“Shiiit!!!”

My legs screamed as I dashed up a sand dune. I looked behind me. Sharp, jagged teeth bit off a piece of my shirt. They belonged to a foot-long fish jumping in and out of the sand. The thing’s family was right behind it. No, with these numbers, its entire kind might be chasing after me and Hilde. Rough beige scales covered their vertically flat bodies. Their dorsal fins barely stuck out of the sand as they swam across the desert.

I dodged another bite while trying to control my ragged breathing. I glanced at Hilde, who was running about a twenty feet to my right. She hadn’t even broken a sweat, which was only natural. The girl had amazing stamina. That, and I was carrying all of our luggage. Right before the chase began, she casually handed the bags to me and ran off.

Two fish leapt at her defenseless back.

“Watch ou-”

Before I could finish my warning, she spun around and swatted the animals with the flat side of her short sword. Sometimes I felt stupid for worrying about this girl.

The two fish she hit flew towards me. I blocked one with my bag, but the other took a bite out of my rapidly shrinking clothes.

“Why are you batting them to me!?” I shouted.

“I didn’t want to cut them.”

“They’re just a bunch of fish!” I didn’t know if they were actually fish though. I hopped over one about to bite off a chunk of my calf. “Dammit! What are these things anyway!?”

“They’re called ‘fish-like creatures that swim in the sand.’”

“What’s with that stupidly long name!? That’s just a description!” Who the hell thought of that?

Hilde put a finger on her chin without dropping her speed. “Is it? It felt right when I came up with it.”

“It was you!?” I began running out of breath because I kept shouting while running.

“How about “fish-like creatures with sharp teeth that swim in the sand?’”

“That’s even longer! And now’s not the time to brainstorm about this!”

Hilde sent more fish flying in my direction. I sidestepped to dodge them, slowing me down a little. A part of my pants got bitten off by a fish on my tail.

“Stop batting them to me! Do you want me to get eaten!?”

“Of course not. I’m just hitting them normally.”

“That so? All of them flew directly to me for some reason.”

“I’m just making sure they find a different target so they stop chasing me.”

“That’s not ‘hitting them normally!’ I’m not bait you know! Can’t you just cut them down!?”

“I don’t want blood to get on my clothes.”

She liked those clothes that much, huh? That made me a little happy. Wait, didn’t that mean the clothes were more important than my safety? Okay, I wasn’t happy.

With only the two of us here, I didn’t have anything to channel. The fish things operated on instinct, namely hunger, but I didn’t know any spells for that.

“Something’s ahead,” said Hilde, her beautiful face as composed as usual.

I strained my eyes and saw people in the distance. I scanned the group with my anima. “Looks like a caravan. There are over twenty people there.”

“We’re changing direction.”

“Got it.”

One thing I learned from my days with Hilde was that she was quite a softie to people she didn’t consider as enemies. If we kept running towards the caravan, they’d get attacked by the fish chasing us. I wished Hilde gave me even half of this consideration.

The two of us veered to the left, but the fish ignored us and beelined towards the convoy.

Hilde clicked her tongue and swerved to intercept the school of fish. I headed straight for the caravan to catch any fish that get through. The fish’s jump patterns were predictable, allowing Hilde to weave through the maze of creatures with ease. Using her two blades, she made short work of everything in her path. The slave traders’ weapons slightly differed from Arthas make, but Hilde handled them just as expertly. Fish flesh and blood splattered all over the sand as she filleted the critters in midair. Even so, some got past her due to their sheer numbers.

Channel.

Fear of a woman from the caravan.

“Behold the frost fortress. Death to those who trespass.” I held out my open hand to give me a better image of the structure I intended to make. “Glacies!”

Three rows of ice spikes grew from the ground, blocking the path of the fish. The spike wall, slightly angled towards the fish, skewered the animals as they fell on them. I had made three layers to catch those that burrow past the first wall. Despite that, a few of them made it through.

“Shit!”

Fangs bared, four fish leapt at me. I rushed to cast a spell, but I realized I wouldn’t make it.

Four knives flew at the fish, piercing their bodies. The attack killed the creatures’ momentum, preventing them from reaching me. They fell on the sand near my feet, flopping around for a moment before dying.

“I shall support you, young man!” said a tall, lanky man with dark red hair. A long brown scarf covered his neck, hiding his mouth.

I gave him a nod and continued making single ice spikes to catch any fish that got through the wall. I targeted them one by one to conserve my small mana pool, but I couldn’t kill all of them.

Without a sound, Scarf appeared in front of me. He threw two knives, killing the first wave, and used a curved dagger to cut up the rest. With someone to defend me, I could focus better on the target process, increasing my accuracy. It didn’t take long before we eliminated the entire swarm.

Hilde approached us after the battle. I sensed fear from the people behind me. I couldn’t blame them. Even though she had protected them, Hilde was completely red from head to toe. Blood dripped freely from her blades, creating a trail of red droplets on the sand.

A bearded man walked up to me. “Thank you for saving us!” He grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. “What could we possibly do to repay you?”

We were actually the ones who lured the fish to the caravan, but he didn’t have to know that.

Hilde came closer, causing the man to shiver. “It was actually us who lu-”

I immediately covered her mouth with my hand. Why was she only talkative at the wrong times?

“-Lost our way,” I said. “We’re headed to Harena.”

I was worried about Sabre, so I wanted to get back as soon as possible.

Hilde took my hand off her face and shot me an accusatory look. Hey, I didn’t want to lie either, but no one would gain anything even if we told the truth in this situation. She wiped her lips on her sleeve, coating it with blood. So my hand was dirtier than fish blood, huh?

The bearded man smiled broadly. “Harena? That’s our destination as well.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank god! Could we join your caravan for the journey?”

“Sure, but it’ll be a short journey.” He laughed. “It’s just an hour away from here by foot.”

What..?

We had walked aimlessly for days. How could it be only an hour away?

I had lead the way after I found out how terrible Hilde’s sense of direction was. Apparently, I wasn’t any better.

“Could I borrow a towel?” I asked.

“Of course!” He took a large brown towel from a woman behind him and handed it to me. “I’m Phil, the leader of this caravan. It’ll only be an hour, but I’m honored to have such brave warriors join us.”

“I’m Leon.” I gave the towel to Hilde. “And she is Ada.”

Hilde turned away from me. She was clearly dissatisfied about something, but she didn’t voice it. She quietly wiped away the blood on her, starting with her sullied silver hair.

“I wish to express my gratitude as well,” said Scarf, his face right beside my ear.

“Whoa! You scared me! Don’t just pop out from nowhere!”

“Apologies! But I was here the entire time. I just severely lack presence…”

“I-I see. No need to thank us. I’m the one who owes you for saving me earlier.”

“Please do not speak of it. I merely did what was expected in that situation.” He pulled down the scarf from his face. “My name is Felix.” He looked striking, with angular features and sharp eyes.

“Are you also a member of this caravan?”

“No, I am an aspiring thief. I joined this caravan in hopes of stealing their precious cargo.”

Felix didn’t look like he was joking. I scanned him just to be sure. No mischief. He was sincere.

“...Uh, are you sure you should be telling us that? Even Phil heard you.”

His handsome face went blank for a moment and then exploded in shock.

“Tarnation!!! I have failed yet again! The path of thievery is fraught with unexpected dangers!”

Tar-what..? And the only dangerous thing here was his mind.

“Your skill at interrogation is terrifying, Sir Leon. You must be a master of deception! I bet your names aren’t even Leon and Ada!”

He was right, but now even we were in hot water.

“What are you talking about?” I shrugged my shoulders, palms up. “I happen to like my name, you know? Ada, say something to this guy. He’s off in his own world.”

“My name isn’t Ada. And you’re lying.”

“Hilde!!!”

“My name isn’t Hilde either.”

“I knew that, but it’s still shocking how you just came out and said it!”

Phil smacked his fist into his palm. “I see! This is what they call a skit, right? Excellent! Felix has been saying funny things since he joined us, so I had a feeling he’s a professional comedian, but to perform together so well without any preparation… Are you two perhaps members of a troupe in Harena?”

I grinned, showing as much of my teeth as I could. “Good eye, Phil. Indeed we are part of a troupe, but it isn’t based in Harena. We’re headed there to do some shows and spread our name a little. Ada loves to get into character at random times. It can be quite abrupt, so I apologize in advance for any confusion she might cause.”

“No, no. Not only can you fight, you even provide entertainment! I couldn’t ask for better travel companions.” Phil opened his mouth wide. “Oh sorry, I haven’t even given you a proper reward for protecting us from the sand carp earlier.”

So that was what those things were actually called.

Phil took out a small pouch and handed me a few coins. “It’s not much, but please take it.”

“I couldn’t possibly accept this.”

“Not convincing after you already pocketed the money,” said Hilde.

I looked down and saw my hand stuck into my pants pocket. I didn’t even notice.

“So that is the art of pickpocketing,” said Felix while nodding a few times. “How masterful.”

“I didn’t ‘pick’ anything!” I began taking out the coins from my pants.

Phil raised a hand, stopping me. “Please don’t worry about it. It’s normal to pay a reward for a service. If you’d gotten a similar request in a town, you’d probably get double that.”

“Indeed,” said Felix. “I have been procuring travel funds by completing requests in different towns. It’s very gratifying to help those in need, and the rewards are very generous.”

“Weren’t you a thief?” I asked. “What are you doing working so honestly?”

“Tarnation!!!” Felix grabbed his hair with both hands. “The scales have fallen from my eyes, Sir Leon!”

What was wrong with this guy?

“Please don’t call me ‘Sir.’ I’m no knight, and I’m younger than you.”

“Apologies. I thought your youthful face was yet another deception. I’ve heard magic can alter one’s appearance, and after seeing your phenomenal spell casting and practiced trickery, I assumed you were my senior.”

This bastard. If it weren’t for his complete lack of malice, I’d have already lit his scarf on fire with ignis.

Phil guffawed while grabbing his belly. “Hilarious! Any more and I’ll be forced to throw money at you people!” He recovered from the fit and looked into the horizon. “The sun’s about to set. We better get going. I hope you can show your skits to everyone. I’m sure they’ll be delighted.” He walked towards the front of the caravan.

Felix vanished, only to reappear at the rear end of the convoy. I glanced at Hilde, who answered my voiceless question with a nod. We gathered our things and joined the line of people.

***

We split up with the caravan at the stone gate because the guards had to inspect their wares. With a single word of farewell, Felix disappeared like a puff of smoke. I headed to the town center and went directly to the stables. Hilde followed behind me.

An annoyed neigh graced my ears. It had only been a few days, but it filled me with nostalgia.

“Sabre!” I ran to my ecus and embraced her neck. “I missed you.”

She bit the back of my shirt and pulled me off her. Irritation radiated from her.

“Sorry for leaving you alone for so long. We got lost and ran into trouble a few times. Here, I brought you something.”

I pulled out a sand carp from my bag. I had three in there. One was for dinner, and the other two for Sabre.

Sabre gave it a whiff and stared at it. Then she turned her head to the side.

“Please don’t sulk. I tried to come back as soon as possible.” I lifted the fish closer to her mouth.

It looked like the stablehands gave her food while I was gone. I’d be charged for it, of course, but that was much better than dealing with a starving Sabre. Maybe the stablehands instinctively knew how dangerous it would be to let this mare go hungry.

“Toss it to me,” said Hilde.

“Huh?”

“The fish.” She cocked her head with a “I’m not gonna take no for an answer” look on her.

I still had two more, so I decided to entrust one to her. I lobbed the smallest one. Hilde sliced it lengthwise in mid air and sliced the thicker half again. Before the fillets hit the ground, she stabbed them with the dagger in her other hand.

“Here.” Hilde handed her fish-laden dagger to me.

I couldn’t believe she was handing me her weapon. Was it a sign of trust? Knowing her, she probably just thought it was impossible for me to give her a scratch. I wasn’t naive enough to get happy over something like this. Okay, maybe I was just a little happy.

“Thanks.” I presented the skewer to Sabre, who quickly bit into the meat.

I carefully handled the dagger to avoid cutting her. The fillets were gone in a few bites.

I turned to Hilde while stroking Sabre’s mane. “How did you know what she wanted?”

“I once bit into a whole fish-like creature that swims in the sand and got a sharp bone stuck in my throat.”

“At least cut up your prey before eating them! And just call them sand carp already!”

I finished feeding Sabre and left the stables. For some reason, Hilde followed closely behind me the whole time.

“Not that I mind, but why are you following me?”

She turned her head to the side. Her eyes darted to me for an instant before she looked away again.

“I don’t know where the inn is.”

Adorable.

Her sky-blue sleeveless dress multiplied the impact of that rare display of girlish behavior. I wanted to embrace her right then and there, but I didn’t because I valued my life. I hid a loose grin by turning around and gave a silent thanks to the caravan women for giving her the dress. Their generosity had been triggered by the fishy smell wafting from Hilde earlier, but I didn’t give a damn. Good job ladies.

I led us back to the inn with no trouble. I might be terrible at navigating the surface, but a town was a piece of cake. I paid for two rooms using the coins Phil gave me. The stuff in our old rooms were thrown away because the innkeeper thought we had left town. It wasn’t a significant loss.

I asked the innkeeper to cook the sand carp for us. That service still cost money, but it was cheaper than eating at a tavern.

We had a quick, silent dinner. After finishing her meal, Hilde went straight to her room. It was a little disappointing to part with a skirt-wearing Hilde so soon, but I had an errand to take care of. I headed out and bought a map and a compass. The prices were half those the innkeeper tried to charge me before. Damn money grubber. When I got back to the inn, I gave her the evil eye, from behind of course, before heading upstairs and going to bed.

***

I couldn’t move. Ensnared by vines, I could do nothing but watch as burning corpses crawled towards me. The acrid stench of burning hair ravaged my senses. They took hold of my ankles and slowly made their way up until they choked my neck. I wanted to scream in pain, but my throat melted away. They clawed out my cheeks and then my eyes. I writhed in despair as dark red flames consumed by body.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”

I scrambled backward until my back hit something hard. Despite having nowhere to go, I clawed and kicked at the ground to push myself back.

The ground was soft. It felt numerous folds on my palm, like fabric. The odd sensation allowed me to focus my eyes. The burning corpses were gone. I was in an old room. Sweat covered my entire body, soaking my clothes. I couldn’t control my ragged breathing. My face sizzled while my hands felt frozen stiff.

Guilt.

The lives I took haunted me. The slave traders deserved it, but I had killed Arthas soldiers and acolytes. They hadn’t done anything wrong. Chasing fugitives was part of their duty. They probably had families and friends, futures. And I had burned all that away.

Powerful nausea attacked me. I scrambled out of bed, hands on my mouth. I made it to the floor before I emptied my stomach. The acid ran up my nose and fled from my lips. Tears dribbled from my eyes and mixed with vomit.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

I continued apologizing while choking on my words. As I fell into a whirlpool of self-hatred, a familiar face flashed behind my quivering eyelids.

Annie.

How was she now? My escape had probably made her everyone’s target. Being the sister of a coward was bad enough, but being related to a traitor was enough to ruin someone in upper society. I’d been so busy trying to survive the past few days I didn’t have the leeway to fully understand the weight of my sins. No, I had been running from it.

“Sorry Annie..! I’m so sorry!!!”

After a while, I managed to calm down, at least enough to realize my predicament. Vomit and tears coated my face and hands. A pungent mess pooled on the floor.

“...Shit. I gotta clean this up…”

I sensed an emotion from just outside my room. I looked up and saw the door was slightly ajar.

Sympathy.

Was it the innkeeper? Hilde? My fragmented consciousness couldn’t tell. The person soon disappeared, fleeing into the corridor.

After I finished cleaning up, I went to the innkeeper to ask about where to find job requests like those Felix mentioned.

“Requests?” asked the innkeeper with a raised eyebrow. “Not much of those in Harena. Most of them are just odd jobs like finding lost pets or gathering mushrooms.”

I couldn’t contain a sigh. “I see. What now…”

“You can check at the announcement board near the town hall. There might be something worth doing there.” The innkeeper gave me the directions.

“Thanks for the help!”

She made a coin sign with her index finger and thumb.

“Figures.” I placed a coin on the counter.

This lady was even more ruthless than Hilde.

I went to Hilde’s room, this time taking care not to barge in on her nakedness. I rapped on the door and called out to her. After a few minutes, she came out wearing the same dress as yesterday. She still looked cute even with the swords strapped to her belt.

“We’re going to find a job,” I said.

“Again?”

“Yeah, but this time we’re looking for more dangerous ones. With your sword hand, we should be able to handle most things.” I didn’t mention my magic to avoid pissing her off.

She gave me an almost unnoticeable nod. Things were going better than before on my quest to conquer Hilde. She wasn’t openly hostile anymore, at least. That was progress, right?

We left the inn and headed for the announcement board. Hilde didn’t even try reading the text and left the choice to me.

“Hmm… Gathering poctus needles, finding a missing dodo, looking for a thievery tutor, wait, what?” I decided to ignore the odd one and searched for the request with the largest reward. “Hey, this pays twenty times the others.”

“What’s it about?” asked Hilde.

“Finding missing people in the Nepa caverns. It says to meet the requestor at the Crazy Ecus Tavern. It didn’t specify the time, so I’m guessing we just ask someone there.” I took a mental note of the requestor’s name.

“Let’s do it.”

“Yeah, not like we have any other choice. All the other jobs aren’t worth the trouble.”

The high reward indicated the difficulty of the request. Considering our battle potential and severe lack of funds, taking high-risk high-reward jobs was the way to go.

We had visited the tavern during our job search a while ago, so I knew where it was. We went through the entrance and approached the head waitress.

She frowned upon seeing us, more specifically Hilde.

“Get out! We don’t have any more plates for you to break.”

“Relax,” I said while raising both hands to calm her down. “We’re here for a request. Do you know someone named Violetta?”

The waitress looked at me and Hilde alternately and snorted. “You two? Going into the Nepa Caverns? Forget about it. You’re still young. Value your lives more.”

I couldn’t blame her for underestimating us. I was a short scrawny kid, and Hilde was a girl.

“Is the Nepa Caverns that dangerous?”

“Guess you’re not from around here. Even Arthas cityfolk know not to visit that place.”

Well sorry for being a sheltered brat.

“Could you at least let us meet the client? We’ll pass If the job is too dangerous.”

The old waitress furrowed her brow, deepening her wrinkles. “Okay. I’ll have someone fetch her. Wait there.” She pointed at a square table at the corner of the dining area. “And order something while you’re at it.”

I chuckled. “If we had enough money to eat out, we wouldn’t be applying for dangerous jobs.”

“True.” She ushered us away with her hand. “Now shoo. Having paupers at the bar is bad for business.”

Money bought respect. Those were Mother’s words. I had always thought of them as a manifestation of her greed. Having never worried for money before leaving Arthas, I couldn’t understand it back then. Now I understood just how naive I had been.

I gently pushed Hilde’s back to guide her to the table. She understood the gesture and obediently followed. The experiment was a success! I had risked my hand, but it was worth it. Establishing the limits of physical contact with a female partner was very important. Theoretically. A guy who only ever got teased or ignored by the opposite sex his entire life could only guess.

It wasn’t that I was trying to cop a feel. Honest.

We sat across each other at the corner table. I knew Hilde didn’t like to talk, so I kept quiet while waiting for the client. A lot of customers came in and out of the restaurant. Most of them looked like locals, but there were also a good number of travelers, easily identified by their rucksacks. I even saw some people from the caravan having drinks at a large round table. However, the client had yet to arrive. After about half an hour, I reached the end of my patience and struck up a conversation.

“So, after we get some money, where do we go next?”

Hilde tilted her head. “We?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Why?”

Learning from my previous mistake, I decided to forgo another love confession. “I have nowhere else to go. I betrayed my country.”

“But why go with me? With your abilities, you should be able to survive just fine on your own.”

“...Meaning.” Sensing her confusion, I continued, “I betrayed my country and abandoned my family. I... killed many people when I helped you escape.” I raised my right hand in front of me, showing Hilde my palm. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming you. Those were all my decisions, my responsibility.” I lowered my hand onto the table and made a fist. “But if nothing comes from our meeting, then everything I did would become meaningless.”

“You… are scary.”

“What!?”

Not as much as you!

“You lie so easily. I can’t trust someone like that. I can’t believe your words. Mages are…” She didn’t finish.

I felt like my heart got stabbed by a spear. My breath caught in my throat, preventing me from replying.

Was I just like Belinda Corvider? Did I manipulate people using my anima? Was Hilde just an excuse to escape my old life? What… was I doing?

Hilde locked eyes with me, something she rarely did. “I want to thank you for saving me, for helping me even now. But what if all this is part of some trick?” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “You’re terrifying.”

Every word hit me like a battering ram. It was only made worse by the fact that she meant everything. Her expression didn’t show it at all, but I could sense her fear, making me curse this power more than ever. My jaw trembled. I wanted to say something, but what?

“Excuse me,” said a high-pitched voice. “Are you here for the request?”

Hilde and I turned to the source.

“I’m Violetta Bellerose.” The girl curtsied, both hands holding up the skirt of her elaborate purple dress. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

Her long blonde hair converged into two pigtails, tied by a black ribbon. Violetta, who looked no older than twelve, perfectly fit her frilly gown.

I switched gears instantly, escaping from Hilde’s verbal assault. “I’m Leon, and this is my partner Ada. We saw your request on the announcement board and would like to hear the details.” I stood up and pulled out a chair. “Please have a seat.”

The fake names bounced off my tongue very easily. Hilde’s accusation rang true. Years of hiding my cor and anima from everyone had turned me into a pathological liar.

“Thank you.” Violetta sat down while elegantly rearranging her skirt, keeping it from creasing. “I apologize for my tardiness. I was resting at the inn when I got called.”

“The inn? You mean the one at the town center?”

“Yes. I believe there is only one inn in Harena.”

So that was why that innkeeper was such a money grubber. Monopoly was terrible for the customers.

“We stay at that inn too.”

“Most travelers do. There are also houses for rent, but those are for people who plan to stay for a while.”

“I see. You seem to know a lot about this town. Have you been here a long time? ”

“Just three days. I learned all that from the innkeeper.”

Was that woman secretly an information broker or something?

Violetta fiddled with her fingers. “Actually, we were supposed to leave two days ago, but…” She looked down, hesitant to continue. “That’s actually why I sent this request.”

“Could it be that the missing people mentioned in the announcement board are your parents?”

“Oh, no, not at all! My parents are in Insula. I travelled together with my two attendants, Claude and Jeanne. We were headed to Arthas to visit some family friends. We were supposed to stay only one night here at Harena. But…” Creases marred Violetta’s face. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. “It was all my fault!” Her clenched fists turned pale from pressure.

Without thinking, I reached out and held her hand. When Annie and I were younger, I frequently did the same for her whenever she felt down.

“Tell us what happened. We’ll do our best to help you.”

Violetta blinked twice, causing a single tear to drop. I got distracted by her mesmerizing grey eyes but quickly snapped out of it when she continued her story.

“The innkeeper told me about a gemstone found in the nearby Nepa Caverns. Rumors say it has a brilliant violet shine.” With a bitter smile, she pulled on the sleeve of her purple dress. “I think it’s obvious how excited I got after hearing that. I asked Claude and Jeanne to get me one as a souvenir.”

“And they haven’t returned?”

Violetta nodded.

I put my elbows on the table and placed my chin on my clasped knuckles. “How far away is the Nepa Caverns from here?”

“About an hour by horse. Both of my attendants went off on their steeds. They should’ve been back the same day.”

“Any chance they’re just having trouble finding a gemstone?”

“No. I told them to report back before it got dark, but it has been two days. Those two would never disobey my orders. They’re such good retainers.” Violetta buried her face in her palms. “What have I done!?”

“We’ll find them,” said Hilde.

I nodded. “You can count on us, Violetta.”

“Dead or alive.”

I put a finger on my lips. “Shh!”

Violetta began crying in earnest. Hilde’s eyes widened slightly, unsure about what she had done.

“Apologize,” I whispered to Hilde’s ear.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

“Ada is a little too frank sometimes. Can you forgive her?”

“Please think nothing of it.” Violetta dried her tears with a white handkerchief. “Miss Ada did nothing wrong. I just lost myself for a moment.”

I might have admonished Hilde, but in reality I was thankful for her remark. That little scene allowed me to peek into Violetta’s heart, which was filled with sorrow. The likelihood of a trap was low, but I decided to take it a step further to be sure.

“Don’t worry. We’ll bring back Claude and Jeanne. We’ll leave as soon as we’re done with preparations.” I made eye contact with Violetta. “Oh wait, I have a question.”

“Yes?” Violetta’s fringe swayed as she tilted her head.

“You aren’t trying to trick us or anything, are you?”

Surprised by my rather rude question, Violetta stared at me without blinking, as did Hilde.

Confusion.

She was clean. Even if a child were raised to not feel any guilt from tricking people, she wouldn’t feel confused when asked about something she was aware of.

I made a broad smile. “Just kidding! The looks on your faces were priceless!”

“Oh.” Violetta giggled, probably out of politeness.

What a proper young lady. She was certainly more well-mannered than Annie, who was a tomboy, or Lisa, who was a bitch, at that age.

“You have no sense of humor,” said Hilde.

I snorted. “Says the genius comedian.”

Violetta described her retainers in detail. Then we finalized the issue of payment. When we were about to leave, Violetta tugged at my sleeve.

“I have one last request,” she said.

“If it’s within my power.”

“Please take me with you to the caverns.”

“No.”

“You didn’t even think about it!”

“Of course. Taking a child to such a dangerous place is absurd.”

“Y-You’re not much older!”

“I’m sixteen.”

“You’re sixteen!?” said Hilde.

“Why are YOU surprised!? How old did you think I was!?”

Violetta shook her head in disbelief. “I-It can’t be… You’re so short.”

This kid wasn’t well-mannered at all.

“Anyway! We have no reason to take you.”

“I-I can help you carry bags! I’ll also bring lots of food!”

“It’s an hour away. We don’t need those.”

“I’m a great navigator! Father always took me riding on the surface! I can even tell direction using the sun and stars!”

The last one sounded useful, but I already had a map and compass. Hilde and I would be fine by ourselves.

“No means no. Stay in Harena. We’ll be back soon.”

“But-”

I tried to put a hand on her head, but due to my height, it felt awkward. I settled for her shoulder. “Trust us. We won’t let you down.”

We needed the money, after all.

A faint blush surfaced on Violetta’s cheeks as she nodded.

Hilde and I prepared our belongings and picked up Sabre from the stables. I confirmed the location of the Nepa Caverns with the innkeeper and marked it on my map. We headed out to the sandy surface, ready to face anything for the sake of our mission.

We returned to Harena a day later and met with Violetta.

“Did you find them!?” she asked.

I scratched the back of my head, ashamed. “Sorry, could you come with us after all?”

“What happened?”

“...We got lost.”