Chapter 25: Talk

"Kayla, the room is already reserved. I can't do this."

"Boss, please don't forget everything I've done for you. Every third time I had to heal you was for free. I'm paying you more than what they're paying." I'll try to slip Lilith the bill anyway, but I'm prepared to reach into my own pocket. Too cocky, I announced that I'd get us a great place in the pub where I used to work.

"And what's up with that purple one? Is that a costume?"

"Something like that. So what do you think? Can we get the room?"

"If the other group makes a scene, I'll send them to you."

"Really? Thank you, you're the best."

"More like the dumbest," he whispers to himself and returns with me to the entrance area where the other girls are still waiting.

"Follow me, please," he says as politely as if we were the store's guests of honor.

The pub is quite crowded the fact that it's the middle of the week. As we pass the other guests, I realize why. There are some soccer matches on pay TV, and on days like this, there are always enough fans who come together to have a drink even though they have to work tomorrow.

I'm glad to be out of this ordinary working life, not so I can always drink alcohol, but... I can't think of a reason off the top of my head, but it's certainly not the alcohol!

We arrive in the special room, which is notable for the fact that it has doors that you can close to enjoy some privacy, as well as its dedicated toilet. The room is usually fully booked months in advance, at least at the weekend.

"Then please take a seat. A waitress will bring you the menus in a moment. Have a nice time, and if you need anything, just drop by the bar."

Miko paws at the empty space next to her on the long bench, where Eliza and Lilith have also settled down. Meanwhile, Luna and Kajsa sit on chairs opposite us as if they had been invited to a job interview.

Shortly after we sat down, a young woman walks into the room armed with a stack of menus. So she is my replacement. It was clear that he was looking for another cute little lady, not that I would ever describe myself as cute. Her eyes remain glued to Kajsa for a remarkably long time. No offense to her… I understand that. I also don't blame her for running off a little too quickly.

"Is it normal not to say a word to guests?" Lilith asks, grinning in my direction.

"If I saw a group like us, I probably wouldn't even have handed out the menus."

"I'm sorry," Kajsa says, depressed as if it were solely her fault, which makes us laugh.

"I don't want to let you down, but I didn't mean you, rather these boss women here who have a certain intimidating air about them."

Lilith, Eliza, and Luna are simply different from the rest of us. Even  Miko seems like a sweet, innocent girl in comparison. Apart from her appearance, Kajsa also appears very demure and mindful.

"How old are you anyway, Kajsa?"

"Um..."

Luna looks around and clears her throat. "That's actually a bit complicated. For one thing, their world has a different calendar, and demons of their kind have a much longer lifespan, which also makes their development different from ours."

Eliza sighs, "Alright… so how old is she?"

"I was born 69 years ago, but Luna and I have calculated that I would probably be around 18 or 19 in your world."

"More important question. Do you drink?"

"If you ask about alcohol, yes, I do. But we demons never had such easy access to it. It's more of a human thing. But on my birthdays, we had some from time to time."

"You're a princess, aren't you?" Eliza asks. Right, Kajsa had mentioned before the fight with her that she was the princess of the horned demons.

"Not anymore, I'm afraid. With my failure of the mission coupled with my cooperation with you, I am no longer."

"I'm sorry about that." Eliza sighs and brings both hands together apologetically in front of her chest.

"Don't worry. In a way, I'm quite happy about losing the title."

"You must have had a lot of responsibilities," I say.

"Don't even start. It was suffocating." she chuckles slightly while her eyes still express a certain sadness.

And suddenly, the room is silent. What? Why is everyone looking at us so dumbfounded? Luna starts to giggle and lightly bumps Kajsa with her elbow.

"Like I said, Kayla won't be mad at you."

"Huh?"

"You can't imagine how scared she was to meet you," Luna explains, shaking her head in a dramatically slow manner.

"Scared of me?" I point at myself in disbelief. I don't know what I'm supposed to say. Why should someone like Kajsa worry about what I think about her?

"After all, she hurt you, even though she held back a lot. But she's actually already been punished. It was only because she quarreled with Alex and you that she ended up being captured, so don't feel bad."

Is Luna supposed to simply reveal this to us? Kajsa likely told her this in confidence. But when I look at her, I only see her nodding in agreement with a slight smile on her lips.

"Thank you for holding back." It is Miko who thanks Kajsa with a slight bow. It could all have turned out quite badly, but this time, we simply had luck on our side. My chest tightens at the thought that something serious might have happened to any of us during the mission. The mood is about to turn before the shy waitress from earlier comes back to our table to take our orders.

"Wh...what would you...like...to drink?"

◇◆◇

"Do they have ping-pong balls here?"

You can't play drinking games here, is what I should say. Instead, I jump up from my seat and literally glide towards the bar. My steps feel as light as if I'm about to defy gravity.

The pub has now completely filled up. We were really lucky to get such a good table. Meanwhile, I lost all sense of tact and started bumping and staring at pretty much every guest I crossed paths with.

After far too long, I finally arrive at the counter. There, I meet Lilith and Miko, who stare at me in confusion. I am 100% sure that I went off on my own and left the others at our table.

"Where have you been!?" Lilith asks me, literally screaming.

"Huh?"

"You walked off twenty minutes ago and didn't come back, then we followed and couldn't find you."

"Where are the others?" I ask as my vision spins like I'm on a carousel.

"Eliza has gone home, Luna is in the toilet, and Kajsa is defending our table."

"By herself?"

"By herself!"

I should be worried that she's just been left alone, but right now, I have as much confidence in Kajsa as if I had known her for years.

With another round of drinks, which, for some reason, I am not allowed to carry, we return to our seats by a completely different route to the one I took before.

Everything still spins a little, but it's fun, I guess. My mind is still working quite well. I'm well aware that I'm drunk and that I'll definitely suffer tomorrow.

"Who are those guys?" Lilith says out of nowhere. Reflexively, I dash past her to have a look, only to find a slumbering Kajsa at our table.

"Your jokes suck."

"I know."

Miko and I take our seats, and Lilith joins Kajsa, who is peacefully slumbering, and caresses her back.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to talk my way out of it, but the last few weeks have been very stressful for me as well. The decision to take Kajsa in was very impulsive and also has a very personal aspect for me, but look how cute she is."

I didn't think Lilith would still feel the need to justify her actions. For me, everything is fine. It does play a role that Kajsa is restricted in her freedom of action, but right now, I have no problem working with her in the future.

"It's all good. I trust you will make the right decisions."

"I appreciate it." with these words, she raises her glass and toasts us to our last drink.

"By the way, don't you think people are coping pretty well with Kajsa's appearance?" I ask, looking at her sleeping.

It had already occurred to me on the way to the pub that there were just a few interested and slightly shocked looks. Still, she's practically a monster that's escaped from a dungeon, and nobody seems to care.

"This is pure ignorance. People are used to seeing outstanding individuals, so her skin, eyes, horns, and tail are nothing that frightens them. It would be nice if they recognized Kajsa for what she is and could still accept her, but we are still a long way from this reality. It is still impossible for enough people to consider even us witches as equals."

Ignorance. She's probably right. This behavior is the exact reason why my only concern about joining a guild was that I might have to fight monsters. We magic users, despite all we do for people, still have to deal with baseless hostility and rejection, and I find that nothing but sad. But unlike Kajsa, we can hide the fact that we are witches, while you will always be able to tell that she is different.

"Should we go and check on Luna?" Lilith asks after we have emptied all the drinks we had on the table.

"Sounds like a job for the guild leader."

"All right, I'll go."