Adrest was still taking in the powerful monster as Alissa vanished and the foe took note of Adrest. the oversized bat rushed from it's perch towards Adrest while shrieking. It felt like the noise was drilling into his brain and Adrest's eyes shook, but he stayed steady for the incoming attack.

From there it became a drawn out, defensive battle for Adrest. He was much slower and less agile than the enemy, as the bat darted from every angle to take swipes at Adrest he protected his vitals and lunged his sword whenever there was a chance.

For over an hour, the two exchanged injuries, the bat intent on killing the challenger. Finally, the bat slowed just enough for Adrest’s sword to slide in between the bat’s claws, easily sliding entirely through the bat’s chest, ending the fight.

From there, Adrest flew into the air and headed in the direction he could sense the Lodestone. Eventually, he tiredly made his way back home, dragging the dead bat behind him.

Belle was already back, sitting on Alissa’s lap with a few scratches on her body and a deeper cut in her shoulder staining her shirt, but that didn’t dim the smile on her face.

“Welcome back Big Bro Ady! Did you have fun?”

“Fun isn’t the word I’d use, but it was interesting at least, you?”

Belle’s ears were sent flopping as she vigorously nodded her head, “Yep! I had to hunt down a big rat, it was really tricky and kept digging to run away. It even snuck up on me once.”

She pointed to the deep cut that was slowly knitting itself closed as she talked. The two made their way over to where Alissa had been left behind. She gave Adrest a bright smile.

“Welcome back Ady, you did great!”

Adrest’s smile twitched at the vicious dragon and threw the few hundred pound bat at her, who effortlessly caught it with one hand.

“Easy with that! Zen bat meat is a delicacy, now get cleaned up and I’ll help you with dinner.”

Adrest snorted and gave Alissa a wave as he headed off to heal at the Lodestone and get cleaned up.

In contrast to the cold near freezing air outside, the stone house was warm and alive. Alissa and Belle helped Adrest make dinner, this of course ended in the older duo acting childish, leaving Belle to make sure the supposedly delicious stew didn’t burn.

As the family ate and fought deep in the forest, a top level meeting was going on at the top floor of the Guild house in the outpost. Taking part in the meeting was naturally Gerard Ness, the Guild Master and retired A rank adventurer. He was fairly famous in the larger cities across Radagon 50 years ago, but after an incident nearly killed him on a quest, Gerard stepped back into a managerial role, eventually getting sent to the edge of the Empire. A town near the unknown that was the Great Forest needed someone strong to hold down the fort after all.

Across from the Guild Master was a young woman. She had medium length brown hair, shining blue eyes, and a bright smile on her face as she reported to Gerard.

“I’ve scoured every inch of the forest within a dozen or so miles of here, but I haven’t found anything out of the ordinary. The worst I came across was a few groups of C rank monsters, but that doesn’t make a crisis like the guards reported.”

“Indeed, we can handle the odd C rank with ease, but it doesn’t make sense. Just a few weeks ago wee were getting dozens of C rank sightings, even evidence of multiple B ranks beasts was found.”

Sighing at the vanished beast crisis, he continued, “Well, we’d be happy to host you for as long as you want to stay here Ms. Rin, We’d all feel better knowing that someone like you is here if the high ranked monsters venture too close again.”

“I’d be happy to stay through the winter at least. I really don’t want to travel back through the mountains when it’s so cold. Plus, everyone is so nice, it’s a nice change from the larger cities.”

Gerard smiled at the last comment, knowing exactly how the young hero felt. In his youth he had net his fair share of nobles and wealthy families. They were always two faced and weighed the benefits in every sentence. Compared to always being on your toes and verbally sparring, the relaxed and kind nature of the people here was much better.

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“Great! We’ll host you for as long as you wish. And please enjoy the few amenities we can offer all the way out here.”

Rin said her goodbyes and was soon back at the Home and Hearth, sitting at the bar and chatting with Rose.

“How was your day Rin?”.

Giving a big grin at her new friend Rin replied, “It was great! I got to explore the town more after a quick meeting at the guild house. There’s so many interesting shops and stalls!”

Rin’s eyes were shining as she went talked about her adventures today, Rose had learned just a few days a go that her newest customer was actually from the Capital's Guild Academy. Despite her high standing, Rose found Rin very approachable and with Rose's own bubbly personality, the two became fast friends and had learned all about Rin.

She was a commoner like Rose, and she grew up in an orphanage. After being tested and her talent was noticed, she had to pack up her few belongings and moved thousands of miles from everything she grew up with, whisked into training at the capital cities’ Headquarters. In her many years of school, this was actually her first unsupervised quest, and the first one more than a few days from the capital.

“And then I went to that really cute little café by the auction house and had a parfait made with fresh fruit gathered exclusively in this forest. It was amazing!”

Rose nodded along as the girl finished her story and asked, “Have the monsters given you any trouble? I’ve heard from the guards that there have even been a few B ranks spotted nearby.”

She shrugged, “I’ve looked but haven’t found anything, that’s what I was talking to the Guild about today actually. But honestly, I’m just happy to be away from the instructors and school for as long as possible.”

Rose lightly laughed at the hero acting like a delinquent, enjoying her happy go lucky attitude. She had been in town for a few days and had been a nice distraction for Rose as she worked through the slow season as winter was fast approaching.

Rin was treating her time here as a vacation, taking a few hours a day to patrol the surrounding forest and cull the monsters, then spending the rest of her day getting to know everyone in town. Though incomparable in size and scope to the Capital Aleria, the outpost had a charm that Rin loved, and she felt free without having each and every minute planned by her teachers.

Time went by and Rin made herself at home in town, quickly getting to know all the locals and exploring every nook and cranny. In the entire time she spent here, the monsters seemed completely normal.

With a light dusting of snow on the ground, Belle was sent flying through the air from a still in air leg belonging to Alissa. Belle landed squarely on her butt and rubbed her stomach in discomfort.

“Oww, I think something cracked Big Sis.”

Despite the pain in her ribs as she breathed, Belle stayed completely calm as she had dealt with worse through her many months of training with Alissa.

“Oops, looks like I pushed a little too hard.”

With a step Alissa was crouched in front of the sitting rabbit, pulling her head into a hug with one hand and the other fished out a white pill from nowhere putting it in front of the girls mouth.

“It’s a little crack, so just stay still for about five minutes. Now say Ahh.”

Obediently, the small lips opened and the pill was swallowed. With that, Belle was up and running around again just fine.

Happy, Alissa gave Belle a mysterious smile, “Belle, it’s been awhile since we’ve spent a day having fun hasn’t it. How would you like to go play in Forest’s Edge for a little while?”

Belle’s eye’s lit up at the suggestion and excitedly said, “Can we visit the bakery you ordered everything from last time Big Sis Ali?”

Laughing at her fellow glutton, Alissa easily agreed, “We can go wherever you want.”

Excited for the upcoming trip, Belle was happy to head inside as Alissa followed. They ate the stew Adrest had prepared earlier and stayed inside through the evening as it was empty and cold out.

Belle went to sleep early as they would be heading out first thing in the morning. As Belle was fast asleep, the older pair talked casually by the fire.

“Are you sure we should go into town. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle everything just fine, but won’t the problem just keep getting bigger like this?”

“It’s fine, Since no one had bothered us after so long they’re either busy with other things or not in the area anymore. Either way, if we walk around with Belle in town, someone should report it back to who ever is so interested. We just need a fish to take the bait so we can fish for something even bigger. When doing these things, you have to be decisive and thorough.”

Adrest thought he was used to the occasional glimpse of the bestial cruelty from the dragon across from him, but still got shivers at the girls’ attitude.

As he was sitting silently and dwelling at the dark words she’d said, all thought slid from his mind when Alissa stood up, walked over to the sitting Adrest and bravely gave Adrest’s cheek a light kiss.

Backing up a step and blushing adorably, Alissa said, “Don’t worry so much. As long as I’m around nothing can happen to you. Even if the King of Radagon or the Saints of Ifreit come to our doorstep personally, they’d have to leave empty handed.”

Seeing the serious look in her eyes and understanding that she was completely serious, Adrest was moved and stood up, embracing the blushing beauty. Surprisingly, Alissa tightly hugged him back for a few seconds before escaping his arms and turning around to hide her red face.

As Alissa darted towards the stairs, she didn’t forget to say behind her, “Goodnight Adrest, let’s have fun tomorrow.”

“Definitely, sweet dreams Alissa.”