Looking back on it, I think I can safely say that the population of the towns we passed through was inversely proportional to the amount of trouble they caused us.

In other words, Faroff and DeepMine were both the smallest and the worst at causing problems.

Fortunately, unlike Faroff, not all of the problems DeepMine caused were bad news…

---

I watched Jake walk over to the obelisk that appeared in the middle of the cave and got the familiar System message.

System: Zone, Deepmine Mines, has been claimed by the Hero Faction

However, I knew something was a bit off when Jake didn’t teleport us out of the dungeon right away. That suspicion was confirmed when he called Garrett over and had a whispered conversation.

Now with the day that I had, I wasn’t exactly in a patient mood. “Yo [Hero]!” I called out and walked over to him. “What are we waiting for?”

He looked at Garrett one last time, who gave him a quick nod. “Two things. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you this since I didn’t want to be a show-off, but… I got more achievements. One-hit Wonder and First One-hit Wonder. Both of them from killing the boss.”

I scowled. “How many perk points?”

He paused and said, “5.” Then a bit more sheepishly. “Each.”

I shook my head. “10 perk points just because of your BS class. Wow.” I could tell my mood was in danger of getting even worse, so I decided to change the subject. “What about the second thing?”

“Well, I know you wanted to clear out the mines because the mobs were attacking people, but won’t they attack people anyway? Sure, it won’t be lethal, but…” he trailed off.

I groaned and facepalmed. I completely forgot that the mine’s inside the dungeon. Training mode will mean that… I blinked. We’ve only ever set it to training mode. “What if you set it to combat mode?”

“Huh, I guess it’s worth a try?” Jake half-said half-asked as he touched the obelisk again. “There. It’s in combat mode now. I guess we should probably test it out before claiming that the mines are all clear now.”

He paused again, and I started tapping my foot impatiently. “Well? Teleport out?”

“Oh, right. Sorry. It’s just I was thinking about picking up these two perks. [Enhanced Map] and [Enhanced Item Info]. I didn’t see the second one before, must have had [Enhanced Interface] as a prereq.”

“Just hurry up and get them.”

Jake shrugged and then had a confused look on his face. “What?” he asked with a frown.

“What?” I asked.

“These perks… They… Don’t do anything?”

Garrett, Jake, and I looked at each other in puzzlement when Tim interjected. “Jacob, the evening draws late, and I wish to retire-“ he paused at the words coming out of his own mouth. He shook his head. “It’s late. Let’s go. We can figure out your new perks tomorrow.”

“Right. Of course,” Jake replied. “Here we go.”

We reappeared just inside the entrance of the mine, and we started filing out of the cave. I was the last in line, and I realized how late it had actually gotten. Wow, it’s probably after midnight. I almost feel bad for dragging everyone out. My foot froze in midair as I processed that thought. After midnight. Oh no. I set my foot back down. Okay, Titus. You spawn a monster wave if there are any other nearby zones. The mine is claimed, so that’s good. But, could there be another one nearby?

I was 90 percent sure that there wouldn’t be two dungeons this close to a town. However, 10 percent is a lot of uncertainty when you’re talking about accidentally summoning a horde of monsters.

Jake finally noticed my dalliance and called back, “You coming, Titus?”

“Uhh, just a minute!” I called back. Do I risk it? Or do I just stay here overnight? I leaned towards the second answer and started desperately trying to think up an excuse.

“Titus?” Jake called again.

My eyes landed on a lone pickaxe lying on the ground, and I found my inspiration. I hefted it and called back, “You said they were behind on schedule for the iron, right? I’ll try to figure out how mining works to get them a head start since I don’t need to sleep!”

Jake shrugged. “Alright, if you’re sure.” He paused. “Uhh, have fun, I guess!”

I waved goodbye to the party with one hand while the other held the pickaxe over my shoulder. I waited until they were out of sight and then dropped it on the ground. “Causing a cave-in is exactly the kind of sit I would expect to happen at this point.” I shook my head. So, I just… Wait until sunrise? Then tell everyone that I couldn’t figure out anything useful?

I was all set with that plan until I realized something. Wait. Video game mining is usually super easy to figure out. I frowned. And if it is something that simple, the party will wonder why I didn’t do any. I picked my mining implement back up and sighed. “Alright, let’s find an iron vein, I guess.”

I walked down the mineshaft, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for. However, after a bit of walking, I found something. “Are you iron?” I asked the reddish-brown section of the wall.

It, fortunately, did not reply.

“[Identify],” I cast. “You are, in fact, an iron ore vein. Do I just hit you with the pick?”

I looked at the pickaxe in my hands and realized I had to try something.

I swung at the air as if I was attacking an enemy.

It promptly phased through my hands and landed on the ground.

I picked it back up and chuckled. Yeah, even if that had worked, I think it’s a bit late to give up on hand-to-hand combat.

I turned my mining implement on the wall. I hit the vein once, and nothing seemed to have changed. I hit it a second time, and still, nothing happened. I was starting to wonder if I was doing something wrong after the 4th hit, but I got a surprise on the 5th.

System: Error. No valid inventory

“What?” I asked thin air as a piece of ore suddenly fell from the front of my body and landed on the floor.

I squatted down and picked up the piece of ore with my free hand. Huh. I guess if I had an inventory, it would go directly in there. I sighed. Great. Looks like I’m a frickin’ [Miner] now.

System: Miner subclass has been set

I stared at that prompt for longer than was probably healthy.

“But, I’m already a [General],” I said. Suspicion crept into my voice. “Did you just take that away from me?” Status.

I was surprised to see that [General] was still there at level 1 and that I had the [Miner] listed at level 1 as well.

How does that work? I thought adventurers only could have one? That jogged a memory, and I laughed. “What did AltSys call my class?” I tried to remember the exact phrase. “A horrid amalgamation of monster, non-adventurer, and adventurer?” I shook my head. “Well, thanks for actually giving me the one benefit of being a non-adventurer AltSys. Looks like I won’t have to try to find work as a [General] after the [Hero] defeats me.”

I stood up and looked at the wall and my small piece of ore. “Though I’m probably not going to make long-term plans around being a [Miner] either.”

With that, I got back to work. When I initially started out, I put a bit more oomph than necessary into my swings. I was frustrated that I had signed myself up for working in the mines after an incredibly long day. However, I slowly fell into a rhythm.

The pickaxe swings, the System’s messages, the ore drop, all of it fell into a pattern. Not that it was a perfect pattern. Apparently, being a level 1 [Miner] gave me a passive skill [Mining Efficiency], which meant it occasionally only took 4 swings instead of 5.

Despite my earlier complaints about mining, it ended up being a perfect end to the day. A simple, repetitive, physical activity was just what I needed to completely zone out and not think about anything. In fact, I zoned out so hard that I ended up hitting the vein after it had been depleted for who knows how long.

When I finally realized that no more ore was dropping, I snapped out of it and took a look around. Chunks of iron ore were littered everywhere, and the wall no longer had the same color. I threw a quick [Identify] at it, and it came back with “depleted iron ore vein,” so I shrugged and moved onto the next one.

I was down some of my SP, but I also had an idea to fix that. When I got to the next vein, I simply decreased the tempo of my swings just a bit so that I could “rest” in between them. That was enough to make me break even, and once I was satisfied with that, I zoned out again.

I made my way through the mines, zoning out and depleting ore veins. I barely even noticed the bright-white spiders that came to watch me. They waved their front legs at me menacingly before retreating when I paid them no mind.

It went that way for quite some time when I suddenly felt something touch my shoulder. Something that also said, “Titus.”

I was so startled that I literally jumped into the air.

That was a mistake.

I had littered the entire ground around me with chunks of iron ore, so I didn’t exactly have a solid place to stick the landing. The end result was that I ended up flat on my back, looking up at a very apologetic Jake.

I groaned and said, “You need something [Hero]?” I belatedly noticed the rest of the party, minus Megan, behind him. “Wait, I thought you all went to get some sleep?”

Jake offered me a hand back up. “Huh, you must have been really spaced out.” He took another look at the growing mound of iron ore. “Or really focused.” He shook his head. “We did head back and get a full night’s sleep. Then we went to get the [Foreman].” With that, he gestured to an older man who I hadn’t noticed. He nodded to me in greeting, and I awkwardly raised a hand in greeting back. “And the entire time we’ve been up, I’ve been spamming you through the party trying to get you to rejoin us, but I thought you were just ignoring me.”

So, 8 hours? Maybe more? I shook my head. “Sorry, I just kind of… Lost myself in the work.”

The [Foreman] took a look at the pile and then back at me. “And all of these depleted veins were your doing? No one else helped you?”

“Uhh, yeah,” I said a bit awkwardly. “It was just me.”

He picked up a piece of the ore and frowned. He turned it this way and that and then spoke again. “And you definitely aren’t high level, or we would’ve seen a lot more high-quality ore.” He shook his head. “A low-level [Miner] doing this all in one night.” He turned and faced me. “I don’t suppose you’re looking for a job?”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Jake interjected with a chuckle. “No poaching my party members!”

I laughed along with him. “Sorry, maybe I’ll stop by again after all this save the world business is over.”

“I understand,” the [Foreman] said. Then he looked a bit troubled. “I’m afraid it may be a bit difficult to pay you for all your work, though.”

My mind immediately went to all of the starving faces that I had seen the previous day. It’s not like there’s anything I want to buy anyway. I looked at the rest of the party. “We’re not broke, right?”

Jake shook his head. “No, of course not.”

I turned back to the [Foreman]. “In that case, don’t worry about paying me.”

The [Foreman] breathed a sigh of relief. “In that case, we are in your debt yet again, Titus.”

“Like I said, don’t mention it.” I realized something right after. “Wait, you said higher-level miners get better quality ore?”

“Ah yes, at level 3 [Miners] get a skill [Ore Quality Increase]. It only applies some of the time, but the higher level they are, the more often they get high-quality iron ore.”

I frowned. “Did I mess up by depleting so many veins then? Should I have left them to more experienced [Miners]?”

The [Foreman] laughed. “Don’t worry about it! Sure the quality is a bit lower, but you’ve saved us days of work. Also, my men will just have to walk a bit farther until the veins you mined come back, and I doubt they’ll complain too much now that it’s safe in here.”

I was nodding along with him but froze at one of his statements. “Come back?” I asked. The rest of the party also mirrored my dumbfounded look.

“Of course! We wouldn’t have a mine for very long if the iron veins didn’t replenish, would we?” He laughed momentarily until he noticed our reactions. “Wait, is that not how mining worked where you all come from?”

That sparked a quick digression where we explained how mining worked on Earth while trying to wrap our heads around the fact that in Placeholder iron was a renewable resource. I wasn’t sure why that one was so hard for us since we were literally able to get gold coins from killing wolves, but for whatever reason, I guess we didn’t expect mining to be quite that gamey.

When we were finished, the [Foreman] frowned. “I, for one, am glad I don’t live in your world. I don’t know how anyone would keep track of production and quotas when you have to constantly expand your mine.” He shook his head. “Wait, what are we doing? We’re keeping them waiting!”

“Them?” I asked.

“You’re right!” Jake said. “Hey Garrett, help me gather this up, and let’s get going!” They both scooped chunks of iron ore into their arms, and the pieces vanished into their inventory.

After that, Jake threw an arm around my shoulder. “C’mon Titus! They’re waiting!”

“Who are they?” I asked. I got no response but a cheeky grin.

I got my answer when we walked out of the cave.

I was greeted by a crowd of people who all cheered.

“The hero of DeepMine!”

“You saved us!”

“Thank you, Titus!”

I stood there frozen in place until Jake nudged me and whispered. “C’mon hero, wave to the people!”

I waved stiffly. Can you blame me? Having a crowd cheering for you like that was a lot more embarrassing than I expected.

I saw the [Foreman] whispering with someone and then grin. After that, he came up to the front next to me and quieted the crowd.

”In case you were unaware,” he began. “Titus is with the [Hero], and they are making their way north to try to stop the [Demon Lord]. I heard from Jake that they were trying to find a faster mode of transport, and they are planning on getting a ride with our next shipment of iron.” He smirked. “Normally, that would mean that I would be yelling at you lot to get back to work, but it seems that saving our town wasn’t enough for Titus.”

There were some murmurs and confusion among the crowd as the [Foreman] paused. “His mining efforts last night have let us reach our quota! The next shipment goes out tomorrow!”

“Yes!” Jake fist-pumped, and the crowd cheered a bit more.

“However, that also means this is Titus’ last day with us.” The [Foreman] smirked. “So let’s give him and his friends a good sendoff tonight!”

That led to more cheers, and the party and I were practically dragged away by the crowd.

That was also the point that I finally realized how late in the day it had gotten. Apparently, I had mined all night, all morning, and then into the early afternoon. No one else would be able to do that because of the rest timers. My class is really useful for some really bizarre stuff.

The crowd finally reached our destination—a tavern where all of us were seated at a table.

That was the first opportunity I had to finally ask Jake, “Did Megan not show up last night?”

He shook his head. “No, she didn’t, but I’m sure she’ll show up when she wants to.”

I frowned but didn’t say anything to that.

Then the celebration began. In many ways, it was almost a disaster.

Being offered the best food of DeepMine didn’t mean a whole lot to me. With food still basically turning to ash in my mouth, the end result was pretty much just me watching the party dig in.

There was also some music and dancing. The music was okay. However, looking at the dancing primarily reminded me that the one person I would want to dance with, no matter how awkward it would be, wasn’t there.

I also wasn’t doing terribly well being in the spotlight for that long. Don’t get me wrong, it was kind of cool seeing how many people I’d managed to help. However, having each of them come up and individually thank me? I almost wanted to head back to the mines to get away from people for a bit.

Despite all that, the celebration was fine, if a bit awkward.

Then they served the drinks.

The men of the town made sure that each of us got a beer, and that immediately caused issues. Andrew scowled at the men who tried to serve his “underage” son alcohol, and Garrett politely refused and handed it back.

The men didn’t push to try to have Tim drink, but apparently, the idiots talking to Garrett didn’t get the hint.

“Come on! Join us!” They said as they practically shoved the mug back towards him.

Garrett gently pushed it back again. “No. I don’t drink.” They insisted once more, and the drink spilled on the [Berserker].

Garrett stood up, yelled, and was moving to deck the person that spilled on him.

How did I know? Because [Enhanced Party] must have decided that he was basically in combat. That was also how I knew that his [Rage] was definitely active.

Jake and Lindsey started moving to restrain him, but the rest of the party was slow on the uptake. I stood up quickly, but the table was between Garrett and me.

We were all too late to stop the first blow. Garrett hit the idiot in the face and practically knocked him off his feet. Then he made a war cry and turned to the second.

We have to stop his [Rage]! I thought frantically. Lindsey and Jake finally managed to grab an arm each, and Jake tried to talk him down, but he wasn’t listening.

I was worried. The only way we had stopped [Rage] before was by killing all enemies or knocking Garrett down to no HP. Then I finally remembered my skill.

“[Disrupt]!” I called out. My arm shot out in Garrett’s direction, and I snapped. It was pretty loud indoors, and several people near me held their ears.

Garrett stopped pulling against Jake and Lindsey, and we relaxed a bit.

Garrett immediately apologized to the man and even called Andrew over to [Heal] what was most likely a 1 HP attack. He also explained how the skill had activated itself once again. However, the mood was basically shot at that point, and everyone in the party basically excused themselves, starting with Garrett.

I looked around at the villagers who were just trying to thank us, and I felt bad. Then I spied my still-full mug of beer and had a terrible idea. A terrible idea that I enacted immediately.

I picked it up, drained the entire thing, and then slammed it back on the table. Yes, my tastebuds worked no better on drinks than on food, so the whole thing tasted awful, but it’s not like alcohol tastes that great to begin with.

“Well, I have no idea if my race even lets me get drunk,” I said. Then I held my mug aloft. “Who wants to find out with me?!”

There were some cheers at that, and I was immediately given a refill.

---

Megan was alone. She had initially planned on joining back up with the party after they finished clearing out the dungeon, but her time alone had made her really think about what Titus had said.

A part of her had always known that her plan wouldn’t work out like she wanted. She should have known that staying with the party would be too risky from the start.

So, she thought about it, and she came to a conclusion that was much different than the one Titus had reached. It was time for her to leave the party for good.

It’s not like any of them actually want a [Thief] around anyway. Megan told herself. They’ll hardly notice I’m gone. Her main worry became that they would stick around town and try to find her, but she figured out how to handle that too.

She would tell Titus and then just disappear. Let him deal with telling the party.

And she was picking him just because he already knew everything. It definitely wasn’t because she wanted to say goodbye.

She shook away that errant thought. Before last night, we went days without speaking. So, even if I was still interested, it’s not like he’s interested in me.

Megan steeled herself outside the tavern where she heard that she would find Titus. “Alright, let’s go.”

She found him immediately. He was surrounded by a group of men and giving them a very rambling retelling of their night taking down the crime ring. He stopped when he saw her.

His face lit up, and he stood. “Hey! Isht Megan! Hi Megan!” He gave a heavily exaggerated wave and almost fell over onto the man next to him. “Ohps. S-sorry, there buddyy.”

The man helped Titus back upright, and then Titus beckoned her over. Or at least… That’s what Megan assumed he was going for. “Come on and join ush! I wash jush telling about how mush you helped with the…” Titus looked like he was trying to find the right word before he grinned again. “Bad guysh!”

There goes any chance of just saying goodbye. Megan sighed and walked over to them.

As she did, the men greeted her. “Why if it isn’t the prettiest thief in the world!” The men laughed.

“Come to help the [Demon Lord] save our town again?” The men laughed again even as Titus shushed them.

“I tol’ you those things were secretsh!” Titus whispered.

Megan could feel a headache coming on. At least, they are just writing those stories off as a drunk’s fantasies. “Sorry, everyone, could I get Titus alone for a second?” Megan waited for the men to clear out before she rounded on Titus. “Titus, how much have you had to drink?”

Titus started counting on his fingers. “1.” He touched his left hand’s index finger. “2.” Middle finger. “3.” Ring finger. “4.” Middle finger again. “5.” Ring finger again. “6.” Pinky finger. “7.” He touched his thumb.

“Huh.” He stared at his left hand with a look like he was attempting to uncover the secrets of the universe.

“Well, I guess seven mugs isn’t that bad,” Megan said.

“Mugs?” Titus asked. “I wash counting the number of barrelsh they had to roll out.” Megan’s eyes went wide as Titus turned on his stool and almost fell over. “Barkeep! Anuthah round for the other hero of DeepMine!”

A woman, who Megan took to be either the [Tavernkeeper] or a [Bar Maid], looked over at them. She made eye contact with Megan, and Megan just shook her head. However, she brought over another mug for Titus anyway.

“Cheersh!” Titus called and drained it.

Meanwhile, Megan took the woman aside. “Why haven’t you cut him off yet?”

“I’ve tried to,” the woman replied. “Watch.” She walked up to Titus. “Okay, Titus. I think you’ve had enough.”

Titus shot her a glare that could chill bones, and Megan could feel Titus’ Wrath Aura. She usually couldn’t even tell when it was active because it just made her slightly more irritable. However, this was targeted. Targeted and terrifying.

To her credit, the [Tavernkeeper] only faltered for a bit before saying, “You know I’m just kidding! I’ll bring you your next one in a bit!”

“Yay!” Titus cheered and was suddenly all smiles again.

“Any chance you could talk him down?” the woman asked Megan.

Megan sighed. “I’ll try. Just don’t bring him any more.” She sat down next to Titus. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

Titus shook his head repeatedly. “Nope. Nope. Nopity nope-nope. I’m doing sciensh!”

Megan was almost afraid to ask. “What science?”

“To shee if I can get drunk!” he nodded sagely.

“Titus… You are very drunk.”

He looked offended. “Am not! If I wash, could I do thish?” He jumped to his feet and ran a few feet before stumbling and crashing into a nearby table.

Megan walked over to him.

“Megan. The bar ishn’t spinning, ish it?” Titus asked.

“No, Titus. Of course not.”

He paused for about 5 seconds. “Then I think I may be jusht a liiiitle bit drunk.”

Megan sighed. Then she got him to his feet, draped his arm over her shoulder, and started walking him out the door. “Let’s go, Titus. You can sleep it off.” Megan paused. Oh. Right. She shook her head. “You can wait it out at your inn. Okay?”

Titus nodded.

They made it out the door, and Megan asked. “Do you remember where your inn is?”

“Nope. Sorryyy,” he whispered. “I didn’t stay there lasht night. Cuz of the monster wavesh.”

Megan stopped short. “But, you cleared the dungeon, right? There’s no way a monster wave could attack.”

“Well, thash what I thought, but what if there’sh another dungeon? Then it could shtill happen.” Titus shook his head. “Don’t worry, though! I’m shure it’ll be fiiiiiine!”

Those words would be unsettling coming from normal Titus. Coming from drunk Titus, Megan was immediately on high alert.

Sure enough, the cry came. “Monsters! Monsters!”

Megan looked over at Titus, who looked confused. “But, it didn’t say it wash a monster wave?”

Titus immediately started towards the cries, and Megan groaned and decided she would stay with him. Surprisingly, the cries of “monsters!” died down as they went.

When they got onto the scene, Megan was even more confused. A group of bright-white spiders was marching from the direction of the mines and headed through town. They ignored the dumbfounded villagers completely.

“What are they doing?” Megan asked.

Titus laughed. “Oh yeah! Combat mode! They’re goin to do combat because of the mode.”

“Titus, what does combat mode mean?”

“They do the combat because of the combat mode. So they go out and combat.” Titus nodded.

Megan shook him. “Titus. Why are they going through town!?”

Titus rolled his eyes. “Becaushe that’sh the fashtesht way to get to the nearest dungeon probably.” He paused and looked horrified. He broke out of Megan’s grip and started running. He made it all of three steps before he faltered and faceplanted. “I have to get out! Or monshter wave!”

Megan remembered the last monster wave and immediately ran over to Titus. She lifted him back to his feet, looped his arm over her again, and then half-walked, half-dragged him out of town.

She waited until she got the notification that she had entered the wilderness zone, then she walked a bit more before finally lowering Titus to the ground.

I guess I just wait here with him until he sobers up? Megan looked over at Titus, who was sprawled out on the ground. Why on Earth did I ever have feelings for this guy? She asked herself with a sigh.

Then she heard the howls.

“Already?! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Megan screamed. She forced Titus up on his feet. “Come on. Monsters.”

Titus staggered and barely stayed upright. “Don’t worry. I’ve got thish.”

Then the pack was on them. Megan wasn’t exactly used to being the frontline, but level 1 wolves had stopped being a threat quite a while ago. She slashed one, pivoted and stabbed another, and then spared a look back at Titus.

One wolf was running directly at him, and he asked. “Who taught Poochyena double team[1]?”

“What!?” Megan called back as she cut down another enemy.

“Left, or right?” Titus asked.

“I don’t know! Right!”

Titus punched midair, and the wolf bowled him over. He grabbed it and hit it before it could bite him. “It wash the left one,” he said nonchalantly.

Megan killed a dozen more wolves while Titus barely managed two. Then the alpha came on the scene.

“Titus,” Megan said. “Now would be a good time for some help.”

Titus stumbled forward. “Don’t worry! I’ll git im!”

“I meant a summon! Summon a dave!”

“Oh. Right.” Titus looked like he was concentrating. “

Megan was so distracted over his failure to cast the spell that the alpha tackled her and bit her on the shoulder.

She grunted in pain and stabbed it.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Titus yelled. He unsteadily launched himself into the monster and knocked it off her. Then he started beating it with [Fire Strikes] while screaming incoherently.

He continued doing that long after it was dead.

“Titus,” Megan said.

He didn’t reply.

“Titus!” she shouted. He finally looked up at her. “It’s okay, I’m fine.”

Then what did he do of all things? He started bawling. He wrapped her in an awkward hug. “I’m so sorryy. I got you hurt.”

She awkwardly patted him on the back and told him that she was fine. She had to repeat that fact several times before Titus was finally willing to let go.

Not exactly how I wanted my goodbye to go. Megan sighed and prepared to defend Titus from monsters until he was sober.

---

My behavior while drunk was awful enough, but if I had been an average human, I could have at least taken solace in the fact that there was a chance I wouldn’t remember any of it.

However, [Memory Protection] meant that I wasn’t getting out of it that easily.

So, I had to simply lay there and wait for the alcohol to leave my system, or I guess for the drunk status effect to go away, and slowly become more and more mortified as I realized exactly what I had done.

It was a strange feeling slowly becoming more sober, but I decided I wouldn’t do anything until I was sure it was all out of my system. Fortunately, the System decided to help me know that for sure.

System: You are no longer drunk

As soon as I saw that, I stood up and took a deep breath. “Megan?” I said hesitantly.

“No, Titus. You didn’t get me hurt. I’m fine,” she repeated for the umpteenth time.

“No, uhh. Not that. I’m uhh… Sober again.”

She put her knife away. “Frickin, finally.” She walked over and stood across from me. “In that case, I can finally say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” I was stunned and couldn’t figure out what she could possibly mean.

“Yes. You know as well as I do that the prophecy was bogus and that no one will miss me anyway. So, I’m leaving. Tell everyone not to bother looking for me.”

What? No! She can’t leave! Not like this!

She turned and walked away, but I grabbed her arm. “Titus. Let go of me,” she said without turning around.

“No,” I whispered. Crud. That’s not what I meant. How do I tell her?

She turned around. “Titus, I said let go.”

“Not until I tell you what I have to say!” My nerves were shot, and I could barely think of how to word my thoughts.

She frowned. “Then say it.”

“You’re wrong!” That drew a raised eyebrow from her. No, come on, Titus! “You’re wrong that no one will miss you because… Because I will!”

She snorted. “Yeah. Sure.”

Come on! Just say it! I knew what I needed to do, but my heart was pounding harder than it had in any of my boss fights. “Megan, I… I…” I was tempted to just give up. However, I found my inspiration in the strangest of places.

If the frickin [Hero] can do it, so can I.

“I love you, Megan,” I finally got the words out. “At least, I think I do.” I would love to say that my next words were smooth sayings of love that swept her off her feet, but I imagine you have a feel for my awkwardness by this point. My words became a rambly mess as I told her about how I found her cute since I first saw her, how I could never bear to see her hurt, and how I felt at peace when I held her in my arms.

She stayed silent through all of it, but when I finally stopped, she asked, “Done?”

I nodded.

She pulled out of my grip and turned away from me. Then she spoke in a flat voice. “I have a rule against having a partner for my crimes. Did you ever wonder why that is?” She didn’t wait for a response. “It’s because I’ve been betrayed, and I will never let that happen again.”

“I would never betray you, Megan.”

“That’s what they all say. I love you, Megan. I’ll never betray you, Megan. Then the job goes sideways, and what happens? Suddenly they’re gone. And I’m left holding the bag.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just kept quiet.

“So, I don’t need a partner, I don’t need a boyfriend, I don’t need anyone.”

I might have almost believed her if I didn’t see a tear roll off her face.

I spun her around to face me and saw that despite the admirable job she had done coaching her voice, that she was definitely tearing up.

I wrapped her in a hug.

“Let go of me,” she said. However, she made no effort to pull away.

“Never,” I replied.

She cried a bit more after that, but I would hardly call it bawling like Sam did. Eventually, she stopped and pulled away.

We sat down, and then she told me her full story.

What she told me was similar to what she told Jake if we had ever decided to swap notes. Orphaned at a young age, bounced from foster home to foster home, and then finally ran away to a life of thievery on the streets. She even talked about being caught by a crime ring that basically forced her to perfect her talents.

However, the one difference was that she told me about Xander.

Before she was truly caught for the last time, she had done a job with a young man. He was charming and excellent at what he did, so Megan soon found herself falling for him. Soon they became partners, and then later more than that.

Megan thought she had found the one for her, and she was happy. However, when one of their jobs went sideways, she found out that Xander had never truly loved her. He used her as a distraction and then vanished without a trace, never to be heard from again.

To make matters worse, that was the job that got her shackled to the crime syndicate.

I did nothing during her story except listen, and all that I did after it was pull her into another hug. “I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through. And Megan… I promise I’ll never hurt you or betray you.”

She pulled away from me. “Look me in the eyes and promise me that.”

I looked into her emerald-green eyes and said. “I promise I’ll never hurt you or betray you.”

She nodded and then rested her head on my chest. “Good. You aren’t lying, or I could tell.”

I chuckled. “True, you did teach me everything I know about lying.”

We sat there resting for a bit when I finally broke the silence. “So... Are we dating now?”

Megan snorted. “Well, you technically haven’t asked me.”

“So, uhh. Do you want to go out with me?” I asked. “Well, I guess we wouldn’t really have anywhere to go, but you get what I mean, and I’m rambling again and-“

She cut me off with a light kiss on the lips. She laughed. “Of course, you idio-.”

I cut her off with a much longer and deeper kiss.

There were no fireworks that went off during my first two real kisses. No music swelled out of nowhere. I didn’t suddenly know then and there that she would forever be the one.

However, when we finally broke apart, I couldn’t help the wide grin across my face.

She leaned into me after that, and we sat there looking at the stars for a while. We were content, we were together, and for the first time since I had come to Placeholder, I was truly happy.

[1] Poochyena/double team – Poochyena is a 4-legged pokemon that is a bit wolfish in appearance. Double team is a move Pokemon can learn where they create illusory copies of themselves