The moonlight was shining over the party as they were camping out for the night. Once again, Nobina found herself one of the last ones awake. Lila was still practicing with the large sword, feeling more and more confident about using it each night.

“It’s been… a few nights so far,” Nobina told herself.

The trip was set to take two weeks to reach the city of Navira. It was mainly due to the carriage preventing a shorter path from being taken. Despite that, even the shorter path was a week long journey by horse. It was the main reason why it took so long for reinforcements to arrive from Navira.

“If only you were here sooner Hammy,” said Nobina to Hammy, who was sleeping outside the bag.

Ever since everyone saw Hammy, Aunai told her it was fine for Hammy to be free from their bag. Nobina knew that Hammy often chose to remain in the bag for two reasons. The first was it really didn’t like the attention others were giving it. As it had previously sat on her shoulder, Nobina could tell that Hammy actively avoided being in the sight of people. When they were in the bag, they were much more comfortable. The second reason they remained in the bag was that Hammy must have known Nobina didn’t like the attention they drew either. As a result, they made the active decision to stay in the bag for her sake as well.

“I’m sorry that you feel obligated to stay in the bag Hammy.”

Hammy, hearing her say that, merely flew around her for a bit before resting on her shoulder, causing her to chuckle.

“I guess you’re happy at least,” she smiled.

As Nobina turned back to Lila, she saw Hammy produce a scroll that promptly dropped in front of her. Opening it up, Nobina was shocked to see a letter from someone she hadn’t heard from since.

“Miso says hi.”

At the bottom of the letter was the name Nonomo.

“So the artist of the artwork… is communicating to me through Nonomo?” asked Nobina to herself.

This was the first letter she had received from Nonomo since she had come to this world. It was odd to see one of them say hi to her. It was common sense to greet people, yet the Gaze itself defied what she thought was logical and illogical. After all, it made her new world one that could have items from her old world.

“So… what’s your role in my life Nonomo.”

Nobina wasn’t whether Nonomo was playing a role in the current events. Part of her was convinced that they were involved as the entity that brought her over. Another part of her felt as if they were merely a puzzle piece in some larger puzzle. After all, did they have any say with what the Gaze did?

“Those readers did vote on my destiny,” Nobina sighed. “Perhaps it’s them and not Nonomo who I should be worried about. After all, Nonomo did deliver this letter with a message from one of them. Other than that, what have they done so far…”

She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but she was certain that Nonomo definitely had a role in everything. What that role was remained to be seen. For now, she knew she merely had to wait for more information to come to her. Eventually, the Gaze’s role and his role would be revealed.

At least, she wanted to believe it’d be that simple.

“Nobina,” said Lila, panting after finishing her practice. “Let’s head to bed.”

“Right,” responded Nobina, finally lying down to go to sleep.

Shortly after, the two were soundly asleep.

The next day, the group was once again on the move. They were still in the open plains, which had dominated the view for the past few days. After that amazing flower sight previously, the sight soon turned to open fields of grass filled with normal animals. She recognized the horses and buffalo were the primary animals of these plains. She also saw there were only a few monsters on these plains as well. Despite this, they presented a danger Nobina was warned about.

“So those massive six legged horses are Viper-Stallions,” said Lila. “They are quite deadly due to their speed, size, strength, and lethal poison. One spit can take out most adventurers. Even I have to be careful engaging them since I don’t have that great of a durability or resistance to poison.”

Hearing that made Nobina way more worried about the monsters there. However, they were mostly docile towards humans. Their main food was just grass, so you were fine unless you invaded their grassy territory. They were merely lucky that the creatures avoided claiming the roads as their own.

As the group continued through the grassy plains, the sight of a small village on the road appeared.

“Finally,” said Aunai. “We’ve reached the Village of Tega. We’ll restock here before moving on.”

The group continued to make their way to the center of the village. Nobina, who was keeping her eyes on the village, took in the cool sight. This was the first village she had been to, making her curious about what the people outside of her town were like.

The village itself was nothing too special. It had one inn along the main road, while small businesses took up any free space they could on the main road. Behind those businesses were the houses of the people who lived there and the other businesses that didn’t need a direct connection to the road.

“Let’s rent a room for the night and stock up,” said Aunai. “We don’t have much time left in the day, so best we take advantage of the limited village time we have.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Lila, stretching her arms. “Me and Nobina can spar in the meantime.”

Nobina found herself coughing, shocked that Lila recommended the spar.

“Lila…” said Nobina, now suddenly worried about Lila.

“Oh don’t worry,” said Lila, waving her hand. “I won’t attack you at all! I want you to strike me and I’ll try to avoid or block it. Pausers won’t have anything to say about our spar if I don’t attack. I’ve been thinking about the best way to finally spar with you and this is totally it.”

Lila was giving a nod as if she had come up with the most brilliant solution to her problem. However, the only thing she had managed to do was have Aunai even more curious about why Lila was treating Nobina like she was an important person.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“So… someone named Pausers is the reason,” said Aunai with a hand to her chin. “The puzzle is solving itself.”

“I can’t,” sighed Nobina, shaking her head.

She didn’t know whether to try to deny her request for a spar or to just relent and go with it. If Lila realized she wasn’t that strong, it would at least prevent any future spars. She was curious how strong her Pen Blade was, but she had no intentions of using the Memory Pen Blade. However, she was willing to test the Golden Pen Blade if Lila paid for it. She did have the Gaze’s money as well, but she wanted to save that for emergencies.

“So…” said Nobina. “I will agree to it, but one of my abilities requires money, so…”

Nobina found a sack of coins being tossed to her. Looking into the bag, she was shocked to see what appeared to be at least one hundred gold coins.

“If money is required, I shall pay whatever you need. I’m just so excited to see your true power Nobina,” said Lila, her mouth practically salivating at this point.

Looking at Aunai and Line, Aunai merely shrugged.

“It’s your choice Nobina. Lila is extremely strong though. Even if she’s not attacking, you might bring out her fighting spirit if you display enough strength.”

“No way,” said Lila, shaking her head vigorously. “I shall never let harm befall Nobina so long as I can do something.”

“It is commendable that you desire that Lila, but we’ll see if you finally keep your word,” said Line, shaking his head.

Nobina was feeling nervous all of a sudden. Was there a chance Lila would actually attack her?

“I trust you Lila,” said Nobina, deciding to put her faith in her friend.

“Let’s go!” Lila cheered, heading straight out of town.

Nobina, Mimiki, and Lila made their way to the outskirts of the village. They gave it a good amount of distance as Lila angled herself away from the town.

“Feel free to use weaker attacks first and ramp up. Better you not potentially harm me,” smiled Lila.

Nobina gave a nod, summoning her Pen Blade. The sight of it made Lila extremely excited, and she took a defensive stance. Seeing that, Nobina approached her with caution, being careful not to do anything too rash. On Lila’s side, she seemed eager to block the first hit, her own sword now taken out and ready to defend against Nobina’s attacks.

When she was close enough, Nobina took a breath and swung her sword. The moment she did, Lila moved to block. The collision shocked Nobina. The blade seemed to stay firm, and it bounced off Lila’s sword. For the first time, Nobina could see a disappointed look on Lila’s face. One specifically directed at her.

“Huh… Well, I guess you’re just being extra careful,” smiled Lila. “Use a lot more power! I’m ready to take it!”

Hearing her voice, Nobina took a deep breath. She had the combination attack that Eric had taught her, so she decided to try that. The Golden Pen Blade was a last resort, and she would use that as the combo finisher.

With that, Nobina attacked Lila with the combo Eric had taught her. Lila seemed to effortlessly dodge it, but at the last swing, Nobina summoned the Golden Pen Blade to hopefully satisfy Lila.

The moment the golden blade came out, Lila’s own blade started to emit lightning. The clash was unlike the previous ones, emitting a wave of power that blew Nobina back. Lila held firm, but Nobina could see she felt it.

“That’s it!” cheered Lila. “Now! Even more… power?”

As Lila turned to Nobina, she saw she had fainted. Seeing that, Lila found herself dumbfounded. She was convinced Nobina was so much stronger, yet after displaying a somewhat respectable skill, they were out cold.

“… Lame,” Lila found herself saying, her look now downcast.

She walked over to Nobina, sitting right next to her as she waited for her to wake up. It was only then did she remember that Mimiki was there.

Mimiki, who was merely watching, felt Lila’s bloodlust as she turned her attention to Mimiki.

“Say,” smiled Lila. “You must be at least better than… Nobina, right?”

Hearing her hesitation, Mimiki found herself now curious about Lila’s changed expression. She was giving off a feeling that Mimiki was all too familiar with. An unpleasant one that she had given out previously.

“Do you… detest Nobina now, Lila?” asked Mimiki.

Hearing that, Lila was about to say something, but then an expression of fear appeared on her.

“Oh no,” she replied, shaking her head. “Nobina is still my friend. She must be having an off day. Yeah! She can’t be this weak. She’s a hero after all. A hero can’t be weak.”

Those words were all Mimiki needed to hear to know why Lila wanted to fight Nobina. She saw her as something more than what she was.

“Lila,” said Mimiki. “Nobina isn’t a fighter. She might be our town hero, but her dream is writing. Her Path is the Writer. She doesn’t aim to become strong like us. Rather… she’s focusing on her dream.”

Those words seemed to have a mixed effect of Lila. She gave a nod, seemingly understanding what Mimiki was saying. However, Lila had a part of her that was failing to hide herself.

“Then… will she ever reach the level… I expected of her? The level expected of a hero?” she asked Mimiki.

“She has great potential Lila,” said Mimiki. “If I raise her properly, she’ll reach S rank in no time. Trust me.”

Hearing that seemed to relieve Lila, who was now smiling.

“I’ll hold you to it. So… Do you want to spar?”

Upon hearing those words, Mimiki displayed her own smile.

“Oh absolutely,” she said, taking out her sword.

Nobina found herself awake about ten minutes later. When she looked around, she saw that Mimiki and Lila were having an amazing fight. Both were pretty fast, but it was once again a display of an S rank versus an A rank. However, Mimiki was doing far better than Nobina had done against Lila. On Lila’s side, she was merely yelling about Mimiki’s mistakes as she exploited them. It was a spar meant to teach Mimiki, who was open to learning under Lila.

“Guess you two are having a good time at least,” smiled Nobina.

She had hoped that the sorry display was enough to convince Lila that she wasn’t someone worth sparring with. That wasn’t to say Nobina wanted to remain weak forever, but she needed time to train, learn new skills, and work towards her dream. The moment her dream was complete, she was more open to trying to explore the adventurer route. However, her primary goal was merely to get stronger to protect herself and counteract the troubles her path was set to bring.

An hour went by before they were done with their spar. The sun was setting, and Aunai came by to see how things were going.

“Seems like Lila is satisfied by Mimiki,” nodded Aunai. “I’m surprised though, since I thought she was planning to fight you.”

“We had a spar, but it was rather short,” said Nobina. “I’m not that strong, so it was pretty quick.”

“I see,” she nodded. “So I guess the main reason she didn’t want to harm you previously was because of this Pausers person. Is he an up and coming adventurer?”

“Well… no,” said Nobina. “See… Pausers is a normal bunny. However, Lila believes he’s an Alpha Death Hare. I think it’s ridiculous, but…”

Nobina’s eyes noticed the paleness of Aunai’s face as she stared at Nobina. Realizing what was happening, Nobina quickly shook her hands.

“Oh no no no,” said Nobina. “Pausers is a normal…”

“Nobina,” said Aunai, her face pale. “Did… did Eric confirm it was a normal bunny?”

“Well… No. He told me that it didn’t make sense that Pausers was a Death Hare. If he was, then why am I still alive.”

Aunai, hearing that, nodded her head.

“True. A Death Hare, let alone an Alpha Death Hare, has never been confirmed to be tamed. If one was tamed, that would make the owner…”

Upon saying that, Aunai put her hand against her head.

“Uh… Nobina. You don’t hate us right?” asked Aunai.

Nobina put her head in her hands, shaking her head.

“Come on… Not you too…”

It was at that moment that Nobina was convinced that no one would believe her that Pausers was a normal bunny. At the very least, she was thankful that Sarah wasn’t deathly afraid of him. It did make her wonder if Pausers could have easily resolved the goblin incident if he had seen them. However, she had no intentions of testing her bunny companion.

“Death Hare or not, Pausers is my companion and please trust he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” said Nobina.

“Of course,” smiled Aunai. “Anyway, please let me know if you need any assistance from us. We are always open to accommodating a fellow guild employee.”

Nobina had no words, merely walking away from where they were staying.

“Can we please reach our destination already,” she sighed.

As she said that, her Gaze bag glowed. Looking into it, she took out what appeared to be a nut. Reading the note, it said it was “a nut that freezes a surrounding area upon forceful floor impact.” At the end of the note was the white branch symbol.

“Hm… I don’t know what I’ll do with this, but glad you guys are brightening my mood with cool things,” smiled Nobina, speaking in hopes the Gaze was receiving her thanks.