Chapter 41

  Audrey

  After falling asleep using my girlfriend as a body pillow, I found myself in the comfortable space of Aurora’s divine plane for the first time in a while.

  “It’s good to see you, my guardian.” My goddess’s soothing voice spoke from behind me, and I turned to face her with a smile.

  “Even though we talk every day, I can’t help but miss you,” I said as Aurora wrapped me in a melting hug. “Today especially… I really needed to see you.” My grip tightened on the back of her robe as I remembered the trauma that had resurfaced at the market. I didn’t want to worry Lydia more than I had, so I pretended I was alright while at the guild.

  “I know… That’s why you’re here.” My goddess said gently, and I buried my face into her chest as I released a shuddering breath.

  “Is there something wrong with me? That moment… It all felt so real, like I really was back on the frontlines.” My fears slipped from my lips before I could stop them.

  “Of course there’s not, Audrey.” The hug broke slightly, and she looked down at me with those beautiful, golden eyes. Her hand softly caressed my cheek as she spoke. “There are things in this world that leave wounds that can’t be seen. Like you’re time at the mansion, your time fighting has impacted your mind.”

  “But this wasn’t like the phantom pains. Or the desperation.” I said quietly. While I hadn’t fully moved on from my childhood, my artifact proved I’d come to terms with myself and what happened. “In that moment, being with Lydia felt like a dream. For those awful few minutes, I truly thought the blood and screams were reality again… and to make it worse, I hurt Lydia.”

  “Your princess said it herself. She’s fine, and you shouldn’t focus on that.” The love and worry in her tone were overwhelming. “The things you saw and had to do… It hurts to say you’ll always carry it. But just like the abuse you suffered, you just need to rely on those around you to help lighten the weight on your heart.” She pressed her forehead against mine with a calming smile. “It will be slow, but you will heal. Even if you can’t forget entirely.”

  “How can you say that with such certainty?” I voiced the doubt, but my goddess always knew the perfect thing to say.

  “Because you’re Audrey Rose, My Divine Guardian of Night. And you are strong!”

  The confidence in her tone slowly filled me until I had to admit defeat. I’ll never let myself become that scared little girl ever again. Still, I let her comfort me for a few more minutes just to be safe.

  When the heavy feelings finally went away, I looked up at her with an expectant look. “So, when are you going to teach me to use my artifact?”

  Aurora laughed at my sudden change of subject and created a little table for us to sit down and chat. “Well, I thought it would be best to do it while the two of you are out completing quests.”

  “That makes sense…” I trailed off, thinking about what she could teach me, and realized something. “Have I even been using ‘night magic’? I know it includes shadow magic, but it doesn’t feel like I’ve done anything unique, right?”

  My goddess gave me a sheepish smile, and some plates laden with sweets appeared on the table like a bribe. “Truthfully, the only night magic you’ve used is the pocket dimension and the shadow travel… Though those are more of a combination of night and shadow magic.” My eyes widened at that.

  “Huh? But I thought those were things any shadow magic users could do? Wasn’t the assassin who attacked Lydia using the shadows to hide?” I took a bite of a cookie that someone had placed in my hand. I definitely hadn’t fallen for her bribe.

  “Yes, in a sense. That man couldn’t enter the shadows fully like you do, however. He could bridge two points and create illusions, but even that had a limited distance.”

  “But I pulled him out of the shadows, didn’t I?” I asked with a tilt of my head.

  “No. You pulled him through the shadows. He had been hiding nearby in the trees.”

  “Okay,” I said, taking a moment to swallow the sweet treat. “If that’s the case, then what can night magic actually do? Why didn’t you teach me?” I pouted slightly at the implication.

  “Don’t misunderstand, my guardian.” She replied with a placating smile. “It’s not that I didn’t trust your abilities. I didn't feel it was necessary because you’ve been getting along with just your basic water and shadow magics. A large part of night magic is that it makes your natural affinities even stronger, and seeing how powerful you already were… I deemed it safer for the world in that moment.”

  “What a rude thing to say to your guardian…” I mumbled, biting into another sweet.

  Aurora laughed sweetly. “But it’s not untrue, right? Especially because you were at risk of losing control… night magic on its own is quite destructive.”

  “Yeah, Yeah…” I reluctantly agreed.

  “But now that you have your artifact, I’m not concerned.”

  I perked up immediately at her words and ignored the amused look on my goddess’s face.

  “I get to learn new magic and have a new weapon! I’m so excited.” I gushed.

  “That doesn’t mean you should use them for every situation. In fact… I’d prefer you didn’t use them unless there’s no other choice.” She mused, taking a sip of steaming tea that appeared in front of her.

  “I’ve always used my magic responsibly, thank you very much!”

  “Of course you have.” Her dry tone made her real feelings clear, and I pouted while grabbing my third cookie. After that, we sat quietly and enjoyed being together while I ignored the motherly looks Aurora kept giving me as I worked my way through the plates of sweets. It’s a good thing these don’t have real calories.

  “Like that’s ever stopped you before.” Aurora teased after reading my thoughts.

  “Could you not do that to my face?!” I shouted in defiance and glared at her in mock anger. A moment of silence stretched, then we laughed together for a few minutes.

  Suddenly, my goddess stopped with a shocked expression. The change of attitude also killed my laughter, but before I could ask what was wrong, a sudden flash of light came from the right. I shot to my feet, ready for a fight, but what I saw left my jaw hanging.

  “L-Lydia?!” I cried out and rushed to take her hands in mine. “How are you here?”

  My girlfriend just giggled adorably. “Audrey… I know Mother taught you better than to ignore guests.” I looked toward the second person who had appeared beside her, and gaped again. A woman with long, platinum-blonde hair stood silently, her silver eyes fixated on Aurora. My goddess, for her part, had also stood up, but her face contorted through every emotion possible.

  “Oh,” I mumbled. This must be Azure… To think I’d meet her so suddenly. She definitely resembles Aurora. The goddess of day was a little shorter than her sister, but the lines of her face were a bit sharper. Once the initial shock wore off, I let Lydia pull me to the side.

  “We should give them some space…” I nodded dumbly and just let her guide me. The sisters just stared at each other, with Azure starting to fidget restlessly while guilt and fear danced across her face. My goddess’s expression had settled somewhere between relief and anger.

  Finally, Aurora moved slowly toward her sister, taking slow steps as if she were unsure that Azure was real. As she got closer, panic overcame Azure, and she started to ramble.

  “S-Sis… I-I’m so sorry! I know you have every right to be angry! I-I realize now I was wrong, and I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness—Ah!” Her desperate plea was cut off as Aurora closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug with tears running down her face.

  “Idiot,” Aurora whispered, her voice tight. “I’m so glad you’re alright!”

  “Sis…” Azure looked overcome with disbelief before it gave way to overwhelming relief. “I’m so sorry!” She cried. Then both sisters started to sob with happiness while holding each other.

  They stayed like that for a while, and Lydia and I found ourselves at the table while we waited.

  “I didn’t know you could be here!” I said excitedly while finishing off the sweets.

  “It hadn’t crossed my mind either until Azure asked me to come.” She explained.

  “We should do this every night, then!” I suggested happily. “I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend the time than with the two people I love most! Plus, Azure is here now!”

  Lydia met my excitement with a loving smile. “Let’s run that idea by our goddesses first… Even the mind needs to rest.”

  Before I could respond, the table expanded suddenly, and two more chairs appeared next to us. “She’s right, my guardian. Every night would be a little excessive,” Aurora said. It seemed the two goddesses had finished their hug and held hands as they sat with us. Their eyes were red from the tears, but they both seemed happy.

  “They get plenty of rest while being here, so it’s fine!” Lydia’s goddess voiced her agreement with my idea, which was met with disapproving looks from Lydia and Aurora.

  “I’m glad you two worked everything out,” Lydia said gently.

  “Yep! Nothing can come between two sisters!” Azure announced with a weird pose, and Aurora sighed while rubbing her temples.

  “We haven’t seen each other in seven hundred years… It’s barely been ten minutes, and you’re already acting like nothing happened.” She admonished. I’m seeing so many sides of Aurora I’d never seen before! Sensing my thoughts, my goddess glanced at me with a frown. “Now there are two of you…”

  This made the rest of us laugh. “You haven’t changed at all, Sis!” Azure said.

  “Well, I’ve been worrying about someone this whole time.” Aurora retorted, which caused Azure’s face to flicker with genuine remorse.

  “R-Right, I really am sorry…” My goddess breathed another sigh, but this time with an exasperated smile.

  “I already told you it’s fine. As long as you keep your promises from now on.”

  “I will!” The resolution to their relationship felt rushed, but I suppose deities have their own ways of doing things.

  Finding an opening in the conversation, Lydia turned to my goddess with a smile. “Goddess of night—”

  “Just Aurora is fine, dear.” This brought a shy smile to my girlfriend’s face.

  “Aurora, it’s nice to meet you finally.” Lydia stood up, then bowed her head deeply, which shocked the rest of us. “Thank you so much!”

  “Please, Lydia dear. You don’t need to—”

  “No! I do!” Lydia shouted, silencing our objections. “You are the reason Audrey and I met… I love her with everything I have, and you are the reason she’s still alive!” Tears pricked at her eyes as she spoke. “Even expressing my gratitude a thousand times wouldn’t be enough for the happiness you’ve given me.”

  I quickly moved around the table to her side and met my goddess’s eyes. Then, I joined Lydia.

  “She’s right, my goddess,” I said seriously while also bowing my head. “You’ve given us so much!”

  “Thank you for saving Audrey!”

  Thank you for saving me!” my girlfriend and I shouted with all our hearts. Our voices echoed through the endless space around us and were met with silence. We kept our heads down until two sets of arms wrapped around us.

  “The two of you have also saved us, so there’s no need to feel indebted,” Aurora said.

  “My Guardian is so serious! You’ve also done a lot for us, so raise your heads and smile!” Azure said from the other side as the two deities held us tight. Lydia and I grinned widely at their words.

  “Right!” we said together. The warmth was inescapable as the four of us embraced. Now that all four of us were together, I felt complete, and looking at the other three, I could tell they all felt it as well. Aurora had told me before that night and day were always bound together… Now I knew exactly what she meant.

  ***

  Lydia

  “Are you reading properly, Audrey?” I asked with a raised brow. The two of us were sitting in the guild’s archive studying the local flora and fauna so we could take on some gathering quests.

  “Of course I am!” My girlfriend defended, but I wasn’t convinced. Audrey was practically vibrating with excitement about our first job as adventurers, and I didn’t miss the silver in her eyes on occasion.

  “Then why are you talking to Aurora every time I look up?” I accused her. I had an index of herbs and edible plants in hand, while she was flipping through a book on the local wildlife, including magic beasts.

  “She’s helping me study…?”

  “You’re not even sure?!”

  Audrey slumped on the table dramatically and sighed. “Can’t we just go out? We’ve been sitting in here reading for hours…”

  “We need to be prepared so we can handle unexpected situations,” I explained patiently. I couldn’t blame her for being restless; I knew she preferred being active to classroom work. She was even more energetic because of the last-minute celebration with our goddesses last night. We had stayed in Aurora’s divine plane for a long time to get to know each other properly.

  “You know there’s nothing in this forest that could take us on…” Audrey mumbled arrogantly.

  “We don’t know that for sure. What if we run into a frost wolf?”

  “I’ll blast it with water.”

  “Okay… what if we run into a whole pack?”

  “...” She looked up at me with dead serious sapphire eyes. “More water.”

  “Goddess… You are helpless! At least use your shadows too!” I said, my eye twitching in exasperation. “What if they freeze your water?” As their name implied, Frost Wolves used ice magic to hunt their prey. The ability to use magic is what separates magic beasts from normal animals. However, due to their overwhelming advantages, the population was starting to skew in favor of magic beasts. Maybe someday, people will forget that non-magical animals even existed.

  “I’d like to see them try!” She declared confidently, sitting up and putting a proud hand on her chest. “I’ll have you know that when I showed Auntie my magic, even she admitted she’d lose to me!”

  My eyes widened at that, especially after my demonic training sessions. “When did that happen?”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Audrey shrugged. “Sometime after we left the academy… Though she refused to spar with me, even after I showed her!” That was no surprise, considering Abel was the only person in my family who would consider sparring fun.

  “I have to agree with Audy on this one! Reading all day is boring!” My goddess chimed in. The two of them were peas in a pod, especially after spending time together. Azure had finally decided on a nickname as well, and my girlfriend had been nothing but excited for it, and even made one up for the goddess in return.

  “Well, we can’t exactly take the books with us, so the two of you will just have to wait until I feel ready!” I argued back in my head, then voiced it for Audrey.

  “No Fair!”

  “No fun!”

  I rubbed at my temple from the complaints hitting me from every angle. “Aurora…” It was a bit overwhelming, so I called for backup.

  Audrey’s eyes bloomed silver again for a second, before my girlfriend pouted and the silver disappeared. Then I heard my goddess hastily defend herself.

  “S-Sis! I promise I wasn’t being distracting! A nuisance?! Don’t be so mean—” Azure forgot to close our bond, so I only heard her side of the conversation for a moment before it fell silent.

  At least one of them is responsible. I thought to myself in peace before lightly tapping the book Audrey had discarded on the top of her head. “If you finish the rest of this in time, I promise we can start on a quest today. How does that sound?”

  “Really?! Deal!” She took the bait and took the book back in a hurry, and I turned back to my own reading with an amused smile. Yet, not even ten minutes later, my girlfriend was nodding off. Every time her head fell, she would jolt awake and squint her eyes to focus on the page, before repeating the process. How adorable!

  After watching this cycle for a while, I gave in. I sighed to cover how cute I found her. “Alright… We’re clearly not being any more productive today.”

  Audrey’s eyes locked onto mine with shining hope. “Does that mean…?!”

  “Yes. Let’s go pick out a quest. I’ll let you decide, assuming you keep it reasonable, alright?” I said, standing up and putting away the books we had piled on the table over the last few hours. There was still some time before sunset, so we could at least go explore for a while.

  “Yay! I love you so much, Lydia!” She said excitedly. “Let’s clean up fast!” Shadows stretched all around us, grabbing the books and placing them on the shelves. I watched as my girlfriend perfectly put every book in its place while hardly paying attention.

  “You should apply that brain of yours more seriously…” I muttered quietly so she wouldn’t hear. Once all the books were shelved, she took my hand and led me toward the main lobby's stairs.

  “What kind of quest do you wanna do?” She asked.

  “Anything is fine. I can’t imagine there’s anything too difficult at our rank.”

  “If that’s the case, I want to do a hunting quest! I want to practice with my artifact.” We hit the bottom of the stairs, then moved directly to the quest boards. Walking between, we soon found the sections marked for ‘F’ and ‘E’ Ranks.

  “Hmm… Lots of herb gathering quests.” It was already the end of the workday for most adventurers, so it made sense that any interesting ones would already be gone. There weren’t many people looking at the quest boards either right now.

  “Oh, what about this one?” Audrey said, pointing to a quest from the ‘E’ rank board. “Hunting flashbirds. The reward is eight silvers, and we get to keep the materials!”

  I looked it over before nodding my head. There was an entry about them in the book I gave Audrey earlier. “Flashbirds use wind magic to enhance their flight, allowing them to move much faster and more precisely than normal. They might be a bit hard to catch…”

  “C’mon! We can totally handle some birds!” She said with a laugh, then carefully removed the paper from the board before marching over to the counter as I followed.

  “Lynn! Can we take this one, please?” She asked excitedly. The receptionist took turns manning the registration desk, and Lynn was now behind one of the standard counters.

  “I’d be happy to process the request. Can I please see both of your Guild IDs?” Lynn said with a business smile. I removed the card from my pocket and handed it over, and Audrey did the same. The receptionist took the paper and cards and walked out of sight for a few minutes before returning.

  “Here are your IDs and the quest form. These birds have been destroying the fields of a nearby farming village and harassing the residents. They usually appear around noon every day, so please head out in the morning to arrive on time.”

  “Aw! In the morning?” Audrey pouted, having fired herself up to do a quest tonight. I couldn’t help but smile at her sulking, and it was enough even to make Lynn’s lips tremble a bit.

  “It would be easiest, as the flock’s nest hasn’t been located yet,” Lynn explained patiently. “Once you complete the quest, be sure to collect the completion form from the client, who, in this case, would be the village head.”

  “Of course, thank you again for the help, Lynn,” I said, taking the quest form before Audrey could grab it. We said our goodbyes, then left for the inn. I carefully observed my girlfriend as we crossed the market again. The dinner rush was still in full swing, so there were lots of people, and I wanted to be ready in case it affected her again.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked while gently holding her hand. I moved my thumb slowly across her knuckles as a calming gesture, hoping it would help keep her grounded.

  “Ah… Honestly, the crowds make me a bit sick…” Audrey said. Her complexion looked pale as we walked, but she seemed aware. “Just don’t let go of me, please.”

  I tightened my grip at her vulnerable words and gave her my best smile. “Nothing could ever make me.”

  By the time we made it across the large market square, my girlfriend had lost all her energy and looked absolutely haggard. It tore at my heart to see how a simple thing like walking could affect her. There has to be something else I can do to help. The only thing I wanted right now was to make Audrey smile.

  “You’re doing plenty, Dia. Staying beside her is the best medicine right now.” Sensing my feelings, Azure reassured me, though I still felt frustrated at my lack of options.

  I kept a tight hold on my girlfriend until we entered the inn, where a mouthwatering smell hung in the air. The innkeeper greeted us the same way as before, informed us dinner was just starting, and pointed us toward the large dining room. I decided that food was the best option to make my girlfriend feel better, so I led her inside and to a table in the corner.

  Luckily, there weren’t that many people yet, so we got our food quickly, along with some mugs of alcohol that I immediately claimed, and ordered a fruit juice for Audrey instead. I could handle the alcohol much better than she could. I don’t want a repeat of what happened last time… Not until I get my turn at least. Audrey pouted at first, but seemed happy with the sweet juice once she took a sip.

  The meal was a filling beef stew with a hard bread roll that softened up when we mopped up the stew with it. We passed the time chatting, but had to leave once it got a little crowded for Audrey. We retreated to our room and settled in for the night.

  “It’s a bit early, but we should get up early to head to the farming village,” I said, yawning into Audrey’s hair as I held her to my chest in bed.

  “How far is it?” She asked, glancing up at me tiredly.

  “It says on the back of the quest form, I believe.” A small shadow opened by my hand, and I grabbed the paper to look at the directions on the back. “Looks like a two-hour walk, much closer than the village we came from.”

  “Mmmhh…” I looked down at the sleepy noise she made to find her already falling asleep.

  What a silly girl… I brushed her bangs away and smiled to myself as I watched her sleep peacefully.

  “I’ll have to be better at keeping her away from large groups of people… It takes a toll on her physically.” I said to Azure.

  “That will probably be easier said than done… What happens when you two head to a bigger city?” She asked.

  I just shrugged. “We’ll have to figure it out then, but we’ll be here for at least another month for the rank exams, so we have time.”

  “I don’t like seeing Audy in pain like that, so we’ll all help her. Sis said the same.”

  I yawned and relaxed into my girlfriend's body as sleep overcame me. “Of course. We’re family after all.”

  ***

  Lydia

  “Somehow, I knew it’d turn out like this,” I muttered, watching Audrey in the field. We had left for the village this morning and had walked the whole way, opting not to use Audrey’s shadows so we could survey the area a little. We arrived in the village with plenty of time to spare and got the details from the village head. He was a kindly old man who seemed to be the doting grandfather of his, frankly, too many grandkids.

  How many kids would you need to have to end up with that many? I suppose if it were with Audrey… Wait! We’re both girls, how would we even have kids? Get it together, Lydia!

  “Is your partner alright by herself?” Dean, the head of the village, asked with worry as we watched my girlfriend struggle from the sidelines. His question shook me from my absurd thoughts, and I just smiled.

  “She’ll be fine, she’s not actually taking any hits… I think.” Audrey had insisted on fighting alone to start so she could practice with her artifact, but that hadn’t lasted long as the flashbirds proved to be worthy of their name. Even I struggled to keep track of more than three or four at a time, and my eyesight is much better than Audrey’s, apparently. My girlfriend had quickly given up on the blade and was now trying to hit the birds with her magic to no avail.

  Luckily, flashbirds were primarily vegetarian, save for small rodents and such they scooped up occasionally, so the only casualties were the village's crops. That didn’t mean they weren’t annoying. These birds in particular seemed quite playful as they dived at Audrey, pulling on her red hair while cawing in amusement. At least… That’s what it looks like. Then, they’d speed away with wind magic before my poor girlfriend could defend herself.

  “Knock it off, you dumb birds!” Audrey shouted, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Her hair was quite the state, and water sprayed everywhere as she shot off water blades and arrows that missed their targets. Her shadows fared a little better, having struck one or two nuisances out of the air, but the rest of the flock learned quickly to avoid the seemingly harmless shadows.

  “Honestly, I find this show quite amusing. I wonder how long she’ll keep at it.” I hummed in thought to my goddess.

  “This is the same girl you claimed to love with your whole being? The two of you have quite a relationship.” Azure observed, and I smirked mischievously.

  “She’s not in any real danger. Plus, I owe her some teasing for the other day.”

  “My guardian is a weird one.”

  “A perfect fit for a weird goddess.” I shot back.

  “Ya go me there, I guess! On the other hand… You should probably step in before your lover floods the whole village, yeah?” She laughed.

  I quickly refocused on Audrey and panicked. She had finally had enough, and her hands were raised as she huffed angrily. “Fine! If I can’t hit you individually, I’ll just take you all out in one go!”The poor performance had made me forget that my girlfriend was, in fact, one of the most powerful people on the continent. A massive swell of water began appearing over her head, and I paid no attention to the shocked Dean as I rushed forward to stop her.

  “Audrey! Stop that!” I shouted. The flashbirds had created some distance with the sudden threat, though they seemed to circle nearby as if waiting for an opportunity.

  Audrey turned to face me with an angry pout. “They deserve this! Look what they did to my hair!”

  “Do the villagers deserve to have their fields flooded?!” I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder. “Just put it away. I’ll get revenge for you.”

  Begrudgingly, she did as I said. “Fine. You better make them pay.” Audrey moved to stand beside the still gaping village head and sneakily pulled a brush from her pocket dimension to begin fixing her hair.

  I turned back at a noise, and just barely dodged a flashbird. “I’m your new target, huh? You’ll regret trying to touch my mother’s golden hair!” Unlike Audrey, my magic could be adapted for area control without much collateral damage. I gathered my mana around me, heating the air until it was scalding hot. Audrey noticed what I was doing, and erected a wall of water in front of her and Dean without pausing the brush.

  “Try pushing some of your stella into the mana. It will increase your attack power even more!” Azure suggested. I had been practicing moving the stella in my body under Audrey’s guidance, but this would be my first time utilizing it for a spell. I grunted a little with exertion as it proved more difficult to handle once applied to my mana, but I managed not to lose control as the air began to flicker visibly around me. It was the same effect I used to see off the cobblestones on particularly hot days back home, just to the extreme.

  With a final push, I expanded the searing air outward, and the birds began falling from the sky immediately. It was a bit gruesome to look at, but my magic was so hot it liquefied their insides as soon as it made contact. Only a handful of flashbirds managed to escape, and they flew off in fear as most of their flock fell.

  I dissipated the magic and rejoined the other two. “That should take care of it… Most animals don’t like returning to places their kin have died.” I said to the stupefied grandpa.

  “R-Right… You’ve completed the quest. We can return to my house, and I’ll complete the forms.” We followed him back, playing with some children along the way. A while later, we were leaving the village with the first quest we’d completed from start to finish.

  “I'm surprised you didn’t try your bow,” Audrey said as we walked through the village gate.

  “Unlike you, I wasn’t keen on making a fool of myself.” I teased. “There will be more appropriate times to practice.”

  “Well, excuse me for trying something new!” She scoffed, and I held back a laugh as I remember how all her skill went out the window once she got flustered.

  “Even your magic… You shouldn’t have had issues even with their speed had you taken a moment to compose yourself.” I said, hiding a smile.

  “I know… Aurora already lectured me.” She grumbled and kicked a rock down the path. We walked in silence before she spoke up again. “Hey, do you really want to walk all the way back?” Audrey asked. I hummed in thought.

  “We walked here, so I think taking the shadows is fine this time.”

  With my approval, she sank us into the darkness once we were out of sight of the village. The two-hour walk back to Oylutz turned into fifteen minutes as we flew through the shadows. We appeared in the forest just out of sight of the main gate, and we joined the line meant for adventurers. All it took was a flash of our guild IDs, and we were free to re-enter the town—or we should have been, at least!

  “Well, well. If it isn’t the pretty ladies. All registered as adventurers, are we? Guess you weren’t lyin’.” The greedy captain stopped us for some reason.

  “That’s right, sir. We just got back from a quest, so may we pass?” I asked with a frown.

  “Of course! I just had a question for ya. You see, the ‘toll’ you paid before has gone missing. I don’t suppose you’d know anything about it?” His smile lacked any warmth as he narrowed his eyes.

  “I’m afraid not. Once it leaves our possession, it’s no longer our responsibility, no?” I said, folding my arms and glaring at him. “Don’t blame us for your irresponsibility.”

  My biting remark didn’t faze him at all as he hummed in thought. His gaze again fell on Audrey’s artifact, now wrapped around her wrist beside Sasha’s gift.

  “Well, I’ll let it go if you hand over that bracelet to cover the toll again.” This man is unbelievable! Audrey nodded her head. I assumed she would pull the same trick again, but that would only cause more issues later, so I held my hand up to stop her. Things are different this time; being adventurers means we have the guild's support.

  “We are registered adventurers now, sir. We are exempt from the toll.” A few select cities across the continent still charged adventurers, but Oylutz wasn’t one of them.

  “Ah, but this is for the original toll, since we no longer have it.” He said smugly.

  “Alright then.” I began, and he looked excited momentarily before I crushed his hope. “We’ll ask the guild to mediate, and if they determine we need to pay again, we will.”

  He gritted his teeth at my threat. The guild organization spanned the entire continent, with tens of thousands of members. In some places, the guild’s authority holds more weight than even the local governments, as most cities rely on adventurers for the economy, not to mention the countless problems with magic beasts and other tasks adventurers handle.

  The guild takes its reputation quite seriously, so even a minor slight against its members can escalate into a significant issue. They even have magical tools that make lying difficult, or so I’ve heard. Getting the guild involved was definitely something this sorry excuse for a man wanted to avoid.

  “There’s no need for all that. Just pay up and we can all get on with our day.” He tried to sound intimidating, but he had lost some confidence.

  “We’ll do no such thing without a proper mediation,” I said defiantly, glaring at him. Audrey kept silent but gazed at me with stars in her eyes for some reason.

  The other adventurers in line were starting to shoot us glances as the other guards let them by, and the scummy captain finally backed down. “Fine. Be on your way.” He huffed before retreating into the guard post.

  I didn’t even grace him with a response as Audrey and I walked through the gate. “That was amazing, Lydia!” My girlfriend gushed. I let her praise wash away the anger at the man’s audacity.

  “What else do you expect of me?” I asked with my chest puffed with pride.

  “Well, third try’s the charm, right?” She laughed as I immediately deflated, remembering my previous losses. “Let’s just go claim this reward,” I grumbled, leading her towards the guild while ignoring her teasing remarks all the way.

  ***

  A Bar in Oylutz

  “Give me the usual, " the guard captain ordered as he sat at the bar. This hole-in-the-wall was his go-to, especially after rough days supervising. He thought back to that pair of girls as the bartender dropped his drink in front of him. Most would probably say they were quite beautiful, but he wasn’t really interested. Gold was his only mistress, and those girls had seemed like prime targets to make a little extra coin.

  That pendant he had taken was clearly worth the toll multiple times over, yet the redhead had given it up without a fight. Then it disappears from the guardhouse soon after? It could have been one of the boys, but they are all too scared of me to try anything so reckless… He took a long swig of his drink, the amber liquid spilling over the rim as he angrily slammed the mug down again. Those girls must’ve pulled some trick…

  He thought he’d be able to coerce them again, but the blonde had threatened to bring the guild into it, and not even he was dumb enough to think that would go his way. Yet, just like the pendant, that silver bracelet on the redhead's wrist had stirred his insatiable greed. He had to get his hands on it.

  “Who do those girls think they are, huh?!”

  “How dare they embarrass us like that!”

  “They think they can just throw the boss around like that?!”

  As the captain mulled over his options, A group of drunken adventurers complained loudly nearby, catching his attention. Curious, he listened in for a few minutes, and a wicked grin bloomed on his lips.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen.” The captain said, sitting smoothly at their table. “Are you talking about a pretty blonde and redhead who just came to town?”

  “That’s right! Do you know 'em or something?! " one of the men yelled, his face flushed from the alcohol.

  “A little. I’d also like to… have a word with ‘em.” The captain leaned in to whisper. “What say you boys to a little revenge?”

  As the group of men colluded, the captain imagined himself earning quite a profit from those girls. Even the armor and weapons they had could go for a high price. I’ll take those two for everything they have!