Shirley's POV

(Author's Note: This is all before Pauli's entry to the game.)

Every day of my life had been worse than the one before. I could only imagine when my time would come and how I would pass away lonely, without a mortal soul to even know or care. But one day, HE came.

The first time we met, I was glad. I had finally a new customer after what felt like an eternity.

I wouldn't call him a hunk, but he was definitely a treat for the eyes. Even though he was an adventurer, he had a clean face, not a single scar. His eyes were sharp but merry, a weird combination but at the same time enticingly alluring. His hair was short and black, not too rough and a little fluffy, something I would get to confirm later. He was also tall, a head taller than me and beneath that leather armor, I could tell he had a well built body.

But all of that didn't matter, for in the end, he was only a customer, or maybe he wasn't even that for one of his first words was enough to send my heart rumbling.

"I don't have any money, so.." (Customer)

"Get out." (Me)

I was pissed. Extremely pissed! How dare he walk in here when he doesn't have any money!? And then he dares demands for hospitalilty!?

"Wait! A trade! I got some fine meat to trade!" (Customer)

His words put a stop to my inner rumble.

(A barter?)

It was not always the most convinient route to barter, thus the need of coinage. But its never always a bargain unless you can effectively deduce the value of goods of both sides.

"Show me." (Me)

I was still pissed but somewhere in my heart, I had hope seeing that frantic expression on his face. It was hard to describe but somewhere behind that frantic expression, almost as if what was infront of my eyes was an illusion, I felt confidence. Confidence that he had in himself and an ability to pull others into it too.

Then he took out the meat out of nowhere. At first, I was surprised at that magical phenomena but what he took out was more astonishing. 3 pieces of rabbit meat, which even though was the most common of all meat, was still hard to obtain. Then a boar meat.

(No way...)

To get a boar meat was incredibly rare. Granted, it had a high drop rate of its meat but... to defeat it..? It was incredibly hard.

Then the last of it. Bear meat.

(...)

My mind was blank when I realised what it was. To get a bear meat...impossible!! That had to something out of legends!! No one in our village would dare fight one and even if they did, they would never come out unscathed. Yet here HE was, casually bartering the incredible item for a petty midday meal.

It was almost too good to be true and I would never waste a chance like this.

It wasn't my intention but I instinctly grabbed it all as one would try a lovely dream. The only difference was, this wasn't a dream for me, it was reality.

Then I gave him the best business smile I could muster and decided to serve him to the best of my ability.

At that time, I didn't immediately realise but the winds of change had already started blowing.

The next few weeks were the best in my life. I had never seen so many customers! I only had to advertise a little and word spread from mouth to mouth in this small place and almost every villager came at least once to try out the rare sorts of meat.

My original customer, the adventurer, had struck a deal with me to bring me any meat he obtained in return for making him food. It was too good a deal for me. The adventurer brought back more, even herbs and fruit that I had rarely seen. To get those, you had to go into the forest so deep that it was almost crazy!

Then one day, he asked me for cooking lessons. I knew what it meant. He wanted to become self sufficient and leave this place at some time. I knew it was inevitable but the realization caused something to change in me. I noticed my feelings, what I really wanted: to follow this man. I had stayed in this filthy place long enough, but no more.

I taught him well, the best I could manage as to try and repay even a little of his efforts but it was obvious, he was impatient. I could tell he wanted to leave as soon as possible for this place was a walk in the park for him. And the day came very soon.

But I was ready. I had already decided it would be like this and there was no turning back. I would make him realise how important I could be that he would readily accept me, I'd be a natural! But I knew I was wrong. It was only a little girl's fantasy and when the time came, I broke down. I wept in front of him, begging him to take me with him, knowing I shouldn't be doing this and it would only make me look weak... But he embraced me. He took the weak me in his gentle arms and held me close to him. The feeling I felt right then was something I had never experienced before. It was like my whole body was on fire. But more than my entire body, a certain part of me was on fire. If I had the courage, I would have pushed him down right then and there and had him have his way with me.... But what if he was repulsed by it? That single thought stopped me. I was a coward and I hadn't changed.....yet.

When we entered the jungle, I witnessed the most amazing scene ever. I knew my companion was a powerful adventurer since he brought back items from the strongest of monsters but in reality he was more. So much more than I could have ever imagined. He could slice apart the mightiest of monsters in a single swing of his sword. And even the sword was the worst of its kind, something beginners used. Yet, the way he wielded it almost gave it legendary status. A single strike was enough, that was all it took, no matter how strong the opponent. Sometimes, I could tell that he himself was furious at such power. He would abandon his weapons and go into a fight barehanded. But in the end it made no difference: all it required was a single strike. The enemy would be blown to pieces and all that surrounded it, covered in blood. But as the remains of the fallen monster disappeared, so did its blood and all that was left was him and his eyes, full of disappointment. I could never understand that, having lived a life of misery and worthlessness. To be strong was what I aspired, what ANYONE in the world aspired, but here he was, with such strength, but at what cost....? Loneliness. It reflected in his eyes rarely, but I managed to catch brief glimpses of it. I tried cheering him up, letting him know he had me and no longer needed to carry such emptiness. I talked with him like we did during our cooking sessions. Sometimes, I would make funny remarks and he would counter with his. Other times, we would just have a back and forth between the two of us(something I tended to win more than often). I thought I was doing it for him, but I felt like I was the one who got cheered up instead.

Soon, it was time for him to leave for his own world. I knew it would come sooner or later but I still couldn't help tensing up. Camping out in the jungle at night was dangerous, almost to the level of crazy. I tried to hide it but he probably still somehow felt my anxiety as he told me his "Guardian Angel" would protect me. I didn't know if he was telling the truth. Normally, I would never believe something as cheezy as that but who was I to doubt him? It wasn't possible for me to comprehend someone with such power, much less question his credibility. Even if he were lying, I could only believe such false truths. What was the most that could happen anyway? Some monster would eat me? It was atleast better than dying off starvation.

I sent him off with a smile. There was still some time before night took over, so I trained. He had left me a variety of weapons to try my hands on. I half did it to tire myself out so I could sleep easily at night. But contrary to my expectations, I couldn't sleep. I was too anxious. My mind was going crazy with imagining beasts ravaging my body, biting off chunks at a time and slowly but painfully pulling me in closer to death. I shook my head, slapped my cheeks and tried to think of anything happy: about HIM.

It was in the middle of the night that I woke up. I didn't even realise when I slept. Thinking about him should've really calmed my mind to make that happen. I had a sudden urge to relieve myself. I slowly got out of my tent trying to make as little sound as possible. It was a half moon today and the light was barely sufficient to make out my surroundings, but I dared not light a torch for the possibility of attracting a predator.

Suddenly, I saw a flash of light.

"Eeekk!" (Me)

I put my hands on my mouth to stop the shriek.

I felt the flash of light too close for comfort.

*thump* *thump*

I almost felt as if my heart would burst out.

"Haah.. Haah.." (Me)

I didn't even realise when I started breathing heavily.

I walked closer to where I'd seen the flash of light, holding back my cowardice.

I was almost in time to see a [Wolf] disappearing. Someone had killed it.

I looked to my left but there was no one. I looked to my right but there was no one either. No. There was. I could see a silhouette in the distance but it was hard to make out due to the limited visibility.

"W..Who?" (Me)

I almost felt as if it was HIM. But before I could blink, he.. it disappeared. I almost felt as if I heard someone giggle with a "hihihihi" but I disregarded it. All of this was probably just my mind playing tricks due to the induced fear. I quickly finished my duty and went back in to sleep. Somehow, this time I felt much calmer and was able to go to sleep right away.

The next day was mostly spent on training with the weapons that HE left in his absence. I trained imagining him as a role model. It was a mistake that I soon came to realise. I couldn't imitate him: it was impossible. He was on a level which if you saw from my position, felt as if you were revering to a God. The way he wielded his weapons was heavenly. It was as if they were his extensions of his own body. It wasn't something I could duplicate. It was stupid to even think about it. So I tried something else and any other thing that came to my mind. I felt the result clear: I was a failure. But this time, I didn't lose heart. HE had decided to help me and I wouldn't let his good intentions go to waste. I trained and trained. Till I was on the ground unable to even move. And when I recovered, I did it again. But it didn't make a difference. I was too clumsy, too weak. In the end, I could do nothing but watch him from the back.

The next day when he came, he told me we were going back to the village.

(!)

I choked on the food I was eating.

(Please.. No...)

I looked at him with tears in my ears.

It was too hard. I had finally left that place just to go back again? How could the world be so cruel to a single person? These were my immediate thoughts. But I was wrong. Wrong to doubt him. Wrong to waver my faith in the kind him.

He told me we were going back to get a friend of his. He wasn't going to abandon me! Oh, I couldn't tell how releaved I was! My heart beat was starting to calm down. I didn't even realise when it started beating that fast.

As I calmed down again, it was probably then that I was hit by the biggest truth of my life. The truth from introspection: what you really desire.

And what I desired was... is HIM.

HE is Rota, my savior, my champion, my angel, my First Love.......

This chapter was probably the hardest for me to write. Its hard to imagine the story from a female side.

On another note, did you see what I did there with the combination of 'gaurdian angel', Rota's body disappearing and the accompanying giggle? (I'd be really sad if you didn't.)

On a completely unrelated note, when I wrote the chapter, the editor autocorrected POV to poverty. I only noticed it while PRing and had to hold myself up for 2 minutes while I finished laughing my ass off. XD