XVII.

Audrey tugged Madoka's shoulder. It was a warning to not do anything rash. Was this body hers now, since she could crush those insolent people easily? The Sovos stranger was much more imposing than Armor, with fangs and a confident grin spread across his scaled face. He was the closest thing Audrey described as a lizard man, though they probably should not provoke him.

Another lightning bolt flashed, accompanied by thunder and he finally spoke to the silent girls.

"May I have a word with you two?"

It was not a question— it was a demand. So the pair followed him, not without Madoka giving one last stomp on the unconscious adventurer who dared to reach for her princess before exiting. She had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly who this person was. She just wished it was not raining! Her princess was going to be soaking wet. Still, they hurried along while the Sovos remained silent as he strode towards the Guild Hall.

"De— Déjà vu," Madoka muttered as she took the sights of the place. She still tripped over the words. The room was much more spacious than the one in Livertorjan, but still had a similar layout. The balcony above had plenty people discussing commissions, while no one batted an eye at the pair. Good, she thought, clutching her shoulder.

"That temper of yours is gonna get us in trouble," Audrey groaned. "I think this guy is about to give us some bad news."

"Let's go get it then," Madoka sighed. She wanted to ask if she had any better ideas when it came to dealing with fools like that, but it she most likely did. She stuffed her shame deep down and prepared to to receive the bad news. Audrey looked at her and acquiesced. They both knew exactly what the Sovos man was and the maid's anticipation rose with every step up the stairs.

The office was also quite spacious. Madoka peered around the doorframe before tiptoeing in. Audrey followed her in, and soon she saw the man standing at the window. To Madoka, he was the most dragonlike and noble out of all the Sovos people she has seen. He was facing away from them looking up at the moons without any indication of hostility. Instead, a small snort escaped his nostrils.

Was that amusement?

"Heard the news from Luxgor of your exploits."

His voice was husky, like music sweeter than the Knotting chimes from the Frost Queen's Hall. The Dragonman turned to face them with a fanged grin on his snout. The silver scales on his body reflected the twin moonlight off of them perfectly. The beams revealed red webbings beneath their translucency and as he breathed beautiful Ice Domineering strands threaded within his fog like a storm. His pointed ears and horns tipped back as his eyes narrowed in on them.

"Here is the situation," he moved on from the awkward silence. "The Circle has been hungry for centuries, cracking apart and swallowing fools whole as it hunts. Those towering stones jutting high to the sky in ridges are called Petals. They divide this country in sections, and you'd do well to remain careful in Petal 1 and Petal 2. The disturbances, the roar of the earth, make it a natural predator for adventurers. Weak adventurers. And yet, here you two are. I am Drezgor, Acting Guild Master of Gladeban. The real Guild Master and my party's leader, Lady Gechick, has left to investigate why the disturbances have been worsening lately. Gold rankers are flooding the Labyrinth now that she's active. That leaves me with you two. Iron ranks."

Madoka gulped at the mention of Gold ranked adventurers. She crushed a few of those so easily and yet it brought a lot of attention to them. Drezgor pulled out a shiny necklace. It was a Diamond tag! She knew now why she felt power emanating from him, but was not sure it made a difference to her from a regular Gold tag.

"Lady?" Audrey asked, her eyes gleaming with wonder as she stared at the shining tag.

"You're lucky you have me. If she saw what you did to those fools she would have challenged you," he puffed out heated smoke from his nostrils and tucked it away, much to Audrey's dismay. "And you would lose."

"So, what will you have us do?" Madoka ignored his warning. She cared not for her fellow adventurers' constant need to prove themselves among the others.

"Unlike Luxgor, who whines and worries over your continual ventures into restricted areas, I will not hold you back. Drop by the Artisan Guild, they will handle your monster parts for a good amount of coin," Drezgor waved a hand, but his eyes were momentarily distracted by something furry slinking beneath a nearby chair. An orange tail? Madoka decided to not question it. He cleared his throat. "You may do whatever work you see here as fit, but if you are too weak the Forest will swallow you whole."

Audrey was about to question something, but something's thoughts interrupted Madoka's own.

"Stupid, noisy two-legs!" It hissed in Royal. Madoka's hair raised. Could this be the Orange Demon's thoughts? "Let me sleep!"

"However," Drezgor droned on. "Disturbances or no disturbances. Beyond the Forest is something called a Leyline, a perfect grave full of danger for the likes of you. You can even try exploring it, if you feel like cutting your adventures early, if you know what I mean. They lie beyond the Fields in Petal 4 to the west from here. Truth Guild members explore here the most. I know I just said you can do whatever work you see fit, but I must ask of you to speak to them first. A woman there, Arudite, has requested you assist her. Dismissed."

"Ah," Audrey yawned. "What about those guys Madoka beat up?"

I beat up? Madoka sighed, but caught a glimpse of the orange furry tail slipping beneath another bookshelf. Drezgor chuckled, but her thoughts were fixated on the Orange Demon. It was muttering things to itself in Royal, but she could not understand it. That was definitely the beast those birds were talking about.

"Alright, let's get going," Audrey did not notice it either, sleeping stealthily beneath the shelf. Madoka guessed that those adventurers would be taken care of, one way or another. She would destroy them again in a heartbeat if they threatened her princess. Madoka yawned loudly, despite annoying the Royal speaking creature. If it wanted to challenge her, she would welcome it. A hand slipped inside of hers, guiding her up.

Rain again, Madoka felt the drops bother her head. She had nearly forgotten the princess felt like a furnace. Audrey seemed more awake now, but she could tell that the girl was looking forward to a bed. There were less people in the inn, but all of them nervously looked away upon noticing their arrival. As they should, Madoka scoffed. The Cowardly Innkeeper was busy mopping blood off his floors, avoiding contact.

"There is something I should do," Madoka muttered. Audrey paused and looked at her inquisitively as she inspected the crater, while the Innkeeper nearly jumped into the ceiling. Madoka did not notice, instead she was busy watching the Knotting strands fill the crater where she slammed those adventurers down into. "It's my mess, so therefore..."

Madoka pulled at the tangled strands, and smoothed them out as if it was a messy blanket. Immediately after she did so, the strands swam in her hands and the wood reformed back to its original shape as if it was never broken at all. She clapped her hands and was satisfied with her work. Audrey looked at the perfect wooden flooring and back at her maid, but then pulled the key out and read its inscription.

"Room 4," she murmured. "Bed time awaits!"

The girl excitedly leapt onto the bed closest to the door before Madoka could even get inside to inspect it, but all she could do is sigh. This room had a window that let the moons' lights in, but was not much bigger than Livertorjan's inn. Audrey tore her clothes off with astonishing speed and before Madoka knew it, she was kissing the pillow again. She froze when she noticed Madoka quietly taking her clothes off after shutting the door.

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"Hey," she tried to sound seductive, but Madoka groaned instead. "You're naked, I'm naked. Come here, baby."

"If you touch me I will rip your arms off," she told her as she flopped into the bed next to the window. Audrey's face twisted into fear, but she resumed kissing her pillow. There were just too many things to worry about, and yet, when they were compared to the princess when she was like this there was nothing at all that came close. The sheets were enveloping her, she was quickly succumbing to her tiredness.

The moment she collapsed into her slumber was when she realized something. It occurred to her that she did not check beneath the bed or the windows.

"Madoka?"

What? Madoka stirred. She was just asleep for a moment! Sunlight bothered her eyelids, so she squeezed them tighter. No weird dreams?

"Madoka, wakey, wakey!"

She cracked an eye open and felt herself. She was in clothes, but Audrey explained that the moment she threw the night dress at her, she put herself in one of her golden bubbles and got changed while asleep. Madoka stretched and got ready while Audrey watched her quietly.

"You're not usually one to get up after me," she commented.

"It's just been a long couple of days," Madoka shrugged, before throwing the dress in her princess's face.

"Pah!" Audrey sputtered, but deposited it into the portal. They should probably do laundry at some point. "More like, long couple of weeks— no months! I've been counting. It's been 22 weeks since we left... you know."

Madoka strapped the Serpent's Blade and her axe to her side and covered herself with a cloak. That did not seem like a long time, but she doubted she could count that high so she assumed the princess was right. For she was always right.

"That's almost half of an earth year," Audrey muttered. "This planet makes no sense!"

"Your world makes no sense," Madoka retorted. "Let's get going."

"Back o-out there? What if the Gold guy and his friends are waiting for us?" Audrey questioned her. "And that Guild guy is Diamond rank."

"What, are you scared now?" Madoka strapped the bag she always carried around her neck and pushed her to the door, making her squeak. "There you go."

"I feel like I'm headed to my first day of school," Audrey tried to slump, but of course Madoka would not let her. "Nae waah!"

Madoka was ready for anything to give her trouble downstairs, but was surprised to see Eraziror and Kanys waiting for them instead. A stringed instrument was slung to his back. A lyre, she thought. He was not lying about how he left that here.

"Yo," the Sovos man greeted her. "I heard what you did to Otanor's party. He couldn't even reach you... Hehe."

"Is this guy some kind of comedian?" Audrey muttered.

"We're headed to the Truth Guild," Madoka said flatly, ignoring his joke because she did not understand it.

"Ah, to see that Noble girl who came with us," Eraziror nodded. Madoka could only tell Arudite was a Noble due to her aura, but the purple hair color was unusual to her. "Well, best of luck to you."

"Wha- Where you two headed?" Audrey asked.

"I have training to do," Eraziror shrugged. "Matter of fact, we all have training to do before the Cel'Row show up."

"C-Cel'Row," Madoka felt her stomach leap at the mention of it.

"Yeah, yeah!" Eraziror twirled. "They show up in swarms above the Petal 4 plains this time of year. We kill as many as we can, then we get paid big time."

Petal 4, she guessed, was further away from the tremors and the Circle of the Labyrinth. This country seemed centered around it, with vast spires of rocky layers of small mountains dividing it up in wide radiuses. They rode along one of the spires on the way here. Still, numbering the petals seemed simple enough.

"A player versus environment event, huh?" Audrey muttered. "Sounds exciting!"

"If you two are around Gladeban, you're sure to get a lot of them, I'm sure."

"We'll see about that," Madoka guessed. Since Audrey labeled it with a weird name she knew that she was interested in getting involved with the event. Before she could leave, Kanys unexpectedly tugged on the maid's sleeve. "H-Hai?"

"Hey," she looked uneasy, but Eraziror and Audrey gave her puzzled looks. "Can we speak tonight? When you get back from your commission. Just you and I. Is that okay, Lady Audrey?"

"Ah," Audrey looked to Madoka, who in returned shrugged. "Yeah, you can speak with her."

Great, another thing to worry about, Madoka hesitated, but simply nodded before leaving through the door. The soil-scent and dirty water scent mixed with her nostrils, but the wind felt great. Audrey broke away from her grasp and peered over the stone fencing that overlooked the river below. Madoka fussed in her head and checked both ways before crossing the street, an idiom the princess herself taught her. Behind her were the thoughts of many horses in the stable next to the inn.

The peculiar Truth Guild building had a strange starry sign hung on it, and the walls of this city had lots of telescopes pointed at each of the petals. Those telescopes each had the same purple Truth Guild emblem on them. Audrey still looked at the river, her green Rustazian garb Lady Saze gave her wrapped around her perfectly and the breeze made her hair fall like waterfalls. She was charming, and Madoka found it difficult to look away. For a peaceful moment, even among the bustling streets beginning to boom, she was silently enjoying this scene together.

"Well?" Audrey finally broke the silence. "Let's get going."

Fine by me, but Madoka said nothing and followed after her. She did not like the idea of being around Arudite, but there was no other choice. Soon, both stood in front of the Truth Guild. The gates on the side of the building swung out and a commotion gave way.

"Watch out, watch out!" A short, fat bearded man wearing a strange pair of goggles on his head wobbled out on top of a wagon. More wagons thundered out of the building, while he yelled. A few horses' confused thoughts pushed it further as they bumped carelessly into each other but eventually they straightened out. Madoka saw a lot of adventurers inside the wagons with the Truth Guild, and remembered Iron rankers did a lot of this kind of work. "Expedition A5 is on the way!"

"A dwarf?" Audrey muttered. "I guess it makes sense."

His wagon drew to a halt right before them and suddenly a loose strand of purple hair popped out from above its rails. Arudite? Madoka stared back at the woman, who also was wearing matching goggles as the so-called dwarf's. The Noble cheered at them.

"Yoohoo! You both are late!" She called for them. "Kind Gods, get on here!"

Madoka looked at Audrey and she shrugged in response. She soon found herself on the wagon, staring at an aloof Ilalune. It was not like she wanted to be here either! Before they knew it, the caravan was already off on the roads.

"Have you heard the new guy?" A strange voice interrupted Madoka's silent fuming. Her ears tilted and noticed that the horses were talking to each other. "That jumpy fellow, hee."

"His mane smells of flies and dirt," the other mused. "This short two legged freak made a pat of him and his rider. Broke before he even began to sprint the fowl out of him. A pitter, patter pity!"

Madoka wondered who they were speaking about, if they were talking any sense at all. Audrey stared at the supposed short two legged freak they were referring to. The purple haired Noble spoke up with an enthusiasm that could smother her.

"I'm so excited to do field work with you two again!"

"Again?" Madoka barely got out before Audrey returned the same energy.

"Yeah!" She took her eyes off the sights as they passed by. The brick roads were thinning as they drew closer to the gates. A sign hung above them, but of course Madoka did not know what it said. "Petal 4, huh? What are we doing?"

"You two are just going to help us, ah," Arudite shyed away from Ilalune and Madoka's glare. "Not die."

"Eh?"

"It s-shouldn't be too crazy," Arudite lifted her goggles off her head, but the short man finally spoke up.

"Ayo, Iron rankers!" He shouted with a hearty laugh. "We'll be headed towards the forest at the edge of them old fields to assess the monster's movements. I expect results, adventurers, you hear me?!"

"Hai," Audrey stuttered. "Mister, ah..."

"What?" He barked. "ain't ever seen a Terros before? I guess you guys are green. I am Gromrak, Researcher level 3."

Madoka stayed quiet, unsure how much details of their career she should reveal. Audrey gawked at the term "Terros." She assumed that was simply his kind like a Sovos Dragonman. He snapped the reigns, goading the horses to speed up. They grumbled but acquiesced, as the Terros gained amusement from the girls' initial screaming. They were truly headed out into the unknown, Madoka could see the gates of Gladeban getting smaller and smaller.

"The monsters have been straying further into the fields," Arudite explained as the ride smoothed out. "Something is driving them out."

"Doesn't that just mean a big thing has moved into the forest?" Audrey asked. "It'll move away soon."

"We're not only here for monster habitat," Gromrak admitted with a serious tone. "We lost contact with a few Truth scouts in there. They're usually headed in and out of missions quickly, and are very good at what they do. Normally, Copper and Iron rankers head out here to train, so for the Truth scouts to be lost with no sign of return it will make things a wee bit hard for all Guilds involved here. That's where you ladies come in. Drezgor let us know all about your. We have the go ahead into the woods."

He winked and just like that, they were stopping a distance away from the entrance to set up cam. The horses have sensed the dangers that lurked in the wood and refused to budge. Gromrak stared back at the other wagons slowly catching up, but Audrey was fixated on something in the woods.

"What is it?" Madoka asked her.

"I smell death," she muttered. "What was that Drezgor guy thinking?"

"Think we can handle it?" Madoka asked, gripping her axe's handle out of anticipation. Audrey turned to her and her eyes spoke with unwavering determination.

"Of course," she remarked. "Just hope these guys can."