Edited by: KenChi死

The very morning I moved into the inn section, stumbling over each possible piece of furniture, kicking every table, bumping into every person. First they reactions were:

“Look where the fuck you are walking you….”

And when they saw it was me…

“Oh… I mean… hello Zari, keep doing great work! You are already stumbling less than yesterday… I mean… haha… sorry.”

That wasn’t helping at all! But I had no time to complain. I kept moving in one particular direction. The direction of were two gigantic males were feasting.

“… one day you will have to travel with us to port in Rumir, brother! Rum there is the best I ever tasted! Strong, with aftertaste just right aaaand…” “Hello Aloizi, Gerwazy..” I greeted them as I sat on the chair between them at their table. “Ah! Zari! Good to s… I mean, well met! How did you find us?”

… I was walking after the smell of vodka. Not many here drink it in the morning.

“I heard you from afar… yes, yes! You are quite loud!” I lied right away. “Well, indeed sometimes we forget to keep quiet. But, what brings you to us? Wait! Don’t answer just yet! Here, hold this!” the glass of vodka was forced in my hand and I heard as a small plate was put in front of me. I smelled meat. “There is no better thing for breakfast than a glass of vodka and bacon! Meat will give you strength and vodka will wake you up! Now, cheers!”

I usually don’t drink this early in the morning but…

I cough. Those bastards!

“Hm? What’s wrong?” “Brother, I am afraid… that you gave him spirit instead of vodka…” “I did? Oh! My bad! I gave you my glass by accident! Foolish me! Foolish me! Hang on! Here! Drink! Fear not! Apple juice! This time I can’t screw this up!”

I drank another glass greedily. Tsh, they took me by surprise. I already regret coming with that matter to those two… I will either end up drunk or… oh, no. Wait. There is no other option. With those two I will definitely get myself drunk.

“So… now. How may we help you? If you want to drink, just say no more and order your poison. Your drinks are on us…” “No. no… Thank you… I… I don’t really feel comfortable asking that you two… or actually ask about it at all… but may you tell me something about Gisele?”

They became silent for a moment.

“May we know, why you won’t ask her your herself?”

I smiled weakly

“Intuition. Sometimes the past may be painful… I know something about it… and asking her directly may cause bad memories to return. But, if you would tell me now, that there is nothing bad and I can ask her freely… I will find her right away…”

And another lie. I don’t want her to know that I am prying into her personal life.

“… Kid, for your age you are more than tactful. You were right. Her early years weren’t an idyll. You know, she is a half blood. No one, as society, really likes half bloods. So was in her case. Her mother was but a village woman, but a very pretty village woman. Yet, as a mere human, she also was pretty greedy. She knew that she was beautiful so she was refusing many of marriage proposals, as she thought that one day some lower of middle class noble, or some merchant, would take a liking to her. Yes, she wanted to raise her status. But. There is always a but. No merchant appeared, no noble appeared… yet the region that she lived in was the lair of a High Crimson Dragon. And in the very end, the dragon took a liking to that woman. And as you know, dragons… do not negotiate if they want something. He simply kidnapped her from the middle of the village, brought her to his mountain… And… Oh, you are a big man, Zari. You know why men usually kidnap women. There was no poetry in it. No romance. Just pure desire of flash. She spent in the mountain months, months of brutal rape. If there can be said something about dragons… is that they are… fierce lovers… not in z good meaning. The woman lost her mind. And then dragon got bored and kicked her out of his lair…”

Gerwazy paused to have a drink. In that time his brother picked up the story.

“The woman returned to the village, but she was but a shadow of her old self. As her mind got twisted, she became delusional. She convinced herself, that she was a princess… you know, because dragons in fairy tales kidnap princesses, and she actually began loving the beast. After a few more month, she gave a birth. Oh, and she was a loving mother. Gisele grew fast. Much faster than a human, a traits of half bloods, by the age of four she had the body of a 15 years old human. Both she and her mother became a taboo of that village, someone that was hated. Her mother was even made into the story, what happens to humans when they are to greedy… And little Gisele, with dragon blood, reacted very… violently, on every mention of this. She began picking fights with other kids… and… having scaled hands and small claws help in those brawls greatly. Gis loved her mother, but kept cursing her father. She promised, that one day she would kill him. Bah, she even visited the mountain multiple time. The dragon recognized her as the daughter of the woman he raped… but not as the daughter of his own. He allowed her to attack him multiple times… he toyed with her, he forced her into self improvement, just to pulverize her over and over again. He was feasting on her humiliation…” “Months passed…” Gerwazy started talking yet again “… the dragon was recognized as a threat, and price for his head was send to the adventurers guilds. But… the bounty was given by the village, so they couldn’t pay much. Small price for such an opponent like the Crimson Dragon? No one wanted to do the quest… But one person… Do you know who, Zari?|

I had my conjectures.

I raised my head and answered.

“Dragon Slayer Jericho.” “Indeed. Ol’ Jericho got his title after slaughtering Gisele’s father. As the new spread… Poor Gis’s mother died. From sorrow after the creature that hurt her so badly, that she began loving it. And Gisele was left alone. The village didn’t want her, half blood… and even more, half blood of a beast that spreads chaos and disasters…you know… so, Ol’ Jericho asked her… if she want to see a world. The huge world, not just the small village and mountain on the horizon… to see seas and mountains covered in snow. To dive into caves and conquer forgotten ruins. And to make a new family of her own. Built from friends and companions, with bonds stronger than blood. Poor girl agreed right away… and under the guidance of Dragon Slayer she grow stronger and more beautiful than ever. We all treated her as family… but now as I recall… you are the first one to ever name her as a sister… Zari… this conversation never took place. You know nothing about her past, and you most certainly don’t know about it from us. She acts overconfident and cheerful, but sometimes, when she thinks no one sees her… she cries in the corner of the tent. From sorrow. From joy. Can you… pretend to be family for her for a little longer?” “Little longer?” I asked “There is no such need. To pretend I mean. I will not betray her, because I know how much it hurts, to be left by those who you trusted.”

I may be evil. I may be an asshole that manipulates people. I may keep lying with every breath. But I will not hurt this poor soul that is as damaged as I am.

I had my breakfast with them, refusing each next glass that they tried to force in my hands. But I had an excuse they couldn’t ignore. I will train with Gis later on.

I finished eating, raised up, and proudly move away… well, I moved proudly for four or five steps, until in bumped into another table.

Okay. Monsters with high regeneration. As an RPG player, what do I know about regeneration-monsters?

Greenskins. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Ogres, Orcs, Trolls… Fuck. Trolls… any D&D fans here? Ya know. They are bullshit… But also monsters like werewolves, Wendigo… where the fuck would I find a Wendigo? Something I missed? Sure I did, just can’t recall now.

So now, let’s count down. Goblins – I am friend with bunch of them, so no. Orcs? I don’t want to eat Mrogul anytime soon, Trolls? Haha… no until I do some researche. Fucking assholes… Duh! Pardon me… Werewolves? Well, I read about them in bestiary… I would have to keep looking for “Completely Turned” – the one that have completely lost their humanity and are forever trapped in the body of the beast… if I recall correctly, they are not that hard to kill… I mean, if you are prepared, that is. Potion made from dandelion, nettle and henbane- makes you completely smell less – wolfie wouldn’t even know you are coming. Blade soaked in wolfs bane, digitalis and opium… Moonstone for luring then… and two squads of pike men to stab it to death. Easy peasy lemon squeeze. Should I look for a quest to kill werewolves? I asked Jeremy about those…

“…Bw…BWAHAHAHAHA!” Or so he said “… wait. You are serious?... Nope. No. Period. They are bastards. Really. Grow your eyes back or master Blind arts. I don’t care…” “…. But I need to get my eyes back…” “Then no. No. “But…” “No!” “Please!” “Ok.” “Really?” “NO! Maybe if you would be able to evade this…”

Evade wha… OUCH!

“See? Damned are even faster. You couldn’t evade that, so you won’t be able to evade them too!” “You took me by surprise!” “Oh? So you think that werewolves would first send you a letter for a week before their attack, and for the very moment before they would send before them a chamberlain with a trumpet, that would say [Listen, Listen, villagers and adventurers! Tonight! Hour after midnight, we shall feast on your bodies, we humbly ask you to either run away, or keep up a fight]… ARE YOU NUTS!? Even in your optimal condition I wouldn’t send you to hunt them! So… NO!”

He shut the door before my nose. So… that’s about it. Yet… that was harsh of him!

I deserved that. I really did. Mea culpa… Mea culpa…

By the way… where is Marika? Now as I recall, I haven’t seen her for the past two days. Not that I need her or anything,(ED: Tsundere?) but she is the type that rather likes me so she should be somewhere around and…

The door was slammed opened.

“ZARI! FRET NOT! I AM BACK!”

Well… I was on the 2nd floor of the guild by the guild master’s office. She was on the ground floor near the reception. We were standing two floors apart, at completely different part of the buildings. Yet I heard her.

Yup, she yelled THAT loud.

And them something began storming through the stairs, yelling from time to time “WhereIzHe?” or “OutOfMyWay!” followed by crackles. After half of a minute (Record time, in my opinion) Marika appeared on the same floor as me.

“Zari!” it was voice full of relief. But then it followed with… “…WhyAren’tYouStayingInYourBed? YouHaveToRest! ILeftTheGuildForDayToFindHerbs! PainEasing, RegenerationStimuatling, Relaxing, OneThatWillHelpYouSleepWell…” It’s almost terrifying… the way she talks without taking a break for breath… “Marika…” “EverythingWIllGetBetter! IKnowIt! JustGiveItSomeTimeAndSoonYouWill…” “MARIKA!” “Yes?” “I am fine. Really. But still appreciate what you did to me and…” “I didn’t do anything yet! Go to bed! I will make some infusions! I may not be alchemist, but herbal tea is something even I can do!”

… I already regret even bothering were she could be.

“It’s not necessary, I will take the herbs, and try to make something on my ow…” “Zari… poor, poor, Zari… You think, that your opinion is even taken into consideration… bed. Now.” “But…” “Now. Or I will bind you and drag you there!” “Don’t even joke about that…” “Or merciful mother, that sleep in the roots,

Answer the cry and fight against deuce,

As the pact was made in the time long ago,

Lay on my head made from the branches crow…”

She ain’t joking..

“F..fine!”

She smiled cheerful! I can tell!

“It’s wonderful to know, that you simply found out what is best for you!”

…yes, as threat of being treated with nature magic had nothing to do with that…

I was grabbed by an arm and lead back to my room

“Easy… now bit to the left… aha, very well…”

… I remembered the time from my other life. When I awoke from my coma after being poisoned with afterdamp. I was to weak to even walked through the hospital corridor on my own, without supporting myself on the wall.

The nurses also treated me like she does now. As defenseless, helpless, weak… each time I would take a step they cheered. They treated me just like child… For doing something more than normal. It was bringing me over the edge of anger. Into an oblivion of hatred.

“Mari… I can go by myself.” “Don’t be silly…” “Marika. Please. Stop dragging me.” “But…” “Let. Me. Go. I can walk by myself. I can eat by myself. I can think by myself. Even if things would get dirty I could even fight by myself. I know that you are trying to help, it is more than appreciated… but don’t treat me like someone that can’t take care of himself… please.”

She let go. Unwillingly.

I don’t need sorrow. Nor pity. Especially, pity.

We walked in awkward silence for a few more steps. I remembered the way to my room perfectly.

“Yo!” I heard cheerful voice another time. “Hm? Gisele? What are you doing in front of Zari room?” Marika asked politely with true curiosity. “I just wanted to pass joyful information to Zari! Tomorrow morning, you and I. Quest. I will visit you earlier and help you pack. We will dive into a dungeon, bit harder than your previous one.” “ARE YOU NUTS?!” Marika raised her objections. “He can’t fight! Just look at him! What do you even thing that you are doing?!” “Hm? But he asked me about training his other senses. And I though, that in true battle he would learn faster… fear not, we won’t dive too deep…” “It’s dangerous!” “…That’s the point!” “What if he would get into the danger?!” “I will be there.” “But he may get hurt!” “Mari… he is an adventurer. We get hurt. That’s what we are paid for. What do you prefer: for him to spend the rest of his life in bed, or to train his other senses against a few shadowlings?” “S…Shadowlings!? No! NO! No! I refuse! No!”

I couldn’t take any more of it.

“This is also why you are not coming with us, Mari.” “But!” “Listen. I am really grateful for all your efforts. I really am. But I am not going to just lay in bed for the next few months and wait for a solution. Inaction is killing me. I have no eyes. That’s a fact. But, you see a problem, and I see an opportunity. I already know that my blindness is only temporary, but as a human being blinded causes other senses to get stronger. I will not waste such an opportunity.” I turned my head in the direction of Gis “…thank you. I will be ready.” “No prob at all! Ya can say that we are helping each other! Oh, and in two hours, we see each other in the training room… oops… pardon me. That was not intentional!”

I only waved my hand. No offence was taken.

“Ok, so see ya!” The dragoness turned around and walked away.

I needed to do something now, or a little fairy will catch crippling depression.

“…Mari, about that herbal infusion… I really could use it right now. I will go for that quest tomorrow, that won’t change… but I could really use something that would help me sleep better…’ “o…okay. Leave it to me.”

Crisis averted. For now.