On one side, a tall, clad in leather armor, brown-haired merchant guard, me.

On the other, probably a soldier, clad in a mix of chainmail and leather, a yet anonymous woman.

So we stood, crossbow and a strange polearm pointed at each other, fifty meters from each other.

Sidenote, there's a reason for me calling the polearm strange. I had read, watched, researched, seen, or otherwise came in contact with hundreds of weapons, both in fantasy during my Earth life and even some in reality here on Lieade. Yet, I had never seen something like the one she held.

While I could not be entirely sure of each side having an edge, it somehow resembled a voulge with four blades mounted in a cross-like pattern. But the pointy end, or spear-like tip, of the voulges, converged at the top, forming something like a spear tip. Or, to word it differently, the four merged into a single conical pike-like tip.

A pretty dramatic moment, our standoff was, I may say. And one commonly found in many stories, but this time, I was pretty sure that no third party would arrive to introduce, force us to cooperate, or either of the commonly-used cliches I could recall. {Eh, so, push comes to shove?}

Taking the initiative was a must in such a situation, at least how I saw it, so I spoke before her while agitating the crossbow, "Introduce yourself and state your intentions. Otherwise, I will have to treat you as someone aiming at the Guild's property."

I could not see or hear myself from the side, regretfully. But I think the pose, theatrical movements, and tone could be called the embodiment of a historical drama's guardsman.

A shame that my actions did not impress her much, as why would she ignore it entirely and even mock me in return?

"Hoh? And how would you do that with an unloaded crossbow, pray to tell me?" The damned woman even took a slow, demonstrative step towards the wagon.

If I considered my usual previous self, I would be stunned by the rebuke or her noticing the lack of a bolt in my weapon. But between Aison's training, the situation, and a slight feeling of irritation at her, I did keep my cool and rebuked in turn.

"Ten paces to load, ten to aim and shoot, then repeat if you don't fall." Fuck if I knew if I would manage to do it, but it sounded pretty convincing, yes.

"Oho? I would like to see that. How will you make me, the unbroken, fall!" She exploded angrily and rushed forward! What happened about her not being an enemy?!

{Shit, seems that I chose the wrong words!! Now, what the fuck do I do?!} I definitively did not want to kill her, especially if she was in the know about what was going on. So, how to stop her without killing, preferably without injuring her, and at the same time remain unscathed myself?

_______

Lately, I noticed that when under stress, the thoughts that occurred to me were nothing but spontaneous. They did work out in the end, somewhat. Still, what kind of mind would consider Molotov cocktails in place of something more, setting- and situation-wise, correct?

Maybe I was always like that, just never noticed it on Earth, with the absolute lack of challenges or such situations. The former because I avoided them, the latter, it was 21st century outside, so you do not expect to be attacked by a bunch of sword-wielding psychos.

In any case, this time, my mind suggested a similar idea. Well, maybe not the one about burning your troubles away, but close, as it was nothing else than the exact opposite, wash them away.

Not that it didn't seem logical at the moment, after all, don't they say, [Cool off], when encountering somebody heated as my opponent?

Plus, I honestly did not want to hurt her. After all, if this hot-head soldier lady knew what was happening, maybe there was a chance to end this strange situation before I started singing aloud or something?

There was also the fact that my two companions had been asleep for many hours by now. And that made me worry about the trip and their health. I mean, humans and dwarves required both food and water!

_______

Unexpected; uncivilized; pseudo-logical. That would be the three adjectives to describe my actions in response to my unkind acquaintance rushing toward me.

I had kept around 20 liters of pure, filtered water in my [Inventory] since my survival days on arriving in Lieade. And, after the (contaminated by an animal corpse) well incident, I made sure to increase that amount even further. Now, by pretending to mutter a [Storage] spell, I summoned about half of it, about 12-15 liters, right above the approaching strange spear-wielding woman.

*SPLASH*

"LIGHT!" And I followed right away by the lamp-like orb spell, both to see her better and to blind her, while I loaded the crossbow. I hoped I would not need to use the latter, but who could assure me of my safety? Especially after such random actions from my side?

Blinded and soaked, the woman took a couple more steps, slowing down, and then stopped as if rooted on the spot. Her free hand brushed her hair from her face, allowing me to examine her properly now that there was a light source.

At first glance, she wasn't far from me in age, somewhere in the late twenties. Her shoulder-length brown with a hint of red hair now wet fell over an angular face with a sharp aquiline nose and a pair of slightly slanted eyes.

There were a couple of dozens of meters between us, and my light spell was blue, probably because I did not concentrate on the color properly. Thus, the woman's eyes appeared slightly bluish, though they were of a dark green hue.

Her armor should be considered heavy leather, with chainmail rings visible on the chest, shoulder, and skirt area. Until now, all leather armors I had seen were a pair of pants and a jacket-like top. But her armor was different. The upper part consisted of a lower shirt-like part and a vest with a skirt that covered most of her thighs. From below it, the so-common leather pants could be seen, tucked into boots that shone with metal.

Except for the strange voulge-like weapon, she had no other weapons, at least visible, on herself. No luggage either, and I could not see any pouches or either on the skirt's belt.

"Saw enough, cur?" She was the first to break the silence, half-barking the question and sending me a glare. And if I never believed in the phrase, [If glances could kill], I will have to concede that it is not just an expression.

"How rude of me, yes, yes." I half raised my hands, feigning, or maybe not, some remorse. Not that the crossbow moved much, showing that I was still ready to shoot if needed. Then, I decided to try to defuse the situation, one that I partially was at fault as well, "My name is Rador. And as I said before, I am but a guard for the Megvuroz branch of the Cadowden Trade Guild. Could we stop the hostilities and speak it out?"

Honestly, I felt she overreacted to a simple warning. One merited by the situation. At the same time, between her noble title, and her military stats, maybe the words were overly provocative.

"Guard, are you a mage?" She did not respond to my repeated request for an introduction. In place, she looked directly at me while asking the obvious. I mean, I just used two spells some moments ago!

"Could be, could be not." Looking at it calmly, I poked the hornet's nest again, but her eccentric manners were getting on my nerves. First the [I came in peace] stuff, then threats, then a sudden attack, and now this. I did justify my conduct right after, but she did send me another killer glance before I did, "I can not just share everything with someone who refuses to introduce herself and has spoken and acted against the Guild's property."

But when she, at last, spoke back, she again made me wince in surprise and not a small amount of irritation, "Would not you have to confirm your identity first before asking a lady to do so? What if you are lying?"

{For Sepyre's sake, what the hell is going in her head?!} I was already lamenting my thoughts about not shooting her. A single bolt, even if it had just scraped her!

And while I did wish to curse, shoot, and else, I managed to act calmly. Not that I cared about noble status or something, there were neither witnesses nor the name I gave was real. But Aison and Weral depended on me at the moment, and if I had to lick the arse of some upstart crazy soldier-lady, so be it.

I slowly raised my free left hand, pointed to my belt, took the badge off, and threw it towards her. As it landed a couple of meters away from her feet, I slightly moved the crossbow away, showing that I would not shoot. "There you go. Now, Lady, it is your turn."

Still maintaining her gaze at me, she slowly lowered and reached for the badge. After she looked at it for half a minute, part of her attention still on me, she spoke up, at last answering the question I have been asking since her appearance, "I am Lady Aletha of the Trezden Family. Vice-Commander of Tedlon's Army Camp."

"Then, excuse me for my lack of manners. But, Lady Aletha, could you explain what is going on and why you avoided giving your name before? I do not presume to question your actions, regardless..?" I am unsure if I should keep them considering how she acted or if my manners were even the correct ones for the occasion. But hell, if I cared at that moment for anything but getting a clear explanation and no more attempts at running at me with a spear in hand.

"Ahh, well, actually sorry about that, Guard Commander Rador." She suddenly smiled, and I felt how all hostility drained from the air. Wait, is she slightly shaking? And is it my imagination playing with me and her eyes are glimmering?

"Then excuse me for not coming out right away. I did confirm your noble status before, but I had no idea who you were or what intentions you had." I explained myself in turn, lowering the crossbow but still on guard.

"Gods, I must have looked absurd, even crazy, right? I am truly sorry about that. I have spent nearly three days under the [Tr'axt Tree's Blossom] effect, running around while attempting to find someone else while caring about my asleep companion. The lack of provisions did not help much either." Her smile was genuine, and after she explained herself, she suddenly chuckled. Her laughter was light, even contagious, and I smiled back at her.

"So, Lady Aletha-" I was planning to ask her for a full explanation of that tree blossom, but she stopped me right as I called her name, "Just Aletha will be fine. I am here not as a noble or even a Vice-Commander, but as a simple escort, not so different from you."

"I see. Then, may we sit down and discuss what is going on? You also mentioned that you required help?"

She nodded in response to my questions, but it seemed that she wasn't about to sit down right away, "Yes, but now that I know it is safe here, do you mind if I bring my charge here? And maybe you could share some provisions with us? I managed to find a couple of rabbits before, but a watered-down broth isn't exactly the best food."

"Agreed. Do you need some help to carry your companion here?"

"No need for you to leave your charges undefended. I will manage." She refused me with a smile, and I did not say anything else as she started walking back in the direction she had appeared.

{Surreal, just surreal.} My only thought at that moment could be the perfect description of what had happened. Or at least of what I did experience, as for fuck sake, I would not be able to explain what did actually happen.

As a side thought, I concentrated on Aletha's figure with the full version of [Status Screen], only to discover that she was under the effect of a [Stamina Potion]. And I also saw the after-effects of another few.

Well, I am not sure if mixing stress and the potions gave a result like this, but she needs rest, food, and whatever else she may get. And wait, did she say she had spent three days around here? Then, how long for this magic or whatever tree is able to sleep everyone, or well, nearly everyone?! {Let's hope she knows how to break out of the effect. She did mention needing help, so..?}