Chapter narrated by Sera:
15/14/95
It took a few hours, but I was finally able to stand up again.
Lira had been the best partner ever.
She took care of me for a while and then fell asleep on her bed.
Now she was just lying there, taking a nap.
She looked so adorable.
I was feeling a bit bad about what I was going to do.
But…
"Hey!" I said.
It was still early.
Together we could totally go do something, so I refused to let her sleep away a perfectly good afternoon.
"Lira. Lira. Come on, wake up."
I shook her gently.
"Five more minutes," she said sleepily.
"You already had a few hours, sleepyhead. Besides, your great companion is one hundred percent okay and ready to take another contract."
"I already did one today, Sera. I'm tired."
She turned around and tried to go back to sleep.
"Come on, it will be fun!" I said. "Please, Lira. I've been in this room all day reading. I need to go out and do something!"
She put a pillow over her head.
"You can go alone, Sera. I want to rest a bit."
"Please! It's not as fun going alone. Besides, you can tell me all about your morning adventure while we walk. It'll be fun. Much more fun than taking a nap!"
"...Okay," she said, sitting up in bed, her hair messy and her eyes still closed. "Give me five minutes to get ready."
You did it, Sera!
You really are the best negotiator in all of Vareth if you managed to get Lira out of bed.
Thank you, Sera.
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"Hahaha." I could not believe what she was telling me. "You paid how much for an Aelberrie?"
She made a funny face, her ears lowering slightly.
"Nine silver…" she said.
She was so embarrassed about it.
This girl really was adorable. I bet in no time, once we start making a name for ourselves, people will be swarming her asking her out.
I wonder what face she would make.
Hahaha. I bet a funny one.
"It was not the worst part. The cart was the worst part," she said.
"The cart?"
"Yes, the cart."
"What cart?!"
"Oh yeah, I did not tell you that part. When I was coming back, I ended up in Cart Street and then I fell to the ground. One of the carts almost ran me over, but someone pulled me out of the street in time."
"So you almost got run over by a cart?!"
"Yes."
"Lira, you have to be more careful!" If I ever see that cart driver, I'm going to have some serious words with them. "I almost lost my partner."
"I'm okay, Sera. Nothing happened."
"Still. If we ever meet that driver…!"
She was laughing.
"It's okay, Sera."
"If you say so…"
We were currently on our way to complete a contract.
A simple one.
We just needed to deliver a package to Cart Street in the southern district.
The best part was that the pay was not bad.
Mary, as the lovely woman she is, had reserved the contract for us.
"Mary sure was kind to reserve the contract," Lira said.
"Isn't she? She's amazing. She doesn't get the respect she deserves. Only because she works as a receptionist at the guild, people tend to forget she is rank eight."
"Wait. Mary is rank eight?" Lira said, surprise obvious in her voice.
"Wait, you didn't know?"
Now that I thought about it, Mary hadn't talked much with Lira outside of contracts.
"No. I had no idea."
"Yeah, she is one of the best adventurers in Vareth!"
"Then why is she working at the guild reception?"
"Her party is taking some time off adventuring. Now that I think about it, you haven't talked much with other people at the guild, right?"
"I haven't talked with anyone…"
"Oh, we are definitely going to change that. When we come back, I will introduce you to some people."
We kept walking.
The package under my arm was heavier than it looked—wrapped in brown cloth and sealed with wax, with no indication of its contents. It was the kind of delivery that asked no questions and expected none in return.
I had done dozens of these.
Walk to the address. Hand it over. Come back.
The most boring contract type on the board—and also the most reliable.
"Lira."
"Yes?"
"Do you think we will ever get out of rank one?"
She stayed quiet for a moment.
"Why do you ask?"
"I don't know… I have just been doing this type of contract. Sometimes it feels a bit repetitive. I just feel like I haven't made any progress in the eight months I've been an adventurer. Maybe it's not for me."
"You're overthinking it," she said. "We just started working together. That counts for something."
I looked at her.
"You'll get there," she added. "We both will."
I stopped walking.
"Lira…"
"Why did you stop, Sera? Was my speech that good?"
"It was good, but that's not it."
I took her hand and pointed it to the sky.
"There's smoke."
She stopped.
"There's smoke coming from the southern district."
A thick column of dark smoke was rising from the southern district.
Lira's expression changed; she was worried.
We were still far away from it.
The two of us began to run.
I saw other people running; they were getting away from the smoke. We were the only ones running to it.
When we were close to the southern district, more columns of smoke rose into the air.
We ran faster.
Lira tensed. I noticed her fingers instinctively searching for the grip of her bow.
"It smells like… burning? No, it's something else."
She was right. The wind carried a metallic, sour scent.
The chaos of the Southern District hit us like a physical wall as we rounded the corner. It wasn't just smoke anymore; it was the screams of dying men and the rhythmic, terrifying clink-clink-clink of metal on metal.
"Lira, stay close!" I shouted.
We ran toward the sound.
A squad of the Church of Reval soldiers—men who were supposed to be the city's finest—were being cut down.
The attackers were blurs of dark fabric, cloaked figures moving with a speed that defied logic.
They were not fighting like people.
They fought like beasts, jumping in groups and covering all directions.
The soldiers were dying left and right.
"To the left!" Lira shouted, her "sight" picking up something.
"There's a massive heat signature… and a smaller one fading!"
I looked where she pointed.
My heart nearly stopped.
Balyn was half-dragging, half-carrying a limp Fin toward a narrow stone building near the corner.
They were desperate and cornered.
One of the cloaked figures noticed them.
It raised a short blade, closing the distance in three long, impossible strides.
"NO!" I screamed.
It was the only thing I could do.
That idiot was about to be cut down and the only thing I could do was screa-
Thrum.
The sound of Lira's bow was singular.
The arrow flew through the air with amazing precision, hitting the cloaked figure's knee.
The figure let out a guttural scream as it fell to the ground.
Lira did it, she saved them for the moment, but we have to move.
"Lira, can you follow me?"
She nodded as she reached for another arrow.
There were knives flying everywhere.
I pulled my sword out.
Okay Sera you can do this.
Get to them, save their lives and then make the idiot remember it every day from now on.
You can do this.
I used a bit of time magic.
Everything started moving slower.
"Let's go Lira"
I started moving.
Advancing on this battlefield was difficult.
The pair was around forty-six steps from us.
After ten, I had already dodged three knives barely and parried one of the cloaked figures.
The figure then jumped back and went to attack one of the soldiers.
Lira was following closely; she had shot down one of them.
Not a single knife had gone after her at the moment.
By thirty steps, my concentration was slipping.
My head throbbed as the magic took its toll.
We kept moving.
A cloaked figure lunged at me, but a soldier intercepted and cut it down.
We got closer.
Closer.
And when my vision began to distort, I stopped the magic.
"Balyn! In here!" I yelled, reaching them just as they hit the heavy oak door of the warehouse.
Balyn was covered in blood—Fin's blood. I slammed my shoulder against the door, helping Balyn shove it shut.
"Lira, move!" I barked.
But as I looked back through the narrowing gap of the door, I saw something that made my breath hitch.
Two more cloaked figures were standing in the middle of the street.
Unlike the others, they did not have blindfolds.
They were surrounded by dying soldiers, throwing knives with lethal accuracy at anyone who moved.
One of them turned toward Lira. I saw the glint of a knife in his hand. But he didn't throw it. He hesitated, his head tilting as he saw her entering the building. The other figure stepped forward, his hand out as if to stop his comrade.
They weren't attacking her. They were ignoring her, letting her pass.
Why?
"Sera, the door!" Balyn's roar snapped me back.
Focus, Sera.
YOU NEED TO FOCUS.
I slammed the door shut and threw the heavy iron bolt.
They should not be able to enter now.
Bang.
Something hit the wood from the outside.
"They're coming in," Balyn panted, laying Fin out on a dusty crate. "Sera, he's losing too much blood. I can't stop the bleeding!"
I heard a loud scream from outside, and then silence.
That was the last of the soldiers of Reval.
"Who are they, Balyn?" I said as I pressed my body against the door.
I could feel them pushing against it. Balyn came over and also put his body against the door.
"We don't know. We were sent to investigate strange activity, and two of them attacked us, then..." Balyn said.
"The soldiers arrived. We were ambushed. They were waiting for something like this. They appear to be assassins. Almost all of them cover their eyes," Fin said.
"You shut up. Just stay there and keep your strength. You can't die like this, idiot!" The idiot part came from deep within me.
This situation looked bad. Maybe we still had some hope of getting out of here.
Maybe we could do something with Lira's abilities and my time magic.
"If you are thinking about a way to get out, it is hopeless. The weakest of them are rank-three equivalents. The ones without blindfolds alone were enough for half of the soldiers. Maybe they are on par with rank seven." Fin's voice came out weakly.
"Shut up! What part of keep your strength do you not understand? I need you to get out of this so you can tell me you were wrong."
"Sera..." Lira's voice.
"Not now, Lira. We will get out of this. This situation is NOT hopeless."
The situation was hopeless.
We could not fight them.
Fin was at death's door. If that idiot kept talking, he would probably pass through that damn door.
Balyn was barely standing.
Lira had joined us holding the door, but the iron bolt was starting to break.
Bang.
"Sera." That guy seriously had a death wish. "I'm sorry about what I said that day."
Bang.
"Not the moment, Fin."
Bang.
"This might be the only moment."
Bang.
"I'm also sorry for that day. I shouldn't have told you those things."
Bang.
"I forgave you a long time ago."
Bang.
"I have also forgiven you, Fin. Now stop talking. We will be alright."
Bang.
The iron bolt broke.
Bang.
The door broke down.