***

At some point a visitor came to our small campfire.

"Hi. I am travelling bard called Angelika."

"Hello, I'm Moon. And those two are Miss Kristina and her butler Sebastian."

The woman introduced herself with a smile. Her voice was pretty and her face was beautiful. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. She was wearing a fluttering cape, which seemed to be made from cloth.

Her hair was short and red. Her eyes were light blue, and they were staring at me. She was holding a lute, and she was smiling as if she was having fun.

"Hey do you want to listen to my songs?"

"Yes, please. I'd love to hear your music."

"Okay, then I'll play you something good."

Angelika started playing the lute. The melody was soft and beautiful. It was calming.

"This is a song I composed myself. I hope you like it."

We listened to the song. I felt like I was getting sleepy.

I wanted to go to bed.

"Thank you very much. This was a wonderful performance. Yawn."

"You're welcome. It's good to hear that. You're very kind."

She smiled and laughed.

Me, Kristina and Sebastian were starting to doze off.

"Hm? What is it, Miss Moon?"

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm, a bit sleepy."

"I see. Sweet dreams then everyone. Fufufu.~" I heard her laughing cheerfully.

"Good night, everyone."

And so, I fell asleep... Not! Something's not right! In my hazy state I saw Angelika walking towards our luggage. I looked at the others, they were already sleeping soundly. I looked at Angelika again.

'What are you doing?!' I wanted to say, but I felt like my body was made of lead. I couldn't move at all or say anything. I couldn't even open my mouth.

Angelika was reaching out for one of the bags belonging to Miss Kristina. 'No way.'

"Huh? Ho, ho. I thought it would be quite the catch after seeing that noble looking lady there, but to think it would be this much... Mhm. So many goldens. I guess I should take these too. Hoho, ho."

Then she opened the bag and took out the stuffed bear, Beary.

"Oh, what's this? A stuffed toy? Ahahaha. What's with that dirty trash? How about I just throw it away?"

'Wha—?! No! Wait!'

I was still frozen. I couldn't move. I could only watch as she tossed Beary into the fire. "Aww, I'm gonna miss you. Ahahaha, just kidding~"

"Noooooo!!!"

I screamed in horror. I pulled the knife from my waist and cut my tight to wake myself up.

I felt pain clearing my thoughts. I was in a daze. My body moved on its own.

"Wha...? Wh-why are you awake?"

I jumped toward the fire to save Beary.

"Ugh!" It hurt, but I didn't have time to waste. I grabbed Beary and started to pat it to stop the flames. I crouched down next to it and held it close. It looked burnt in some places.

"How could you! How could you do this to Beary!!!" I screamed at 'that woman'.

"W-what are you talking about?! It's just a dirty old toy."

"That's not true! That's not true! It's not just a dirty toy! Beary is my treasure! I won't forgive you! I will definitely not forgive you for this!"

"Hm? Oh, I see. You're such a stupid kid."

"Don't make fun of me! Don't you dare mock me! You better prepare yourself!"

"Are you serious? I don't really care. If you want to kill me, go ahead. But I doubt you'll be able to do it. I mean, you look like a little weak girl."

She was looking down on me, smiling.

"What did you say?!"

"Heh, heh. are you deaf? I said I don't really care. And I also told you to go ahead and try killing me if you want to. I'm pretty sure you won't be able to do it though. I'm a powerful person. It's no wonder you're shaking in your boots. You're just a scared little girl. You're pathetic."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I jumped at her, unable to listen to her anymore. But the woman avoided me skilfully.

"Whoa! What the hell are you doing?! Stop moving around! Are you crazy?!"

"You won't get away with this! I'll curse you! I'll curse you so hard you'll regret ever coming near me! I'll curse you so bad you'll wish you were never born! Ugh... Uuugh..."

I couldn't believe my eyes. The woman was laughing. She was mocking me.

"Hehehe, you're so funny. It's hilarious."

"You monster! Monster! Monster! Sniff."

"Oh? Why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"Monster! Monster! Sniff"

"What are you talking about? I'm not a monster."

"You are. You're a terrible monster. I hate you."

"Little girl. If you just call me monster I might get mad too you know? Do you want me to beat you up?"

The woman looked at me with piercing glare and lunged towards me. I tried to dodge.

"Gwuh!" But, I couldn't dodge the attack.

I fell on the ground. I felt my head being stepped on. My face was being grinded towards the ground.

"Guh!" I tried to get up, but I couldn't.

"Gwaaaaaah!"

"Ahahahahaha! How cute! You're so easy to deal with! This is going to be fun! Aah, I've got so much energy right now!"

I struggled and managed to grab my gun from the holster. I pointed it at the woman. I shoot!

"What the...?! You little...!"

I felt the pressure loosening on my head. It was getting lighter. I turned around and saw that she was bleeding from her face. It seems a bullet scratched her cheek.

"Guh..." I stood up and shot again, but missed this time.

"I see, even though you look like a total weakling, little girl can still use guns. You still can bite back when attacked."

"You're wrong! I'm not a little girl! And you will pay for hurting Beary!"

"Well, whatever you say." She said as if losing interest. "I already got some goldens so I guess I will run away for now."

"No! Wait! You think I will let you?!"

"Okay then, bye bye!"

But, the woman disappeared before I knew it. I searched the area, but there was no trace of her.

I went back to the camp and woke up Kristina and Sebastian.

"Wh-what happened?" Sebastian asked me

"Um, we've been robbed by that musician woman. She took all our money and ran off into the forest."

"A-are you okay, Miss Moon?"

"Yes, I am fine. However, the woman stole some of your money and ruined my plushie."

"Umm... Th-then how should we deal with this matter?"

"There is nothing we can do. We have no choice but to leave here."

"That commoner! I will remember her. To steal from the noble, me. I declare that woman is an enemy of mine! Hmph! She shall burn in hell!"

Miss Kristina was getting really angry. Then she looked at me. No, she looked at the Beary I was holding.

"That stuffed animal... So, she ruined it. Are you okay, Miss Moon? Wasn't it an important gift? Please don't cry."

"Sniff"

She hugged me tight. I was surprised by her sudden action, but I didn't mind it.

"I wonder if it can be fixed?"

"W-we'll make it better! I'll fix it right away! I don't know how to fix a carriage, but if it's a stuffed toy, I might do something." Sebastian told me.

"Please."

Sebastian helped me to try to fix Beary. He cut out a part of the torn fabric and sewed it back together.

"Sniff. It looks different now."

"I'm sorry. It's the best I could do."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. Thank you."

I hugged Beary and wiped my tears. I couldn't keep crying forever. I needed to be strong.

***

Two days later, we finally made it to Sunnyrise. We could see a lot of people walking along the road. There were more than I expected. I guess they were hunters preparing for the upcoming 'Turkey Shoot'. It seemed like the most popular event in the city.

"So many commoners..."

"Yeah. It's probably because of the Turkey Shoot."

We passed through the gate and entered the city. The place was lively. People were excited for the event. I heard that there would be 150 goldens on the line. That was a lot of money.

The first thing I did after entering the city was to ask a nearby person about the places I could buy supplies. After all I was lacking in bandages, bullets and other things. I asked one of the people who was passing by.

"Hey, can you tell me where I can buy stuff?"

"Hmm? What do you want to buy?"

"Bandages, bullets, medicine, etc. I'm going to participate in the Turkey Shoot."

"Ahh, the turkey shoot huh. Well, if you go around the central square, there are lots of shops selling all kinds of things."

"Thanks."

I thanked the man and looked at my companions. They were all looking around the city.

"So, what do you want to do? Are you going to look for people to fix your carriage? Or are you just gonna wander around until we find someone?"

"We will look around. We also need to look for a place to sleep, I guess." Sebastian said.

"Then let's split up. I'll search for a shop and you two look for a place to stay."

"Okay."

"Just don't get lost in the crowd."

"Yes, Miss Kristina. See you later. I'm off then." I waved at them.

They left to look around. I looked around too. I wanted to do as much shopping as possible, before the night fell, I needed to rest properly for the 'Turkey Shoot'. I went around the town centre. I found what looked to be a general store. The signboard said 'Johann von Maedler's General Store' written in letters that looked like the local writing. I decided to check inside.

"Welcome! How may I help you?"

"Excuse me. I'm here to buy some supplies."

"I see. Then please come this way." The old man showed me to the back of the store.

There were shelves full of canned food and boxes of bread. I saw a whole bunch of weapons lined up on the wall. They were all different kinds of guns. There were also bandages, medicines and other items I didn't recognize.

"Alright, I will take some food, bandages and bullets. Please give me the best prices you can."

"Understood, Ma'am. One moment please."

The old man walked towards the back of the store. He returned with a bag full of various things.

"This should cover everything. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you." I took out some groshes from my bag to pay the man. but...

"Please wait a moment my beautiful young lady." The man grabbed my hand. I'm not a lady you know? Sigh.

"What is it?" The man's sudden action startled me.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking that you might be interested in this special Baltimore's Healing Tonic. It's very effective against every kinds of poisons and wounds. The wounds will close with pretty much no time. It's basically a miraculous medicine. And as you're a pretty girl. This will make you even more beautiful. Would you like to try a bottle? It's only 1 golden."

1 golden huh? It's quite a lot. He was definitely a salesman. I had no choice but to accept. I bought one bottle of the tonic and paid him.

"Thank you very much. I hope it works well."

"Of course. If you ever have any problems, come to our store anytime. We'll do whatever we can to help you."

"Yes, I'll be sure to do that."

After leaving the store, I felt relieved. I had bought enough food and other stuff to last for a while. I needed to rest soon though. I started looking for Kristina and Sebastian.

"Hm? Where did they go?" I searched the area, but I couldn't find them anywhere.

I started to panic. They should've been right next to me. They were supposed to be looking for a place to stay. I quickly ran and asked around.