I walked back inside with the hooded girl once the match was over.

I wondered just who she was. She masqueraded as someone she wasn’t and was the announcer for the stadium, or maybe even its owner.

As I thought about it, I realized I could learn the answer pretty easily. I quickly jotted down my question and raised my slate to her. {Who are you? How do you transform like that?}

“Hmm? Oh, yes, that’s just my class, [shapechanger]. I was the old owner, Inna’s, apprentice and heir. Since he died, I’ve kept up appearances. I hope you’ll keep it a secret, Inna’s quite the crowd favorite, and I’m sure they’d all be disappointed to hear what had happened to him.”

{What happened to him?}

“Well, you could say...this stadium was built of blood, and he had to pay it back, one day.” I was left on that, to stew on what that metaphor meant.

We entered the lobby again, and I waited for Reco to reenter on the couch, listening to the bustle of the other fighters, who were excitedly talking about the incredible fight we had seen.

When Reco entered a few minutes later, she was swarmed just like when she had first entered, congratulations and questions coming from all the impressed fighters. This time, she talked her way out, giving everyone a chance to ask their questions. It took some time, but Reco eventually made her way to me. “Hey, Saya. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

I shook my head. {Your fight was so cool!}

“Please, flatter me more. What about-”

I finished writing my next phrase. {What were you two talking about?}

For a few seconds, Reco looked at my slate, unsure what I was talking about. “Ohhh, you mean when Reigonald had his barkskin. You sure you want to know, it might kill a bit of the fun for you.”

I motioned for her to continue, my curiosity getting the best of me.

“Weeell, basically, he was forfeiting the match. Since Reigonald realized he had no chance at defeating me, we coordinated a cool way to end the match as he tried to crush me and my bones.”

I scratched my head, left in disarray by the strange fact.

Before our conversation could continue, Reigonald came from the door, stumbling through as his wife kept him standing. Reco and he locked eyes, and after an intense staring contest, he shot her a thumbs up and went on his way.

We arrived back at the mansion before dusk, and the rest of the day played out about how we expected. Maladrain was out until night had long since fallen, and since I didn’t have much to do besides converse with Reco, which I had done for quite a while on my way back(she was exhausting to talk to, even if her charisma was high), I asked Symantha for paper and began writing.

I wrote about what I had seen in Seraph’s Prison, for if I ever forgot anything, then I wrote about my dreams, hoping I could eventually piece together a full story. Then, I snuggled up to Cobaltio and fell asleep.

“W-who are you?” Zatchel asked, his voice shaking.

Zatchel and I huddled in front of a tree. I felt scared, confused, and perhaps even hopeful. It had been too long since we were trapped in this timeless realm, and now, someone had arrived, even though we were almost sure we wouldn’t see the light of day again.

A boy a few years older than us, wearing brown pants and a shirt, with a black, rhombus-shaped hat, held out his hand, a proud smirk on his face. “You can call me Keolon, god of knowledge and the new guardian of time.”

“Who are you?”

I woke from my sleep and yawned, a little groggy, then began to write about my dream. We were probably leaving today, so I began packing some of my stuff. As I was folding my seraph’s robes(which I didn’t want to wear through the dirt and mud), Cobaltio nudged me.

I met his gaze.

He opened his mouth and spoke:

“Who are you?”

It took a few seconds for me to register what I’d heard. Then, my eyes widened. I looked to my nightstand and read what was on it.

“Who are you?”

I looked back to Cobaltio, and the pieces came together as his goofy eyes stared at me. I signed, {I am Saya.}

He tilted his head like a curious eldibird.

{I love you.}

He leaped at me and nuzzled my chest, and I absently stroked his cold, smooth scales as I came to grips with the situation.

Cobaltio knew sign language and how to speak because he remembered those same dreams.

I walked downstairs into the living room, alongside Cobaltio, once I was mostly packed.

I looked over a couch rest to see a bored Reco splayed across the couch. “Oh, how’s it going, Saya?”

I shrugged.

“Yeah, same feeling. Good thing is, Mally said he’d be outta the conference room a few minutes from now, so we should be on our way.”

{Cool.} I sat next to Reco and waited, Cobaltio leaping onto my lap.

A few minutes later, Maladrain walked down the stairs alongside a formally dressed man with well-trimmed, short hair. ‘buisness’ just emanated from him.

Maladrain motioned to him as Reco and I watched them approach the couch. “This is Luxo Moorland, the lord who’s been providing us shelter here in Hannem and the patron for our hunt for The Mudmule.”

Luxo raised his hand in greeting. “Hello, good to see you again, Mrs.Reco. I hope you didn’t break any holes in my wall while I was gone...again. Oh, and who is this?”

“That’s Saya. She’s mute,” Reco responded, saving me some time. “So, what were you doing out of your house? I thought you were more of a domestic man.”

“Well, one of my blackstone mines got overwhelmed by monsters, and I was forced to assess the damage myself.”

“That’s rough. How did that even happen?”

“We don’t know yet, but I’ve made plans to find and seal the source of monsters.”

“We made plans, Luxo,” Maladrain said, correcting him.

Reco tilted her head up, curious. “Always a schemer, Mally. What plan did you make this time?”

“Well, right now, our sect of the adventurer’s guild is running low on available mercenaries since we’re preparing to kill The Mudmule, so I thought I could hit a few birds with one stone.” Maladrain pointed to me. “You know how Reco mentioned the junior squad?”

I nodded.

“Well, the guild’s intermediate-class junior squad goes on expeditions every once in a while. I figure, if I send you all to the mines alongside Reco, I could get you some more fighting experience before you fight the mudmule, secure the guild some extra funding, and keep Reco on a short leash.”

“Don’t make me bark like a chihuahua!” Reco retorted, annoyed at the metaphor.

Luxo looked concerned, though. “You’re sending a child to fight the Mudmule?”

“Well, it was part of a deal we made. All the info I gave you on The Mudmule was collected by Saya.”

“Sorry if I’m being presumptuous, but...did you not actually scout The Mudmule yourself?”

“Uhh, it wasn’t possible, but I did look at its tracks...”

Luxo placed a hand on his forehead. “I guess we’re basing our operations on a child’s notes, now. That is perturbing.”

Wha- I made some damn good notes, though!

Reco spoke up next. “What makes you so sure I’ve got time to go to that mine? You know how busy I am, killing monsters, fighting in pits, beating up bandits, uhh, and...other stuff.”

“Reco, no offense to you, but you’re a bit of a loose cannon. The higher-ups and Gruan will appreciate knowing where you are and what you’re doing.”

“No offense taken, as long as I’m being compared to a cannon and not a dog, I’m happy.”

{What’s a cannon?} I asked.

Luxo shrugged. “It’s a metal thing that uses gunpowder to fire big metal balls. Maladrain, where did you pick this girl up?”

Maladrain seemed a little nervous about the question and avoided the topic. “Not important.”

“She provided us with information, and I think it would be best to know where it came from, exactly.”

“Scout secrets.”

Luxo rolled his eyes but didn’t pry, making me sigh of relief. “I’ve arranged for the gigamules to pick up your loot. I’ll be providing the guild ten thousand golds as an advance payment, and I will provide the guild with any relevant supplies. I expect the Mudmule dead before the end of July.”

“Understood, Luxo.”

I finished packing my things first and waited at the door with Cobaltio resting on my shoulders.

Symantha approached me as I waited. “Are you finished packing? Can I begin cleaning your room?”

I nodded. {Sure.}

“Understood...” Symantha stood still, looking at me with gentle, uncertain eyes. When she felt comfortable, she leaned closer to me, her gaze serious. “So...you’re...an [oathbreaker].” she said, with no clear direction.

I slowly nodded, not sure how she would react. I wasn’t sure how she had figured out, but it didn’t surprise me she did. She was obviously a very observant person.

“I see.” She leaned back, remaining silent as she toyed with her dress, thinking, and looking me down with a vaguely suspicious or perhaps worried expression. “Your name; it was Saya, right?”

I nodded.

“Well, Saya. Goodbye. And make sure to keep an eye on that Maladrain, I don’t know what his deal is, but he acts really strange. It makes me uncomfortable.” Symantha idly waved back at me as she turned and climbed the stairs, going to my room.

Realy strange? Uncomfortable? Sure, he could be protective at times, but...those were the opposite of how I’d describe him.

A dozen minutes later, he and Reco walked down, ready to leave.

“Are you ready, kid?” Maladrain asked, shuffling his backpack around for comfort.

{As ready as I can be,} I wrote.

“Good, because I want out, out into the wilderness,” Reco said, walking past me and out the door.

“Ok, let’s get going, Saya.” Maladrain said, following behind.

I walked out, parting with Hannem and walking into a world entirely unknown.

“So what even is Saya’s level, I forget. Intermediate class, right?” Reco asked, fiddling with a knife.

It was nighttime, and each of us was sitting around the campfire, camping on the main road.

Maladrain shook his head, drinking from a canteen. “No, you’re level 9, right?”

I nodded. {I’m pretty close to level 10, though.} almost 80 Exp away, actually.

“Oh, so she needs to level up before we put her in the intermediate squad. What’s your age?” I held ten then three fingers. “When I was 13, I was already level 13.”

{Well, excuse me for being a mute [apprentice]} I wrote with loud, aggressive strokes of my chalk, annoyed at the implication I hadn’t tried to level up earlier.

“I doubt you beat a master class [cobold] by her age, though.”

Reco chuckled, stabbing her knife into the dry dirt. “No, I was busy killing bandits with my homebrood. Rough life out in the desert.”

“I didn’t know you grew up in the desert,” Maladrain said, curious.

“Yeah, the desert ‘nation’ is filled with bandits, ballsy merchants, and mercenaries. You can make good money killing out there, and people give Exp, and a lot of it, for some reason.” The ethics of that wasn’t lost on me, not anymore. I frowned in distaste, trying to empathize with the bandits on principle. Reco, surprisingly observant, seemed to target her next sentence towards me. “The way of the fighter is one that leads to death. Either one’s own, or another’s.” Reco shrugged, talking with a lighter tone. “That’s just the way things are, unfortunately. Hey, Mally, could you snipe down that squirrel imp that’s stalking us?”

“Why don’t we have Saya do it? She needs the Exp.”

“Sure. Saya, do something.”

Huh? Wait- what? It took me a second to understand what they were saying since both of them talked like a monster stalking us was a casual topic. {I mean, sure.}

I looked around, trying to figure out where the squirrel imp was. Eventually, I managed to spot its gleaming eyes, handing on a branch above Maladrain. It looked like a large squirrel, with menacingly long claws and fangs. Its tail was a yard long, with a toothlike edge the size of a dagger at the end, known for skewering people if they weren’t careful.

“Oh, it didn’t take you long to find it,” Reco commented, surprised.

“Her intelligence is pretty high, so that’s no big surprise.”

I also had [perception tier 1] from my time sneaking through the woods to [observe] the Mudmule when it passed each year. I nearly ran into a few monsters on the way and only managed to gain the skill during my fight with one of the [cobold]s.

I shook Cobaltio from his resting and pointed to the squirrel. He didn’t seem to understand what I wanted, I signed to him, Hit the bird. I mean, it wasn’t a bird, but I didn’t know the sign for squirrel.

Cobaltio squinted with an expression of confusion and eventually jumped upright as he saw it. As he took a defensive stance, I heard the squirrel imp squeak, realizing it had been seen, and saw it jump away just before Cobaltio spat a blaze of fire at the tree, exploding on contact. I heard the squirrel imp fall into a bush, dead.

“Oh, or that works too,” Reco said with a shrug.

Cobaltio earned 32 Exp!

You gained 1 Exp for training your pet!