After collecting some proof of the bandits’ demise- a helmet here, a belt there, and so on and so forth, they’d had a night’s stay in their camp (as Mia had roundly rejected the idea of staying amongst the blood). They were off in the morning with...nearly little fanfare.

Almost immediately after they’d elected to set out, they’d ran into a bit of an issue. Namely, that of actual transportation. Marcus and Junia had both arrived via horses on a main road- it’d turned out that had she continued walking for much longer, she would’ve eventually come across natural fields and the end of the forest. That said, she wasn’t too fussed about that fact. No, she was more concerned about something else.

How to keep up with them. She’d admitted that her natural walking pace was well beyond normal humans, but it still wouldn’t match up to a horse at anything beyond a leisurely trot unless she started to jog herself- and she wasn’t entirely confident in how long she’d be able to manage that. Eventually, they’d decided that they’d simply have to work on it- they’d keep the pace slow for the most part, but occasionally they’d pick it up. It gave Mia a bit of an opportunity to do a bit of working out in regards to her physiology, at the least. At first she was worried about them not being able to get their payment in a reasonable timeframe, but they’d insisted that they’d be fine, and although they’d rather quickly run out of questions to ask her that she could answer, she had plenty to ask them.

“So, centaurs? Not too big of a fan, personally, but that’s just because of their weird habit of taking everything too literally. Never got that.” Junia had been explaining some of the differences between races to her on the way to their first stop, Germin. “It’s not much, but it’s a nice little place to rest up,” she’d said, and had confirmed that they’d only spend a night there. Apparently they’d passed through coming here, and they were expected going back. “So, anyway, that’s the big details between all the races.

“I have to admit, I didn’t think goblins would be so…industrious,” Mia admitted. The term was familiar to her, but she’d thought they were far more…wicked. Not apparently well-adjusted and productive members of society. Maybe that was just her biases shining through? She resolved to not mention that.

“Well, it depends on where they come from, really. They’re everywhere, but that’s what they’re usually known for,” Junia noted. “Most from around the Southern Islands are a bit more…rambunctious, but the ones that hail from the north are some of the best smiths you’ll find on the continent.”

“Are there any in Germin?” she’d asked.

Unfortunately, Junia shook her head. “Nah. Germin is a bit of a small village. Nothing but humans there,” she said. “They barely even do trade.” Drat. She was, admittedly, looking forward to seeing what the other races looked like…even if she was nervous as all get out and honestly expecting a few torches and pitchforks. Not that she expected the two to sell her out- she considered herself a decent judge of character and hadn’t gotten that vibe from either of them- but numbers could make you rethink a strategy really quick.

That wasn’t the only thing on her mind, either. “Speaking of trade, how does money work for you?”

They both looked at her from atop their steeds with surprise. “...hhhooow did it work for your kind?” Junia asks in clear surprise. “I mean, I can guess they didn’t use the same coinage, or call them Sovereigns, most likely, but…”

That…actually brought up a mental freeze in her head. For some reason, though she KNEW she’d dealt with currency before, she’d…forgotten exactly what she’d called it where she originally came from. She COULD remember the general numbers, though. “Well, they more or less went by factors of ten, I think” she explained. “We had two forms and each in several denominations. A hundred of the small equaled one of the larger.”

“Oh!” Junia quickly perked up. “Then you basically got it already! Okay, so we use what are called Crell and Pence. And it’s a lot like that. A hundred Pence makes a Crell, but there’s Two-Pence and Ten Pence, too. Fifty Crell make a High Crell, and twenty High Crell make a Grand Crell. Make sense?” Actually, it did. She thought she could remember that well enough, and she nodded. “Grand. Most folks never make a Grand Crell in their lifetime, though. Job we’re doing gets us Fifty Pence. Good for a few nights' stay in the better inns, so it’s fair enough.”

Huh. Mia wondered what the general prices were like for that sort of thing, but she figured that it was likely very variable depending on where she was, so she decided to let it remain a mystery for now. “How long do you think it’ll be before we get there?” she asked as she started to move into another jog.

The two quickly spurred their horses to keep pace. “Probably a couple more hours. I expect we’ll get there by evening,” Junia surmised.

For a time, the journey was quiet as Mia tried to not let her thoughts get too far away from her. She wasn’t trying to psych herself out, and keeping an even keel for as long as possible would only help.

Unfortunately, she was so focused on herself she didn’t realize that the two in front of her had stopped. She only registered it when she nearly crashed clear into the horse’s flank. “Augh! What?”

“Stay back,” Marcus said seriously. It was a tone he’d not used often before, and the notable change had her step back almost instinctively. She only spared a moment to look past the horses to reveal what looked to be two oversized wolves.

“Why are there random wolves on the street…?” she heard Junia mutter.

“Take a look at ‘em,” Marcus said, and though it wasn’t meant for her, Mia squinted to look, too. “They’re mangy and thin. They’re desperate.” He quickly bared his sword, looking plenty calm. “This shouldn’t take long.”

“Just don’t get bitten,” Junia said blithely. She held up her stave regardless- what she was about to do, Mia had no idea.

It was answered as soon as the first wolf jumped. Almost as though rehearsed, Marcus swiftly and smoothly stepped to the left, his blade cutting across the side of the beast easily. It was a singular strike and Mia could only wince as she saw the beast nearly split open in mid-air, blood and viscera flying a bit TOO close to her for comfort.

The second one was both just as desperate, and just as doomed. It leapt for Marcus even before the swordsman had finished his stroke, and for a moment Mia feared that he might be taken by surprise- only to hear a word chanted, and her stave lit up; almost immediately the wolf seemed to jerk nearly in midair, spasming. This was more than enough time for Marcus to bring his sword back around to cut the beast nearly in two with a vicious downstroke.

And just like that, the battle was over. Well, it hadn’t really been a battle; but it had shown Mia that the two weren’t just talking when it came to their abilities. In that moment, Mia felt more grateful than ever that she hadn’t even dared to risk anything with them.

“...that’s a shame. Wonder what caused them to get that way?” Junia asked as Marcus wiped off his sword.

“Who knows,” Marcus said idly. “Maybe the village might have an idea?”

“About that,” Mia brought up. It was something that she’d been fretting about in the back of her mind for the whole trip, and she couldn’t help but bring it up again. “Are you SURE you’ll be able to protect me?”

Marcus just chuckled. “What, you don’t think we’re good enough to?” Before she could stumble out an apologetic response, he continued on. “Yeah, Germin isn’t a big place, like I said. I don’t think any of them are really fighters at all. You’ll probably freak ‘em out a bit, but on the whole I don’t think that you have much to worry about.” Well…not the best response, Mia thought, but it’d be workable enough.

As they expected, fortunately, the sun was just beginning to set as they saw the village come up in the distance, just at the foot of a hill that they apparently were on, and now heading down. Mia was partially surprised, as it didn’t even have any walls! In fact, she could only see all of about a dozen homes and buildings. “Yeah, it’s not much,” Marcus said as he looked back at her. “We’re basically just stopping through for the night and that’s it.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

While that sounded fine to Mia, that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous. As a result, she found herself slowing down almost imperceptibly until she realized she was a good few yards behind the horses, and they’d stopped to look at her in concern, with the village limits- or at least the first farm area- not much further away. “Hey. Don’t sweat it,” Marcus said easily. “I promise you, we’ve got your back.” It helped in a way, but she wasn’t all THAT reassured. What if there was some sort of secret wizard or traveling warrior that saw her and assumed the worst? What if they simply banded together to drive her out? What if-

“Hey, hey hey!” They heard a voice cry out, and almost immediately Mia feared her worries were justified. Indeed, they saw a farmer, complete with barking hound at his side, and looking at them with an expression that spoke of both bewilderment and fear. “The hell is that?! Keep back, beastie, lest ya wanna get some holes-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Immediately Marcus and Junia placed themselves in front of her. “She’s fine, she’s fine. She’s not a beast! And she can understand you just fine!”

The farmer seemed to not expect this- he squinted and looked between the two of them, then finally to Mia who hadn’t done anything but flinch back. “...wha’ in tha king’s name is this goin’ on, then? I ‘member you two, came through ‘ere a day or so ago. After th’ bandits, right?”

“Yup. That’s us,” Marcus confirmed. “We took care of them, but we also found this girl,” motioning to Mia. “She’s the last of her kind and is looking for answers. Just think of her as an exotic centauress or something!” Well…it wasn’t the worst idea, Mia supposed.

“She’s perfectly peaceful,” Junia contributed. “We’re just here to rest for a bit after our travels, and we’ll be gone by morning.”

“Aye, ye better!” he says, though it’s less anger and more clear concern. “Folks’ll be ‘ard to sleep at night with the look of ‘er! Lookit me ‘orses! Scattered by the sight of her, they is!”

Mia could only look to the right where he was gesturing. Sure enough, there were a number of horses in a large, fenced off field, well to the far end now that were whinnying and clearly agitated.

Though they were just animals, that sight was enough to cause a knot to reform in Mia’s gut. If animals were that afraid of her, then…

“Look, we’re really just looking for a safe rest, and we’re not going to bother anyone, so-”

“Aye aye, I get it! But you’ll ‘ave to convince the rest of the village, I ain’t no leader.” At least the farmer himself had calmed down, somewhat. Though he clearly had an eye on Mia regardless. “If’n they say okay, then a’right. If not, you’d best be getting gone quick-like.”

Junia sighed at the warning, but nodded. “We’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, sir.” She looked back at Mia, and motioned her forwards. “C’mon. We might as well get this over with.”

“R-right.” Turning to the farmer- whom she noticed with a pang in her heart seemed to flinch back just a bit- she could only nod her head. “Thank you for understanding as best you can…”

He blinked- and perhaps it was just a bit of delusional hope, but she could swear that his stance relaxed slightly as his concern shifted just a touch into confusion. “...yeah. Just…keep careful, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks again.” She turned away as he also took to calming his animals, and she moved along, following the two into the village. ‘Alright, Mia, that’s probably the best you’re going to get. Let’s try to NOT look intimidating. Head down, keep close, don’t make any sudden moves…’

She kept stepping forwards, and out of the corners of her eyes, she could see a few people who’d stopped. Stared. She could practically FEEL it. ‘Okay, okay, keep composure…’

The first scream shattered her poise like glass.

For a moment, everything was a blur, and Mia felt her legs moving- though she wasn’t sure what way they were going. It felt like she was trying to go in every which direction, and ended up going nowhere. She could hear Marcus and Junia saying something, people were starting to yell, and for several long moments, she could only see out of a haze.

That’s when she felt a pair of hands on her- cool, comforting. For a moment she’d thought she was going to panic, flail, maybe make things worse like she’d feared all while coming up here. But the feeling calmed her, steadied her breath and legs, and soon her vision gave way to Junia, still on horseback, holding her close and with clear concern on her face. “Mia…Mia? Are you there?” Ah, she was doing something…something that felt nice, at least. “Can you tell I’m here?”

“...J-junia?” she breathed out. It was whisper-quiet, but Junia managed to hear her, and nodded. “...yeah. I…guess I freaked out a bit. Sorry…” So much for her ‘be calm’ plan.

“It’s fine, don’t worry,” Junia said with confidence. “Just spooked you a bit, but we’re getting it straightened out. You just keep close to me, alright?” She used one hand to get her horse moving again, and this time it was even slower.

“...right.” Well, not like she could do worse, she supposed. This time, she tried her best to focus solely on Junia. Maybe that way she could ignore the fearful looks being thrown her way.

—------------------------

Eventually, they’d gotten everyone to calm down…to a point. The duo had had to reassure everyone multiple times that she wasn’t some sort of dark spirit or abomination come to feed on them and their children, but it didn’t stop the distrustful looks entirely. “Sorry about all that,” Junia said as they laid out their tents for the night- of course no one had been willing to take them in, but they were at least allowed to sleep in a farmer’s old stables that he’d yet to renovate, and had no occupancy in. It wasn’t an inn, but it’d do for now for all three of them. “I think that was about the best reaction we could’ve gotten, really.”

“Y-yeah…I appreciate it.” This nervousness had been with her all day, even after Junia’s trick, which she’d learned was a spell of sorts that her order used for pacifying unruly beasts- or on occasion, people. “Really, this is good enough.”

“Right…” Not that Marcus seemed all that high spirited here as the evening wore on. “I figure we might want to get on with it as soon as possible, so for now…”

“Hey! Hey you lot!” came a voice. Mia only just recognized it as the farmer who’d just barely allowed them to rest on his property. “Still up, yeah!?” He was of the younger sort, but his scars told Mia that he’d been in a fight or two. “I got n’ offer for the freaky spider lady!”

“I-!” she started, but a hand was placed on her abdomen by Junia, and she quickly quieted down.

“What is it?” Junia asked. The man stopped several meters away; clearly trying to not get too close to her, Mia figured.

“Look here. We got a cellar what’s got a rat problem. Ain’t good for rats to get around the grains an’ all, and last I checked, somethin’ big and horrible like you oughta consider it good eatin’.”

Mia couldn’t help but frown at this- the idea that she’d just ENJOY such a thing offended her, and she began to say so- before Marcus spoke up in front of her. “Well, maybe, but why are you asking her and not us?”

“Cause, she wants ta prove she ain’t gonna kill us all? N’ she can help kill rats instead,” was his succinct response. Mia, though annoyed, could see where he was coming from.

“Alright, sure!” Marcs responded, standing. “Mia can handle that, no problem. Right?” As he turned to her, his face was…well, it was honestly a bit embarrassed, but at the same time hopeful.

She could only sigh- this was her one chance to garner any real goodwill, and she’d be silly to squander it. “Yes, sir. I can do that just fine.” Not that she actually knew if she could or not- but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?

The farmer just nodded in acceptance. “Good. You walk right over there, keep it slow. Big double doors leadin’ into the ground, and there’s the cellar. Do as ya will so long as ain’t nothing messed up and all them vermin are dead, right?”

“R-right.” Not that she had much clue how she was going to DO that, but…well, it was just rats. ‘Shouldn’t be too big of a problem,’ she thought as she made her way over. It was easy to see the cellar doors even at this distance, and she had no problem making her way to them. Carefully, she pulled open the doors, only to hear a cacophony of squeaking and skittering down below, a throng that spoke of more than just a handful of rodents.

She couldn’t help but rear up in disgust. “Eeew! How did THIS happen?!?”

“Ain’t no time for talkin’!” The farmer admonished. “You get down there and start cleanin’ house! Else might not have those stables to stay in!” Well, THAT was rude.

But, it got the message across, and though she already didn’t like the man for his attitude…she really didn’t want to inconvenience Marcus or Junia- even if the former had more or less pressed this on her. She just nodded. “R-right, then…I’ll just be…down there.”

“Mhm.” The farmer nodded his head, and then, to her surprise, shouted a strange word- and she saw a torch light up with a pale flame. Multiple torches, even, when she looked further down into the now illuminated cellar. “Get goin’!”

‘What happened to me to have to suffer this?’ she thought with frustration as she stepped down into the gloom. The doors closed behind her, and the squeaking just got louder.