My Adventurer (Dale x OC)

(1) The First Day

As I entered the pub called the 'Dancing Ocelot' everyone stared at me. I had a hood over my head and my body was hidden by my cloak. Until I sat down at the bar and lowered my hood. Rita, the bartender who owned the place with her husband Kenneth, placed a cup of tea in front of me.

A couple drunk guys immediately hurried over to me, all talking in mumbles about how I was hot, as well as how I looked like I was from the rich side of the country.

The country was divided into two sections. One was for the rich nobles and such, people with status high enough. The other, the one I was in now, was for the lower status people who had less money.

But I had been to both sides and it may sound like one side is doing better than the other, but that's not the truth. Both sides seemed equally happy with where they were.

They were too drunk to recognize me, which made it easier for me to not get crowded. I glanced up and caught sight of a familiar face leaving the bar. I shoved past the men, who all grumbled and went back to their seats to drink more.

"Dale?" I asked.

When he turned around I saw a little girl perched on his arm as he carried her. She had a horn on one side of her head, the horn on the other side of her head broken off. I could see it clear as day, I could feel the devil energy from her, but to everyone else it was probably hidden by her pigtails and bows, making her seem human.

"Aw, she's so cute. Is she your daughter?" I asked, leaning down a little so I could look her straight in the eye. She looked a little nervous, but smiled anyway. "Where did you find her?"

"What?" He responded as I stood up straight again.

"It's clear she's a devil"

"How do you know?"

"I'm magic," I responded shortly. "Don't you remember?"

"Uh..."

I rolled my eyes, not knowing how he didn't recognize me. "It's Alice"

"O-oh! I thought you had gone back to the other side of the country"

"I did. But I came back recently to do some travelling. Travelling is always better in this side"

Dale was a skilled, kind, and respected traveller, acknowledged as one of the leading adventurers in the city. I met him while adventuring.

I had gotten lost and was left fighting off a group of magical beasts. He came in with his sword and helped me defeat them all. I was only 14 at the time, but so was he.

"Are you okay, miss?" He asked me.

I sighed, removing my hood. "Thanks to you"

I saw him blushing and staring at me, his mouth dropped open a little. When he came to the realization that I was waiting for him to respond or something he went down on one knee, his head low.

"P-princess"

"D-don't do that, please," I stammered nervously, flustered at the good looking boy's actions.

I took his hand and gently pulled him up so he was standing. I flipped his hand over, letting his hand lay on top of mine with his palm facing upwards, and pulled a rare, priceless coin out of my pocket. It was worth a lot, but it didn't mean much to me, so I placed it on his hand.

"I don't have much with me at the moment, but please take this as my thanks"

"I-I can't take this!"

"You will," I closed his hand around the coin then kissed his cheek. "But in return for this valuable coin, if you think it's too much, why don't we go travelling together for a little while?"

He smiled with a deep blush. "Alright!"

"So, what are you doing now?" I ask.

"I was, uh, trying to get some things for Latina, but I don't know what kind of things she needs"

I smiled. "Then let me help! I'd love to pick out some clothes for her"

"Really?"

I saw a shoe vendor a couple feet away. "Let's start with shoes"

We got Latina a pair of shoes and then she held my hand as we hurried to a clothing store, Dale hurrying behind trying not to get left behind.

I picked out a couple dresses, showing them to Latina and Dale to get their opinions. "Don't you think they're cute?"

"Cute!" Latina said with a smile, nodding in approval.

After shopping I walked back with them, Latina asleep in my arms, Dale carrying what we bought. He was staring at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought over something.

"Are you wondering what to do with her?"

"How did you...?"

"It's not hard to tell it's on your mind. Let's just take her back to the pub and maybe talk it over with Rita, she might be able to help you make up your mind"

Back at the pub Dale sat down at the bar, laying his head down on the counter.

"I don't think keeping her would even be an option," Dale said.

"Why not?" Rita asked.

"I'm a single man and an adventurer too"

"Yeah, so what?"

"So what? I can be gone for days at a time"

"Kenneth and I can look after her when you're away, but at the end of the day the choice is yours"

"My choice. Honestly I'm not sure. The only thing I'm good at is fighting, should I even be raising a kid? Am I capable of making her happy?"

Latina woke up, looking around with a scared look, but she sighed in relief when she spotted Dale. She climbed out of the chairs pushed together to make a small bed and hurried over.

"Dale, Dale," she said happily.

Dale got out of his seat and went over to her, hugging her when she hugged him. I smiled, leaning my head on my hand as I watched the sweet scene.

"It's okay?" Latina asked.

"Yeah, it's okay"

"What's going on?" Kenneth asked, walking out of the kitchen.

"I made up my mind. I've decided to keep her. I'm adopting Latina. From now on, I'll look after her"

Dale picked her up and carried her upstairs, putting her to bed. When he came back down he walked outside the pub with me, the both of us stopping by the door.

"Are you leaving now?" He asked me.

I looked down at the ground for a second, then back up at him. "I think I'm going to stay in town"

"Really? For how long?"

"As long as I need to. I want to help you with her"

"Then it's up to us to raise Latina"

"Us? I like the sound of that"