{Cara}

{Four Years Ago}

"Cara, keep up!" Maria called out to her. "We're almost there!"

Looking back, Cara could see so much of the world from here that it awed her. The world behind this mountain looked like a painting made by the most brilliant of artists as opposed to reality, and yet, it was all as real as the massive sword on her back. A man's voice called out to her as well, then, and Cara turned toward it.

"Cara?" Maria's husband, a man who most affectionally referred to by his nickname, Taro, said to her. "Did you hear?"

"Hm?" She turned toward him. The boy, a kind-looking man with big brown eyes and silky black hair, was smiling, which was a given since they were all practically buzzing.

"We're almost there, come on."

"Right."

With that said, the three of them continued their venture up this perilous mountain. Currently, they were in a part of the world known as The Stretch. Most people, however, just knew it as the space between Cradle and Libera, where, if one didn't have access to the International Railroad, for whatever reason, they would have to make this journey on foot to get from one city to another. That task was an extremely perilous one, however, as this region held some of the strongest monsters in the world.

Maria, Taro, and Cara were all here, however, precisely thanks to that fact.

Because today was the day they would reach the pinnacle of the adventuring world.

"Ah, this is so exciting!" Maria stated as she looked back at the two of them, spreading her arms out wide. Unlike the two of them, of course, she wasn't carrying any weapons or wearing any armor. She was just sort of amazing, in that way. "When we kill this dragon, we're going to be loaded!"

"Don't think too far ahead," Cara said. "Just stay focused."

"Aw, come on," Taro told Cara. "It's okay to be a little eager. Gotta get those butterflies out somehow, right?"

"Sure. I'm just saying, talking about killing this thing isn't going to make the job happen. We still have to, you know, actually do the damn thing."

"I know, I know," Maria said. "But, just you wait, we'll all be Rank S next week, laughing our butts off as the Guild sings our praises all around us!"

That was the idea, anyway. Maria had been the one to come up with this plan, almost a year ago. As she, Taro, and Cara had all reached Rank A already, she proposed that maybe they were ready to climb up that last step. And, of course, there were only two ways to do that. One was to challenge some Rank S adventurers, but those were notoriously difficult to get a hold of.

The second, and the one that they eventually decided on, was this. To kill a Rank S monster. They'd argued about it with the Guildmaster for a few weeks, and it was eventually decided that if the three of them took one down, they would all be granted the rank.

The next step was to figure out which Rank S monster to go after. Generally, these were the strongest monsters out of the different categories that existed. So, for example, in the Undead category, the only Rank S monsters are lich-kings and perfected vampires. The Beast category held the most Rank S creatures out of any, with one example in that one being phoenixes.

However, the one they ended up going with was the single, strongest Draconic creature. The one that gave that category its name, of course, that being, a dragon.

The preparation for this task had taken up the entirety of the three adventurers' last year, as not only was it difficult to kill one, but it was also difficult to find one. They contacted the best-known hunters and asked for their aid in setting this fight up, and through some careful tracking, they were able to organize an assault on one lone grey dragon, who was currently resting at the very mountain they were on.

"And you thought this thing was just gonna fly away as soon as we got here. Betcha feel dumb now, huh?" Maria said, and Cara knew she didn't really mean anything by it. The two were just close like that.

"No, I felt dumb the second I agreed to help you fight a fucking dragon, I'd say," Cara replied.

"Dragon or not," Taro quickly interjected, "it's a monster like any other. Slightly more powerful, sure, but we've prepared."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Still, Cara couldn't convince herself this wasn't the most idiotic thing she'd done in her entire life. Glory and fame weren't worth anything if you died, after all. However, even now, as she saw Maria smile and jog over to Taro, giving him a brief kiss before they continued up the mountain, she remembered the promise she'd made to her.

A promise she'd made years ago, as a child, when the two of them were just simple rookies starting out in Cradle. The promise that, no matter what, she'd always have Maria's back. That hadn't changed when they became adults, and it hadn't changed when Maria proposed this plan.

She was allowed to think it was stupid, however, and she did.

Eventually, however, their stalling came to an end, and the three of them reached the mountaintop. Cara would never forget that scene. Above, the grey sky had started letting down a mild rain, almost as if weeping for what would happen next. Taro, the mage of their little trio, looked back and gave Cara a firm smile and a nod, letting her know he was sure that they would succeed. Ahead, the grey dragon was everything they'd imagined, and more.

Bigger than some buildings, with slitted yellow eyes that promised nothing but death as they looked back at Cara's group and ashen scales that gave it its namesake as a grey dragon. The monster, which had been sleeping, rose up and turned toward them, its movements making the ground tremble.

"Good luck, everyone!" Maria shouted, getting into her fighting stance. "Let our story become the stuff of legends today!"

It accepted their challenge, as dragons tended to do, being the proud creatures they were, and, like Maria had asked for, what happened that day would be sung about in taverns across Cradle for a very long time.

---

{Now}

"Cara?" Rin asked, and the Rank A adventurer shook her head.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course, what's wrong?" Cara asked.

"Nothing, I was just wondering if we were gonna keep going. I had some stuff I wanted to do today."

"Oh. We can call it here if you want," Cara responded as she walked over to the nearby weapon's rack and put her wooden sword there.

"Alright. Thanks for the help, teach'," Rin smiled at her. "I promise, I'm going to do better on my next mission. Just you wait!"

With that, the rookie walked out of the room and Cara was left alone. She sat down on the floor and stretched her legs a little, as the memories ran through her thoughts. They stung to think about, but her brain couldn't help but remind her of them every now and then, it seemed. Long after Taro was buried and Cara's relationship with Maria was damaged irreparably, she still thought about it every now and then.

She wondered if maybe they just needed more time, or if she should have tried to talk Maria out of it, but what was done was done, and she couldn't change it.

A few minutes after Rin had walked out, however, someone else knocked on the door.

"It's not locked," Cara called out, and the person walked in.

She looked up and raised a brow when she found Maria walking up to her. Of course, as was the usual whenever her eyes laid on Cara, she aimed a glare at her.

"Cara," she said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah?" Cara asked, still on the ground.

"Please refrain from overworking my student, thank you. She needs to focus her efforts efficiently, with enough rest mixed in to truly improve. Understand?"

[Your student?] Cara asked in her thoughts.

"Okay," she replied, not wanting any sort of an argument today.

"..." For some reason, Maria looked displeased to hear that. Well, Cara knew exactly why that was, so she couldn't act too surprised about it.

"That's it?" Maria asked. "That's all you've got to say?"

"Yeah," she shrugged as she looked back into Maria's cold eyes. "That's all."

"... Hmph." With one final scowl and a simple pout, Maria stomped out of the room and all but slammed the door.

As she left, Cara let her back fall against the ground, and she stared up at the ceiling. Even today, after so much had happened, she could still remember the woman Maria used to be. All she wanted was to be able to bring that woman back somehow.

But, more and more, she had started to feel like that simply wasn't possible. Or, if it was, it wouldn't be up to her to do it.

And yet, she wanted to try. She just didn't know how.