Author Note: Starting in this chapter there will be some non-graphic violence in this fic.
Sayo woke with the rising sun, feeling rested and ready to face the day. She changed back into her armor and equipped her weapons to be prepared for any challenge. As for her traveling bag, she left it in the room. Since she was going back to the castle that day for another job, she would need to stay at least one more night in the inn.
When Sayo emerged from her room she locked the door behind her and headed towards the bar. There were less people around than the night before, probably since it was still early in the morning. Sayo sat down and purchased a bowl of porridge for breakfast, also telling the innkeeper that she wanted to stay an additional night. The woman had no problem with that, accepting the same amount of payment for the second night as she did for the first.
Once she was finished eating Sayo set off for the castle. There were only a few people out at this time of morning, with most still at home or outside of town tending their land. It was a relief to have thinner crowds, since if whoever followed Sayo the day before came back it would be easier to spot them.
After only a few minutes of walking Sayo reached the castle gates. They looked the same as before, open even at this early hour. A different guard stood out front today. The girl looked to be the same age as the previous guard, with chin length black hair and wide pink eyes. She carried similar equipment to the other guards Sayo had seen so far, though her demeanor varied greatly.
As Sayo approached, the girl almost seemed to shake. "G-good morning." She stuttered in a meek voice.
"Good morning." Sayo returned the greeting politely. "I'm here to see Ran." She said without waiting for the guard to ask why she was there.
"Oh, K-kasumi said you'd be by." This kid couldn't seem to manage a sentence without stuttering. "You can enter. She's u-usually in her office." She gestured towards the entrance with one hand, shoulders hunched.
Sayo was surprised that she was being granted admittance without an escort, but wasn't about to question it. "Thank you." She said as she passed by, walking through the gate. She navigated the hallways, only stopping at each corner for a moment to make sure she was turning the right direction.
When she arrived at the office, she knocked on the door and was granted entrance.
Ran sat in the same spot as the day before and was reading from a piece of parchment. She looked up as Sayo entered and approached. "I'm glad you came back." She said flatly.
"What will you have me do today?" Sayo jumped straight to business.
Ran's lips quirked up slightly. "You'll be hunting rabbits. The kitchen is short on meat and our head chef prefers freshly killed rather than bought from the market."
"Which way should I leave town to find a good population?" Sayo asked, thinking about how this head chef sounded like another oddball living in this town.
"Leave out of the west gate, there's a decent sized forest nearby." Ran provided the information. "I'll pay you 15 coins per rabbit, so bring them back here by nightfall." That was a fair price, though not as generous as the previous day.
"I'll take care of it." Sayo said with a nod, ending the conversation. She turned and walked towards the exit, pushing open the door. When she walked out, the young woman who'd been lounging in the courtyard the day before was waiting outside. She smirked oddly at Sayo as she passed; something about her gaze felt familiar, but Sayo couldn't place it.
Sayo left her behind, heading out of the castle. She passed by the timid guard on her way, not bothering to exchange words with the girl. A quick check of her handy compass showed that which way was west. The castle gate faced north, so she turned left and started walking.
She'd entered the previous day from the north gate, so this would be a different exit. The inn she was staying at was on the way out. It only took about half an hour of walking to reach the gate. There were guards here too, though they seemed to be different than the castle guards. They didn't pay Sayo any attention as she passed.
A road extended out the other side of the gate, one surrounded by trees. Indeed, there was a forest here. Sayo moved out of eyesight of the gate before entering the woods; she didn't want to arouse suspicion.
She drew her bow and moved slowly, looking for a source of water. Where there was water, there would be animals. Every once in a while she checked her compass, making sure she was headed in a steady direction so it would be easy to return to the road.
For a while all Sayo saw were squirrels and one large deer. There were bugs too, different kinds of insects along with beetles and spiders.
Then, after almost an hour of searching, Sayo found a small group of rabbits. She didn't move her feet after spotting them, notching an arrow lining up a shot on one of them. She aimed for the heart, right in the middle of the body. She just hoped her archery skills hadn't gotten rusty.
With a twitch of her fingers she released the arrow, and it flew true. One rabbit collapsed to the ground while the others fled in terror. Sayo approached her kill, removing the arrow and wiping it off on the grass to be reused. She pulled out a length of twine from her pockets, kept for instances such as these, and tied the rabbit's hind legs onto it. She then tied it to her belt and continued the search.
Though the first kill wasn't perfect, she was satisfied with it and continued on through the forest. The confidence boost in that accurate first shot would only help make the rest easier.
Her hunt would continue for the rest of the day.
Upon her return to the castle, Sayo walked by the same guard she'd seen that morning. The girl took one look at the string of rabbits and paled, shaking even worse than before.
Where did they find these guards? Sayo asked herself as she entered the castle. Both yesterday and today, these people just seemed strange.
She didn't run into anyone on the way to Ran's office and entered with a knock. A tall woman with long red hair was inside along with Ran, standing in full plate armor. She didn't say anything as Sayo walked in and towards the desk.
"Oh good, you have the rabbits." Ran reached down to her desk drawer. "How many did you get?"
"Six." Sayo lifted the rope to show all of the kills, each rabbit tied in sequence.
"Excellent." Ran took out the coins and passed them to Sayo. "Please take them to the kitchen, Tsugumi is expecting them." That wasn't part of the original deal, but the pay was good enough so Sayo wasn't going to complain.
She asked for directions on how to get there, which Ran provided. Sayo wondered who the other woman in the room was, but prided herself on having enough tact not to ask. She bid Ran farewell and exited, off to find the kitchen.
As she walked, Sayo passed by another group of women in armor, four of them walking together. One, with light brown hair tied up, was talking animatedly to a girl with silver hair. The shortest in their group, a girl with pigtails who looked too young to be a knight, glanced at Sayo inquisitively as they passed. The rest didn't notice her or just didn't care.
Soon Sayo noticed the faint aroma of baking bread, along with cooking meat. She followed it the rest of the way to what she assumed was the kitchen. Sayo pushed the door open and entered, looking around at the setup.
There were five people bustling around the space, which was about four meters across each way. They worked at multiple work stations preparing all different kinds of food. Sayo's eyes stopped on a young woman with chin length brown hair. She held a kitchen knife in one hand and was chopping vegetables at a speed beyond Sayo's comprehension.
She must've felt Sayo's eyes on her, because she looked up and directly at her. Her brown eyes were wide and friendly, and she greeted Sayo with a smile. That smile, so bright and beaming, froze Sayo in place.
"Hello!" The woman called over, putting down the kitchen knife. "You must be Sayo. I'm Tsugumi, it's nice to meet you!" So this was the person in charge of the kitchen, the head chef. She walked over to where Sayo stood, unmoving, and reached out for a handshake.
Sayo recovered her senses enough to return the gesture. Tsugumi's hand felt warm against her own. "Likewise." She said, pulling back from the exchange and untying the rabbits from her belt. "These are for you." Tsugumi took the string from her, lifting the rabbits to examine them.
"You must be an excellent archer." She commented, causing Sayo's cheeks to warm. "To make such clean kills." Sure, she was good, but she wasn't that good. She practiced hard and frequently, but there were always better archers out there. A flash of blue hair popped into her mind, but she pushed the thought away.
"I'm about average." Was what Sayo replied with, which in retrospect might not have been the best thing to say.
"Nonsense, I'm sure you're great." Tsugumi didn't seem to think anything of it and even replied with a complement, one that caused Sayo to break eye contact. "Thanks for getting them!" Tsugumi turned back to the kitchen. "Saya, when you're done with that can you skin these?"
"Yes." Another kitchen worker replied, meeting Tsugumi half way to take the rabbits from her. The woman, who Sayo presumed was Saya, looked up at her. "Anything else we can do for you?" She asked, a light grin on her face.
Sayo snapped out of the sort of trance she'd found herself in. "No, I was just heading out." She turned away to leave and heard Tsugumi call a farewell after her.
With the task complete and the coins in her pocket, Sayo weaved her way back out of the castle.
As she walked back towards the inn, she wondered what she should do tomorrow.