Magazine Contest June 2024 Entry! Lorretta was once a competent swordswoman and mercenary. Her adventures couldn't be found in any great tales of heroism or dragons, but she was well known in her youth. She was no goblin for upstart adventurers to hunt. No, she was the goblin they aspired to be. At least, in the southeastern farmlands. Nevertheless, she never achieved national notoriety, and her career ended quietly. She met a kind man and had a daughter. They retired young with the money she made as a mercenary and had a simple life raising chickens and their little Lorraine.The years passed her by, and by the time she realized she had retired too young, it was too late. She was old. Her daughter had a family of her own. In her old age, her struggles changed from the worries of a mercenary to those of a grandmother. Her grandson Lance was shy and slow to share his worries. She was at her wits end trying to connect with him when something strange happened. A salad full of cursed mushrooms returned her to the days of her youth. She was given a second chance at life, as well as a new opportunity to find out what's been bothering her grandson. All she had to do was enroll in his academy as a trainee swordswoman. Character art by Mike Ko, Background art by Laztion