No matter what I do, don’t act surprised.

Sera’s words echoed through my head as I watched the scene unfold before me, but I didn’t know if I could follow her request. I don’t know what I’d expected, but I certainly hadn’t expected her to literally throw herself at the Otherworlder and physically assault him.

I didn’t know if I was more afraid of her or for her, if she thought that provoking the Otherworlder with violence was the best thing to do to endear herself to Ryuji. My mom had been right when she said I didn’t understand boys, but I knew enough to know that whatever this was probably wasn’t the best way to go about inciting any emotions other than anger. It was only shock that kept me from running away in fear of Ryuji’s retaliation.

“Pervert!” Sera cried out again, as she smacked the top of Ryuji’s head, driving his face deeper into her crotch at the same time.

An explosion happened. When I saw the spray of blood erupt from under Sera’s skirt, my first thought was to assume that she stabbed him with a hidden weapon of sorts, but the utter confusion on Sera’s face made me think otherwise.

“Shit!” Ryuji cried out, easily crawling out from underneath Sera and forcing her to roll off of him as he clutched at his face to cover the steady spray of blood that was shooting out from his nose. “I’m so sorry. Goddamn Anime Character Constitution!”

I still didn’t understand what Anime was, but Sera either seemed to know what Ryuji was talking about, or was just skilled enough to adapt to the situation instantly. Her confused expression disappeared instantly as she looked up at Ryuji.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, as if she was somehow unaware that she’d just tackled him to the floor and assaulted him. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. I was just surprised.”

Ryuji looked up and my first thought was that of shock. The flow of nose blood had stopped just as quickly as it started and his face and chest was painted red, but that wasn’t what stood out. The palm shaped welt on his face was horrifying to look at. It hadn’t looked like Sera put too much force into her swings, certainly not enough to inflict damage on an Otherworlder.

“A-are you alright?” I winced when Sera glanced back at me with a wide-eyed expression, but the words had come out of my mouth automatically.

“Yeah,” Ryuji said. “I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure?” Sera said, crawling up to Ryuji and cupping a hand under his chin. It was a good thing he was sitting down, or she probably would’ve had to stand on her tiptoes to reach him. With her on her knees, and him sitting down against the wall, she stared deep into his eyes.

There was a moment of silence before Ryuji’s face turned a bright crimson. The speed of the change was fast enough to make me recoil, but Sera paid no mind to it. A blush emerged on her face, as she pushed Ryuji’s face to the side, diverting his gaze away from her.

“D-don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t care if you’re hurt or not. I just didn’t want to feel guilty about hurting you, idiot.”

I had no idea what that meant, but I was getting more and more uncomfortable watching this play out. Our previous conversation had left a good enough impression on me that I had some amount of trust in her, but the character that Sera was playing to “seduce” Ryuji was clearly skating on the brink of mental instability.

I didn’t know whether I wanted to intervene. The last time that Ryuji had become irritated in any way, it resulted in a man dying. Sure, Medric got better, and Ryuji hadn’t meant to kill him in the first place, but it didn’t mean I enjoyed the experience overall.

I lifted a hand as I debated with myself whether I should stop Sera or not.

??? has joined your party!

I stared at the panel for a few seconds before I actually registered its existence. Rubbing my eyes once to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, a complex stew of emotions swirled inside of me.

On one hand, I was relieved to see that Sera was as good at her job as she claimed to be. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed at the fact that it had been so easy for her. I knew I should’ve been ecstatic to see that Sera’s tactics were so effective, but a part of me thought that Sera’s ability to deal with Ryuji so easily kind of cheapened how hard it had been for me for the past week.

The panel was hovering right in front of Ryuji’s face, interposing itself between him and Sera. Though it was somewhat translucent, Sera’s face was still probably obscured enough from Ryuji that he wouldn’t see her blank expression as she stared at the panel. Though she hid her emotions well, I could only guess that she was experiencing similar feelings to mine.

When Ryuji tapped a finger on the panel, dismissing it, the room fell into an awkward silence for a few long seconds.

“My name’s Sera, by the way,” Sera said eventually. I couldn’t help but wonder if I imagined a bit of passive-aggressive spite in the way she said it.

“Oh,” Ryuji said, still blushing heavily. “My name’s Ryuji. Ryuji Nightblade.”

Sera didn’t respond immediately. Though I wasn’t sure if I imagined it or not, I noticed a subtle rise in her shoulders as she took a deep breath, as if to refocus her thoughts before she spoke again.

“Ryuji, that’s an interesting name,” she said, placing a finger on her chin in a thinking pose that was way too exaggerated to be anything other than an obvious act.

Ryuji didn’t seem to notice. He blushed and turned away, scratching his head in embarrassment.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Thanks,” he said.

As the conversation died immediately, Sera stared at Ryuji for a few more seconds before giving him a strained smile.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here. Right, Ryuji?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, looking up at her with a new sense of confusion in his eyes, as if he’d just noticed that he was talking to a stranger and not an old friend. “Why are you here?”

“I heard you’re an adventurer,” Sera said. “Someone that does dangerous jobs on request?”

Ryuji’s eyes lit up at that. I had to assume that it had been her entire plan to endear herself to him by giving him an avenue to pursue his dreams from the beginning.

“Yeah!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the stone cell we were still in.

Sera let out a relieved sigh, her acting quickly becoming more natural as her original plan took hold. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that,” she said, giving him a smile as she took his hands in hers. I was impressed by how easily she could summon fake tears as she stared into Ryuji’s eyes. The mood in the room instantly shifted as she took on the role of a young distraught girl.

Though he was blushing, Ryuji grinned and nodded quickly. “What do you need me to do?” he asked. “I would do anything for a fair maiden like you.”

“Thank you, Ryuji,” she said, sniffling as she wiped a tear away from her eyes. “It’s my grandmother. She was supposed to come visit me in Redstone a week ago, but I haven’t heard from her. I was hoping you could accompany me to try and find her. The road is far too dangerous for a young girl like me to travel alone. Word is that a tribe of bandits has recently formed and is roaming out there.”

Ryuji’s eyes lit up with the same delight that had painted his face when he killed the demons back in the village and the forest. I felt a shiver run down my spine.

“Bandits?” he asked, excitedly.

“Yes, terrible ones,” Sera said, unbothered by his sudden enthusiasm. She smiled and nodded, as if just remembering something. “I just remembered! The bandits have a bounty too! If we come across them, you might be able to get a reward for their heads!”

Instantly, Ryuji’s smile disappeared. For the second time since I’d entered the room, he glanced at me with an uncomfortable expression on his face, before turning back to Sera.

“Their heads?” he asked hesitantly.

Sera seemed to recognize that something was wrong, fixing me with a questioning look for a brief second, before turning back to Ryuji. She smiled, as if not sensing the sudden shift in Ryuji’s mood.

“These bandits are ones that have escaped the executioner’s block. You would be rewarded for hunting them down. Is something the matter?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Ryuji said, scratching his head awkwardly. “I’m actually not that happy about the idea of killing people. It just doesn’t sit right with me. Could we just capture them or something?”

Though Sera’s smile remained unchanged, I could see the slightest hint of her brow furrowing in confusion. She opened her mouth and closed it as she struggled to think of something. Though I wasn’t sure what exactly was wrong, it was clear that her original plan had been compromised in some way.

I felt the urge to jump in, to cover for her, but unlike the villagers of Plainswood, she was at least professional enough to not freeze up completely.

“Well, we could, but they would be executed regardless,” she said, pausing to think for a moment. “Astranta isn’t kind to Goblin bandits.”

Ryuji’s eyes lit up again. “Wait, they’re Goblins?” he said, his voice full of relief. “Why didn’t you say so?”

I was glad that Ryuji had turned away from me, because I was sure my expression was filled with a level of disgust that I wouldn’t be able to hide. Even knowing that Ryuji had only killed demons so far, the fact was that he thought he had killed several Goblins already and his casual racism was enough to draw a scowl to my face. If Sera shared even a fraction of the emotions I felt, she was a good enough actor to hide it from Ryuji.

“Ah, so you’re okay if it’s Goblins you’re killing?” she asked, as casually as if she were asking his preference in colours.

“Well, duh,” Ryuji replied, smacking his forehead and laughing. “They’re just monsters. You really had me going there for a second, Sera. I thought you were suggesting that I should kill people.”

I couldn’t help but grind my teeth at that. It certainly wasn’t the worst thing that Ryuji had done, but the casual social injustice was terrible to listen to regardless. Thankfully, Sera seemed to be composed enough not to let it show.

“I see,” she said, thinking for a moment before clapping her hands and standing up. “Then in that case, we should leave as soon as possible. I’ve already posted bail for you. It wasn’t much since they only had you in for a public disturbance misdemeanor, so it wasn’t expensive. Don’t think anything of it.”

“Oh really?” Ryuji asked. “Thanks.”

“No pro-“ Sera stopped herself mid-sentence. “It’s not like I did it for you or anything, idiot,” she said instead.

I blinked twice, confused by the sudden return of the mentally unstable persona that she had put on. It was only at that point that I realized that ever since the panels had declared her part of Ryuji’s “party,” she had been speaking a lot more casually, like she had with me. I wondered if that had shocked her into forgetting her act.

Sera started to walk out of the cell, hooking an arm casually around mine to drag me out along the way.

“You’re a fucking saint to have dealt with that for a week,” she whispered at me as she pushed open the door to Ryuji’s cell.

“Thanks,” I said, trying to keep my voice at an equivalent whisper.

“Don’t talk back,” Sera said, motioning imperceptibly behind us, where Ryuji was opening the door to follow us. “No offense, but you’re not great at whispering. Just listen, alright?”

I didn’t think I was that bad at whispering, but it wasn’t something I cared enough to argue. I nodded back.

“Good,” Sera said. “Now that went better than I expected, but I don’t think I was able to free you yet. You still see the panels, right?”

I nodded.

“Didn’t think so,” Sera said, with a sigh that also sounded whispered, somehow. “I promise I’ll get you out as soon as I can, but while you’re still a Follower, you’ll be in a unique position to help contain the Otherworlder. You can refuse if you want, but you think you’re still up to help?”

I was tempted to take the offer to straight up refuse to help, but the cynical side of me didn’t want to believe it was possible. I had the feeling that if I did refuse, I would be forced to participate in one way or another anyways.

I nodded.

Sera nodded back in appreciation. “We need to make sure the Otherworlder doesn’t see any of the Goblins until we leave the city,” she said as she led us down the hall towards the station lobby. ”Redstone has a decent Goblin population and though Ryuji seems to respect the laws of our society to an extent, I’m not willing to test whether that respect is stronger than his casual racism for Goblins or not. I’ll have a few of my people run interference, but it’ll be better if you have an eye out too. If you see a Goblin roaming around, point them out to me and I’ll have them hidden away.”

When I nodded, Sera smiled at me and gave my arm a quick squeeze before letting go. I was surprised at how good it felt, and how much I missed the comforting feeling of Sera just holding my arm until she let go.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to do much. I’m mostly asking for your help so I can let you in on what’s going on and so I can get the Mediators to give you a little bit of extra compensation for your troubles,” Sera whispered, giving me a smile and pushing open the door to the station lobby. “My people are good at what they do. Once I let them know about what’s going on, we’ll already have the entire Goblin population hidden away before we even leave the Guard Station.”

Sera seemed so confident and so sure of herself as she opened the door that I almost didn’t want to say anything about the woman staring at us from the other side of the station lobby. Raine, my magic mentor from the local Forest Goblin tribe, cocked her head to one side as she stared at me through the open door.

“Lena?” she said. “What are you doing in Redstone?”