Episode 20

Inside a tavern where anyone can hang out and enjoy their meals while chugging down some beer, it was very lively with the amount of people that were inside. All of the tables were full with people sitting at them.

There were occasional clanks of mugs, distinct chatters and haughty laughters that filled the air. It would seem that everyone was enjoying their time after a quest well done. Not only that, there was another reason why there were more people than usual here tonight.

“Cheers!” CLANK!

“Glug glug glug… Puhaa~! Whoo! That’s some good stuff!” The woman with purple hair slammed her mug on the table. “Hey, don’t any of you drink alcohol?”

“We’re only seventeen you know? And Cecilia is fifteen. Neither of us are of legal age to drink, Yuki.” Matthew replied.

“Hey hey, your world’s rules don't apply here. I've been drinking alcohol since I was fifteen too, you know? You are missing out on the tavern’s specialties.” Yuki said before chugging down the rest of her mug’s content.

“Are you sure you’re okay Yuki?” Matthew asked after sipping his lemonade.

“Ahh I’m fine, I’m fine. Anyway, congratulations on passing the exam! It’s really incredible you did after just a year. Even I took three years to even try it and retake it the next year.”

“Well, mainly Matt was the one who carried us to the end.” Rose said.

“Oho~ is that so?” Yuki turned to Matthew with her eyes wide in surprise.

“No no, these two helped out a lot too. I don’t think that I could’ve passed it without them.” Matthew tried to deny the praises he was getting.

“Hmm~ what’s important is that you all passed. I could say I’m proud of you. Hey, what about you? What was your name… again…” Yuki’s sentence slowly slid away as she was surprised with the sight in front of her. Yuki could only watch in silence with the other two.

Cecilia was elegantly gobbling up the food that was served. In front of her were a whole grilled chicken, black pepper fish, a plate of barbequed steak, a tower of rice, a large mug of orange juice and a piece of cake on the side. A serving that should’ve been enough for the four of them were actually eaten by only one of them.

“Yeah… About that, she really had an appetite since the exam ended.” Matthew explained the situation.

“I… I see. Hey, hello~” Yuki waved her hand to get Cecilia’s attention. Cecilia abruptly stopped chewing while her cheeks were still puffed up and her eyes rounded when realised.

Cecilia quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and drank some of her orange juice before tapping her lips with a handkerchief with proper manners. “Yes, what is it?” She said with a polite smile.

‘A bit too late for that.’ Everyone thought.

Yuki dismissed that thought and proceeded. “I was asking, what’s your name?”

“Oh, it’s Cecilia.”She replied.

“I see, Cecilia huh... So, how did you meet up with Matthew and Rose? Were you guys in the same school?”

“Ah, no, we only met during the first phase of the exam. They are really good people. They helped me a lot as well.”

“Ah~ even have time to help others eh? I could say I’m proud of you.” Yuki chuckled at the end.

“Ahaha…” Matthew nervously laughed. “Thanks, but it was a real coincidence that we bumped into you at the Omni Hunter Association HQ.”

“I was just getting a promotion. Didn’t expect to see you guys there. I also noticed you’re wearing a red tag, so you already got Rookie rank right off the bat?” Yuki pointed at Matthew’s Hunter tag around his neck.

“Oh yeah, they said that I performed really well for a student and let me jump two ranks.” Matthew explained with an embarrassed face but a proud voice. “I am just happy that I did get it.”

“Yeah no kidding. It took me almost a year to reach Newbie from Cadet. Now it’s almost been five years and I finally reached Seasoned rank.” Yuki moved her face closer to Matthew’s. “Makes me wonder, how long will it take for you to get to where I am?” She said with a smirk.

Up close, Matthew could see that Yuki’s face was really red up to her ears. The liquor was starting to get to her it seems. Yuki stared deeply into Matthew’s eyes as she waited for an answer. Rose and Cecilia both gasped when Yuki did that.

However, Matthew did even flinch. Instead, he stared back at her and gave a firm answer. “Who knows, but I plan on beating you.”

Yuki was surprised by his answer. She had not imagined such a confident answer, but there was another reason for her shock. Yuki sat back down on her seat with a dissatisfied face.

“Strange… Usually that would work.” Yuki chugged down some warm water instead.

“Hm? What would work?” Matthew’s eyebrow almost met in confusion.

“Nevermind that.” Yuki dismissed what just happened. “Anyway, what are your plans after this?”

“Well… I…”

“As planned since we came here, we’re gonna find a way to get back to our world and possibly, home.” Rose cut off Matthew and gave her own explanation. “We’re gonna venture round and try to find any clues that might give us a hint. Other than that, nothing else.”

“Oh, right. So what you just wanna go about the world trying to find a way home? Is that it?”

“Exactly.”

Yuki placed her mug carefully on the table. “So let me ask you this, how are you going to-”

“Wait, you two are from another world?” Cecilia suddenly entered the conversation.

“Uhh yeah…” Rose answered.

"F-for real? Y-you guys never told me." Cecilia’s voice had a hint of sadness in it.

“You never asked.” Matthew and Rose replied simultaneously.

“B-but I…” Tears were starting to well up in her eyes. Matthew and Rose’s simultaneous answer was putting pressure on her.

Seeing their friend was about to burst into tears, Matthew and Rose quickly tried to calm her down. Yuki only observed their interactions, as if they had known each other for a long time already. And also like a…

Yuki shook her head and dismissed the other idea even though she really liked it and dissuaded the situation in front of her. “Alright, alright, let us all calm down and dig in, shall we?” Yuki spread her arms wide as an invitation.

Matthew, Rose and Cecilia abruptly stopped at what they were doing and sat back down on their seats. Matthew scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “Ahaha… Sorry about that. Although, what are we supposed to eat actually?” He asked, looking at the tower of plates close by and then the person who ate the contents on those plates.

“D-don’t look at me like that!” Cecilia covered her face which was burning red with embarrassment.

Yuki couldn’t help but laughed it off. “Ahahaha! It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll just order more! Hey, waiter!” Yuki raised a hand and called out to one of the waiters who were busy tending to the other customers. “Order anything you like, dinner’s on me!” Yuki said half shouting.

“Woah! For real?!” Matthew’s eyes were shining now.

“Hahaha! Yes, yes! We’ll celebrate you guys’ graduation with a big hearty meal!” Yuki lifted her mug in the air and was really excited, or rather, drunk by now. “Aahahahaha!”

Time passed quickly as they spent their night at the tavern. From personal celebration in small groups, it turned into a party for the whole tavern. They drank and sang and joked and exchanged a few friendly hits to each other. All of which was not joined by the young ones who only watched with mixed emotions from the side.

By the next morning, Yuki woke up to the bright sunlight that managed to pass through the curtains and kissed her face. She blocked it as she got up and sat on the side of the bed.

‘Eh, a bed? When did I get a bed?’

Yuki rubbed her eyes and squinted her sleepy eyes to see a bit better after just waking up. From her blurry sight, she could see a fancy room with fancy furniture all covered with red and yellow colour as if it belonged to a noble or baron’s mansion.

Now that the nerves in her body were slowly being activated, she could feel the softness of the bed underneath her bottom. She looked around the room a bit more to figure out where she was, then she noticed something on the door not far.

‘A logo?’ She could not really tell through her blurry vision and squinted a little more. That was when her eyes became round and wide.

“WHAATTT?!!” Yuki shouted in surprise. “That’s… A Golden Crescent Hotel logo! How did I end up here?!” Yuki tried to remember what happened but she just could not. She thought harder and harder. Drilling through her memories for an answer.

But there was no answer. Yuki panicked and quickly grabbed her gear that was conveniently placed on the table by her bedside and headed for the door. She was about to grab the door knob, until she noticed that the door was being opened.

She did not hesitate and took out her knife, swinging it at the person as soon as the door revealed it. However, her hand was stopped. She was very surprised that she froze in place.

“Whoa Yuki! Calm down would you?”

Yuki’s eyes widened once more. ‘That voice sounds familiar.’ She took a glance at the person’s face. “Matthew?!”

“Yeah, it’s me. Umm could you… Move your hand now?” Matthew said eyeing at her hand holding a knife which was blocked by Matthew’s.

Realising it, Yuki quickly retracted her hand and bowed. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“Err, it’s fine. No one was hurt. It’d be a different story if an employee came in instead.”

The moment Matthew mentioned an employee, Yuki grabbed him by the collar and slightly lifted him up. ‘About that! Where are we exactly? Are we really in a Golden Crescent Hotel room?”

“Uhh yeah…?” Matthew’s answer raised suspicion.

“What are we doing here? HOW did we get here?!”

“Uhh well… You see…”

…..

“Ahahaha! That was so much fun! I wanna have some more fun but, fuaahh~ I’m so tired now. Hey, take me to that hotel over there.” Yuki, who was completely drunk, said as she clinged onto Matthew.

Matthew, who only stood straight with a tired face while Yuki wrapped her arm around his neck, looked for the hotel that she mentioned. “Is it that one?” He asked while pointing.

Yuki looked over to that direction Matthew pointed in. She shook her head and said, “no, no, not that one. That fancy one! We’re going to a fancy hotel!”

“Eh, i-is it really fine to go there? Why don’t we go to that one instead?”

“Just do as I told you! I’m a Seasoned Hunter now. I am your senior so you must follow what I say, you hear me! Hic!” Yuki almost stumbled over while saying that.

“Err, what about you guys?” Matthew asked the other two girls.

“Seriously, does she really have to cling onto you like that?” Rose pouted with a slightly angry face.

“She can barely walk on her own. What am I supposed to do? Either way, I think we should get her to bed right away.” Matthew gave an excuse, he was actually getting a bit annoyed too but he did not dare to just leave Yuki like that.

She rolled her eyes. “Ugh.. Fine, just do what she wants.”

Matthew turned to the other girl, “what about you Cecilia?”

“Umm it’s okay I guess… If, if she says so..” Cecilia couldn’t even look at Matthew and the person clinging to him properly now.

“Hah! There you have it! Now take me there!” Yuki pointed to the hotel and pulled Matthew with her but he did not budge.

Matthew was at a loss and gave up on arguing. “Hah… Fine, as you wish senior…”

…..

Yuki covered her beet red face with both her hands and screamed inside it along with a cry while sitting on the bed. “Wuuwuwuu~ what was I thinking going to a fancy hotel? Wuwuu~” Her voice was muffled behind her hands.

“It’s… It’s okay, you were drunk after all.” Matthew, who was standing, tried to calm Yuki down.

“You saying that is not helping at all…” Yuki said, face still covered.

“Erk! Uhh well I uhh got breakfast here. Maybe eating a little will cheer you up?” Matthew lifted up the bag he was holding to head height.

Yuki went silent for a moment. “... Sure…” She then silently took the bag and opened up its contents. “It smells really good. What is this?”

“It’s just a sandwich I bought from somewhere nearby. Rose, Cecilia and I already ate ours, so we packed one for you.”

“Oh… I see.” Yuki did not sound so happy. “Speaking of which, where are the other two?”

“I don’t know. They just said that they had something to talk about by themselves, I don’t know what either and they just… Left.” Matthew shrugged his shoulders.

“Hmm girl talk maybe… *Nom* What about you? What are you gonna do?”

“Well, we agreed to meet up at the Hunter Station by noon. I thought of just waiting here until you wake up but well, you’re already up. So I don’t have any plans right now.” Matthew said.

“Being a gentleman huh, waiting for a girl to wake up. So you don’t have plans? Well, neither do I.” Yuki took another bite of her sandwich.

“I see.” Matthew replied in short.

Yuki looked at Matthew with suspicion. “What is it? What are you thinking?”

“Eh?” Matthew was surprised.

“You can’t hide it. Your face is just screaming at me that you wanna say something. Just spill it.” Yuki said with her finger pointed at Matthew.

Matthew scratched his head. “Ah I guess it can’t be helped. I know this is sudden, but…” He put down his hand and placed it on his waist. “Do you want to join us? As a team?”

Yuki was surprised. “Join you, huh…” Yuki cupped her chin and contemplated.

Matthew waited for an answer, sweat almost dropping from his chin. His heart was pounding.

After a while, finally Yuki answered. “To be honest, I am not interested.”

“Erk!” That answer struck Matthew hard.

“However,” Yuki’s sudden continuation caught Matthew off guard. He prepared his ears to hear it. “If you want me to join, I have one condition.” Yuki lifted one finger. Her face was very serious.

Matthew swallowed a lump of saliva.

“Beat me.” She said.

“... What?” Matthew was confused.

“You heard me. Beat me in a fight, if you do, then I might reconsider your invitation.” Yuki said with a very serious tone.

Matthew gulped once more. “B-beat you?”

“Yes. I heard that you enjoy fighting. This is an opportunity for a good fight you know? Or are you scared?” Yuki smirked.

Matthew was silent for a moment, but then he gave a firm answer. “You’re on.” He said with a confident face.

Yuki smiled at his answer. She threw the last piece of sandwich into her mouth, crumpled up the paper bag into a ball and stood up. “Come on, we still have time before noon. Here, throw this into the bin for me.” Yuki threw the crumpled up paper bag at Matthew, which he caught with ease. “Meet you by the lake at Brouson Hills.” Yuki said lastly before disappearing into thin air.

Matthew stood still there, surprised by what just happened. “She’s pretty fast.” Matthew looked at the ball of paper in his hand. “Fighting a senior Hunter huh, this… Will be interesting!”

Matthew quickened his pace to catch up to Yuki. He had to throw away the paper bag first into a bin as Yuki instructed which could be found at the lobby for some reason, which led him to a discovery.

Yuki was at the counter in the lobby accompanied by guards, paying for the fees for their stay. Seeing this awkward yet funny scene, Matthew had an imaginary water drop on his head. ‘I feel bad now.’

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