Enrique and Vi stepped to the back of a large shop. There was a large fence encircling a number of great beasts corralled with leashes and ropes.
Enrique’s eyes met a fierce-looking green dragon’s red pupils as it scanned the visitors suspiciously. Another dragon, squat and speckled blue, was cheerfully munching from a metallic feed tray. A griffin, with an eagle’s head and talons but a brown, winged, lion-like body, was lazing around in the dirt. It opened one large golden eye and peered at them curiously.
“What can interest you two with today?” the male Anima shop owner asked in a pompous voice. He reminded Enrique of a circus master, with a top hat and a suit. His raven wings and neatly combed black hair didn’t exactly add to a trustworthy appearance, but apparently Vi didn’t mind.
Vi cheerily showed him a coupon on her phone. “I want to borrow Mr. Bubbles!” She waved at the dragon happily gorging itself on the food. It was a baby dragon, but quite large enough to seat two people.
The shop owner raised his eyebrows. “Oh? You know Mr. Bubbles?”
The speckled dragon stopped eating upon hearing its name and eagerly looked towards Vi. It tried to make a sound, but only managed an excited rumble, as there was a solid bit of rope around its mouth. For safety, obviously.
“Yes! I heard from friends that he’s a good boy!” Mr. Bubbles looked visibly pleased by this. She smiled brightly, though inside she was becoming nervous.
The raven man’s partner, a woman with pigtails and a strawberry dress, grinned as she strode over and tapped on her phone. She spoke with a country twang. “Why, yes he is. That would be seventy-five gold for one day.”
“Huh—huh?” Vi looked surprised. “That’s more than I thought…do you mind if we take a griffin instead, Enrique?” She looked at him apologetically.
“I thought you said we’d get a dragon.” He honestly wanted to ride one. He took out his phone and opened up Vi’s profile. There was “Accounts” in yellow. He tapped it.
A series of numbers were displayed. He guessed the top one was the bank account number.
Account: 129567300027
Gold: 0
Silver: -15
Bronze: -10
“Uh…” He stared at the screen for a moment. You must be joking.
“I’m not broke, am I?” Vi asked worriedly.
He slowly shook his head. “No. Vi, you’re not broke. You’re in debt.”
“Oh.” Vi looked blankly at him for a moment. She gave him a sunny smile. “It’s not a problem! I’ll just go more into debt!”
“What?” he spluttered. The shop owners looked equally dumbstruck.
Vi held out her hands to the blue dragon. “Come here, Mr. Bubbles! Who’s a good baby?”
“Wait!” the raven man cried, after recovering himself. “You can’t have him! He’s the star of our show! We get seventeen trips a month with him!”
“And we only take cash or transfers!” the female shop owner added.
“But…but I don’t have money.” Vi looked at them both apologetically.
“Aren’t you a Hero or something?” Enrique asked with exasperation. What the heck?
“Hm…” the raven man scratched his chin. “A Hero, you say?” His eyes flickered to the other dragon, the large adult one with a mean face. “Tell you what. That other dragon there’s new. A real drain on our finances. If you can get him to behave, we’ll let you have him.”
“Oh! Good idea,” the woman shop owner agreed. “He doesn't listen or play well with others. Injured a new griffin and nearly broke my leg the other day.”
Vi’s eyes met the big green dragon’s red ones. It glared at her angrily. “I…uh…”
She felt a surge of fear and had to force her legs to not shake. Her heart pounded as a memory from long ago threatened to surface in her mind, and she shut it out. She reached towards the sword at her waist.
“Well…I—I…suppose. Enrique…get back.”
Enrique looked at her with puzzlement. Was she…trembling? I’ve never seen her like this.
“Sounds good to me,” he said quickly to the owners, as he wasn't a fan of owing anyone money. He began to walk towards the dragon. “Come on, Vi—”
The massive dragon smashed its head against a feedlot. A nearby griffin squawked and waved its talons, slashing at the dragon’s muzzle and tearing the rope binding the dragon’s mouth as the other beast was thrown forcefully to the side. The dragon swiped a front leg, freeing its mouth and snapping the ropes holding it down. It reared its head and let out a terrifying roar.
Enrique froze in fear. He felt Vi’s tails grab him and yank him behind her.
The dragon stomped a front leg, hurling another griffin aside and sending a geyser of dirt in the air. The owners stood paralyzed in shock.
“Enrique, stay back!” Vi unsheathed her sword, and arcs of blue electricity suddenly blazed to life up the curved blade.
The dragon let out a roar of challenge, glaring at Vi with its gleaming red eyes. Its open maw revealed rows of razor-sharp teeth, ready to crunch through flesh and metal with frightening ease.
“I’ll…I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you for sure this time.” Vi’s eyes glowed with blue light as her aura exploded around her, filling their surroundings. Her voice was low and shook with emotion, and was strangely distant.
The dragon stalked closer to her, swinging its tail as it regarded its opponent with wild fury. The earth rumbled and cracked under the weight of its heavy steps. The dragon’s tail smashed down a metal feedlot, denting it like it was made of paper and whacking part of the fence down.
“By the elements,” the raven man whimpered, cowering in the corner as he watched the massive dragon stare down the fox woman.
“Oh, god, I don’t want to die,” his partner wailed.
The smaller dragon had run to the corner to hide.
Orange flames began to gather in the green dragon’s open mouth.
“Stay…stay away,” Vi said. She stepped back, shaking. “I won’t let you near him this time. Get away from him!” Blue lightning crackled along her sword, the silver steel glistening in the sunlight. Thunder boomed and the sky flashed with blue lightning overhead.
She’s scared, Enrique realized.
She was afraid of the dragon, but the dragon was also afraid of her. The two opponents slowly circled each other. The dragon’s maw grew brighter as the flame in it grew stronger, gathering power to overwhelm the strange enemy. Vi’s sword sparked with raw energy, preparing to meet it. The tension in the air was suffocating. Behind Vi, Enrique could feel the magical pressure exerted by the two, building by the second like a physical force, pressing on him from all sides.
I need to end this before everything blows up. “Stop!” he called out behind Vi. He held out his hands. “Stop. Both of you.”
The dragon seemed to notice him, though it was more like noticing a pesky fly. Vi’s eyes flickered back to him.
“You both need to calm down.” He raised both his hands, unsure of whatever was happening, but trusting his instincts. “We’re not enemies. Okay? Not. Enemies.”
He looked the dragon in the eye. It glared at him for one long moment. His heart thudded in his chest.
“We don’t need to hurt each other. Vi won’t hurt you. You won’t hurt us. Okay?”
He waited. Unbelievably, the dragon closed its mouth, the flame inside dying down.
“Vi. Stop. It’s okay.” He put a hand on her shoulder and shook it.
Vi looked back at him. Her eyes seemed to gradually recognize his face. The lightning running through her sword fizzled out and the sky returned to normal as her aura faded.
There was a short silence.
Enrique cleared his throat and looked at the two shopkeepers. “We’re getting a griffin. We’ll find a way to pay you back.”
They didn’t even protest.
----------------------------------------
A shared burden.
Well, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted things to turn out.
Vi flew the griffin silently, steering with reins at the front while Enrique rode behind her. The tamed monster was very obedient. It was descending to their destination.
He wanted to ask what had set her off, but she had been quiet for a while. He was curious, though, and took out his phone to check her profile. “Biography” in green, “Accounts” in yellow, “Role” in blue, “Titles” in dark green, and “Stats” in red.
He selected “Biography”.
Hiiiiii! I’m Vi! I love hugs and I try to love everyone I meet! I don’t always succeed, unfortunately! Please don’t kill me! :)
…Why was he not surprised? He pressed back to the main screen and selected “Titles”.
Immediately, the screen showed a list of colorful badges next to black words that filled the screen. Enrique tried scrolling down the list, but it seemed to be of almost endless length.
Dragon Slayer, Harbor Protector, Giant Killer, King’s Blade, Hero of the Century, Honorary Member of the Swordmasters, Wizard Defender, Queen’s Commendation...the list went on and on.
He silently closed the phone and put it away.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost control like that,” Vi said quietly.
“It’s not your fault,” he told her. “That dragon was scary. Anyone would freak out.”
He decided not to push her, but then Vi spoke.
“My first partner…was eaten by a monster. It’s been over two thousand millennia, but I can’t forget it. I’ve never gotten over it. That’s why I reacted that way.”
He nodded.
Vi looked out into the distance. “You know, Enrique, I’ve become the number one ranked Hero many times. I’ve been through wars, and killed countless magical beings, and been in all kinds of situations. But I’ve still felt completely helpless at times.
“I guess I just want you to know I understand why you feel the way you do. I know it’s hard to feel weak and you want to push everyone away. You think maybe if you can be stronger, maybe you can’t be hurt again. It hurts. It’s hard.”
Vi silently raised a tail and placed it on his shoulder. He grasped it.
“Thank you for helping me out,” she said.
“No problem.” The griffin landed on the ground, talons digging into the smooth dirt. He paused. “I guess we’re here. What were you really planning for us to do?”
“We’re going goblin hunting.”
----------------------------------------
“Why are you broke, anyways?”
A shared motivation.
Vi was back to her usual happy self. “Oh! Let me show you!” She took out her phone and tapped on it, showing a video.
The video played to show a crowd of extremely adorable Anima and human children surrounding Vi. They were in a room with toys and stuffed animals strewn about, comfy-looking couches, and cribs. In the video, she clutched two squirming tiger Anima infants against her chest as toddlers clung to and prodded her tails, and older children tugged at her for attention.
“A day care?” Enrique guessed.
“Yes!”
“Aaaah! You’re so cuuuute!” Vi gushed from the screen. She looked like she was going to burst with delight. The babies she was hugging babbled incoherently while the ones below yelled and blabbered in an indistinct commotion.
One brown-haired human girl yanked two of Vi’s leftmost tails with a mischievous grin. A young boy was whacking another tail with a stuffed dog. Another toddler, with only a curly tuft of hair, crawled on the ground and was apparently attempting to eat her tail. She didn’t seem to care and had a blissful expression on her face.
There was an adult female voice in the background, who Enrique guessed was a supervisor, asking a question. Vi replied. “Of course! I’d give thousands of gold to take care of these little babies!”
Enrique arched an eyebrow and looked at her pointedly. Vi looked a bit embarrassed. “They—they were too cute. Look at them. How can you not like them? I’m funding lots of daycares. Not just that one. See?”
Vi handed him her phone and Enrique swiped the video aside. There was a video of a different room of children. Then another. And another. He felt an increasing sense of alarm as he swiped through no less than fifteen centers, with no end in sight.
“Uh, Vi. Aren’t you an immortal who’s like a royal advisor or something? Shouldn’t you be…not spending money like that?”
She looked hopeful. “This is different. It’s my money. What do you think? Maybe you can’t go home yet, but you can help me take care of them! We can work together to keep them happy and safe!”
He scratched his head and handed back the phone. He thought about his past, leading his old gang. The children here did remind him in some ways of them. Loud, obnoxious, annoying…but good kids. There was some appeal to her suggestion. “Well, I’m not against that, but I don’t have the time to visit every daycare in the kingdom.”
“You don’t have to,” Vi explained. “Whatever you can do helps. We can make a little money to send the staff, or visit every now and then, or anything like that. What do you say?”
He shrugged. “All right.”
“Great!” She beamed. “I spend my money on a lot of other things too. Like soup kitchens! Look!”
“Hm…” He swiped through several videos of Vi in a white uniform, manning a stand with other workers, handing out meals and ladling soup in different run-down areas.
“Everybody deserves a warm meal,” she said happily. “Whether you’re poor, or disabled, or struggling with something else. Want to—”
“Nah. I’m good.” He shoved the phone back at her. “Just the kids. I’m not getting dragged into anything else. You’re too crazy.”
“Okay! No problem!” Darn. I guess I can’t expect him to help with all my causes. “I also help fund a lot of super-secret programs on cultural unification and military research!”
He decided not to comment.
Vi assumed a cooler, more appropriate tone. “Okay, let’s get back to training. We’re going to work on knowing your enemy and situation next. You know where we are?”
The two were walking along a road lined with shops. He peered through some glass displays. One shop had colorful vials and glass bottles. Another had bracelets, rings, and necklaces. A large metalworking shop had an open entrance, sending out heat and glowing like lava. Two suits of armor and five swords were lined up against the wall. There was also a shop selling cloaks and gowns.
“Some kind of place for equipment,” he guessed.
“That’s right. We’ll prepare here before we set out. What do you know about goblins?”
He tapped his phone. A screen filled with words and a picture of a green-skinned creature popped up. “Mainly the info you sent me. It’s exactly what you’d expect.”
He read aloud. “Goblins are greedy, opportunistic creatures who travel in groups and are known for raiding and stealing. They are not known for intelligence but their high numbers, agility, and use of primitive weaponry make them a constant threat. They have light frames which allow them to move quickly, live in caves, blah, blah, blah. Why’d you give me a whole boring textbook?”
“Know your enemy,” Vi reminded him. She stepped into a shop and began to gather some glass bottles corked with a light blue liquid. “There’s lots of potions here. I’m going to buy some healing ones. There’s also magical effect potions that can make small fires, lightning, ice, make people drowsy, give people energy, that sort of thing.
“You can also have your weapons or armor enchanted with runes and magic. Or you can buy some amulets which can hold spells, like recording nearby auras or personal wards which can shield you. Then there’s some plain equipment like reinforced bags and the like.”
Enrique glanced around, looking thoughtful. “Yeah. There’s a lot of stuff here. It’s kind of overwhelming.”
“Take your time,” she said cheerfully.
Enrique browsed for a while, but besides his cloak and hat he wasn’t too sure what to get. Eventually he picked a small clover-green pendant which could go around his neck and apparently produced a shield. The man with wolf ears at the counter had said so. The man had been helpful but leery, probably because he had awkwardly used electronic transfer for the item instead of cold, hard cash.
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“Are you sure this works?” he asked Vi.
She didn’t look over, but said, “It’s fine. Have you seen the monster bounties?”
Vi had a brown pouch slung over her shoulder and stuck a purple potion inside. The bag had a lot more space available than it looked, holding another three effect potions and five blue healing potions as well. Besides her sword and her usual black top and shorts, she had a large cloth-like reinforced bag with a drawstring. She had put a packaged cake roll and tea kettle inside it.
He glimpsed a board filled with brown posters with text and drawings. “You mean that thing?”
She looked over. “Oh. Those are old-fashioned. It’s on your phone, too.”
Feeling a little silly, he opened his phone and searched until he found the creatively named “Bounties” app. It had a brown parchment icon. It had multiple listings per city like digital versions of the board.
“We’re in Caldron. This one. Check the ID.” Vi pointed to a brown poster tacked to the wall.
He searched and then read on the phone.
Bounty ID: 27834
Description: A band of goblins has been attacking travelers and stole our merchandise last week! We want our jewelry back! Can someone at least kill those f***ers?!
Reward: 120 BH
Contact: Erwin Silverlight
Location: Deerwood Forest (I think? You probably need to ask around)
Vi was scrolling through a popular social media app, “Anima All”. “There have been a lot of unusual monster infestations lately,” Vi informed him. “For example, ogre sightings at the border, ice wolves in the northern hills, and now goblins spreading towards the outer cities. Some think another, more powerful force is driving the monsters inland. Maybe a demon or a powerful magic user.”
“Uh-huh,” he said. He was looking at his phone.
Account: 129567300027
Gold: -5
Silver: -19
Bronze: -175
“I can’t believe they let us buy stuff,” he muttered.
“There’s one more thing you need.” Vi handed him a device resembling a transparent earpiece. She had a matching piece for herself.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a communicator and profile generator. It pairs to your phone with some security measures. This way I can talk to you from a distance, and you don’t have to take out your phone to see profiles or use apps. It helps in the field when you need to move fast.”
He put it on and tapped his phone.
Accept pairing? Yes/No.
He hit Yes, then glanced at Vi and suddenly saw her profile pop up in his vision, like a screen in front of his eyes. “Whoa. Cool.”
Vi’s phone pinged and a message appeared.
Your order is ready to be picked up. Thanks for your business. From, Harrokin.
“I’m going to make this practice a little harder,” she said lightheartedly as she checked the message. “Let’s finish this bounty in under an hour. I need to meet someone to pick up some important supplies.”
He shuffled his feet. Dang it. I was planning to sneak away from her somehow, but this is really inconvenient. “How come? What’s important about it?”
She peered at him. “I’m going to visit the king and queen later. There’s a ball coming up to celebrate the end of the Five Kingdoms War. Unfortunately, I believe the royal family will be in danger by then. Not just them, but many others attending could be hurt or killed.”
“Really? Why?”
He looked puzzled, but she could tell the threat was nothing more than a distant idea to him. Perhaps it was best that way.
The first half of battle was already under way, but those not involved wouldn’t sense it.
“Let’s go,” she said simply.
----------------------------------------
A shared experience.
“Do you know what the plan is?” Vi was sitting on the grass, cutting a slice of a cake roll and brewing some aromatic purple tea.
“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “You lure them here, I light them up, then I track them down to their cave. You sure we in the right place? That poster seemed really unsure.”
“Let’s talk about knowing a simple battle situation,” she said. She popped a cork off a bottle and poured more of the tea. “If you carefully read the textbook, you would know that goblins frequent wild forests, make their homes in caves, and usually travel by existing roads to go elsewhere. This is Deerwood Forest. What can you see about it?”
Enrique huffed out a long-suffering sigh. He pulled up a map with his new communicator, swiping in the air in front of his face. “It’s a pretty normal place. There’s a big river to the east, plants, flowers, lots of tall trees with shade—” he gestured at several towering trees resembling pines. “—and some hills in the north.”
She nodded, cutting another slice of cake on a platter and setting out a cup of tea. “We have a large river dividing the area. Goblins here are land-dwellers and are bad swimmers. That cuts down the search area of goblin territory.
“They frequent known roads where they know they can ambush others. We’re sitting along a common trail now. We also have the hills. There could be goblins who have hollowed out a home there. We simply need to find which one.”
“I hate waiting,” he grumbled.
Vi looked around. “Hello, goblins!” she sang out cheerfully. “Would you like some tea?”
Suddenly, a mass of green-skinned, humanoid creatures flew down from the trees. Their beady red eyes danced with savage glee as they raised small metal knives at the two, chittering.
Enrique hurriedly yanked out his gun and pulled the trigger. A blue beam soared out and struck one of the goblins on the head as he scrambled backwards. Fortunately, the beam speared straight through the goblin’s head and struck another one behind it, then exploded in an orange aura, charring five of the monsters clustered together and sending several others flying in the air.
“S***!” Enrique fired four more shots, catching another goblin on the chest and hitting one in the leg. Flashes of orange lit the grass and exploded against a nearby tree. The monsters wore tattered scraps of colored clothing and wore overly large gold and silver rings and necklaces from their victims. They made howling and chattering noises and ran at him, knives grasped in their knobby hands.
“They’re fast!” he cried out in surprise as the sickly green creatures blurred forwards. He leaped aside and saw a goblin’s knife slash against his cloak, sending out sparks that catapulted the monster backwards. He retaliated by blowing the monster’s head off. Then he glowed with an orange aura and fired six more shots, the bangs echoing in the air. The flaming projectiles struck three more goblins, sending them screeching in pain and writhing as red-hot fire spread on the grass.
A line of dancing flames appeared, catching some goblins and setting them alight. They screeched loudly and rolled as they burned to a crisp. He used the distraction to back away further from the goblin horde.
Vi was watching him carefully with mild concern. “Be careful—oh?” She glanced to the side, sensing movement. “My cake…that could’ve been my lunch, guys…” She saw four goblins had snatched away slices of her cake roll, cackling madly as they ate the slices.
Vi cut another three slices. “Hey, don’t take—that’s my tea.” Another three goblins snatched the pieces and ran off, one clutching a cup of tea. One stuffed its face with a piece, while the one with the tea slurped it up and screeched. She sighed.
Vi got up and followed quickly after Enrique. Where she had left, a mass of twenty goblins poured out from the thickets of the forest, each one grabbing a piece of the remaining cake roll. A second group grabbed the abandoned tea kettle, first laughing with mocking chitters, then hissing as they scalded themselves on the boiling tea inside.
“This is ridiculous! Get off me, you punks!” Enrique blasted away, blowing goblins left and right like he was setting off an explosive minefield. Still, they kept coming, scattering and grinning madly with razor-sharp teeth as they slashed at him with their knives. The metal blades clanged against his armored cloak and he felt one grab onto the fabric with a grubby clawed hand. It chittered and scrabbled for the green pendant around his neck.
“Yuck! Out of my way!” He glowed with orange light and swung his fist. He felt solid energy gather around it before it connected with the goblin’s noggin, sending the creature spiraling to the ground with a screech.
“F***ing a**holes!” he cursed, and fired at the teeming bodies, feeling a wave of heat as a blinding flash lit his vision. He saw a pair of goblins jump from a tree and he aimed at them. He blasted one apart in midair, but the other reached out a hand and grabbed his hat, pulling it from his head.
The goblin let out a victorious screech and began to run away, grasping the headpiece and waving it like a captured flag.
“Hey! That’s my hat!” Enrique ran at the offending goblin and angrily started shooting at it. It weaved from side to side, surprisingly agile, using the trees as cover as his beams blasted the trunks to cinders.
He barreled forwards, but then another goblin flew from a branch, its knife plunging right at his face.
Vi blurred into motion beside him, unsheathing her sword in one smooth motion. The silver blade carved through the goblin’s body like butter. Its two halves dropped lifelessly to the dirt.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking concerned.
“No!” Enrique stomped his foot, incensed. He felt enraged at being so easily bested and having something taken, even over something so stupid. “He took my mage hat! It was a cool hat!”
Vi looked amused. “It’s more important you’re not hurt.”
She grabbed him quickly with her tails as he tried to run and shouted, “That dirtbag! Give me back my hat!”
“Okay. Let’s get your hat back.”
He stopped struggling and looked at her. “How?”
“Hm…let’s see what we have already, shall we?” She watched the goblin with the headpiece gaining distance between them.
His shoulders slumped. “I got my sword, my gun, and a shield amulet. That’s it.”
“That’s enough,” she assured him. “We can use elemental magic and what we know about the situation.”
He looked around, calming down. “You’re saying we need to come up with a new plan.”
“Yes. How about this? We could use your gun’s fire element to seal the goblins in a smaller area. We can use ice magic to freeze some goblins in place as markers, to estimate the location of the cave. I can guide you where to go.”
He nodded and pointed his gun at the ground, firing out an orange line. He started to trace a flaming path with the weapon, then his eyes widened and he reopened the map with his communicator. “We can cut them off towards the river. Because it’s deep. That’ll save us time.”
“Good idea,” Vi said happily.
Her eyes briefly glowed. As they pursued the fleeing goblins, Enrique fired his gun beside the creatures and a raging zigzag line of fire rose to life, puffing gray smoke in the air. Vi gave him suggestions. “75% chance those three will go to the left. 82% they will turn west. Maybe shoot wider and more left. 50% chance those two will go around those branches and logs.”
The two aforementioned goblins didn’t and vaulted straight across the debris.
“Oopsie.” Vi smiled. “Sometimes I’m wrong. They and that guy on the right will 93% take the trees.”
He quickly shot the three goblins before they could seek cover above the trunks. The goblin with the hat was rapidly vanishing from view, a tiny dot now, but instead of panic he felt a growing sense of confidence.
“You can wall off four more. They’re out of your sight but you simply aim your fire in an arc over those trees.” She pointed and a series of dots also appeared on his communicator.
“Thanks.” He concentrated hard, willing the border of fire to blaze ahead of the goblins. “Hey, I can kind of direct the flames. It’s also a little less explosive.”
“That’s great!” she told him. “Let’s try ice magic too. There’s two goblins looking to escape the flames. I’ve marked their locations for you.”
He pointed his gun up and squinted ahead, then fired. Instead of orange beams, whitish-blue beams soared out over a few plants, then burst into large blocks of ice.
“Cool,” he commented, straining with the effort.
As he neared the ice blocks, he saw he had nabbed the two goblins, which were frozen in the miniature glaciers.
“Okay, now shoot one more with ice. That one was trying to go somewhere inside your fire ring.”
“The cave?” He shot the goblin straight on the leg and felt satisfaction as it screeched and was enveloped in frost.
“It’s possible. Let’s go in the direction he’s facing.”
They trekked onwards and Enrique spotted a peculiar sight.
There were around seven goblins on the ground. They were very slowly crawling along with dazed expressions on their faces, like they were half-drowsy and half-drunk.
“The cake and tea were mixed with a slow-acting poison potion,” Vi explained in response to his questioning look. “It looks like your ice magic pointed us in the right direction. Goblins will store stolen food at their cave. If we follow along we should get closer.”
Vi hummed a song to herself, opening up her large, now-empty drawstring bag as she walked along the trail.
“Hello, you bad boys. Did you like the cake?” She smiled and scooped up the dazed goblins, plopping them into her bag. They weakly waved their arms, not even able to put up a struggle.
There were more goblins littered about, collapsed and barely moving.
“Ooh, you ate a big piece, didn’t you?” she asked a particularly sluggish goblin as she put him in her bag. “Did you enjoy the tea, sweetie?” she asked another goblin, who was twitching where it had fallen on the ground. She plopped him in as well.
Plop, plop, plop. The scattering of sleepy, paralyzed goblins formed a breadcrumb trail which led them, at last, to the cave. It was hollowed out at the bottom of a verdant hill, stretching into darkness. Enrique’s fire ring flared in the distance around them.
They arrived in time to see the goblin with the hat vanish inside the cave.
Enrique fired inside, but other than the echoes of exploding fire beams, it was silent. He began to approach but Vi restrained him with an arm on his shoulder.
“Don’t underestimate your enemy. There are many goblins in there, and their home is tunneled deep exactly to make it hard for intruders to kill them.”
“Dang. We’re too late. What do we do?” he sighed.
“Hm…we can burn it down. Smoke suffocates. Or we can use water. Water conducts electricity.”
Vi took an effect potion out of her pouch and poured it at the entrance. Liquid streamed out to form a pool and into the cave.
“Any way will do,” she said cheerfully. “Which do you prefer?”
He met her eyes. “Both?”
Enrique holstered his gun and unsheathed his broadsword. Why exactly, he wasn’t sure, except it felt appropriate. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His orange aura flashed outwards and he pointed his blade deep into the cave. His eyes opened and a searing flame shot out and into the goblin’s home.
Vi glowed with blue light and casually pointed a tail at the cave entrance. Blue electricity hit the water and flew up, sending out sparks. Enrique kept his flame going and soon smelled burning flesh and smoke. A black fog rose into the air.
“Oh, my. Poor things.”
The goblins screeched loudly in their cave, choking as smoke expanded to fill their tunnel and various passageways. Some caught fire. Panic ensued and the green-skinned creatures screamed, lurching, rolling, writhing in agony, or stampeding towards the bright sunlight of the cave entrance.
Those that stepped out were promptly fried alive in blue sizzling arcs. Their bodies splashed into the water and formed a pile which blocked the terrified goblins still trapped in their home.
It took several minutes.
“D***. This is kind of brutal,” he commented.
For a moment, a very faint image popped in his mind of a house burning and people screaming. He flinched and lowered his sword, a queasy feeling settling at the bottom of his stomach. Goblins were only thieving monsters who hurt people, sure, but their screams and the smell echoed something distantly familiar. His flames died out, but the damage had already been dealt.
“Aw, done already?” Vi gazed at the mass of dead monsters. She hid her bulging bag behind her with her tails. “Fighting is never nice. Let’s get your hat. I think I know where it is.” She considered mentioning the goblin who stole it burned near it, but he seemed to have had his fill of violence for the day.
He looked heartened by this. Vi waved a hand and the cave glowed with green light. It was a little flashy, but she figured she might as well teach him. With a whoosh of wind, the mage hat came soaring back from the destruction of the cave. Enrique caught it with a hand.
“Yes!” He pumped an arm and grinned as he put it back on his head. “You’ve got to teach me that sometime.”
“For self-defense,” Vi said mildly. “Did you get their jewelry?”
“Huh?” He stared at her without comprehension.
“The bounty was talking about how the goblins stole merchandise,” she explained patiently. “Killing the goblins is fine, but I’m sure the original poster would be more pleased to recover their lost items.”
“Oh! Like what the goblins were wearing. Wait a minute. There’s some on the ground, and I remember a couple goblins had necklaces and things.”
Enrique hurried off, snatching items from a few intact corpses where he had gone off and raged. He grimaced as many corpses were completely blackened and the jewelry was half-melted. Even he could see they weren’t salvageable.
“Uh, this is going to take a while,” he mumbled. “I burned a lot of stuff.”
Vi accepted the jewelry and put them in her pouch. “Don’t worry about it. It’s your first time doing this, after all. Why don’t you search for about ten minutes, and then we’ll head out? Let’s meet up at the cave afterwards.”
He nodded, then ran off again.
It’s important to let him have some time for himself, she thought. She walked with the enormous drawstring bag behind her until she came to a rushing river. Silently, she opened the bag and plucked out all the items and jewelry from the shifting mass of weakened goblins. Soon there was a big pile of the recovered stolen items next to her. She stuffed the stripped, helpless goblins back into the sack.
Vi spoke quietly to herself. “The first half of battle is preparation. The second...is execution.”
She used a tail and submerged the sack deep into the river. The sack wiggled weakly a few times. After a few minutes, it went completely still.
----------------------------------------
Silverlight Jewelers, city of Caldron.
“Thank you so much!” The poster of the bounty, a man with silver deer antlers and an embroidered robe, took the jewelry on the table with a glad expression on his face.
“You can’t believe how many adventurers ignore our bounty,” his partner said. She was pretty, brunette and dark-skinned, with an elegant silver robe and mage hat. “People laugh at us because they think only idiots could let themselves get robbed by some goblins.”
“That’s a load of straight-up bull,” Enrique declared, nervously adjusting his hat.
“Here’s your reward,” the woman said. There was a soft ping on his phone.
Bounty ID: 27834
Completed!
+120 BH!
He tapped Vi’s “Accounts”.
Account: 129567300027
Gold: -5
Silver: -19
Bronze: -55
He mentally groaned. We’re still in debt.
He tried using telepathy. Hey, Vi, what happens if you can’t pay your debt?
She replied through the communicator. “There can be a number of punishments. Jail time is one. I would also be forced to sell my possessions to pay off what I owe. My home, my cafe, maybe my clothes and sword—”
What? That’s crazy!
“I have a month to pay it off. It’s not too bad.”
She didn’t sound concerned, but he was getting increasingly anxious at the thought. An idea began to form in his mind.
Hey, you’re still sorting through some jewelry, right?
“Mm-hm.” Vi was in a nearby room of the shop, the door closed. She was separating items from the drawstring bag onto the table. Some items weren’t from the jewelry shop, and instead taken from previous travelers.
She used her phone to snap photos of each item and post on social media. Rings, a pearl necklace, an amulet, and the like. She had asked the two shop owners to keep the items in a safe to give to their rightful owners. They seemed like trustworthy types, even if she hadn’t used her Eye’s ability to discern intentions on them.
What if you take some for yourself? He sounded excited. Do you see how much this bling is worth? Look at—oh wait, you’re not here. Ok, listen to this price tag. Engraved silver brooch. 35 SF. We could use a few pieces to help pay off your debt. Come on! No one would know, anyways.
“No, it’s fine.” Vi finished sorting.
Why not?
She gave a noncommittal shrug and got up. “I used to be a Hero. Old habits die hard, I guess.”
He ground his teeth in frustration. That’s so stupid!
Vi walked over and emptied the remaining jewels from her pouch.
“That should be everything. Sorry to trouble you.”
“No, it’s fine, miss!” The deer man waved a hand graciously. “We’d be more than happy to help return the rest. Besides, we could nab some extra customers this way.”
Vi made a motion to Enrique’s hat. He cocked his head. “What?”
She waited.
Dang it. I forgot she can see through obstacles. He let out a huff and took off his headpiece, then took out a pair of diamond earrings he had tried to stuff in the cloth.
Rather than looking angry, the female mage in silver burst out laughing, a sound like tinkling bells. “I was wondering where those went!” Her partner grinned.
Enrique felt heat creep up to his face.
Vi turned towards the door. “Let’s go,” she said to her partner.
The silver-robed female mage spoke up. “Please be careful. There’s been a lot more monsters and strange events popping up lately. Have you seen the news on ‘Anima All’?”
She took out her phone and showed them posts from the social media app. Enrique glimpsed some headlines.
Monster attacks on the Solaris League! Luna Guild demolished!
Gang activity reaches three-month high. What could be the cause? An analysis.
Saukallian ships sighted near the border? Experts weigh in.
Rumors of demon cultists intensify! Beware of dark-cloaked strangers! Keep your kids at home!
Monument Guild leaders fractured by infighting. An adventurer shares his thoughts.
“Apparently there’s a crazy cult going around trying to kidnap children,” the woman said. “Plus all these new monster sightings and criminals…I can't help but worry this can’t be a coincidence. My Mage Sense usually isn’t wrong. I really hope the Heroes can help everything cool down.”
“Yikes, that’s disturbing. Thanks for the heads-up,” Enrique said.
“Thank you again for your help. Goodbye!” The mage and her deer partner waved at them as they left.