"Morell?!" screamed Bao. Startled by the sudden appearance he pointed the sword in the direction of his teacher. "And why did you have to kick down my door?"

His complaints had fallen on deaf ears as Morell only stared at the slim figure Elincia's without any kind of reactions or movements. Only his mouth and eyes gaped wide open.

"I... I woke up after hearing some loud rumbling noises from the neighbouring room; thinking that you were being attacked, I immediately rushed to your room bu... but I... I...," the usual unshakable, battle-hardened gaze turned down to the ground, flustered. "I didn't know that you ehm... you and Elincia were..." Without finishing his sentence Morell pointed his finger back and forth between Bao and Elincia.

"Huh, we? No, no, no, that's just some misunderstanding, there is ano...," Bao looked to the side but the little girl had already disappeared as abruptly as she had arrived. "Wait, where did the girl go?"

"What are you talking about?" Morell looked to the empty spot between the two.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't know either, maybe the one he dreamed of?" The Elf shrugged with her shoulders whilst winking at Bao and pointing a finger in the direction from where the ghost came out before.

"That still doesn't explain to me what you are doing here in David's room, if it's not what I thought it was. And why is he swinging around his sword?!" Morell put his arms on his hips as if he was a parent lecturing his children.

"Well, I... came to control the condition of his wounds but when I entered the room he was already fast asleep or at least I thought so. When I started to treat David's injuries he jumped up and pointed his sword in my direction" She looked to the side and scratched her head. "It's my fault for startling him while he slept, I'm sorry for disturbing your rest, Morell." A small bow from her part was enough to make him flustered again.

"If it's like that, I'll accept your apology."

"Great! But now let me do my work and leave us alone please, David still needs a lot of rest." Elincia pressed Morell out of the room and locked the door, which somehow had withstood the brute kick, behind him.

"To attend my injuries huh... why did you have to lie to him?"

"The little girl was obviously afraid of strangers, that's why she disappeared as soon as Morell came into our room like a blizzard."

"Our?"

"Sorry, your room."

"And now? How are we gonna get back that gi..."

"Are the others away?" asked a fragile, echoing voice from below.

Elincia threw a smugging face in his direction as if she was saying, "you see, I warned you", to which he responded with the clicking of the tongue.

"Yes, they are gone. You can come out now," answered Elincia.

And again the ghost passed through the floor, giving Bao a heart attack despite him knowing that the girl would come from there.

"Now..." Bao sat down on the old creaking bed as his knees started to shake, "what's going on here and don't leave out a single detail."

"Umm... I... where should I start. Actually, I'm the daughter of a travelling merchant who had spent all his life going to every kingdom and region in Nelenia, trying to increase his wealth tenfolds..."

"Sounds a bit like a dragon," chuckled Bao reaping a piercing look from Elincia.

"I can't deny that my father was blinded by greed but neither I nor my mother could change his behaviour. Our home was the carriage and the neighbours the guards protecting our goods. It was stressful living on the road like that but nevertheless, we were happy, especially when we reached a new town it was nice to sleep in a warm and cosy inn like this one. But... hic... one day... hic." Glittering tears looking like small pearls started to roll down her cheeks. "One day father heard about this village which was hit by a terrible plague, most of the villagers living there had a high fever and were on the brink of death." The girl dried her invisible. "You can say a lot about my father but he knew how to do his job, so you can imagine what happened next. As soon as we had filled our carriages with potions that should help cure the disease we departed, hoping to make enough profit to live like kings." Her cute soft voice turned dark and deep and her small weak-looking body became double the size, surpassing Elincias height by far. The eyes were glowing in a dark red shimmer and the cute face was an unrecognizable grimace.

Bao drew his sword even though he knew it would be pointless against a ghost, but at least it gave him a feeling of safety.

"Calm down, everything is okay now, calm down," whispered Elincia as she grabbed the oversized hand and embraced it.

"T... the... the innkeeper, he... he didn't have the money but he promised to gather it in three days time and offered us free food and drinks for the period we had to wait. That monster... he and some other men of the village waited until everyone was drunk the guards and... and father then they came. When the candles were out and the campfire had burnt down... blood... screams... hic my mother they they... hic."

"It's okay I'm here it's gonna be okay." Now Elincia embraced the normal-sized child.

"This... this is gruesome," stuttered Bao. "You had to live as a ghost for god knows how long, carrying this heavy burden all by yourself on this small little shoulders of yours. People feared you while they slept in the house of a murderer, just how gruesome and unfair can life be." He shook his head.

"You asked for help little girl, how can we help you find peace, we'll do everything in our power."

"Kill them..., all of them just like they did with my family. Don't let a single one stay on his own two feet "