My Servant Is An Elf-Knight From Another World

Chapter 46

November really hated the sun it seemed. Not a trace of yellow in the clouds amid the endless swarm of dark greys and whites. It was like the sky just got told that its favorite show had been canceled and has lost all purpose for existence. That's how bleak it looked.

Someone better not tell it Santa isn't real either. I don't need the sky to start crying tsunamis on me. Rain was the last thing I needed right then.

Even the flower garden itself, with all its flair and flourish, was not spared from the melancholic air. Colors no longer bloomed, reds, yellows, and blues, so dull and washed-out. Not a trace of the wind to give them motion with the breeze.

It was all so... drab.

Am I in a noir film? Certainly feels like it. Only thing missing now was the gloomy narration. Wait, I already did, didn't I? Oh boy...

Okay! Look! I don't care. You think I care? I don't. I don't care how glaring the signs were, I was not going to take this as a precursor for things to come, I refuse.

Mark my words, this thirty-minutes-to-an-hour shopping session shall not be hampered by any more doom and gloom, and if I see one more thing that makes me feel the slightest bit of the big S.A.D, I am going to -

"Master... perhaps postponing this trip for now... would be the wisest decision..."

Cry.

I turned to face the front entrance, where a patch of white and a glow of green poked out from a slightly opened doorway.

"What, why?" I said, smiling an unconcerned smile. "Got some coupons here telling me that using them now would be the wisest."

Ash's eyes shifted upwards then back down to me. "Damp air. It's almost certain to start pouring at any moment."

I scoffed, and chuckled. I schuffled. "Pfft, It's not gonna rain."

Lighting flashed from behind.

"It's not going to rain soon."

Thunder boomed louder than a shotgun.

"It's not going to rain... soonest."

Happy thoughts, come on, sky, happy thoughts! Don't start tearing up, please!

I kept that unconcerned smile on my face. Probably was a mistake. No mirrors, but I was sure I had a grimace, which did not help my case at all.

We haven't even made it past the front door yet damn it.

"Umbrella!" I piped up, perhaps a bit more enthusiastically than I would have liked. "Get the one underneath the stairs. Problem solved. Yeah?"

That solved that, and luckily Ash was in agreement. Saw her face skirt away from the doorway and not a moment later, there sounded her rummaging about in the cupboard under the stairs.

The next I saw of her was with the front door swung to its fullest, a folded umbrella clutched tightly in her arms and with clothing that was... that was... what the hell...

That jacket with strands coming loose with many black blotches of singed fabric. I knew. Those jeans, ruined and sliced to tatters. I remembered. The first clothes I've ever given her... clothes that she took with her into the Matriarch's domain. Sad to say, they did not come out of the incident unscathed.

"You still have that?"

"Yes..." Ash said, knowing immediately what 'that' referred to. "I have, um... deemed them still fit for use..."

Fit for use, indeed. I do not recall ever teaching her how to use those dastard strings and needles, yet somehow... most of the damage was restored to a semi-pristine state. The places that were patched up showed signs of a beginner's work. Which means...