Katsumi pushed her horse to the limit.

'That stubborn, good-for-nothing, idiot!'

She passed the training tree and was far away from him.

Meanwhile, Ariya was watching the wolves closely. He hid his scent by applying some magic in himself. It was a simple spell that granted him to be closer to the wolves than you would normally.

'If I take too long, they'll endanger those people there,' he thought and jumped to another branch,' Then again, If they do see me defend them, I can claim all the glory,' he imagined himself getting a lot of praise and maybe even a promotion in rank was on the cards.

What confused him was that wolves weren't generally around the base or this forest at all. They belonged to the forest of Zarumia which was a couple of kilometers from this forest.

'Either some of the wild animals decided to migrate here or something is definitely up,'

Then he noticed something white in the distance.

'What the-'

It was a white wolf, the leader of the squadron.

"What is that thing doing here?"

He whispered to himself. Nervously, he grabbed his sword and pulled it out a little.

"If I recall correctly, white wolves are originally from the cold mountains of Northern Remaris. They are dangerous and not to be taken lightly." he took a peek and they were gone. Then a scream from the road followed.

"Dammit!"

Ariya jumped and dashed towards where the scream originated.

…

"Get away you beasts!" A man in his mid twenties shouted, holding a shortsword in his hand. His horses that were moving the small wagon were panicking. His wife was shaking. They were farmers, doing their daily routine when this happened. A pack of wolves came out and surprised them both. They could have never predicted that there were wolves in this forest since they never saw any.

His rusty sword won’t be able to fend them off as easily.

He glanced back at his terrified wife, ‘We just got married and this had to happen. Shit! Maybe I am cursed.”

The wolves attacked one by one and his rusty sword broke at the first slash on one of them, leaving him open for a clean swipe by the claws of one of them.

“Arghhh!” He collapsed on his knees. He only managed to kill one and his blade broke. He bled from his side. His wife jumped off the wagon and shielded him even though she was shaking with fear.

“Shia, please leave! I’ll distract them!”

“No! I’m not leaving you to die!”

“Don’t you see the situation! Just go!” He pushed Shia off.

“I wouldn’t be at peace if something were to happen to you.”

Shia cried her eyes out as she could barely stand up but as she did her husband rushed the other way and yelled, “Come and get your meal, you basterds!” He was bleeding and it hampered his movements while Shia took a horse and untied the wagon, fleeing and crying her heart out.

He couldn't outrun them and he knew that his time was up soon. After a minute, he fell over again from the pain. The wolves were right behind him.

'This is it. I am sorry Shia but I'm glad you're safe.'

He was expecting a quick death but it didn't come. Instead, an unpleasant howl was heard. He peeked his eyes open just a little and noticed a boy there with a green outfit and sword.

Ariya pulled out his weapon from the body of the wolf and sighed.

"That was close. Another second and I would have screwed up massively."

"Who… are… you?"

The farmer spoke.

"Hm? Don't worry about that now. You just stay put and don't die on me. Easy, right?"

He laughed a little before looking seriously in front of him. There were eight wolves he could see but the white one was not around.

'Why isn't it here? Was I seeing things? I doubt my eyes were deceiving me.'

Did it go after the woman? Goddammit, if only Katsumi was here,'

Either way, he was stuck with the eight wolves here. Their eyes and loud growl indicated that they were hungry and Ariya got in the way of their meal.

'Eight of the black wolves. They look extremely hungry, like they haven't had any food for a while. It would explain why they started a man hunt. But then again, what happened to the food chain?’

The wolves charged at Ariya and he kicked the first wolf out of the way and swung his sword against the one coming from his left, killing it.

“Slayer magic: Hero's blade!” His sword radiated a green aura and he was much quicker in his movement.

‘The only magical spell I know, Hero’s blade. It makes my sword light and it makes it easy for me to hit my enemy twice or more in quick succession.’

He managed to kill six out of the eight. The remainder, seeing their brethren be killed, whimpered and ran away quickly.

Ariya sheathed his sword and returned to the injured man.

“Hey! You’re safe, let me see your wound.”

The man didn’t respond and was barely breathing. Ariya looked at the wound and it was deeper than he thought. Luckily, he brought some bandages and water with him just in case. He poured some water on the wound and the injured guy winced a little. Ariya could clearly see where the claws pierced his skin and it was a little sickening.

‘Why didn’t I pay more attention in med class?’

This was one of the rare occasions where he would leave the task to someone else but at the time of need, he didn’t have any way to close the wound nor did he know how to do it.

He placed some bandages over the wound and held it there for some pressure to stop the bleeding.

“Please, don’t die!’ He prayed but he was stuck on what to do. There was no way to get to leave him and get help.

The rustling of bushes around, alerted him to spring onto his feet.

“Did the wolves come back?” It’s not what he needed right now when the guy on the ground was on death’s doorstep.

He placed his hand on his sword handle and waited. The steps were getting louder and he couldn’t tell where they were coming from. All around him was a forest and his ears were picking up every small sound, disorientating him. He guessed that this is the wolf he saw before. It was either late for the party or it was waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Where are you, white wolf?” As he muttered those words he gasped as the wolf jumped from an angle he wasn’t paying attention to. He managed to pull his sword to block the wolf but the shift in balance was sudden and he fell to the ground. It was quick to react to that and attacked again, going to kill him instantly. He grabbed his sword and blocked the wolf’s attack but it had his sword in its mouth and it wasn’t pulling away. It was biting down on it and it was overpowering him. The wolf's mouth reeked and his eyes watered from the stench. Its claws were ripping into his uniform .

‘I-i can’t reach my dagger. If I let one hand go, it’ll be the end of me.’

It was a battle of endurance and the wolf wasn’t letting up. His sword was cracking under the fangs of the wolf.

‘No way, my sword...is breaking?’

The wolf smelled fear and bit even harder. His breathing increased but he couldn’t let it beat him.

“Slayer magic: Hero's blade!”

He managed to push it back a bit but his strength wasn’t enough and the wolf pushed back immediately.

‘Even that’s not enough? What is this thing?!’

He started to waver and got pushed back until his elbows had to take support from the ground. It was almost face to face with it and it growled loudly. It was stronger than him.

"Dammit!" He shouted and tried to counter but again it failed. He had no strength left in his arms.

His sword was at a breaking point too. With so many cracks, it was only a matter of seconds until it broke.

'I should have listened to Katsumi. I shouldn't have gotten involved with this mess. I didn't need this. I'm gonna die because of my own greed for fame.

I'm weak. I shocked myself at how bad I am. Without Katsumi or someone else, I can't do anything with my flimsy fighting style. Why did it have to go like this?'

The sword broke like glass and it was going to kill him there.

But…

He wasn't dead. His heart was still beating and he could breathe the air around him.

When he looked, there was an arrow in the side of the wolf. It was enchanted with magic that only one person had.

"Katsumi!" He looked to the side and saw her there with another arrow ready.

"Happy to see me for once. And I thought I wouldn't see the day." She snickered as the wolf got up and started to run.

"Oh no you don't!"

She chanted a spell.

"The wind blows a ferocious storm. To my belief and my duty as the guardian of the forest, heed my call as I request your strength," she pulled back the arrow, "Zephyr's wrath!" the arrow glowed brightly and as she released it flew with abnormal speed towards its target.

When it hit the wolf, the arrow went straight through and landed on the ground, covered in blood.

"Are you okay?" She walked by Ariya.

"I'm fine, just a few scratches and bruises. I'm more worried about him." He crawled over to the guy there. Katsumi checked his pulse.

"He's gone…" She said sadly.

"What! No!" He didn't want that to be true.

"Hey, wake up! I told you not to die on me so what's this!?" Unfortunately for Ariya, he bled out.

"This is your fault!" Ariya yelled at her.

"My fault?! I saved your ass and you want me to take the blame."

"Screw you! I know I'm weak but if you were here we could have saved him. He had a wife, you know."

She didn't know the details but that impacted her quite a bit. If she was here it would have been different but she wasn't. She turned away from him.

"You did your best. I wish I could have made it a different outcome but…"

"But what!? You wanted to help that guy huh?! He has no memory and who knows, maybe he'll forget again. You should have been at the base and you abandoned your duty for some random guy you met."

"You done Ariya?! If you didn't slack off all day long and trained once in a while, guess what, you would be better for it! If it weren't for me, you would have died here with him and I would have had to answer to the captain and everyone there. SHOW SOME GRATITUDE!!!"

Ariya crawled back a bit as she snapped on him. He had never seen her snap like this before.

"You can take my horse and bring the body back to his wife or just bury it here, I don't care anymore."

She walked away from there and went back to base.

She slammed the door shut and sat down on the bed.

'Why did you leave me here captain?'

She started crying. The weight on her shoulders from that was too much for her not to cry silently.

Her room wasn't big. She had a desk with a bunch of books on the shelf above and a single bed. A window on the right of it gave her a beautiful picture of the landscape.

There was a small creature in her room too. It was sleeping until the 'slamming of the door' woke her up.

It rubbed its eyes and saw her sit down and cry. It got up from her small bed Katsumi made all those years ago and flew over. She landed on her shoulder and poked her cheek.

“Not now, Peach,” she mumbled, “i’m not in the mood to talk.”

Peach pouted and flew in front of her face and slammed her head against hers gently.

“Crying doesn’t suit you,” she spoke to her telepathically, “Did something happen?”

“Peach...H-how would you feel when everything is being blamed on you for things that aren’t your fault?” She asked her.

“Whatever happened, don't take it too harshly. Did you have another confrontation with Ari?”

“Yeah…”

“You shouldn’t listen to him. He’s a dumbass.”

“B-because...I understand his frustration this time. It made me feel like it was my fault.”

“Katsumi… You can’t be at five places at once. You shouldn't take the blame for his own weakness.”

“But that’s the problem. I am supposed to be stronger and his superior. Am I not?” Katsumi whimpered, "I'm supposed to look out for him."

“So? You’re only human. You’re gifted but anyone can make mistakes.”

“I am harsh to him sometimes. Maybe too harsh. He only got recruited this year and he’s 15,” She sighed.

“Shesh, cheer up a little. Wipe those tears of yours,” She took flight and wiped her eyes for her.

“I only want the best for him. I do dislike how he got into the clan but that’s not my place to judge.”

She took a breath and Peach landed back in her hands. She was a few inches tall and had a green dress on her that made her the cutest. Her amber eyes and bright smile helped Katsumi multiple times in the past get her mood back up a bit. She was a little pale but that’s due to having spent too much time indoors.

“Thank you Peach,” She brought her up to her face and hugged her like a child did with a teddy bear.

“You’re welcome friend,” she hugged back and smiled.

“Are you hungry?”

“You bet I am. I haven’t seen you all day.”

“Alright. You sit here and I'll get us something we can enjoy together.”

Katsumi came back later with cupcakes she made with some ingredients she kept secret.

"Wow! Katsumi, How did you make these?"

"I had some chocolate hidden in a pot and I thought, why not use it to make something special."

"I love you!" Peach jumped to her and hugged her cheek.

"I know you love chocolate and sweets in general,"

She brought the casserole to the table.

Peach was too eager to get the sweets in her mouth while the cupcakes were still hot. She bounced up and waved her hands around as she had her mouth opened but nothing was coming out.

"Oh, Peach you're so impatient."

She sweetly laughed.

They enjoyed the cupcakes and the talk between each other through the evening and into the night a little. Once Katsumi yawned, only then did she notice the time.

"It's late. I got stuff to do tomorrow."

“Katsumi, if you continue the tempo you’re forcing yourself to, you’ll break.”

“I can’t just take a break. The captain and the others are still out on the meeting and he entrusted the base to me.”

“Please, for me,” She showed her the puppy eyes and she couldn’t say no.

“Okay, I won’t work tomorrow,” she gave in to her and Peach cheered because of it.

“Now, I should go to bed. I am feeling tired.”

“Good night,” she hugged her again and went to her small bed on the table.

“Katsumi blew out the candles and settled down in her bed, falling asleep.

The next day

Katsumi woke up later than usual and was feeling more refreshed than the past couple of days. She stretched and sat up. Outside her window, it was a bright and sunny morning and the prospect of her ‘day off’ looked good.

She got up and went downstairs to make some breakfast.

“Hmm… Strange for Ari to not be up by now,”

She noticed and looked behind her and he wasn’t there.

Nevertheless, Katsumi made herself breakfast and something for Ari too whenever he decided to come down.

She did a few tasks like feed the horses, wash the dishes and clean the bathroom but after doing all that, she went to her room and sat down on her chair.

“I got you some breakfast.”

“I figured,” She rubbed her eyes and flew over to get her food, “Are you enjoying your break?”

“I am. I feel much better today.”

She grabbed a book off her shelf and started reading.

“You deserve it.”

Peach enjoyed her food while Katsumi relaxed for once and surprisingly enjoyed the free time.

Until… She got a call.

She opened up her inventory and put her book down. Peach looked up bewildered as Katsumi walked to the other side of the room and tapped it to answer.

“Yes?”

“Are we talking to the Katsumi Raniko of the Rangers?”

“You are… What’s the issue?” She asked. The commander of the town she left Nashiro in contacted her.

“You see…”

When the commander started explaining, Katsumi's eyes widened in sheer shock.

“He did what now?! Ugh, I’m on my way,” she ended the call and grabbed her bag.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“Something came up that requires my presence.”

“But, but, today is your day off!” Peach complained and tried to stop her.

She rushed to the door.

“This is way more important than my day off as sad as it sounds,”

She left and ran out, heading back to the town.