There were hard knocks on his door. Michael groaned awake with his eyes feeling a little heavy. Instead of laying in her arms, Evelyn somehow slipped down and was sleeping right beside him. Michael thought it was adorable how she always tried to bury her head in his chest whenever they slept together.
Then another round of hard knocks came from his door again. Michael forced himself to move and sat up from his bed. How long has he slept? Judging from the light outside his window, it couldn't have been more than an hour. He pulled the covers over Evelyn, too bothered to wake her up, and came to the door.
It was Ellis that was knocking.
Michael was still trying to figure out if this was a dream.
"Sleeping hard?" he said. "Looks like it's a slow day for everyone. Come downstairs, we need to talk."
Michael watched him walk away. He thought they already had a talk.
"And also," Ellis shouted down the hall. "Why do you keep locking your doors? Are you trying to hide something?"
Michael slowly groaned in response. His mind was still half-asleep and begged himself to slump back into bed next to Evelyn. He lifted the covers over Evelyn as her face squinted, reacting to the sudden wave of cold.
She looked so innocent, he didn't even want to wake her up. It was hard to believe this was the same person who was responsible for making him flustered. Though, Michael was the only one that knew this side of her.
He shook her shoulder. "Evelyn…"
"Mmmh…"
"Do you want to come downstairs with me?"
"Mmmh-mmm…"
"Then, promise me that you'll stay here until I come back."
She cracked a smile with a sleeping face.
Michael wasn't sure what that meant but he didn't feel like interrupting her sleep just to transform her back into a sword. Evelyn deserved more time as a human other than sitting on his back whenever he went outside.
After some self-assurance, he figured she would just be asleep until he had the time to return back to his room. Whatever Ellis was planning sounded important enough than staying here and pleading for Evelyn to not cause any trouble. Michael headed downstairs after failing to fix his bed-ridden hair and shirt stained with drool.
Mrs. Hayes was serving evening snacks. A platter of sliced cake with a thick layer of frosting and pieces of chocolate beside it. Her husband sat on the singular sofa with the most concerned face. It was already clear that he did not enjoy these adventurers inside the house these past weeks.
Ellis and Mave looked to be in a quick conversation. But Stefan was nowhere to be found.
Michael inched himself closer and reached for some of the snacks. He was always a sucker for free food.
"Eat your fill, darling," Mrs. Hayes chuckled. "How could a sweet boy like you wind up as an adventurer?"
He nervously laughed while ignoring the uncomfortable stare from her husband across the table.
"Michael," Ellis called. "Pack your stuff, we're going to leave in the next hour."
"About time." Mr. Hayes grumbled. "You adventurers have been in my town for far too long."
"And we've done more than you ever could in the span of two weeks. You should be heart-broken that we're leaving Almore."
Mr. Hayes grumbled something to himself.
"Well, we thank you for all your help," Mrs. Hayes handed Ellis the plate of snacks. "This town has completely flourished thanks to you."
Ellis reached for the chocolate. "It's nothing to be proud about, ma'am, we're just paying back for the trouble we caused to your people."
"So, are we really leaving?" Michael asked. "I thought that was against the rules."
"Against or not," Mave scoffed. "It's careless of the guild to send parties of adventurers without any insight of the quest. And even worse, Stefan went out to be an idiot somewhere else."
"Stefan's gone?"
"There's nothing more dangerous than that fool running around with no clue where he's at."
"Aren't we going to find him?"
"I've already sent out a party," Ellis said. "If he's trying to do anything ridiculous, then he won't be far."
Mr. Hayes grumbled again. "Great, more trouble, are you trying to leave a lasting impression before you go?"
Ellis refrained from saying anything back. But for Mave, she was the complete opposite.
"If Falden soldiers really do attack," she said. "Don't even bother hoping for any of us to return for you."
Mr. Hayes gasped. "Excuse me?"
Michael watched them argue back and forth as he nibbled on the spare cake that was left from the plate. It was a strange way of eating but he liked to take his time on good food, especially if it was some sort of sweet treat.
Though, he didn't enjoy the bitter tea that Mrs. Hayes always served alongside her snacks.
Then he heard a small voice calling out to him. Michael turned around to the stairs where it came from. His eyes widened.
Evelyn was peeking over the corner of the upstairs. Watching her dark brown hair dropping down her shoulders, that face couldn't have looked more mischievous.
Michael turned back to the room and back to her. They were too heavy in conversation to mind any of their attention to the random girl kneeling at the stairs.
She reached out her hand, probably asking for Michael to share some of the food that he was eating.
He desperately tried to wave her away like she could understand his frantic movements. It was impossible for him to give her any food without drawing even one of their heads to look back at Michael reaching over the stairs.
But she insisted that he would hand some over. Her face pouting away Michael's efforts to keep her inside his room. Even admitting that she was immortal and couldn't starve, she still enjoyed the taste of food like any other human. It must have been exhausting watching Michael eat and talk about all the meals he wished he could have shared with her.
Michael gulped. He wasn't going to convince her, especially when she admitted that she was hungry.
He started to pile the rest of the snacks in his hands in the midst of their argument. Mr. Hayes kept trying to despise the adventurers that came into his town and Mave was pointing out how successful Almore had become with their help. Michael couldn't really focus on any of their voices since he mainly tried to balance the absurd amounts of cake in his arms.
The conversation grew slower as they noticed Michael's strange struggle of stacking the snacks on top of each other.
Ellis narrowed his eyes. "Michael, what are you doing?"
Michael didn't know if this was worth the embarrassment.
Mrs. Hayes smiled at him. "Hungry?"
Michael nervously laughed as he carefully stepped towards the stairs. In the best perspective, he just looked like some kid that really enjoyed eating the snacks in the pleasure of his own room.
After gently closing the door behind him, and awkwardly dropping a few pieces down the stairs, it felt like he could finally breathe.
Evelyn was already started picking from his arms.
He dumped the mess onto his bed, not really caring if there would be crumbs left in his sheets. He was more concerned that she was too close to being found out. That was the farthest she had ever managed to step outside his room.
Michael had even felt ashamed thinking about that.
She poked around the cake, testing the texture before she would eat it.
"There was a much easier way of telling me that you were hungry."
"I just wanted to know what it'd taste like."
He groaned. "Please don't do that again."
She licked the frosting off of her fingers. She even looked so careless as if she didn't just put their entire secret at risk. But Michael couldn't argue with her. The way she looked at him and how endearing her eyes became, it was like he was ready to forgive anything she's done.
Michael asked her, in the nicest way possible, to stay in his room again. But that grinning face said otherwise, so the best he could so was pray she would be normal again.
He headed back downstairs. He already looked suspicious enough, abruptly bringing food to his room with no reason. He just hoped nobody was observant enough to figure out why he's been so weird.
Ellis and Mave had already packed their bags with the plan of leaving Almore since there weren't any real threats. Though by the time they've been here, the adventurers had helped the town thrive as much as possible. More buildings were being built, new areas to expand, and all the ways to influence their growth.
Mrs. Hayes frowned. "Please come visit again, Mister Winslow, you've done great service to Almore and its people."
Ellis wrapped his shortbow around his shoulder. "If it aligns with our quest, then you'll see us again."
She smiled and nodded her head.
Mave snorted. "You didn't even get to use that once."
"Words are stronger," he said. "And I think I've already done my part."
"You think you'll be rewarded extra by fostering a small town?"
"Definitely not."
"Are we really leaving?" Michael asked by the staircase. "What about Stefan, are you not going to find him?"
"Stefan shouldn't be a worry." he said. "Think about it, Michael, do you really think he'd be hard to find?"
Michael just thought he didn't want to leave anyone behind.
"Pack your bags, we're going home—"
There was a sudden knock at the door, heavy and quick, like they were trying to get immediate attention. Ellis dropped his backpack and answered the front door.
"Ellis?" the other voice said out of breath. "You…you gotta' see this."
"What's going on?"
"The recon shift caught something. It's three waves—three waves of Falden soldiers heading directly towards us."