Sitting with her arm draped around her luggage, she looks down at her short companion sleeping in its sheathe. She briefly wonders if it’ll be needed in her investigation.

 Best case scenario, she finds that person and take them straight to the capital before Prince Edward’s birthday. Worst case scenario, she doesn’t find this person, miss out on a lot of discounts, and has to make the long journey back to the hideout.

She let’s out an over lasting sigh. It’s been three days since she left, and even though she hasn’t done anything draining to make her feel the way she does, she feels incredibly exhausted.

She closes her eyes and allows herself to succumb to the soothing vibration of the carriage. It’s an odd thing to enjoy. Vibration. She doesn’t why, she doesn’t remember how, but all she can say it makes her relax and very sleepy.

Her fingers loosen around the handle of her dormant companion. She was tired. And soon, she will begin to slumber. But she can’t. She’s so close. The carriage just needs to make it through the forest and she’ll be there.

Forcing her eyes open, she stares at the other passengers. Just regular people. People not like her. Ages varying from young to old. Different groups of people, but they all have one thing in common. They all have someone with them. Unlike her, who’s sitting alone with no friends. Another thing that makes her different from these people.

Blocking out these unwelcoming thoughts, she hears little footsteps approaching her. She can already tell whomever is coming for her is unsure of their decision.

She turns over her eyes, and it lands on a little girl who looks a bit apprehensive. “Um… miss?” She continues to stare at the girl, bewildered that someone would willingly talk to her.

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry if I might be bothering you… but I was wondering if that sword is yours…?”

“Yeah? Why, you wanna see it?”

“Would you let me?” She thought about it for a moment, but before she could say anything, an older woman called out to the little girl.

“Merry, stop bothering her and sit down.”

“But, Mama, it’s just a peak. I didn’t ask if I could use it.”

“It’s fine with me, ma’am. No need to be worried about it, I doubt she can cause much harm with it.”

“Really?! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! See, Mama, the creepy lady said it’s fine!” In her 20 years of existence, never had she been labeled as ‘creepy’. From her standpoint, being called ‘weird’ would be a preferred alternative.

“Merry, watch what you say!” The mother of Merry shouted at her daughter, which made some eyes peer over.

“It really isn’t necessary, madam. I’m not offended, I’m actually surprised I’m being labeled as a creep.”

“Does that mean you’ll still let me see?”

“Sure, kid. Don’t know why you have a liking to my partner?”

“It looks so cool! The design of it really makes me want one for myself! Where’d you get it?!”

“Got it as a birthday present. Not the best thing to give a 6-year-old.” Merry’s mother perked up after hearing this and crossed her arms in disapproval, so did most of the passengers listening.

“What kind of degenerate would give a child a weapon?” She couldn’t find room for an argument. Even she had to agree that, that was a bit irresponsible on Maverick’s part. But that didn’t mean she didn’t treasured it.

“Believe me, he had my best interest at heart. Oh right, I suppose introductions are in order.” Stretching her hand out awkwardly, she tried to put up a non-creepy smile, being a bit self-conscious about Merry’s earlier remark.

“I’m Lisa. Last name won’t be necessary.” Lisa cringed at her straight forward approach. ‘I really hope this doesn’t blow up in my face.’ Despite what Lisa felt, the woman took her hand.

“Names Melissa, and you’ve already met Merry. Please don’t hold any grudges against my daughter. She is a good kid, she just doesn’t think before she speaks.”

Talking about Merry. During Lisa’s talk, Merry had sat down right next to Lisa and took her partner from her, inspecting it with the curiosity of a child.

“By the way, Lisa, where you heading? Most people would be going to the capital this time of year.”

“I’m going to Stillhorn. I guess it’s more accurate to say I have to escort someone back to the capital.”

“Oh, are you a adventurer by chance?”

“I’m more of a part-time adventure. I’m financially well off enough not to be a full fledge adventurer.”

 It wasn’t a complete lie. Her actual occupation paid well enough for her not to do more life-threatening jobs, but she still had to take up a kill quest every once in a while so her skills won’t get rusty. But the main reason why she doesn’t live the adventure life is simple, she’s lazy.

“Either your escorting some important people, or your getting yourself involved with some troublesome people.”

Lisa guess Melissa was right in a sense. She wasn’t completely sure how she was going to convince that person to come with her, or if that person even existed. They were going off of a client’s hunch.

“It’s possible I might be getting myself into something more than I bargain for, but I was specifically picked to do this, so I guess I won’t be having such a bad time.”

“Oh, so you were specifically requested? You must be pretty dandy with that blade of yours?”

“I don’t like to fight, It’s sooo tiresome. But it’s necessary in my profession, otherwise I would’ve died years ago.”

“Going off of what little I know, I’m assuming you’re a swordswoman? It’s possible you’re a thief, but I doubt it since they usually use daggers instead of swords.”

“I’m more of a mixture of both. I have the qualifications to pick one of them.”

“So what are you exactly?”

Realizing the amount of information she was carelessly giving away, Lisa had to stop Melissa from asking her too many questions, but avoiding them might also make her suspicious. So Lisa hoped that Melissa would take the hint and stop. Otherwise she’ll be forced to deal with every single person in this carriage if the wrong people wanted to know more about her.

“Well aren’t you the curious one? Asking so much about me on our first encounter.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything like that, but I did ask something personal. Maybe I should take my own advice?”

“I think there might be a misunderstanding. I’m by no means mad, it’s quite the opposite actually. I’m really enjoying are talk. It’s rare for me to experience this when meeting new people. I was just trying to imply that you should be more careful to whom you talk to, especially strangers. Take me as an example. You know nothing of me. You don’t know my history, or what I’m capable of. All you could you know is that I might be some cereal killer, or I could be part of the Leprechaun Mafia.”

Silence followed not long after.

“…I believe I understand your point.”

It was quiet before, but thanks to Lisa’s little stunt, she had single handedly killed the somewhat lively atmosphere that was present.

 ‘Look at what you did! You manage to have a decent conversation with someone, but like usual you manage to screw things up again!’ Her self-conscious creamed at her stupidity for making the same mistakes.

“But I’m not a dangerous woman! I’m not part of that Mafia, nor do I have any relations to them! I’m just a regular person who’s living their life!

“…I think I was right calling you a creep.” Merry whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. This made Lisa drop her head in defeat. All she wanted was for people to think that she wasn’t weird or dangerous, yet she was good at making them think she was. Unfortunately for Lisa, she has a bad habit of repeating prior mistakes. An obvious flaw Lisa is aware of.

Merry handed back her partner, Lisa took it back dejectedly. Merry didn’t move however, and started to pat Lisa’s back, but had no effect for the black-haired woman, who continued to stare at the wooden texture of the carriage.

-A little while later

Lisa managed to regain herself not long before everyone went back to their respective business. Merry took back the sword from Lisa and used it to entertain herself, while Lisa and Melissa talked about trivial things, the carriage came to a sudden halt that nearly made some of the passengers fall over.

“Why’d we stop? We’re not of the woods yet.” Merry asked Melissa but her mother could only shrug. Lisa opened the window behind her and peeked her head out, and she was about to asked their coachman what was going on, but she stopped at the sight before her.

“What do you see?”

“Carriages. And a lot of them. A bunch of people just standing outside. They look panicked. Like there’s danger lurking near.”

Lisa sat back down, and hold out her hand to Merry. “May I have it back?” Merry wasn’t happy about it, but was smart enough to understand the possible danger outside, and Lisa being the only one who could protect them, Merry displeasing gave it back.

The carriage door opened suddenly, revealing their coachman with a not so happy expression. “Is there a Lisa present?” All eyes fell upon the black-haired woman. She pondered on how the coachman knew her name. She searched her memories, but could find no instance of ever telling him her name.

Lisa raised her hand, and focused her wary gaze on the coachman. “That would be me. And what’s with all the panicked faces outside?”

“The road ahead has been blocked off.  Groups of monster are roaming not far from here. A pair of merchants gave me a brief explanation of the situation, the same ones who request you.”

This made Lisa curious and tense. How did a pair of merchants know her name? How did they know she was here? Was she being followed? Are they enemies? Was this whole thing set up by them? She can ask all she want, but no answers will be presented to her here.

She got up, and made her way outside, not before turning to Melissa. “If what we know is true, it’s better for you to stay inside. Lock the door and stay quiet. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, so stay put. If I don’t make it, have this guy here take you all back to Azmarin.”

“Let’s pray it wouldn’t came to that…”

“Hey, if there are lots of monsters, and you make it back alive, mind bringing me something back?” Melissa could only stare at Merry in disbelief.

“I’ll see what I can snatch.”

The light of the orange hue told Lisa enough. It was getting late. Soon enough, it will be night fall, and then they’ll be in real trouble. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue for her, but since here are regular people who probably couldn’t fight off a wolf, it was up to her to save these people if what these merchants say is true.

“So where are these guys?”

“One of them is over there.” The coachman pointed at a gray-haired man sporting the color black with an orange scarf. Not to say that his old, it was just that his hair made him stand out more. This man didn’t look any younger than her, in fact, he even looked to be around her age. But one thing she had to admit, she liked his hair.

He was talking into a rather small crystal ball before noticing her presence. He stuffed the ball in His pocket and casually made his way over.

‘So how should I go about this? Ask questions first, or do the questioning later? He doesn’t look like an enemy. It is entirely possible that his from the capital. I do have a bit of a reputation there(not a great one). And it’s not like people who live in that area doesn’t know about me. Maybe he saw me leave around the same time as I did?’

The gray-hair man finished his chat with someone on the other end of the ball and made his way over to Lisa. The coachman left to tend to his own cart, leaving Lisa by herself.

“I’m relieved to see you are among us.” The gray-haired man smiled at Lisa like how a friend would when reunited with an old pal they hadn’t seen in years.

“That sentence of yours indicates that you know me from somewhere? Not only that, you also know my name. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume this was some ploy of yours to get me to show myself.”

“I will admit, from your perspective this must be a very suspicious situation for you. I never hoped that our first meeting would be like this. I’ll say this now, I am not your enemy, Lisa, you could consider me an ally.”

“Your right. I am suspicious about this shindig we got going on. But what really perks me is how you know my name, and how you knew I was here. And if what you said was true about being an ‘ally’, then I’m hoping you could give me a simple explanation?”

“One day, I will reveal everything to you. But not now. We have far more important matters to discuss.”

“The monsters?”

“Ah, I’m happy to see you are already well informed about that. This will make things go a lot faster. Night fall will be upon us soon, so we must make haste.”

“What exactly are we dealing with here? I can’t just go in charging knowing nothing.”

“A large pack of wolfs aren’t far from us, not only that, they are accompanied by slimes, truly strange, slimes normally attack anything that is not one of their own. But that is not even the real threat. What is even far more perplexing than that odd couple, is the fact that they are being led by a sleuth of bears, I speculate.”

“I’m hoping your not pissing in my ear and telling me it’s rain, well, are you?”

“That is an interesting way to say ‘I hope you are not lying to me’. But I wish I were. If I had not seen it for myself, I would had just gone on with my day. But that’s not the case. We really are in trouble, though. If this matter is not settled before the sun shines its last light, I will be forced to try again.”

“What you mean ‘try again’? What are you supposedly gonna ‘try again’?”

“Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just rambling.”

Not far from them, a man in blue emerged from one of the carts, red eyes solemnly focused on the gray-haired man. “Geez, to think your premonition would come into fruition, how unfortunate for me. You really should reward my diligence, Shedder, I could’ve been doing something more enjoyable, but instead I’m risking my life.”

“I already said that I will give you something, Stomp. Complaining about it won’t make the situation any easier on us.”

Stomp stopped, curiously staring at Lisa before shifting his gaze over to Shedder. “So this is the missy you’ve been talking about all day, huh? I couldn’t imagine you meeting her under a normal circumstance. Howdy, tired-looking lady, I’m Stomp. Stomp Branch.”

“Lisa. I’m guessing your with this gray-haired guy?”

“Yup! I can’t imagine Shedder hanging with someone other than me. His friend group is small.”

“Was that particular information about myself really necessary to reveal to her?”

“I’m only helping you out here, bud. To better your relationship with someone, you outta leak some personal info ‘bout yourself.”

“To an extent I disagree with that statement.”

Lisa only stared at these two merchants arguing with each other. She thought back to Stomp’s earlier statement, the part where he mentioned Shedder’s “premonition”. Could Shedder see into the future? If that were the case then It would explain a lot, but she could only guess. But that didn’t mean she trusted him completely. The possibility of him being an enemy is still there.

She couldn’t detect any malicious intent from these two, so she could probably ease up a little… maybe. Stomp doesn’t come off as dangerous. Shedder can definitely fight, that she can be sure of that. But him winning in a fight against her is laughingly low. Nothing to be worried about, right?

“Ugh, we’re getting sidetrack. How are the passengers doing?”

“Like always, I kept the moral high. Nothing to worry about till that sun goes down. Came up with a plan yet?”

“It would had been in its infancy by now, but you happened.”

“Why do you hurt me so? My poor hart can only take so much, Shedder.” Stomp placed a hand over where his heart would be located and appeared as though he was about to cry, but it was obvious he was just being over dramatic.

“It’s not my fault your like this. I blame Hopper for all your shortcomings. But enough of that, we’re running out of time. Lisa, can you fight?”

“Yeah?”

“Alright, how good would you say you are?”

“I’m an A-rank adventurer. I could easily go to the S-rank if I wanted to. Is that enough to tell you just how good I am or do you want a demonstration?” She crossed her arms and smirked, a small part of her hoped he’d say “yes”.

“It won’t be needed, I believe you. Lisa, I would like to hire your assistance. Name your price.”

‘That was fast. I wasn’t expecting any payment, but here we are. Hold on, I can actually benefit from this whole thing greatly. If I manage to take down those beasts and make sure nobody gets harmed the way out, and refuse any pay, then my reputation will go up! And if keep doing these heroics acts, nobody will even question what I’m doing when I’m being suspicious! Like hell I’m just gonna let the opportunity slip by!’

Holding up her hand, Lisa started. “No. I can’t except any pay. It would be wrong if me to do that. What would these people think of me when I had them pay me for protection. I’d be no better than those adventurer who takes advantage of these situations to make a quick buck.”

Stomp clapped his hands in admiration. “So selfless! It’s a shame you weren’t born a noble or lived in the Holy Kingdom of Newma, otherwise you would’ve been a fine knight!”

“Thank you…?”

Shedder smiled faintly, this however didn’t go unnoticed by the two.

“Oooh, to see you smile is quite a rarity, Shedder. I wonder what made those lips curl upwards?”

“Why do I continue to associate myself with you?” This question was directed towards Shedder himself than for Stomp.

“Cuz I’m endearing and the only one who gets you.”

“Fair enough, I suppose. Going back to our main dilemma. Lisa will probably need some assistance, we cannot garuntee that she will make it out unscathed, so I will be accompanying her. I’ve already strategize a plan. It isn’t the best plan I ever formulated, but it should get the job done. That is if you are fine with it, Lisa?”

“I’m not opposed to it, so yeah, why not. But try anything funny while my backs to you, and you’ll personally meet face to blade with my partner.”

“I wouldn’t dare. I already said I will explain everything to you later.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Hey, Hold on. I get what you guys are gonna do, but what about me? I don’t wanna feel left out.” Stomp said.

“You stay behind. We need someone to watch over and defend everyone while we’re absent, and the only one I can I entrust such responsible is you.” Shedder instructed the blue merchant.

“No pressure, I guess. Fine, you can trust me. I’ll make sure nobody gets hurt while I’m on duty.”

“Excellent. Now, let me go get my things then we’ll be off.”

Shedder went over to the same cart Stomp came from. Now with Shedder being momentarily absent, Lisa was left with the blue merchant.

“How’s your day been?” Stomp asked. Lisa couldn’t tell whether he was genuinely interested or was trying to make light conversations.

“Besides this, it’s been uneventful. Had nothing to do for the past few days, except sitting.” Lisa withhold the part about Melissa and Merry, she still couldn’t trust these strangers yet, who might use that information to get to Lisa.

“Honestly, it’s different for us. It’s just been none stop traveling for me and Shedder. We left Newma a couple days ago to get to Shallhon’s Capital, so we can make some profit during the festival but now we ran into another obstacle. I’m starting to think that the universe might not like us.”

“Talking about Shedder. Just out of curiosity, how good of a combatant is he? If his going to working alongside myself, I should know if his gonna be a liability to me.”

“Oh, Shedder? His not the strongest guy around, but his reliable. Pretty dang good with a bow too. I’m guessing he’ll be helping you from afar, or if he needs to, he’ll use himself as bait so you can do something.”

“You really think he’d use himself as bait? His gonna put a lot of faith in me if he does that.”

“He wouldn’t just do that for anyone, but I know for a fact he’ll do it if it’s necessary.”

‘Maybe these guys are alright? Who knows, maybe by the end of the day I’ll make some friends?’ Lisa thought.

Both Lisa and Stomp waited patiently for Shedder. Shedder returned with a small black bag strapped to his waist, a pretty eye-catching bow, but he had no arrows on him.

“Try not to accidentally shoot me by mistake.” Lisa joked. Shedder waved his hand, dismissing such an absurd prospect.

“I don’t intend to, nor do I want that. If we have everything ready, I believe we should go subjugate those abominations.”

“May Goddess Rose look over you both.” Stomp silently prayed for the safety of his long time friend Shedder, and for the lady who’s valiantly putting her life in risk for the safety of everyone.

______________________________________________

This was very abnormal. The closer they ventured, the more unusual things got. Normally a forest like this with its inhabitants would usually be quite. But contrast to what they knew, it was damn loud.

All the little critters were making a lot of noise and their behavior could be considered aggressive. There were instances where Lisa thought they’d get attacked and she was more than ready to stain the earth crimson. But it never happened. Not yet at least. If it did happen however, the birds would be a nuisance to deal with.

They could here menacing howls accompanied by powerful roars. They were getting close. Lisa glanced at Shedder, who had a calm demeanor so far.

“Feeling nervous? I doubt either of us has dealt with something like this before.”

“Saying I wasn’t worried would be an arrogant statement. And I do wonder why the animals are behaving so?”

“You too, huh. Maybe the townsfolk know something about this? Or at the very least, they could have a lead.”

“I hope so. Otherwise, Stillhorn’s citizens will have go through a mountain pass to access other towns, which in my opinion, isn’t a preferred ultimatum. The cliffs aren’t in the best condition, and the probability of running into griffins are high.”

“Yeah. And with the main road blocked off, they’ll have to take other routes that’ll take them an extra day or two to get to the capital.”

“Correct. Let us hope this matter will be solved before Prince Edward’s birthday. It will truly be a shame if anyone missed out.”

“You guys heading there too? Why’d you come here instead? As merchants, I’m sure you want to make tons of money before the end of the festival.”

“True. But we needed to come here before heading to the capital. But now I find myself with some inner conflict.”

“What’d you mean?”

“I wish to help out with this mystery, but at the same time I want to leave soon as possible.”

“I’m sure the adventurer’s guild would eventually put out a request. So there’s nothing to worry about until things get real serious.”

“You may be correct. Our top priority is our current situation. While we still have the privilege of time, we should go over my plan if you don’t have one on you.”

“Hmm? Oh, I thought it was obvious what we’ll be doing. I’ll be dealing with the big guys, you’ll be shooting down some muds, arrows wouldn’t be effective against slimes so I’ll be handling that for you. Does that sound right to you?”

“That is… on point. But what happens when you run into trouble?”

“I’ll retreat and try again from a different approach. If that doesn’t work then I’ll just have to mess up the environment real bad. I might get yelled at by the locals If I did that so hopefully it doesn’t comes to that.”

“I’m not fully aware of what your going to do when all else fails, but I can dictate that it will be destructive. If possible, please hold off on that. I will also be held accountable for your future actions, so think about me before making any rash decisions.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get caught up in the storm.” Lisa laughed at her own joke, but one look at Shedder was more than enough to reassure her that he didn’t find it funny.

“Okay, I won’t do anything stupid. Just stop looking at me like that. You’ll make me feel bad.”

“Parenthetical, We’re getting close.”

“Those growls and roars can confirm that.”

Shedder began rummaging in his bag, pulling out a bottle with a strange liquid. On closer inspection, Lisa realized what it was. A concealment potion.

“Oh yeah, we can’t really hide while those wolfs are around.”

“It will be helpful with sneak attacks, but it only masks our scent, not the sounds we make. At most, we’ll be catching one or two of them by surprise.”

Shedder drank some of the liquid, handing it out to Lisa when he had his share. Lisa never experienced the effects of this potion before, but was partially excited to see how she’ll perform under the potion’s effects.

She took a swig of the bottle but left no different. Ever potion did behave differently, so it shouldn’t have surprised her, but she would have liked it to feel at least something.

“You appear to be disappointed at something.”

“Just bummed that it didn’t taste like anything or made me feel… tingly.”

“Some potions taste quite terrible, we’re lucky this one wasn’t one of them.”

“Yeah… guess your right… We should go with what little time we got left on our plate.”

Lisa got over her sulky state as quick as it surfaced. They abruptly stopped when they spotted the beasts in question. The two crouch their way to nearby bushes. No words were exchanged, they already knew what to do.

Shedder moved away from Lisa and started to climb the tree behind them. When he made it to the top, he took out a small container from his bag, the contents unknown to Lisa.

“Just a little something to make those muds come to us. Bears are picky eaters, so this will only attract the wolfs. And slimes… well they are slimes. If I happen to miss any, could you take it out for me or prevent it from running off?”

“I’ll see what I can do about that.”

Shedder opened the container, a fragrance overlapped the smell of the flora around them. This had an immediate effect on the muds, as they started walking, slowly making their way to the aroma.

Shedder threw the container not far from them, and gripped his bow tightly. In the next instant, an arrow-like construction manifested in Shedder’s freehand, it had a faint blue glow to it.

Lisa stared at the projectile before her, she didn’t know what kind of damage that arrow was capable of, but she knew if she got hit by that, death

The moment the wolfs got close enough, Shedder let go of the arrow. As if the arrow itself was locked onto a specific target, It went for the nearest wolf. The speed at which it traveled through the air made it all look like it happened instantaneous. Even Lisa couldn’t see it.

The instant the arrow made contact with the target, it was done. The wolf fell over, a hole in its side. It wasn’t dead, it still twitch, but made no attempt to get back up. If Lisa had to guess, the arrow didn’t target the wolf itself, but the heart.

The rest of the pack spring back, moving warily. Shedder shot another arrow. The same thing happened. He shot again. And again. And again. And again.

The remaining three made a run for it, but their attempts were interrupted by Lisa. With an outstretched hand, she revealed herself.

“You think I’m just gonna let you run off?! High Wind!!”

From her hand, a powerful concentrated blade of wind was released at high speed and sliced the furthest mud in two.

The remaining two didn’t waver, and kept on running, but it was futile. Lisa released another wind spell while Shedder shot his final arrow. The corpses fell over and rolled at the speed they ran before stopping completely.

Lisa stared at their work and wondered which of the two were the most cruel. Shedder who made them bled to death, or Lisa who cut their bodies in half?

“Why did you need me if you had that with you?”

Shedder climb down and landed with a thump. “I cannot predict what would have happened had I gone by myself, having you here decreased the chance of failure. Also, that was an intermediate level spell you casted, how are your mana reserve holding up?”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking. It’s gonna take more than two spells to tire me out.”

“Good. We still have those slimes to handle with. I advise we use the same method. ”

“If that’s what ya want, then let’s get go—”

The sound of the ground rumbling and Shedder’s wide eyes had caused Lisa to stop talking. She turned around, and like Shedder, her eyes spring open. More from surprise than terror. Only one word leaked out of her mouth, and she didn’t even mean to say it.

“Shit!”

-Back at the carriages

“Nothing bad has happened so far, we should consider ourselves luckily.”

“Stomp, please don’t raise any red flags. And aren’t you suppose to be keeping watch instead of chatting with us?”

“Your just like Shedder, Melissa. It’s not like we’re gonna get attacked. You should be more like your daughter and relax.”

Stomp gestured at Merry who had been playing with his bongos. Everybody had shocked expressions when he seemingly pulled the instrument out of nowhere.

“I’ll ‘relax’ when you go back to doing what you’re supposed to be doing in the first place.”

Stomp supposed he could make another patrol or check up on the other passengers. “Fiiiine. I guess that I should just make another round, just to be safe. Does that bring a smile to your face, Melissa?”

“It makes me less stressed.”

“Its something at least. Before I go…” Stomp pulled out a coin and tossed it over to Melissa. She barely managed to catch the brown projectile.

On each side of this coin a word is imprinted on it. The word ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are found on opposite sides of the coin.

“Think of it as a parting gift from my anomalous self. Whenever you find yourself in a yes or no situation and not sure what decisions to make, flip the coin. Trust it. Never doubt it. Also, the kid can keep the bongos, got plenty of `em.”

Melissa didn’t couldn’t say anything, Stomp didn’t give her the time. He made his way to the outside world. As soon as he did, strong winds blew from the direction where Lisa and Shedder had gone. The strong gall nearly blew away Stomp’s hat.

“Shees, just what are those two doing. That wind spell might agro a wandering beast. But it doesn’t look like anything happened cuz of it. Should still be fine… I… guess… Welp… I just had to open my mouth.”

Stomp swore he could hear Melissa screaming at him. Approaching from the forest, he saw eyes hungrily staring down at him. Stomp took tiny steps backwards, pushing his back into the wooden structure of the carriage he came from.

He knew exactly what it was and knew instantly he stood no chance. He failed before he could even struggle. Even if he constructed a weapon right now, he wouldn’t have the time, he would instantly be rushed.

A reptilian much larger than any man or woman made its existence known to all. Its black scales covered in a crimson liquid. It must have been feasting on a poor animal before now. Empty eyes focused solemnly on Stomp as it neared. The beast let out a malicious laugh. Stomp had to stop himself from breathing in the horrid stench released from the mouth of the reptilian. It swayed its long tail wildly, as to indicate its excitement.

He looked at the passengers, they were frozen, no sounds were made. Was it from fear or an inability to create a countermeasure against the powerful beast? He didn’t blame them. He couldn’t. For he could only direct his frustration and fear to whatever higher being observing them.

Stomp closed eyes, breathing heavily, and apologized to Shedder for having him to do this over again. When he opened them again, he saw a woman standing right next to him. The mask she wore covered the entirety of her face.

Who was this woman? When did she get so close to him? He never saw this woman among the other groups. He definitely would have remembered seeing a woman in a black dress.

She behaved differently from the rest, she wasn’t like everyone cowering in their boots, her stance alone confirm that. If anything, it appeared that this reptilian being here was a major inconvenience for her.

Stomp momentarily forgot about his approaching end, only for the reptilian to trash its tail onto the hard earth when it noticed that its next pray no longer bore the feeling of dread it was trying to inspire.

The masked woman finally spoke, her voice was raspy, but oddly alluring. “If you guys aren’t going to dance with it, want me to take a shot at it? Also, I want to be compensated for my efforts in the form of that nobody is to mention my existence to anyone—especially to Lisa, is that a reasonable offer?”

Stomp didn’t know what this woman could do, or why she didn’t want Lisa to know about her, but those were questions for tonight. Stomp nodded his head, and just then, she was gone. She no longer stood next to Stomp, or anywhere for that matter. She was nowhere. There were no footprints left behind where she stood. It was like her existence was erased, only the memories of her still remained.

The reptilian’s slow charge was halted. It was staring at something but from Stomp’s eyes there was nothing. It suddenly stood stall, and released a ruff growl at something. It spat a black liquid from its open mouth. The liquid sprayed on the ground, eating away the earth.

The reptilian aimed at nothing, but it was clear that it had been targeting something. But there was nothing. Was it something only the reptilian could see, or something he wasn’t allowed to bore witness to?

Stomp took the opportunity to move inside the carriage and shot the door closed. He stared at the reptilian with the same look everyone had, confusion. Their bewilderment overpowered their terror, a silver lining Stomp appreciated. He hoped it was the doing of the masked lady.

-Trouble else where

“Shitshitshitshitshit!” Lisa repeatedly uttered to herself as she shot another wind spell at the gelatin monstrosity. Its core sliced in half, its body could no longer contain its form and turned to nothing but a blue sludge. Lisa hoped this would be the last slime she would have the displeasure of dealing with.

Lisa was breathing heavily after wasting so much of her mana. Out of panic, she used her strongest wind spell to knock away the incoming threat. It was too successful, as she unwittingly blew Shedder away in the process.

Lisa presumed this was all her fault in a way. Had she kept her mouth shut instead of shouting like some cracked out crow, then maybe they wouldn’t be fighting all their obstacles at once.

Stomp was sent flying deep into the woods, he was no longer in Lisa’s view anymore. She hoped he would be alright, or at the very least still breathing.

Lisa had been fighting solo after her little incident. She focused her attention on those gelatins, not because they were much weaker than the bears, it just so happens that there were more of this slimy abominations than those filthy bears.

It took multiple wind spells for her to take them out, but the mana consumption for each spell she casted had left her exhausted.

Sure her mana reserves was larger than the average man, but casting so many intermediate spells would leave the average person immobilized.

She figured she could cast another advance spell or two before she would pass out, but it was an option she wasn’t particularly fond of.

So she resorted to close combat. She gripped the handle of her resting comrade, and pulls the shorts sword out of its sheath. The purple blade gleamed fiercely.

She got into her fighting stance, waiting for the bears to make the first move. They surrounded her, walking circles around her. It was obvious to anyone just what they were plotting. And she already had an escape plan and knew just have to counter this.

So she waited, for any slight movements directed at her.

The bears sprung forward in unison but Lisa was faster. She casted another wind spell and aimed it at the ground. She used the spell to propel herself, sending herself toward the heavens.

She watched from the sky as the bears ram into each other, and shifted her body so her face was the closest body part to the ground. She held the sword in the ready position.

As she descended, she thrusted her sword forward, it connected and insert itself deep into the head of one of the bears. She used its body to cushion her fall. She pulled out the blade from the head from the dead predator and spring far from the remaining bruins.

They were piled up on each other, and Lisa exploited this beautiful opportunity to take them out in one motion.

For a single fraction of a second, she thought of using an earth spell, but doing so would crack open the pathway they needed to use to get the hell out of here, so her only option was another wind spell.

With an out stretch hand, she spoke the incantation for her strongest wind spell.

“Whirlwind!”

An extreme devastating torrent of wind blades shotfort. Bloody body parts flew skywards, crimson liquid followed its arc closely. Lisa collapsed on her knees, dry heaving uncontrollable. That last spell zapped most of her strength away.

She glanced up to get a good look at her display. Trees were cut down or outright destroyed. The bears lied in a heap of their own blood—what was left of them.

She heard heavy breathing behind her and panicked internally. She couldn’t fight in such a condition, even if she used her cloak, her chances wouldn’t go up that much.

Forcing herself to stand, she grabbed one of her throwing knives, but paused when she saw who it was.

She smiled weakly when Shedder stumbled into her view. However, that smile faltered when she saw the state Shedder was in.

He dragged a leg behind as he stumbled. His clothes had been torn in places. He grimaced with every step he took.

“Are… are you alright…?”

“I was send flying head first into the cruel embrace of a large tree. My back is in great pain, and my leg has received some damage, but other than these injuries, I should be fine as long as I can find a healer at the guild. Other than me, you yourself don’t look to be in great shape. This must have been a dire challenge to face alone, but you seem to have had the upper hand here.”

“I really should apologize… it was my fault that this happened to you… if I—”

“Stop.”

“Huh?”

“You cannot blame yourself so. You were caught off guard and panicked when you saw them hurling at us. You did what any frightened individual would have done. And had I the same ability as you, I would have reacted no differently. I don’t harbor any ill resentment towards you, and neither should you.”

Even with Shedder’s reassurance, the slight guilt Lisa felt remained steadfast.

“Even so, I still feel bad for what happened.”

“Then repay me by helping me back to Stomp.”

Lisa nodded and moved closer to Stomp, putting his arm over her shoulder. They moved at a slow pace.

Shedder injured from his wounds, and Lisa who exhausted herself from mana depletion, slowly, but steadily making their way back.

“You think we should just leave all those corpses back there? The smell might attract a hellcat or a deathstalker.”

“True. But you already exerted yourself to the point of pure exhaustion to handle such a task. And the state my body is currently trapped in, prevents me from taking any action. So we should put it on hold for now—until we make it to Stillhorn.”

“It might be the exhaustion talking, but I refuse to disagree with you only because I really don’t feel like wasting anymore of my reserves.”

“Ha. Same with me. But still, we should inform the guild about today. Things may become more drastic if it stays unresolved.”

“They’ll send in someone to investigate. Imagine they wanted us to do it.”

“As much as I wish to lend a hand, I’m not fond of ever returning back here. I will help with speculation but asking me to visit here again is not a viable option for me. No amount of please will convince me otherwise.”

“Man, you really got a grudge against this place.”

“Don’t you?”

“Fair enough, I guess.”

Time passed by as the duo finally made their way back. The sun nearly gone at this point. The forest had quieted down when they made their way back, the scene before them was… unexpected to say the least.

They found Stomp on his knees with bloodied hands as he tries his utmost best to remove the claws from the dead creature. Next to him on the ground layed various sets of tools and a lamp. He had taken off his blue rope when he began ‘looting’ the corpse of all of its valuables.

“You two made it back!” Stomp yelled as he got up and ran at them. “You shouldn’t make me worry like that! I was starting to wonder whether or not you guys died! I kept pacing around-the-clock like a madman! I figured If I distracted myself it would calm my nerves, so I checked what would sell a lot from that thing.”

Stomp gestured to the dead reptilian. The creature missed most of its teeth and claws. Other than a few pieces missing from its body, there were no visible wounds present.

Shedder was the first to snap out of his astonishment. “What events transpired in our absence? And more importantly, are there any casualties?”

“Huh? Oh. Everyone is fine. A little frightened—but still in okay condition.”

“That’s nice to hear. But I got a question myself. How did you manage to take that down?” Lisa asked.

Stomp began fidgeting. He made several expressions before falling on one that lacked any confidence.

“Well, uh… I was talking to the folks when that showed up, and I made a little doohickey that took care of it.”

Lisa remained unconvinced, Shedder seemed more incline to believe his story, but they really didn’t feel up to it to pride the information from Stomp, so they decided to drop it.

“Enough about me! You two are a wreck. Especially you, Shedder.”

“It’s not a serious injury. I will recover when we leave.”

“And what about you, Lisa? I don’t see any bruises on you, but you look super worn out.”

“I’m just suffering the sides effects of mana depletion is all. I’ll be back to my normal self when I find some manadite to absorb, or just wait it out.”

“We have plenty in our cart. I’ll go get some for you. But first, I’ll take Shedder from you.”

Shedder retracted his arm from Lisa and took a step back.

“Don’t touch me with those tainted hands. I can still walk, but I do appreciate your kindness.”

“Guess your right. I should clean up before the smell sets in, huh. C’mon, let’s get going! Don’t wanna stay here any longer than we need to.”

Stomp was more than ready to leave but Shedder hadn’t moved a step. So like any other good friend, he waited for his friend to finish whatever it was he was doing.

“Goodbye for now, Lisa. I hope to see you again once we all make it to Stillhorn.”

“Have you taken an interest in someone, Shedder? Look at you, having Lisa to yourself for so long and still craving more. You greedy man.”

“Stomp, I think you might be misinterpreting what he said.”

“No worries, Lisa. Stomp knows exactly what I meant. He has a nasty tendency to say such things.”

“Still, I think I would like that. To see you guys again, I mean. I should expand my friend group, after all.”

“We’re looking forward to seeing you, too!”

Finishing their conversation. Stomp and Shedder hurriedly walked back to their cart and Lisa left to go to hers. Before she could, she heard a familiar rattling sound.

She turned her head upwards, it blinded swell in the night, but her unique eyes still spotted it. A crow with a purple string tied around its neck rested on a slim branch. It cawed at her with little respect for the peace and silence.

Lisa knew exactly who this crow was and held out her arm. The crow took flight and landed on her arm.

“Daniel, what you doing here? Stupid question… If I knew you’d be here I would’ve backed some treats for you. Sorry to cut this short, but I have to leave now. There’s a town not far from here. Go there and we’ll be able to play some more, okay?”

“Caw!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Daniel flew off high in the sky. As it flew off to the clouds, It soon became invisible for Lisa and with no more distraction, Lisa made it back to her carriage.

When she entered, the first thing she did was slumped down in her seat. Her fatigue had made her unable to notice the glances the passengers gave her.

It was Melissa who got Lisa’s attention. “How did it go?”

Lisa tiredly turned her head at Melissa.

“There were a few… incidents… But we got the job done… not in the greatest fashion.” Lisa mumbled the last part of her sentence.

“I’m glad you made it back. We all were worried. Stomp in particular showed great levels of paranoia so I suggested he do something that would take his mind off from the two of you.”

Her conscious replayed the memory of Stomp removing the claws off that reptilian and her curiosity wondered how a creature of such might found itself in this area of all places.

“That reminds me, why is it here?”

“I’m not sure. There was a sudden strong gal and it showed up.”

After hearing this, Lisa ever so slightly turned her head the other way.

“Ahah, is that so. That thing must’ve mistook the gal for magic. It has some level of intelligence, after all. If magic is being used that only means a human is near by. But nonetheless, I’m happy to see that Stomp was able to do his job. He certainly deserves a praise.”

Melissa made an odd expression and her eyes looked elsewhere.

“…Uh…”

Melissa herself started to display some semblance of add behavior.

“Uh, yes! Of course. At first he didn’t take it serious, but after some pestering from me, he made an effort at least.”

“What was he doing after we left?”

“He came over and started talking about topics to pass the time.”

“And those bongos?” Lisa pointed at the bongos in Merry’s possession. “Mr. Stomp was nice enough to give it to me. He was supposed to teach me how to play this thing, but he was busy. I’m going to have to learn myself, aren’t I?”

“Maybe you’ll have another run in with him, you can probably find him tomorrow.”

“Maybe…”

Suddenly the slide window opened, revealing the coachman. “We are about to leave now. Make sure to stay in your seats.”

-An hour later

Lisa fell asleep sitting. She was already tired before hand, but thanks to today’s activities—and her depleted mana, she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

How the rest of the ride went, she wouldn’t know.

Lisa felt someone poking at her cheek. She gave a low grunt, her eyes still closed. Whoever was poking her, they started to apply a lot more pressure. This was successful in waking her up.

“Ugh, I’m up, I’m up. You can stop now.”

Lisa woke up to see Merry in front of her.

“We’re here.”

“Already?” She pressed a hand to her head. A sudden pain shot fort. After a few seconds, she looked around to see that it was only her and Merry left inside the carriage.

“Where your mom at?”

“Outside. She wanted to wake you up but I wanted to do it.”

“How nice.”

The two made their way outside, Lisa holding onto her luggage tiredly.

“Sleep well?” Melissa asked.

“No, my head is in a bit of pain.”

“Oh dear, you should go see a healer at the guild.”

“That’s what I’m probably gonna do.”

“Well, we should be going now. Come, Merry. I hope we can see you tomorrow, Lisa. Say bye to Lisa, Merry.”

“Bye, weird lady.”

“Tata…”

Saying their farewells, a sudden realization hit her. She had no idea where the guild was located. She was about to call out to Melissa when she saw two familiar figures.

She saw Stomp and Shedder hopping off of their cart. Lisa assumed they might know so she made her way over.

“Oh? Hey Shedder, look. Lisa came earlier than I thought. It’s understandable, who wouldn’t want to spend time with the most interesting bunch around.”

Shedder shook his head at Stomp’s silly remark.

“Refrain from spouting anymore nonsensical declarations, Stomp. It’s clear she has no prior knowledge of the whereabouts of the guild.”

Lisa stood stunted. She hadn’t even opened her mouth yet and Shedder already knew what she wanted to know.

“Are you a mind reader or something?”

“No, even if I had such an ability, I wouldn’t violate the privacy of your mind. I suspected that you never come to this town before, I’m right, aren’t I?.

“Bullseye. So can you guys give me some directions?”

“Actually, we are heading there right now. Just follow the guy with the blue robes.”

Lisa waited for Stomp and Shedder to gather their belongings before they made their way to town square. Soon after, they stood outside a large establishment – a lively one at that.

“Look out!” A man wearing an expensive suit cried.

The first thing that greeted Lisa when she took a foot inside was a glass hurling at her. Even in her weakened state, she caught it with ease. She had half a mind to toss it back at the jackass who threw it, but decided to hold herself back.

“What’s a guy with a fancy tuxedo doing at a place like this? Awfully suspicious if you ask me?” Lisa stated.

The man in question got up from his seat and marched over.

“First off: I’m sorry about that. Things got a bit out of hand. Secondly: I’m allowed to dress as I wish. If you got a problem then let me hear it.”

“Calm down. I swear she didn’t mean it like that. Can you even blame her? You kinda stick out.” Stomp said in an attempt to prevent any further rising tension.

“So I like to present myself in a dapper fashion. There’s no rule here that says I have to dress like that.” The tuxedo man gestured to a passed out man with only the bottom half of his body covered in clothes.

Shedder who has remained mute since the start of this, felt like it was time to involve himself. “Stomp, take Lisa to the counter. I will handle this man.”

“Hold on! You saying I’m a problem!?”

The tuxedo man’s shouts were ignored by Lisa and Stomp as they made a beeline for the counter. A few drunken men and women whistled at Lisa as she walked by them. Some of them suggest that Lisa should sit with them, but after seeing the expression Lisa bore, and how she pointed her sheathed sword at them, they swiftly backed off.

“This yer first time here?”

“Yeah. Already got a bad impression about this place.”

“It’s the alcohol that’s making them do this. Try not to blame them too much.”

Lisa responded with a heave. “Alright. I’ll give them another chance. Let’s see how these people are when not on any booze.”

When they reached the counter, Lisa had to make a double take. She’s seen a lot of things in her life. But this wasn’t one of them.

“I hope this evening has been to your liking. How may I assist you this night?”

The counter worker regarded them warmly.

“Huh, a vampire working in a place like this, that’s interesting.” Lisa spoke her mind freely.

The vampire looked to be taken a back by Lisa’s sudden remark.

“You must be new to the area, yes?”

“Yup, came from the capital. I would’ve been here sooner, but my carriage and a bunch of others ran into a little problem.”

The vampire looked to be surprised by this revaluation.

“Tell me you didn’t comes from the forest.”

“Sorry, but that’s where we came from. And I got to say, you guys really should do something about that forest. We got lucky that nobody got hurt – to badly – on our way out.”

“How did you all manage to make it out? There must have been some confrontations with those beats.”

“Oh yeah, there were some confrontations. If it weren’t for Lisa over here and my good pal Shedder, a lot of us wouldn’t had survived.”

Upon hearing this, the vampire turned his head over to Lisa.

“Miss. Lisa, are you an adventurer?”

Lisa gave a lazy thumbs up.

“May I see your card? If you are not bothered by that.”

“Sure.” Lisa handed over her adventures ID card. The vampire studied her details and his eyes slightly widened.

“Your quite a high-ranking adventure, Miss. Lisa. Not only that, you yield from Newma. What is a citizen of Newma doing in the nation of Shallon?

“The winters in that country isn’t worth staying there. And all those high-level monsters doesn’t help.”

“Your from Newma!? How come we haven’t ran into you before? Newma isn’t that big of a country.”

“I left that place a few years ago. After that I haven’t been exploring that much at all…”

The vampire handed back Lisa’s ID card.

“Incidentally, since the both of you come from the forest, I hope you could answer some questions I have.

Lisa visibly deflated at hearing those words. She was exhausted. All the wanted to do was sleep the night away—and maybe the morning too.

Stomp placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t mind answering questions, but before we do that, Lisa here is very tired. So can we rent a room for her first?”

“Of course, how long will see be staying?”

“Two weeks at most.”

“Only two weeks? I thought you’d be staying longer than that. Here, this should be enough.” Stomp handed over two weeks worth of rent. The vampire took the cash, counted it before handed over her room key. The number 15 was engraved on it.

“Why you paying for me?”

“It’s my way of saying thank you for what you’ve done today.”

“You sure you want to do this? That’s money you won’t be seeing again.”

“I’m sure of this. And let’s not forget that you played a big role today.”

“I guess I can’t talk you out of it.”

“Its nothing big really. You should go sleep. Those bags under your eyes have worsen. I doubt they’d go away over night.”

“Wow, okay. I’ll have you know that no amount of sleep will make it go away. And I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” Lisa said after taking off.

“Wait. Before you go, I kinda promised to give you this.”

Stomp handed over a manadite the size of her hand. Looking closely, she looked up with a shocked expression.

“Do you have any idea just how expensive this is? You just handed over premium manadite. Something that’s hard to come across.”

“We got plenty of those just laying around. We personally don’t use them that often and only spellcasters buy it.”

“I get the feeling you love giving people stuff, don’t you?”

“Guilty.”

Lisa let out a weak chuckle.

“Again, thanks for being nice to me. I’ll pay you back with some great cake.”

“Now you’ve peeked my interest.”

Lisa walked down the long corridor, she found her room at the end of the hall. The door creaked open as she unlocked it. The dim hall light didn’t help much to illuminate the room. It was a small room, but had everything you’d need.

The door shut behind her. She didn’t even bothered to turn on the light as it was unneeded. Lisa closed her eyes, and the instant she opened them again, the room light up.

‘Not useful in a fight, unless I’m fighting in pure darkness, but this ability still has its uses.’

She made her way over the bed and threw her luggage on it. She searched for her nightwear and as she did, she took off the clothes she currently wore and switched them out for her comfy pajamas.

She searched for a place to hide the manadite Stomp gave her and ultimately decided to bury it deep within her luggage. She placed the case underneath the bed.

She fell without any grace on the bed. She held her short sword and hid it under the pillows. Just in case an intruder came into the room. She didn’t even feel undoing her braid and left it tied together.

She slid under the blankets. She stirred several times, trying to find a comfortable spot to lay. After a bit of shifting, she fond the spot she was looking for.

Now that she could lay peacefully, she could focus on what truly mattered—sleep.

It didn’t take her long though. Today had been a busy day for her. And she knew it would only get more draining. After all, she had two weeks left to look for that person.

Everything seemed to fate away as Lisa succumbed to her exhaustion. Lisa lay motionless. Her chest raised up and down in a steady motion.

Even with the curtains closed. Something was observing her, even if she wasn’t doing anything. It was something small. Covered in black feathers. It’s beak opened, and instead of any animalistic noises coming out, it spoke in a human voice.

“As you can see, she is safe. As I said, she won’t be needing assistance from me. That’s why we had Lady Catherine do it for us. I will keep watch over her if that is to your liking?”

“Please do.”

 A lovely voice only the crow could here spoke.

“Understood.”

The crow watched from atop of the building adjacent the guild. The crow’s gaze peered through the window which hid Lisa. For now and ever, it will continue to observe Lisa till she outlives this life.