He quit being an adventurer

“So, what guild did you join after that?” I ask Cal after the waitress leaves.

“I didn’t. I quit being an adventurer.” He replies.

“But … you trained for this for so long. You’re dropping all of this just because of Fabe?” I ask.

“To be fair, it was Fabe’s desire to become an adventurer. I mostly just tagged along. And there’s also more to it.” Cal continues. “See, because of that broken knee, I had to spend some days at the Knights Hospitaler. Tendons are apparently harder to heal and all their best healers were out on rescue missions. So, it took a while. It did allow me some time to work on this though.”

Cal then reaches for the satchel he’s been carrying. He pulls a book out of it and lays it on the table.

“I’ve been working on this since way back when we were still living in Merton. One of the nurses there snook up on me and saw what I was working on. At first I was upset, but she told me I was pretty good. Maybe even good enough to make a living off of it. She even referred me to a guy who would be interested and well … I quit being an adventurer and started being an artist.”

That last part surprises me again. Cal? An artist?

He then slides the book across the table to Amelia and says. “I feel you should take a look at it, Amelia. Because you, eh … were kindof at the start of it.”

Amelia, curiously but slowly, opens the book and looks at the first few pages. I lean over to look along with her. Every page has got a girl sketched onto it. The more Amelia flips the pages, the more the girl on those pages looks like her.

“Is this me?” Amelia asks.

“It is.” Cal admits. “I kindof had a crush on you, but you were always hanging out with Darx and I was too hesitant to ask you out. So, sorry for being a creep and drawing you all the time. But drawing you over and over did improve my skill. So now …” Call then reaches over and turns the pages up to his last drawing. “Now I am taking commissions.”

The drawing Cal is showing us is of a large building. A guildhall it would seem. I am impressed at how detailed it is. I never knew Cal was able to draw so well.

“One of the adventurers in this guild wanted to send her parents an image of the guild she is with.” Cal explains. “A couple of others had the same idea, so now I have to make a few copies based on this.”

Amelia flips the sketch book one page back and there we see a girl different from Amelia in her adventurer gear.

“That’s the girl who commissioned the sketch. We decided to also send her parents a drawing of what she looks like. She’s been an adventurer for 2 years now and her home village is pretty far away.”

Amelia flips through another few pages until we start seeing the same girl over and over again. Not Amelia, though. A girl wearing a white surcoat with a red cross on it.

“That’s the nurse who motivated me to focus on my drawing.” Cal tells us when he notices. “She’s pretty cute, right?”

“She is.” Amelia replies. She then raises her eyes to Cal and asks, “Do you have a crush on her?”

All of a sudden, Cal starts to blush. “Euh, is it that obvious?”

“Well, back when you were sketching me a lot, it was because you had a crush on me. So, now that you are sketching her a lot … well, it doesn’t take much to put it together.”

“Does she know you are sketching her?” I ask Cal.

“Yeah, she does. She sometimes even proposes to model for me and then gives criticism on where I could improve. Now that I’m thinking about it, she actually helped me get a lot better.”

Amelia smiles. “Looks to me like she is also crushing on you.” Then she turns her head to me. “What do you think, Darx?”

“I think you should ask her on a date. And at the end of it, confess your feelings for her.” I suggest.

“And buy her some food.” Amelia adds. “Girls love free food.”

Amelia and I keep giving Cal dating tips and he listens to us attentively. In the meantime, Kiara takes his sketchbook and flips through his portfolio. The keeps going until the waitress returns, this time with our food. As we dig in, Kiara offers Cal an interesting suggestion.

“So, Cal. Did you know Aelbrecht is a patron of the arts?”

Cal, who just started cutting his meat, looks up from his plate and asks, “He is?”

For that matter, I am also surprised. And by her expression, so is Amelia.

“While it is true that the Dark Dragons are the guild with the highest income, we are not the guild with the most wealth. That honor falls to Oblivion.” Kiara explains. “The reason why is because Agnes prefers to spend her guild’s income on her guild while Aelbrecht has no problem spending it on schools, talent shows or artists inside the Dark Dragon controlled region.”

“So, you’re saying I should visit your guild?” Cal asks.

“More like, if you find yourself out of work, Aelbrecht will probably have a good number of commissions for you. As well as a couple of fellow Dark Dragon members.” Kiara tells him.

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for letting me know.”

After that, Cal asks us about our stay in the castle. First Amelia tells her story, then I tell him about my month there. Kiara even tells him about how she felt our training went. Which of course includes a few embarrassing moments for both me and Amelia.

After the meal I go to the bathroom and after that I also sneak into the kitchen to speak to Oliver. Like I expected, Amelia has already informed him that Cal was here. I then tell him that Cal and Fabe had a falling out, but still decided to keep Cal in the dark for now. Oliver says he appreciates it. Better to wait and see if Cal and Fabe really are estranged from each other. He also tells me that I should visit Emma. She’s been wanting to see me but with her pregnancy and my adventuring we haven’t had the time. He tells me Amelia knows where his uncle lives and she can guide me there.

After returning to the table, we pay our bills, say goodbye to call and then Amelia brings me and Kiara all the way to Oliver’s uncle. On our way there, we tell Kiara all about Fabe and Emma. About how Oliver escaping with her and how we told everyone, including Fabe and Cal that they went to Tristanis instead of Riledo.

When we get to Oliver’s uncle, we first have to wait a bit as Emma is breastfeeding at the moment. But soon, Emma comes to greet us with her little girl. She looks just like her mother.

Emma suggests for Amelia to hold her baby for a while, which Amelia agrees to. It is cute to see this little thing smile at Amelia. After a minute, Amelia passes the baby to Kiara, but as soon as Kiara holds her, the little girl starts crying.

Kiara snickers a bit and says, “I think she’s scared of me. Here, Darx. You hold her.”

When I hold Emma’s baby, the little girl is quiet, but also staring at me with big eyes and mouth agape. I guess she’s not quite fond of me either.

I then pass the baby to Oliver’s aunt who brings the baby to her crib in Emma’s bedroom to sleep. As expected, Emma starts asking about my awakening ceremony results, my stay in the castle, the adventures I’ve been on. Oliver’s uncle listens in on our conversation. Just his natural human curiosity I believe. When the baby is asleep, Oliver’s aunt comes back and listens to me tell my story as well.

It takes until twilight when we decide to go back to our guildhalls. It was good seeing Emma again and even better to see her safe and healthy with an equally healthy daughter.

After Amelia splits from us to go back to the Celestial Unicorns, I ask Kiara what she thinks about her.

“She’s nice. Smart and caring too. You would think she’s not hiding anything. But from the letters you shared, I remember that she does have a secret. I guess she’s good at hiding them.” Kiara replies.

“More like she and I are good at pretending nothing bad ever happened.” I tell Kiara. “I remember her being a very bad liar. If we were to ask her about it directly, she would no longer be so good at hiding anything.”

“You sure this is not going to distract you during the tournament?” Kiara asks after a short pause.

“Yeah,” I answer. “The tournament first and talking things out with Amelia after.”

“Alright. Now let’s hurry back to the guildhall. There is one more thing I’d like to do with you before the day ends.”