Chapter 56 — The Expedition Assembles

Ria woke… to dog slobber On. Her. Face.

Ugh! Ranger! Cut it out!

Sitting up, she rubbed as much of the slime off with her nightgown’s sleeve as possible. Wait… slime… slimes!

Her half-groggy state cleared away as she remembered that she was going slime hunting with Leon and Keira today!

{Welcome.}

Ranger told her, sounding pleased with himself.

And Ria decided at that very moment that her next project was going to be an alarm clock.

{…thanks}

Not thanking him would be rude since she had asked him to wake her up before dawn.

“Deactivate #40.”

Fortunately, the stamina barrier did its job, and she felt fully rested even with only a few hours sleep. Convenient, but probably not a good idea to do that too many nights in a row…

Anyways, time for a nice hot bath.

Ranger at her side, Ria was waiting outside the bakery, armored and ready to go, right at dawn.

A “geh-!” sound came out of Leon when he walked out to start setting up the morning displays.

“Ready?” Ria asked cheerfully. She knew he wasn’t, but it was funnier that way.

Leon made a sheepish expression and admitted, “I wasn’t really expecting you this early.”

“Me neither, but a mage friend asked to join our expedition and is eagerly expecting us at the guild shortly after dawn,” Ria explained.

“A mage friend?” Leon asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep. I’ll take care of setting up the display while you get changed,” Ria offered.

With a sigh, Leon handed her the baskets and went back inside.

Ria took the opportunity to chat with Emily about the tea party while helping, enthusiastically relating her experience at Patricia’s tea shop, and by the time Leon returned dressed in his own armor, the first customers were beginning to show up.

The Adventurers Guild wasn’t crowded when they arrived, and a woman Ria didn’t recognize was sitting on a stool behind the counter where Aaron usually greeted them. Unfortunately, Keira was already there waiting when they arrived. She wasn’t alone, either.

“Ah, Ria! You’re late! And what was with that ridiculously formal reply?!” Keira complained

“Haha, just a bit of fun. Don’t mind it.” Ria waved it off with a grin. The letter had clearly been a success.

“How can you just use enchanted paper for simple schedule confirmations like that?!” Keira continued to chastise.

And with a merchant’s grin Ria engaged her scheme, “I was thinking about making more. Want some?”

Keira’s ice-blue eyes widened at the implications, and she nodded excitedly, “I do! I do!”

“I’ve got some ideas for improvements, but maybe we could work on it together?” Ria suggested, chuckling in her head as visions of a certain dragon brush danced through her mind.

“Yes! It’ll be so much fun!” Keira cheered excitedly and waved Miela closer to conference about her schedule.

“Um… Ria?” Leon queried dubiously.

“Keira, have you and Leon met before?” Ria asked, enjoying Leon’s worried expression.

“No, I don’t think so,” Keira replied, her partially tied-back golden locks swaying side-to-side as she shook her head.

“Okay. Leon, this is Keira. She’s an apprentice mage studying under Master Harlow,” Ria said, starting the introductions, and winked at Keira to let her know she had left her family name out on purpose. “And, Keira, this is Leon. He’s training to become a Magic Knight.”

Leon looked embarrassed by her choice of introduction for him, but Keira’s face lit up at the mention of Magic Knights.

“Leon, are you planning to attend the academy in Erime?” Keira excitedly asked.

Leon nodded slowly. “Yeah, but I don’t know if I can get a recommendation and the entrance exam is supposed to be very difficult.”

“My dad or my grandfather would definitely give you a recommendation if I ask them for you,” Keira offered with a genuine sincerity.

Leon shot Ria a surprised look, maybe wondering if she set this up on purpose, and Ria could only smile slyly at the favorable direction the meeting had taken.

“I have a long way to go in my training, but I would certainly welcome any support,” Leon accepted.

“Milady, it would be wise to observe his skill before committing to such an offer,” Miela cautioned.

“Of course,” Keira nodded agreement then waved away Miela’s concern. “Though, I think I’m safe in my offer. Surely, anyone who Ria has partnered with is competent.”

Leon grimaced at the increased expectations.

“Leon, this is Miela. Keira’s attendant,” Ria continued.

Miela nodded her greeting, and Leon followed up with a, “Nice to meet you.”

“And, the guardsman is Harvin. Well met again, Guardsman Harvin,” Ria greeted with a chuckle. “I hope you were able to get enough sleep after last night’s excitement.” She still found the scene with Gebs’ dad last night to be hilarious.

“Uh, well…” the guardsman started.

“Excitement?” Keira interrupted with wide-eyed surprise. “Do you know Guardsman Harvin, Ria?”

“We’ve met a few times now, I think,” Ria affirmed.

“Ria were you involved in something dangerous last night?” Leon asked, concerned. “You didn’t go anywhere on your own did you?”

“It wasn’t dangerous,” Ria reassured Leon. “I just went with Grandpa Orlan to report the location of the shapeshifter to Captain Bastach.”

“You found the shapeshifter again? In town?” Leon asked in disbelief and worry.

“And the contractor. You don’t need to worry, Leon. I didn’t go near it. I was just testing an improved locator scroll,” Ria explained.

“Is this related to the suspected necromancer that was arrested this morning?” Keira asked Harvin.

“Yes, but we’re not supposed to talk about it until the investigation is completed,” Harvin acknowledged.

“You can’t even tell me?” Keira asked, surprised.

Harvin shook his head. “I was specifically instructed not to discuss it with you or Ria.”

Keira made a pouty face. “Booo. That’s no fun.”

“Speaking of dangerous people, that reminds me,” Ria spoke up. “Keira, I met a girl named Amilee… um… Clear…well? Yeah, Clearwell, and she seemed really upset and yelled something about trying to free your grandfather from my charm spell or something. …Anyway, thought I’d let you know.”

“Amilee? That’s weird. We’re friends. I have magic lessons with her all the time,” Keira said, puzzled. “She’s a nice quiet girl, and I can’t imagine her doing anything dangerous. I’ll drop by her house tomorrow and talk to her.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it. She probably believed those stupid rumors going around,” Ria suggested.

“Yeah, that’s likely all it is,” Keira agreed, then squatting down a bit to get a closer look at Ranger, she asked, “Is this dog your familiar?”

Ria grinned. “Yep! His name is Ranger.”

“Woof!”

“Nice to meet you, Ranger,” Keira greeted.

“Woof!”

“So, um Keira, are Miela and Harvin coming with us?” Ria asked.

Keira fidgeted with her robe and looked down. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it in my letter, but dad said I had to take a guardsman with me, and mom said I had to have Miela along to chaperone.”

Ria was surprised. “Your mom agreed to you going out slime hunting?”

Keira looked away with her cheeks tinting red and mumbled, “She said it would be good for me to get some exercise…”

“Ah-,” Ria realized what Keira’s mom meant. Unlike with the corseted dress from yesterday, in the fancy robe Keira was currently wearing, it was more noticeable that the girl was chubby. Not terribly chubby, but enough that it was easy to see why her mother was concerned.

Guardsman Harvin took advantage of the awkward silence to step forward with an official-looking sealed letter. “Ria, Leon. Milady’s father has tasked me with delivering this letter to you.”

Ria hurriedly accepted the letter and held it so her hand hid the wax seal from Leon as she reached for her boot knife, “Ah, I’ll take care of this, Leon.”

“Guardsman Harvin said it was addressed to both of us, and it looks really important,” Leon worried.

Two miscalculations interfered with the success of Ria’s attempted subterfuge. First, Leon was tall enough to read over her shoulder, and second, the Vorshan house crest was prominently displayed at the top of the letter.

“That-!” Leon sucked air in surprise. “Ria… what did you do this time?! And why am I included?!”

Ria quickly flipped the letter closed before Leon could read too much. Thankfully, she was a much faster reader or she wouldn’t be able to have her fun. “It’s a commission. We’ve been asked to guard a certain young lady while she’s outside the village. An F-rank mission. The pay is pretty good, too. I recommend we accept.”

“Wha-… how did…,” Leon sputtered then looked over at a fidgeting and embarrassed Keira and back at Ria. “No way…”

Realization flickered across Leon's face, and his mouth opened and closed a few times in disbelief, before he found his voice again. “You could have warned me that you arranged to escort Lord V-”

Leon’s voice was cut off as Ria quickly covered his mouth and, using the hand still holding the letter, brought a finger to her lips, making the universal sign of secrecy.

Before she could say anything, Tina and Burtan entered the guild and spotted them.

“Oh hoh, you two should probably avoid flirting this early in the morning. The hard-luck guys over there might not take too kindly to it,” Tina teased, motioning to the grumbling line of bleary-eyed men with job requests in hand that had started to form.

Ack, they still had to register Keira’s dad’s request at the counter! Ria did the only reasonable thing, and pressed the letter into Leon’s hand. Teasing him would have to wait. “Leon, I need you to accept the job for us, okay?”

Leon made an indescribable expression as he met Ria’s gaze and then shook his head in defeat before shuffling over to join the line.

Burtan clapped Leon on the back and told him to work hard, which caused Tina to laugh, and glancing over Keira, she commented, “I see another rich shortie has shown up. You kids here for more training?”

Keira puffed out her cheeks, and Ria quickly spoke up, “Tina, this is my mage friend, Keira. We’re heading out to hunt slimes today.”

“Haha, how nostalgic! Hmm… Keira… think I’ve heard that name before somewhere,” Tina mumbled then shrugged and continued cheerfully, “Nice to meet you, Keira. I’m Tina, one of the guild’s trainers. Make sure you ask for me if you need combat training.”

Burtan rolled his eyes at Tina, clearly recognizing who Keira was.

“Tina! Burtan! The guildmaster is waiting for you upstairs,” the woman at the counter called over.

“Guess we’re gonna be busy today,” Burtan commented.

“Looks that way,” Tina agreed. “Sorry, we gotta go, kids. Have fun on your hunt. Oh, and Ria, you should get your friend a cloak. That robe is asking for trouble.”

“Will do,” Ria nodded. She totally agreed. Keira’s pristine white robe covered in glittering gold embroidery was sure to be visible from a ridiculous distance.

“So rude!” Keira complained. “What’s wrong with my robe? This is the usual robe for the Order of the Golden Dawn.”

“Ah… let’s see. How should I put this? If I were a bandit, I’d attack you just to melt your robe down to gold coins,” Ria said dryly, and a snort came from Miela as she looked away with her hand covering her mouth.

“What? That’s mean!” Keira sputtered, aghast. “This was my mother’s robe when she was my age. You, too, Miela?!”

Miela was trembling with the effort not to laugh, and Keira had noticed.

“Oh, yeah, Ria, Keira! One more thing,” Tina called over from by the stairs. “Don’t scream when the slimes attack.”

Chuckles rippled around the room with a few mocking imitations of “Kyaah! Save me!” thrown in for good measure.

Keira looked mortified.

“I got the same advice from Aaron,” Ria consoled her and explained, “It’s because the slimes will try to go in your mouth.”

“Yeah. That’s particularly dangerous,” Harvin agreed. “If they get inside then they can stop you from breathing and dissolve your insides. Hard to get them out without killing the victim.”

Realizing that they were serious, Keira gulped.

“Keira, let’s go shopping for a suitable cloak while Leon’s waiting in line,” Ria suggested, grabbing Keira’s hand and guiding her toward the entrance before calling back to their other group member and her familiar, “Leon, we’re heading over to Gerard’s Supply Shop. Meet up with us when you’re done. Ranger, stay with Leon.”

“Woof!”

Ignoring the ribbing Leon received from the others in line, Ria led her robed noble friend out for some shopping.