Goblin Slayer © Kumo Kagyu, SB Creative
Chapter 2: The Chocolate Chemistry
After making sure all the victims, excluding the Fighter, were back to their families, the Alchemist locked the temple's door with a sigh. If he wasn't out for adventures, he always stayed in the temple where his sister resided and helped her taking care of the injured people. Amongst the injured people, what he didn't like the most were the goblins' victims.
Women's eyes were supposed to be the most beautiful thing in the world, especially the mothers' eyes when they welcomed their children to the world. He hated to see the lights taken away and the low monsters like goblins were responsible for it.
However, he noticed that the lights weren't faded only in one victim—the Fighter.
She was blanked and unresponsive just like the other victims but he could see that her eyes were different. He couldn't put his finger on what was the difference but it was what made him said that her eyes were beautiful.
He felt bad with the fact that the girl was an orphan and had no relatives to host her so his sister decided to keep her in the temple until the Fighter knew what she wanted to do. It had been a week since she came to the temple and she remained silence all the time. Either he or his sister kept accompanying her whenever they could because there were times when she suddenly scratched herself if she didn't take baths for hours. He would give her the concoctions that would put her into sleep but he couldn't do that forever.
What was good about making her sleep and keeping her from facing the reality?
"It's only her first quest, huh?" he murmured to himself. It felt like yesterday since he did his first quest. He also did a goblin's quest just like the other rookie. However, he was lucky enough to have the man known as the Goblin Slayer assisted him.
The man was only a year older than him, but he was already two ranks higher than him. Even though all he did was slaying goblins but he had to admitted that the man knew what he was doing really well. It appeared that not every rookie as lucky as he was.
The Goblin Slayer wasn't like the rest of adventurers. He chose to slay goblins, not dragons or stronger monsters that would definitely earned him grander name. He chose to stay in the shadow and killed the goblins he believed would be a threat to the humankind one day. The Alchemist accepted his logic and asked him things about goblin slaying in exchange teaching the Goblin Slayer few tricks to make poisons. Since then, the Goblin Slayer would take the victims he rescued from his quest to their temple, which both him and his sister welcomed with open arms.
He patted his mouth as he yawned, shaking his head to keep himself awake as he walked down the hall. There he spotted the Fighter staring at the painting of the saint that used to bless the temple centuries ago. She donned the blue dress that used to be his sister's night dress when she was around the Fighter's age.
"Can't sleep?" he asked. The Fighter stared at him with eye bags under her red-rimmed eyes. He then cursed himself for asking the obvious. Who would be able to after what had happened to her? Her comrades were slaughtered before her eyes, not to mention what happened to her was more than enough to keep her eyes open for days, even years.
The Alchemist tilted his head slightly to his right, motioning her to come with him. "Come. Let me make something so you can sleep better." She followed him to the kitchen where he took two mugs. The Fighter entwined her fingers as she sat on the small dining table near the kitchen.
"I used to have nightmares a lot as a kid," he said as he took the cocoa powder from the cabinet and mixed it with water. "Probably because my sister's habit to tell me frightening stories about monsters that kidnap kids at night," he chuckled at the memory, "When that happened, my mother always made this for me." The Alchemist put the chocolate liquid before her.
"She would chant 'sugar'," he then put some sugar into it, "then 'spice'," he put cinnamon powder and mixed it, "and everything nice." For the finishing touch, he put a white star-shaped confectionery in the center of the liquid. "She said that this is the recipe to make a girl. That's why this thing would make any girls happy. But it turns out working for boys as well. I guess it's because what makes the girls happy, makes the boys happy as well."
The fighter stared at the star-shaped gelatin in the middle with wondrous eyes. He smiled to himself when she curiously poked it with her index finger. He pushed the glass into her and said, "Drink. It'll make you feel better." She took the mug and slowly sipped it, widened her eyes before she took a bigger gulp.
"Delicious, isn't it?" he asked.
She nodded. Her cheeks slightly blushed as she finished half of her mug and ate the star-shaped confectionery. He lifted his eyebrows, amazed to see her liking the chocolate because she barely drank or ate the entire week.
"Silly me. I should've thought about this drink from the first day you came." He grinned at her before he sipped his own chocolate. "To tell you the truth, this drink was the reason I want to become an alchemist."
She stared at him with her raven colored eyes, as if asking him why.
"Don't you ever wonder why this drink can make you happy? During my research I found out that the cocoa releases the substances into the brain. They are known to decrease both pain and stress. It's just amazing to see how these substances could affect people's moods. So… I started to study, then the more I know, the more problem to tackle, the more I'm excited to find out. And I just can't stop since then! You see, a little of this thing," he pulled out a tube from his pocket, "can either make a healing potion or a bomb. Isn't that interesting?"
The Fighter was taken aback by his fiery passion when he talked about alchemy at first but she couldn't help but smile. It was his turn to be taken aback by her reaction.
"Wow… Y-you have a beautiful smile…" he blurted. When the Fighter blushed at his bluntness, he quickly raised his hands and waved it. "I-I really meant it! I didn't mean to flirt with you. Trust me! I'm not a player! I never even date a girl before—" It was his turn to blushed. He quickly whipped his head to hide his face, cursing himself for blurting his history out loud.
When he heard a giggle, he froze in his position. He slowly craned his head to see the girl finally let out her melodious giggle. There was so much sorrow the first time he met her. He heard nothing but scream and cry from her lips, which was why the sight of her giggling was almost like a miracle for him.
The girl couldn't believe that she could laugh herself. She put her fingers on the corner of her eyes and felt something wet. The tears that escaped her eyes not because she cried, but because she laughed too much.
She was almost forgot that tears could be shed because the opposite reasons as well.
Turning her head to him, she shot him another smile and finally muttered the thing she wanted to say since the first day she met him. Though the way he spoke made him look like the sweet-talker she always avoided, his green eyes had spoken a lot of kindness. The way he stared at her whenever he assisted her through her trauma was the sincerest eyes she ever saw. It almost reminded her of her father.
"Thank you so much for everything you've done for me." She then slightly bowed at him.
The Alchemist almost said "Even your voice is beautiful," but he swallowed it and smiled at her. "You're very welcome. I'm so glad to finally hear you talking."
The Fighter put her finger on her lips, still feeling the warmth of the chocolate she just finished. She didn't expect herself to be able to feel happy herself, but it might be because the warmth of the drink he made melted the ice that kept her from laughing.
"Anyway, do you want to join me shopping tomorrow?" he asked. The Fighter frowned at the thought, not wanting to see anything related to the adventurers but the Alchemist said again, "It's not good to keep yourself shut from the world for too long you know? How about… shopping for your favorite foods? Say, what do you like to eat?"
"Uhm… dumplings," she said. "I l-love dumplings…"
He rolled his eyes as he tried to think what it was. "Dumplings? What are they?"
"It's the kind of foods we eat in where I came from," she said. "Everything is based on dough, but you put different fillings into it. It can be meats, vegetables, fruits, or everything you want."
"Oh, that seems like an interesting chemistry! Okay, we'll shop for 'dumplings' tomorrow." The Alchemist clapped his hands.
"Okay."
"But first, we need to go to sleep so we can be ready for tomorrow." He patted her on her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
The Fighter nodded and headed to her room with a rather ecstatic steps and tiptoed when she went into her room. She made sure that she didn't wake the High Priestess that slept beside her since the first day to watch her as she sneaked into her blanket. She was always scared for tomorrow but she didn't know why she couldn't wait for the sun to rise. Smiling, her eyes slowly fluttered close as the sleepiness took over her. What she didn't know was the blonde woman by her side smiling to herself.
AN: To tell you the truth, I barely played any game that has 'job systems' so pardon me if I make any mistake. XD What do you think about the chemistry between the Alchemist and the Fighter? Don't forget to drop a review! XD
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Thank you Evowizard25 for your review! I know that nothing much is happening in chapter 1 but I hope you'll enjoy the upcoming chapters! =D
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