The morning passed by relatively quickly, and thankfully without much trouble. We were busy as always, trading with and handling requests from both shop owners and adventurers alike. Requests are something any smart trader goes out of their way to complete. The pay is typically pretty fair, and the items in question usually aren’t too difficult to obtain. Usually is the key word here. There are some exceptions of course, such as certain monsters parts or the rarer herbs, but they also pay more, so it tends to be worth it.

During a lull in sales, Friia and I noticed a crowd gathering a few paces away in the square.

“Do you suppose they’re there for the ‘important guests’?” Friia asked while leaning against the counter.

“I would imagine so. As far as I’m aware, there aren’t any events in the city today.”

After a moment or two, some children ran by us to join the crowd, yelling excitedly as children do. “Come on! Stephanie the Hero’s here to visit!”

As they passed, I found myself frozen in place. After all, Stephanie is quite a big deal. She’s a hero, THE Hero, prophesied to save the realm from evil, defeat the enchantress in the southern badlands, etcetera etcetera. She’s also…

“Stephanie? Your friend from the village, right Daniel? Uh...Daniel? Why are you hiding under the counter?”

“She can’t find me if she doesn’t know I’m here. It’s simple logic, Friia.”

Friia sighed as she looked down almost sadly at me. “Honestly Daniel, what is your problem with Stephanie? I realize she can be a bit...extreme, but that’s only because she worries about you. You should be more respectful of someone you’ve known your whole life, especially since she risks her life every day to keep people safe.”

“Friia, the last time she was worried about me, she almost nursed a cold into dragon-spot fever. Every time I agree to let her protect my wagon, she abandons it to ‘protect’ me. I was this close to getting my hands on a rare ruby desert flower until she started panicking, convinced I was dying of dehydration. She forcefully dragged me back to town, nearly drowned me, and I had to send someone to recover my wagon- which was almost picked clean by bandits. I have nothing against Stephanie at all, I just enjoy having a profitable business.”

“Daniel…”

“And don’t forget, my other childhood friend worries about me too…”

I see her gulp as she recalls recent events. “Yes, well... I think it’s best to avoid her, but Stephanie is a hero on the front lines. You frequently deliver supplies to the front lines. You can’t really avoid her.”

“All it takes is determination and imagination.”

I look up in confusion as a small smile graced Friia’s lips. “I think she may have more determination to find you, since she’s already making her way over here. Should I let her know you’re here?”

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about. There’s nobody under here.”

“I suppose we’ll just have to see if you can keep hidden from the legendary hero, won’t we?”

She giggled a bit as I heard excited chatter accompanied by armored footsteps, causing me to start breathing as quietly as possible...don’t look at me like that, I already said it’s nothing against her. She just has a tendency to...overreact to most everything whenever I’m concerned.

“Friia! It’s been so long since I saw you last, how have you been?”

I watched as Friia leaned over to give her a hug. “I’ve been well, Stephanie. How have you been? Taking the fight to evil as always?”

I could practically hear the grin stretch across her face. “Of course! I wouldn’t be much of a hero if I wasn’t. Of course, you know who hasn’t been making it very easy…”

“I bet. Daniel and I have had our own run-in with her recently.”

“Did you? Well I’m glad to see you’re alright. Speaking of Daniel, where is he? I could have sworn I saw him earlier...is he teaching you properly? Staying out of danger?”

“Well...more or less, heh…” I almost grinned at her nervous laughter. Almost. “As for where he is, I think you’ll find he’s closer than you think.”

I shot a look of betrayal up at her as I noticed her smug little grin, a feeling matched only by the chill that ran down my spine at Stephanie’s next words. “...he’s under the counter, isn’t he?”

At times, I curse attentive childhood friends. “...no I’m not.”

“Really? Because if I’m not mistaken, you’ve always used tables and counters as your hiding places.”

“Shows what you remember. I’ll have you know I’m also prone to using barrels.”

Friia laughed at my misfortune before smiling down at me. “Daniel, just give it up. She knows you’re there, come say hello.”

Sighing in defeat, I crawled my way out from under my counter and stood up to face one of my two oldest friends. Smiling brightly, the plucky half-elf looked up at me with bright green eyes. Fiery red hair sprouting up in a ponytail through her armored headband, standing proudly with one hand resting on the ornate runic blade hanging from her hip.

“Hello, Steph. I see you’re treating that blade well.”

She looked down at it and smiled fondly. “Of course. You’re the one who went out to find it for me, after all. Despite all your grumbling and hiding,” she gave me a small pointed glare at that part; “it’s nice to see that you still care about your friend’s safety.”

I looked away in a mix of shame and embarrassment. “Of course I do. Despite everything you’ve put me through, I will always care. About both of you. You were all I really had growing up, even if I don’t agree with all of your choices.”

“I can’t pretend I don’t understand that, even though becoming a hero wasn’t exactly my decision. Not that you have much room to talk, mister ‘dives into ancient death-traps for a rock.’”

I groaned slightly as I brushed aside the finger she oh-so-rudely jabbed into my chest. “You’re never going to let that go, are you? I told you, it was an angel stone for a priest from the capital so he could treat a member of the royal family. Even if I wanted to turn him down, how was I supposed to know a minotaur made it his lair?”

“He almost sliced your head off,” she deadpanned.

“Ah, but he didn’t. And not only did I get the stone, I also got a lovely souvenir!” I grinned as I gestured to my carved minotaur drinking horn.

Stephanie sighed, shaking her head as she turned to Friia. “And how many of these suicide trips has he drug you on?”

Friia chuckled before blushing slightly and averting her gaze. “Hehe...j-just a couple…”

“‘Just a couple’ she says...why do you always need to take such dangerous jobs? I’ve told you multiple times, I’m more than willing to get you your own place. You can retire, I’ll bring you everything you would need. I’ll even buy Friia her own shop!”

I sighed as she tried yet again to convince me to give up adventuring. It’s not as though it was a bad offer; far from it. I’m just not the type to sit back and have someone else providing for me.

“Steph, you know I can’t accept that. Much like you, I have responsibilities to others I can’t simply drop and walk away from.”

I frowned slightly as she huffed and crosses her arms. “That’s not fair, Daniel. I’m risking my life to keep the entire world safe. I think that’s a bigger responsibility than making money.”

I shook my head. “Firstly, you’re the one not being fair. I may not spend my time fighting demons, but I do gather rare materials for just about everyone. Materials used in forging, cooking, medicine, etcetera. I find weapons for adventurers such as yourself and your party, and I’m one of the merchants hired to supply troops on the front line. People depend on me too.”

We both looked away from each other, her in anger and I in frustration. To my surprise, it was Friia, after having been quiet during the whole argument, who broke the silence.

“You know, it’s good to worry about each other. It shows you care. But at the same time, you need to respect the other’s decisions. Stephanie, you fight demons. Daniel knew he couldn’t stop you, so he risked his life to find you an ancient, near-unbreakable blade. And Daniel, Stephanie is right, we really do need to dial it back on the dangerous, reckless, irresponsible quests.”

I couldn’t help myself from simply staring at her for a while, trying to come up with an appropriate response. “...are you sure you still need me to teach you? You seem to have a good enough head on your shoulders already.”

I...honestly really appreciated the smile she gave me. “It’s not a substitute for experience, which you have far more of than me. I still need your guidance. And Stephanie, if you could continue watching over my bull-headed master, I would greatly appreciate it.”

Even Stephanie couldn’t help smirking at that. “Well...I suppose someone has to. I need to make sure he treats you well, after all. Speaking of…” She turned to me. “Is it true you ran into Zoe?”

I grimaced at the sound of her name. “Indirectly. Her minions came after us, but we got away. They gave me a message first, though.”

“What was it?”

“‘Stop running’, what else?” I don’t like the way she gripped her sword after I told her.

“She can’t just leave well enough alone, can she? First, she goes and leaves the village to learn magic from that shady mage, then the next thing we know she’s leading an army of demons right into our home. Not to mention she tried kidnapping us. And now you’re telling me she’s still after you? I don’t know why she wants you to join her so badly, especially since she knows neither of us supports her or what she’s done.”

“I have a couple ideas, other than wanting her childhood friends by her side. Think about it: I’ve found more artifacts than most adventurers my age, I have contacts the continent over, and I’m a fairly decent fighter myself. A valuable ally, yes? That’s not taking into account my position in the army’s supply line. And don’t forget, when you were first marked as a hero, she tried convincing you to join her ranks as well.”

“And that’s not going to happen anymore. The last time we saw each other, she didn’t hesitate to try blasting a hole in my stomach. I think it’s safe to say our friendship doesn’t mean much these days.”

I frowned as I began to lose myself in old memories. Zoe…