Chapter 180: First Date

POV Eliza

We still had a few hours left that day before it got dark. And the best part was that it was free time—we could do whatever we wanted.

“What would you like to do, Leo?” Betty

“Let me think… a hot tub is a given, but that can wait. The Adventurers’ Guild sounds interesting, but I’m still not sure if I really want to go there. Otherwise, I’d just like to explore the village and stroll around the area a bit.” Eliza

“Strolling around the area and just looking around? With you? That sounds just like a date. Leo, let’s do that. I’ll definitely come with you!” Betty

“You two should go ahead. I hope you have fun.” Bishop

“Me too.” Duke

“Then it’s settled. Come on, Leo, let’s take our luggage to our room and head out. I can hardly wait!” Betty

“I guess I have no choice but to hurry up.” Eliza

The two of us left the inn and stood on the street near the palisade. We weren’t on the main street or near either of the two gates, so there wasn’t much going on here. I looked around a bit and watched the people for a while. Everyone seemed busy. Betty, however, didn’t feel like waiting any longer and grabbed my hand. Then she pulled me into the next street and started rushing from one store to the next.

She paused briefly in front of each of these shops and looked at the displays. In most cases, they featured various types of weapons or armor, along with various items for adventurers and camping. We also went into some of these shops and browsed through the displays. We didn’t buy anything, but we had fun.

One shop, however, caught my attention. It was located off the main street and carried many unusual items. The collection featured all sorts of curiosities that travelers had brought back from faraway places. Very few of them were sold willingly; most were parted with out of financial necessity. Betty’s eyes lit up, and she had the shopkeeper explain many of them to her. I was listening in as well, because I, too, was interested in these curiosities. But then one item caught my undivided attention. I was staring at it so intently that I didn’t even notice Betty had spoken to me.

“Leo, Leo? Leo! Hey! Are you even listening to me?” Betty

“What? Did you say something?” Eliza

“You don’t react at all when I talk to you! I feel neglected. What do you have there? Is it something special? It looks really strange. A box with wires and an attachment. What is it?” Betty

At first, Betty looked at me with indignation, but then her expression quickly turned to curiosity when she noticed that my attention was focused on a particular object. It must have seemed strange to her, but to me it looked familiar. The box was about 30 cm long, 20 cm wide, and 5 cm high, with rounded corners. It was made of wood and hollow inside. It also had a hole in the center, but only on the upper side. On one of the short ends, a piece of wood protruded about 30 cm like a cap. There was a piece of metal next to the hole and at the end of the cap—the one next to the hole was straight, and the one at the end of the cap was angled. Between the two pieces of metal, they stretched a total of five thin wires, each of which was wound around a sort of screw on the side of the protrusion. To Betty, it was a strange box, but to me it reminded me of a crude version of a violin.

“Mr. merchant, what kind of strange box is this, and what is it for?” Betty

“Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly myself, and I don’t know anyone who does either. The only thing I can say for sure is that it comes from the East. It probably even comes from the lands of the dwarves or the gnomes.” Merchant

“Dwarves and gnomes, then. Those lands must be far away, since I’ve never seen one of them, let alone spoken to them.” Betty

“Yes, they are. It takes about three weeks traveling east to reach the Academy City. From there, it’s another two weeks to the last major city of the free city-states. According to traveling merchants, it takes about another month through the wilderness to reach the Realm of the Dwarves—maybe a little less. However, the journey is said to be very arduous, because the terrain rises noticeably there and you quickly find yourself in the mountains.” Merchant

“If I may ask, how did you come to possess this one-of-a-kind item?” Betty

“An adventurer sold it to me because he desperately needed money. That’s why I was able to buy it cheaply—also because he didn’t even know what it actually was. Unfortunately, no one has shown any interest in it so far, so it’s just gathering dust. Are you interested in it? I’ll give you a good price.” Merchant

I wasn’t really listening, because I was captivated by this strange violin in front of me. How long had it been since I’d last played one? It must have been years—many years, in fact. I’d played it for a long time in my old life, but not yet in this world. Judging by its appearance and the merchant’s words, it wasn’t very common—maybe even unknown. I’d love to try it out, but where was the bow? It would be difficult without it.

“Where’s the… ahem, uh, other part that goes with it?” Eliza

I couldn’t ask about the violin bow because I didn’t know the term in the local language. Was there no equivalent term? Did that mean a violin was actually something this world—or at least the people here—didn’t know? I gestured to the merchant to indicate what I was looking for. The two of them, however, looked at me in disbelief, as if I were speaking a different language. In a way, I was.

“Another part? What do you mean, Leo? Do you know what this thing is?” Betty

“There is no other part, dear customer. But if you know what this thing is, I’d be grateful for any information.” Merchant

“May I hold it and try it out a bit?” Eliza

“By all means. If it helps.” Merchant

I took the violin and rested it on my left shoulder. The feeling was familiar, even though the shape was rudimentary and rough. I plucked the strings tentatively and listened to the sound. It was quite out of tune and not particularly good. I tested whether I could adjust the sound with the tuning pegs. It actually worked, so it was some kind of violin. Whoever built this instrument must have known what a violin was.

At first, the other two looked at me in disbelief, but then they both realized what it was.

“Is that a musical instrument? But how do you play it?” Betty

“There’s another part that you use to pluck the strings. It looks like a bow, like the ones archers use. Smaller and much flatter.” Eliza

“Very interesting. So the elves know this instrument, too. You’re saying it can’t be played without that special bow?” Merchant

I nodded.

“Then, unfortunately, it’s worthless to me. Are you interested in buying it from me? But I’d at least like to get back the money I paid for it back then.” Merchant

I took the violin off my shoulder and looked at it once more. Then I sighed and put it back down.

“I don’t have the money to buy it. Besides, it’s certainly not going to be cheap anyway. Betty, I’m going to step outside for a bit. I need to be alone for a moment.” Eliza

I then left the store and took a few deep breaths. I felt a deep melancholy welling up inside me. I used to love playing the violin—I loved it very much, in fact. Until just now, I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. However, I also didn’t know that there apparently weren’t any violins here. Except for the one in this small shop on a side street in a small trading town. There wasn’t a bow, but I could probably make one somehow. But it wasn’t possible. I didn’t have any money to buy it. Besides, we were already moving on tomorrow. I sighed loudly.

Then a noise rang out that took me completely by surprise and completely killed the mood. My stomach growled. Oh my gosh, I was so embarrassed. Then I noticed the smell of grilled meat in the air. I immediately headed in that direction and, just a few houses down, spotted a small street stall where someone was placing meat skewers on a grill.

“Hello, young lady. Would you like some? Only 5 copper per skewer.” Stall owner

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a large copper coin.

“Two skewers, please. Sniff. Can I have the two on the left? They smell delicious.” Eliza

The stall owner stared at me as I placed my order.

“Are you sure, young lady? I just put those on the grill. They’re still very raw and barely roasted." Stall owner

Raw? I usually prefer my meat well-done rather than raw. So why do these two skewers smell the most delicious? But even as I wondered, my stomach growled again. I blushed and quickly agreed. I was afraid they’d become less tasty with every passing second.

“Yes. My stomach speaks volumes. It wants the two on the left.” Eliza

I handed the large copper to the man and took the two skewers. They smelled absolutely irresistible, so I immediately took a bite out of one of them. It tasted delicious, and it didn’t take me long to devour it and take a bite out of the second one. Then I was startled when Betty spoke to me from behind. I hadn’t noticed her again.

“You seem to be enjoying it, Leo. Are they that good? You should at least chew a little before swallowing the bites.” Betty

“Hmpfhmmhmpfhrm.” Eliza

“Hahaha, finish eating first, Leo. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you wolf down food like that. Back then, we’d just found you outside the city and you were half-starved. Hahaha. I’ll have one too, please.” Betty

“5 copper. But the other skewers are well done. I hope that’s okay.” Stall owner

“Of course. I always eat my meat well done. Why do you ask?” Betty

“Your friend wanted my almost-raw skewers. She’s the first person to place an order like that.” Stall owner

“Almost raw? Are you sure? Leo, you usually eat very little meat, and when you do, it’s well-done. What’s different about these skewers?” Betty

I chewed a few more times and then swallowed the last bite. It hadn’t even taken me two minutes to eat two meat skewers. But “wolfing down” was probably a better way to put it.

“I don’t know. I was hungry, and the smell led me here. Of all the skewers on the grill, these smelled the best—by far.” Eliza

Betty sniffed the skewers on the grill and even leaned forward. She looked confused.

“My sense of smell isn’t the worst, but I can’t smell any difference at all. They all smell pretty much the same. How were you able to tell them apart? I could have understood if it were based on appearance, but by smell? I didn’t even know you had such a good sense of smell.” Betty

“I don’t get it either. In Hartdome City, I didn’t smell that difference, as far as I remember. Only now did those two skewers in particular smell irresistible. No idea why.” Eliza

“Maybe it’s the meat. Let’s try some. Mmm, it tastes like sheep meat. But they had that in the city, too. Do you have special sheep here, or were those two skewers made from a different kind of meat?” Betty

“No, it was all from the same slaughter. There were no differences.” Stall owner

“Your nose is weird, Leo. Come on, let’s keep going. It won’t be long until sunset.” Betty

“All right.” Eliza

I walked past the grill and took another sniff. The stall owner had since placed three new skewers on the grill, and they looked just like my two skewers had. However, to me, they didn’t smell as irresistible as before. Admittedly, these three smelled better than the others, but much less intensely than before. I had no idea what that meant. I decided to let the matter rest and followed Betty to another part of the village we hadn’t been to yet.