Glenn drew out a chair and sat down, smiling gently. “This is the tableware of my homeland. Allow me to demonstrate.”

  With practiced ease, he lifted a slice of stir-fried meat between the slender sticks and placed it into his mouth, chewing with calm satisfaction.

  Leila and Bonnie exchanged glances, their eyes alight with wonder. Awkwardly mimicking Glenn’s movements, they fumbled at first, yet to his astonishment, within moments both girls managed to pick up food with surprising dexterity.

  He had already prepared to fetch forks and spoons; trying the chopsticks was meant as nothing more than amusement. But clearly, there was no need.

  The instant the first morsel touched her tongue, Leila could not help but close her eyes, savoring the flavor with quiet rapture. Though she retained her composure, it was evident she was enchanted. Bonnie, however, unrestrained by restraint or caution, burst forth with exuberant praise.

  “Oh! This taste—marvelous!”

  Glenn nearly lost the composure on his face; pride swelled within him, threatening to betray itself in a broad grin.

  “You are both students, are you not? A holiday today?” he asked casually, plucking another bite from the plate.

  “Yes, sir,” Leila replied softly, ever mindful of courtesy even as the rich flavors tempted her to silence. “Bonnie and I attend Maize Academy. Today is a respite, though tomorrow lessons resume.”

  “I see…” Glenn nodded thoughtfully. Then, after a pause: “Might I ask—do your studies include magic?”

  The two girls lifted their eyes toward him, exchanging a glance that seemed half perplexity, half amusement. Even Bonnie raised her round cheeks, studying him with the same look.

  “To learn magic, one must seek the Tower and be taken under a true mage’s tutelage. Our academy does not teach it, though we are taught some elementary knowledge,” Leila explained gently.

  “I see… I confess, I know little of such matters,” Glenn admitted with a sheepish expression.

  “That explains it,” Leila murmured, letting the subject fall.

  How could it be otherwise? In truth, the man whose body Glenn now inhabited had scarcely studied beyond a peasant’s rudiments, his learning no more than a child’s primer. Born into wealth, the youth had squandered fortune rather than cultivate knowledge; school was never in his path. Hence Glenn’s unfamiliarity with even the simplest lore.

  Before long, the meal was finished. Glenn’s own appetite was hearty, yet he had prepared abundantly, enough that a little restraint left plenty to sate his guests.

  Conversation over food had softened the air between them; the distance of strangers gave way to easy laughter. Glenn no longer wore the stern mask of their first meeting, and even allowed himself a jest or two, which drew giggles from the girls.

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  “Mr. Glenn’s cooking is divine. If I could taste it every day, I would gladly do anything!” Bonnie declared, patting her stomach with blissful abandon.

  “Who would cook for such a greedy little cat? You’d eat him into ruin within a fortnight!” Leila teased, eyes twinkling.

  “I would happily prepare more dishes for you—but only if you have the courage to return,” Glenn replied, amused.

  At the reminder of the town’s eerie aura, Bonnie shrank into herself at once. “On second thought… perhaps not…”

  Her comical expression set both Glenn and Leila laughing anew.

  After he gathered the dishes, Leila spoke with quiet contrition. “What an imperfect visit. My small token cannot possibly equal such a feast. If my mother knew, she would surely scold me.”

  Her basket contained only fruit, vegetables, and a few coarse loaves—no meat. In these times, meat was precious indeed.

  “A gift need not be weighed by its cost. Your sincerity is worth far more to me,” Glenn replied earnestly. He found himself genuinely fond of the gentle girl, his first true friend in this world.

  His words touched Leila deeply. Such sentiments, commonplace on Earth, here carried unusual gravity.

  “I will remember your words,” she said solemnly.

  “And I as well,” Bonnie added, no less moved.

  They lingered a while in light chatter, but when their questions about the town met only Glenn’s honest ignorance, silence grew. Soon he sensed their intent to leave and rose to see them off.

  “Go now. The road home is not short, and should night fall upon you, it would be ill indeed. Do not let your families worry.”

  Leila and Bonnie understood his concern and bid farewell with courtesy.

  After they departed, Glenn silently commanded his beasts to shadow them as unseen guardians, then turned his mind toward the schemes he had already resolved to pursue for wealth.

  …

  “Mr. Glenn is truly a remarkable man. Perhaps we should visit him more often,” Leila mused as they walked the quiet earthen road.

  “I agree. Yet, Leila, I still think this place unsafe. Best we come only with friends at our side,” Bonnie answered with a solemn nod.

  Leila pondered a moment, then smiled. “Then will you be my companion?”

  Bonnie rolled her eyes. “You’d do better to find a strong lad. You and I together offer no safety at all!”

  “Porker? Hardly—he trembles more than you.” Leila’s lips curled at the thought of the plump red-haired boy quaking in terror here.

  “My courage is not so small!” Bonnie protested, cheeks puffed. Then, curious, she asked: “But doesn’t that boy always shout about becoming a knight? How could he be such a coward?”

  “You do not know him as I do…” Leila began, a mischievous glint in her eye, about to share some humiliating tale.

  But a familiar voice interrupted.

  “Thank the heavens, Leila—I have waited so long for you. Praise be, you are safe!”

  From the road ahead came a short, stocky man with a thick brown beard, flanked by two towering, rough-hewn brutes.

  Leila froze at the sight, her voice catching in startled recognition. “Father…”

  It was Bob, her sire.

  Bonnie’s eyes darted between them, unsure of what to say.

  “My child, you cannot know the dread that seized me when I heard you had come here. This place is perilous. Come now, return with me.” Bob smiled warmly, beckoning.

  But the men at his back wore grim, stony expressions that made both girls’ hearts quake.

  “No! I will not go with you. You nearly killed Mother!” Rage welled hot within Leila as the memory of her mother’s battered form in the clinic seared her mind. Her words rang firm and cold.

  Bob’s eyelids twitched, his face stiffening. Quickly he forced a weary sigh. “My dearest child, that was but an accident. I was drunk… and your mother bore fault as well. She ought to have given me the money. Had she done so, none of that would have happened.”

  “That is enough, Bob. We have no time for your tender family quarrels. Seize them!” one of the brutes growled, striding forward to snatch the girls.

  At once Leila and Bonnie spun to flee, but how could two frail maidens outrun hardened men? Within steps, iron hands clamped upon their shoulders, dragging them to the ground.

  “Let us go, you monsters!” they cried, struggling in vain as the men hauled them backward.

  “Be gentle—she is my daughter, after all,” Bob muttered weakly.

  “Daughter? Ha! The moment you sold her to the master, she ceased to be yours.”