”Anna!” Gilbert yelled and looked around for any signs of the girl.

The necromancer popped out from between the trees, as if nothing had happened. “What?”

Gilbert raced to the girl and grabbed her arm. “What the shit, Anna?! You can’t just disappear on us like that! Always tell one of us where you’re going!” He disciplined her.

Anastacia was slightly surprised by how angry Gilbert was, all she did was stray a few meters from the path. She even felt the bottom of the swamp properly and everything. “Sorry… But there was like this really fat squirrel over there and I needed King to lift me, so I could pet it.” She explained.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?” The party leader asked and rubbed his brow. “I thought something got you guys or something.”

Emilia slogged over. “Yeah! Why didn’t you say there was a fat squirrel? Is it still there?” She asked and received an angry look from Gilbert. “I mean… You shouldn’t stray like that; we’ll get worried.” She added so she’d be spared from his wrath.

“I didn’t want to scare it by shouting. It’s still there, do you guys want to go look at it?” Anastacia said and pointed to the direction she had wandered into.

She and Emilia rushed to go look at the chubby animal while Gilbert was left behind on the path.

“We’re burning daylight, guys! Let’s go!” He pointed out, knowing he’d be ignored completely.

Eventually the rest of the party returned to the path and their journey continued. From then on, Gilbert kept an eye on Anastacia even more vigilantly and hoped that the girl’s shenanigans wouldn’t stress him to death. Anastacia was clearly getting tired of the trudging and the priestess didn’t seem to be unaffected either.

“How about I tell you a story of the time I met Rosie?” Gilbert suggested so that they would have something else to think about. It clearly worked as both Anastacia and Emilia immediately perked up. “Keep in mind that everything I say about how it went would be disputed by her, but I swear this is the truth.”

“She told me you sank her boat.” Anastacia said and got a bit closer to hear the story more clearly. Walking in a swamp isn’t a quiet activity after all.

“Aye, that I did.” Gilbert laughed. “Still owe her one… Anyway, about six years ago, I picked up a quest that was about catching or killing a pirate leader that had been harassing merchant ships around a small port. I had been an adventurer for years at this point, so I figured that I could probably do it alone. Pirates tend to be badly trained, you see.”

“Bet that went really well for you.” Anastacia remarked.

“Shut up, child! It worked out in the end.” Gilbert continued. “What did they call her again?... Tigress of Tides was one of the names but there was three or four other ones too…. So I spend about a month just looking for her ship and posing as a guard for short range merchant ships in the area, until one night, a massive ship just appears from the mist and crashes into the one I’m on. Being the man of action that I am, I immediately climb on and began throwing the pirates overboard left and right. At least until I get knocked out by a cowardly sneak attack from the captain herself.” He could hear both Emilia and Anastacia giggling behind him but decided to ignore them for now. “They… managed to restrain me into a cell on their ship while I’m out cold and raid the merchant ship before leaving. But thanks to my resourcefulness, escaping was just a matter of hours. However, being sneaky was something I hadn’t quite grasped by then and a fight between the pirates and me ensued. For hours, I was able to hold them off before Rosie kicked me into the ocean with the aid of at least ten of her men. Or that’s what she thought. Actually, I had grabbed onto one of the gun ports and hid in the gun deck until nightfall. When there was no one around, I loaded the cannons and began shooting holes into the ship. We weren’t that far from the coast, so I could have just floated over there when the ship sank. Which it did. I jumped off and grabbed onto a piece of the hull I had blown away and waited for the waves to take me over to land.”

“Weren’t you afraid of sharks and stuff? Are sea monsters a thing?” Anastacia asked, interrupting the story again.

“Depends on what you count as a monster. But on that day the most dangerous thing in the ocean was called Rosie. While the surviving pirates swam for the coast, she chose to attack me over the loss of her ship. We fought for however long it took for us to wash up ashore and for a while after that, until both of us fell over exhausted. Luckily, I woke up before her and was able to tie her hands, it made capturing her a whole lot easier. But of course, it still wasn’t a cake walk, she kicked and bit me every chance she got. I don’t know if you’ve been bit by a tigerfolk, but I can tell you that it’s one of the most painful things I’ve ever come across.”

“I have…” Emilia admitted without thinking. “I mean I have to believe it is, she’s got some mean looking fangs.” She tried to cover for her slip up and glanced at Anastacia, hoping that the necromancer hadn’t noticed.

Anastacia stared at her friend and squinted. “Weirdo.”

Gilbert cleared his throat. “So with Rosie captured, we trekked back to civilization so I could get my reward. But once she was done trying to kill me constantly, we got to know each other, and as a gentleman I agreed to take her to Valor instead of handing her over to the authorities. Honestly, I expected for her to bolt as soon as I left her alone while I went to report her unfortunate demise in the shipwreck, but for whatever reason she was still waiting for me when I got back.” He laughed longingly and ended his story.

Anastacia was slightly suspicious of the way Gilbert had told the story. “So let me get this straight… She beat your ass at least twice and then charmed you into letting her go, and from what I’ve been told, turned you down later? That seems about right.” She recapped and giggled with Emilia.

“If you want to be an ass about it, sure. But if you can take a break from mocking me, you’ll notice that the swamp ends at that hill there. I’m actually impressed that you made it through this without complaining all the time.” Gilbert pointed out. Even his legs were starting to tire out and dry ground was a welcome sight. It also meant that the lake was just a stone’s throw away.

Anastacia used what little strength she had left and tried to run the rest of the way. About five meters away from the edge of the swamp, the ground had some more give than she expected and in her rush, she didn’t feel it with the stick first. Her foot got stuck in the bottom and she faceplanted into the murky water. Screaming from the top of her lungs and thrashing around, she was dragged to dry ground by King.