Michael thought he was in trouble. Not until he saw a man just laying over the edge of the couch and what was under him, was a clump of messy vomit.
Ellis hissed. "I'm really sorry—"
"You take this man inside my home," Mrs. Hayes said sharply. "This man who has the audacity to drink early in the morning! Look at him, he's about to—"
Ellis stopped Stefan's body from falling into his own vomit. Michael never thought anyone could even get this sick from drinking alcohol. Whatever Stefan had consumed before Michael had woken up must have been great volumes of booze.
Why would he do this to himself? He even looked half-dead, with his bruises and tape across his face, it didn't even look like he recovered. Sweat was beading down from his head as his eyes were barely open to stay awake. His clothes were drenched in his own sweat and his armor poorly strapped like he didn't even care.
"Clean this up!" Mrs. Hayes yelled. "Immediately!"
Ellis looked at Michael at the stairs.
Michael gulped.
It was cruel, that was already obvious but he had no other choice. Because Michael had agreed he was willing to do anything when they had let him join their party. And also, Mrs. Hayes threatened to kick them out because Stefan had ruined her expensive carpet. While Michael was stuck on the duty with cleaning the mess, with a broken hand, Ellis took the time to calm her down.
Mr. Hayes was nowhere to be seen but knowing that he was more rash than his wife, it was a miracle that he wasn't here to witness this.
As Michael grudgingly cleaned the vomit that was starting to be absorbed in the carpet, he caught a glance at Stefan's face. His eyes were also sore with tears. Michael recalled when Ellis warned him of talking about Cerra in front of him. But actually, it was Stefan that brung her name up and introduced Michael to his past. It must have taken a toll on him, watching the drool come from his mouth as his eyes were lifeless.
Ellis sighed, flipping Stefan's body upright. "If I knew this would happen when I had made a party with you, I would have run straight out the door."
Michael thought he was talking to Stefan. "Are we getting kicked out?"
"If he pukes again, then yes, we're going to get kicked out. Make sure you close his mouth if you see that, make him swallow back his misery."
Michael didn't like to imagine that.
"It's been four months since the last time, so this breaks the new record."
"Of him being sick?"
"He's not sick," Ellis tapped Stefan's face. "He's just overly drunk. He's going to stay like this for the next few days, then it's a different story when he wakes up."
"What happens when he wakes up?"
He sighed, pinching his brow. "Nothing good. Every time he does this, we have to be the ones to take care of him like some caregiver. It's embarrassing and I keep telling him otherwise."
"Is he…hearing any of this?"
"No," Ellis looked at Stefan's drooling face. "He's out cold. Whatever is happening inside that head, I don't wanna know."
"Then, about earlier," Michael grimaced. "What you told me inside my room…was that actually true?"
"We can talk about it outside after you finish cleaning that up. Make sure you really get the soap in, I can see it soaking into the carpet."
Michael scrubbed harder. He didn't even know vomit could be this color after drinking booze. Mrs. Hayes must have left because of the smell that infiltrated the room so he was at least glad nobody else was bearing the sight of Michael cleaning something disgusting.
This was by far one of the nastiest things he's done, even comparing some of the acts the workers forced him to do at the union. As he scrubbed, he could have sworn Stefan was muttering something like he was talking in his sleep.
Stefan didn't even get a chance to recover from his injuries. Right when they took him back to Almore, he went straight to the tavern and drank himself sick. Michael imagined their faces as Mave had to peel his body from the floor and bring him back to the Hayes's home. Who would have known what happened if Stefan didn't have good friends like Ellis and Mave when he was like this.
After Michael thoroughly washed his hands, he walked to the backyard where Ellis was tending to the garden. For someone so smart and talented like Ellis, Michael would have never guessed he liked plants. It must have been his other tactic of warming up to Mrs. Hayes so she could let them stay longer after what just happened.
"Is it okay to leave him alone?" Michael asked behind him. "What if he pukes again?"
"Stefan is twenty-three years old," Ellis scooped the soil over. "He's grown up enough to take care of himself, let alone be ashamed that he does this to himself."
"It's because of Cerra, right?"
"Who else would Stefan drink himself over for?"
Michael watched him harvest more vegetables. "Does Mave know?"
"About what, his pointless drinking?"
"No, about Cerra…that Stefan had killed her."
Ellis stopped. "We all know, the Adventuring guild and the others. Harper was one of the best guild captains that Wilmere had ever seen. She was going to break the border of a commoner being recognized by royalty."
Michael wondered why he had never heard of her.
"But also, she was one of the worst. She had an ego the size of a planet, makes you think if she passed some of that onto Stefan."
"You knew her?"
"I never liked her," he remarked. "She drank a lot in public, only talked to people in her own circle, and hated those who were weaker than her. It was harder joining the Adventuring guild back then compared to now. Because back then, you would have to fight her in order to join."
"Did you…"
"No, I didn't join the guild until it was under new management. Vince and Yosef are the captains now and they're more lenient which is also a bad thing. You know what they say, the less the better and now the guild is filled with failures."
Michael thought about his parents. Were they really adventurers? Hearing how strong Cerra Harper could have been, he heavily doubted that his parents were in the Adventuring guild. If they really were, then their son was the biggest disappointment of all time.
Ellis picked up his basket and walked back.
Michael followed behind him. "Is that why everybody hates Stefan? Because he had killed Cerra?"
"Only the older ones do," he placed it on a table. "When Harper was the captain, the guild was in its prime. It was because of her that adventuring came out of its niche and was more known to the public."
"Why do you keep calling her Harper?"
"Because I at least respect her. She's done a lot for adventurers."
"So," Michael stared at him. "Were you also mad when Stefan had killed her?"
Ellis locked his gaze. "I wasn't in the guild, Michael, so it never concerned me what happened to her. But I could imagine what the members felt when they received the news of her death."
"But you still joined Stefan in a party, even if you knew you were working together with a murderer. Were you okay with that?"
"Like I said, it never concerned me what happened to her. Stefan was the one that told me himself that he killed her, that's why I was surprised that he told you something different."
Michael felt like he was even more confused. What was Stefan trying to pull off by telling them two different stories?
"And I had no other choice," Ellis said. "Nobody else in the guild would want to work with someone like me. Stefan was the only person that recognized my skill. I figured that I shouldn't ask him about Harper or anything similar, because he might turn into that."
Michael noticed his glance towards the back of the house.
"But here's the general story to the public: Cerra Harper goes on a quest with the Adventuring guild, all of them die except one boy. That boy is Stefan, and the truth writes itself from there."
"So…they think that he killed her."
Ellis continued brushing off the dirt from the vegetables.
"Do you think that's what happened?"
"I don't know what happened," he said, growing annoyed. "Stefan was the one that came back alive, he's the only person that knows what became of Harper and the party. Her death impacted a lot of people, especially the Adventuring guild. So they were quick to blame, quick to judge, and pointed Stefan for everything."
Michael frowned.
"That was five years ago. He hasn't moved on at all, as you can clearly tell. Same goes for the people that knew Harper, still holding that same resentment for him after all these years. It makes you wonder if Harper really was a good person."
"Was she?"
"I don't know, Michael, stop asking me about her. Never bring her up in a conversation around Stefan, understand?"
"But, what about you, do you think it's unfair for him? I mean, nobody really knows what happened—"
"Michael, stop." he pressed his hand on the table. "If you're trying to save his reputation, it's pointless, they're not going to forgive him. The only time when they'll start to have an ounce of that is when he's dead. Why do you care so much about him anyways?"
"Because he's my friend. If it wasn't for Stefan, I would have died in my first quest alone. Don't you feel bad watching all the other adventurers talk down on him when he's just trying to help?"
"We've gotten used to it."
"But what about Cerra? Doesn't it feel weird?"
Ellis sighed. "If he wants to talk about her, then let him bring up the topic on his own. I told you, every time he even remotely thinks about her, he turns into that and it becomes a hassle trying to take care of him. If you want to find out the reason why he killed her then be my guest. But be careful, because you're going to be treading on thin ice."
Michael watched him walk away with the basket.
"And also," he shouted back. "Don't include me in any of it!"
Michael didn't know what to think anymore. He didn't know why he was so invested in Stefan's story but none of it made sense to him. Stefan held Cerra in such high regard, it was almost gut-wrenching to have him say that he killed her. And if Michael was curious about what happened, he would have to hope that Stefan would be stable enough to tell him.
Stefan was only in that state because he told Michael about his past and how he met Cerra. Michael imagined him talking about her death in detail will only do worse. Ellis had deliberately warned him as well and even wanted no say himself in Michael's interest of trying to find out what really happened.
Should he just leave it alone, Michael thought, and spare Stefan's habit of overly-drinking whenever Cerra was brought up?
Was it just Michael being selfish again or was it him being noisy about being in other people's business? Michael didn't even know who Cerra Harper was yet he's been feeling intrigued about what happened to her.
Michael pushed the thoughts away. He can't be thinking about other people's problems when he still has his own. After his hand heals, Ellis is going to put him right back to work along with the other adventurers. And with that, he's still sticking with the same goal of becoming stronger. Trying to solve a case about someone who's been dead for five years wasn't going to do him any good, especially when Michael was prying into something too sensitive. Maybe it was his immature side that's been feeding off the curiosity.
He looked around in the garden alone. There were more important matters he should have been worrying about from the start. If Michael was going to spend his time trying to figure out something so pointless, then he would have just defeated his purpose of becoming an adventurer.