Chapter 14: Chapter 14: The First Companion!

As though the problem was that Liri had simply misheard, the woman reiterated:

"I. Want. To. Marry. You."

That did nothing to ease Liri's confusion.

"But… What!?" Liri asked, caught so entirely off-guard that she couldn't recover.

"I, must I use different words? I would like to make you my wife," she stated. "Do your people not have the concept of marriage?"

The look the woman gave her as she said this was infuriating. It was like Liri had asked her a dumb question, like "what color is the sky?"

"I, but… Why!?"

"Because you're beautiful, you saved me, and it would be nice to marry you?" The woman said, brought to a state of confusion as a result of Liri's reactions. "Are you okay?"

"AM I- Are YOU okay!?" Liri asked in turn.

"Yes, clearly. Thanks to you," the woman stated happily.

[What is going on right now?]

"… Alright, alright, slow down," Liri said, taking a step back and holding her hands up, trying to get a grasp on the current situation. "First things first, who even are you?"

"Oh, we have not exchanged names. My apologies," the girl said with a cute smile that didn't really fit someone with as imposing a figure as she had. "My name is Arisa. It is a pleasure to meet you, wife."

"First of all, I haven't agreed to that. Second, my name is Liri."

"Liri. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

"I…!"

Liri's face reddened noticeably. It felt so warm she worried she'd burn herself if she did so much as touch her cheeks.

[I need to get this conversation back on track.]

"Why do you want to marry me?" Liri asked, before correcting her question, worried they'd just go in circles all day. "I mean… Are you serious about that?"

"Of course," she replied. "My people do not make jokes regarding this matter, Liri. I wish to marry you because I have fallen for you."

"B-But we just met!"

"It was love at first sight."

That statement confused Liri more than anything else she'd heard up to this point. She reached up, putting her hand over her chest, and noticed that her heart was thudding hard against it. The worst part was, Arisa just kept going.

"When I first saw your face as I awoke, when I first looked into your eyes, I felt as though the grace of the heavens were looking back at me. How could I not fall in love then and there? Who wouldn't?"

Never before had Liri met such a confusing individual. As far as she was concerned, love at first sight was the sort of glorious ideal that was better left in the realm of novels and fairytales. Coming across it in real life like this was such a bizarre thing that she had no idea how to react.

Arisa seemed to recognize this dilemma, however, and said something that gave Liri one slight push in the right direction.

"Besides that, however, there are other reasons you should marry me."

Liri arched one brow so high it nearly hurt. That said, she was curious.

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"… Like what?"

"For one, if you choose to head back to my tribe with me, being my wife will make things much smoother. My people are not very trusting of strangers. Especially not with everything that's been going on over these last few years."

[So… It's not just the ven that have been struggling lately?]

That last sentence made Liri pause. It was at that moment that Liri recalled there was still too much about the world that she simply didn't know. Rejecting offers like these so quickly could prevent her from acquiring valuable information. At the same time, however, she wasn't so keen on forming such a bond.

Sensing her hesitation, though, Arisa continued attempting to persuade her.

"If you return with me by your side, the others in my tribe will not bother you as much. Well… Most of them won't, but it's still better than nothing. It will make it easier for you to settle in and get whatever it is you need. Food? Shelter? What is it that you desire?" Arisa asked her.

"… Information," Liri answered then. "More than anything else, I just want to know more about this land. I, ehm, I'm not from here."

"Ah, in that case, I could ask for you to get access to the archives!" Arisa offered. "Our tribe's leaders keep information stockpiled somewhere. I could ask for you to be allowed to see it. What do you think?"

There were a couple of reasons Liri wanted to agree.

For one, she'd been fortunate enough to run into someone who wasn't human. She wasn't too sure whether this girl's race was kind to ven like her, however, based on her reaction, it was possible they didn't even know what ven were. With that being the case, the others may be more cautious of Liri than Arisa was, but that was better than them being openly hostile.

Second, she understood that, with her enemies being as technologically advanced as they were, if Liri wanted any chance at getting back at them, she'd need allies. This could be the first step in attaining them.

However…

"Do I seriously need to marry you for all that?" Liri asked, looking up at the woman with pleading eyes. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you're hot. You're really hot. Back in my world, people would ask you to step on them on a daily basis, but, that's… I'm not ready for that kind of commitment."

"Back in your world?" Arisa asked, confused. "So, you are an angel?"

"NO, no, I... Back in my, ehm, distant nation. Anyway, yeah, I'm not ready for that."

Arisa heard her and looked away, a hint of sympathy showed on her face as she considered the ven's words.

"Okay," Arisa muttered. "We will portray ourselves as mere lovers, then. But," she quickly added, "I will only take you back to the tribe on one condition."

Liri got excited.

"Sure, what is it?"

At that moment, Arisa snuck a hand behind Liri and pulled her by her waist. The ven flinched.

Shivers ran up her spine as her front was pressed to Arisa's. The woman was so tall, Liri nearly had to pull her head all the way back to meet her eyes at this angle.

"You and I will travel together from this point on," Arisa said. "And, if at any point you fall for me, then we'll get married. What do you say?"

Liri sighed, looking up at the woman.

[She's definitely determined, huh? I… I can't say I dislike that, honestly. Besides,] Liri looked away, [it's not like that'll happen... If anything, this could be what I needed for...]

It was that last thought, remembering that other half of the duties given to her by Alteria, that led Liri to respond with:

"Fine."

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