The inn near the Ancient Aldin Forest. Nighttime.

A group of four men were walking carefully through the dark corridor, an evil plot in their minds. Their plan was a simple one, approach quietly while the targets were asleep and go in with a bang.

It shouldn’t be too hard of a job, they thought; the number of enemies was small and one of them was a girl. And to top it off she was injured. They only had to be careful with the young man, he felt like danger. But it was four against one, it would surely work out.

Then they could have fun with the woman before killing her and collect the ultimate prize: a rare serpent monster that could fly. Soon enough they would be so rich they wouldn’t know what to do with it.

The group arrived before the door. It was dark, so they couldn’t see each other’s faces, but it was almost possible to feel their twisted smiles of anticipation.

Inside the room, Liza held her breath and stood at ready. Eliot was seating upright on top of the bed, his brow furrowed, while Boro was floating above his head.

There was a loud bang as the door was opened with a strong kick, making it slam against the wall. The four men rushed inside while screaming.

“Prepare to die suckers!”

“We are going to be rich, hahahaha!”

Liza, who was seating at the side of the door, hidden by darkness, let the first three thugs pass unobstructed. Then, with her knife in a reverse grip, she struck with all her might, piercing the fourth man’s stomach.

“Ahhhhhhh~ my guts!”

The man screamed and fell backwards. He didn’t even make it past the doorsill. The other three kept rushing straight ahead, moving towards the bed that was faintly illuminated by moonlight. Their swords were already tracing arcs in the air, searching for a target to chop at.

Eliot jumped out of the bed to receive them and Boro dived ahead too. They lived in the Ancient Aldin Forest for years. They could feel the malice and the intent to harm coming from the enemy, thus they responded accordingly.

Eliot sidestepped a blade strike and clawed with his bare hands at his attacker’s head. His speed was unbelievable. The blow soon connected, tearing parts of the man’s scalp and caving in his skull.

Boro completely ignored the oncoming attacks. One of them even hit his body, but caused no damage whatsoever. He pounced at one of the thugs, tearing his throat, killing him on the spot.

The last man missed his assault due to Eliot’s movements and hit the bed frame instead. He was struck three times before he could ready his weapon for another attempt, dying instantly. He fell to the floor with a throwing knife on his back, a gash on his throat and two broken ribs on his right side.

“Ah~ at least they were a bunch of idiots,” sighed Liza as she got up.

“Ahhh, my guts, my guts! Help, please help!”

Liza limped towards the man screaming in the corridor, the only one that was still alive. She looked at him with a steady and merciless gaze. Removing the knife that was on the man’s stomach, she sliced his throat.

“You’re the kind of people I hate the most.”

Her tone of voice was icy, the disgust she felt couldn’t be clearer. She turned back, facing the bedroom, only to see Eliot about to use his stone sword to remove the other thugs’ hearts.

Liza had just confronted the other goon, so she was still carrying that cold and unusual aura when she said calmly:

“E-l-i-o-t, N-O.”

The room seemed to get a few degrees colder. Liza stared authoritatively at Eliot, her entire presence almost screaming “you just try it, young man! See what I will do to you!”

Eliot struggled for a moment, but then put his sword back against the wall and sat back on the bed. He gave her an apologetic look.

[Oh! Ho ho ho, so this works huh?] she smiled inside.

“Ok, that is better. Now, let’s see what they have on them, shall we?”

Liza checked the corpses for any valuables. She found a few pouches with some coins in it, but nothing more. There were sounds coming from the stairs, someone was coming up while cursing and mumbling.

“Damn lowlifes! I knew they were going to do a mess here. I knew it! Too many years in this damn job, I can see the moment they cross the door which type…”

The nagging innkeeper finally made to the open door with a candlestick. He looked at the mess and cursed some more.

A pouch came flying his way through the air. He snatched it with his spare hand and looked inside. It had a small amount of silver coins, enough to repair the door and with a few to spare.

“Sorry for the troubles uncle, keep that money as compensation. I will have to trouble you with the cleaning and changing our room though,” smiled Liza.

“No problem at all. I am glad you are all right lady. You can use one of their rooms, it has two beds inside,” said the middle-aged man pointing at the corpses.

“That will be of great help. Then, if you excuse me.”

The rest of the night was tranquil. The only sounds were the hooting of the owls, the rustle of the leaves in the wind and the curses of “lowlife” and “scumbags” of the innkeeper as he tidied the messed room.

Eliot and Boro, who were still fascinated with the mattress and pillows, took some time to fall asleep. Liza, on the other hand, slept like the dead.

They awoke late the next day. Liza foot still needed more time before the injury went from “painful” to “only bothersome”. Since the timeframe she gave the guild was up to a week, it was decided they would rest in the inn for three more days.

This time was used to “train” Eliot and Boro. Liza would use the cold tone when reprimanding them and asked the innkeeper to make especially flavorful dishes as rewards for good behavior.

The progress was slow, but it was working. They seemed aware of their new given names and she felt they could understand each other a little better.

She also bought some old clothes from the owner for Eliot’s use. They looked baggy on him due to the weight difference, but now that he was completely dressed, with all his scars hidden, he didn’t look strong (or scary) at all.

With his sword in hand he looked like one of the aspiring adventurers that were lining up to join the guild. Now that Eliot looked proper, Liza could finally repair her gambeson for further use.

On the morning of the fourth day, they said goodbye to the innkeeper and rented another horse to return to Sarton.

It was troublesome at first, but after showing Eliot how to mount and many tries later, they finally made it work. They departed. Liza was sitting on the front, guiding the horse, and Eliot was sitting awkwardly behind her, bouncing everywhere.

After some time, Eliot got used to the horse’s rhythm, which, ironically, made the ride worse due to his new-found enthusiasm. Boro was also not helping. He would frighten the horse from time to time on purpose, making it bolt at full speed and jump around wildly.

The journey back was longer with the constant agitation of the two troublemakers, but they managed to slip back in town without rising too much of a fuss. All thanks to the fact that Boro was hiding inside Eliot’s baggy clothes for now.

It was another monumental effort of training that paid off: making Boro stay hidden or at least coil around Eliot’s arm like a proper serpent should.

They went to drop off the horse at the stable before going to report to the guild. The same boy was taking care of the steeds and he looked happy to see Liza alive and well.

It was the end of the promotional week, so the movement outside the Adventurers’ Guild was much more subsided than the last time around. Liza went inside with firm strides while holding Eliot’s hand (an important measure for not losing him in new environments).

She went towards the same old lady that gave her the assignment and sat in front of the empty desk. She removed two bundles, prepared beforehand, from one of her pouches and placed them on the table.

“One bundle of Cloud Moss and one of Angel’s Blade, please check,” Liza said.

“Oh, glad to see you returned safe and sound. Let’s see what you got,” replied the old lady taking a scale and a book from a cabinet nearby.

The old woman compared the herbs with their descriptions and drawings from the book. After confirming they were the real deal, she placed them on the scale and consulted the current market price on a piece of parchment.

“Ok, here is the total value for what you brought back. It looks like a pretty good haul, congratulations. If you want to sell information from the forest, we would be interested in buying it as well.”

Liza received the money and nodded her head. Another employee led them to a private room on the second floor that was protected from prying ears.

She then told him that higher grade creatures were appearing in zones they usually did not and received another sum of coins for her efforts.

Eliot and Boro were curiously looking around all the time. They showed mild interest to buildings, people, animals and other sights. Only the heavenly smell of food could spark them into high gear.

After leaving the guild, Liza gave them a tour around town and bought them a variety of foodstuffs at the market. They ate with joy and in a wild manner, making a mess.

While the other two were busy stuffing their mouths she also went to the leatherworker and the bowyer. Eliot needed a scabbard for his sword, so he wouldn’t need to carry it in his hand all the time, and she needed a new short bow.

After hours of buying all kinds of food and commissioning works in two different craftsmen her pouch was already much lighter than before. She sighed.

[Guess we will crash at uncle’s place tonight.]