It was the middle of the night, Ashrosaliera should've slept by now, but as a certified gremlin™, she could not rest because she was bored; she had rested for 24 hours straight already.
So Ash lay on her bed with both eyes wide open. She looked over at Tarnisha and Cinderella, checking if they were awake. Still, she could only see the vivid darkness in their dormitory room.
She rolled onto her back again, staring blankly at the wooden planks above her bunk like she was half expecting Zofia to fall down from there. The air in the room was still, save for the occasional creaking of the wooden floor as it settled, like the dormitory was sighing in its sleep.
Fake yet oddly comforting moonlight slivered in through the gaps of the door into the windowless room, painting streaks of pale blue and purple across the stone walls, where tiny motes of dust floated and drifted out of reach.
The smell of old parchment from the books right above Zofia's bed mixed with faint lavender from Tarnisha's bedside charm, creating a strangely calming scent that Ash found annoyingly ineffective, she wanted to sleep, but it was too hard.
Ash began to close her eyes and listen, hoping that she'd catch the sound of mummering or pages flipping from above. But all that came from her ears was static, white noises from unexplainable origins, whistlings of the wind, and her own breathing.
"Lord… Give me a sign, should I sneak out or lie here until morning, or until I can sleep? And I'm going to go to atheism if you're gonna tell me to read and pass the time."
Ashrosaliera waited for something or someone to answer her whispering pleas, and something did to her utmost surprise.
===
New Quest Available: Amendship
Details: Receive Zofia Adinberg's expressed forgiveness
Reward: 0.10 System Points
Failure: Increased difficulty rating in [Warrior Humility] questline.
Status: Ongoing
===
"Not another quest! Wait… I finished all of them, so I guess more is fine?" Ash muttered softly, "Ugh… fine, I'll apologize to her."
Ash started squirming on the bed, just thinking about having to say a sincere apology to someone was making her embarrassed and cringe. Still, she knew that it would be the best and most mature thing for her to do.
"But I don't wanna be mature." She started kicking her feet in the air, trying not to hit anything, to not make noises, but then she remembered something and muttered "System, quests?"
===
Ongoing Quest: Warrior Humility
Details: Befriend the three roommates.
- Zofia Adinberg: Ongoing [S-Rank difficulty]
- Cinderella Twilight: Finished [B-Rank difficulty]
- Tarnisha Smithdottir: Finished [D-Rank difficulty]
Reward: 1.00 System Points
Status: Ongoing
Ongoing Quest: Amendship
Details: Receive Zofia Adinberg's expressed forgiveness
Reward: 0.10 System Points
Status: Ongoing
===
'Wait... When did I?'
Ash tilted her head and looked at the [Warrior Humility] quest status. She swore she didn't get any notification and didn't even attempt to befriend either of them via the quest's suggestion. Yet, somehow, she had already finished two-thirds of the quest by befriending Cinderella and Tarnisha.
'Probably when Cinderella did my makeup and Tarnisha took me to the park? Which means… There's only Zofia left.'
And so, Ash lay there with her eyes open until morning.
It was the most excruciating eight hours ever. And when the sun rises, she has to get up again.
"Muuu~ Good morning, everyone!"
Tarnisha was the last to wake up at around 6:42. She rubbed her eyes and started yawning. Her dark curly hair was messy in the morning, sticking all over her face, nape, and clothes.
"Ashrosaliera? Did you stay up all night? You look… Horrible," the beastman girl said worryingly, looking at the half-dead, soulless, and energy-less Ashrosaliera.
"Lately I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be…" Ashrosaliera rested her head against the ladder to the upper bunk, muttering nonsense, "...What doesn't stop me makes me wanna fly."
Tarnisha was speechless, but she went over to give Ashrosaliera some headpats. "You should go wash your face."
"Geez… I'm not a little kid." Ash answered groggily, with visibly swollen bags under her eyes. "Zofia is using the bathroom, and I already washed my face, but it just didn't work. It's okay, just leave me be."
Just then, Zofia came out of the dorm's bathroom. She nodded to Tarnisha, signaling that it was her turn, so Tarnisha waved goodbye to Ash and went to do her hygiene.
Ashrosaliera cowered in the corner, trying to stay away from Zofia's sight as the beastman girl with a feline tail dressed up, ready to go somewhere.
"Um… Zofia?" Ash spoke up.
"What do you need?" Zofia answered coldly.
"Are you going to the [Wind] training grounds?" Ash asked,
"No, I'm going to the library."
Zofia started going out the door, prompting Ash to get up and follow suit. Her head was to the ground, and both hands were clasped together like a guilty convict being escorted.
"...What are you doing?" Zofia asked, frowning.
"Can I… Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Ash started stuttering, her body seemed to shrink under those glasses. "Can I come and carry books for you?"
"No." Zofia shut the door in Ash's face.
"Pfft…" Cinderella snorted, but when Ash turned around to stare at her, the half-elf immediately stopped and turned away.
"That's it, you windy bookworm! I'm going to apologize to you, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Ashrosaliera hastily put on her clothes, "I'm conducting an operation, Zofia Apologia!"
"What's Apologia?" Cinderella asked.
"Apology, but it doesn't rhyme." Ash explained before opening the door and getting out just in time that she saw Zofia was walking up the stairs, "This is a stealth mission, don't follow me."
"Didn't intend to." Cinderella smiled, and she gestured, wiping a tear from her eye. "They grow up so fast."
Ashrosaliera stalked Zofia as the girl made her way up all those boring flights of stairs to the seventh floor, where the library was.
Operation: Zofia Apologia, begins!