The Hero Should've Known Better

Chapter 24: Ralek

"Lady Sollar. Milady, wake up."

General Forge was trying to shake the Demonfolk girl awake. She groaned and bundled up further into the bedsheets.

"Alright, if that doesn't work..." he muttered.

The Demonfolk General stepped over to the window and threw open the shutters. Sunlight shone directly on Sollar, making her yelp.

"Gah!" Sollar exclaimed. "Bright light! Bright light!"

The Demonfolk girl writhed around on the bed before she rolled right off, hitting the wood floor with a loud thump. The Demonfolk General winced, running over to her side.

"Milady!" he yelled. "Are you okay?"

He looked over to the side of the bed that Sollar had fallen off of, to see that the Demonfolk girl was tangled in her bedsheets.

"I'm okay," she said, blinking open her eyes. "But you scared me."

"At least you're awake," the Demonfolk General said. "I'm no maid or anything, so I can't really prepare you for the morning. Least I could do was to make sure you woke up on time."

"For what?" the Demonfolk girl asked.

"For... the fast ship trip," the Demonfolk General replied. "To the Capital, so you can meet your brother."

Sollar had a moment of recognition; General Forge could see it in her eyes as she recalled the events of the previous night.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "We have to go to get money! Right!"

The Demonfolk girl tried to struggle out of the blankets she was tangled in, which prompted General Forge to help her.

"Be careful, Milady," he muttered. "Don't get yourself hurt."

"I'm not hurt!" she said.

"Still. You need to be careful."

After the both of them had tidied up the room and prepared for the morning, they had gone out onto the streets of New Frontierland. This was the first time that they've seen New Frontierland in its full glory, in the morning daylight.

Most of the streets that the buildings were built around were ones that were parallel to the coast. The roads that led to the coasts had corner stores, but typically sloped downward directly into the bay.

The aroma of freshly-baked meat pies made the pair realize they were hungry. So, General Forge went to one of the bakeries to purchase some for the two.

Sollar nibbled on the hot pastry wrap, as General Forge scarfed his down. He was glancing left and right, trying to remember the conversation he had with the Wisp last night.

"Strellson Supplies... Strellson Supplies... where in the world is it?" General Forge muttered. The Wisp mentioned that it was a corner store, so it was probably at one of the intersections up or down the block.

After a few minutes of walking, his thought process was interrupted.

"Gen-rall!" Sollar exclaimed.

"Yes, Milady?" General Forge asked, turning around to look at her.

"No," the Demonfolk girl replied. "Gen-rall! Over there!"

She was pointing at something on the other side of the street. For just a moment, the Demonfolk General thought that Sollar might've been referring to one of the other Demonfolk Generals. However, she was pointing at the next best thing.

A large sign was above the corner store. Emblazoned on it was 'Strellson Supplies', and underneath it was a smaller 'General Store' sign. Despite the morning hours, it seemed that not many people were around, either in the store or wandering about.