"I hope that I'll be compensated.", Adsall mumbled. He was travelling by foot according to the directions Vicious took. He had packed light like Viscious did, but he was still tired. Focusing on Viciou's quest report, Adsall stopped for a moment to ponder where he was. "Wait it says here she made it by running. Oh frick I better start travelling faster."
It was the afternoon and the sun had set halfway, unlike Adsall who was way behind. "I'm not gonna make it. It's too far. I should've rented a horse. I should've packed supplies. Fu-". Adsall's inner monologue was interrupted by the sound of a woman screaming. Going into investigate, Adsall silently moved through the thick green foliage.
He saw a caravan with some giant slimes? , some burnt corpses, some loose cargo, but most importantly a cat-eared woman half naked and in tears, with a bandit in front of her. It was obvious what was happening. Adsall, in an uncharacteristic action, charged in like a bull seeing red and with his hammer, he bashed the bandit's head with a LOUD THUD knocking him out.
“Oi Kenny! I know that bitch is dangerous, but we still need her alive! So don’t be hitting her so h-“, said a bandit as he emerged from inside the caravan.
“You killed Kenny! YOU BASTARD!”, screamed the bandit as he rushed forwards towards Adsall brandishing his iron sword.
The bandit swung like a madman, giving Adsall no openings.
“Left, Right, Backstep. I really can’t keep up with him.”
Adsall’s eyes darted everywhere looking for something to use, until he spotted a rope.
With a dodge roll, Adsall moved towards the rope, grabbing it.
“FACE ME COWARD.”, the bandit yelled as he prepared to charge towards Adsall.
“WRAAHH YOU’RE DEAD MEA- THUMP”
As the bandit was charging, Adsall used the rope like a whip, entangling the bandit’s feet.
Adsall quickly approached the bandit and stabbed him in the right eye.
“I think that’s all of them. Are you o-“, Adsall said aloud while swiping his forehead. "BEHIND YOU." , the woman screamed.
Quickly turning around, Adsall came face to face with an armed giant muscular man. "FRESH MEAT!", he screamed as he brought down his
giant spiked base ball bat. Adsall, who dodged the baseball bat, was stunned by the crater that attack left, before quickly snapping back to his senses.
"MOVE!", The woman shouted. Adsall confused by this turned around and saw a giant fireball. He quickly jumped out of the way, unlike the bandit who’s corpse was now smoking.
"Ow.", Adsall moaned. His right foot had gotten lightly singed by the fireball, his foot was now completely red and was heavily blistered. The woman quickly rushed into the caravan and emerged with a bandage and some healing herb.
As the woman approached him, Adsall finally took notice of her face. She had glossy silver hair which was a bit disheveled, and clear orange eyes. She was a beauty. So much so that Adsall blushed at the sight of her.
"Thanks for helping me." She said as she bandaged Adsall's foot.
"It's not that much of a big deal. How about you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I got bruised a bit by the bandits.”
“What about your friends?”
“I’m travelling alone. See those corpses? The fools thought they could ambush me. You should’ve seen the looks on their faces when they realised they were fighting an Archmage.” , She pridefully boasted.
“What brings you here anyway? Mr…”
“Adsall, and I’m looking for a town called Fuyu Machi. I’m going there as a representative of the Adventurer’s Guild of Scribel.”
“I’m Synthia, and today’s your lucky day! I’m on my way to see the Miko myself. The least I can do is escort you there. You probably won’t be able to find it anyway due to the barrier, and if you do I highly doubt that you’d be able to set up a meeting with the Miko.”
“Here let me help you up.”, Synthia said as she pulled Adsall up, putting Adsall’s arm on her shoulder and slowly helped him up the caravan.
“It’s going to be a long ride, so let’s get to know each other. Why did want to become an adventurer Adsall?”
“Well… as a child, my parents used to tell me a lot of stories…”
With giant slimes pulling the carraige, they both set off.
++++++++
The two had been chatting from sunset to night, sharing laughs, regaling each other with tales of their adventures, talking about their future ambitions, etc.
“So that’s how I became an Archmage. It took a long time, but-. We’re here!”
Passing through the barrier, Adsall came face to face with the town of Fuyu Machi. It was a small quaint town.
They drove past an apothecary shop, a church, until they reached a tavern.
“You should rest here for the night. It’s the best inn in town, and I personally know the owner.”, She boasted.
“Also take this!”
She put her hands in her pockets and took out a copper ring with a tiny red round gem embedded in it.
“This is proof that I , Synthia Vermüntat, vouch for your existence in Fuyu Machi.”
“Don’t you dare give this ring away or lose it. Okay? Promise me, no wait. Pinky Promise Me!”, she said in a demanding tone, while offering her pinky.
“A pinky promise. What am I 8? Well I guess I should go along with it.”
“I promise.”
“Okay! I’ll come and take you to the Miko tomorrow, let’s meet here at uh… 10 am?”
“Oh yeah, and after that I’m happy to take you around town.”
“That sounds great. See you then.”, Adsall responded happily.
+++++++++++++
Adsall opened the door, causing a ringing sound.
“Fueh?”, exclaimed the little cat-eared girl who was sleeping on the desk.
Reclaiming her composure she sputtered “A- Oh Welcome to the Weary Bear. I’m Lilitina, how may I help you today?”
“I’d like to rent a room for the night.”
“Okay, that’ll be 25G. This includes breakfast dinner and lunch of course.”
“25G? That’s pretty expensive!”
“Well if you want a discount, we can take the meals out and you can just sleep in the stable for 10G. We can also just kick you out and make you sleep on the pavement like a hobo for free. ”, she retorted with a stiff smile.
“Okay. Okay. I’ll pay.”, Adsall said while handing over the coins.
“I thought Synthia said this place was cheap.”, he mumbled to himself.
The girl’s ears twitched.
“Synthia? You know Synthia?”, She exclaimed. “You better not just be throwing names around.”
“I do. She gave me this ring as proof of her vouching for me?”
Glancing at the ring, Lilitina’s eyes widened.
“Guess you’re not lying. *sigh* I guess I can lower the price to 10G since it’s only for one night.
She handed back 15G.
“Thanks. But why is the price so high?”
“It’s because of the recent amount of animal disappearances. We also don’t have much spices either due to the low number of merchants. We used to have a lot of them, but bandits have started appearing, attacking and enslaving them.”
“I see. *Yawn*, do you mind giving me my key? It’s not that I don’t enjoy talking with you, but its pretty late and I’m very tired.”, Adsall remarked.
“Oh yes, sorry about that,” The girl said before quickly fumbling to get the key.
“Oh, and also if you need anything just ask for Melia, Have a good night! ”
“Thanks.”
Adsall didn’t have a good night.
Upon entering the room and flopping on the bed, Adsall came into the sudden realisation.
“Today… I killed not one but two men. I killed a human.”
His thoughts were flooded with various thoughts.
“They deserved it.”
“They were fellow humans.”
“If I was smarter I could’ve just knocked the first bandit out silently and just taken the girl.”
“But this is part of being an adventurer. Blood. Guts. Violence.”
“I’m a monster aren’t I?”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his debate due to his skill |EZ SLEEP|. Which was for the best.
+++++++++++++
“COCKADOODLE DOOOOOO.”
After he was rudely awakened, Adsall decided to explore the town.
He did his morning routine, and proceeded downstairs for breakfast.
The tavern was pretty packed with loud beastman drinking and shouting.
“Seriously? It’s the morning.”, Adsall muttered to himself.
Grabbing a seat, Adsall signalled a waitress.
“Ah, It’s Mr! Are you enjoying your stay?”
It was the girl, Melia, who he saw on the receptionists desk last night. She was in a waitress uniform and diligently working.
“Yes I am. What do you serve for breakfast?”
“We have a lovely meat and vegetable stew, paired with some freshly made garlic bread!”, she responded.
“I’ll have one serving please.”
“Coming right up!”
*Sip*
The soup was quite tasty. The sweetness from the vegetables was paired perfectly with the right amount of salt and pepper.
*Crunch*
The bread was a shade of golden brown around the bread, with both faces being a wonderful yellow.
It was also crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside. Much better than the bread in Scribel.
“How’s your meal?”
“It’s really good! I can’t get enough of this taste!”, Adsall said with his mouth full.
“Of course! After all the Weary Bear is the best inn in Fuyu Machi!”, She boasted while puffing her chest out.
After finishing his meal, and bidding his goodbye, Adsall decided to go and have a look around town.
He came across a variety of shops: Apothecaries, Restaurants, Jewellery stores. At one point he accidentally stumbled into the red light district.
He did notice that his presence wasn’t wanted though. Some beast men sneered at him as he walked by, Some glanced away at the sight of him, a bigger beast man even came up and bumped into him purposely.
“I guess they’re not very welcoming to humans.”
Turning the corner, Adsall went past a particular shop. He stopped out of interest.
It was a store called “Little nibble café”.
Entering the store, Adsall decided to look at the sweets.
There were a variety of cakes, tarts, and buns.
But the thing that caught Adsall’s eyes was a gelatinous yellow sweet, with some brown syrup covering it.
“Pudding?”
Taking his first bite, Adsall was hit with a burst of flavour. It was sweet, and melted in his mouth.
Adsall ended up buying 4 more pudding cups, before leaving to meet up with Synthia.
“Hey.”
Looking up to see who it was, Adsall glanced towards the voice.
It was Synthia, dressed in a beige shirt matched with a black undershirt and black skirt. It gave her a mature look. Adsall couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Stop staring… you’re making me blush.” She said, covering her face.
“Huh - Oh Uh yeah. I wasn’t staring! We should go to see the shrine maiden yes? It’s getting late anyway!”, Adsall sputtered out as he began to walk off.
“Hey Adsall that’s the wrong way. Just follow me.”
“Oh.. .haha”
+++++++++++++
“So… she’s up that mountain?”
“Yep.”
“Do we have to climb it?”
“Yep.”
“… ,” Adsall was speechless. Solemnly staring into the sky.
“No, I’m kidding hehe. There’s another way up there. But first we must meet Tai ge.”
“You called!”
Suddenly, a muscular beastman appeared behind them.
“AH, Don’t sneak up on me like that!”, The startled Synthia said.
“Ah is this the human you spoke of? The one from Scribel? Adele?”
“It’s pronounced Adsall. It’s nice to meet you Mr. Tai Ge”, Adsall said extending his hand out.
“Oh no need for formalities! You saved my sister after all! C’mere!”
Tai Ge suddenly pulled Adsall towards him, giving him a very strong hug. So hearty in fact that Adsall’s back started producing cracking sounds.
“Bro. You’re crushing him. Let him go!”
“Oh my bad, I forgot that humans are pretty frail.”
“Are you okay Adsall?”
“I’m fine, Synthia. I don’t think anything broke. Even-though it feels like everything broke.”
(OOC: Italics = Inner thoughts)
“Wait you guys are siblings?”
“I was born after my brother. Of course I am also much younger than him, smarter than him, p- Ow!”
“Enough boasting! Anyways you’re here to see the miko right? Well. Adsall, There is a way for you to go up to Yato Machi without all the trekking but you wo-“
“Let me stop you right there!”, Synthia interrupted
“We’re not using that fucking catapult or cannon or whatever it was.”
“But there isn’t another way to get up!”
“What about the waystone.”
“I guess the waystone also works, but the catapult is fun! Trust me. Hey Adsall you’ll try it right?”, Tai Ge said as he placed his hand on Adsall’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.
“Come on Adsall, lets go to the waystone.”, Synthia as she pulled on Adsall’s sleeve and pulled him away.
“Hey wait up sis.”
After what was a 5 minute walk, They reached a weird looking stone which was attached to the mountain. It looked normal, yet weird. If you glanced past it, you probably wouldn’t have noticed anything, but if you looked at it for a long time… It’d look unnatural, like it was out of place.
“What is that?”
“A waystone. It’s a device that I personally made that would allow instantaneous transportation up the mountain, however for it to work you need to be a beast kin. It’ll work if you’re with another beast kin though.”, She lectured.
“Now just put a hand on it and brace yourself. I’ll put mine on last as I have to trigger it.”
After Synthia put her hand on the waystone, The waystone began to glow. With a flash, they were all in the Yato Machi.
“Welcome Adventurer Adsall, to Yato Machi. I am Sora, Miko of Yato Machi.”, yelled a little girl dressed in religious garbs.
“I hope your visit here has been fruitful. I hope you’ve enjoyed our hospitality.”, She enthusiastically asked.
“Yes I have, I believe that our Guild could benefit from a branch here.”. Adsall responded.
“However; I don’t know if we can. From what I could gather, the locals have a grudge against humans, and with a lot of the adventurers being humans. Eventually tensions could get high and we’d have a civil war.”
“No way! No way! while I do believe that there is some tension, I doubt that my followers would outright attack humans, unless provoked.”, She quickly rebuked.
“The shogun is willing to not tax the guild for 6 months, if you guys make a branch here.”
"What do you mean by not tax?"
"By lowering the tavern prices from 25G to 10G for 6 months. (4 Weeks)"
"Thats the same price as Scribel? Not very alluring."
"She's also willing to give you access to our manastones mine, which contain a lot of powerful and clear manastones."
"She'll even send helpers to help construct the guilds building."
“That does sound enticing, but also alarming. Why does the shogun need adventurers? War?”
“No, nothing that extreme. It’s just that monsters have been appearing more often, more goblins, more slimes. Ogres have also started appearing, which is very alarming. The shogun suspects a monster raid may occur soon, so she wants to strengthen our towns defences.”
“I see. Where is the shogun?”
“Oh, mom’s out training the guards, instead of this fool of a brother.”, Synthia casually answered.
“Wait the shogun's your mum?”
“Yeah. It’s not something to really brag about though.”
Many responses floated in Adsall’s head, but he decided to remain speechless, letting out a low sigh.
“I’ll bring the deal back to the guild. It’s the Guild Master’s decision after all.”
“Great! I’ll fly you there myself!”, Sora said enthusiastically.
“No need Sora, I need to make my way into town to trade anyway, after all most of the cargo was destroyed in the bandit attack.”, Synthia interrupted. “I’ll bring him back myself.”
After they descended from the mountain, Synthia and Adsall bade farewell to her brother and proceeded to travel back to the town of Scribel.
