Chapter 1: The Arrival Of Someone Troublesome

I was taking my regular stroll in the woods when I came upon something interesting. A Fonera — it is what you would call a rare herb. I have seen it on a picture book once but never thought I would come across one of these herbs on a day like this. Thankful for this blessing, I plucked the herb and stored it in my rucksack.

Because of the recent request I had just accepted, I needed to travel outside the safe boundaries of Graccea, a thriving city where alchemists are born, and procure a rare mineral only harvested on a nearby abandoned mine.

It wasn’t because I was a daredevil that a rookie like myself took on such a dangerous job, but because I didn’t want to lose the only thing my parents had left me. So I accepted the job. With that, this herb would certainly help on making a dosage of good medicine.

Nodding to myself, I turned around and traced my footsteps back to the dirt road leading to the city. I had thought I finished early but a sudden disturbance made me halt on my track.

“Hmm?” It sounded like someone screamed nearby, so I sharpened my ears and listened.

This forest is just a few good hours of walking away from the city so monsters shouldn’t be a problem at all, however you can never be too sure sometimes. A stray hound is the worst I’d expect on these parts so what the heck; I might as well go and check.

As I traced the origin of the noise, I happened upon a group of goblins poking their sticks toward this girl laying flat on the ground. I found the girl more intriguing, as her clothes were something I have never seen before. It didn’t seem like she was hurt that badly either. Good.

I further concealed myself in the bushes and drew a knife from my rucksack. Goblins shouldn’t pose a problem to me if they’re few in number, much more so if their attention are focused into something else, but I wasn’t sure if there were more in hiding.

I took a deep breath. I wasn’t thinking of abandoning her; I was just thinking about my options.

Yet as I was deciding, something even more unexpected occurred. A dark skinned vermin came flying overhead. And another followed by death squeals of said monsters that sounded like they crashed horribly on a tree trunk. I didn’t bother to look behind me. My eyes were focused on the scene ahead. One way or another, the girl had gotten up and started beating up the goblins that surrounded her. To think that I even thought of helping this monster — I was a fool.

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It turned into a scene of horror as the poor goblins were cleared in an instant. Wow, this girl has some talent with her legs. I certainly wouldn’t want to mess with her.

But my worst nightmare came upon me when she glared at my direction and shouted, “Who goes there?!”

How the hell?!

The girl continued when I didn’t answer. “Whoever you are, I’ll give you five seconds to reveal yourself. One! Two—”

And she really did started counting. Fearing for my safety, I slowly raised my hands and stood up. Her sharp glare pierced through my very being, causing a line of sweat to drop on my brow.

“What’s that knife for?” The brown haired girl asked with her arms crossed.

“I was on my way to help you, but… it doesn’t seem like you need it so I’ll be on my way.”  I turned around very carefully, trying hard not to arouse any unwanted suspicion.

As I took my first step, I heard her say, “Wait a moment. I’m a little lost. Could you point me to the direction of the town?”

Her expression was a little softer when I turned back to face her. “I’m headed there myself. You could come with me if you like?”

She didn’t strike me as the type that would be scared but the fear written on her face belied that conclusion. Who am I kidding? No matter how strong we are, we all have things we’re afraid of.

She sighed deeply before saying, “That would be great.” As if it was a casual thing to do, she lifted the hem of her skirt and started fanning what was underneath. “That aside, you know what are those "things" just now?”

I pressed a palm on my face and pretended not to see. What the hell was she doing? For her to show her underwear in front of a man, I didn’t know what kind of nonsense was running in her head. Shouldn’t girls be more… reserved? At least that was what my mother had taught me.

“You haven’t seen a goblin before?” I asked.

“Wait, goblins? You mean like those goblins in games?”

“I don’t know what you mean, but I’m more curious as to why you keep doing that in front of me, Miss…” I point my index finger to her lower region.

“Huh? What did you just call me?”

Slowly, her face distorted to that of shock as her eyes traveled lower and lower and lower — to her skirt.

And then, the girl fainted with white bubbles sticking out of her mouth.