School ended.

Thankfully, there were no further commotions after what happened in my Phys. Ed. class. I was able to concentrate in my studies.

I had enrolled for Foundation Magic Class and History Class in the afternoon. At this point, I could already declare that the former was quite worthwhile. Even at the first day of classes worth two hours of lecture, there were already things taught that I had no knowledge of previously, despite being a wide-reader. I couldn't help admit that knowledge about magic truly was restricted to a very high level. Even when I had at least some sort of idea towards the field, it paled in comparison to what a single session of lecture held.

'Magic really is profound', I thought to myself.

The scenery was quite gorgeous once again, although in a different manner. This time, the city was covered with the orange glow of sunset. And I was taking a stroll before starting my shift at the restaurant.

I passed some roads that I had never been into before. The large contrast between the main road to the side paths was astonishing. I saw some interesting stores with who-knows-what merchandise, and went to some dark alleys that stank with trash, rotten food, and unclean waters.

And I even talked to some friendly strangers here and there. It was a rather rare occurrence for me to have this kind of wandering around. It felt nice to do this once in a while though.

The most memorable were still the stores. There were many of them no matter where you turn. It was not really surprising considering that I was not far off from the main road where the most elegant shops lie. The shocking thing however was the variety of the shops. There were restaurants, armories, jewelry stores, thrift shops, magic stores, and many more. It gave the feeling that you would find whatever you were looking for in one of these stores no matter what. I even noticed an armory that claimed to sold cheap merchandise.

Interested, I entered.

The inside of the store was not big. It looked like a standard armory at least. But the lack of space indicated that the merchandise themselves were created from a different place.

An elderly man greeted me as I walked in.

"Welcome, boy. You want to buy some armors? Weapons? Come. Very cheap, very cheap."

"How much are your standard iron breastplates?" I immediately inquired.

"Ho ho, you have a good sense boy." The shopkeeper let out an awkward smile on his face. "The chest is the largest and easiest part of the body so you have to cover it, first. Clever. For you, I will sell them for only 1 piece of gold."

My jaw dropped.

'Incredibly cheap!' I thought. My mouth already wide open.

You have to understand that a gold piece was not a small amount of money. In fact, my salary for an entire month was two gold pieces. However, for an armor, it was unbelievably cheap! Most chest plates would cost about 15-20 gold pieces. And yet here it was, priced at one. It was pure absurdity.

'Maybe this, this is what they call black market?!' I even had some wild thoughts. I immediately corrected them though.

'Stupid, of course not. I'm not a kid anymore, so I should stop believing idiotic things like that.'

After, sighing to myself internally, I spoke.

"Let me see it first"

Obviously, I already knew it was most likely fake. There was no way something worth 1 gold could protect you in a battle. But being bored enough, I played along since I was also curious as to what the elderly shopkeeper was going to present.

With a simple, "Wait there for a while", the old man disappeared into a door, presumably getting my chest plate.

After a short while, he emerged from a door carrying something.

"Here it is!" He stated proudly.

"...."

"...."

"This.... This is cardboard"

"N-No. This isn't cardboard. Not at all," he desperately denied.

I immediately exited, utterly dumbfounded. It was way outside my expectations. I continued wandering while thinking how such a joke of a shop could possibly exist.

Yes, there were indeed shops like this. It was the problem that came with the variety. Since there were so many shops, there were also many useless ones. Fortunately though, not all were like that.

The most useful one I found was an herbal shop. The herbalist shopkeeper was kind enough to teach me some of the uses of the plants they displayed, even though he knew I was not going to buy anything. I learned many things from there. He taught me the names of different plants and their effects to the body. It was enjoyable knowing that some of them were deadly as blood poisons, and yet some had weird effects like that one plant who could make a person feel ticklish all over their body causing them to laugh uncontrollably for several minutes. Some were useful though, especially the medicinal ones. I made a mental note to go there whenever I would need something in a future.

Time passed by in an instant, and the sky started to grow darker.

'Guess it's time to go back'

After deciding that it was already late enough, I started to backtrack to the main road.

Having a sharp memory, there was little to no worry over not finding my way back. Except, an event happened to cause me being late. I have to clarify that it was NOT a case of me being lost.

As for the 'event' I mentioned, there were three 'little piggies' blocking a narrow alleyway I previously went into.

Except they weren't pigs, and not little either. Boar-heads. Humanoids with heads similar to boars, and also with fur. Probably the same race with Manager Edgar, except fiercer, and even more bloodthirsty looking. They stood there in an imposing manner.

Their intention wasn't by any means to block me however. They just happened to be there ganging up on someone. They just happened to be there blocking my way. And there stood in front of them a frightened guy who was begging for mercy. His horrified appearance looked like that of a human.

*SLAM*

It rang out. A sound of flesh banging into concrete. I could also faintly hear the sounds of bones cracking, but perhaps that was my imagination?

"I told you, didn't I?! A hundred gold coins by the start of spring. Do you think I'm dumb?! This is only half of it! Do you want to die?!" One of the 'piggies' shouted furiously. Considering his position, he was probably the leader of the three.

"..... S-Sorry! I'm really sorry," the guy begged desperately. "I really tried to gather up the money. But it's impossible. I can't get that much in such a short period of time."

Never mind his trembling body and his cracking voice, even one look on his eyes alone clearly portrayed how terrified he was.

"Impossible, huh? Then I guess it is also impossible to keep the promise of you leaving alive!"

"NO!"

The head of the group holding the man suddenly raised his right hand and formed it into a fist, clearly attempting to strike on the man's head.

Gazing at the scene in front me, I immediately took a stance planning to intercept the attack. But before I could that, a voice sounded out from the other side of the alley.

"Stop!"

"Huh?"

All present turned to look towards the source of the voice. And the boar-head who was about to hit the man stopped his hand abruptly, confused.

I was startled. I couldn't see the person's figure clearly since it came from the other side and the bulging bodies of the delinquents were blocking my vision, but from what I can make out of it and from the voice earlier, the person was undoubtedly female.

"Who are you? You dare to interrupt me?!" He shouted in a tone even more furious than before.

He started to walk towards the woman, releasing his initial target, for now. However he was stopped when one of his 'subordinates' spoke to him.

"H-hey, Boss! Isn't that the 'Mad Heroine'?" The boar-head spoke frantically.

"Mad Heroine?"

"Yes boss. I also think that's her," the third boar-head affirmed. He nervously explained. "Remember the incident about the 'Black Gang' being annihilated last week? Boss, they say it was done by a single woman. And that woman according to witnesses appeared in her twenties, was a bit tanned, and wore a brown leather suit. But the most eye-catching, they said, was her hair. Long and red. I think that's her."

The man then turned to look at the woman. He was probably frowning. I couldn't tell since his back was on me. But in just a short moment, his back already had a hint of trembling, fear written all over it. His two friends were the same.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Hmph. If you don't want to leave here as a blood corpse, then leave!" The female voice sounded with absolute confidence.

Hearing the power of the voice alone, the three boar-heads' bodies quivered once again. However, the head of the group quickly recovered his wits.

He retorted.

"Miss, I apologize for the rudeness. But this matter has nothing to do with you. This person has an obligation to us and we are only trying to receive it. I ask that you simply leave us in our own affairs."

"I don't care! Scram! Leave this man alone and don't let me see your faces again, or else...."

She didn't flinch even in the slightest. Her threatening voice made her words sound genuine. It's as if she can really make you suffer in torment if you disobey her.

The bullied man and I simply watched the scene in the sidelines not daring to voice out.

The three piggies on the other hand were now completely terrified. None of them could say anything anymore. So they had no choice but to leave. When they turned to my direction, I could now clearly see the fear in their faces. However, when they saw me, their faces quickly turned red in anger. The three suddenly became aware of the humiliating spectacle they showed. And I was there to see it.

They walked past me with cold glares in their eyes. But with the fearsome woman looking at them, they could do nothing but escape hurriedly to avoid further humiliation.

When the group of three disappeared in a corner, a sigh of relief could be heard from the man they were picking on earlier. He slumped down to the ground, as the strings of tension were cut from him.

I glanced at him only for a moment and then turned my line of sight to the fierce woman they called Mad Heroine.

She was as they described her. And I was shocked to see that she really looked young, someone only at her twenties, and only a bit older than me. In fact, it was actually more appropriate to call her a lady than a woman.

The lady's face was.... not pretty. I did not want to call her pretty. Because that was not the best way to describe her. She was not like that pretty lady over the other side of the river doing laundry while humming a pleasant song. She was not beautiful. She was not like that princess who could melt many bachelors' hearts whenever they see her. Nor was she cute. She was not like that girl who you just want to protect and pat the head. She was not sexy. She was not like that woman who you could see in a high-class brothel and could seduce any sane man she sets her eyes to. And even though she had charm, I wouldn't call her charming either. Because she wasn't like that childhood friend neighbor who you go to see every morning.

Alluring.

That was her. It was what described the lady in front of me perfectly. Her body had the muscles in the right places. It did not look weird or gross, and in fact, it only managed to accentuate her feminine curves. Her suntanned skin and her solemn face only served to brand a striking image in my head. What's more was her hair. It was tied into a ponytail. But the important part was the color. Red. Burning like the person she was inside. She had a mysterious charm that comes from being strong. It was attractive.

Seemingly not noticing my gaze, the lady walked a few steps and checked at the man.

"Are you okay?"

"Ah, y-yes. thank you very much." The man responded awkward. "Really. Thank you very much. If not for you, madam, I would've been dead already."

The man frantically stood up, and tried to bow deeply.

"No, no, no. There is no need to be so formal around me," the lady stated hesitantly. "Anyways, are you going to be okay? Those guys won't probably come back for you after what happened but you have to be careful from now on, since I won't be there the next time you meet."

She inquired, seemingly full of concern.

"Ah, don't worry, madam, I was already planning to leave the city after this. Preparations were done already and I plan to head out tomorrow."

"Is that so?"

A small hint of a smile formed from her lips.

She treated the man warmly. The two of them exchanged a few words, and the man repeatedly expressed his gratitude to the lady. They ignored me completely from the start to finish. Before long, the man left. And now, it was only the two of us left - me and the lady. I recovered from my trance, realizing it was now completely dark save from the illumination from the street lamp.

After being conscious of my behavior, I tried to leave. But before I could do it, the lady turned to me.... and our eyes locked in for a moment.

"You've been staring for a while now," she coldly stated with the same solemn expression back on her face. All hints of warmth disappeared as if it never existed in the first place.

Hearing her words, I looked down and blushed. I could not retort at all.

The lady walked towards me until she was in front.

"Why did you not help him?" She inquired with an icy tone.

"What?" I stared at her dumbfounded.

I was stunned. Then I realized what she was talking about.

I was about to help the man but she interrupted the fight first, and I did not have any chances to appear relevant. Accusing me of not helping seemed unfair on my part. I felt wronged. It was not that I was unwilling to help, but was unable to, since she was already there to solve the problem.

Before I could gather my thoughts, she asked once again.

"I said, why did you not help him? You were clearly there before me."

Now I was irritated. A frown appeared in my face. Even if say, I was not planning to help, who was she to dictate my actions? It had nothing to do with me, so not helping was perfectly normal. And even if I had helped, she could not be sure I had the ability to do so. It was infuriating being bossed around like this.

However, as I was about to give her a piece of my mind...

"Pfft. Hahaha! Your reaction is priceless!" The lady laughingly said.

I stared at her, dumbfounded, once again. She was now clutching her stomach, giggling uncontrollably.

"Of course that was a joke. Haha! Sorry, sorry. You're so funny, you know that?"

She was now trying to wipe away the tears of laughter from her eyes. And the only thing I could do was look at her. I was completely at loss for words.

I just realized, I could not handle this girl!

And to top it all, I was badly disillusioned. Where was the cool lady, who threatened the bad guys? Where was the experienced warrior who experienced countless of battles? Where was the alluring lady with a solemn face? And also, where was she, the so-called Mad Heroine with red hair, burning with passion?

I could only weep inside as the image of an ideal lady floated away out of my mind.

"Hey, what's your name?" She asked.

"Isn't it rude to ask the name of person without giving yours first?" I coldly snorted.

"Oh come on, don't be mad. I told you I was only joking. Okay, okay. I am... Deanne. Yes, my name is Deanne. I am a crossbreed. Half dwarf and half human. What's yours?"

She was now looking at me with a smug smile on her face.

"You hesitated! That was not clearly your name at all!" Sighing inwardly, I replied. "Okay, whatever. My name is Zerefiel. A human. Though people call me Fiel. And for the record, Deanne, I was about to help earlier if you did not interrupt."

Deep inside, I was actually slightly astonished. She was a half-blood. Though it was not really rare, it was still quite interesting to see one. Fortunately, the curiosity within me helped alleviate my irritation, replacing it with interest instead.

"I know." She smiled brightly.

"Crap, I had work today!" Only having remembered, I frantically tried to skirt myself away from the situation. Obviously, I was already late. "I'm sorry, I need to go now!"

I ran to the direction of my workplace. Meanwhile, Deanne shouted behind me.

"Hey! Fiel, if you want to see me again, come to the park tomorrow, just straight this way! I usually go there at 4 P.M. every day!"

Without turning my head, I still continued to run while trying to think of excuses why I was late. And a part of me refused to admit that at the back of my mind, I completely remembered where to find Deanne.