“I'm going to do for you what she did for me.” I said. “I'm going to become your guardian.”

I heard a gasp from both Afyne and Maylia, then Maylia's horse started to drop back. I slowed my own horse and came to a stop, and Maylia stopped beside me. She had a look of utter shock on her face and her mouth opened and closed over and over without making any noise. It was then that I remembered that in her culture, men were not allowed to be near children and they didn't have a hand in raising them.

I formed a Mana Presence Hand and cupped the side of her face, since I couldn't reach it with my own, then put a little bit of Presence into her. Since I only did that during our lessons in bed, it startled her out of her shock.

“Don't freak out on me now. I've been trying to show you that... I guess it didn't make much difference until now.” I said and absorbed the Mana Presence Hand and looked down at Afyne, who was already looking up at me with eyes so wide that they looked fake. “You decided that you wanted to come with me, even knowing it would be dangerous, and you don't even know if we have a home to go to or not.”

“It doesn't matter.” Afyne said. “I... I've been alone for... and you... you were the only one to...”

“It's all right.” I said and took her hand, then I repeated the phrases to extend my status to her. She was covered in a slight green glow for a moment and a little golden badge appeared on her clothes. “There. Now it's official.” I said and put my arms around her while she caressed the badge with her fingertips.

“It's real.” Afyne whispered, and Maylia could only stare at me with disbelief on her face.

“It's as real as you want it to be.” I said and looked at Maylia. “Can you still ride?”

Maylia only nodded and didn't say anything, so I flicked the reins of my horse and it started to trot. She was right beside me and kept glancing at me and then at Afyne. We left the capital city without incident and when we were far enough away, we stopped and I boosted Maylia while she cast the mana boost spell on both horses. With that done, we brought the horses up to full speed, to Afyne's surprise and joy.

“This is wonderful!” Afyne exclaimed and we crossed the countryside quickly. We arrived at the outskirts of the valley town of Bitosin and I brought us to a stop.

“Why are we stopping?” Maylia asked.

“Since Afyne doesn't want anyone in the town to see her, she needs to wear my cloak.” I said and took it off and slipped it over the girl's shoulders. I put the hood up for her, and since her head was smaller than mine, her entire face was covered in shadow.

“Th-thank you.” Afyne said.

“Just because I want you to face your fear, that doesn't mean I won't protect you from it.” I said. “I've accepted responsibility for you, so I'm going to do my best for you from now on.”

Afyne nodded and we continued on into the town at a trot. We arrived at the building I thought was a hospital and the lot outside was empty. I was grateful for that, especially for Afyne's sake. It was one less reminder that her parents were dead.

“Hunter!” A woman's voice nearly yelled and the door to the building opened. Gia came out and was quickly followed by the other healers. “You look well.”

“The queen has the best magical healers in the kingdom.” I said. “It was still close, though.”

Gia nodded. “I'm glad you're okay.”

“I came back to give everyone the items they wanted.” I said and looked inside the building to see that most of the beds were empty. “I guess I'll have to track them all down.”

“Hardly.” Gia laughed and turned to one of the others. “Mary, if you would be so kind.”

“One call coming up.” Mary said and started to chant, then she brought her hands together and opened them. Dozens upon dozens of little balls of green light shot out from her hands and disappeared from sight. A combined yell and holler came from all around and people started to run towards us.

“Okay, that was impressive.” I said and Mary beamed a smile at me. I handed the reins of my horse to Afyne and climbed down, then opened the bag of holding and carefully pulled out the carcass of the garglemacer. The sight was met by gasps and another startled scream from Afyne. I quickly reached up and grabbed her hand. I didn't say anything as she gripped my hand tightly, and we waited for several minutes for everyone to show up. I pat her hand and she nodded as she let me go, so I could do what I came here to do.

“You really did it.” One of the men said. “I don't believe it.”

I could almost feel the fear and tension in everyone, as if they expected the thing to wake up and jump at them. “Thanks to my trusted companion, we vanquished the beast.” I said dramatically and used Mana Presence Hands to roll it onto its side and pointed to the creature's destroyed chest. “I was gravely injured, as most of you know, and the queen had her best healers work on me constantly for a good portion of the day yesterday to heal the magical damage I had taken.”

“Is that what the badge is for?” A woman asked and pointed at my chest.

“Actually, after I showed her the carcass, she offered me a job.”

“Ha ha ha!” A man laughed. “I knew she was a smart lady!”

Several other people joined in and laughed, too.

“Can we touch it?” A boy asked.

“Only if you're very careful.” I said. “There might be some residual magic, or even poison, on the claws and maybe the horns.”

The boy looked afraid as he stepped close and poked the leg he was next to. It didn't move, so he reached out and laid a hand on it. “It's cold!”

“Is it okay to make a joke and say that it's dead tired?” I asked, and several people laughed and a couple of the faces frowned. “Yeah, it's too soon. I'll wait until tomorrow.”

A few more people laughed as they came forward and started to touch it. I let them face their fear and didn't say anything for several minutes, because I knew Afyne was facing her own fears.

“There's the last one.” Mary said and pointed, and I turned to see a man as he ran down the street towards us. “He must have the horse on the plow today.”

The breathless man stumbled for the last few feet and I quickly walked over to catch him before he fell.

“You didn't have to rush. I just got here.” I said and the man only panted in response. “I wasn't going to leave without giving you what I promised.”

The man nodded and motioned to the ground. I helped him sit and I went back over to the carcass.

“Now that everyone is here, it's time to give out the presents.” I said. “Scales first.”

A multitude of hands raised up and I used a Presence shape filled with mana to duplicate the knife's shape and started to pop off the scales. They were all surprised as I caught each one as it popped off and handed it to the next person in line. Thankfully, the creature was huge and I had only done one row of scales from around its underbelly and ran out of people to give them to. I slipped the last few into my own pockets.

“Okay, teeth next.” I said, and several hands went up. I eased open the creature's mouth and a few people let out a little scream, including Afyne on my horse. I wasn't stupid enough to stick my head in or even my hands, because I didn't want to shock people more than I already had. I quickly popped out just enough teeth to hand out, then took three to add to the three scales I had in my pockets. When everyone was happy and had their own keepsake, I turned to the healers.

“You didn't say what you wanted.” I asked them, and every one of them shook their heads.

“Even if we wanted to take them, we wouldn't.” Gia said. “We are dedicated to healing, so accepting part of a creature that only destroys is against our beliefs.”

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I nodded and opened my bag of holding and slipped the carcass back inside. That shocked a bunch of people and they were doubly shocked because I put the bag on like a backpack and the weight wasn't affecting me.

“There was one more thing we found near the roost.” I said and took out the sheet-wrapped half body. I carefully unwrapped it to only show the face.

Gia caught her breath and covered her mouth.

“Is this...”

“N-no, it's not my brother.” Gia said. “It's his friend and... we... well...” She looked at the face with sadness.

I nodded and covered it up. “Can I assume that he'll get a proper burial or whatever it is you do here?”

Gia and the healers nodded. “We'll put him with the others and have him buried with them.”

I took a handful of silver out of my pocket and held it out to her. “Will this cover the cost?”

All of the healers and the townspeople around us were surprised by my gesture.

“Are you really an adventurer?” Gia asked.

“I didn't start that way; but, I am now.” I said. “Please, take it.”

Gia reached for the pile and stopped, pulled her hand back slightly, then reached again and stopped.

I chuckled and took one silver and put it in her hand, then did the same to each healer. As luck would have it, I had pulled out just enough to give the healers one coin each.

“Keep up the good work.” I said and walked over to my horse.

“Please stay!” Gia exclaimed.

I could see that several people were startled by her request and a lot were not. “As tempting as it is to settle down and build a home, I can't right now.” I climbed up onto my horse. “I have work to do.”

“Will you ever come back this way?” Gia asked, hope in her voice, and Afyne shook slightly.

“I don't think so.” I said.

Gia sighed in disappointment and Afyne sighed in relief. I turned the horse around and started to trot down the road with Maylia right beside me.

“Goodbye!” The boy yelled at us. “Thanks for the tooth!”

I waved over my shoulder without turning around. I waited until we were well outside the town before we stopped and Maylia cast mana boost on the horses. We ran the horses at full speed after that and went back to the capital city. Once there, the new guards at the guard house didn't try to stop us or even asked us what our business was. I wasn't sure if it was because of the badges or because word of what happened had spread to the other guards. Either way, we weren't bothered and went right to the castle.

As the queen had predicted, she was quite busy with meetings and couldn't see us personally. The court attendant gave me the list of things the queen thought that I could help with, and I could easily read it, despite it being a completely different language than the common list that the captain of the guard had given me. I had to assume that it was because of the badge. The court attendant took us out to the courtyard and pointed to a large cage that had been constructed there.

The woman expert stood beside it. “All right, show me what remains of the thing.”

“I believe I was to be paid first.” I said, and she sighed.

“I have that for you.” The court attendant said and took out a fairly large sack.

I opened it and it was filled with gold coins. “Hello.” I said to the contents.

“Yes, it's ridiculously expensive.” The woman said, her anger clear as day. “I hope that I can convince the queen to leave it intact, because it would be the best specimen we've ever found.”

“Yes, found.” I said and put the gold into my bag of holding and took the carcass out. I absorbed the Presence backpack I had and used my Mana Presence Levitation technique to put the carcass inside the cage. The woman stared at the garglemacer as it floated inside the cage without touching anything. Her eyes had quickly found where I had removed the scales.

“How did you do that?” She asked and pointed at the nice smooth skin. “You didn't have the special knife I used.”

“You mean the knife you didn't offer to me or tell me where to get one for myself?” I asked, and her face flushed slightly red from embarrassment, probably because she thought she could delay or stop me from damaging the corpse. “It doesn't matter how I did it, only that I did it.” I said and walked away. “Have a nice day.”

She didn't respond and the court attendant led us back out of the castle. We mounted the horses and started to trot down the road.

“Afyne, do you know a good blacksmith?” I asked.

“I can show you where the stable gets all the metalwork done.” Afyne said.

“Good enough.” I said and she pointed where to go. We followed her directions to a small out of the way place. Maylia and I had been by there before and had only glanced inside without actually talking to anyone. At the time, I hadn't realized that I actually needed a blacksmith's skills. In actuality, I needed some of his tools.

“Ah, Afyne!” The blacksmith said and lifted his goggles to look at her. “What are you doing here so early? I don't have the new shoes for the...” He stopped talking when he saw the little golden badge on her chest with the kingdom's crest on it.

“I'm not here for the stable.” Afyne said and the blacksmith looked at me.

“What can I do for you?” The man asked. “I doubt there's anything you can get here that you can't get from the smiths in the castle.”

“Does that mean you're not up to making some custom metal items for me?” I asked. As soon as the blacksmith heard the word 'custom', his eyes lit up.

“I've made some odd things before.” The blacksmith said. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I'm missing some essential tools and I want to know if you can replace them.” I said. “If you've got some paper and...”

“Right there on my desk.” The blacksmith pointed. I turned around and looked where he indicated and only say a pile of scrap metal. The man chuckled and walked over to the pile and moved a few things aside to reveal part of an old wooden desk. He picked up several sheets of thick paper and a coal pencil, shook the dirt and metal shards off of them, then handed them to me.

“Thanks.” I said and quickly drew out the tools that I knew could be made with metal. The blacksmith watched and nodded his head at the shapes, then I wrote in the sizes they needed to be and he started shaking his head.

“Nope. I can't make things that small.” The blacksmith said. “The metal will crack and break apart.”

“Even if you stretch it while it's molten?” I asked and looked at the table and the piles of different tools there. “A chisel!” I said. “You made that, right?”

The blacksmith nodded. “That's easy.” He said and picked up a wrapped block of what looked like concrete. He opened it and it had a long channel carved into the middle. “You just pour it, harden it, then sharpen it.”

“What if you make a smaller channel?”

He shook his head. “The molten metal's too thick to flow inside a channel any smaller than that.”

I sighed. “What about the other tools?” I asked. “You have pliers right there.”

“I can't make them any smaller. Can you use them?”

I looked at the size of them and looked down at the damaged wires on my elbow. I saw that the wires would be lost in the teeth of pliers so large and shook my head.

“I'm sorry.” The blacksmith said.

“It was just an idea I had.” I said and put the drawings into my bag of holding and gave the blacksmith a copper for the paper. “Afyne, where did you get the leather straps for the horses?”

Afyne told me where to go and we left the blacksmiths and walked with the horses to a tailor shop Maylia and I had visited several days before. I asked the lady at the counter how she did such impeccable stitching on the reins and on the harnesses, and she showed me the tools and thread they had used. While I asked about thick leather and she showed me slightly larger and stronger material and the tools needed to work on them, Maylia and Afyne looked around the shop.

“I need a way to black it out.” I said when I bought some of the thick leather and the tools to work it and some thread to sew it together.

“Whatever you need this for, we can do it for you.” The lady said. “You are a valued customer.”

“I would get you to do it if I could; but, I can't stay around to wait for it to be finished.” I said. “How do I color it black?”

The lady sighed. “The quickest way is to use some coal pitch. You can get it from the general store.”

“Thank you.” I said and looked at Afyne. “Do you see anything you like?”

Afyne shook her head several times while Maylia nodded and pointed discretely. I looked without turning my head and saw a cute little fancy dress.

“Well, both Maylia and I bought outfits here, since we don't wear our armor all the time.” I said and turned to the lady and pointed at Afyne. “Is there any chance I can get a cloak similar to that one, only in her size?”

“The same color?”

“Green helps blend into the forest better.” I said, and the lady nodded and went into the back. She came out with a smaller cloak that looked the same, with a nice thick cloth in a darker green.

“How is this?”

“Perfect.” I said. “Can I get a couple pairs of basic pants and shirts, also in her size?”

“They are right over here on the shelf, sir.” The lady said and walked around me and sorted through them, then held a pair up to Afyne's leg. She grabbed another pair and brought them over to the counter and tossed two shirts on top. “Anything else?”

“Where can I get a bag of holding?”

The lady smiled. “You are a big spender today.” She said and went into the back room. She opened something like a chest and pulled one out.

“Two of them, please.” I said loud enough for her to hear me.

The lady laughed and grabbed another one and came out to the counter. “Anything else?”

I leaned in close and whispered. “You might as well throw in that fancy dress over there.” I said and pointed. “I'll distract her while you wrap it.”

The lady nodded with a huge smile and she walked out from around the counter. I picked up the bags of holding, put one inside mine, and walked over to Afyne and Maylia with the other. I knelt on one knee and held the bag out for a moment to show Afyne that it was hers, then tried to tie it to her belt.

“It looks like someone needs a new belt.” I said and looked down. “Boots. You need proper boots, too.”

“There's a great Cobbler just a few doors down.” The lady said and handed me a new belt over Afyne's shoulder. “Unless you don't like having a Half-Faerie making things for you.”

“As long as the quality is good, I don't care who made it.” I said and untied the old belt from around Afyne's waist and put the new one on. I tied the bag of holding onto the new belt and nodded. “There. Now it won't slip off.”

“But... but...” Afyne stared at the new belt and the bag of holding.

“I can't have you change into new clothes until we get a bath.” I said and lifted my arm, smelled my armpit dramatically, then jerked my head back. “Woooo! Yep! I definitely need a bath!”

Afyne laughed and snorted at the same time and covered her mouth and nose with both hands to hide it.

“I have your items wrapped, sir.” The lady at the counter said.

“Great.” I said and walked over to her. I put the packages into my bag of holding and she whispered how much everything was. I was quite surprised at how much the bag of holding was and took out the small bag of coins I had and put two gold coins on the counter. She took them expertly and gave me a sweet smile.

“Thank you very much for your business, sir.” The lady said.

I nodded at her and we left the shop. I took my cloak back from Afyne and put it on, then draped her own cloak over her shoulders. She tried to hide her smile, probably because she didn't want me to see how happy she was about having her own things, so I tried not to look at her as we walked down the street a few doors to the Cobbler.