{Cara}

She'd slept for longer than she meant to. She could tell immediately by how harsh the sunlight felt pushing against her closed eyes.

Maybe she'd been more tired than she figured. Maybe she wasn't used to staying up late anymore. If it was the latter, then Cara thought it might be best to start taking actual missions again after this was done. She didn't want to lose her edge.

[Being a teacher's finally made me soft, huh? Fuck, I hope not.]

As her eyes slowly opened, however, she found a blurry figure looming over her. She could feel a warm hand resting on her cheek, and the early morning sun embracing her from the side.

[Who...?]

The figure pulled back. Cara blinked a couple of times.

As her sight became clearer, after a quick rub of the eyes and a yawn, she found Maria sitting next to her, with a pout on her face and narrowed eyes aimed down at her.

"Well..." Maria said. "You sure took your time getting up."

"Shit, what time is it?" Cara asked.

"6 am."

"Oh," the ashen-haired woman replied, letting her head fall back against the cushion. "I sincerely apologize. How will we ever make it to Alera on time now?"

"Sarcasm doesn't look good on you," Maria spat out.

"I didn't think you'd care what looks good on me."

As Maria rolled her eyes, Cara turned.

"Uh, where's Rin? And the driver?"

"The driver is doing his business. Rin is watching over him. He said it was just a number one, so they should be done in a moment."

"Alright."

Getting a little more comfortable, Cara looked out the window, scanning the natural scene around them. A bit of mild paranoia wasn't bad for an adventurer to have. Half of the time in the woods, when one felt like they were being watched it was because they actually were.

"The driver said we'll be reaching Alera in a couple of hours. You should wake yourself up," Maria said.

"Already have."

"Well... good."

They fell into silence then, waiting for the other two to return. Cara felt something strange as she kept looking out.

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Reaching up, she touched her lips with her index finger.

[... Hm? My lips are wet. Was I drooling? That's embarrassing.]

Cara glanced to her right. Maria was staring out her window, looking away.

A moment later, Rin and the driver came back. The adventurer-in-training was holding a small bag in her hands. The one Cara usually saw tied by her hip.

[That's not a coin pouch, right? Why does she carry that everywhere?]

"Aight, everyone ready?" The driver asked.

"Yes," Maria answered. "Let's continue."

"As you wish, ma'am," the man replied and soon, they resumed their slow drive through the paved dirt path leading to the village in question.

The truck carved through the forest mostly in silence, with only the upbeat acoustic tracks coming from the radio to fill the air. On Cara's end, that silence was mostly owed to the fact that she just wanted to get this over with.

And, as they arrived at a village with a couple of broken-down Old World vehicles outside and a big sign that said "Alera" out in front, she hoped she'd be able to in just a bit.

"Here we are," the driver said. "How long do you want me to wait for you, again?"

"Just one night," Cara replied. "Our business here shouldn't take long. If we're not back by tomorrow morning, go back to Libera and tell the academy that something went wrong."

"Gotcha. Take care!"

On that note, the three adventurers got out of the truck.

"Rin, what did that second letter say, again?"

"Uh, June said that there was an inn to the east side of the village. That she was staying there."

"Alright, let's go."

As they entered the place, Cara glanced over at Rin to gauge her reaction to these peculiar surroundings. Sure enough, the raven-haired girl was gawking at everything around her, scanning the odd buildings and strange decorations with those big, round, amber eyes of hers.

"You probably don't want to make it too obvious that you're not from here, Rin," Cara whispered. "Though, with how small a town this is, they'll probably know that anyway. But, still."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's alright," Cara replied with a chuckle. "I know you haven't been to too many places before so, it's fine to look around. Just try to be subtle about it."

As she'd predicted, the locals gave the trio some cautious looks and raised brows. Cara only made eye contact with a few of them as she walked ahead of the others, heading east.

She received most of the looks, of course, due to that greatsword on her back.

[Whoever June was talking about in those letters may have left already. If they haven't, that could mean they're locals. It's impossible to tell how many people are actually a part of the Scorned. We could be surrounded by them, for all we know. I need to keep my guard up.]

"Is this it?" Maria asked as they arrived at one building with two floors, some tall glass windows, and a couple of people walking in and out of it.

"Rocketside Inn. Uh, yeah, this is the place," Rin replied.

"Okay, come on," Cara urged, walking toward the front door. "Let's not stand around for too long."

[We're already getting too many looks for my taste.]

Pushing the doors open, she found one young woman with a pair of wolf ears behind a light brown counter, pouring a black liquid into a mug. A few customers were sitting around, having breakfast.

"Welcome travelers," she said.

[That obvious, huh?] Cara sighed.

"You the innkeeper?" She asked.

"Yep. What can I do for ya?"

Cara snuck a glance at the others in the building. Four in total, counting the innkeeper. Two of them were carrying small knives. Nothing Cara and Maria couldn't handle, she felt.

"We're looking for someone. A friend. Her name's June. She told us to meet her here," Cara said.

"Oh, yes," the girl replied with a polite smile. Her ears twitched. "She's out right now, but, if you want, you could wait for her here. Or, rent out a room and wait upstairs."

[Oh, she's out right now? Is that right?]

Instantly, Cara got a bad feeling about this. Maria evidently felt the same way, as she shared a suspicious look with Cara.

That said, they couldn't leave without at the very least knowing what happened to the woman. So, Cara considered their options briefly and replied:

"We'll wait here. Thank you."