Anya led me to a very neat-looking building with a potion etched into its front sign. The inside of its windows are lined with vines, adding a sort of wild look to it. I wonder if the vines are actually growing inside the building, or if it’s just some sort of decoration.

The door is made of some sort of laminate wood, so it shines very faintly. It seems like this shop is very well taken care of.

Anya pushes through the front door and the faint sound of a bell rings. It’s just soft enough that it’s audible, but doesn’t necessarily feel loud. It’s a nice sound, and it puts me at ease.

At the front desk, made of the same laminate wood as the front door, a very busy woman with swirled glasses occupies a chair. Her hair is jet black and greasy, like she’s solely been focusing on work and staying inside for the past few days. She’s rapidly searching through recipes, presumably looking for the one that she’s currently intent on using for brewing. I don’t see any brewing equipment, but after experiencing Lillia’s hidden kitchen, I’m sure that she has the tools hidden around here somewhere.

Anya calls her attention to us with a “Hey!”.

The woman looks up from her papers and adjusts her glasses. It doesn’t feel like she’s actually seeing us. Perhaps she doesn’t have the best eyesight. Regardless, she answers Anya.

“Ah, good, my minion is here”, she says, looking relieved.

Anya, however, is not particularly happy at her title, even though she is clearly unsurprised by it.

“Yes, yes, I am your minion. I’ll take responsibility for that name, so please address Sun by his actual given. He’s my new party member, so please be nice to him.”

Skyler looks genuinely surprised.

“You actually found another party member? I thought you were totally going to go off on your own this time. Good thing you found one, otherwise this time you might’ve died before getting me my plants.”

Despite the heavy words that just left her mouth, she seems completely unconcerned about Anya, and more focused on whether or not her materials make it to her. The human world was a cruel one after all.

Skyler squints at me, although I’m not sure if it will actually do any good. It doesn’t.

Her gaze goes right through me, and then she gives up.

She is not the least bit bothered, and instead opts to push a button under her desk instead of investigate me further. In a series of mechanical movements, the middle of her desk breaks down, opening a way through the middle. During this time, she shuffles through the several aforementioned recipes, decides on one, and then gets up from her chair.

She walks through the newly opened pathway and hands the paper to Anya.

“I need these. Get them to me by sundown. You already know the drill, so just let the newbie in on how you do things.”

Anya takes the paper and scans over its contents. Her face goes white. Voice shaking, Anya decides to voice her opinion on the task that she had been given.

“Skyler… you couldn’t have given us something in the southern forest for Sun since he’s new? Sending us to the Laughers so soon… we don’t even have enough people for a three-point”.

In response, Skyler merely shrugs.

“The last party I sent out got completely wiped by the elves, so I didn’t get any of the ingredients I needed. I’m running short, and Richie needs some juice to sell to the church, so it’s just what you’ll have to deal with today. Be careful, okay?”

Skyler returns to her desk and begins rummaging through its drawers after it morphs back to its original shape. After a moment, she finds two pairs of earplugs and tosses them to Anya.

“You’ll need these. Good luck.”

Before I know it, a bell has rung, and we’re outside the shop again.

Judging the weight of the tasks we were assigned by the outside of the building and sense of ease that I got was a very dire mistake. The expression that Anya has on her face tells me all I need to know about the task ahead of us. We must’ve gotten extremely unlucky in the danger department. Anya stares down at the earplugs in her hands. She looks like she’s about to cry, but she offers positive affirmations instead.

“The north gate. That’s where we’re going today, okay? If we get back from this one, we get paid a lot of money. Isn’t that great?”

I nod, not wanting to upset her further. If this was going to be as bad as she was reacting, then it would be best for her to be as calm as possible by the time we leave the front gates. We start to make our way to the main road.

________________

We reach the north gate, and it’s significantly different than the southern one. If the southern was an iron-wrought gate, the north was two completely solid steel gates. The wall is noticeably thicker here, probably to make sure that there was even enough room to fit two gates. I wonder what they needed two for. I would imagine that if one of those giant things didn’t keep out the monsters, then two wouldn’t work either. There are ten guards on the inside of the wall, but none on the outside. I imagine it’s for their safety.

Anya nods to one of the guards, and shows them the alchemist’s papers. He looks them over briefly and hands them back. He gestures to one of the others to raise gates. The loud sound of gears lifting heavy metal fills the air, and Anya takes this time to brief me.

“So, we’re looking for Crocus flowers. They’re purple, and grow in the snow, so they’re extremely easy to spot even if they are rare. Their attributes give an extreme increase in strength and vitality to anyone that consumes its contents, so it’s an invaluable resource to anyone engaging in physical combat. The church buys up this stuff in troves. Nobody knows what they do with it, but it doesn’t matter so long as we get paid, right?”

She doesn’t look like she believes that last sentence one single bit. I’m certainly intrigued.

What could the church of Gaia need with strength potions? I put this thought away for later speculation. Eunha snickers in the back of my head.

Anya continues her briefing.

“When we pass through this point, we’ll be rushing through the forest ahead. After the forest, there’s a snowy clearing. That’s where the flowers will be. We’ll pick ten, and then leave as fast as possible. That’s our only job.”

The gates stop making noise. Curiously, only one of them is raised. The other is firmly in place. Anya, as if expecting this, walks through the first gate, and I follow right behind her. The first gate slams shut behind us, and the second begins to open.

I turn around just as the first gate descends, and get an eyeful of its front. It’s riddled with claw marks and dents, and is very generously spattered with blood.

Oh, so that’s what the two gates were for.

Anya hands me the earplugs. Her face is serious and cold. She’s steeled herself.

“Put them in now and stick close to me. We’ve got this.”

She channels a short spell, and wind surrounds her shoes. Putting in the earplugs, I follow suit, and prepare to channel strain into my legs.

The second gate is now completely open. So far, I don’t feel any vibrations that would indicate loud sounds. Perhaps these earplugs were doing their job too well?

Anya starts sprinting into the woods, and I give chase.

As soon as I’m beneath the shade of the first tree, my body is bombarded with the force of several hard vibrations. The earplugs barely keep my eardrums from shattering, and my mind is razed by the laughter of crazed men. I feel like I'm going to vomit.

Anya, still ahead of me, looks unperturbed. Taking after her fortitude, I brace myself against the sound.

We continue forward into the cold.