Cecilia woke up to do work on a small inn at a local village. It has been a week since the bandits attacked her village. A week since she missed everyone, her father that would always take all the work for himself, her friends that she would always have fun teasing, her village that breathe in the fresh air that the nearby forests give. A week of immense guilt for what happened.

The people of Waterback, a village near the border of Bolsung and Valencia, were neutral to her plight when she and Rett came for their aid. It didn't help that Rett had an abnormally high fever and the only reason she landed a job at the inn was because the innkeeper took a liking to her looks and for work. She wasn't dumb to know that, no matter how much she'd like to turn the other cheek. They needed the job and a place to recuperate their minds on all that has happened.

Cecilia tied her hair together and went outside her room to get to work. The main hall looked a bit fancier than the one on Rind, with multiple somewhat extravigant designs hanging on the wall with multible tables set parallel to each other with the counter filled with hand made utensils carved by the owner's brother. Not unlike what her father does.

Normally she was used to the work with inns, since she worked a couple of times back on Rind but the work here felt a little harder than she expected. Cleaning was an obvious chore but she to had to entertain some of the guest which she was extremely uncomfortable about, chopping firewoods, and generally doing what usually what men do for work.

She felt the lustful gazes of men on her, the jealous looks that girls her age on her. She tried to ignore all of these and instead focused on working for her little brother, who still had a fever since they came.

She sometimes wondered if she was cursed. Cursed to bring misfortune to everyone she met. To everyone she loved and cared for. For once, she wanted to feel like a princess, being swept her off her feet like those stories her real mother read to her.

"Hey missy! Another ale here for me and the lads." A gruff man with arms a size of boulders with similar looking men waved at her. She always wondered why they would drink this early in the afternoon but she supposed that it wasn't her business.

Cecila quietly served them their alcohol when one of them grabbed her wrists. "Hey, how 'bout ya stay with us for a while?" The man let out a sleazy smile.

"Thank you for the offer but I have work to do. If you excuse me..."

The man looked agited by her words and still forced her to sit with him. "C'mon sweetheart, let's have a little fun. Don't ya know I'm a big deal here? The great Haft Brin, I'm agreat merc around here ya see..."

Cecilia pulled her wrist away strongly, "I have work to do, please excuse me." She immediately wnet to the back doors of the inn. Fortunately the man was drunk enough to not have a too strong of a grip on her. She almost puked at the attempts of those types men. It made her skin crawl in disgust.

"What are you doing here woman?"

She heard the voice of the inkeeper, his appearance was that of an overblown ball. With his small mop of black hair and four chins that straddle his neck coupled with his nasty glare, he was not an easy fellow to look at in her opinion.

"Sir, I was just taking a small break. I'll be back soon."

"That's not what I'm talking about you dolt! I'm talking you rejecting our regulars! What were you thinking!"

"B–but sir, I..." Cecilia began. "I was not comfortable with what he was doing."

"I don't give two nitbutts about it! What you did almost made me lost a customer! They complained about you hitting them back before running away!"

Cecilia's eyes widened in disbelief, "No! That's not what happened I just—"

"I don't care! Just fix this mess right now!"

She watched as the man went upstairs with his stubby legs. She felt frustrated about what happened but she had no choice to fix this mess.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." A woman's voice said to her from behind. Unlike her much more covered clother the woman wore something that showed off her tanned skin, her hair dyed blonde with a busty body that men certainly looked at. Despite her appearance, she was the only person who treated her nicely, unlike the indifference the village gave her. Maybe it was due to the fact that this woman also had younger siblings.

"Miss Dessa! Please don't bother, I'll take care of—"

"And leave you alone with these men? Like hell I'm gonna do that. Besides I know how to handle these sorta things so don't worry about it. You just do your work." Dessa left to give out the orders that was in her tray and went to Haft and his man. She saw her bowed in apology and sat beside the man to entertain him a little bit.

Cecilia felt guilty of someone correcting her mistakes but she will just have to make it up to her at dinner. She went back to work and help the other waitress carry trays, cleaning carrying alcohol and even more cleaning.

As the sun began to set, she decided to check up on Rett on his condition. She went up to their room where they have to share and pay for. She brought a light dinner for him before giving him some medicine, a gold bracelet.

The bracelet was one of the reasons she decided to work at the inn. The owner knew some connection for this long fever known as Bucket Torn, she recently found out that Rett had an unusual amount of mana for a kid and that was the root cause of his fever. The mana he had was now overflowing his body and due to his small and weak body, he couldn't contain the mana. Like a bucket being torn to shreds. The bracelet absorbs the excess mana and stores it, though it can only be used once.

The bracelet was expensive and the only way for her to get one was if she bought one from the innkeeper. She gets paid through medicine instead of bronze coins or even silver. Such cruel fate and yet, one she had to endure. She promised Higgs.

She checked his temperature and felt that he was burning hot, so she immediately puts on the bracelet on his small wrist.

The orb on the bracelet began glowing with blue light, as his his body. The blue light was now forming a trail towards the orb. It happened for ha minute before finally the glow disappeared into the orb.

The orb became dulled colored and cracked into two. This was the first time she used the magical item and so she was relieved that Rett's fever has gone down considerably and was now sleeping peacefully.

"You'll be fine soon little guy," She placed her forehead against his. "I promise."

She left their room to go have dinner and finally have a nice bath on a long day. She went to tge main hall to see a lot of customers gathering around. It was common of inns and bars to have information on different topics, they're just as prominent on news like any peddler on the road.

"Did you hear? Princess Adelaide is dead?"

"What? Seriously? No wonder Bolsung is preparing for war. Those people thrives in conquering other nations."

"Tsk. Those no good warmongers are thinks nothing of bloodshed as a game."

"Yeah not unlike those 'knightly people' of Lombard. Look what has happened to our country. Those bastards should pay for what they've don to the royal family."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Why what happened?"

"They launched a sneak attack on the Albatross Castle. They said that, prince Cidel found his father's headless body on the throne room come next morning."

"Damn those Lombardians! Look what they've done now! Bandits have been everywhere these days. Even my cattle are being harassed."

"Tsk! Those damn nobles raising the taxes too high just because the king died. Can't that Cidel kid do nothing?"

Cecilia heard those word on the men who gathered around. She was not one for politics as she never had good experiences with it but she found the flaws on their information. Why would the Lombard invade Valencia if they too were facing problems. Shouldn't they deal about it first?

"Hey, Cecilia!" Dessa shouted. "C'mere." Cecilia went over the counter with two other girls sitting beside Dessa, dark skinned woman, Triz and fair skinned brunette, Rela. Both of them wore almost the same worn out dress as her.

"Heya! You used to the work here yet?" Triz asked Cecilia. Like Dessa, she was like an older sister to her, the only difference was that she seemed a lot more reserved than Dessa.

"Who cares? All I'm here for right now is a good meal." Rela said as she leaned both her arms and head on the counter. She was just as gorgeous as both women although she always tried to skip work as much as possible. Despite her attitude, Cecilia knew that she was a lot nicer than she appeared.

"Hey! Don't be rude." Dessa admonished

"It's fine." Cecilia said. "I'm still having a bit of trouble." She didn't really want to complain about her situation to the others but she was hungry and tired and thinking about what she had to say was something she didn't want to deal with for now.

"Double shifts that hard for you?" Triz asked.

"Triple but yes."

"Yeash, you might as well see the Goddess at your rate."

"Rela!" This time both Dessa and Triz reprimanded her.

While Rela was being scolded at for being rude, she noticed a person wearing a thick cloak on the corner of the inn far away from the crowd of men. She noticed a black handle sticking out their cloak. The figure's face was completely covered and yet she noticed the broadness of their shoulders. The figure moved their cup up to their face, drinking from what seemed to be ale.

"That person looks suspicious."

"So you noticed too, miss Dessa?"

"Of course I did. I've been a waitress here for five years. I know my fair share of weirdos."

And yet for some reason, Cecilia felt something oddly... Calming about the person's presence. She felt no malicious intent on them and that made her feel a slight relief.

"Well well. If it isn't the pretty blond miss." They heard a gruff voice beside Cecilia, it was Haft Brin. Grinning lewdly at Cecilia.

"I still haven't forgiven ya, miss. How 'bout you and me hit the town. Maybe straight to..."

"Sorry but I'm a bit busy." She said, trying not to look in his eyes.

She heard him clicked his tongue, "Don't ya want to take a load of your stress? I heard you've been doing triple shift."

"And hang out with a loser like you? Like hell she would." Surprisingly, it was Rela who snarked at Haft. She appeared to be disinterested with the man and focused her attention on her nails. Mocking him further.

This didn't sat well with the man as he let out a small axe from behind. "Why ya stupid bitch!" He raise his axe preparing to strike her down.

Cecilia immediately tried to push Rela away from the axe and was now in the way of the impact. She closed her eyes in fear, awaiting her death.

Instead, she heard a clanking noise and saw a sword that shone clear steel extended across her face where the axe should've hit. She saw Haft pushed to the ground with the axe near his crotch. Everyone on the main hall heard the commotion and decides to watch what was happening.

"Argh, who the hell—?!" Haft eyes widened in fear in what he saw.

The man's hood was now out of the way, giving a good glance of his face. The short dark hair framed his sharp dark gray eyes. His expression was emotionles and yet it gave Haft the sense of dread when he looked into his cold dead eyes.

The young man shifted his sword to his neck and lifted his chin. He stood there silently as Cecilia took a quick glance on the man. Dessa and the other girls were looking at him too and so were the men. They waited to what he had to say.

The young man gave Haft a gash on his face, not deep but ut would certainly scars as the wound profusely bled.

"You're lucky that you get to live." The man sheathe his sword while Haft almost fell unconscious from fear.

The young man turned to Cecilia and Rela. He remained silent, observing them with eyes that unnerved both Dessa and Triz, but not Cecilia. "Are you okay?" His voice was just as emotionless as his face but Cecilia nodded anyway.

She tried to walk towards him but fell down to the shock of her life almost ending. Fortunately, the man caught her. "You don't look okay." He simply said.

"Sorry about that mister..."

He noticed her trailing off, indicating something when he realized what she wanted. "Allendis. Just Allendis"

"Thank you Allendis."

He merely nodded.

"Don't worry about it."

Allendis felt an arm hanging on his neck. "As thanks for saving our little lady, how about I make you dinner? On the house of course." Dessa said cheekily.

Allendis remained unfazed, even when he felt her breast slightly on his face. "Thanks but I'm here for business you see. Merc stuff."

"Really? Such a shame. How about next time you come around Waterback, I'll fix you something tasty."

"That would be great."

"So why're you here?" Triz asked mercenary. It was not often to find mercenary as young as him.

"Like I said, business." He sat down beside Cecilia. The crowd who took a look on Haft were forgotten. "Though I would require your assistance."

"Oh? What would it be? Looking for a night out—"

"No." He answered immediately before going back to silence. "At least, not yet."

Rela let out a mutter, "Aren't you a charmer."

"I'm usually not." Allendis apparently heard her. "Should I be one?" He asked Dessa, his eyes were unchanging.

"No need. I like the serious type well enough. So, merc. What do you need."

Allendis gave her a long list of supplies like sheets, food and other miscellaneous things for travel. "Can you sell me some?"

Dessa looked at it almost scrutinizing it, but smiled happily at him. "Sure thing. Though, it won't come cheap."

"That's fine. But there's one more thing I would like to discuss."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Since I'm always on the move, I would like to get some reliable information for once."

"I can definitely try. What do you want to know?"

"The current state of Valencia. And if there's a way to enter Valhalla safely."

Dessa placed a hand on her chin, "I'll see what I can dig up, but for now stay here. I'll go fix up what you need."

He watched Dessa go to the back of the inn to prepare. Meanwhile Triz grabbed them some food while Cecilia looked at him with curiosity. Rela noticed it and nudged her on her sides with a teasing smirk. "You interested with that block of wood?" She said quietly.

"What?!" She nearly stood up which caught Allendis' attention. "It's nothing..." Allendis' tilted head straightened as he focused on his food.

"And no, Rela. Not in that way." She sat down and resumed eating. "It's just that... I feel like he could help me with Rett."

"Why would you think that? I mean sure he's a mercenary and maybe he have some connections but don't you think it's a bit far-fetched?"

"I don't know." She said timidly. "But if he could introduce me to people like mages or scholars, then maybe they could check on his condition."

"You can't take Rett with you, Cecilia. He's already weak enough as it is, you're only gonna make things worse."

"I know, that's why I want to ask of you a request." Cecilia looked at Rela's eyes directly. "Can you guys please take care of my brother, at least until I can find a cure for him."

Rela's shocked face went unnoticed by both Triz and Allendis and for that, sge was glad. "Are you crazy?!" She exclaimed as quietly as possible. "I don't have time for that."

"Please! I don't have the money to travel, especially now since it's been so dangerous on Valencia. If he could take me, I could meet someone that could heal him."

"Still, I can't afford those magical items. Our salary's already thin enough as it is."

"We can help you with it, Cecilia." They heard Triz's voice and saw that Dessa had an encouraging smile with Allendis glancing sideways.

"We could pitch in our share for Rett, and if our handsome mercenary here agreed to take you with him then we'll do our best to take care of him."

Cecilia and Rela looked at him, "...I could find some arrangement for you." Allendis continued eating his meal and with three more empty plates beside him.

Dessa gave Allendis a thankful look before her attention went towards Cecilia and Rela. "Now that he agreed to it, promise us you'll take car of yourself, alright?"

"Wait is she really going? It's too dangerous out there!" Rela exclaimed at them.

"Awww," Triz coed, "Is Rela gonna miss our pure and innocent Cecilia? Don't worry I'm sure she'll miss you too."

"What?! No way!" Although she did have an embarrassed faced. "Can't a pretty girl worry about another pretty girl."

"She's right though."

All of their attention was on Allendis, while he still continued to eat through his fifth plate. "Where me and my comrades are going isn't a walk in the park." He stared into her eyes with the same intensity he held against Haft. "I cannot guarantee your safety. You could die and you won't he able to save your brother."

"All the more reason for me to go." Cecilia matched his gaze but hers was filled with timid determination. "Even if it cost me my life. I need to protect the person that matters to me. My family."

Both of them stared at each other, no words were delivered until Allendis closed the distance between them. She tried to pull back due to embarrassment of being that close to someone, Allendis merely continued to stare.

"Do what you want. I can't force you to anything." He pulled back from her face and ate the food on his plate.

"Damn perv." She heard Rela muttered under her breath. She didn't want to say that she was right since she thought that Allendis was a good person at heart but she couldn't deny that what he did would be taken that way by other people.

Still this was a good start for her. She was sure that whatever he had in store for her wouldn't be so bad.