Dish after dish appeared and Rikimaru swiftly polished off what was put in front of him, eating with such a stunning pace, he had begun attracting an audience.

'By the beard of Kranach, the man is not human,' Rikimaru could hear murmurs from his audience, but he continued his onslaught of eggs, rice and a meat he could not quite place. 'With muscles that size, no wonder he can eat that much.' He smiled and continued the onslaught.

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours; hours into days.

The sky was a deep crimson matted with swirling fiery orange and dripping with a golden honey. Hand and hand, Riki and Aimi looked on in awe as the sun descended behind the distant mountains.

News had filtered down from Gregminster that the Liberation Army had overthrown Emperor Barbarossa. This had sparked wild celebrations in Seika and the neighbouring lakeside village of Kaku, where Riki and Aimi had journeyed to see a firework display at the Toran Lake Castle.

Riki turned to Aimi and seen tears in her shimmering sapphire eyes. He placed his large arms around her and pulled her in to him.

'What's wrong my love?' He asked, kissing the top of her head. She looked up to him and gently kissed him.

'It's just a beautiful sight seeing those who have suffered in the war celebrating with a renewed hope for the future.' She replied, moving away from his embrace.

Riki looked deep in to her eyes again but this time saw Aimi was looking distantly behind him, her expression full of shock. He turned around but seen nothing but villagers dancing and drinking merrily in the village square.

'What is it? You look startled.' He asked. She looked back at him and smiled.

'Nothing my darling. Hug me again.' She nuzzled in to his chest and then he kissed her head again, looking around him with a feeling of unease.

'Uh, sir!' A prod to his solid chest snapped him from his dreams. He opened his eyes to see Marie. 'We are out of food.' She said, still with that smile on her face. He realised he had fallen asleep at the dining table again.

'Oh. I was looking forward to desert,' Rikimaru watched as Marie's face paled. Bursting in to a deep laughter he said 'I am joking of course little lady.' He lied.

Feeling energised Riki leaped to his feet and stretched out his muscles. Even this attracted attention he noticed, although, mostly female. Marie had turned away, blushing.

'I shall have your bill tallied for the last two days. Please, take your time and then come and see me at the desk.' She said, scurrying away towards her desk.

As he stretched, a crushing reality hit him hard. I have no potch. The last had dried up days ago after blowing it at the Dragon Inn further down the road.

Eventually a young maid appeared and placed the bill down beside him and he quickly assessed the damage. Skipping the long breakdown of what he had eaten he looked to the bottom which read, 3000 potch.

'T-three t-thousand?!' He called aloud.

The young maid smiled at him pleasantly. He wasn't sure if she enjoyed seeing the shock on his face and sweat drip from his face, or, that she was just blissfully nice.

'Um, where's the bathroom, miss?' He finally said.

This'll be the last time.