"Mnn...

" Serena muttered as she slowly opened her eyes

Her eyes were tired and she was still sleepy, so she let out a small yawn before looking around.

She was on top of a rather cosy and soft bed inside of a room which she didn't recognise.

"An inn...

" She muttered as she got up

She stretched out her arms before taking in a deep breath and letting it out.

The room was quite small, there was a table on the middle with her equipment and another pair of clothes.

There was a door on the side of the wall opposite to the edge of the bed, and another one on the other side of the room.

Serena peered from the window next to the bed before seeing that it was still dark out. As she saw this, she quickly hopped off the bed before her body shivered as her feet touched the ice-cold wooden floor.

"C-Cold... Why is it so cold...?

" She muttered as she quickly rubbed both hands together

She then slowly walked towards the table before checking it's contents. As she reached it, she realised that it was indeed her equipment, her staff along with her sacred treasure wand were on the table.

"Who just leaves this here?! And if this is here then that means... How did I even get here again?

"

Serena tried thinking back on what had happened for her to have reached this position, and as she remembered, she slowly crouched down before covering her ears with her arms

"I-I... W-What did I do!? M-me and J-John... We... k..kissed...

" Serena asked herself, her cheeks blushing brightly

She quickly sprung up as she muttered those words before quickly looking around, moving her head left and right.

"W-What should I do...?

" She asked as she turned to both doors.

The only sound in the room was coming from her, she also couldn't feel any other presence around. After realising this, she could feel herself calming down.

"H-He's not here...

" She muttered as she let out a sigh

When she noticed that she felt relieved that she wouldn't have to see him, she quickly turned to the door opposite to the bed, before asking.

"W-why am I afraid of meeting him, right now? He's been disappearing lately, so he probably won't be around but... He could have at least waited for me to wake up, instead of leaving me here alone...

" Serena muttered

As if only noticing now what she had said, Serena froze and stared at the door without moving.

"What's wrong with me...? Why should I care if he left without saying anything...? But still... He hasn't explained anything yet! At least leave a note!

"

Serena stared intently at the door

"...

"

It stared back

"Mn...

"

It stared back

Seeing how strange she was acting; Serena gave up and decided to go straight to the door.

With each step, her heart began beating faster and faster, she didn't know what she was so nervous for, but either way, once she reached it she braced herself before grabbing on to the doorknob.

*Click*

The door slowly swung open, and as she looked inside, she felt her heart sink. It was empty, but that didn't make her any happier, in fact, it only made her feel slightly worse.

An wooden toilet, along with a wooden showering area along with an empty showering area. All in the same room which was empty.

"He's not here...

"

As she realised that she was the only one there, slightly curled back her lips as she muttered

"He better not be off doing something stupid agai-

"

*Click*

Serena quickly turned her head to do the door and moved her hand to grab on to her staff only to realise they were both on the table.

Seeing this, She quickly rushed to the table to grab it as the door swung open.

From the door, came in a boy, he was holding a plate which was being covered by another plate. As he stepped into the room, he quickly stopped and his eyes widened before he let go of the plate.

As the plate was about to crash onto the floor, the contents from the inside, were about to fall out. But right before they did, the boy crouched down at a fast speed before grabbing both plates without letting any food fall out.

"That was close...

" Said the boy as he let out a sigh

"John?

" Serena asked

He then looked up again, only to see the same sight. Serena pointed her staff at him.

"Who else?

" John asked

Hearing this, Serena quickly lowered her staff before heading towards him. With each step the wooden floor would make a thump sound as she walked towards him.

"Uh... Serena...? O-Oi

"

With her cheeks slightly reddened, Serena moved in closer and closer before eventually, stretching out her hand to John. She stared straight at him before saying.

"Here... Get up...

"

John looked over at her hand in confusion before a small smile was formed on his face as he grabbed it.

"Yeah, thanks.

" Said John as he used it to get up.

Once he was up, Serena looked away from his face before asking.

"So, when are you going to explain?

"

Without saying anything, John gestured at Serena to wait for a bit before heading to the table and putting the plate down. He then removed the 2nd plate which was above it, showing a freshly grilled steak in the middle.

Serena watched as he pulled out a bowl of warm rice from his ring before putting it down alongside the other plate and untensils he pulled out.

"...I have a lot of questions right now...

"

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving. So how about I explain everything while we eat?

"

*Growllll*

Just as he mentioned eating, the sound of a stomach grumbling resounded through the room. That sound came from Serena's stomach.

"W-Well, I guess a bit won't hurt... I'll go brush my teeth first

" Serena muttered as she looked at the toilet

"Here.

" Said John as he pulled out a new clean toothbrush, with some toothpaste.

The quality on the brush was surprisingly good and it even looked shiny. As serena grabbed it, she wondered if he was really properly managing their money.

***

As the two ate, John explained everything as far as he could remember after waking up. He explained how he was stuck in in possession mode, the mansion was split in half, many nobles died and the balance in the kingdom was ruined.

Lots of families complained, John overheard people talking about the king of Xoleria's trip to the City of Fyselone, which was the name of the beach city they were currently at.

A lot happened, but rather than focusing on that, John happily enjoyed his meal while not going to deep into it.

"What happened to Ariel and Ms Sylvia? Where are they now? Why did you charge into the enemy's base by yourself...

"

Hearing this, John took another bite of the steak with rice before letting out a satisfied

"Mmm...

"

Serena waited for him to finish chewing and when he was finally done, he was about to take another bite without answering the question.

Seeing this, Serena quickly grabbed on to his hand as she asked.

"Why do you keep avoiding the question?

"

"Because I don't want to talk about it... Master Sylvia at least... Ariel is fine, I left her at the Inn with Master Sylvia, I couldn't just leave you here to go check on them, so I don't know much of anything that happened since. Although it's fine, I can still feel their presence clearly

"

"If she's with Ms Sylvia, she should be fine, but...

"

"I know, just trust me on this... I need to make sure of something, also, I'm finished.

" Said John as he got up

John's plate was completely empty, he had always been a fast eater. Seeing this, Serena rushed to finish her plate.

John put the empty plates and used untensils into his space ring. It was very useful for dishes, and luckily it mix with any other of the other objects in there.

Serena continued to eat and watched as John pulled out a glowing green magic stone from the ring. It was small enough to completely fit in his arm, but it oozed out magic power like an open water tap.

"What is that?

" Serena asked once she finished chewing what she had in her mouth

"Ah, this? A magic stone which was offered to me... But it's not normal.

"

"Not normal? What do you mean?

" Serena asked

"Just a hunch.

"

John lied to Serena, not because he couldn't say what it was, but because he couldn't afford for to waste time explaining.

John waited another minute until Serena finally finished her food.

"Done! It was so goood!

" Said Serena as she streched out her arms.

Hearing this, a smile was formed on John's face as he said

"Good, let's go.

"

John was acting weird and Serena could tell, but she didn't say anything. Partially because she was worried that it might have had to do with the kiss they had, or because he was acting unexpectedly calm despite it having happened.

Does it not mean much to him? Serena wondered

Little did she know, John's mind was completely focused on something else.

As he began heading towards the door, John made sure that they had all of their belongings, before they left.

It's not true... Right? Master... There's no way it is... John asked himself

With doubt and worries in their mind, the two continued on in their adventure, uncertain about what the future had in store for them