After finishing her lunch at the Guild, Meryda saw the Guild Master behind the front counter, signalling for her to follow him.
With a gulp, she went to him and found it weird that her Salamander and the Slime were on the floor next to his feet. With a grin, he called a few Adventurers to follow him to the backyard.
Meryda looked puzzled at the wooden swords and spears leaning on the wall of the Guild, and she was even more puzzled when the Guild Master told the Adventurers to choose one of those weapons and to stand a few metres from her, as he explained to the curious-looking girl, “You are going to fight each of them. You can only use your Monsters and you will fight unarmed. Do your best, Meryda!”
“Wait… How can I do that? I never even tried to order them around!”
“Not my fault. Use the Salamander as your front attacker, and the Slime can be right next to you as your last defence. If they fail to protect you, do your best not to be hit. And try not to kill anyone, okay?”
Meryda looked at the Adventurers, and they were not happy with the situation. So much so that one of them complained, and he sounded angry: “This is crazy, Guild Master! One-on-one fight against Meryda and her Monsters? She is hard to deal with, but with those Monsters protecting her, we could get badly injured or killed!”
“You all agreed that we should punish her for her reckless behaviour; now you want to quit? Not allowed! Get ready, because since you are so eager to complain, you can be the first to fight!”
The annoyed Adventurer squeezed the hilt of his wooden sword and went into a fighting stance. Meryda glanced at her cute Salamander, who was now on the ground in front of her and glowing bright orange as if he had sensed danger.
Meanwhile, the Slime jumped to Meryda’s shoulders and wrapped around her neck as if it were a loose scarf. A bluish, gelatinous scarf, which was trembling in anticipation, and Meryda shouted, “Lyzy! Stop him, but don’t kill him!”
As soon as the Adventurer moved forward in an attempt to gain some momentum to attack, the glowing Salamander shot a small fireball at his wooden sword, but with such speed and power that the sword disappeared into dust even before the Adventurer noticed what happened, so he still tried to slash the Salamander on the ground, ending with a hilt on his hand and no sword. That was the last thing he would remember when he would wake up, because next, Lyzy jumped up and hit him straight in the chin with his tail, sending him flying backwards, completely knocked out.
Two other Adventurers took his place, and while one placed himself in front of the orange-glowing Salamander, the other was waiting behind him.
When the first Adventurer jumped forward, the other came rushing around him, straight at Meryda. Lyzy shot another fireball at the wooden sword and another at the Adventurer’s face, hitting the left side of his head and burning half of his hair.
The other Adventurer raised his sword, only for the Slime to jump from Meryda’s neck and wrap around the Adventurer’s head, blocking his nose and mouth and stopping him from breathing.
A woman rushed to the quarrel, aiming at Meryda, and tried to punch her now that the Slime was busy. Suddenly, Meryda grabbed the woman’s pulse, rotated her body, and pushed the woman’s arm forward while bending her little body, making the woman hit Meryda’s hip with her waist and go over her with her momentum, hitting the ground hard.
A powerful kick on the back of her head made her lose consciousness, with Meryda looking at her foot, wondering how she did that.
Meryda then looked behind her, and the other Adventurers were on the floor as well, with Lyzy again in front of her, standing guard, and the Slime going to Meryda’s shoulders, and gently wrapping her neck.
The Guild Master rubbed his head and mumbled, “Darn it! That I was not expecting to happen!”
From the backdoor of the Guild which led to the kitchen, Craydon Crawler shouted, “Meryda! How the heck did you do that?”
“I… grabbed her arm, pulled, and sent her over me... Judo, like you taught me? Since when are you standing there?”
“I heard an explosion, and I got here when Lyzy hit that guy’s face with his tail. That was absurd! And those Monsters can fight like that? But they are so young! How can they be so fast and so strong?”
With a sigh, the Guild Master answered, “Now you understand why I was not very fond of the idea of letting Meryda bring those Monsters with her? When they grow up, they will be even more dangerous. We need to make sure she raises them well, or we might need to end them before they grow enough to threaten all of us.”
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While rubbing the head of her little Salamander, Meryda said, “They will behave. I will make sure of it. They only hit those guys because I told them to protect me. I am sure they would never attack if I wasn’t in danger. Right, you cute little thing? You were amazing, Lyzy! And you too, Jelly!”
Craydon glanced at the Guild Master and saw him frowning as if he were still trying to decide what to do.
Then, a cheerful voice came from their left: “That was nice to watch, Meryda! We enjoyed it very much! Do you want to go against her as well, Dralro Jic?”
The strong Guild Master looked back and answered, “A Fae… What are you doing here? It has been a while since the last time I saw one of you guys.”
“Yes, it sure has. We are curious about the young Meryda Crawler. She is very interesting, don’t you think? And her pets are extremely obedient. It will be fun to watch them grow up and help her in her Quests.”
“Quests? What are you talking about?”
The green being tilted its head and looked at Meryda while asking, “You didn’t ask him yet, didn’t you?”
“No… I was going to talk with my father first.”
The green Fae went to Meryda, and while placing her arm on Meryda’s shoulders, she said, “Well, this is a wonderful opportunity to do that, isn’t it? He is right over there. By the way, can we join your Party? We can’t fight, but we can help by carrying stuff, cooking, and occasionally working as a shield, just in case someone or something attacks you by surprise, giving you and your friends time to get ready to fight.”
“Last time I heard, Fae don’t help with anything. Now you say you want to join my Party? For what? And because of what?” Meryda said with a slight frown.
“Because we think you are interesting and it could be fun. Don’t look at us like that! We don’t have any ill intentions! This is the absolute truth!”
Craydon came to them and asked, “What is this about Quests and a Party? You want to be an Adventurer, is that it?”
“No… My friends told me we could make a Party… Some of us could be Adventurers, and others could be Explorers. I guess I could be an Explorer, considering it is about collecting information, drawing maps, finding things, and collecting herbs and ingredients.”
“It is also the most dangerous job there is. Well, with Jelly and Lyzy, considering what they did, you would be safer than anyone else, but still, I don’t like it one bit.”
The smiling green being raised its hand and said, “We will also be with her! We will carry stuff, cook, and be an amazing shield! We just need to stand still in front of her, and no harm will come to her!”
“I heard Fae can be destroyed, but another one would take your place if that happened. I was also told you guys usually never help or do anything worth mentioning, besides following people around or watching from afar, like some sort of weird pervert.”
“Yes, that is what we normally do, but in case we find an interesting being, we stay more at their side than afar. We suppose it would not be a bad deal if sweet Meryda let us join her Party. Well, as long as you let her, that is.”
The surprised Guild Master spoke, almost choking in his words, “A Fae at her side… Craydon, with Meryda’s Monsters and her friends, they could apply for a bunch of Quests. Easy and not dangerous Quests with low pay that most of our Adventurers and Explorers don’t do because they prefer to use their time to earn money with more difficult Quests, but we have a bunch of Gathering Quests, Mapping Quests, and Delivering Quests piling up in my office! None of those Quests pay much money, but none of them are dangerous for them, and they could get a lot of experience. It would also be good for Meryda so that she can train her Monsters for protection.”
Craydon went silent for a while, looking at the smiling Fae and his expectant daughter. While rubbing his chin, he said, “What about our farm? You know we now have a lot of fields already planted, and in a few weeks, they will be ready to be harvested.”
“Well, about that... Remember that this morning there were sprouts all over? Well, when I went to our farm with my friends to get the rest of the cow’s fur to sell, I noticed the sprouts were no longer sprouts. They are already plants. According to the siblings who also have a farm, we can start the harvest in a few days. And it amazed them how quickly the seeds we put on the soil yesterday sprouted so many plants, and they are growing so fast. They swore it was not normal for that to happen.”
“One more reason for you to consider going on Quests. Who will harvest all that? Me alone? Because I am not sure all those Bone Boars will obey my orders if I tell them to help me harvest the fields.”
“I can explain to them what to do and tell them to obey you. They are very smart, and I am sure I can do that! It’s just… Going on Quests sounds like a cool thing…” said Meryda while looking down.
“I suppose we could try that. But I will feel better if I am with you or if you take two Bone Boars every time you go on a Quest. I mean… I also think it would be cool to go on a Quest… Maybe nothing too dangerous or far away, but I wouldn’t mind going with you, camping beneath the stars, enjoying a peaceful walk…”
While making an enormous smile, Meryda said, “I would love it if you went with me on one! We would have so much fun! But what about your work here?”
With a shrug, the Guild Master said, “Craydon already went on a few Quests with some Parties, remember? They hired him as a cook when they had an escort service for a few weeks. His helpers took care of everything in the kitchen in his absence, so I don’t see why he can’t go one day with you and your friends. I would also feel a lot better if your father was with you, besides your friends, this extremely suspicious Face, and your Monsters.”
Pretending to be shocked, the green being said, “We are not suspicious! Fae are mere observers! Everyone knows that! Well… we have also heard some people say that… But it is a lie! We Fae are generous, gentle, and sincere! Never suspicious!”
“The fact you are denying like that, and with that fake smile on your green face, makes you even more suspicious.”
Meryda turned to the funny Fae and said, “I am sure my friends would love to have you with us! Maybe we could go check out some Quests to choose one?” Meryda then turned to the Guild Master, and said, “I mean, as long as my punishment finished…”
“Considering my Adventurers are still lying on the ground, I guess we can end this for today. Craydon, wake them up while I go to the Guild’s Quest Board with these two youngsters! Let’s go, Meryda! You too, you suspicious Fae!”