The Gentle Hero

Yuril's eyes slowly fluttered open, he saw an unfamiliar simple wooden ceiling. Not the ceiling of the attic that he had grown accustomed waking up to, instead it was something different entirely. He groaned as he tried to sit up, but he found himself unable to as pain shot through his body. He let out a loud groan still unable to speak clearly as he tried to figure out where he was located. He was in a bed tightly tucked under a white bedsheet. In the corner of his eye, he saw a window and despite not being able to tell the time, he knew that it was sometime during the day. There was a damp cloth on his forehead meaning that someone had been with him not too long ago, he tried to move his head to see his surroundings better but even just tilting his head slightly was enough to make him let out a soft hiss under his breath at the pain.

So he settled for staring at the ceiling, contemplating to himself in the silent room how he found himself in the room all alone. He tried to piece together what had happened, his memory was fuzzy. If he tried to think about anything for more than a few minutes he would start to get a pounding headache and would need to take a break. Just keeping his eyes open was taxing on his brain so he closed his eyes and tried to fall back asleep. He had not been killed yet so wherever he was, it was safe enough to rest.

Or they just haven't killed me yet… was the thought lingering in the back of Yuril's brain but he forced that thought to the side as he tried to figure out his situation. He started from the beginning and followed his memories to try and recall what had happened to him that night.

He remembered making the decision to head to the dungeon, and remembered seeing Syr sleeping in the attic bed alone. It was easy to picture his brief triumph where he slayed the green Goblin and claimed his very first monster crystal. It was a step in the right direction, but it did not last very long before Yuril was thrown off of the path once again. Everything after the first Goblin was a haze, he could remember bits and pieces, he recalled that there were Kobolds involved at some point. He could picture the blood on his left hand from when they had grabbed at his chest where some monster moments prior had ripped through his armour as if it was nothing. Bandaging several terrible wounds stuck out in his mind like a sore thumb, it was the easiest thing to remember as every time he moved even slightly he got reminders all throughout his body. He remembered climbing the staircase and hating every step he took forward but he had no choice but to keep pushing forward despite the pain. Then he remembered arriving at his destination but the door was locked and he was unable to get inside the building. But for the life of him he could not remember what the building was that he had arrived at in the early morning.

Where is here…? Yuril pondered for several minutes, wondering what had happened to him when he was unconscious.

Unable to reach a clear answer Yuril simply shut off his mind and tried to relax, the only thing that he had to keep him company was a bird that must have landed on the windowsill and was chirping its soft tune. With every rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in and out it felt as though someone was squeezing his lungs. He tried to take shallow breaths and found that it did help with the pain but only slightly.

Yuril heard a soft noise coming from just outside the room, he opened his eyes and instinctively tilted his head forward to look at the door. Feeling the sharp pain that's worse than daggers shot through his neck and spine, he let out a small groan and bit down on the inside of his cheek so that he wouldn't scream.

"Y-Yuril….?" As the door to the room opened slightly a young woman poked her head inside, she let out a small shocked gasp and dropped whatever she had been holding in her hands which caused a wet thud and splash and pushed the door wide open and rushed in his direction. Once the door was fully opened Yuril could see that the young woman had dropped a wooden bowl and a fresh rag hat would have likely gone on his forehead but instead it had gone to the floorboards. Meaning that it must have been the waitress that had placed the wet cloth on his forehead and checked in on him while he recovered.

"Oh, Yuril! You scared me half to death! When Ryuu found you on the front step in the morning and you were barely breathing… and all the blood… I thought… I thought that you had…" Syr was unable to finish her sentence as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly and buried her face in the crook of his neck and was crying softly.

Yuril could assume what his grandfather was saying to him in the very moment from the clouds "Good job boy… you made the poor girl cry… better fix it quick…"

"S-sy-s-syr….I—" Yuril's speech was crackling as he coughed slightly and groaned softly.

"You don't need to force yourself to speak Yuril, just rest for now… here have a glass of water…" Syr picked up a glass of water that was sitting on the small table next to the bed and held the rim against his lips for him and slowly tilted the glass back for him to drink. She cupped his chin with her right hand and held the glass with her left as he greedily chugged back the glass of water, he was parched and his throat was sore and dry so he savoured every drop of water he could gulp down.

Once he had finished Syr brought the glass slowly up and pulled it away from his lips "Is that enough Yuril?" she softly asked him and he shook his head side to side ever so slightly, she smiled and nodded to him as she set the glass down back on the table. "Just let me know if you want more, okay?" Syr softly followed up as she wiped away the small dribble of water that had escaped his lips with the edge of her sleeve. He softly nodded to the waitress and she went back to hugging him, despite the fact that she was trying to be rather gentle with him while she embraced him it still hurt to the high heavens.

Syr and Yuril stayed in that position for several minutes before she eventually reluctantly pulled herself away from him and pulled a chair over and sat down in the seat next to his bed. She reached her hands out and placed them over his right hand and gave it a small tender squeeze "Yuril…. you really scared me… never scare me like that again… please…" Syr softly whispered out to him as some small tears dripped down her cheeks.

"I don't know what I would do if you… if you had… had actually died…" Syr said weakly as she hung her head slightly, her tears falling from her face and collecting in a damp patch in her lap.

"S-syr… I-I… a-am… so-sorry… truly… sorry…"

"It is okay Yuril, I just am happy that you are fine now ... well, mostly." the grey haired girl said with a slight nervous giggle to try and lighten the mood with her obvious yet poorly timed sense of humor.

"Yuril… I am so… so sorry… you clearly were not doing well… I should have done more for you… if I had been more help than you would not have gone out at night and gotten hurt…"

Yuril could barely believe what he was hearing, not only had he made Syr cry but he had also made her blame herself for his brash decision. He wanted to explain to the young woman that had done so much for him that nothing was her fault and that it was his doing, he wanted to make it crystal clear that she should not blame herself for his carelessness. But instead all he did was cough as he tried to speak, Syr just like how she had always been was quick to rush to his aid picking up the glass of water from the table and guiding it to his lips for him to drink. He slurped back the chilled liquid and once the glass was finished Syr stood up and went to go get him another glass of water.

When she left the room Yuril closed his eyes for a moment but as he heard an exaggerated cough he opened his eyes and saw the pub's owner standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, leaning against the doorway with a small frown on her face. "So, what happened to you…?" the Dwarf said with a small sigh.

Yuril's mind went into overdrive as he tried to come up with any reasonable excuse that he could think of, eventually after mumbling for a few seconds he had a decent story in his head. "I-I was taking a walk cause I couldn't sleep… and I got attacked by some thieves… but I didn't have any money on me… but they did not believe me so I took a beating…." Yuril managed to mumble out under his breath.

"Of course, of course… dressed in your armour?"

"I—"

"Carrying the knife Syr gave you too?"

"What are yo—"

"Don't try and bullshit me kid." Mama Mia interrupted the boy with a scuff. "We both know that your wounds weren't caused by robbers like you said… I have seen wounds like that many times before and only there is only one place around here that you could go to get those battle scars…"

Yuril's eyes opened wider as he realized what she was implying; she had seen right through his ruse that had seemingly so easily convinced the waitress. The Dwarf must have taken notice of his tense body and rolled her eyes at him with a small shrug. "I am not going to rat you out kid, not out of pure kindness but for two simple reasons, you still owe me money and if you get the boot from Orario I doubt you will go out of your way to make sure I get what I am rightfully owed. And second… if I did, Syr would likely never speak to me again, so this isn't me being nice, it's just picking the smartest option with the cards I have been dealt."

Seeing that her small speech had done little to calm the boy she pinched the bridge of her nose clearly annoyed and spoke again in the same monotone voice "Listen… I don't particularly care what you do in your free time, you are more than welcome to find trouble if that's what you really want… but you can relax cause I won't go snitching on you unless you give me a damn good reason too. I am sure that you have your reasons for doing something like what you did..".

Yuril relaxed slightly and the Dwarf pushed herself off of the wall and turned around to leave, she stepped out of view for a moment and Yuril blew a sigh of relief before she stepped back into the doorway. "Oh, one more thing before I forget… if you go and get yourself killed and break that poor girl's heart, I will not hesitate to bring you back to life just so that I can kill you myself kid. It would be in your best interest to remember that, got it?"

Yuril did not respond verbally, instead he just nodded his head up and down slightly and Mama Mia smirked slightly. "Good boy," she said as she went to leave and bumped into Syr who was walking back into the room with a fresh glass of water and a second wooden bowl in her other hand.

"Oh, Mama Mia… what were you talking about with Yuril?" she asked as she walked into the room and sat back down in her chair and scooted it closer to the bed.

Mama Mia shot him a small cocky smirk for a moment like she was going to let the cat out of the bag and tell Syr everything, but she simply shrugged it off as she spoke in a slightly softer tone to the waitress. "Nothing Syr, just making some chit-chat. That's all…"

"Oh, sounds nice!" Syr said with an innocent smile.

"Mhm, well… you can keep the kid company until it's time for the shift tonight and then you have to come and help with the dinner rush." Mama Mia said no more as she left out of sight but not out of mind as her words lingered in Yuril's head.

"Are you okay Yuril?" Syr asked as she leaned down towards him, closing the gap between the two.

"Y-yeah… despite the killing pain in my ribs… legs… arms… and well… everything else… I am just grand…" Yuril said as he forced himself to smile slightly through the pain.

Syr giggled softly and picked up the small bowl that she had placed on the nightstand, she swirled around its contents with a small wooden spoon. "Are you hungry, Yuril? You should be, you were asleep for a whole day… I was really worried, you know..."

"I know…."

"That said, I am just relieved that you are okay Yuril… So let's just move forward now, starting with breakfast. It's a rabbit soup that I made, I hope you like it, Yuril!" She pulled the spoon from the bowl and started to move it towards his mouth. "Say 'ahhhh'!"

Yuril opened his mouth as wide as he was able to do without causing himself any discomfort, the spoon just managed to slip into his mouth between his lips and he tasted the first meal that Syr had ever made just for him.

It was terrible.

Yuril debated if just thinking about it as terrible was an understatement, the broth was so salty that it was as if she had just dunked a bowl in the ocean and used the salt water as the broth itself. The meat was burnt to a literal crisp to the point that if he had to compare it to anything he would say it was like chewing on rocks. The various vegetables were all overcooked and were mushy, not just slightly overcooked like his grandfather had always cooked them, they were soft enough that if he had lost all his teeth he still would have been able to chew them.

Yuril was for a moment a little stunned, it was the first thing that Syr had done for him that he could not praise her to the high heavens for like everything else she had done. Her cooking was terrible but it was only one soup, it could have been her first time making it or it just could have not been a food that she prepared well. So Yuril wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and hold back his judgement for the time being.

"Is it… alright?" Syr softly asked him as she pulled the spoon slowly back out and gave him a slightly nervous cute gaze.

Yuril smiled the best he could and nodded his head to her but she remained silent and unconvinced, she had seen the slightly sour face that he had made once the food had entered his barely open mouth and landed on his tongue. Syr gave him a slight pout and placed the spoon back into the bowl and set it in her lap, if he really did not enjoy her cooking then she would not bother cooking for him any more in the future.

Yuril did not want to crush her confidence, she had encouraged and comforted him so many times before and for once he saw an opportunity to help her out and console her. After all it was only one dish, even if the rest of her food was similar to the soup she could always learn and eventually become a better cook. He had tasted the food sold in the Hostess several times, while it was normally leftovers it was still delicious and a million times better than the soup resting in Syr's lap. If she just practiced some more and worked in the kitchen a few nights a week instead of just working as a waitress she could easily improve, for his own good he prayed that she would be able to improve. So he needed to support her the best he could, so he decided that a dramatic show was the best way to get his point across.

"Don't believe me…? Fine then….I'll just… have to prove it.. to you then..." Yuril pulled his arms back against the bedsheets and used his palms to push himself up off of the bed and into a sitting position. It felt like he had just been bashed in the chest and all the air was forced out of his lungs as he breathed heavily for a few seconds. Syr had gasped slightly and moved to push him back down onto the bed. While she placed her hands on his shoulders and was trying to ease him back down from his sudden action he reached out and grabbed the bowl from her lap, taking the spoon in his right hand he guided another spoonful of the soup into his mouth and smiled as he did despite the pain screaming in his body that was yelling at him to lay back down. "See… it is delicious… honest…".

While he was sitting up he was able to fully take in the extent of his wounds, or at least have a better idea as his mind was not filled with how to survive like it was in the heat of the moment. The blanket that he was tucked under had slipped down and a majority of his torso was bandaged, his arms were wrapped around with several bandages and despite not being able to see it he could tell that he had one on his left leg from the pressure of the cloth wrapped tightly around his limb.

Syr smiled slightly as she snatched the bowl and spoon back from his hands and set it down on the nightstand to help him lay back down before he overstepped his limits in his injured condition. She giggled softly at his idiotic action, he may have been an idiot but he was her idiot.

"Well, I am happy that you like it, Yuril! While you recover I can cook plenty more for you anytime you get hungry!" Syr said sweetly as she closed her eyes and cupped her cheeks in an adorable smile.

"I… can hardly wait…" Yuril said as he returned her smile with one of his own, he realized that he had just dug himself into a hole that could very well lead him into a sandpit that would suck him in and swallow him whole. But in the moment that was not his main concern, instead he went about swallowing the rest of her food to really sell the act to Syr that he had enjoyed her food. The only two positives that he could give the meal while he was chewing was that the vegetables were so overcooked that he did not need to chew them for long before swallowing them. The second was that the meat had been cut just small enough that he could swallow down his dry throat that had been turned into a desert by the salty broth of the soup.

Once he had finished his meal he had another large sip of water and the two sat in peaceful silence for several minutes, at one point a bird landed on the windowsill and sang its sweet song that Syr hummed along too. Yuril would be the first to admit that her soft whistling was far more enjoyable than her food had been.

"Syr…?"

"Hm? Yes Yuril, what is it?"

"I just realized… I did not even thank you yet for saving me ... so thank you Syr…"

Syr held up her right hand to cover her mouth as she giggled softly "Don't thank me Yuril… Ryuu was the one that found you after all, her and the others did most of the work ... I just stood and watched from the sidelines. You should be thanking them, not me...".

"I see…. then..could you go get them for me please? Just for a quick second…" Yuril softly requested and Syr got up from her seat and made her way to the doorway, she stopped at the door and looked back at him for a moment and gave him a small wave. "Well, they may be busy getting ready for dinner service but I will go and see. Now don't do anything silly Yuril, just rest and I will be back before you know it…" Yuril nodded slightly and as she left the room put his head back on the pillow and let out a small sigh of relief.