Hearing the sounds of prayers so suddenly did catch him off guard, but he was able to quicky adjust to the situation and pray with he others.
The appearence of a goddess in a fantasy world was of no surprise to him, but the sheer dedication of the people of the Holy Kingdom did. He couldn't imagine praying everyday, the moment the sun went down, it was very much foreign to him.
As the sounds of prayer quieted down, Helios finally found an opportunity to catch his breath.
As he looked around, he saw the people of the village slowly raising their heads and looking up at the sky.
Following their example he did so as well.
In the sky hung a moon brighter than anything else, yet still so calming, much the opposite of the sun he saw, which burned brighter than any sun he had ever seen.
But something else also stuck out to him: that beautiful moon was also immensely lonely. There were on stars sitting on the night sky, it was just the moon all by its lonesome.
Atleast that what he thought, till he looked just a little bit more to the right. There stood the sun same as it was during the day just much more toned down. It's intense flaming presence became much dimmer, like that of a lightbulb that needed to be changed.
This confirmed Helios's suspicions of the sun. The sun did indeed not move, even a little bit.
After everyone stopped looking up at the sky, much to Helios's surprise the chatter from just moments ago did not return. People all stayed quiet, and quickly returned to their abode.
"So we camping in the carriage tonight?" Helios asked quietly while looking at Joshua
"We? Do you really want to stay here?" Joshua asked in retaliation
"I'm not staying here, I am staying at the tavern" said Joshua
"But, I still don't have any money." said Helios with a deadpan expression
"Oh....I guess you can stay in the carriage if you want, but just so you know don't even try stealing anything from there. Are we clear?" said Joshua
"Do I really look like the type of person that would steal Mr. Abrams?" said Helios with a slight grin
"I don't know. But you switching to formal speech, does not help your case." answered Joshua
"But, seriously don't steal anything especially the enchanced items, I am not only saying this as merchant, but as a friend." said Joshua
"Are they actually pretty dangerous?" ansked Helios curiously
"Some could be, so its best to just stay away from them. You know maybe I should rent a room for you too, maybe that would be the...." but before Joshua could finish speaking Helios intercepted
"No need I already owe you for these clothes, I couldn't handle having any more debt than this." said Helios
"I guess that's fine" answered Joshua
And with that the carriage went to the back of the tavern, where a small horse stable and place for the carriages were.
As they waved each other goodbye Joshua slowly walked into the tavern while Helios returned to the back of the carriage where he would be sleeping.
The inside of the carriage was dusty and crowded with product all sorts, but much to Helios's luck there was an empty spot in the middle, just enough for him so lay down.
Upon looking around in the carriage with the little visibility he had he was able to find a pillow but nothing else.
Being satisfied with what was given to him he put the pillow on the ground and laid down to sleep.
As it was summer he presumed that maybe he would be fine without a blanket, yes it might be a bit chilly but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
Despite only having been here for about four to five hours, today was tiring to him so without having the chance to reflect he slipped into a state of sleep very quickly.
Waking up in the morning what greeted him was not the back pain one would expect after having just slept on a hard floor, but intead a state of most refreshment. It was so refreshing that he wasn't sure that any sleep he had before could ever come close to this.
He could only think of one reason for this heavenly feeling. The goddess, he already knew from last night's events, that the goddess was someone, with the authority of the night or so he presumed. It only made sense for the prayer to have done something.
'Now I understand why everyone was praying, if such effects are achievable every night I might just have to become a devout believer myself. Also, could the effect be short? Maybe that's why everyone was rushing back to their houses yesterday. Or I could be overthinking things again.'
With that Helios walked out of the carriage and headed towards the tavern. While walking he tried to guess the time of day, but with the sun hanging motionless above it was impossible for him to know if he had overslept or not.
Coming closer to the tavern he could already hear the sounds of chatter from the inside, this told him one thing. He had indeed overslept.
Pushing the door open he was surprised to find the tavern much more spacious than he would have initially believed.
On the bottom floor he could see a small bar, behind it a young woman. Before the bar were a number of tables all having someone sitting at them, chatting about whatever today's topic was.
Looking to the side, he could see to set of stairs leading up to the second floor, where presumably the quest rooms were situated.
Hoping to meet up with Joshua he headed for stairs but before he could get there he heard a husky voice from behind him.
"Helios you looking for me?" said Joshua
"Yes, you are my only acquaintance here so I naturally came to look for you, I also wanted to thank you for letting me use your carriage last night." said Helios
"Oh why so cold, I thought we were already friends by now" anwered Joshua
"Sorry, I just..." Helios said in a low voice
As he never had many friends situations like these made him stunlocked unsure of what to answer.
"Oh right, I wanted to introduce you to these two, they are the owners of the tavern Mr. and Mrs. Wallace." said Joshua before Helios could get his words out clearly sensing that he put him in a bad spot by accident
'Mrs. Wallace is the old lady from yesterday who was looking for new clothes, while his husband I'm not sure I've seen'
Many people came to greet Joshua when he arrived yesterday but from what Helios could tell the old man wasn't among the participants.
"So, you are the noble everyone has been talking about." said the old Mr. Wallace
"Yes, Mr. Wallace, I am Helios pleased to make your acquaintance." said Helios while bowing slightly
"You were indeed right Joshua, this boy really is way too formal for his standing." said Mr. Wallace
"Yeah, he's right a noble of your standing should have much more grace, there is no need to act with such formality when talking to us mere commonfolk." added Mrs. Wallace
'I suppose I haven't been acting very nobleman like, but what can I do I am not actually a noble.'
"I suppose you are right, but right now with the state I'm in I can hardly carry myself like a normal noble, I don't have anything with me that could pay for anything or even prove that I'm a true noble."
There was a slight silence among them till Mr. Wallace broke it.
"Well, I suppose you are right. Hey, have you eaten yet, if not we can give you some food."
"I don't want to owe anything more, I already owe some to Joshua, I couldn't take on more debt." said Helios
"Don't be so quick to reject I never said it was free, you will wash the dishes and clean off the tables for the day, and in exchange we will feed you, does that sound fair?" said Mr. Wallace
Not finding anything he could have a problem with Helios accepted the offer.
"Sure, but sorry to be rude, but was this the reason for introducing us to each other was it so I can get a small side gig?" asked Helios
"Well...I had to introduce you to someone since I will be leaving in just about an hour." Joshua answered frankly
"Wait, can't I just go with you?" asked Helios
"No, Helios I am not going to the capital I am going to the village next door" said Joshua
'The capital what's that got to do with anything'
"A noble like you needs to get back to Rem as soon as possible, I can't take you with me." Joshua continued
"But, then how do you expect me to repay you?" asked Helios
"Just pay me back whenever me meet again, I feel like we will be seeing each other again." said Joshua
"But, I still don't get it even if that's all true why should I have to stay here?" asked Helios
"Oh right I didn't tell you yet, an inspector will be coming from the government, you can ask him to take you back to Rem with him as a noble of the Pheonix family it will be easy for you to convince him."
'An inspector from the government?'