"Hello! I'm looking for two people!"

"Who?"

"A woman named Kristina Rishie and her butler Sebastian."

"Are they your friends?"

"Yeah, they're my party members. Can you tell me where they are?"

"I don't know. But if you want to find them, then I can show you the way."

"Really? Thank you very much."

The old man guided me through the streets. He seemed to know the way.

Before I knew it I was in some alleyway surrounded by a bunch of men. What's going on? Are these guys bandits?

"Hey! You there! Give us money! Or else we'll kill you!"

"W-Wait! I don't have any money on me! I'm just passing through!"

"Shut up! We don't care about that! Take off your clothes!"

"Wha—?!"

They all jumped on me.

"Ow ow ow ow! Ahh! Stop! Help me!"

I was being attacked by all these guys. I didn't know what was happening, but I was panicking. I tried to run away, but it was impossible. My legs were tied together.

"Dammit! Let me go! I'm begging you!"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, little lady. I won't let you escape."

"Wh-What are you doing!? I'm not a lady! I'm a boy!"

"That doesn't matter now. You're gonna become a part of our harem. If you don't cooperate, I'll cut you up into pieces and feed you to the pigs."

"N-No, please! I'm begging you, stop! I'll do anything you want!"

The men laughed loudly. I tried to take out the gun, but they grabbed me.

"Ahh! Ow ow ow! That hurts! Please stop!" I screamed.

"Help me! Somebody, help me! Help me!"

I was crying and screaming. There were more than ten men surrounding me. Donkey tried to save me somehow, but they all hit him.

"No! Don't hurt Donkey! Donkey, run! Run as fast as you can!"

"Hyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

I heard his neighing, and he galloped off somewhere. I couldn't see him anymore.

The men pulled me along and dragged me to some building. They were all drunk and laughing. The door was locked, so they threw me inside.

I was completely helpless. There was nothing I could do. Then I realised, I still had a way. I took out my steamphone, it should have a signal now, as I was in town. I pressed some buttons in a hurry. But it didn't connect.

"Please, anyone help me! Please!"

I started screaming. Then, I heard gunshoots. All the men were shoot by a an unknown person. Then, from darkness a man showed up.

"Oh, you're still alive? Well, good job, surviving so long."

"T- thanks. Oh, can you untie me? I'm really sorry for getting you involved."

"No worries. You don't need to apologize."

"Really? Thank you."

I thanked him with tears in my eyes.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late. But it looks like I made it in time. Here, let me free you."

"Thank you so much. You saved me."

"I've never seen someone in such a desperate situation. Anyway, you can rest easy now. Here's your gun, I found it on them. It belongs to you I believe."

"Thank you again! You really saved my life!"

The man left. I listened to the sound of his footsteps until they faded away.

"Hmm... so... so cool."

I thought about what happened to me. It looked like they wanted to do who knows what to me. I was scared. I didn't want to die. It was fortunate that someone heard my cries for help.

"Ugh... My body feels heavy. I feel tired..."

I walked away, found Donkey and soon reunited with my party members.

"Hey, everyone. I'm back."

"Wah! Moon! Are you okay!?"

"What happened!? Did something happen to you!?"

"Yeah, you're not hurt, are you? We got worried when we couldn't find you."

"It's nothing serious. Let's go to the inn first."

We went to the inn. I talked to everyone while drinking some tea.

"So, did you find a way to fix the carriage?" I asked the two.

"Unfortunately, we didn't."

"Those unskilful commoners, to not even be able to fix a simple carriage. They must have been incompetent fools."

Miss Kristina started to badmouth everyone. She was always like that.

"Anyway, that's not important now. What happened to you Miss Moon? I heard you were attacked." Sebastian asked me with worried face.

"I ran into trouble. I was attacked by some bandits and then I was captured. I was held captive for some time, but luckily I was saved. I don't know who was he, but owe him my life. I will definitely repay him someday."

"That's great news. You don't need to worry anymore."

"But are you okay? Have those filthy men do something to you? I can't believe that a town like this would have such a ruffians walking around in the open." Kristina asked me.

"Yes, I think I'm fine now. I just need to take care of myself from now on. I'm sorry for causing you all so much worry. And I think it's all because of the chaotic situation of the 'Turkey Shoot', there's a lot of people after all. It might be hard to keep the safety sometimes with such crowds. I'll try my best to be more careful. Both of you have to be careful too."

After that, we went to our separate rooms. After closing the door of my room, I walked towards the bed. I was finally able to sleep in a proper bed. Even though a lot of things happened to me, I felt so refreshed now.

"Uwah! I can't believe how soft the bed is!"

I cleaned myself and changed my clothes. I wore the skirt and blouse that I bought in the store. The blouse was made from some smooth material and it was really pretty.

"Ahh~, I'm so happy..."

I took off my boots and laid down on the bed. I closed my eyes and started to count sheep. But, I couldn't sleep.

"I wonder if the weather will be good tomorrow?"

I stood up and took out the 'Health Tonic' I bought earlier. I drank it. It tasted sweet. I waited a little while, and I felt like I was feeling a bit better.

"Well, let's see..."

I opened the window.

"Ahh, the air feels so nice. This night breeze is wonderful."

I enjoyed the cool wind blowing through the room. I closed the window and lay back on the bed. I took out my plushie. I hugged it. I was a little sad, but I needed to hold it.

"It seem you went through a lot too, right Beary?"

I whispered to my plushie.

"I was so scared when I saw the bandits. But I managed to get saved. Thank goodness I managed to survive. But I'm still so weak. I want to get stronger as quickly as possible. Just like that person that saved me, he was so cool back then."

I looked at my hands. They were the hands that already killed people. Those dirty hands of mine... I earlier tried to wash them with soap, but no matter how long I washed them, the blood on them didn't want to disappear.

"Ugh, I really want to become strong. But I can't do anything about it. It's impossible for me to fight like that. I'm a coward. I'm useless. I can't even protect myself."

I hugged Beary tight.

"I'm so pathetic."

I wanted to cry. I wanted to break down crying. I thought about Mommy.

"Mommy, why did you give birth to me? Why did you raise me? I'm such a useless person."

I cried.

"Why am I like this? I can't live properly. I can't do anything. I can't even protect myself. I'm a useless person. I'm nothing. I'm just a burden to everyone."

I remembered that little boy that gave me the Beary. I wondered what was he doing now. Was he fed up with me, so was that way he left at that time? Did he go somewhere else to make a living? Ugh, I don't even remember his name. But, I really want to meet him.

I sat on the edge of the bed and thought. I clenched my fists tightly. I was going to change. I was going to become strong. I was going to be someone who could protect myself. I was going to become a person that could fight. I was going to become someone who could live normally.

"Ahhh, I'll definitely be okay! I'm gonna be okay!"

I stood up and yelled.

"I'm going to win the 'Turkey Shoot' and buy myself a splendid house!"

I felt really motivated.

"Even that man Lufas, won't be able to make fun of me anymore!"

I thought about that man. For some reason whenever we met, he seemed strangely familiar. Even though I never saw his face. Did I know him somewhere before? I couldn't tell.

"I'm going to make money so much that I can't even imagine it. I'm going to save up a ton of money and buy an expensive house. And then, I'm going to find the boy that gave me Beary and thank him. After all, after my Mommy died, it was his gift that saved me."

I decided that I would start by winning the Turkey Shoot. That was the first step. After that, I would focus on buying a house. Then I would look for that boy.

After deciding what to do I went to bed, hugged Beary, and fell asleep.

***

The next day, I woke up and got ready to head to the place where the Turkey Shoot was held.

"Oh, I'm finally going to do it!"

I was a little nervous. I'd been thinking about this nonstop since a few days already. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pull off a good performance, but I still had to try my best.

I put on my outfit and equipped the gun. I also put on my hat. It was a pretty plain one, but I figured it suited me well.

Then I headed out to the place where the Turkey Shoot was being held.

"Aah, we are here."

Sebastian and Kristina went to the place designated for the audience. They would cheer for me. I felt a bit relieved. I wasn't really confident about winning against that many people, but I was glad that they were there.

"Now then, I'm going to show them how strong I am!"

I raised my hand and waved it around to gather everyone’s attention.

"Heeey, you guys! I'm Moon! I'm a gunslinger! You know, I will win this contest so, cheer me on! I'm gonna shoot those turkeys!"

I made sure to make my voice loud enough that everyone could hear me. Then I paid 3 goldens to the guy running the booth and bought a participant right. I looked at the other contestants. They looked fairly strong. There was more than two hundred of them. At some place I spotted Lana and her mother Zofia, the two I met once on the road to Sunnyrise. I waved to them.

Lana waved back to me. I looked around some more, but didn't see anyone else I knew.

I looked at the participant who were slowly taking turn to shoot their bows or guns. Most of them were just ordinary people, but there were a few famous ones as well. One of them was a young girl who was quite famous for her bow skills. She was named Lilith, and she was a Bow master. It seems her father was a famous hunter or something, and he was said to be very skilled. I could only assume that she inherited his skills. Another one was a young man. He was a famous gunman, and he was known for his inhuman skill with a gun. His name was Gustav.

"Wait... that man. Isn't he the one that saved me yesterday?!"

I remembered.

"I see so his name was Gustav."

So I would compete with such a strong and cool man like him.

I wondered if I could even win, seeing all those strong and skilled people participating.

"I'll do my best!"

I had a lot of confidence in my shooting skills, but I was still nervous. I took out the gun. I tried to calm myself down. It was finally my turn. I focused on the target, which was the middle of the distance.

I pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the bullseye.

"Wow... I did it!"

I felt like I'd done something amazing. I'd managed to hit my target.

I smiled widely and looked around. Everyone was surprised, but they cheered for me anyway.

"That's great! Great job!"

"You're amazing, young girl!"

"Heh, I've never seen such a powerful shot before!"

I was happy that everyone was cheering for me. I wanted to keep doing well, so I kept shooting. I continued shooting until the sun started setting.

I was feeling really proud of myself. I'd finished without getting injured or anything.

I was finally time to announce the winner.

"And the winner is..."

"It's Gustav! Hooray!"

"I see, so he won after all."

Everyone was cheering again. I couldn't help but feel sad. In the end I ended up in the ninth place. I won 10 goldens. After subtracting 3 goldens from earlier, I earned only 7 goldens. Well It was still a lot of money, but I was still a bit disappointed. I was envious of Gustav, though. He had the most money out of everyone, with 150 goldens. He won the contest.

But what was I envious most about, were his skills.

I looked at the others, the second place went to Lilith, and the third to Zofia. Lana was had earned eight place. Just a bit better than me.

But I wondered where's Lana's father Bob. I didn't see him between participants. Did he resign from participating?

***