap. I lie down on the soft futon and relax, and soon enough the sensation from her body is slowly disappearing. Before long, from Akemi's end, all I can sense is the dark nothingness. I am now back in one body only, sitting in my room at the inn with my empty food tray in front of me.

"Whew... That is tiring," I let out a sigh.

I haven't used the mind-link spell in a while. Controlling Akemi's body to converse with Naoki, as well as eating breakfast with my real body, took quite a toll on my mind. This is why not everyone can use the mind-link spell, as it requires a lot of mental fortitude. I can only do it due to my extensive training to master the spell, and even then I have never been able to do it for more than a day without rest. But today, the main problem is the double vision. Once I am used to it, I should be able to fully control both my real body and Akemi's body at the same time with ease for an extended period of time.

I wipe the sweat off my forehead with a handkerchief I am keeping on my pocket and get out of my room. I walk towards my assistant's room, wanting to tell her about my relative successes this morning. I am still embarrassed about what happened when she brought me breakfast, but I'm sure she understands and doesn't judge me. Lillias always do what I tell her to, though she sometimes do weird things on her own. In any case, even without me telling her, I hope she will never bring that incident up, ever.

As I stand in front of her room, I hear some noises coming from inside. They are too muffled to discern, but it doesn't sound like she has a visitor in there. I decide to knock on the door.

"Lillias? It's me, Victor. May I come in?"

"Victor?! Umm, o-one minute please!"

Her panicked voice can be heard through the wooden door. I wonder what she's doing inside?

"Okay, you can come in," she finally says after a few moments of waiting.

When I open the door, my assistant Lillias is just standing there beside her bed. She is wearing her usual dark blue mage robes and long black skirt underneath. Her light blonde hair is tied in a neat bun. Lillias has a bright green eyes and fair skin, but well... that's basically her only appeal, physical wise. Lillias doesn't have any meat nor curve on her body. Her chest is flat and her face is plain with some freckles. I have never had any problem with that though, because I didn't choose to take her under my wing for that kind of reason. She's bright, obedient, and helpful; all very important traits I want in my assistant.

Putting that aside, Lillias looks a little flushed and I can see her sweating. I wonder if she's sick.

"You okay, Lillias?" I decide to ask.

"O-of course! I was just... exercising when you came"

Lillias lets out a nervous chuckle while fanning herself with her hand. She also avoids looking me directly in the eyes. I raise an eyebrow, seeing through that blatant lie immediately, but I decide not to press further.

"Alright... Anyway, get yourself ready. We should meet our guide and start the tour soon. Have you had your breakfast yet?"

I glance at her bedside table, seeing an untouched piece of bread and a cup of milk which answer my question. Whatever she was doing, it was clearly more important than eating breakfast.

"I-I'll eat quickly, Victor," she answers, catching my gaze on the tray of food.

"Okay, I'll wait for you downstairs. Don't **** on your food, it'll still be some time till our guide arrive"

I close the door after me and return to my own room. After changing my clothes to something simple (and clean), I walk down to the inn's reception room. I take a seat on a vacant chair, and then while waiting for Lillias, I start reviewing the notes I have taken from Akemi's diary in my head. Lillias finally arrives and we wait together for our guide in the reception room. Shortly after, a familiar looking boy appears at the entrance of the inn. He is a beastman with short brown hair and horns sprouting on the side of his head, similar to a cow. His outfit is mostly unchanged from earlier this morning, a black shirt and grey trousers. But now he tops it off with a white windbreaker with its hood lowered.

"G-good morning," he greets us, a little flustered as he approaches, "you two are the people from capital, yes?"

"Hello, you must be our guide"

Standing up as I greet the bull, my hand is outstretched to offer him a handshake. For a moment, he is just staring at it not doing anything, but then he takes it and we have a firm handshake. Too firm in fact, as he grips my hand way harder than I expected. However, it would be unwise to complain like a child in front of him, so I bear it in silence.

"Yes, that's me, I'm Naoki," he said then, smiling, "nice to meet you, umm..."

I let go of his hand and replies, "it's Victor, Victor Desmond. And this is my assistant, Lillias"

Lillias bows her head beside me, and Naoki does the same. Hmm, maybe that's the standard greeting for these beastmen, I should have done the same. Alas, I get to live with this throbbing pain in my hand for a while.

"Nice to meet you, miss Lillias. Then, where shall we go first, mister Victor?"

"How about you take us to the town hall?" I say, remembering the census that's being kept in the shrine.

"A what?" Naoki blinks, seemingly confused by my question, "I'm sorry sir, but I don't think we have such building here in Thresford. At least, not since I migrated here"

A town that doesn't have a town hall? Preposterous...

"Then, bring us to the mayor. Where does he work if there's no town hall?"

"The mayor? Oh, he stays in his house almost all day. I don't know if you can visit him, though"

"And why is that?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Well..."

"He's a violent drunk, you'll get a bottle thrown at you"

A voice suddenly pipes up from my side, grabbing my attention. The innkeeper is sitting behind his counter, looking bored while staring back at me. Our conversation isn't exactly secret, so we have been talking rather loudly and it seems he decides to join in uninvited. I am about to reprimand him for being rude, but Lillias speaks to him before I can.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"I said what I said, he just drink himself away these days. I suggest you stay the hell away from him, he can't even talking coherently for long"

A drunk mayor? That's not a first, but that doesn't sound good. The innkeeper is a human, so I think his words can be trusted to a degree. But of course, I need to confirm the information first. I glance at my assistant, who seems to understand what I imply and nods at me.

"Thanks for your warning, sir. But it's our duty to check the town in detail, including its residents. Otherwise, we won't be able to give the best aid that the kingdom may provide"

Lillias can give out great responses on the fly, it's one of the many things I can count on her for. The innkeeper snorts, opening a book as if saying the conversation is over, but not before giving us some last words.

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you... Heh, kingdom aid"

The last few words are mumbled out under his breath, but they can be heard clearly by my ears. It seems the kingdom is not seen favourably by him. I remember the town guard's reaction yesterday and it makes me wonder if many of Thresford citizen hold the same sentiment. I suspect the migrated beastmen could be the one to blame for that. They could be spreading anti-kingdom propaganda in the beginning, and that's why they now can occupy Thresford as if it belongs to them. Akemi's diary might provide proof of that, so I'll have to study it again later.

Looking at the bull boy again, I put on a slight smile and say, "lead the way then, Naoki"

Naoki nods, "um, yes. Please follow me, sir"