Lilia's Tale

Chapter 79: Day of the Goddess (part 2)

I entered the guild and quickly looked around the tables to hope finding the ones I wanted. The place was quite bustling, although it seemed to include a few drunkards. This reminded me of my experience in Olivia's inn, which made me uncomfortable, but I reasoned myself into thinking that I was a customer this time, not a part of staff.

Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be here. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of people entering and simply placing themselves at a table, so I figured I should do the same. I wasn't sure how it would be received for a lone young girl to sit at a table in the guild, but I didn't let it deter me and chose the smallest table I could find that wasn't occupied.

It didn't take too long for a waitress to arrive and ask me if there was anything I wanted. I asked for what they offered and the prices and settled on a salad with different vegetables and some meat. It was quite affordable as well, as she said it was one of the bigger dishes but only cost one copper coin.

I waited some more time for the dishes, until I heard through the crowd:

"Wait, is that Lilia over there?"

The voice sounded like Riogh, which made me slightly happy. I checked for where the sound came from and saw the group, so I waved at them.

"Oh, it is Lilia!"

They came over and sat down with me. Thankfully, it was a table for four people, so they fit perfectly.

"Here for dinner?"

"Yeah. I just ordered though so you might have to ask a waitress directly for your own order."

"Fair. Tell me what you two want I'll go tell a waitress," Souji said.

They ended up choosing meat-heavy dishes as Souji went to tell the nearby waitress about it. Meanwhile, they kept talking to me

"Are you here for the festival?" Riogh asked.

"Yeah. Exceptional permission to leave the academy."

"Where is your summon?"

"Oh. Well, because it's the festival I can't have her with me. It's unfortunate, but she understands."

"She understands...?"

"Ah, yeah. I talk to my summons, remember?"

"You really are a weird one..."

As Greg was saying that, the waitress brought me my food. She also asked the others if they had already put in an order, to which they explained how it went. It was a bit surprising that Souji wasn't back yet, but maybe he ended up getting caught in something else.

They commented on me having ordered a large size meal, although I told them I was more interested in the price. We then went on to talk about what we did in the festival, so I talked about the Light magic lesson. They apparently participated in a few group mock battles and won them all. I was kind of proud of them.

Souji came back alongside the waitress with their dishes and we ate and talked together. They talked about their opponents and how they strategised against them. I was really interested in their talk as it was something I needed to learn more about.

We ended up talking about their last opponent through most of dinner. It was a group of five people, three men and two women, who were all individually stronger than them. They had devised a plan to attract attention so they could take them out one by one starting with their mages. As a result, Souji, who is the strongest, took care of all the enemy frontline while Riogh and Greg went on a skirmish for the mages.

To their surprise, the plan worked. Souji, who was capable of dodging the enemy's relentless attacks, bought enough time and attention for Greg and Riogh to get by unnoticed and attack the mages, effectively beating them relatively easily. From that point on, Souji simply regrouped, leaving them in a fight with equal numbers.