Tama told us the story of what happened in the dungeon before we descended to the second floor. She stayed behind, unwilling to let her home go, and their leader respected her choice. That was until the fear of dying set in, but by then the wax had already started eating at her.
The second floor held the rest of the dungeon divers, and the king was the first to run up to us.
âGlad you are all alright,â King Tallow said. âHow was it on your end, andâ¦â he looked at Tama in Sineâs arms. âWhoâs this?â
Sine hoisted the small lizard higher. âThis is Tama!â
âYes, I am Tama!â
The kingâs eyes widened. âThisâ¦â he stuttered when the dragon stared into him. âShe can talk?â
âOf course, I can talk, human. You arenât the only ones with the gift of speech.â
âI mean, not to be rude, but isnât it only greater dragons or drakes with powers of speech?â
She jumped out of Sineâs arms, reverting back to her original size. Her voice echoed on the second floor platform. âDoes this convince you?â
King Tallow nodded before whispering to Mary. âWhere did she get this?â
âTama was the floor boss.â
âForget all of that!â The lion prince cut in. âWe need to continue on. Where are the other heroes?â
Riri looked around. âMaybe we should wait for them to catch up?â
I patted her worried head. âDonât worry! By the honor of this witch, I am certain they are fine!â
Mary nodded and smiled. âSheâs right. Plus, we can all use a break. This seems like a good break point. There are no monsters, and we can use this to replenish our energy reserves.â
I pulled firewood from my inventory and began making a big bonfire for all of us to sit around. I pulled stools big logs for people to sit, and I pulled a nice camping chair for myself.
One of the unnamed party members looked at me queerly. She bumbled over quickly. âWhere the heck did you get all of this stuff!?â
Lionâs heart leader, who I forgot his name, looked over her smugly. âOf course, leave it to my future wife to accomplish something like this.â
âWhy donât you simply drop dead?â The lion girl from before asked. Though, she did slowly approach me and the unnamed adventurer. âBut, I am also of a same mind as her. You are an anomaly arenât you?â
I leaned in real close to both of them. âThe truth is⦠I am an anomalous actress!â
ââââââThereâs no way thatâs true!âââââââ
âThe truth is, she is simply Eerie!â Mary smiled. She sat around the bonfire. âAnyway, while we wait there are plenty of things we can do if no one is sleepy. We could tell stories.â She finished, looking pointedly at me.
âWait, wait, wait! I donât have any interesting stories!â I looked around at the crowd, but they all stared into me. âFine! But first, whoâs hungry?â
âSheâs dodging the topic,â Sumire said.
âSheâs dodging the issue,â Riri said.
âWitch is changing the subject,â Sine said.
My face heated up, but I shook my head, thinking of what kind of snack these people would like. I remembered that giant plantâsquashed by a password. I pulled out asparagus vines and a big boiling pot, setting the pot over the fire.
âNow then,â I said, gazing at the expectant listeners. âDonât look at me so carefully!â
One of the no named adventurers raised his hand. âUm, are you sure thatâs okay to eat? That looks like a big trapper vine to me.â
âAh, donât worry about it! I ate it before, and it tastes really good!â
âSure, whatever you say.â
I nodded. I thought about what story I could tell these people. Did I even have a good story? Thinking about it logically, I hadnât done much in the way of acting since starting this journey. I collected plants, acted the death of some bandits while saving two heroines, got to a city named after candles, saved some more heroines from ruffians, and then I healed a Dukeâs daughter.
Shaking my head, I looked over the group. âI am not sure I have done much at all. Iâve never even been on a stage yet, unless you count that embarrassing time in the forest.â
âEmbarrassing time in the forest?â Sine asked, jumping on my lap. âI wanna know!â
âAh, I donât know if I wanna tell!â
âPleeeaaase?â She asked with puppy dog eyes.
I sighed, pulling the boiled asparagus from the pot and into bowls. Turns out most of them didnât want to try it, besides the girls and the ruffian lion.
Mary yanked on my cheek.
âOw! Why do you always do that?â
âWhy do you always get lost?â
âI was thinking about Lioffians.â
âWhat are those, and how do they relate to your story?â
I put my finger to my chin. âThatâs what I called them.â
âNothing like that exists!â
âOh, and you are telling me Candlewax is a real kingdom?â
King Tallow sighed. âI assure you this kingdom is very real.â
âAnyways!â I focused their attention. Itâs weird how these people always got sidetracked and never stayed on the heart of the matter. My mother always said to not beat around the bush, but that must not have been a common trait here.
âAnyways,â I said, âThe Lioffians are what I am going to call those monsters in that forest. I always felt like they were watching me, but for some reason they never attacked me.â
Mary rolled her eyes. âI wonder why?â
âI know, itâs weird right? Well, those monsters always watched me. And this is why I think I was a born actress. Every time they came, theyâd catch me at the most embarrassing time. Iâd be sprawled out on the grass sunbathing, or Iâd be collecting herbs, and then, boom! They are right there!â
âSo what did you do?â Sine asked.
A clamor interrupted, and the axe hero fell face first on the ground with bruises covering his body. Before the other heroes followed from the first floor.
âI told you we could do it,â the axe hero said.
I clapped. âWhelp, looks like we will have to finish this story some other time.â