As soon as I woke up in the small room of the hostel, I took a shower. I liked that, but not so much having to put on the same black T-shirt, the same worn panties, the same patched jeans... Once dressed, I went down to the dining room and met Rodolfo who was having a coffee.

“Good morning, Sabela. I hope you slept well.”

“Like a log,” I answered.

The lady at the hostel brought us some toasts with jam and butter. I also had coffee, without sugar because the more bitter the better. As soon as we finished, we gave the keys back to the reception girl and set off for Nebula, which was not too far away. After a while, I got tired of the silence and decided to talk to Rodolfo.

“Is that a good weapon? “I asked him, pointing to the sabre he was carrying.

“The cheapest money can buy, I prefer to spend my suns on pleasures and not instruments of death,” Rodolfo answered me.

“Hey, your job is to kill monsters,” I told him because I was also a member of the guild.

“Being a Children of the Sun is only a quick way to get money. My aim is to meet the mysterious woman of the Blue Mountain, no more and no less,” said Rudolph.

The forest ended in a wide-spreading prairie, and the iron trees gradually ceased to grow until not a single one remained. The field was like a sea of grass, and under that light it had shades of grey. In the middle it was the city of Nebula, surrounded by impressive black walls.

“Aren't they a little bit big? I mean, there hasn't been a war in the Moorland since.... since the last one, didn't it? And that's a pile of years ago. Why such a big wall? It's not as if the barons were going to fight each other...”

“Right, but I don't think the built those walls out of fear of humans. I mean, doesn't Nebula's barony border the Nightmare Nation? What would happen if the King's Barrier fell down?”

“Yeah, but it wouldn't make any difference how big the walls are, would it? I mean, we don't know how big the Nation is or how many monsters there are. If the Barrier breaks and the monsters enter; goodbye to Nebula, Cassiria, Saavedra, Sol... In other words, the Kingdom would be done.”

“Then it will serve more as a therapeutic element for the good people who live in the city, don't you think?”

Two guards with metal helmets on their heads stood at the gates of the city, spears in their hands and armour that had a picture of a fish pierced by two spears on the chest. The shield belonged to the Luzo family and they were the rulers of the barony of Nebula.

As we passed through the gates, we were greeted by Nebula in the shape of the Royal Street that stretched long and wide to a square still some distance away. The low buildings were made of stone, all following the same pattern of grey walls and purple slate roofs. And there was no one on the street: it was as empty as my Huertomuro, only on a much larger scale. What I felt was a sense of dismay... I don't know, it was just that the city was kind of gloomy. It didn't help that the day was soured by grey, almost black clouds that threatened to burst into tears.

Soon we arrived at a fairly large square and we could see a little more life: there were people on the terrace of a restaurant: pale people in dark clothes who were eating in a hurry as if a thousand thugs were going to come and steal their food and drinking as if it were half-warm water instead of beer and soft drinks.

In the square there was some colour in the shape of flower bushes surrounding the statue of the first hero, right there in the centre. Xoan de Ningures, accompanied by his mighty moustache and broad chest uncovered by a shirt unbuttoned in the middle. He was the founder of the Children of the Sun and also the one who defeated the villain Maeloc, but he left the job half done because the King of Monsters was still doing bad things all around the Kingdom.

There was also a group of people with banners bawling in front of a building that I recognised as the Children’s barracks because it had above the door the smiling sun, the symbol of the adventurers' guild. The protesters also brought colour because of their rainbow clothes: greens of spring meadows, blues of cloudless skies, reds of fields covered with strawberries and roses.... Clothes that didn't depress you, not like the undertaker's ones that the people in the restaurant wore. More than that, though, what really mattered was what they were doing, and as I got closer I got an idea. First, they were carrying banners, and on one of them I read: "Monsters cry too!

“Killing non-humans is murder too!” shouted a girl with so big glasses that I felt sorry for her nose.

“Do you know what this circus is about?” I asked Rodolfo.

“You've never met a pro-monster?”

“A what?”

“They think it is unfair the way the Children of the Sun treat monsters.... That is to say, by killing them. They believe that, as intelligent beings, monsters deserve a chance to integrate into human society and stop being treated as, well, as monsters. In fact, they don't like to use the word monster, because they consider it to be pejorative in relation to them. I think the Baluras call them Makash.”

“Pejorative you say...” I mumble, not knowing what the word meant.

At the time, it seemed odd to me that there were people like that, and I couldn't understand it. To me, there was nothing good about monsters, and the kingdom would be a much, a really much better place without them.

“Well, I don't understand it so I'm going to ask what they mean,” I said and approached the girl with big glasses; I thought she was the leader because she was shouting with a megaphone.

“What is this thing you say about the monsters?”I asked the four-eyed girl, she looked at me up and down and showed a shy smile.

“Oh, you're not one of those adventurers, are you? You've got all the makings of one of them.... You're as big as a bear! And those muscles... Wow, I've never seen such a big, brawny woman in my life... Can I... can I touch your arm?”

I shrugged and she gently touched my arm, as if she was going to break me or something. As soon as she did, she pulled it away quickly and a girlish giggle got out of her lips.

“Oh my... You're so tough!”

“Yes, yes, I am. But what about the monsters?” I asked.

“Oh, that...Well, I'll explain it to you right now! Ahem... Killing non-humans is absolutely wrong!” The voice came out as powerful as a punch in the stomach, nothing like the previous one, which was like the fluttering of a butterfly. “They suffer too! And they are intelligent beings too! Is it right to kill something that can think and reason? No way! And, by the way.... What do you think what would be solved by killing monsters? Do you think the Kingdom would be a better place? And speaking of kingdoms! Aren't we an advanced society? Why does our leader have to be a king? The only merit a king has is that he was born! And another super important thing I have to say, Miss Freckles...!”

“The pigs are coming, the pigs are coming," howled one of the protesters, pointing to a group of angry-looking guards.

Nothing, in a while there was nothing left of the demonstrators and I thought it was a bit strange that the guards were after them. Because I thought that the only crime they were guilty of was having ideas that were as wrong as they were idiotic. Anyway, once they had disappeared I went inside the barracks followed by Rodolfo: the interior was clean and white. It was all very professional. And it smelled good, which is always nice, whether in food, interiors or people.

I get the counter; behind it was a tired-looking woman: with rather large dark circles under her eyes, holding the weight of her head with one hand, yawning like a horse...

Well, I said woman, but it wasn't actually a human woman, it was a balura. If you don't know what they look like, they are a bit like us, but they have green skin, very big eyes and no nose, just snake-like stripes or something like that.

I put my hand in my pocket, to take out the letter and give it to the balura, which I assumed was Melon because they all name themselves after fruits, but before I had time to say anything to her she spoke and said:

“Adventurers! You are adventurers, aren't you?” she asked, eagerness in her voice.

“Well... I'm a wooden one...” I said, not sure if I could confirm that I was or not.

“No matter, I need help right away! Nearby is the Dungeon of the Shrieking Man and it's been filled with goblins again... but you're a wooden one, have you faced any of these? -he asked suspiciously.”

“At least I am, I'm a bronze adventurer and I've taken down a lot of them,” said Rodolfo.

“So did I. In the forest where I used to work as a woodcutter there were goblins. They're not hard to kill,” I said, and I wanted to add that I had killed a hobgoblin, but I didn't want to show off.

“The real reason I want you to go is because I'm quite worried... An adventurer went in the morning and still hasn't come back. And, to top it off, she was only ten!” shouted the receptionist and he slapped the reception desk.

“I didn't know girls could be adventurers..." I said, and it didn't seem right to me: brats should be at school, not fighting monsters.

“Well, they usually aren't... I don't know why she was, but she was, and there's nothing you can do to stop her from being one! Can you go to the dungeon and find out if she's OK? Although I personally found her extremely irritating, it's not like I wanted anything bad to happen to her...” commented the receptionist.

This time it was Rodolfo who answered:

“Of course we will go, beautiful balura! We could hardly call ourselves adventurers if we did not. Regardless of their age, all women deserve to be protected from all kind of evil.”

The receptionist snorted like a cat.

“My name is not "beautiful balura", it's Melon! And why aren't you wearing your badge?! You can get a good fine if you're not identified as an adventurer at all times... Do you understand me?” Melon asked, narrowing his big feline eyes.

“I understand, although if I don't wear it, it's because I find its design... unaesthetic," sighed Rodolfo, putting the bronze sun on his chest.

“I could say the same about your monkey face, but you don't see me saying it... That's it, go right now to the Dungeon of the Shrieking Man, kill all the goblins you see and rescue the girl! What are you looking at me for?! Go at once and don't you dare to die!”