Morning came for Luciel as the sun rays crept into the room. Sleeping on the inn's bed, she woke up just like how she did back home. Though this time she had a companion.
Alica was curled up as she slept, her bed hair already poking out in all directions. Luciel removed the dress she borrowed and stood right there in her underwear. She stretched her arm up, letting her wings free from her back.
It had grown decently, going as far as the length of her arm. Still, it will be a long time before she could match the ranks of her mother and the rest of the head angels. Letting her wings flap, it was a major relief for her.
A long series of stretches later, Luciel tucked her wings in and went into the next room. She didn't notice the next room until Alica pointed it out. It was a small room enough to fit a person to bathe and wash up.
She undressed again, leaving her underwear to the side and sat down on the stool.
"Hyaa!"
Luciel screamed out as the cold water poured down her back. For a moment, she thought she was back at home. Even back up there, there wasn't any hot water available to bath. And she hated getting her wings cold.
A flick of the finger, and she heated up the water to a acceptable range.
"Hmm...it could be a bit warmer."
Luciel hummed a tune and started washing up. A groggy Alica entered the room soon right she was done, walking in a daze in her nightdress. She blocked her eyes as light flooded her eyes. Luciel's angelic aura was binding her.
Quickly, Luciel made her wings hidden and the aura was gone. Alica rubbed her eyes as she saw Luciel in her underwear, damp from the moisture.
"A-ahhh-"
She went so red that her face looked like tomato. Luciel giggled and went out.
Alica was bright red at this time. It was different when she shared the room with her Gordon. She would be the one rising early then waking him up. But now...
When Alica sorted her thoughts out, Luciel was waiting on her bed. Dressed and ready to start the day, she would pass off as a young noble lady, if she didn't know about he.
"Unn, Luciel?"
"Yes?"
It wasn't a dream at all.
"Do you want to get breakfast first?"
"Hmm!"
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Alica got changed into her adventure attire and the two headed downstairs to the dining area. The smell of roasted meat and other food was thick in the room. The moment Luciel entered, the busy room turned silence almost immediately.
Only after when they had settle in the corner of the room, then it returned normal.
"Ah...I should tune down the angelic presence...heheh."
Alica was baffled, looking around her as the noise quickly went back to its usual state.
"Is it always so lively?"
"Ah, yes. Usually when the high ranking adventurers are here, it will be even noisier."
"Oh? It's amazing. This is my first time..."
"Where did you live?"
"Umm, I lived somewhere high so there weren't as much people."
"The mountains? You came a far way..."
As the two chatted, they were rudely interrupted by a group of men.
Luciel could only identify them as bandits. She almost had a thought of cutting them down when Alica started talking.
"...Ugh, why are you here, Belazc?"
"Arr? You hurt me wit that tone!"
His 'henchmen' snickered as if on cue. Alisa almost stood up when he placed his hands on her shoulder.
"Now, now! I'm here to offar my condolences."
"Alica, who's this?"
The two turned at her, with Luciel having a smile. Alica could tell it wasn't a friendly smile. It looked...different to her.
"Arr, such a beauty. Your friend?"
Luciel nodded.
"My luck! Why, nao we can have two beauties in our group!"
The henchmen cheered.
Alisa grabbed Luciel by her hand and tried to leave. The man called Belazc pushed her back to her chair.
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"Nao! You don't leave without my permission..."
Luciel had enough, the sound of metal was sharp as it resonated with her sheath. Blood was gushing out from the arm that pushed Alisa down. Luciel stood in a unusual stance, full of bloodlust and killing intent. She had her hand by her side, as if she was grabbing a sword but there wasn't any sword hanging at her waist.
Belzac scream after a few seconds, the pain only just registered by his body. She had almost sliced the arm off perfectly, only restraining herself at the last moment. Alisa only sat there in shock as the man cried in pain. No one dared to move.
Then Luciel snapped her fingers. The wound healed up almost perfectly, leaving a scar there. Luciel was still smiling.
"You dare to hurt my friend, worm?"
"N-nonono, I wouldn't dare..."
"Leave. Before I cut you again."
Without a second word, the group ran out. What was left was the blood all over the floor. And quickly everyone clapped. For better or worse, the situation ended in a positive note. The innkeeper gave them a bigger portion also as a small reward.
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Alica watched her unusual friend as she begins her meal. There were so many mysterious thing that shrouded the girl before her, that it kept bugging her. Still, she saved her yet again.
Shaking her head in disapproval, she quickly digged in. No point in thinking about so much.
"Hmm, it's good."
"I'm glad that you like it. That's why I'm staying here, Obaa's food is best in town."
After their breakfast, Alica brought Luciel to the adventurer's guild again. Might as well get started on the day. As they approached the guild, they could hear noise coming from inside. Even so early in the morning, there were people here already, taking on requests for the day.
Alica guided Luciel as she explained the ranking system.
"So, for our rank, we can only take requests from the board here. It will indicate the rank required to do so."
Gathering of herbs to doing cleaning and whatnot, Luciel slowly understood Alica's explanation.
"So...if I want to rank up..."
"Technically, you just need to pass a certain criteria." Alica sighed. "But so far, people who tried either died because of overconfidence, or because they got scared and ran away."
"Hmm, that would be bad."
"If you want, we can get some herbs for today. It will be easy for you to start with and I can teach you about the area."
Luciel nodded and Alica headed over to the counter. Another receptionist, though this one was different in appearance. It reminded Luciel of snakes that she saw in books. After awhile, Alica came back. She passed Alica a bag of money.
"This is your share of the reward from yesterday."
"What about you?"
Alica's bag was much smaller in comparison. Luciel can only imagine what was going on at the counter. She accepted with no complaint.
Their first task was to head out to gather herbs and other valuable resources, which will take most of the day to finish, according to Alica. Before they headed out, Alica took Luciel around the town hub, which most of the store were. Their first destination was at the clothing store, for a proper attire.
"Welcome. Oh, it's Alica!"
A lovable looking old lady hugged Alica as the two entered.
"Dearie! I was so worried! Are you alright?"
"Heheh...yes, granny."
"Oh, this is? Your friend?"
"Unn, she's the one who saved me."
The old lady grabbed hold of Luciel's hand and shook it hard, expressing her gratitude as tears of happiness flowed.
"Oh, young lady! Thank you for saving Alica!"
Luciel was at a loss of what to do. She blushed slightly as she nodded, with the old lady flooding her with compliments. Alica had to shake the old lady at the shoulder, informing her of what were they here for.
"Granny, we need something for Alica to wear, she can't go out wearing this dress."
"Ahhh, something must be done! Quick girl!"
With lightning speed, for a old lady anyway, she finished taking all the necessary details and went into a room in the back. Alica showed Luciel around as they waited.
"She was my caretaker when I was born, Luciel. I was lucky to find someone close when I came here."
"You don’t live here?"
"I used to live near the capital, then I started adventuring in order to support myself. I came here because the quests here are easier for someone like me to do..."
Alica fell silence, the bad memory from yesterday haunting her. She bounced back quicly, however, immediately forcing Luciel to stand still as she took some clothes and used Luciel as a gauge for the size. It took awhile before the old lady came back, carrying some proper attire for Luciel to try on.
"Here, dearie, I did some adjustments but I'm sure they'll fit your adventure needs."
A sleeveless shirt and a skirt that cuts nicely at the side. It was a tad revealing for defensive purposes, but for fast movement and action, Luciel could easily stretch and move around in that outfit. The old lady also prepare some leggings for Luciel and she can pair it with shoes or she could go barefoot.
It resembled some sort of eastern culture, the old lady explained. She got ideas from someone before but no one was able to fit her criteria.
"It feels great to move in."
Luciel smiled as she spun around.
Alica brought Luciel to walk around some more, after paying and saying goodbye to the old shopkeeper. Their little excursion brought them to the entrance of the town, where they came from the forest. The guards took their guild card and acknowledged them as they stepped away.
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Now it was morning, Luciel could see the vast plains soaked in the morning sun and the forest that she teleported in. Alica explained the place they were at.
The town they were at was a trade center, hence there were many merchant and noble coming back and forth from the capital to do business. Adventurers like her would usually perform guard duties to monster subjugation and it would usually mean a few weeks worth of work.
Alica knew some of the better spots to gather herbs and materials if they were lucky. One of the spots were filled herbs and other types of floral that Luciel had never seen before. It was beautiful listening to the wind rustling through the plains.
They headed deep in to the field of herbs.
The two picked up a decent amount of herbs, enough for them to use as leftovers for other purposes. As Alica started to teach Luciel more about the herbs around them, Luciel felt several presences. Luciel held Alica's hand to get her attention
"Alica...we are surrounded."
Luciel put her finger up to her lips and whispered.
"Keep on talking. Act as if nothing is wrong."
"Hnn."
Luciel glanced around the corner of her eyes, letting her body do the trick as she recited a simple detection spell. Several figures appeared in her head, showing the map of the area as the spell reached its limit.
"Alica, I can sense 10 to 20 people that are waiting for us in ambush."
"What..? It must be Belzac and his crew. What a pain that man is!"
"Is there anywhere to run to around here?"
"No...there's no cover around here, except into the forest."
"Then...we have to cut them down if we have to."
"I won't be a hindrance, okay? I'll do my part, since it’s my fault also."
"I know."
Luciel smiled brightly.
"I'll count on you, Alica. I will protect you."
Alica could feel her face slowly heat up. If Luciel was a man, any girl will fall for that! But for Luciel, she was being honest at that moment, a bad trait that she picked up from her mother.
Alica nodded. The two stood up together and time seem to stood still as they ready themselves.