The soldier stared at the tiny town in front of him, wondering exactly where they were.

It was too small to be called a city and too large to be called a village, sitting in that middle spot where it looked like it'd been built house by house as opposed to with any prior planning. The buildings were made of tan brick, thatched rooves covering each one. There wasn't a single one with two stories, and the soldier found himself wondering how it hadn't been burned to the ground yet by some bandits.

Daisy glanced up at him, trying to clean the blood out of her hair with Isabeld's fur. "Are we going in?"

The gigantic Orthrus looked down at the soldier with a whine. Now that he thought about it, the soldier realized that she hadn't eaten anything since those demons yesterday. Looking back to the town, the soldier shrugged. Tagral gave a wide smile.

The eight-foot-high fence surrounding it was... old, to say the least. Large cracks were left between its patched palings, big enough for a small person (or a small demon) to slip through. The soldier probably could have simply walked through it if he'd felt like it.

Approaching the gate, they were met with the sight of two guards snoozing just outside. Their rusted helmets were set upon their heads, leaning over their eyes and casting a shade over their faces. Chests rising and falling slowly, they failed to notice the group of three walked towards them, even when the soldier crouched next to them.

The gate, which consisted of a few slightly more substantial planks tied together, had a padlock. The soldier wrapped his hand around it and squeezed. A muffled shriek rang out from his fist, and when he opened it, the only thing that was left was a twisted piece of metal somewhat resembling a half-eaten apple core. The guards didn't move.

Inside the town wasn't much different from the rolling countryside they'd just left. A few tired-looking people were walking around, quietly chatting to each other about who knew what. A small dog chased a cat larger than it was around the stone fountain in the center of the square, yapping its fury to the world.

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The conversations ground to a halt as the soldier walked through. He wasn't surprised by it anymore. His armor was coated in dried blood, and Isabeld was the size of a tank at this point. Tagral was Tagral, not much to hide there. The only one of them who didn't look like a hardened warrior was Daisy, which in all fairness was an accurate observation.

There wasn't a guildhall visible, so the soldier and his crew made their way to the biggest building in town. Which, in retrospect, was not all that big. Isabeld allowed Daisy off of her back and promptly sprinted towards the small dog they'd seen earlier, probably to give it a heart attack.

The soldier raised an eyebrow at the sight he was met with. Two people, a heavy-set man and a far heavier woman, were red-faced and shouting at each other over a table. A more competent-looking man waited nearby, arms folded and one hand resting on the pommel of the sword at his hip. All three of them turned in tandem towards the soldier, and the warrior's grip tightened on his sword.

The large man walked right up to the soldier, flabby chin jutting out. "You're an adventurer, right? Well, we need you to go out to Jamison's farm out east. Get back here early and I might consider paying you."

On one hand, the soldier was surprised that this jellyfish-shaped man was standing straight at all. On the other, he was annoyed, something which Daisy and Tagral picked up on. The Lepori hastily walked forward. "Sorry, mister..." She trailed off, trying to figure out what she was supposed to call this person. "...whatever your name is. Doom doesn't hunt anything except demons."

The woman frowned. "What's the point of being an adventurer if you only take one kind of job?"

Tagral grinned at her. "He's only an adventurer so he can kill demons without marshals and armies and whatnot trying to stop him. He doesn't have time to deal with them."

The warrior in the back spoke, a quizzical note in his voice. "You're a demon, aren't you?"

Tagral made a surprised face. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

The fat man shook his head. "Not the point. Look, there's been reports of demons near Jamison's farm, all right? Just go there and take care of it. That's your job, regardless of whatever you want to do."

The soldier had stopped listening at 'demons' and turned around, ready to leave. The warrior spoke up again. "Hey. If the reports are correct, there's a very large man wearing armor there, wielding a weapon that spits fire and destruction. He might be too much for you to handle. Do you need some assistance?"

The soldier paused. A weapon that spat fire and destruction?

That sounded familiar.

The soldier set off with renewed intent, mentally figuring out which guns he'd be using for whoever or whatever this situation called for. He could always use more guns.