The ride back to Lamium Village was far from comfortable or rewarding. After getting rescued by Runa das Meer--Kyros Aleister and Sarra Zosime sat in the back of their wagon while the blue-haired Huntress took control of the reigns. Absolute silence hung in the air, as demanded of her.

Runa admonished the duo on their actions and made sure they thought back on their choices. She was at least satisfied that Sarra survived the whole ordeal, but it didn't get rid of the fact that she could've died. If that happened, she might've killed Kyros in retaliation.

"Thanks for having our backs out there, Runa," Kyros spoke up to end the awkward silence around them. They were comrades. The silence between them was unnecessary, in his opinion.

"We didn't need your help," Sarra spat, gaining a glance of concern from Kyros and an expression of annoyance from Runa. "Mr. Kyros and I had it handled."

"Didn't look that way when I showed up," Runa countered, immediately recalling the scene of them surrounded by wolves with Kyros down on his knees. "You two could've gotten yourselves killed."

"But we survived," stated Kyros as he struggled to raise his hand into the air. He didn't know what happened to him back there. Despite his exhaustion during the fight, he still had enough strength to defend himself from a bunch of wolves. But then the next moment, the terrible pain in his chest brought him to his knees.

The pain reminded him of the time when he first met Runa and Sarra at Soteria.

"Thanks to me," Runa reminded.

"I know, that's why I thanked you," Kyros stated.

"I don't understand how you could let a little girl convince you to bring her to such a dangerous place at night! It's idiotic! You could've gotten Sarra killed!" The blue-haired woman went off on another tangent. She was in her right to chew him out on his actions. Kyros and Sarra could've lost their lives out there on the mission. "You useless piece of--"

They encountered a monster above their rank but thankfully took it down. Plain and simple, the duo got lucky. Nine times out of ten other hunters would've met their end if they were in their situation.

"Stop blaming everything on Mr. Kyros!" Sarra demanded, standing to her feet on the wagon. "I'm the one that sent us out on this mission, and I'm the one that suggested heading out into the forest to find the Noctua! I'm the one to blame! Not him!"

"Oh, you'll be sure to get an earful from me when we get back to the guild," Runa assured her partner of her future punishment. It was the woman's mission to keep an eye on Kyros for the time being. She couldn't accomplish her task if he and Sarra went out on separate missions without telling her in the first place.

"Go easy on her, Runa," Kyros pleaded. He understood the wrong decisions he made throughout his first mission. He allowed Sarra to take charge of everything, which nearly resulted in them losing their lives. He should've pointed out the flaws in Sarra's decisions and discussed other potential courses of action.

"Oh, believe me, I'm goin' easy on her," Runa assured them and kept silent for the rest of the ride back to the village. The group spoke with the request sender and informed them of their success. As compensation, they received money and a place to stay for the night, which they happily accepted.

Kyros split off from the rest of the women, at Runa's command, and got a room for himself.

The next morning, Sarra awoke and got herself prepped for the trip back to Anemone Town. She wasn't looking forward to the journey there thanks to none other than her partner, Runa. The little girl scowled at the sight of the older woman sleeping away without a care in the world.

It wasn't fair.

Runa had no business sticking her nose in their business. Their mission was going well until she arrived. Sure, there were some hiccups here and there, but they survived nonetheless. What was the point of accepting and completing missions without Runa, if the specified Huntress would show up anyway?

Sarra was too angry to stay in the room with the woman any longer. She left the room and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. It was oddly packed during that time of day. But she thankfully found a table and ordered some food from one of the waitresses.

 Her time of leisure was almost immediately interrupted when a group of men entered the inn and made themselves comfortable at her table. They chatted up a storm, completely ignoring Sarra's presence.

"Excuse me," Sarra politely called out to them. "This is my table."

Again, they refused to acknowledge the little girl.

"Hey!" Sarra raised her voice and slammed her hands on the table. All eyes locked onto the little girl. "This is my table!"

"Huh?" The largest man out of the group sneered at Sarra. "Did you say something, shrimp?"

"Yes! It's my table! Go find one for yourselves!" demanded Sarra, not in the mood for the childish antics of the group men before her.

"Other seats are taken," Another one of the sleazy men noted, waving his hand out to display the current state of the inn. "Your table's the only spot left for us to sit. Don't be stingy."

"Try and ignore us. It'll be like we're not even here," The third man said.

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

Sarra gritted her teeth and settled down. As long as the men didn't cause a ruckus, she'd allow them to stay at the table. That decision proved to be a mistake, as minutes later, the men turned rowdy.

They got loud and disturbed the other patrons within the inn. And it only got worse once the waitress brought over Sarra's food. The men surrounded the poor woman and harassed her.

"That's enough! Leave that woman alone!" Sarra demanded.

"Keep quiet, girly. You're bothering us. Go back to your slop," The large man ordered, dismissing the girl's shout with a careless wave of his hand.

Sarra put her utensils down and left her seat, approaching the men with her hand on the handle of her dagger behind her back. It was the most comfortable situation, but she felt she had to do something to put a stop to the men's unnecessary antics.

One of the men spotted the dagger and smacked Sarra across the face, joining the others in laughter once the girl hit the floor.

"Bastards!" Sarra spat her blood onto one of their shoes and unsheathed her knife. They were nothing but no good thugs to her. She'd teach them a lesson and take them down.

"You wanna go, little girl? Don't regret this," One of the men warned her as he reached for his sword. However, a hand suddenly reached out and prevented him from grasping the weapon's handle. The man grimaced and turned his head to face the stranger.

It was a woman whose face was obscured by a maroon-colored hood and a cloth wrapped around the lower half of her face.

"Leave. Now." She demanded with a low and cold voice. Chills ran down the spines of everyone within the first floor of the inn.

"Who the hell are you? Let go of my men!" The large man ordered, using his towering size to try and intimidate the woman. But she wasn't fazed in the slightest.

"As you command," The woman spun around and tossed the screaming man out of the window.

"You bitch!" The large man brought a massive fist down on the woman. Or so he thought.

With one hand, the woman redirected the man's fist through the nearest table, which left him wide open for a counter-attack. The woman struck the defenseless man in the solar plexus, leaving him incapacitated once she retracted her fist from his stomach. The large man's eyes rolled up to the back of his head as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"You want some too or what?" The woman taunted the last man of the group left standing. The man shrieked in terror and ran out of the inn.

Applause and cheers of celebration filled the establishment from the patrons. The woman waved off the shows of gratitude and removed the large, unmoving body of the man she knocked out. She tossed the deadweight out onto the street and wiped her hands off the situation.

"That takes care of that," She smiled at her work and approached Sarra. "You alright, little girl?"

"I'm fine," Sarra frowned and sheathed her dagger. "Thanks for the help, I guess. I could've taken them."

"I doubt that," The woman removed her hood, allowing her dark hair to drop down to her back. "You'd be the one lying out there on the road if I didn't step in. Either that or dead."

"Don't underestimate me! I killed a Noctua yesterday!" Sarra declared.

"You're the one that did that?" The woman took a seat at the now less crowded table.

"Well, I had some help. But, yes." Sarra joined the woman at the table.

"A runt like you managed to take down a large monster like that without any injuries?" The woman did a quick look over of Sarra, not spotting any noticeable wounds on the girl's body. "That's impressive. Maybe you're not all talk, after all."

"I'm not," Sarra assured her, trying to sound as harsh as possible.

The woman quickly reached across the table and pressed her index finger against Sarra's forehead. "Don't let it get to your head, kid. You survived thanks to those that helped you out. But alone, you're practically powerless. I could kill you right now if I wanted."

Beads of sweat poured down Sarra's face. Despite the cheerful smile plastered on the woman's face, it was evident that she meant what she said. Sarra felt the bloodlust seeping from the woman's body.

"Of course, you're not going to," Sarra forced a response once she regained her composure.

"Oh?" The woman arched an eyebrow out of curiosity, deciding to humor the little girl a bit more. "What makes you so confident?"

"The gun that I have under the table aimed at her gut," answered Sarra, a wide grin etched on her face as she resumed with her threat, "if you tried anything, I'd empty the entire clip into you."

"Scary," The woman noted and removed her finger from the little girl's forehead. "I know you don't have a gun, by the way. But your attempt to bluff your way out was impressive. You're an interesting little girl."

"Thanks," Sarra wiped away her sweat with the sleeve of her shirt. "I'm Sarra Zosime."

"Lia," The woman revealed with a smile.

"What brings you here?"

"Traveling," Lia answered. "I finished with a mission of mine, so I'm heading back home for a while."

"Mission? You're in a guild?" Sarra leaned across the table and smiled.

"Yup," Lia nodded, immediately noticing the interest in the little girl's eyes. "What guild are you part of?"

Sarra showed the back of her hand to the woman, leaving her guild mark on full display.

"Wild Hunt..." Lia muttered.

"Impressive, right? I'm a D-Rank. But after killing that Noctua, my rank may rise." Sarra flaunted.

Lia sat back and listened to the little girl rant about her time in the Wild Hunt Guild with a smile on her face. When the mention of her partner came up, the tone of the conversation changed drastically. Suddenly, she had nothing but complaints and spite towards the woman.

"Your partner sounds troublesome," Lia commented and then took a sip from a drink.

"I know! She had no business being here, but she shows up anyway and has the nerve to scold me!" Sarra angrily tore away at the food on her plate. "How can I show her that I'm a capable Huntress if she doesn't give me the chance to prove myself?"

"From an outside perspective, you're both pretty stubborn. Your partner for always coddling you, and then yourself for putting your new friend in unnecessary danger." Lia pointed out. "If you want others to treat you like an adult, then you need to act like one. Going off and pulling childish stunts like that won't get you anywhere."

"Then, what should I do?" Sarra wondered. No matter how much she pondered on her scenario, she couldn't come up with a good idea to prove herself to Runa and the others.

"You're having trouble deciding because of your close relationship with your partner and friends," Lia immediately surmised. "From everything you told me, Wild Hunt acts more like a family than a legitimate organization. If you want to prove yourself a capable Huntress, I'd suggest cutting your ties with them and going off on your own. Join a new guild and build yourself up again. See how different things are on the other side."

"Leave Wild Hunt? How can I do that? They're my family..." Sarra stared down to the guild mark on the back of her hand. How could she possibly leave behind everything that she had left in the world?

"That's the problem. They'll continue to treat you like their daughter, a child, for several more years when instead, you could hone your skills and prove yourself elsewhere. You don't have to leave forever," Lia shrugged her shoulders and then finished off the rest of her drink. "But it's your choice. I'm just offering advice,"

"There's some truth to what you're saying, but--"

"Sarra?"

The little girl turned her head and spotted her companions, Kyros and Runa approaching the table.

"We were looking for you. Have you been here the whole time?" asked Kyros.

"What's with that bruise? What happened?" Runa pushed Kyros aside and brought her hand to Sarra's cheek.

"I'm fine, guys. I was talking to my new friend--" Sarra paused once she looked ahead and found that Lia had suddenly vanished.