-Finally, arrived at last!

Yells the young hero Fino as his eyes finally catch sight of the Great Steppe. Standing behind him is his childhood friend Elisha, who’s also as glad as the young hero when they finally find a way out of the Elowen forest…thanks to some help on the road.

-Thank you very much for guiding us here!

The catgirl gracefully bows down her head at the one-eyed man with an eyepatch on his left eye. He’s an early middle-aged man with rugged brown hair and messy beard, wearing common, if not cheap, battle gears and outfit befitting a fellow mercenary. His spear is attached to a sheath by his back. He’s riding a brown horse, unlike the fifty men following him who are contented with walking on their feet. For mercenaries, the fifty men standing behind them have this professional air belongs to trained soldiers. The two young heroes do not know what group of mercenaries they are, nor the reason why they operate in here instead of the frontline in Eostre, but nonetheless, both of them are grateful for the mysterious mercenaries who helped guide them here.

-Try not to get lost again.

The one-eyed man replies as he and his men prepare to leave the site, back to where they came from before they got sidetracked by the plea of a young couple of heroes.

-Excuse me! We have yet to hear your name. At the very least, I want to know the name of the one who helped us!

Fino yells as he approaches his childhood friend Elisha. The girl silently nods, seemingly agrees to what Fino said.

-My name is not important. If luck favors us, we will never meet again. Farewell, young Hero.

Without waiting for any reply, the man leaves together with his men. The young heroes find themselves alone in the wild yet again, just like how it was from the start of their journey toward this strange continent, away from the war ravaging the peace of this world.

-There he goes, and we still don’t know his name. Maybe he’s just shy?

-I doubt that’s the real reason…

The black-haired cat girl puts on an ironic smile as she replies her childhood friend.

-Anyway, we are already behind schedule. We should have arrived in the Aherin tribe four days ago, and yet we haven’t even set foot into the Great Steppe. If we didn’t spend too much of our time to stay in Aurum, then maybe we would have made it sooner…

-But there were people in Aurum who needed our help! Just imagine what would happen if we didn’t find that old granny’s cats, bad things will happen!

Fino enthusiastically replies his friend.

-I know! Those cats were so cute, and that granny was so kind, she even offered us a pie. I really don’t regret helping those people. But we are really really behind schedule! Getting lost in Elowen forest certainly doesn’t help…

-Come on, cheer up!

Fino pats the catgirl on the head.

-It’s not too late. The two of us can get this job done without a problem. Sure, Theo would scold us later, but we certainly won’t fail him with this mission!

The short-haired cat girl sighs despite being consoled by her friend. The black tail behind the back of her dress points down and slowly waves around like a saddened cat.

-Theo told me to come with you to keep you focused on this mission, but seems like it’s still too soon for me to escape being dragged along with you for whatever heroic things you came up.

-And you always helped me even though you could refuse. And when we returned, Theo would find us just to scold us for rushing out without his permission. But…when facing against the adults, he always took the blame to himself and ended up getting scolded by everyone.

The two of them exchange smiles with each other.

-I once thought those days back in the capital city of Solveig would go on forever, with three kids doing stupid things together, ignorant of the war beyond the city’s walls. But I guess we can’t run away from reality forever, and Theo was the first to go…

Says Fino as he frowns, but suddenly, the catgirl Elisha grabs his right hand. The young hero can feel a strange warmth from both of Elisha’s tender hands.

-But the three of us are together once again, after all the hardship we have endured. Together, nothing can tear us apart. Let’s go and finish this mission, Fino, and return to Theo after we’re done.

Fino simply nods to reply his childhood friend. Together, hand in hand, they venture into the Great Steppe in search of the sole Beastmaster tribe still remains in the North of the Steppe.

…

Chief Nephele is alone inside of her tent. On one hand, she is holding a lit smoking pipe, on the other is a letter she just received earlier, through the use of an unknown black dove. Only people well-versed in shady deals would use this type of information transference, and certainly the message it carried along is not something anyone would want to see.

Your village is next – Rudo Bandits

After she finishes reading the message, Nephele burns the warning letter with the use of the warming fire in the center of her yurt.

-Why can’t I get a good news letter for a change…?

First was the letter of her grandson’s death, second was the letter asking for a favor to help her grandson’s killer, and then there’s this, the warning letter from the infamous Rudo Bandits. Certainly this isn’t a good time for her to receive letters. Anyhow, Nephele’s thought is now focused on the defense of her village. Half of her fighters are already out there in the Steppe, scouting for signs of this very Rudo Bandits, but considering the direct threat from them, her only course of action is to recall them back to defend the village. It will take some times, but the sooner the better.

-Chief, there’s someone who wants to see you.

Suddenly, one of the maid tasked to take care of the chief comes inside of her yurt. Even so, Nephele does not mind and just ask about whatever new problem has arisen.

-Who are they?

-There are two, a human, and a Felin. They claimed to be comrades of Gust from the Empyrean Mercenaries.

Nephele makes a quick thought before replying.

-Send them here.

The maid nods and rushes away to deliver the news.

Meanwhile, Fino and Elisha are being kept waiting at the entrance to the tribe, by five riders tasked with guarding the place. Even with the intense gazes from the riders, the two young heroes still maintain their composure, with their weapons firmly sheathed in the back, together with their backpack for travelling. Only when Nephele’s maid rushes out to announce their permission to enter do the riders treat the visitors as their guests and allow the young heroes to enter.

-Well, that went better than expected!

Says Fino as he enters the village together with Elisha. Unexpectedly, his childhood friend does not reply, not when she’s too busy gazing at the tribesmen’s daily life with curiosity in her eyes and her waving tail on the back as well. The sentiment is mutual since even the people of the Aherin tribe can’t believe there’s a true Beastman in flesh and blood is walking among them, this causes more attraction to the visitors than necessary, even making people around forget to notice the Light Seal of Lielos on the back of Fino’s right hand.

Finally after the commotion they caused from their presence alone, the two guests manage to arrive in front of the chief’s yurt. The entrance isn’t covered by any kind of cloth, and the two young heroes can see the chief sitting by herself waiting for them.

-Finally we are here, Gust’s hometown. Let’s go inside, Elisha.

-Uhm…if I may, can I leave this to you? I want to…explore this tribe a bit more.

Elisha replies.

-Are you sure? I’m not that good at diplomacy. Make one mistake and they may stake us alive before cooking us for dinner.

Fino’s answer manages to get a giggle out of Elisha. The catgirl calmly speaks after she takes back the control of herself.

-I’m sure they won’t do that. Don’t cut yourself short, I believe in you, Fino. Please give me this chance. This is a Beastmaster tribe, the progenitors of my people. I may not have another chance like this, so…

Fino sudden gives Elisha a headpat.

-Are you expecting me to refuse you?

The two young heroes exchange smiles.

-Let’s meet up later, then.

-Okay, thank you, Fino!

With a smile on her face, Elisha rushes off on her own to explore the exotic village, while the main job at the moment now falls to the care of the young Fino. He doesn’t want to keep the chief waiting, so Fino quickly enters Nephele’s yurt.

-Curious one, isn’t she?

Certainly not the most typical greeting, but Fino understands why she makes that comment.

-She has always been that way everytime we visit a new place.

Fino replies.

-Well, she is a Felin. It has to be part of her instinct. I don’t mind the presence of a Beastman in my tribe, but I can’t say if my tribesmen would share the same sentiment. Not every place is kind to a Beastman, especially a young girl like her. Your friend best be careful.

Says the chief as she takes another dip at her smoking pipe.

-I understand.

Fino bluntly answers as he sits down to begin the main business of why he came here.

-My name is Sera Fino of the Empyrean Mercenaries. On behalf of our company, we are terribly sorry for the loss of your grandson.

Suddenly, Fino bows in front of the chief, with his head touching on the ground. This very act alone surprises the chief enough to make her drop her smoking pipe down. She certainly doesn’t believe someone would bow his head this low just to deliver the news of someone’s death, especially with a young man bearing the seal of Lielos himself on his right hand. Nephele at first expects this to be a show to earn her pity, but the hero’s stubbornness and refusal to get up only makes her feel annoyed more than anything.

-Get up, Hero. My grandson was an adult. I may feel grief, but ultimately Gust’s death was his own doing. I won’t blame you or your company for the decision he made.

With the permission from the chief, Fino reluctantly gets his head up. Without saying anything, Fino reaches his backpack in search of something. When he finally finds it, Fino takes it out of his backpack. It is wrapped in a brown cloth, but the shape is certainly that of a sword. Fino carefully places it in front of the chief, right before her reach.

-This is…

Nephele takes the sword and unwarps the cloth. It’s a curved sword, but an ordinary sword nonetheless, nothing too uncommon in the Great Steppe. But just one look alone is enough for the Aherin chief to understand.

-It was broken in the fight against the enemy who killed him. I’m sorry we didn’t fix it faster. Not many blacksmiths we know have a good understanding of Suntos weaponry. We did all we could to repair his sword.

-You have done enough. Thank you…for bringing him back to us.

The following moments is about the chief asking for the details of what happened at Melas castle. Fino keeps the conversation as brief as he can, but it still takes a while to explain most of the things that happened in the chaotic mess called the Siege of Melas.

-So you fought the same dragon that killed my grandson. How did it feel to fight against such a mythical being?

Asks Nephele, which Fino reluctantly answers.

-It was dreadful. My comrades were mowed down one by one, slaughtered by the strength of something beyond our common comprehension, and that was before she went mad. If not for my friends, I wouldn’t make it out alive.

Nephele remains silent, trying to keep the fact that she witnessed such madness with her own eyes four days ago before the young hero.

-If she was as powerful as you said, then it was Gust’s own bad luck to face her as her opponent.

The desire for revenge is still there, but Nephele’s renewed understanding has somewhat eased her hatred of the dragoness in question. It’s simply a matter of perspective, she defended her home against the attackers which included her grandson. At the very least, she can accept the dragoness didn’t do it out of bloodlust.

-Still, enough about my grandson. A Hero like you didn’t come here all this way just to deliver one bad news, I take it?

Fino reluctantly nods to confirm Nephele’s words.

-I was originally sent here on a job to destroy a bandit band ravaging the region around Aurum. Even so, the people of Aurum don’t know much about this so called Rudo Bandits. Their way of operating is strangely mysterious even for a band of bandits. Our employers briefed us that they mostly attacked rich towns and villages, but not without sending in a warning letter first. But for some reason, recently they attacked a caravan instead, the Aherin tribe’s trading caravan. So our search led us to your tribe, returning Gust’s sword was just a bonus.

Nephele takes another smoke before replying.

-You came to the right place. Just before you arrived, we recieved a warning letter from the Rudo Bandits saying they will attack the village.

A drop of sweat falls down of Fino’s cheek. With his fists clenched, Fino speaks.

-How daring of them!

-There’s something strange about this. I don’t understand why they would attack our caravan and picked an enemy out of our tribe. But nonetheless, they wanted us as an enemy, they got it. We will not let some mere bandits trample over our tribe’s pride.

Fino nods in agreement. No matter what, protecting people is also one among the many duties a Hero must fulfill. Fighting demons is good and all, but he would prefer to do some actual protecting from time to time.

-I want to help you in the fight as well, as it is both my job and my duty. Is there anything else you can tell me about this Rudo Bandits.

-I don’t know much about them either, but one of the survivors from the caravan attack has caught a glimpse of someone he presumed to be their leader. Their leader, presumably Rudo himself, is a man with an eyepatch covering his left eye. Other than that, nothing else noteworthy.

Nephele answers. However, she doesn’t expect Fino to have a shocked expression after recieving her answer, as if she just told him something that he shouldn’t hear about.

-A man with an eyepatch on his left eye...

Fino mumbles.

-What’s wrong?

Asks Nephele. Fino can only reluctantly answers.

-I think I have met Rudo and his bandits on the way.

Fino starts to explain about his and Elisha’s earlier encounter with a man wearing an eyepatch, who was also the one helping them get out of the Elowen forest. Fino certainly doesn’t expect that very man to be the one he was sent to hunt down.

-What a shame they didn’t try to rob you right then. It would make this job easier for both of us.

Fino instinctively touches the Light Seal on his right hand, having a rough idea about why they didn’t do what bandits usually do.

-Still, I more amazed you didn’t have any doubt about them being the same bandits you’re after.

Says Nephele.

-I don’t want to live a life where I can only find enemy inside everyone.

-A naive way of life. If you aren’t a Hero, that ideal would lead you to an early grave.

Fino remains silent from Nephele’s comment. He gets that reply a lot, but never will any of those manage to sway him from what he believes in.

-But enough about that. The Rudo Bandits are nearby, and that’s all I need to know. Their appearance combined with the warning letter is no coincidence. They are planning an attack on this village. But I’d rather strike them down first than letting them set foot inside our home.

Nephele stands up and grabs her own sword inside the yurt. She turns to Fino and asks.

-Will you come with us, Hero? Your help would be appreciated.

Fino also stands up and nods in agreement. Even so, he seems reluctant in partaking on a mission to kill someone who helped him. Nevertheless, naive as he is, Fino understands there are things that simply needed to be done.

-Lead the way, chief.

Following Nephele’s lead, the two of them get out of her yurt. The chief starts barking orders to gather her men while Fino simply waits, deferring the leadership to the chief of this tribe.

But before they can set out on the hunt, another matter has suddenly came up.

-Chief Nephele, please! You have to come quickly!

One of Nephele’s maid approaches her with urgency.

-What’s the problem?

Asks the chief, only for the maid to answer the problem is about the other guest that came along with Fino.

Under the lead of the maid, chief Nephele together with Fino approach a yurt within the village. There’s the sound of argument going on around, and when they get there, all they see is a crowd gathering around to watch the verbal fight between an elderly herbalist and the catgirl who arrived recently as a guest.

-No means no! Never again would I let you mages keep doing what you please just because you have magic!

-But please! Just let me take a look at them. I promise I won’t cause any trouble!

The catgirl nervously replies, but the tribe’s herbalist still maintains her stance.

-I said no, now leave, you mutt!

Something cracks inside Fino’s mind. He finds himself rushing out in front of Elisha and wards her away from the herbalist with his arm as he shouts out loud.

-Don’t you dare call her that way!

Before the situation gets more tense, the chief intervenes to make both sides stand down. First, she turns to her fellow tribesmen and asks for the problem.

-What was she trying to do?

-She snuck into my yurt, trying to bewitch the kids who caught the winter flu! I caught her redhanded as she prepared her magic staff!

Says the herbalist. The chief looks inside the herbalist’s yurt to find three kids, two girls and one boy, the same kids who stayed up late at the previous guest’s yurt. That was probably the reason why they caught the Winter flu in the first place. Nevertheless, the chief turns to the catgirl in question and asks for her testimony.

-Is it true?

-No...their fever is very high and doesn’t seem to be cooling down in any moment, so I intended to ease their pain with my healing magic. But before I can...I...

Nephele signs. There’s a more grave matter requiring her attention right now. The faster she can solve this the better.

-Can you vouch for her abilities, Hero?

Nephele suddenly asks Fino. After cooling down from his anger, Fino calmly replies.

-She is a Maiden of Heloise, she learned healing magic and medical arts ever since she was a child. You won’t find a better healer, chief.

The herbalist seems insulted by Fino’s final comment, but nonetheless remains silent and defers the judgement to the chief in charge.

-Then do your thing, heal them back, but our herbalist will still be the one to take care of the kids afterward. Just like you, I can vouch for my herbalist’s ability. She has quite the temper as you can see, but she has taken care of our people for a long time, and I trust her just like you trust your friend.

With the way said by the chief, nobody else rises any objection. The herbalist reluctantly allows Elisha to approach the sickly kids. The catgirl puts her hand on the forehead of the braided girl infected with the winter flu. Her body temperature is high, but not at life threatening stage. Whatever medicine the herbalist gave them worked, but nonetheless, they are in pain and are struggling to fight against the flu.

Elisha grabs her golden staff on her left hand and chants a spell. A faint green light radiates from the hand touching the braided girl’s forehead. Soon after, the young girl stops sweating, and the color on her face is getting better than before. Elisha quickly performs the same process to the remaining kids and retreats out of the tent as per deal. The herbalist walks back inside to check the kids, only to see the result from the mage she was insulting earlier.

-Thank you, but I will take it from here.

Fino is still pissed that the herbalist never once apologizes his friend for calling her a “mutt”, but nevertheless decides to walk away from the tent before his temper causes more trouble for them.

-I’m sorry. I caused another trouble even when I shouldn’t.

-Don’t apologize, you did nothing wrong.

Fino consoles his friend as they follow Nephele’s lead to where her riders are waiting. Fifty of them, almost all of the fighting men currently available in the village. She doesn’t want to bring more men than needed, but the enemy has roughly the same number, and even with the presence of a Hero alongside her, Nephele won’t take any chances.

After a quick brief on the situation to Elisha, Fino gets on a horse provided by the chief to prepare for depart.

-Are you sure I should stay here?

-Someone has to defend the village. I don’t know what will happen, but it’s best that we split up.

Fino replies. The other reason is because he doesn’t want Elisha to fight against someone who helped them before. If anything, he alone should bear the responsibility, not his innocence friend he knows from childhood.

-The chief is going to send out some of her men to recall her riders back to the village, but until then, the defense of the village relies on you and the remaining guards. If troubles arise, please lend them your strength, Elisha.

Elisha firmly grabs her golden staff, but her expression is hardly brimmed with confidence.

-I don’t know if I’m strong enough to help them.

-You are strong. I believe in you.

Before they can resume their conversation, the chief orders her men to set out, thus Fino has to follow them without making a proper goodbye. But that isn’t a problem, because this isn’t a farewell, he will return, and he will go back home together with his childhood friend Elisha.

But before that, there’s still one life he has to take in order to fulfill his mission, the life of Rudo.

...

A tribesman is riding alone in the Steppe, in search for his other comrades scouting the land. The chief’s order was to tell them to retreat and defend the village, but it may take a while until all of their forces can return in time.

Nevertheless, he still needs to try. The sun is setting, but the darkness of the night won’t stop him from fulfilling his mission.

However, an arrow may do the deed.

-Arghh!

Out of nowhere, an arrow finds its mark on the back of the messenger. He falls down to the grass land, with his back soaking the grass in red. Out of a nearby hill, a band of filthy men appear, laughing at his misery. One among them is a towering man, with an eyepatch on his left eye, and a huge blade by his right arm.

-You...!

The one-eyed man cut the messenger into half, ending his life. He smiles as he watches the direction in which the messenger came from, at the village of the Aherin tribe.

-Now, boys, shall we begin the hunt?