“Raka!” A sweet tone of a young maiden rung throughout the field. Her staff held high, her eyes were sharp, not the usual wide rounded characteristic it has. Liliana commanded with all seriousness.

“Understood!” The feline ranger, Raka, jumped high and gave his bow a tug to its string. His arrow fled in the air, twisting, and pierced the young wyvern who has yet to fully mature.

“KRIIIII!”

The rag-tag party that consisted of Liliana, Shen, Raka, Lander, and Risha set out for an adventure. It was to improve their coordination as a party.

“S̸҉҉u̡̕͝m̸̧̛p̸͡҉r̡̛̀ę̵̸ ̵͜͝ķ̶̧r̡̨͏ ̵́͢s̕͡͏t̛͢͡e̷̡̨ ̶̢́t҉̸͡o̡͞͠ḱ͟͢...Hex!” The lone warlock of the party called upon her eldritch deity, speaking the tongue of the forgotten ones, and thus cast a spell.

Risha watched the wyvern wriggled at her curse. Green smokes were execrated within its scaly body. It made the Wyvern paralyzed and as well take damage from inside.

“Take this!” From the sides attacked Lander with his two-handed sword, giving the wyvern a wound on its feet, and once again on the body.

The blade dug into the scale, gushing out blood. “KRIIII!!” Another howl echoed, causing Lander to retreat as he stayed vigilant against the monster.

Liliana observed all of this. After all, it was she who was the assigned leader of the party, and the one that planned the attack.

“Now Shen!” She shouted at the elf monk who had been waiting for her turn. Shen moved like the wind, silent and fast, leaving not even her foot mark on the snow.

“Yah!” Shen rushed and hopped, almost flying, and landed a fatal roundhouse kick. One could see the shock wave created by her kick, and as well the floating saliva of the wyvern.

The monk stood with both of her feet and gave a punch to the wyvern that sent it flying and tumbling. A manipulator can strengthen their body far beyond their limit, and Shen was a skilled in doing that.

“Hoo! Most impressive, Monk!” Raka swept his tail on the ground along with a cry of joy. “Truly, a warrior worth remembering!”

While Lander almost loosened his grip on his sword, staring at Shen with eyes wide open in awe. “I-insane... J-just where did she get all of her power...?” He said, then his sight lowered just slightly from Shen's face.

“You're looking at her breast, Lander. You disgust me.” Bonk! Risha's staff went down and did the will of its owner, striking Lander in the head.

“Ow!” He exclaimed, touching the slight bump on his scalp, teary-eyed. Though he was a warrior, hurtful things were still hurtful.

All according to plan! Now that her scheme was done nicely, Liliana smiled brightly as she opened her slightly red lips. A catalyst in her hand. “Acere...Arcus...! Acid Arrow!”

A green arrow materialized above her, acidic liquid dripped from the tip of the projectile. It launched itself into the squirming wyvern and penetrating it in the eyeball. The brain and skull melted as white smoke arose from the ear.

The wyvern gave a few grunts and wriggled its weak body. Blood spurt from its mouth before finally dying. The adventurer ended without casualties.

“Basic!” Liliana beamed at everyone as she spun her wooden staff before making a peace sign. “Oh, genius me!”

“He-he-he! Not bad Liliana.” Shen regained her normal breathing with “Hooo,” and “Haaa,” before flicking her long ears instinctively.

Liliana was delighted by her words. She might act like this but she was quite nervous when they decided that it was her who would take the lead.

Good thing everyone trusted me. Liliana thought. Well, it was her that brought up the topic that she had been once a leader of a party before, maybe it was just her reaping what she sowed.

She exhaled in an exaggerated manner and sauntered near the grinning Shen. “And the quest is done!.” Liliana declared to her newfound party.

Their quest this time was quite simple. Exterminate the wyvern that has been spotted in the grassy field in the north. A medium difficulty quest that can be safely handled, especially that they have Raka and Shen who were both extremely capable.

“You're really good at leading others, Liliana!” What came from her was the slightly flustered Lander. He swiped the sweat on his forehead before expressing a killer smile.

Lander was handsome, there was no denying it. But Liliana had seen better. Suddenly, a certain face of a brown-haired man appeared inside her mind.

“Wha!” She blushed furiously with her usual frown, her hands waving as if to clear something that cannot be seen.

“A-are you okay Liliana?” Said the worried Lander as he descended his eyes to match hers.

“I'm fine. Just remembering something unpleasant.” She replied with her arms crossed. It was really unpleasant. Darwyn didn't come back yesterday, and probably would not today

either. Just how long did he planned to stay inside the church? Liliana was slightly bothered by this.

Over the horizon, she could see the towering walls of the ancient city. To think that something this big will be attacked by the giants.

She shifted her gaze and discovered the ice-cold stare of Risha, aimed at the innocent Lander. “E-erm... I'm going to check Raka for a moment...” Liliana's sentence sounded a bit more of an excuse to ditch this place and head somewhere safe.

“Yes, please take care,” Lander replied to her, perhaps not noticing the impending Risha as he was still smiling at the young wizard.

Liliana took a step sideways with a grin plastered on her face, then she swiftly twirled around, her blue robe rustling in the air.

Then she heard a bonk and Lander saying “Ouch!” She continued her way, pretending not to notice the chaos behind her, and finally arriving at where Raka and Shen were.

The two veterans were chatting away to kill time.

“Don't you think that wyvern is a bit weak no?” It was Shen who said that as she checked the status of the monster carcass.

Raka nodded at her, licking his furry forearms before replying with, “Yes, I suspect there is something more than what meets the eye.”

He said, deeply understanding the situation.

“What are you talking about?” Liliana chided in the conversation without knowing what it was. She tilted her head as she placed her finger near her chin.

Shen answered the wizard with a shook of her head. Shen doesn't want to trouble Liliana any more than necessary. “Nothing. How about we go back now, Liliana?” As usual, her voice was seductive and befitting for a grown woman like her.

Will I ever grow something like that? And when she thought “something like that,” she was, of course, talking about her chest. Liliana emptied her mind, clearing her throat and clutching to her staff. “Well, I guess, it's over now. How did I do for today?”

To her question, Shen raised one of her eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is, how good I am at leading today? From scale one to ten, where do you think am I?” Liliana lifted her hand and draw one and ten with her nail.

“Hmm...” Shen pondered. Certainly, Liliana was good at thinking of a plan. Maybe it was because of Liliana's natural intelligence that gave her some kind of advantage. “Maybe, seven? Yes. I think seven is a good number to represent your skill.”

“Eer... I thought I'd aced it.” Liliana was not all too happy with Shen's evaluation. “What about you Raka? What do you think?”

“I'd say the same thing, Wizard. Clearly, you are great, but I have seen greater.” The feline ranger said. He did not mean any harm and was merely stating the truth that Liliana desired.

She was thankful for that, but she could not help but feel a little bit discouraged. I just need to improve then. That was all there to it.

The experience was essential to be a master of something. She was not expecting that she can become excellent at everything she tried without putting effort into it.

She looked up at the clear sunny sky, and then she brushed the side of her ear to fix her swaying hair properly. Her violet earrings dangled and shone as it reflected the sunlight above.

“Let's go back! I want to eat something already!” Liliana's cheerfulness elevated everyone's spirit and they agreed in unison.

There was no point staying here any longer.

The party traveled back with the melees in front and Raka as the rear guard. It will be a long trek before they can return back to the city, but having someone you can converse with during adventuring made things easier.

It's really cold. Liliana thought and squeezed herself to defend herself from the freezing temperature.

Liliana concluded that the winter here was far harsher than the ones in her previous world. Or maybe because I'm practically sheltered back then?

Well, she has something like kotatsu¹ or hotspot or other hot food to keep her plenty warm. But after a tiring work, you don't really want to eat something heavy, does it?

Her world was more convenient than she had previously thought. I can pick all sorts of yummy food.

And something popped into her head. A certain cola brand that was famous across the world. She can hardly remember what a cola tasted like.

Not to say that this world has nothing to offer in terms of drinks. Certainly, that was not the case. But she cannot help herself to long for something she was familiar with.

“Man... I want a cola...” She whispered to herself. Liliana was pitying herself. She missed the fuzzy feeling inside her mouth

induced by chemical reaction.

“Yeah, I want some cola too haha!” From the front row, a certain male answered her without putting some thought about it.

“Right right, you just want to drink something sweet when tired,” Liliana said happily. Then, a second later, her face became puzzled.

The man who answered her, Lander, was confused too as he looked at the back and ceased his pace.

“H-hey... Liliana... How do you know about cola...?”

“I-I'm asking the same thing... Could it be...?” The two pointed at each other, trembling and shocked.

““Are you a reincarnated person!?””