The Saga of Eden

Chapter 2, part 2

The battle against Narila lasted the entire night. By the time the five heroes return to Ella, it is already early morning. The group head straight back to Astraka's home to have some desperately needed rest after a hard-fought series of 3 consecutive battles.

"You two should get yourself cleaned up. Afterward, we'll head to the Office together to collect the bounty." Harmani looks over to Eden and Lela, whose clothes and armors are tattered. 

Even though they're somewhat healed thanks to Nara, some of their wounds have not fully closed, not to mention their blood and their enemies' are splashed across their weapons and outfits. Eden noticed wary eyes from the bystanders who were staring at their dirty, blood-soaked, smelly attires on their way back here. It was thanks to Astraka's reputation that no one said anything. Their priority now would be to get rid of the smell as soon as possible.

"Alright, I'll see you guys around noon then." Eden waves at the other three as he and Lela walk out of the door. The two of them head over to the main road, where everyone tries their best to avoid them. 

"Hey Eden, do you think you have forgotten something?" Lela suddenly turns to him and asks. 

[What have I forgo- oh no!] It is only now that he realizes neither of them has rented a place to stay in the city yet. On the inside, Eden is panicking; but on the outside, he remains emotionless. He has finally gotten more used to acting calm after so much practice.

"A place to stay, right?" Eden asks, and Lela nods. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"It depends. Are you planning to double-cross them and take the price for ourselves?" Lela suddenly asks him with a serious face and points towards the carefully tied sack he's holding. It's Narila's head, which they will use as proof for the bounty. 

[Totally forgot that I'm still holding it. Why did they allow me to leave with the sack? Did they forget as well? Or did the possibility of a betrayal never cross their mind?]

"If you want to, we can go to the Office right now, take the prize money, and run away to another city before Astraka can even catch wind of the situation," Lela adds.

The atmosphere around them suddenly becomes tense, the two of them stop moving. It is as if time itself has stopped.

"You're joking, right?" He asks, smiling a little bit to ease the tension.

"I'm serious." Lela doesn't smile. "Someone like you and me can easily pull this off."

Lela's expression makes him think that she wants to do so. Eden stares into Lela's beautiful eyes, baffled that she could even think of this possibility. He sees that her eyes... waver? There seems to be an... uneasy feeling coming from her.

"...no, I need them, and I won't betray them." Eden finally shakes his head while still maintaining his calm expression.

"Okay then!" Lela sighs in relief. "I have promised to follow you. If you decide so, then our next choice is obvious. I know a great inn nearby."

-----

It takes them less than five minutes to arrive at the inn Lela mentioned. It's nowhere near as grand nor large as some of the inns Eden saw when he walked through the streets of Ella. However, this three-story-tall building has a simple, familiar feeling from its exterior structure that reminds him of his home. They walk inside and are greeted by the innkeeper, a woman in her 50s who recognizes Lela immediately.

"Lela! Long time no see!" The innkeeper cheerfully waves at Eden's companion, but she quickly covers her nose. "...Jeez, you should get yourself cleaned up. You're lucky enough to catch a boyfriend like him," she points at Eden and smiles teasingly, "smelling like that might just chase him away."

"Oh, we're not together. We're just working as a team for the time being." Lela shrugs and calmly answers, while Eden blushes a little bit at the thought. "Besides, we both smell like s**t, so he's not going anywhere soon."

"Hpmm, you're lucky to be Talented, else your vulgar language and bad teeth would have given you no hope at courting someone." The innkeeper shakes her head and turns to Eden. "Young man, you might be out of her league, but please treat her well. Lela seems like that, but she's actually very kind."

Eden realizes this lady must have never seen Lela without her disguises. "Don't worry, ma'am. I have known Lela enough to understand that it's her who's out of my league." He respectfully answers, even bowing his head. "And I'm Eden, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Again, she's not a noble, Eden, don't be so formal." Lela teases, but she also blushes a bit red. "But you got that other part right."

"...I don't know what you saw in her, Eden, she's not THAT kind, teehee," says the innkeeper as she throws two keys to them, "but here your keys, single rooms, same floor. I would give you a double room, but you aren't together."

"I wouldn't mind either way." Lela shrugs. 

"Lela! Don't be inappropriate." The woman continues with a serious tone. "You two really smell, by the way, go upstairs and clean yourself up before you chase away all of my guests."

The two of them thank the innkeeper and head straight to their rooms. Eden quickly takes off his armor and takes out his spare clothes from his backpack. As he heads to the hallway and goes to the bathhouse on the same floor, Eden sees Lela without her makeup disguises, also in the hallway, trying to do the same. She notices him right away, and they make eye contact.

"I-I'll just go to the bathhouse on another floor." Eden quickly answers. 

"Dang it! I just remember this inn only has one bathhouse on this floor." Lela facepalms herself and curses at the innkeeper. "You planned this, didn't you, old hag? And you said that I was inappropriate!"

"Then I guess I have no choice." Eden shrugs and starts walking toward the only bathhouse in this inn.

Lela is nearer to the bathhouse, but she sees Eden approaching quickly, so she calms down and smiles at him. "A gentleman like you would allow me to go first, right?"

"Nope," Eden says as he walks past her, but he has to stop in his tracks when Lela holds his wrist.

"Surely a well-educated man like you must have heard of the term 'Ladies first', right?" Lela says in a gentle yet intimidating tone.

Eden continues looking at the bathhouse, his expression is serious, and his voice is clear. "I yearn for true gender equality. I have no patience for one who talks about female privilege when it suits them, and then complains about someone 'not being a man' when it's convenient."

Not one second after Eden says this, the two of them rush towards the bathhouse with their immense speed and arrive inside at the same time. Without a choice, they agree to share the bathhouse together.

-----

"A-are you sure that it's fine to lock the door? There might be others who need to use this place," Eden awkwardly asks.

"Y-yes. We're commoners, so we only bathe once every few weeks. It's very rare for someone to use it. Those who do can wait for a few minutes." Lela answers, equally embarrassed.

Its bathhouse only contains large barrels of water as a simple inn, and its residents must use the barrels for bathing themselves. The water was taken from the well, so it is also cold. Not the ideal condition to bathe in, but such is the life of commoners.

Right now, the two of them are bathing in two separate barrels and facing the opposite side of each other. Eden resists the urge to turn around and catch a glimpse of Lela's n***d back, fearing she might literally kill him if he's caught. They finish cleaning up in complete silence and leave without any incident.

-----

"Eden?" Lela suddenly says as they walk out of the bathhouse, already clothed.

"Yeah?"

"I'll stop being mad at you if you promise not to speak of this again to anyone else." Lela continues while looking away. Her face beat red.

"Y-yeah, of course." He answers, tilting his head down, his face just as red.