[IC] [Damiann47]The Legend Of A Hero Gone Wrong[Hebigami Shiho]

[Hebigami Shiho]

"Hell.... I'm so sorry about this. If I had been faster, you wouldn't need to be looking at this. And I wouldn't need to be suffering like this. Dammit!" Noboyuki seemed to truly regret this turn of events. Well, there was nothing else he could do now but clench his teeth. The pain was just horrible and he could barely think about anything else but his slashed off leg. "Ugh.... This is why I can't be a hero... I get too damn conceited and this ends up happening. If we are slowed down for even a month, I'll consider us lucky." He started cursing and spouting curse words below his breath, as not to offend Rena.

He took the alcohol the owner handed them and gulped it down in one shot. "Bring me another one. I need to numb my senses as much as I can." He said to the owner, who quickly complied and brought even more alcohol for him. He continued drinking until he felt he was enoughly drunk to not feel the pain of his wound. Still, that also made hima bit loose mouthed.

"I'm... so sorry, Rena. That I had to drag you into this idiocy. It's all my fault. This wound and this nigh impossible quest. I bet you are right now regretting ever setting off with a loser of a hero. You'd be way more comfortable back in your castle." He said. It seemed to be his time of self pity, but at the very least, he wasn't wailing with pain.

[Damiann47]

A drunk man certainly has loose lips, and all the more honest. Rena concentrated on her care, the owner gave her a tub of fresh water and more cloth. At the moment she was cleaning the wound mainly to get a better look at the damage, unseen problems could always go untreated due to severe obstruction by blood. Noboyuki looked to be drunk enough for her to start picking out the bone.

Eskar, while being one of the most advanced civilizations in that world, they were still way behind the standards Noboyuki was used to. At the very least, medical advancement had an emphasis on battlefield medicine, obviously brought about by the war with the demons, as well as with other human kingdoms even. Rena carefully used a primitive pair of tweezers, cast iron without the precision of machined steel. The bone clattered on the floor, one due to the lack of tables, and two the concept of replacing the pieces back to the proper place, didn't exist.

She, needless to say, was covered in blood splatterings, Rena didn't express any complaints anyway. "You know... I'm a traveler, I never told you that, well don't think I've had. As a traveler I love learning by worldly experience, and well... as far as journeys go, I have never regretted this one even once." Of course Rena knew what she was saying, and how a sudden shift from her normal demeanor would confuse the poor guy, that is if he weren't boozed out of his mind. "Don't beat yourself up, it was a chance encounter with Jonghua, and chance gets the best of all, it is not your fault."

[Hebigami Shiho]

The pain, though it did not completely fade, it had seriously weakened. He could feel the tweezers going into his meat and taking out bone fragments. It would have been much worse had it been not for the alcohol, as stupifying as it may have been. Still, Rena seemed to be getting just as sincere with him. Strange to see that, given how she always was. But Noboyuki was in no state to be making his usual sarastic remarks. Instead, he started tearing up. For the record, Noboyuki had never been good at holding his alcohol, even when in his world. People liked inviting him over for some drinks merely because it was funny seeing him so drunk that he could barely walk, or talk at that matter. Luckily, he wasn't so drunk that his words got confusing.

"R-Rena..." He made the tears creeping up in his eyes go back a bit forcefully. He wasn't about to show Rena something that pathetic. "Ya know... I was a salaryman back in that world I was in. Before coming to this one, my life was inevitably grey. Nothing happened and nothing would have happened ever. I still don't know why the hell I was sent here, maybe I don't even care anymore. I don't know for real what the hell I am supposed to do, neither am I really sure that I am actually a hero. I was but a loser in the real world. I don't think I have the right of being called a hero now. A hero without power or anything else." While he was really sentimental now, there was one thing for sure. "I don't regret meeting you, Rena. Even if you are sometimes cheeky and unpredictable, I'm still very much grateful to destiny for letting me have the chance to meet you."

He knew he was rambling. He just covered his eyes with his hand. He felt like falling asleep anytime now, even though he was still in pain from his foot. "Rena... finish this up anytime now. I'm done ashaming myself." Well, at the very least he knew that he was ashaming himself.

[Damiann47]

He had his own inner demons, made sense though, he was human with his own fears, well mostly human with a hidden cashe of holy might. Perhaps for the first time since she's met him, Noboyuki wasn't being himself none of that sarcasm and lack of urgency, in all honesty he was more like a mortality wounded warrior saying his final words. Rena would've believed just that if she didn't know better, he'll not die of course, being that he was back under her divine protection.

"You're acting like a dying knight, but remember you're going to live beyond a ghost of a doubt. After all you're under my holy shield again." She comforted, with a never before seen smile, sure barely counted as such, but it was there. "Besides, I'm always here, and I know even if you were not immortal that it'll take much to end you. Now hold still, I'm going to start wrapping your foot."

Half of her tags were bloodied already, but she still had enough to do the job. Rena worked quietly while dressing the gaping hole, she had to layer the cloth multiple times in order to absorb the blood. There were no stitches, the practice itself was uncommon, and it didn't matter anyway as Rena didn't have the skills to probably apply them, still with luck that wouldn't be needed. Finally that job was done, her quality of care wasn't too poor, about average at least the bandages wouldn't unravel at the slightest of movements. Rena kept applying pressure, the faster the bleeding stops the better, even if the wound was taken care of, Noboyuki had to still be losing blood.

[Hebigami Shiho]

"Don't be like that. I'm pouring my heart out here, ya know?" The drunk hero said. Well, it seemed she was just about done with his patching up. Still, he sure missed the stitches that would have been normally applied to him back in his own world. But wait, stitches? With just two pieces of meat that had become his foot now? Nah, didn't seem at all good. In fact, it sounded more hurtful than good. Maybe he'd stay with his two pieces of foot undefinitely.

"That holy shield of yours sure is handy at times like this. Wonder if it'll help me heal faster. It'd be fantastic if that did happen. Or maybe my holy powers will just now activate with the alcohol and I'll wake up with super cool powers." Noboyuki laughed at his own joke for a bit, until the pain started growing. Most definitely the effect of the alcohol was disappearing. In other words, he was becoming sober once again. Well, he should, at the very least, take full advantage of his improvised sedative method wile it still lasted. With wobbly legs, he stood up, even though his foot stinged like crazy.

"Then, I'm going back to our room. Passing out in the main lobby would be just awful. And don't worry, they say that the devil looks after their own, so I'm pretty sure I've still got some ways until people get to see me die." Noboyuki said, with a confident smile. It was certainly something a hero should not be saying, given that the demon was his enemy, but no matter. He made his way towards their room, clearly supporting himself more on his good leg rather than on the one that he had just hurt.

Not before long, he had already arrived. He practically passed out in front of the bed and fell towards it. He was tired, hurt and drunk. It was a definitely terrible combination. Something told him his dreams might be filled with nightmares.

[Damiann47]

Well that was somewhat of a relief, Noboyuki seemed closer to his old self again, the alcohol must've passed through his system, which was off considering how quickly he sobered up, she did not expect him to be walking around that soon as well. Guess people from his world are more resilient, not everyone can walk with am their Achilles Tendon almost torn. Rena thanked the owner for all his help, even offered some kind of reward, although the owner refused stating that helping the saviors of the kingdom was enough. Perks of being heroes and royalty once again.

Even then Rena stayed behind to clean the mess, and herself to the best of her ability, which wasn't too difficult seeing as the blood was still relatively fresh having no time to dry. Soon enough she was able to return to their room, Noboyuki was asleep, amazing really that even in pain he could find peace like that, not that she'd mind, actually it made things a whole lot easier she almost thought they might've needed to find some sleep aid or painkiller first.

Instead of going to sleep herself, Rena pulled up the desk's chair, after what they've been through there was no time to sleep. She had to document what they found out about Joungha through their brief encounter, that knowledge if there might save someone's life one day. She also wanted to continue doing some research, from local lore she only learned so much, there had to be more somewhere else. About an hour a half later, Rena about fell asleep on the wooden table, fatigue got the better of her. Across the surface of the desk, illustrations, notes, books, scrolls, basically all the materials they had on hand, and her own, were there. Guess in the morning depending on what happens, Rena would get back to work.

[Hebigami Shiho]

The next day came, and with the rising sun, Noboyuki slowly regained consciousness. He expected a horrible hangover, but, shocking enough, he didn't have a hangover of any kind. Maybe it was because of Rena's holy shield? Regardless of what the hell it was, Noboyuki felt even... fresh, as if he had taken a bath of some kind, a hot, relaxing bath. He went to the side of the bed and sit there, scratching his head a bit. He took his glasses off, since he had forgotten about it the last night, and put them in the night table beside his bed. It was pretty blurry. Well, what did he expect? To be suddenly clear like in Spiderman or something? He wasn't a super human, even if the fate of the world said he had to be one.

He took a cloth out of his breast pocket and cleaned his glasses, before putting them on again. "Ah, just like the change from ol' SD to HD." He then moved his neck around, making it crack a bit, before putting his hand on it. It seemed to have hurt, that last thing he did. "Ugh, my neck should have twisted after I passed out in the bed or something. Too bad there isn't any kind of muscle relaxing cream in this world. I could use it right now." Well, he just had to put up with it. He stood up from the bed, and even felt like dropping to his knees out of sheer pain from his wound, however, it was more of a reflex than actual pain. It probably was the effect of Rena's holy shield, though.

...Speaking of the pampered princess, though.... He turned to see the desk, and found her collapsed there. Well, sleeping, but collapsed seemed more of an accurate description for her current state. He decided to get near to and try to wake her up. However, when he arrived to where she was, he found her sleeping so peacefully and soundly that he just couldn't bring himself to wake her up. He merely smiled as he looked at the beautiful girl in front of him sleeping. "Sleep well, sleeping beauty. Man, that was cheesy..." He said, before turning and leaving the room. Then again, he might not be able to walk all that well wiht the wound he had on his foot.

He took his sword and started using it as a cane to help him walk. He would get a bath and perhaps order some breakfast. Maybe also try his hand at bargaining with the owner, given that they might need to stay there for a while longer than initially expected. It seemed like a busy day for Rena, regardless. He wasn't a politician or anything of the like like her, so maybe it was really the best option to leave everything to her. Well.... he would only take a bath, for the time being. Maybe also think of some way to compensate Rena for everything she does. Would she know of the concept of a date?

[Damiann47]

Rena woke up, and not in graceful way, mainly by choking on her own saliva as people sometimes do when sleeping. She coughed heavily trying to discharge the unwelcome substance trapped in her throat, in her fit a bundle of pages was thrown off of the desk... that day didn't start all that great. While muttering to herself, something about gag reflexes or whatnot, she had to take perhaps five minutes to finally reorganize the local workspace. When done Rena found Noboyuki to be missing from his bed, knowing better this time she just assumed him to be in the bath, just to be safe, hate to have a repeat of yesterday.

Breakfast sounded good to the rudely awaken princess, rather than asking for food to be brought up she opted to eat in the main hall, maybe have a chance to listen to gossip, and more importantly to take the chance to properly thank the owner, as well as figure out how they're going to arrange for more days because clearly they will not be leaving for a while. Rena tossed her rather dirty fancy dress on her own bed, after their previous adventures it was quite covered in dirt, instead she wore spare clothing, a rather plain white cotton dress but really comfortable.

Down in the hall, Rena right away found the owner to thank him for all the help he had provided, thing is after bringing up that they'll have to stay for much longer than expected, the owner simply swiped the idea aside knowing full well that Noboyuki could not travel, especially when he was wounded while in service to the hamlet from hunting that cursed god. At the most he'll be able to afford to feed and house them for a month, after that there wouldn't be much else unless he wanted to go bankrupt, still Rena was thankful for his compassion. She sat at a table with a small breakfast of oatmeal, fresh cheese, and a tankard of diluted ale, so far the news going around was nothing of note, just talks about weather really after last night however, Rena didn't mind the peace, not at all.

[Hebigami Shiho]

After a relaxing bath, Noboyuki came out and thanked the owner, and also the heavens for having such a convenient thing in there, and that it was just like those of Japan was also a huge advantage for him. It made him feel at home, one way or the other. After getting dressed up and everything else, he went back to the dining hall. He hoped to find Rena there, but if he didn't, well, he'd just have breakfast without her. Noboyuki, though, was just dressed with a shirt and a pair of pants, without the usual jacket he wore on him. It just seemed a bit too stuffy now to wear and made him feel uncomfortable.

After arriving to the dining hall, he spotted Rena rather quickly, even though she wasn't wearing her usual fancy dress. Well, it wasn't a surprise, probably it got ragged and dirty yesterday during their escape. He decided to not even comment about it and just sit in front of her, to take his own breakfast. He had already asked someone to bring his food there, so they brought it little after he sat down. He started on eating it slowly, it was the same meal Rena was eating too, so he decided to take it a bit slowly. After a while of being in silence, Noboyuki finally let out a sigh and looked at Rena.

"Good morning. Sleep well? I hope I didn't do anything in my sleep to wake you up." Of course, he was uncertain of whether or not he had sleep talked, screamed or groaned in pain last night. His dreams were fairly normal as well, so he didn't think he had any kind of reason to start screaming during the night, but one never knew. "Also, your power is a life saver. I'm guessing I would be screaming with pain if it weren't for your incredible holy shield thingy." He wasn't sure of whether or not it really had the power to do that, but he just assumed.

[Damiann47]

More news here and there, again nothing too special fairly mundane overall. Interesting part is even if Joungha had made a very recent appearance, as in the night before, no one seemed to even acknowledge the being's presence. She was were, the creature was anything but subtle, the villages back in the hamlet should've heard his roars, Rena knew she did at the very least. There wasn't much to go on so she decided to forget the thought, perhaps there was an unspoken rule about never mentioning the god. She leaned back in the solid oak chair, nothing gained from a little eavesdropping it seemed.

Suddenly there be Noboyuki, right out of the blue without warning or a greeting first before he sat down. Heartbeats later, a server brought him breakfast, funny thing was the meal was the exact same as her own, must've been the standard fare that morning. Rena was conflicted about how she should act, for the majority of their journey she had of course remained standoffish to the hero, as she wanted of course, but last night she broke that mean streak, the worse part is she wasn't too sure how much of the night Noboyuki actually remembered through the drunkenness and pain. For the second time that day she almost choked on something liquid, while taking a drink of ale, the hero talked and for some reason this threw her off big time.

As luck had it she managed to resist going into another coughing fit by sheer willpower Rena fought against the urge to hack and wheeze in order to deal with the misplaced ale. She did listen intently to what Noboyuki had to say, maybe looking a bit more interested than she had in the past, her companion seemed to be fairing well all together yet that didn't fool her into believing him to be alright, there was still the issue of his injured foot. He did mention how he thought that her holy shield was helping to deal with the pain, although the shield was only deigned for its one specific purpose and shouldn't do any more than that, but still anything could be possible in the realm of the divine.

"I slept well, maybe a bit restless considering I didn't find a proper bed in time, but well enough nonetheless." Rena looked off to the side as if thinking, which she was, "Interesting you bring up the shield as such, its power is not meant to treat pain as you know, but I suppose that anything could be possible, perhaps a side effect? Speaking about your pain... uh, how is your foot? I hope I managed to treat it correctly, medicine is not something I studied much... I possibly fear that I did something wrong."

[Hebigami Shiho]

When she started coughing and suffocating on whatever she was eating, Noboyuki couldn't help but feel a bit worried. He'd had stood up to check on her, but given how his foot was, it wasn't something he wanted to do right now. Yes, the pain may be gone, but one never knew. The thing was a bit too exposed for it to be safe to be moving aorund without a worry in the world. He thought it'd be better for him not to stand up, Rena wouldn't kick the bucket just because of that. "H-Hey, don't go choking on me right now. We are still only halfway to wherever that guy is, ya know?" After she finally stopped coughing, Noboyuki let out a relieved sigh. "Oi, oi, the one that was about to be a goner is me, not you. Don't start choking over nothing, will you? You surprised even me." He said.

Well, after that, Noboyuki felt relieved that he didn't wake up Rena at all, but when she let the bomb drop on him, Noboyuki almost felt like spitting out the juice he was drinking. He held off that urge and gulped it down with a lot of effort and even if a bit of exaggeration. "WHAT. THE. HELL! You don't try and fix up some guy when you know next to nothing about medicine!" While he was a bit mad, he was still grateful. As far as he knew, his foot was better, but that might as well be an effect of the girl's holy shield.

"Ya know, let's just... let's just leave that aside for now. My foot is fine enough for me to walk, at the very least. See, let's go away from that. What would you like to do today?I've got an idea, if you don't mind hearing it. Do you know what a date is?" Nobyuki said, with a happy expression on his face.

[Damiann47]

Well wasn't that a least bit rude to say, going about as if she was some clueless girl without a sliver an idea how to wrap simple cloth around someone's foot... did she say that? Rena was obviously somewhat concerned for how Noboyuki healed over the night, and it was very possible that she could've tripped up somewhere when managing his wounds, as she was inexperienced in medical practices, not a complete idiot in any way. Rena glared at Noboyuki as she silently fumed over her thoughts, probably wouldn've have been best to say anything, despite how she wanted to verbally tear into the loose lipped hero, and that time those were her true feelings, none of that aloof act she had been maintaining.

Then at the mention of a "date" her scowl turned into a look of confusion, not that she didn't know what a date was, Eskar was a civilized kingdom after all so the concept of courting someone wasn't usual and even expected, at least among the nobility. Now the question was why did Noboyuki want to date her? Was he joking? Rena thought she knew the man well enough to at least get a feeling about his true intentions, and well he looked earnest, strange as it might be. For a brief moment Rena almost panicked at the idea of him being romantically interested in her, which was the absolute opposite of what she desired, still before her shock could really show she decided it might be best to query a bit further, Noboyuki's definition of a date could be vastly different from her own, with his being from another world of course.

"I... know what a date is yes. Its quite common for a man to court a woman as such in Eskar, I'll say that much, also I'm assuming a 'date' is the same from both our worlds... so." Rena stared into Noboyuki's eyes with conviction, "What is your reasoning behind asking for a date, hmm?"

[Hebigami Shiho]

Noboyuki should have expected this. It seems Rena took it as him wanting to get closer to her, in a romantic way. Well, it was funny in its own way. Noboyuki let out a snicker at the sight of her, being a little flustered, even if it was over her usual demeanor. Noboyuki supported his head on his hand with a confident smile on. He seemed to be mocking her, in one way, but he was actually just interested in her vision of a date. "Coutship, huh? Back where I come from, it isn't uncommon for a man and a woman to go on one with those intentions. Though, you can also have one just as friends." Noboyuki explained, while moving his finger with his other hand. "In other words, miss princess, I just want to relax for a bit. It'd be nice to get acquainted with the town too."

Noboyuki suddenly lost all of his spunk and looked a bit sadder. "After all, we are stuck in here for a while." Noboyuki felt ashamed of himself. He was supposedly the hero of legends and he was done in by a forgotten God. How pathetic was that? Jonghua or not, Noboyuki made it one of his goals to finish the thing once he was able. It was more of a grudge rather than actual worry for the village, though.

He shook his head, before looking at Rena once again with his spunk restored and his confident smile again in his face. "Besides, wouldn't it be good for you too to get acquainted with people over here? Ya know, representing your father and whatnot? Loyal subordinates come from a friendly relationship with them, I hear."

[Damiann47]

What he said did take sense, at least his last statement having a good personal relationship with common folk was never a bad proposition. Problem was it was hardly pragmatic, no human ruler could ever effectively do such a thing, the feudal system was in a place for a reason, a commoner reports to the mayor or elder, who reports the to local lord, who reports to the local duke, and so forth. Really a king was only expected to deal with twenty some odd direct vassals. Noboyuki probably didn't understand this system, again remembering he's not of her world, Rena decided that saying anything wasn't worth the effort. Plus after some consideration it was decided that she was overthinking the topic.

Rena sat in silence only staring down Noboyuki, in all consideration she couldn't figure out why he wanted to go on this date. Now she had to admit there wasn't really a problem if it was only out of friendship, and certainly Noboyuki was considered to be a friend. In the end Rena conjectured that maybe something like his version of a date wouldn't be all that bad.

"I suppose I see what you mean... maybe spending some time exploring this hamlet would not be a waste." In one movement Rena stood from her spot, determined to take part in this foreigner's brand of dating. "I hope your foot wouldn't be a problem if we walk about, right?" Now she couldn't help but not to look concerned, after all Noboyuki had only a night to heal, still the man should know his own limits.

[Hebigami Shiho]

Noboyuki smiled, a bit arrogantly, if anything else, when Rena agreed to go on a date with her. If he ever went back to his world, he would be able to brag about this to his friends, if he ever went back, that is. After all, it isn't everyday that you get a date with a princess of a great kingdom like that. Well, should they get on with it? He had just finished his breakfast too.

Noboyuki stood up as well, not before cleaning his mouth carefully with the handkerchief he kept inside his breast pocket. It was only bits and crumbs of bread, so it wouldn't get so dirty, otherwise, he wouldn't use it so lightly. It was one of his favorite things, after all. Made him seem classy. "Then, shall we get going?" Noboyuki simply said, while looking at the girl with a big smile.

And then, she seemed to get worried about his foot. Well, it had hurt at first, but it was nothing right now. "Now, don't look so down like that. It makes me feel bad for my foot again. Anyhow, don't worry. Your shield is keeping anything bad at bay, I'm sure of it." Noboyuki said, before making his way towards the exit of the restaurant, before turning his head around at the girl with a smile. "You aren't going to just stand there and wait, right? Let's go. We'll worry about things once they happen, so let's just enjoy ourselves for now."

[Damiann47]

His words were actually comforting, as it really did put here more at ease about Noboyuki's injury. The hero could be putting on brave front for all she knew, at least his strength was admirable. Rena didn't hold back a sigh, "You are a grown man of course, but... if you fall in the streets due to your wound, you will have to drag yourself home." She then turned on her heel to start leaving the hall and off to the outside world. All the same though, despite her words Rena was somewhat more soften spoken, and in other subtle ways more gentle, not even in ways she realized herself.

The pair were walking just out of the taven, that is assuming Noboyuki decided to follow her lead, not that Rena would've expected him to run off to who knows where. That day was fair, clear skies without a wisp of a cloud. There was only a slight breeze hanging in the air, just enough to ruffle Rena's hair as it fluttered in time with each minute gust. Now that she wasn't rushing around, like before, Rena this time around took in the surroundings. Nearby fields were bountiful with heavy, golden grain, fortunately for the people the harvest was promised to be grand this year, in fact laborers were already beginning inital preparations for the scheduled week of harvest itself.

It was now that Rena thought about how they really had been traveling for an entire month, when they started these very fields must've been only half its current height. Late autumn had arrived. The girl walk alongside her companion quietly, it was far from an awkward one, at least the way Rena perceived it, but just a simple calm, she didn't dare to ruin it. Now after say five minutes of continued silence, the princess looked up Noboyuki, "Its peaceful isn't it? Hard to believe this is almost the same place we encountered that momster... but I like it, this current calmness that is."

[Hebigami Shiho]

As expected the princess took the lead and guided him through the town. It was a beautiful sight, and it made Noboyuki feel.... odd, to be honest. It wasn't nostalgy, because in the city he used to live before there wasn't anything quite like that. In fact, it was a rare sight. It was, yes, refreshing, it was refreshing. For a change of pace, nature was good. Noboyuki went on with the silence Rena didn't dare temper with. Noboyuki smiled with a lazy smile that was already an habit of his while he was in his own world. Speaking of changes of pace, this was a change of pace in his current lifestyle. A relaxing stroll through town, different to their everyday battles.

When Rena finally spoke off, Noboyuki turned to see her with the same lazy smile still in his face. "Yeah, hardly seems like there was a monster that horrible before. God or not, I still find it hard to believe people actually worshipped that thing." Noboyuki said. Well, this was just about the right time for a smoke. He hadn't been smoking lately because he didn't have that many cigarettes in the first place. He had to make them last, otherwise he'd be stranded in that world without any way to entertain himself. Of course, also because it wasn't that healthy to be smoking like a damn chimney.

He also had his very own, specially made lighter. A metal, shiny lighter of silver color with the kanjis for his name engraved on it. He searched through his breast pocket until he produced a single white cigarette and put it in his mouth, before lighting it and take a good smoke out of it. After that, he let the smoke come out of his mind with a relaxed sigh. It wasn't his favorite kind of thing to do, but damn, did it relax him like no other thing. "Do you smoke, Rena? Wait, do you even have cigarettes here?" He asked, curious of whether or not he'd be able to get more of them in that world. Still, he planned to guard those he was carrying with him with his life. It was his favorite brand, after all.

[Damiann47]

Rena coughed of the stench of the buring tobacco, not that she knew what it was seeing as the plant was not native to Eskar, or maybe even to that world. Whatever a... cigarette was it smelt like disease to her, really begging the question why Noboyuki would ever think of placing it in his month in the first place. The girl just marked this as another outlandish element from the hero's true home. "*cough* *cough* ...I don't know what a cigarette is but that smell alone makes me question you and your people. Ugh."

Rena fell silent again, however after not too long she continued, the time just seemed right to ask something she had being dying to know for long while. "So, Noboyuki you... don't talk about your home that often, well really at all. Also..." Rena stopped mid sentence unsure if it was within her rights to ask, "...What about yourself? I'll admit even though we're a month along I don't know you. What I mean is every man has a history, even then you are still a blank book to myself."

Rena looked thoughtful as she spoke her thoughts, staring at Noboyuki with curious eyes, obviously not exactly in line with her established character. "We have a long road ahead of us, and is there anything wrong with wanting us to finally start learning about each other?"

[Hebigami Shiho]

Since it seemed that Rena wasn't accustomed to the smell of the cigarette (as expected, and unfortunately, they didn't have cigarettes there), and also seemed to not like it, as expected of non-smokers, he quickly took another taste of his cigarette, quickly burning it out, but not quite quick enough to finish it, Noboyuki then went on to put it out in the sole of his shoe, out of respect of the people and things around him. He also put the remaining of it inside his breast pocket. He had at least the decency of not littering anywhere he was. "Haha, I wonder the same actually. It is just a bad habit I picked up in high school and haven't been able to get rid off. Maybe I don't want either, even though it is known to cause a lot of diseases. It.... relaxes me when I am stressed out."

Noboyuki smiled at her. Well, wasn't this a surprise. He even told her so. "My, what a surprise. I never would have expected the princess of a grandiose fantasy world to be interested in my own." He laughed, a bit more hearty than the other times he had actually laughed while on this world. It made him feel relaxed, somehow. Was it the cigarette or was it the company? "Well, what can you say? My world is definitely a lot more advanced than yours. We've got a lot of technology. Maybe it is to make up for our lack of magic. Japan, from where I come from, is known for a lot of things, traditions and whatnot, technology, etcetera, etcetera. IT mostly known because of the anime we broadcast though. People from all around the world like to watch it. It is.... well, I think the best way to explain it is, several drawings in a sequence that make it seem as if it were moving... or something like that. Anyhow, it would be a lot to explain, electricity, tv's, circuits, computers, etcetera, etcetera...." Now that he thought about it, it really was complex, though it didn't appear to him that way because he had become used to them.

He decided on a quick change of subject. "And about me? Well, I was a normal guy, normal as normal comes. I went to high school, finished college and then got a stable, boring job in a big company as a mere salaryman. I make enough for a living and to give me some luxuries every now and then, but other than that, my job isn't, well, you could call it, fullfilling. It was a boring everyday, definitely so. The most I could do was play something in a console to pretend my life hadn't become the cliche that is often seen in movies and whatnot. And then, I was plunged into this world. Well, at least here I have a purpose." Noboyuki finished with a smile. I felt somewhat good to be needed, even if he had to risk his life.

"What about you, miss princess? Any interesting stories you can tell me about?" Though not as direct, Noboyuki was also fairly interested on what Rena had to say and what her life was like before all of this.

[Damiann47]

Noboyuki was a foreigner beyond a doubt, it wasn't so much as what he talked about, but the way he talked. To put in a way, the man would be in huge trouble in they were in a court proper for he didn't make out to be the best of diplomats. "You know, you would've angered many nobles with the way you talk, it is never wise for one to directly compare his own nation to another's, its how feuds start." Rena glared her usual glare at the man, but this time it didn't last when she started laughing lightly, a barely audible one, but still there. "Luckily you're only talking to me, so no true offense." He gave a lot of information, much more than she ever expected, though she was happy the hero was willing to share about himself just from her asking. Now she didn't understand a scrap of what he said, seeing as he used words and concepts not of her own world, but it was a good step up anyway.

When he asked her to share of her history, Rena wasn't surpised since the question was fully expected. After a pause just to gather her thoughts, she jumped right in. "Where to start... I traveled a lot. Not as a wanderer of course, that would be stupid for someone such as myself. No I have spent the majority of my life in many other courts rather than my father's in the capital province. Now most of them are within the kingdom itself still, so the expectations were the same, perhaps variations depending on the liege in question."

"Oh now foreign courts are a whole new beast, sometimes the difference between cultures is so vast, but the experience is worthwhile, especially learning to tolerate other peoples. I don't know how it is in your world, but here conflict is founded on such petty issues out of misunderstandings, despite the current age of the Demon King. My father, you know the king of Eskar, is known to be one of the most peaceful rulers in recent history, skilled diplomat with the military might and authority to back his claims. I plan on continuing what he started, using words to maintain good relations with our neighbors. Although... as for warfare, and well with the looming threat of the demons... I have doubts..." Rena trailed off, more lost in thought than ever.

Soon after she shook her head as if pushing her own thoughts away. "Enough of my ramblings, the focus should be on what we are doing now, and not so far in the future." Rena looked back to Noboyuki, "You've told me about your home, but what else is going on in your world... I wonder with a much more advanced society as you say, do your people face the same problems as mine?"