“I want you to be on the frontline now.”
Altashia heard that and thought that it made sense. Yet, she still had some doubts. She decided that now was the right time to get them cleared before they reach the city of Arangar.
Altashia paused for a bit. Then she pressed her lips against each other to gather some courage before asking.
“Eren, what do you like about me?”
Eren heard the question with closed eyes and smiled. Only now did he have the girl on the right track, after many of his failed attempts. He replied quickly afterwards.
“There are many things I like about you, Altashia.”
Eren didn’t want to sound vague. But there were many things about her. So there was no way to prevent it. Unsurprisingly, Altashia wasn’t impressed.
“Well, tell me what you like about me the most.”
The butcher, with his eyes closed, didn’t even take a second to reply.
“Your looks, your body, and your boobs.”
A velvety pillow was thrown on Eren’s face right after he had said it. The guy had expected a projectile to target him anyway when he had decided to say this. So he let the pillow hit him. He was just glad that it was a pillow, the nearest item Altashia could grab onto from her position.
“Shallow. You are too shallow, Eren. Just like the rest of them.”
Eren chuckled after hearing Altashia’s response before proceeding further.
“Haha, you got it wrong, Altashia. I set myself apart from the rest by being honest about my shallowness. Beauty is only skin deep they say. But do you have to be ugly to be a kind human from the inside? Can’t you be beautiful from the inside out as well? Even if you aren’t, is having a beautiful body necessarily a bad thing?
People try to find a deeper meaning behind everything that’s happening around them. In doing so, they complicate their lives.
For better or worse, I’m not one of them. So when I said all that about your physical features, I meant it. Of course, I also like the other things about you. But I’d be lying if I had said that I started looking at those points about you first.”
Altashia was stumped by Eren’s disturbing honesty. She had thought that he liked to keep things to himself. Only now did she realise that he would only try to be tight-lipped when it suited him.
She took a long breath and looked outside the window once again. The carriage was now on a wide, multi-lane straight road that had been built using limestones as its foundation. The city gates could be seen in the distance. Altashia and Eren’s carriage was surrounded by a lot of other carriages as well. Like their carriages, these carriages were either approaching or leaving the city, depending on which lane they were in.
Altashia tucked her hair behind her petite ears before asking one more question to Eren.
“Eren, would you have still liked me if I was not as beautiful or talented as you say that about me?”
Eren opened his eyes right when Altashia had finished asking her question. He had finally mastered a spell for the wind element. Now he just needed to test its on-field application and tweak it as per his needs.
He replied soon after.
“Nope. Beauty and talents are integral parts of you. What’s the point in taking that away and liking the incomplete you? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Also, that question is silly. It does nothing but highlights your insecurities. Of being with someone who wants to be with you because of what you are from the outside.”
Altashia sighed when she heard Eren’s answers to all her questions. Those questions were meant to probe Eren’s intentions. But the answers he gave ended up probing her psyche instead.
“You are right, Eren. I indeed have insecurities that stem from my loneliness. But that’s also because I don’t have experience of trusting other people like this.”
Altashia said and flashed a cheerful smile mixed with playfulness before adding.
“Especially if the guy is like you.”
Eren raised his eyebrows and pointed his index finger at himself. He then shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn’t know what she was talking about before responding.
“What do you mean? I’m the most honest person Edinburgh has ever seen.”
‘I’ll take a raincheck on that.’
Alephee was the first to respond after Eren made his bold claim. Alterashia, on the other hand, laughed non-stop while trying to suppress it with her hands. The butcher ignored those responses and carried on.
“My point is, Altashia, don’t be scared by new experiences just because they are novel. Everything in life happens for the first once.
We already have our bet in place. If and when I do end up winning it, remember the discussion we had just now.”
Eren smiled and got up. Then he changed his position and sat right beside Altashia to see the city gates from her side of the window. The warrior also flashed a grin before following the butcher’s gaze. They were about to enter the city of Arangar.
**********************
Eren and Altashia were inside a giant hall. There were spectral screens projected everywhere that dictated various tasks assigned to various people.
“What’s your name, sir?”
The lady on the other side of the counter from Eren asked him. The butcher and Altashia were in Arangar city’s administration building. They had entered the city by the evening yesterday. So they had decided to crash at an inn. Of course, against Eren’s wishes, there were two separate rooms booked.
Eren had some work at the admin office so Altashia followed him. Her personal affairs would only get done by tomorrow so she didn’t mind following Eren.
“Eren Ilijah Idril. These are my ID details.”
Eren gave the counter lady his name. Then he projected his ID details on a spectral screen in front of her, enabling her to confirm the validity of those details.
“How can we help you, sir?”
The lady asked Eren. He clenched his fists before relaxing them and said calmly.
“I want to create a guild.
Its name would be White Raven.”
