Alvrin hadn’t slept in days. Not any real sleep at least. Every time he closed his eyes he pictured Ophelia, his former disciple, along with his first born son. She reminded him so much of Alp. She was headstrong and talented and smart. She was so, so smart. It was his fault what happened to her. He couldn’t help imagining his son going through the same thing because of him.

He almost regretted making his family sometimes. Some things would be better if he had simply stayed in his forest, but he was greedy. Now, other people paid the price. His memories kept flashing before him. Reminding him of how everything started off so well.

She was young when she started following them around, maybe seven or eight years old. Her parents died in an Orc attack, leaving her to fend for herself. It was snowing when they met. Although the girl was skin and bones, the first thing she did was offer Alvrin and his wife a meal she had made.

“Hey mister, ma’am, would you be willing to try this dish I made? I’m trying to unlock a new skill.”

Alvrin was taken aback. Looking at her title it read “otherworldly chef”, a unique title.

“Do you have any skills already?” he didn’t think she would at this age, especially because her title was so specific.

“No sir. I think I need to make a dish so good and unique that it’s deemed something not found in this world? I’m not really sure to tell you the truth.”

“Why aren’t you working for a shop young’in? You're awfully young to be out here peddling by yourself.” Lina asked.

She looked glum at this change in topic. “Well you see, we have one of those job guilds here, but they wouldn’t sort me into a cook apprenticeship because my title seemed hard to advance since no one knows what it means. They told me I wasn’t needed in this town and refused to place me into a shop… but I swear mister, I’m really good at cooking. Just taste and see!”

She held out some sort of bread bun expectantly. Alvrin was slightly untrusting of this girl, where did she get this food, and where had she cooked it? She was dirty all over, and her hair had obviously not been washed in quite awhile. While he was hesitating, Lina, his wife, grabbed the bun out of the girl's hand and popped it into her mouth.

“Mmmm” she hummed. “This is actually really good. I would visit any shop that sold something like this.”

The girl's face broke out into a smile. “Thank you for saying so!” Then her face fell slightly. “It’s still not good enough to unlock my skills though.”

Lina shot Alvrin a look. He couldn’t figure out exactly what it meant. He didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“Since this town doesn’t need you, why not travel with us? Alvrin here is actually a pretty good cook himself, he could probably show you a thing or two. Plus it’s always faster when multiple people help.”

He was surprised she would offer something like this without discussing it in length with him. Although, when tears started streaming down the girl’s cheeks, he could hardly argue. He let out a soft sigh before smiling down at the child.

“Do you have any relatives you need to ask permission first? It would make us look bad taking you without letting anyone know.” He didn’t want to receive a bounty for kidnapping.

“No. I’m all alone here. My parents were once adventurers, but they never made it home from their last quest. The guild leader sometimes gives me money and stuff, but not much. I don’t think anyone would care if I left!”

She said such sad words with such a big smile. Her eyes were still slightly puffy, but she seemed like she was finished crying.

“Okay, at least let's tell the guild leader about you leaving. We’ll need to register you as our porter if we want to travel together anyway.” Lina said with a smile. Alvrin thought she looked beautiful right now, smiling down at the child. He thought about the children they would eventually have, and how they would be loved like this. For the ten thousandth time since he met Lina, he got excited about starting the peaceful family he always wanted.

The guild leader was suspicious of them at first. Two random goblin adventurers taking a human child along with them for nothing but good faith? It did seem like a weird scenario. The leader refused their request stating the girl's parents left her in his care and he couldn’t disrespect their last wish like that. This made Lina angry. No, more than angry, she was furious at this man’s audacity to say he was respecting her parents wishes.

She asked Alvrin and the child to leave the office and wait for her downstairs in the guild hall’s cafeteria. He of course did what he was told. Once they were descending the stairs from the guild leader’s office, they could hear Lina start yelling at him. Alvrin rushed the child slightly, hoping to save her from hearing the profanities Lina was spewing. It was for not though, as they entered the cafeteria he realized that Lina could be heard even down here. Other adventurers started staring at them. Alvrin quickly went to the counter and ordered a couple drinks for them.

“How dare you say that that girl is under your protection! You left her on the streets. Where does she even sleep at night? Do you even know? When's the last time she got to bathe? She's covered in dirt and grim and you weren’t even fazed. How dare you desecrate the memory of her parents. They wouldn’t have wanted this for their child. No one wants this for their child. Are you fucking stupid!”

Her words were suddenly stopped by a loud crash. Others around them began to get up but before they could reach the stair case, more thudding could be heard. A second later the auburn hair of the guild leader could be seen as he was hurled down the stairs. He landed hard on his back at the bottom.

Adventurers started unsheathing their weapons prepared to defend their leader. Alvrin sighed as he did the same. He used a movement skill to place himself and the girl in front of the gathering crowd.

“What the hell!” they shouted. One burly man in particular seemed to be on edge. He held his metal club above his head ready to slam it down onto Alvrin and the child. The little one screamed in fright, although it wasn’t necessary. Alvrin’s ring turned into a shield just large enough to cover his hand. With tremendous strength Alvrin batted the club away and knocked the fellow onto his rear. With another lightning fast strike the club lay partially flattened, only the tip and the handle were left in their original round state. They looked wide eyed at Alvrin, trepidation shown on their faces.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I’d like you to try to harm my wife again. Let’s see how good it turns out for you.” Alvrin wore a mincing glare. It told the people surrounding him that he would unhesitatingly flatten them like he did the men's club if they moved any closer.

Lina descended the stairs with a look that seemed like it could kill. It sent chills down the spines of the adventurers around them. She kicked the unconscious guild leader into the crowd, knocking a few people off their feet.

“Is this how you treat your fellow adventurers kin once they have fallen? You leave them to live alone on the streets, only giving them enough money to feed themselves every few days? There's not a kitchen in the guild this child could’ve been working at? This place is pathetic. You don’t even have the right to call yourselves adventurers. At best you could be mercs, obviously you put money before all else.” She was practically growling at the end of her speech.

“Hey wait lady, we don’t do that here! Please believe us, we pay a fees to the guild on a monthly basis that goes towards the families of fallen adventurers. Children get sent to an apprenticeship while the widowed or elderly receive a small monthly pension.” The person speaking was a young beastfolk. It was apparent that they were both nervous and confused.

Lina looked to the still unconscious guild leader. “I would look into exactly where that money is actually going then. We found this girl in the square this morning. Her parents were adventurers. What were their names again honey?”

Though frightened by this point, the girl answered quietly, “My mother was named Nova and my father was Darryl.” the girl was shedding silent tears that Alvrin hadn’t noticed till then.

The crowd went quiet. Suddenly the beastfolk that had spoken up threw a hard kick straight into the side of the guild master. After another moment of silence, another adventurer did the same. Eventually they were all taking turns beating the unconscious man. An older elf woman came into the center of the circle and everyone stopped as quickly as they started.

“Hello travelers”, she said in a breathy voice. “I am this town's vice guild master. I was formerly the guild master, but due to my old age I took a step back from management a few years ago. Sadly it seems like my replacement wasn’t up to par. I am sincerely sorry for my incompetence. I appreciate you pointing out my mistakes. However, I must insist that we stop this for now. If he is wounded any more severely, my healing magic won’t be enough to save him, and everyone here could potentially be hit with bounties for murder.”

Lina’s gaze grew softer looking at the elf. As the elf took over and started giving commands, Alvrin looked back to the girl in his arms. Her tears had stopped but she still seemed frightened. He slowly rubbed circles on her back to try to calm her down. Lina came over after exchanging words with the elf, but she wasn’t alone.

The beastfolk that had spoken out came with her. Once in front of the child, she bowed down low. “I am very sorry Miss Ophelia. I was a friend of your parents, we were at the same party actually. I, um, I was there. When they… died. I couldn’t help them. Please forgive me. I couldn’t even help protect the child they left behind. I am a failure as an adventurer and friend.” The woman's voice broke as she finished, head still bowed. When she raised it, there were tears freely falling from her chin.

“Your aunty Melody right? I haven’t seen you since my parents left. I assumed you died with them. I’m so glad you didn’t” The child gave a smile to the crying woman. This made the woman cry even harder though.

“I’m, I’m sorry I avoided you. I didn’t even give you my condolences. I couldn’t face you after your parent’s passing though. I was too guilty. I thought you were being taken care of. I paid every extra coin I could into the next of kin account, hoping to support you from the far at least. I never imagined that the master would pocket the money like this. I’m so very sorry. I have failed you time and time again now. I couldn’t save your parents and I couldn’t save you. I have never felt shame like this before. I am willing to do anything to make this up to you.”

No words were spoken for a while. Then Ophelia said something unexpected. “Could you tell me their story? How they died I mean. No one ever told me when they didn’t come back. Some people came to my house and told me that my parents didn’t pay them the rent and I couldn’t stay there anymore. I went to the guild to look for my parents. That's when the master told me what had happened. We went to the job guild, but when they didn’t have any apprenticeships for me, he told me all he could help me with was funds for food. He told me not to become too reliant on him though, or else I wouldn’t grow up well.”

The fire that came through the beastfolk’s eyes looked like it could burn down mountains. There was a vein popping out of her forehead and when she turned around and started walking towards the still bloodied guild master, Lina had to grab her shoulder to stop her from continuing where she left off.

After calming down some, she invited the three of them to her home to discuss the day's events. Alvrin and Lina cooked dinner to give the other two privacy to remember the fallen adventurers they once loved. During dinner the conversation dulled and the topics weren’t as emotional anymore. Due to the stress of the events, Ophelia tired shortly after eating and had to be taken upstairs to rest.

Once the child fell asleep, the adults started talking about the future. Melody wanted to know Ophelia was with them in the first place, along with what their plan was going to be with her. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. You obviously have Ophelia’s well being in mind, but I can’t take any more chances entrusting her to people who are just going to do her more harm in the long run. Children are big responsibilities, are you sure you’ll be able to protect her?”

Lina thought it was slightly hypocritical coming from the beastfolk. Before she could say anything though, Alvrin flashed a skill sheet at the woman. Once she read it, her eyes went wide. She nodded her head vigorously. Lina sighed, her husband just had to brag.

“So now you know that I’m more than capable of handling a single child, would you still allow us to take her? We simply wanted to help train her title and possibly take her to a town that does have an apprenticeship available. We were never considering becoming her new parents or anything like that. If you want, your more than welcome to take her in, and we’ll be on our way.” Alvrin explained.

The woman looked troubled for a moment before speaking. “I don’t plan to leave this town. I was born here, my family lives here, I don’t know anything else. Ophelia wouldn’t want to stay here. This isn’t somewhere she has the ability to grow. I would love to take her in, but I would only be able to support her so long on my own. She’ll eventually need to be able to take care of herself, and I don’t think living with me would help her do that. It makes me feel better that she ran into such capable adventurers. Although I regret the time we spent away from one another, I think it's best if she goes with you.”

Alvrin spoke again, “Okay, we’ll ask her again when she wakes up tomorrow if she’d still like to come. She was under the assumption that you died when she agreed to come with us, maybe she changed her mind now that she has new resources available to her.”

When morning came, the adults explained the options to the child. Although she was tearful about leaving her aunt, she decided she would be going with the pair of goblins.

“Uncle Alvrin was really cool when he blocked aunty Lina from getting hit by that guys big club. I want to unlock skills like him!” she explained excitedly.

Even after explaining to her that her skills would probably not be used to movement and fighting, she stood her ground. “It’s all about how you use your title sillys. I could poison food, or make restorative foods, or even only use the most dangerous beasts as ingredients! I’m sure I can unlock a cool skill too.”

The adults around her gave her a long stare. They would have to be careful about what she cooked for them in the future, now that they knew she might be planning to poison them. It was good to have aspirations though. They restocked their stores and readied themselves to head out of town the next day. Alvrin kind of liked having the twerp around. Thinking of these memories made him finally feel drowsy. It was what happened after they left her hometown that made his eyes shoot back open with anxiety.