A Weird Girl

Earnest asked for the nearest establishment that served food or water. He was directed to the town inn, which was close to the gates. He made his way inside, finally able to sit after days of exhausting travel. Luckily, it was an off-hour with plenty of time before dinner, so only the staff were present. He called down one of them, and ordered water and a meal.

Earnest took out the stationary he had in his backpack, and began to compose a letter to the knight’s order in the capital. He could barely read the words that he was writing and move his hand to write them, but he knew that the sooner this letter was sent, the sooner the knight’s could help. He would rest after it was sent.

As he was describing the current situation in his letter, he was served his drink and meal. He guzzled the water down until his thirst was slaked, then began to tear into his food. He would rip a piece off, put it in his mouth, and resume writing while chewing. He alternated between the two tasks, finally finishing both at the same time. A server came by to collect the plates, silverware, and payment. Earnest overpaid for his meal, and told the server to get the letter delivered urgently. With his stomach full, he felt the full weight of sleep exhaustion descending upon him. He went through the process of paying for a room, entering it, and collapsing in its bed. He fell asleep before his head reached the pillow.

…

Earnest woke up. His body was sore all over, but at least he didn’t feel utterly spent anymore. He willed himself to get out of bed. His muscles complained, but were still **** to move by Earnest’s disciplined mind. He was no stranger to this kind of soreness, as he often trained himself bare and ended up in similar states before. He went back down to the dining area and ordered more food. It was late morning, not too far from noon. He recognized the server as the same from last night. After ordering a meal, he asked the server about his letter. The server confirmed that she had sent it, and passed on his sense of urgency to the courier. She had recognized his desperation and exhaustion, so she took it very seriously, which Earnest was thankful for.

After his meal arrived, he took his time to eat it. The letter was already sent, so he considered what to do next. He recalled his plan to search for local help, which would start at the church. Lindow was larger than Knottori, but it was still only a town. It was unlikely that there was a high ranking priest that would have experience dealing with dark magic, but it wasn’t impossible. The church would be his next goal, and with that in mind he hurried his pace to finish his meal.

Earnest left the inn, asking a passerby for directions to the church. It was near the center of town and had distinct church architecture, which made it easy to find. It wasn’t a large church by any means, just a town church, ordinary in every way. He went through the tall open doors at the front, and asked for the head priest, identifying himself as a knight who needed help. The person he talked to left, and returned with a rather well endowed priestess, whose holy garb failed to fully hide her curvaceous figure. Earnest pushed these intrusive thoughts out of his mind, and greeted her as politely as possible.

“Greetings holy mother, I am Earnest Pierce, knight of the seventh squad. I appear before you seeking aid. In the nearby village of Knottori, a group of troublemakers have come across an accursed journal of dark magic. They have enchanted the local knight assigned there. I ask of you to help me end these blasphemous acts, and to save the knight from their influence.”

The holy mother’s expression quickly changed from warm and kind to serious when she heard the mention of dark magic. After taking some time to think, she spoke.

“I am sorry, but we do not have any exorcists or priests capable of dealing with dark magic. I will notify the nearest church that does, as well as the headquarters, but we here cannot go with you.”

Earnest expected this answer, so he wasn’t too disappointed by this. He still needed to find somebody to help him though.

“Holy mother, do you know of anyone nearby that could help me?”

She looked troubled by this question, seemingly conflicted about answering.

“Please holy mother, the knight that is in danger… she is my close friend. I have known her all my life. I need to save her.”

This seemed to sway her, and she gave an answer.

“Well, my good knight, I usually wouldn’t recommend her as help, but she may be able to. I’m not sure. There is an apothecary in town, towards the north eastern edge. She is a little strange… but she might be your best chance.”

“Thank you, holy mother, thank you so much.”

“May the gods’ blessings be upon you my good knight, and may the gods have mercy on your friend’s soul.”

Earnest thanked her and took his leave, heading towards the apothecary. He arrived after a short walk, and searched for the establishment. One building stood out from the others, being a little run-down, with weeds growing all around it. He approached and looked through a dirty window. He could make out a messy store that took up about half of the space inside. He guessed that the apothecary created her medicines in the back, and maybe lived there too.

Earnest entered the store. He was surrounded by shelves crowded with colorful bottles and pouches. Front and center was a countertop, currently unmanned. The sound of the door opening seemed to have been enough though, as Earnest heard a scuffle coming from the back. He heard things being put down, perhaps instruments or containers, followed by footsteps which came towards the front. The woman herself appeared, showing a run-down appearance that fit with the building she was in. Her hair was long and messy, and framed the sides of her face, which was admittedly cute. She wore large, round glasses with one of the lenses decorated with a large crack.

“Hello there customer, what can I make you? A frog?”

She laughed at her own joke, as Earnest just looked at her bemusedly.

“Don’t worry, I can’t transform you into a frog. Not yet at least. I am the potion preparer, the medicine maker, and the lovely lady of Lindow, Alesia! What do you need of me mister customer?”

“Hello Alesia, my name is Earnest. I need help. I was sent here by the holy mother. She told me that you might be able to assist me.”

Earnest went on to explain his situation again, and watched the apothecary’s expression descend from cheerful, to serious, to terrified. After Earnest finished, she took a second to speak.

“Dark magic… out here… really? Well, I guess there’s no way you would lie about this, but why are you asking me? I just make medicine. Well, I make other stuff too that definitely isn’t medicine, but there’s no way I can help you here. I do work with ingredients that have dark attributes, things that are poisonous sure, but not like the stuff you’re describing. I’m sorry, but the most I can offer you is my medicine.”

“Anything helps, even if you don’t think you can, I’d still like you to join me. Please reconsider. I’m sure that your knowledge would be of great benefit”

Alesia took some time to think, then posed Earnest a question.

“Well, if I do help you mister ****, what do I get?”

Earnest was a little taken aback. He had forgotten that he had little to offer in terms of compensation. The knights and church would help out of a matter of duty, but asking others would of course come with a price.

“To be honest, I don’t have much with me right now. I barely have enough for my own meals. I could sign an agreement to pay in the future though. I am a proud knight, and my word is my honor.”

Alesia looked at Earnest, then started looking him over. It looked like she was examining him, but as she did so her expression softened and she began to blush a little. She looked Earnest straight in the eyes, and he looked back at the strange apothecary, wondering what she was doing. She broke eye contact, and started speaking.

“Uh, well… If you can’t pay me with money… Maybe, uh, maybe you could… maybe we could come to another agreement…”

Earnest looked at her, trying to figure out what she meant. Alesia was flustered, but continued.

“Well… uh… it’s… I’ll do it if… if you marry me!”

Earnest was visibly surprised. Marriage? That explained why she was getting an eyeful of him, why she was blushing so much, and why she was acting the way she was. Did she do this with other customers too? While Earnest was silent, Alesia started panicking.

“Uh, well, y’know, it’s just that, y’know when I first saw you I thought you were pretty handsome, like not everyone thinks you’re handsome kind of handsome, but like the ‘you’re totally my type and you really do it for me kind of handsome.’ So I just thought I would ask y’know? Sorry for saying this all of a sudden, you probably think I’m weird like everyone else in town now…”

As the words spilled out of Alesia, Earnest was still processing what was happening. No one else had demonstrated interest in him before. Everyone in his village knew he and Rosalind were very close, so no one even tried to get between them, and after they separated when they joined the knights, Earnest didn’t have much contact with the opposite sex at all. This was the first time a woman was being so direct with him, but he found it a little **** that Alesia jumped straight to a marriage proposal.

He found the flustered creature in front of him quite cute, but there was no room in his heart for another. He put his hand to his chest, feeling the white quartz necklace that he always wore, the one given to him by Rosalind.

“Sorry, I can’t. I don’t think that you’re weird or unattractive or anything. I just have someone already. We aren’t an official couple or anything, but I love her, and I’m sure that she loves me too. I don’t think I could love anyone else in my lifetime. Sorry. And I’m not just saying this to reject you, I think you’re cute, but I’m already taken… sort of.

Alesia looked disappointed that Earnest declined her offer, but at least perked up when he called her cute at the end.

“Okay… Okay, uh, good! Good! You passed my test. Uh, I asked you that as a test. A test to test you if… to see if you were just asking my help ‘cuz you thought I was a pretty girl! I can’t be working with somebody who’s just after my body, y’know? Yeah, and you passed the test! Good! That proposal wasn’t real, who would propose to a hot guy that she just met? Not me…”

Earnest thought had never met a person worse at lying. It almost got a chuckle out of him, but he held it in. Alesia seemed like a good person, weird indeed, but charmingly innocent in some ways. He felt that if Rosalind wasn’t in his life, he wouldn’t mind being in Alesia’s company, but Rosalind was his only one, and she was in danger right now. Earnest got back on track.

“Okay, I’ve passed the test. I’m glad for that, and I think I can trust you too. What would you accept as compensation for your services?”

“Well, if marriage is out of the question… which it never was in the question, since that was a test! Uh… then how about you work as my assistant at my store? I have customers that need deliveries around town, and the footwork has been exhausting on top of making their orders. I could use a fit, strong… tall… dreamy… uh, helper, for example, not necessarily describing you, but yeah, a helper.

“How long would you need me for? I am still a knight of the 7th squad, and I have obligations that I must meet. I am participating in the knight’s exhibition very soon.”

“You can start after you finish your duties, just please come by as soon as you can, please. You won’t have to work for too long, maybe a few weeks? Or as long as you want to stay with me…”

This offer didn’t seem bad to Earnest. He would get Alesia’s help in saving Rosalind, then he would go back to the capital to compete in the exhibition, then come back to work in Alesia’s shop. He could even check up on Rosalind more easily, since he would be closer to her.

“That seems fine to me. Please prepare to depart by tomorrow morning, and bring anything you think will help against… whatever dark magic we will have to face.”

Earnest turned to leave, and felt Alesia’s stare on his back and backside as he left. The holy mother was right in calling her weird, but Earnest didn’t mind it much. She was very open and direct, but in a clumsy and unconfident way that made her cute. As he was reflecting on his recent encounter, Earnest noticed a strange figure coming towards him, along the opposite side of the road.

Judging by a shorter height, it seemed like a woman, but he couldn’t tell for sure. She was dressed like a magic user, with her clothing fitting the popular aesthetic of a sorceress. She was covered in a long robe that reached to her ankles, as well as a cloak around her shoulders. The most noticeable feature of her costume was a tall, wide-brimmed witch’s hat that obstructed Earnest’s view of her face. This hat was popular and iconic among the magic community, but entirely devoid of utility. Well, it did keep the sun off of one’s head, he supposed, but magic types generally stayed indoors anyway.

The tall, wide hat was usually entirely for decoration, as their owners would buy them with intricate designs and decorations to create a style and aesthetic to fit their personality and magic type. Earnest guessed that the owner of the hat he was looking at was quite quirky, as she had a pair of antlers attached to them.

He considered talking to this stranger, as she might be a magic user capable of helping him. The chances were slim to none, but perhaps he would receive another miracle from the gods and meet the right person at the right time. Before he resolved to say anything, she was in front of him, and stopped on her own. She lifted her gaze upwards, meeting Earnest’s eyes and revealing her face to him.

“Hello, I heard that there was a knight looking for help. Help with a dark magic problem. I happen to know a little bit about dark magic myself. You could call me an apprentice of sorts. I’d like to offer my help to you.”