When the sun was diving westwards, the hustle and bustle of Lu Vazr citizens rolled on like tidal waves. The voices of merchants hawking their merchandises and the bargaining buyers drowned all other voices.

No exception was a middle-aged woman' yells. Actually, she was just got mugged in the corner. No one noticed her plight, let alone noticed an elf named Maven who casually stood and was blending in the crowd.

Not far from Maven stood Declan. The cleric was pulling a man by his hood and lifted him with one arm. He then punched the man’s chin, making him faint. Declan groped into the man’s pocket picked out a weaved pouch with rattling coins inside. Then he gave it to the woman who was looking at him, dumbfounded. “Is this your pouch?”

Still gaping, the mugged woman nodded slowly. Declan handed her the pouch. She then told him “thank you” before quickly turned around and left.

”Wait, I caught a mugger for her, and she just left like that?” Declan complained, then he pushed the mugger so his head hit the wall, prolonging his unconsciousness. “We can’t hand him over to the authorities without her testimony and evidence. Oh well, let’s think of this as a pastime."

No response. Declan sniffed irritatedly and kept walking. This time he didn’t wear the Vadisian priest robe again, only a yellow tunic and a white, plain long robe.

About a month has passed since Maven and Declan began their journey from Redne to Lu Vazr by riding horses. Not like her original self, Maven has become a boring partner to travel with. Every conversation between her and Declan has been revolving around food, inn, and how much money remained for the trip.

Even with the side income from their new profession as monster hunters, Maven and Declan didn’t get much money since there were seldom monsters along the main road. As result, they were running out of money, having barely enough to survive for a day or two.

Yet Maven couldn’t care less about all that. She kept moving her feet even when she was running out of breath. Until finally she ceased her steps in front of a house she remembered clearly.

”I’m finally here. Let’s hope Reyl isn’t travelling around Aurelia at the moment.” Saying that, Maven walked to the backyard. Her expression turned bright when she saw Reyl’s carriage was parked in the garage. But Whisperwind, his horse was not in his stable.

“Whisperwind isn’t around. Reyl must be away hunting.”

Seeing Maven pretty much rambling mindlessly, Declan became concerned. “So what do we do now? The host isn’t around, right?"

Still half-dreaming, Maven said, “Let’s wait here.”

“What? Here? In front of his house? Until when ? We don’t know when he will come back. Do you want to starve in here to death?”

”If necessary.”

”How about we try knocking the door. Probably there’s someone home.”

Maven shook her head. “No, Dec. I only want to see Reyl, not her girlfriend Sophia, or even her teacher Lei.”

”Is that so? All right, I won’t force you. But consider this. Waiting requires energy. Look at our money, our condition. We need food and rest, as well as job to survive. Let’s get all of that first, and then we can return here with better health and cooler heads. What do you say, Mave?”

After briefly considered his advice, Maven nodded. “You’re right, Dec. It’s no use to be stubborn like this. We can always come here tomorrow, the day after and the day after that until we meet Reyl.”

==oOo==

The next day...

Reyl still was not home.

Declan slapped his thighs. “All right, since I’m sure you will not knock that door, let’s go to the Hunters’ Guild Office and take a mission. We need the...”

“Money, yes, I know,” Maven interupted, her eyes were still staring into the window. “But, let’s wait for a bit more just to check around. I have a feeling, Reyl is actually inside.”

Declan lifted his shoulders. He did not understand what Maven was saying but he decided not to debate his partner. He remained still and observed from a distance.

A few minutes later, Maven saw someone getting out of the house. It was a man dressed in all black with cold, focused blue eyes. His handsome face smiled charmingly.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“That’s Reyl! I was right!” Maven declared cheerfully.

On the other hand, Declan smiled insincerely. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go meet him!”

Not waiting for Declan to finish talking, Maven ran towards Reyl while calling him, “Reyl! Reyl!”

The merchant in black turned her way, then his face turned expressionless.

Baffled, Maven asked, “Oh Reyl, don’t you recognize me? It’s me, Maven! Maven Istravel!”

With a brusquely unenthusiastic tone Reyl answered, “Yes I know, you're Maven, the ‘former friend’ who simply left without telling, leaving only a letter. What are you doing here? So you have avenged your grudge? What are you going to do now, avenge yourself on me because you thought I was playing with your heart?”

Being rebuked so coldly, Maven shed tears. Reyl kept on, “Was it not enough for you to complicate my life? Threatening my relationship with Sophia?”

Abruptly, Declan threw himself between the arguing pair, yelling at Reyl, “Hey, dude! Can’t you speak more mannerly to a woman? You’re hurting her feelings! She has troubled herself coming here from Redne just to see you!”

Reyl then turned to Declan. “I’m sorry, who are you? Why are you meddling in our problem? You’re the one being unmannerly and barbaric!”

Hearing that, Declan immediately flexed his muscles, his right hand pointed with his trident. “Ha! I, Declan Pervius, won’t accept my friend, Maven, to be treated badly like that! It seems that my trident will have to teach you a lesson!”

Reyl immediately followed suit, drawing his favorite sword and pointing it at Declan. “All right, if that’s what you want! Don’t think just because you’re her friend, you can simply meddle in all her businesses! I’m rather curious, are you simply a foolish bull, or a suicidal one?”

“Enough! I’m going to mess your pretty face!” Declan swung his trident aside then charged ahead. Reyl followed suit. A fight broke out between the two enraged young man.

Maven couldn’t do anything, too traumatized by Reyl’s hostility. The young blood in heat was about to shed onto the ground when suddenly,

"Stop it at once, you two!"

A woman's loud yell turned out to be chanelling high amount of energy, enough to throw the clashing fighters apart from each other. Reyl, Declan even Maven immediately looked at the source of the voice.

At the doorstep of the house stood a one-eyed woman with braided silver hair on the front and bunned on the back. She was Sophia’s magic instructor, Nepathya Lei.

Reyl wasted no time to explain himself. “Madame Lei, this man named Declan has been rude, prying his nose on a problem that doesn’t concern him, so it is proper that I teach him a lesson.”

“They are still guests. Reyl, it’s your arrogant attitude that incited their hard reaction… ah!” Nepathya faked a gasp. “Isn’t that… Maven?”

Trying to be polite, Maven greeted shyly, “Yes, Madame Lei… I’m currently visiting…”

At the same time Sophia, the red-haired witch came out of the house and immediately clung to Reyl. “What happened, Reyl? Are you hurt? Have these people harmed you?”

Maven was not amused to see Sophia appearing. Her face turned deep red. Yet she couldn’t quite understand whether Sophia didn’t realize Reyl’s change of attitude and nature. This time he seemed arrogant, rude, and… aggressive compared to when Maven first met him.

Reyl used to be a man who was a bit serious yet still nice, always keeping his cool in the face of trouble instead of rushing to draw his sword like he did just now.

On the other hand, Sophia also seemed unpleasantly surprised to see Maven’s arrival that she surely didn’t wish for, but she was forced to bear with it.

Reyl spoke, “Madame Lei was right. Forgive me Maven, Declan. I’ve been a bit emotional lately since the death of my steed, Whisperwind. He surely was already very old. Besides, I should be letting go of his departure instead of seeking an outlet for my sadness."

Madame Lei nodded. “Very good, Reyl. Now come, let us all talk inside. A warm and relaxed atmosphere can help to make communication much easier.”

Soon afterwards, the five seated comfortably around the dining table. It reminded Maven a little of Reyl’s birthday party months ago, along with the song she created for her darling. She was still writing more lyrics and the song was not yet close to being complete.

Reyl broke the ice by starting the conversation, “Now, Maven. What brought you here all the way from Redne?”

Nervously, Maven tried to answer, “I only come here just to…. just to….”

Ley interrupted, “If you can’t answer, you don’t have to.”

“Ah, r-right.” Maven sighed. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed with Lei’s attitude.

“Oh, but I truly miss being able to travel and trade from town to town,” Reyl said gloomily. “But unfortunately, with the death of my horse it’s now much harder for me to travel out of town. There is no stable willing to rent me any carriage-pulling horse, and to buy a new horse I will need a lot of money.”

Sophia added, “So, most likely we will simply settle down here as monster hunters. We'll also open a weapon shop and start a family.”

Sophia deliberately emphasized on the word ‘start a family’. She was very satisfied to see Maven’s naïve gasp in reaction to her.

Nepathya then flicked her finger in front of her face and then said, “Aha, I have an idea. While we have Maven and... pardon me, what’s your name again?”

“Declan Pervius, a former cleric. Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself before.”

“Right, Declan. While we have two fighters as our guests here, how about the four of you go to take one high level mission? One that rewards enough money to enable Reyl to buy a new horse? That way Reyl can start traveling again, Sophia can speed up her magic studies with me, and every other plan can go smoothly.”

Sophia clapped her hands. “Wow, that’s a great idea, teacher! That way our current financial problem can be dealt with. Right after I finish my magic studies, I will get married with Reyl.” This time Maven didn’t react.

“Well, it can’t be helped,” commented Reyl as he looked toward his guests. “I feel reluctant to trouble our guests who are only visiting us here. To be honest, I’m in need of money at the moment. But what do you think, Maven and Declan?”

Idly rubbing his chin, Declan replied, “Hmm, sounds tempting, but whether I will come along or not depends on Maven. What you do think of this offer, Mave?”

Instead, Maven couldn’t answer. Her forehead frowned from thinking hard. She was torn between her ego that couldn’t accept to see Reyl and Sophia happy and her real self that likes to help those in need.