This Hero is Sleeping!

Elric woke up as the twilight of the dawn scattered inside his room. His eyelids were stuck together, but he managed to pull them open and feast on the sight around.

A headache.

His lips were chapped and throat parched, sleeping for three days straight was tough even for the Sleeping Hero. Stifling a yawn, Elric pushed against the bed and sat up. A few strands of his wild hair draped over his eyes while the rest cascaded down his back, all the way to his mid-back. He pushed the blue sheets away and stood up.

Water flowed out from the bottles kept on the side table and swept over Elric's face, without as much as looking at the water he controlled, Elric washed his face with some and drank the rest. He walked up to the door of the attached bathroom while the pile of used water went out of the window on its own and was disposed away.

There was no need to worry about things in here.

Right as they came in, Claude had used his skills and scanned the entrance, then the rooms, and then the rest of the inn, not a hint of hostility. Even if something came up, Elric and Claude had developed more than enough perception to escape most things that would come their way, they were confident.

The headache subsided slowly but steadily.

Elric's first morning, technically the third, in the town of Leunderk.

He found it exciting.

***

After freshening up, Elric stretched his arms and back as he walked down the stairs of the inn back to the ground floor. The paintings set up on the staircase were varying, vivid enough for at least one of them to catch the eyes of whoever comes around. The abstract paintings of monsters, monochrome coal portraits of gods and goddesses, highly detailed art of battles from legends that Elric knew naught about, and childish drawings of the inn.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ His hand brushed over the glossed wood of the railings as he turned to the reception desk on the first floor. An old gentleman in a full cream suit was reading a newspaper next to the fireplace, a pipe in his mouth, and coffee in his hands.

'Cool. I want to buy a suit too.'

Elric scrutinized the man's suit as he walked up to the reception desk, his head facing away from his body. The old gentleman noticed, but did not say anything out of the awkwardness.

"Ahem," the lady at the reception coughed, taking back Elric's attention.

"Oh, Miss Blue, you are a make-up wizard!" Elric exclaimed.

"Yes? What?"

"It's like you've become twenty years younger!"

Elric was pleasantly surprised at the sudden change. The Lady Blue in front of him lacked the slow forming wrinkles and the slightly receding hairline, her forehead was smaller and her lips compact. Was she maybe a spy doubling as an innkeeper? How cool was that? Elric decided to play the role and shoot up random keyphrases next time.

"Uh," the lady tilted her head. "Did you perhaps meet my mother, dear guest?"

She was more in the role than Elric assumed. Right, if she was a spy he should have never tried to oust her in the first place! For all Elric knew, the man behind was a bigshot from a different place and she had to keep her cover.

"Hah… Haha…" Elric covered his eyes and laughed. "Don't mind. Where's the restaurant?"

"Through that door right there… guest."

Elric nodded coolly and walked away from the reception. Thinking about it now, finding the restaurant was actually a no biggie.

Elric passed through the door and came up in front of another small passage that led to a wider dining hall. The dining hall was set up just as lavishly as the reception with mahogany planks boarding the entire walls. A chandelier hung from the center of the room and the tables were arranged in a spiral around it. Blue sheets were laid over the tables with fine silverware he would have had a hard time finding in his old world.

It was just after the break of dawn. The people back in the temple of Ephis used to wake up around now, but not all of them. Elric assumed the dining hall would be empty and hoped to snag a quick bite, but the grunts and hustle of the waiters and the chefs reaching out from the kitchen begged to differ.

On the table closest to the kitchen, a line of empty plates were stacked up in a tall pile, many other plates were splayed over the blue cloth, being lifted one after the another only to have all their contents vanish in the blink of an eye. The culprit was a familiar red-haired man.

Elric sighed and went up to the seat next to Claude. He snatched a plate before Claude could and lifted it. Sausages, bacon, omelets, and toast, this was a breakfast for sure, but it looked like Claude had just single-handedly sat through a ten-person all you can eat feast.

Well, someone else was paying anyway, they had to make the best of it.

Still, Elric hoped he could enjoy such luxury for a long time. Sleeping covered in blood from their day's hunt, lying on a bed of stick rocks with hopefully enough leaf to keep you warm, and then waking up the next day with rashes and bug bites.

Elric picked up a strip of bacon and nibbled on it. Unlike Claude, he had only one single human stomach and had a rather small appetite on top of being a slow eater, the one plate he had stolen was enough to keep him occupied.

The two of them did not share any words as they continued eating. The speed of the running waiters slowed down to a tired walk as Claude finally showed signs of being full.

He stabbed his fork in one of the last few sausages on his plate and lifted it. Before he bit in, a tear glistened on his eyelid before dripping down.

Followed by another, and then another.

Claude couldn't stop himself from crying as tears flooded out of his eyes, his mouth did not change for even a second despite his crying.

"C-Claude?" Elric muttered. "Sidekick? Are you okay? Did you eat something—"

Claude bit the sausage and slammed the table with his other hand. He took in a deep breath and turned to his friend.

"Elric," he sniffled. "I have decided. After living in that hellhole for two years… there's no way I am leaving this lifestyle. No way."

"O-oh… ok?"

"We have to get money. Let's find a way to make money."

Elric smirked at Claude's words.

Money.

He stood up and leaned on the table. "Then, let's do that!"

"That…?" Claude asked.

"Let's become adventurers!"