IGSAGCSAWAYSH) A Stupid Plot?

“Ahhhh….. This is the life.” Shizuku sunk into the hot water with a relaxed smile on her face.  

“Shizu, you look very relaxed.” Miyumi gently ran her hands through Shizuku’s hair.

“How can I not be? This is what I had been wanting for a few days now.” Shizuku replied. Next to her was Mei, who was combing the other half of her head while Mino, for some reason, took up position in her lap. While Lishia was sitting on the other side of the tub, half asleep. 

“I guess that is true. Lishia seems to be passed out as well.” Miyumi found it funny. Lishia was all hyper until she got into the bath, and not even a few seconds later, she had passed out.

“She has been pulling me along all this time and keeping watch as well. Because of me, she has not gotten much sleep.” Mino suddenly spoke up.

“Then we will let her sleep. We should all get a good sleep tonight.” Shizuku wanted everyone to rest well since they were taking a few days off. 

“I am all for that!” Miyumi nodded in agreement. Mei did not care. She would do whatever Shizuku told her to, and Mino seemed to just go with the flow. 

The bathroom was quite steamy. It was almost as if they had entered a bathhouse with how big the bath was. The VIP rooms in the inn were very big. They were like small mansions. It had everyone one would need. 

“Do you plan to leave the inn at all?” Miyumi asked. She was curious if Shizuku wanted to check out the town or not.

“Nope. We will stay in until we go to leave. I mainly do not want to cause Lishia any trouble and cause a rift between her and the people here. She is human, after all. She might not care, but I do not wish to trouble her too much. She almost fell out with the people here. Many of them might not be too against someone like me, but there are those who will cause trouble. 

“While I was mad at how the guard put things, I can also understand where he was coming from. This place is a tourist spot, so if it was seen as them favoring a Fallen, then they could easily lose everything instantly. They would need to walk a fine line between their relationship with Lishia and her comrades and the people who keep this town alive.

“That is why I just wanted to leave. There was no point in entering and ruining things. I just wished the guard could have put things in better words than sounding as if everything would be my fault.” Shizuku let out a small sigh. She was glad things worked out, but she realized maybe she should have stopped Lishia ahead of time. Shizuku was starting to notice that her anger was not as easy to control anymore. She would get mad at the slightest things. She wondered if it was because of everything that had happened or if her race was playing with her mind a little.

“Yeah, that actually pissed me off. If Lishia wasn’t here, I might have hit him with my shield.” Miyumi had really restrained herself this time.

“I wanted to punch him a few times….” Mei pursed her lips. She disliked when people looked down on her Master.

“At least it all worked out, and no one got into a massive fight. That would not have been good either. Let’s relax for the next few days since we have a long journey ahead of us.”

- - -

“Leader, we have found some suspicious activity.” One of the shadow guards protecting Shizuku appeared on the rooftop of Shizuku’s inn. 

“Let’s hear it.”

“There is a group of people all meeting in the basement of the butcher shop down the street. The people there all had cloaks on, but some of them were definitely priests. They had cloaks that were white with the church’s insignia on them. No idea if they thought they were hiding or what, but my guess is that they are here to start trouble for our master. Number Two slipped in and should be listening to what they are saying.”

“Keep an eye on them. These idiots are probably going to try to cause some major trouble and blame Master for it. Our job is to protect her from harm but we can not hinder her progress as well. But that does not mean we can not drop them some anonymous intel.”

“So we can only wait for Number Two to return.”

At the same time, within the basement of the local butcher shop….

“Are you sure this is safe? If those monsters actually ravage our crops. The Goddess Apple is the lifeblood of our crops.”

“Isn’t the Sword Saint here? She will make sure nothing happens to it.”

“But she is friends with that Fallen you are after.”

“Will she really leave humans to die to protect a Fallen? You people need to think before you speak. A Fallen in human territory is a disgrace. Especially this one who has caused harm to the church. We need to take her out before she makes it to Fallen lands.”

“Then we will do as you say and put the monster bait in the orchard.”