The two men laughed wickedly with wide grins as they approached her.

Astoria’s heart was thumping so loud and she was sweating buckets.

Suddenly, a loud voice sounded from behind the two men.

“You two! You dare to attack a woman like this in my presence!”

The two men turned around to spot a guy, around fifteen years of age, standing behind them. Their expressions turned ugly.

“Who a-re you? This no-ne of your bus-iness!” the tall man hiccupped again.

“Yeah! This is no place to play hero!” the fat man added.

But the young man didn’t move, he just stood there with a condescending look, causing them to become annoyed.

“Take this!” the fat man yelled as he ran towards him, his fist raised to throw a punch.

But the young man chuckled as he dodged agilely, before striking him on his neck and instantly knocking him out.

The tall man was aghast, “You’re a martial artist!”

The two were just ordinary people so they stood no chance against martial artists. Fear sobered the tall man up. He instantly turned around and disappeared in a flash.

The young man didn’t try to chase after him and turned his attention to Astoria.

Astoria heaved a sigh of relief. It was only now that she could properly see the face of her saviour.

The man had a youthful look with a tanned complexion. He had black, scruffy hair with a piercing gaze.

“Are you okay miss?” he asked with a handsome smile as he held out a hand towards Astoria.

She thought he was cute and blushed, but soon remembered what she had come here to do and came back to her senses. Astoria gratefully took his hand, and he pulled her up. She quickly dusted off her clothes before facing him.

“I’m good, thank you very much,” she said respectfully with a slight bow.

“No problem at all,” he replied, waving his hand as if it was no big deal. “May I know your name?” She hesitated slightly before deciding to use her real name.

“Astoria…” the man said to himself. “What a pretty name, it suits you well,” he said with a smile again.

Astoria blushed slightly before asking for his name.

“I’m Sam. Sam Ashford. You better remember it!” he laughed, and then asked something unexpected. “How about I buy you a drink?”

She hesitated before shaking her head. “I would love to but I’m actually going somewhere now.”

“Oh, where are you off to?”

She thought about it for a moment before deciding to tell the truth.

“The dojo”.

“That’s interesting, what business do you have there?” he asked curiously, before adding, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Now she hesitated. She obviously couldn’t tell him the truth.

“I… I wanted to see Jin Tong. Everyone’s been talking about how amazing he is, and that he may become a hero of our village in the future. I wanted to see him for myself.”

“Ah I see!” Sam said, his eyes brightened with understanding.

In this world, which was fraught with danger from demons and onis, people with strength were greatly respected. They were the pillars of support for a community, so it wasn’t strange that people would try to get to know someone who was as recognised as Jin Tong.

“What a coincidence, I am going to be passing by the dojo myself. How about we go together?”

“This…” Astoria thought about it.

She didn’t know where the dojo was and she didn’t want an accident like earlier to happen again. She may also be able to get some information out of him. She couldn’t think of any reason to not go with him so she replied, “Okay”.

Sam was delighted and so the two made their way while talking and getting to know each other.

Astoria asked a lot of questions about the village, but she tried to not be obvious about it, such as ‘What are your favourite places in the village’, ‘What restaurants do you like’, and so on. When he gave a response, she would often feign ignorance, saying that she hadn’t heard of it and asked him for directions. Like this, she started getting a better understanding of the village.

Sam was very happy that Astoria was taking an interest in him so he answered with as much detail as he could which made Astoria’s life easier. However, whenever he asked anything about Astoria, she would always just give vague responses. When he asked where she was from, she just replied ‘You know… just around’.

He wasn’t particularly happy but decided that he should respect her privacy and didn’t pry further.

“By the way, you never told me what you do?” asked Astoria as they were nearing the dojo.

“Oh, I’m a hunter. That’s where I get my amazing fighting skills from,” he bragged with a smirk.

“Ah, I see,” she replied casually.

They arrived at the dojo’s entrance.

Quite a few people were standing outside looking in. There were about a dozen martial artists dressed in white robes inside. They were practising their moves in the large front garden. Behind them was a massive building which was the main dojo. Public members could only stand on the outside and look at the garden, they weren’t allowed in.

“Where’s Jin Tong? I was told he’d be here?” one of them asked.

It seemed everyone was here for Jin Tong.

“Don’t you see? It’s him right there,” another one pointed.

Astoria followed their hand towards a particular man among those inside.

Astoria didn’t know what she expected. Maybe some tall, muscular dude with a prideful demeanour. However, what she saw was a skinny guy looking no older than Sam, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old.

However, something was indeed different about him. Especially compared to others in the background, he moved with grace and elegance. His moves were sharp and to the point with no room for error. Every time he struck, the air would make a ‘whish’ sound, making one wonder about the power contained in his strikes.

“He’s really not like what I imagined,” Astoria mumbled.

Jin Tong reminded her of Elwin which caused her to start thinking about her brothers and the rest of her family. She felt a little lonely. She didn’t know anyone here and had no plan on how she was going to obtain the Zenith pills.

Sam was standing close, so he heard her and agreed.

“Indeed. It shows that one should not judge a man by his looks. He may not be as handsome as me, but he’s definitely a better fighter.”

Astoria inwardly rolled her eyes.

During their conversations, she realised that Sam was quite a shameless person who loved to brag about himself. But it was even more of a testament to Jin Tong that such a person was praising him so highly.

“So, what are you going to do now, Astoria?” Sam asked, glancing at her.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She wasn’t sure herself, so she replied with another question.

“What about you? What are you going to do?”

“Oh me? Not much, I was just going to meet someone first. Then I will go hunting like I normally do. I’ll be back by the evening though. Maybe I can buy you a drink then?” he asked hopefully again. “I’m guessing you’re staying at the inn next to the alley where we met right?”

“Yes I am, and… okay sure,” she agreed. Before, even though Sam had saved her, she didn’t know him and had turned him down. But after getting to him a little during their conversation, she thought he was a normal and honest guy, so decided to agree.

Sam’s face lit up upon hearing her response. He soon waved her goodbye before walking away.

Astoria wasn’t sure what to do now. She wasn’t able to get inside the dojo.

‘Maybe I can sneak in at night?’ she wondered but immediately shook her head.

She had no idea where they kept the Zenith pills and its recipe yet. It was still too soon. But she couldn’t just do nothing.

Suddenly, she was struck by a thought.

Sam said that he was going to meet someone, but who? Could it be someone who was providing the Zenith pills? If so, she could follow him and find out. It wasn’t very likely, but she didn’t have any other leads.

Hence, she raised her hood and decided to give it a shot anyway.

Soon, she was trailing Sam. He walked quickly and freely. He didn’t think anyone was following him. After some time, he turned down a shady alleyway.

Astoria hesitated at the entrance; this alleyway was relatively deserted with only a few hiding spots. It would be easy for him to spot her if he turned around.

Sam made a turning.

Grinding her teeth, she decided to risk it and hurried along.

She continued to follow Sam, waiting for him to make a turning before quickly chasing after him. Otherwise, in case he suddenly turned around, there wouldn’t be enough time for her to hide and she would be found out.

Astoria was quite confused. Who could Sam be meeting in the middle of nowhere like this?

However, her thoughts were soon answered as Sam stopped at the corner of a particular street. He was talking to a strange-looking, bearded old man who was walking with a cane.

After some talking, Sam handed him a pouch. The old man accepted it and looked inside. Then, he nodded and took out a medium-sized box wooden box that he handed to Sam. He also checked its contents before nodding and walking back.

Astoria immediately turned around and ran before hiding in a corner. She held her breath as Sam walked past. Luckily, he didn’t notice her the entire time.

'What just happened?' Astoria thought.

She had just witnessed some kind of transaction, but it looked very dodgy. Would Zenith pills really be sold in such a manner? As far as she was aware, they were popular pills in this village, so it was unlikely.

He must have bought something else, but what? This was extremely shady and she started having doubts about Sam’s character.

After waiting for a few minutes, she started walking back to the dojo.

‘I’ll try to get some answers when I meet him later,’ she thought to herself.

After a short while, she returned to the dojo.

She spent the rest of the day walking around the dojo, taking notes of the entrances and exits, the number of people inside, the number of guards present, and so on.

After learning as much as she could about the dojo, she then visited crowded areas such as marketplaces to see if she could get any useful information. She spotted some people who loved to gossip and asked them about the latest news regarding martial artists. Of course, she didn’t directly ask about the Zenith pills, but she hoped someone would leak some news.

However, the information she got was useless. Most of them were just talking about Jin Tong. Finally, she lost her patience and decided to take a risk,

“Ah yes, you’re right. Our village is producing more and more outstanding martial artists. It is all thanks to the Zenith pills, right? After all, only our village has them,” she said to a purple-dressed, middle-aged woman who was one of the people who loved to gossip.

“Of course!” she agreed. “It was created by one of our glorious ancestors after all. He was a grand mage in his life, and people say that he might have even reached the mage king realm if he had lived for a few more years.”

“But of course!” Astoria agreed, feigning a smile. “Ah, I wish I could see some Zenith pills. Even if I am not a martial artist, I would love to be able to see those legendary pills!”

“Haha!” laughed the woman as if she had heard the funniest thing ever. “You must be joking sister. The distribution of Zenith pills is heavily regulated by the village lord to prevent it from ending up in the wrong hands. How could you or I get it? Haha!”

“Ha, yes of course you’re right,” agreed Astoria while inwardly sighing. It would be more difficult than she thought. She hesitated before asking, “But if I was a martial artist, how would I go about getting the pills anyway?”

The woman gave her a weird look. “You really don’t know?” she asked.

“Uh, I am quite ignorant about things related to the martial arts world,” Astoria said with an awkward laugh.

But the purple-dressed woman wasn’t amused.

“Now that I think about it, you’ve been asking an awful lot of questions about our village’s martial artists. I’ve never seen you here before as well. Who are you and where are you from?” she asked warily.

Astoria cursed herself for being so obvious. She got caught up in the conversation and exposed herself.

“Ah you know, just from - oh yeah, that reminds me that I need to get going. It was nice talking to you, see you later!” she said before hurrying away.

The woman stared at Astoria as she left, wondering who she was. In the end, she overheard an interesting conversation and soon lost all interest in Astoria.

‘Phew, that was close,’ thought Astoria. ‘I have to be more careful.’

It was now already evening, so she decided to head back to the inn.

She ordered a meal and sat at the table. Though there were a lot of people here, there were rules against fighting inside the inn. So, no one would harass her here. After this morning’s experience, she learnt to stick to the main roads and avoid people she thought were dodgy.

At this inn, she finally felt relieved.

“Ah there you are!” came a voice.

Naturally, it was Sam. He was walking towards her carrying a large jug of alcohol and two mugs. He placed it on the table and joined Astoria for a drink.

“Took you long enough,” Astoria chided. “So, what’d you hunt today?”

“Oh, you know, just the usual. Some rabbits and birds. I didn’t get a lot,” Sam sighed. “Not to worry though. I hunted a large deer yesterday, so I have quite some money now. All your drinks are on me!” he exclaimed while pouring her a drink.

Astoria laughed, “I hope you won’t regret that!”

Though she was slightly wary of him now, she still liked his company.

Soon the two of them started drinking, laughing, and talking. However, Astoria didn’t drink too much. She wasn’t much of a drinker first of all, and after seeing Sam’s mysterious behaviour this morning, she didn’t feel comfortable getting drunk with him.

However, Sam drank without restraint and soon became very drunk.

Astoria decided to use this chance to ask him some questions.

“So, this morning, you said you wanted to meet someone, who was it?” she asked casually while taking a sip of her drink.

“You know, just old man Ben,” he replied nonchalantly while gulping down another mouthful of beer.

“Who’s Ben? I’ve never heard of him,” she replied.

“Ben? He used to be a village elder and travelled to other villages. I was asking him for a map to Jain village,” he replied honestly.

But as soon as he said that he froze, as if wondering what the hell he had said out loud.

It wasn’t easy to draw accurate maps in this world, so they were difficult to come by.

‘No wonder it looked shady then,’ thought Astoria. It wasn’t easy to find them through normal means.

Still, Astoria became curious. Why did Sam want to go to the Jain village? She asked him exactly that and Sam soon started sweating buckets. He finally sighed.

Maybe because he was drunk, or maybe he just trusted her, but he asked, “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure, anything,” she replied, trying to sound as friendly and innocent as possible.

“There used to be this girl I really liked and she really liked me. After going out for some time, we both became old enough and started talking about marriage,” he said with a long sigh, drinking another cup of wine before continuing. “She was the personal maid of the village head’s son, Henry. However, one day she accidentally spilt a drink all over his clothes and ruined it. It was apparently one of his favourite outfits, so he was extremely furious. Not only did he beat her, but he also stripped her of her job, and sold her as a slave!”

Astoria’s eyes widened.

Another difference between Earth and this world was the existence of slavery. While slavery was abolished on Earth a while ago, but it was still a booming business here. Even in her house, Astoria had many slaves.

Of course, due to his mindset from Earth, Drake absolutely hated this, but there was nothing he could do.

Sam spoke very quietly, afraid someone would hear him.

“That damned bastard! Spoilt child! He took her away from me. Not only did he turn her into a slave, but he also sold her to the Jain village’s slave traders to make sure she was split from her family. All because of one ruined shirt! Is that all her life was worth to him!? Damn him! If I got my hands on him, I would… I would…” he downed another full mug of alcohol in one go.

Astoria was dumbfounded! So, there was such a story behind Sam.

“So, you are going to the Jain village… is that because you want to try to save her?” she asked.

“But of course!” he replied. “I will work hard and save up enough money to buy her and release her from her slave status.” Astoria was surprised at his affection towards his girlfriend.

From her first impression of him, she thought he was hitting on her, but he now appeared quite dedicated to his girlfriend… or should I call her his fiancée? Astoria didn’t care much.

‘Maybe he was just being friendly to me,’ she thought, sipping some of her own drink.

But regardless, she could use this to her advantage.

“You know, you might be able to save her if you go to the Jain village, but even if you do, so what?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked angrily.

He wasn’t happy at having his dream belittled.

“Even if you do that, Henry is still going to get away with what he did. Should he not be punished for his crimes?”

“Of course!” he agreed. “But what can I do? He is on a whole other level to me.”

Astoria rejoiced, she had him!

“Well, you know how this village is known for its Zenith pills right? It is extremely precious, and the village head has been protecting it forever. If you leak the recipe to the Jain village on your way, the entire village will suffer a huge loss. Without the advantage of the Zenith pills, it would be harder for them to fight for resources against the other villages. The village head and his son would have a huge problem on their hands.”

She spoke very quietly so only the two of them could hear. Sam looked at her with a surprised expression. It was a very bold idea. But if she suggested it, she must have a plan. Just who was this girl?

But now he became wary.

“Now that I think about it, I have never seen you before. Given the way you dress, you are no ordinary commoner either. Were you here for the Zenith pills from the start? Are you a spy from the Jain village?”

Astoria didn’t reply and just drank more alcohol with a mysterious smile.

Sam stared at her before sighing, he had to admit that it was a tempting idea. But for it to work, they had to do it right.

“Okay,” Sam replied slowly. He had sobered up after hearing all of that. “You have my attention, what do you suggest?”