They headed out of the library. The time felt like somewhere in the afternoon, judging they had started in the morning. Sitting in the library rested their legs enough to walk around for a place to dine. The bad part was they didn't have any money. Even defeating a mana beast and out-living all the prisoners in a match against death, none of the nobles had the courtesy to reward him with at least a gold coin.
Maybe he should have stuffed some in his pockets when they were cheering on the prisoners to fight harder.
Begging on the streets was one thing, strangely Evelyn didn't mind it at all. But Michael hated the idea of her laying in the gutter and relying on the other people's generosity. Commoners weren't even rich at all, they were just passing by with whatever they had. The other idea was to steal.
"I don't get why you're so scared," she swung his hand around. "You're an ego master, you can do anything you want."
An ego master with no money, Michael thought, everyone should fear him.
"Fine, we won't steal," Evelyn walked in front of him. "But I have an idea."
Michael moved her back to his side, to prevent her from bumping into anyone else.
"You should sell me for quick money!"
"Evelyn, I really don't want to do that."
"But—you take me back and transform me back into my body. Where did the sword go, the shopkeeper asked."
"If I sell you to the keeper and take you back without paying for it, that's stealing."
"Wear a mask so he doesn't know who you are."
"I don't have any money to afford a mask."
Evelyn groaned. "I'm starving."
Michael imagined feeding a cut of meat into a sword. Then he remembered swords don't have mouths unless they feed through the edges of the blade. Was he also going crazy from hunger? Or were they genuinely curious on how swords digest their food?
"Michael," she leaned her weight against him. "Can you bring me some food?"
He pushed her off his shoulder. "How do swords get hungry anyways?"
"I can get tired and I can get hungry, just like you."
"So…you're half-human and half-sword."
"No, stupid," she bumped him. "I'm a sword that can turn into a human. Human tired, human hungry, human eat."
"Why'd you start talking like that?"
She started chewing on his hand.
"Hey, stop that," he pulled away. "I won't hold your hand if you do that."
Evelyn frowned. "Sorry."
"That's the first time I ever heard you say sorry."
"Oh, uhh, not-sorry. I take back my apology."
"I'll eat your hand now."
She pulled back her hand, laughing and even dragging along Michael with her. There was that aching feeling again in his chest. The sound of her genuine laugh, and the way she smiled. She even squealed, feeling his teeth on her finger. Walking alongside her to nowhere in mind was enough to keep him satiated.
He liked everything about her. Even if she came across someone easy to annoy and childish, he really liked that about her. Was it just because she was finally someone of his age? She didn't even feel like a friend to him anymore, or his sword. Michael couldn't even care about the sword anymore. He had her, and that's all he thought matters.
***
"Right here," Evelyn stopped them. "I smell food."
Michael read the sign. It was some type of cheese restaurant, a small building but looked to have some activity inside. They must have been walking for hours because the sky was turning down. Evelyn didn't look like the mood to walk anymore so she insisted that they ate something. Michael didn't know what she had in mind and that worried him. Does he trade the sword for compensation or do they most likely run away after they finish? Or just blatantly dart out the door once they have their food?
Evelyn shook his hand. "Are you hungry or are you scared?"
"Both."
"Come on, you told me you were a slave. Didn't you break the rule like a hundred times already?"
She was right, Michael thought, this wasn't anything special. Michael would have begged for the opportunity to sit down for a meal even if he was going to run away. Back then when he was a slave, he would have never even imagined walking around the capital of Wilmere and entering a library. Why was he so hesitant now? Was it because of Evelyn standing next to him? Was he scared of the fact that Evelyn would have been disgusted that he was a slave before?
But she didn't care. The look on her eyes told Michael that she would do anything to break the law as long as he was next to her.
"How fast can you run?" Michael asked.
"I'm an ego sword," she proudly said again. "Nothing of the impossible can defeat me."
He thought it was a bold claim coming from someone as short as him.
Once they entered, they were quickly seated as two and given the fine paper menu. At first the waitress was hesitant to let them in but Evelyn took the charge and found themselves the seat even before the waitress could respond. It wasn't about their clothing or the forced smile Evelyn told Michael to do, it was just the obvious demeanor of mischievous children. Michael didn't wear any top gear or fancy clothing like the rest of the people here. He looked like a son of some third-party slave keeper that couldn't afford real clothes.
As for Evelyn, she already stood out.
They gave their orders and were served a few minutes after. It was a cut of meat, potatoes, a side of vegetables, all slathered across with some type of thick cheese. The steam, the aroma from outside, and the swell in Michael's stomach. How long has it been, ever since he prayed for a time like this? He looked over to Evelyn already stuffing the mood into her mouth with her hands.
He tried to stop her, glancing at the strange stares from the people nearby. They were blowing the cover of the having-money-to-eat scheme.
Still, he couldn't contain himself either.
Evelyn moaned while rubbing her cheeks. "I would never imagine this is what eating tasted like."
Michael didn't even bother the thought of how swords ate. He tried eating normally with a fork and spoon but it was just too slow. He ended up going primal with his hands, even if the cheese felt hot between the touch. He stopped caring about the people suspecting they were crazy. This was definitely a life-time experience. When was the next time he would ever get something like this again? As a slave, someone would kill just to have a taste of what this food offered.
Evelyn chugged down the cups of water.
Michael scarfed down his other piece of meat.
Evelyn laughed at the way he ate as if she wasn't doing the exact same.
Michael's mouth was full of food, too busy chewing to respond.
There was little conversation happening, and more meat-to-mouth as time passed. They needed to eat as fast as possible before being caught by the guards. Evelyn being imprisoned sounded funny, as they tried to interrogate a sword that couldn't talk to them. But for Michael, he would be sent back to the union.
Michael suddenly choked coming across that thought, slamming his chest to encourage himself to swallow harder. If he was caught, he was going back to being a slave and separated from Evelyn.
"Alright—" Michael forced himself to talk. "Let's go."
"What?" Evelyn chewed with her mouth open. "I'm almost done, just give me a second."
He grabbed her hand. "Nope, time to go!"
"Wait—"
Michael dragged her back to the entrance while she was holding what was whatever left of her plate. Like he suspected, they already knew of the little kid's trick of running away. But Michael had thought ahead of them, slamming through the doors before they could intervene. He could hear their shouting voices behind him as he ran with Evelyn.
Evelyn was still chewing and laughing, which sounded hazardous, but she quickly followed his lead.
The good part was that they had successfully made it out. The bad part was the owner was painfully tenacious and decided to chase them on foot. He was practically the size of both of them combined.
Evelyn turned around. "He's chasing us!"
"Keep running!" Michael shouted back. "Don't look back!"
This feeling was already burned into Michael, the feeling of doing something he knew was wrong. Running from the guards as they caught him during curfew hours or simply being pursued as a slave on the run. Michael ran through the walking commoners, ignoring their quick cursing remarks as they were being bumped by a random boy and laughing girl. But Michael wasn't laughing, this was his game now.
He could still hear the heavy shouts coming from the owner. He was still being chased. Michael was sneaky, slithery, and knew how to run through crowds. Evelyn just had the free ticket to follow behind him.
Michael let go of her hand and jumped onto a crate of boxes. He leapt higher and caught the ledge of a wall, pulling himself just over to kneel for her.
Evelyn climbed before him. She couldn't leap as high like Michael but she covered enough height to grab his hand. But his heart dropped. Not because of how close the raging owner was starting to gain on them.
But because he couldn't lift her up.