Chapter 2
The party made their way back to the sewer entrance. Thankfully, on the way back, they met up with a group of sewer cleaners that were heading the same way. Nene and Polka listened to them talking about the normal and weird stuff the crew encountered while on duty. Rats. Cockroaches. Spiders. The occasional shady person slinking around. Running away from a sewer shambler. Weird. There were also stories of giant alligators and sludge monsters. Safe to say, the party was weirded out by the strange stories. Still, time passed quickly and they reached the entrance in no time. The door clanged loudly and this time the leader himself opened the door to let everyone in.
"Well, this is a surprise," he said as he eyed the party, "Nice of the guild to send help over. So, pest control… what do you have for me?"
As Botan pulled out the proof, the sewer crew walked past them and went upstairs.
"Ah, well, you can toss those back into the sewer," he informed them after looking at the results, "I'll be getting your pay. Help to close the door, will ya?"
As he went up the stairs, Botan threw the parts into the water and closed the door shut. The party then went up and made their way to his office, where he handed them their reward.
"Right, two hundred silver and another forty for the extra," he declared as the loin girl bounced the bag in her hand, the pieces clinking inside.
"Thank you very much, sir," Nene replied as the party left and made their way back to the guild house.
"Welcome back," greeted Miyabi as they came in, "Did it go well?"
"Yup, we did it… I wanna wash my feet," replied Polka, glancing down at the foot that was dipped in sewer water.
After directing her to the water closet, he continued, "So, the sun is still up. Are you up for another quest?"
"I suppose. Preferably not in the sewers this time," spoke up Lamy.
"Ah, right..." he mused as he shuffled through the stack of papers he had on the counter. Then, he pulled out a piece of paper and said, "Well, here is a simple one. Accompany a herbalist to collect herbs. So, we always receive these kinds of requests. Easy tasks that could be completed quickly, although the pay is less than what you get from the board there. Now, this particular herbalist frequents the forests around the city in the evening looking for herbs, with or without company. From what I know of him, he appreciates the help. Although, looking at your condition, I'd suggest resting for an hour or so before taking this on."
"Ah, I guess I could use a cat nap," muttered Botan with a yawn.
"Alright, we can sit in the side room while we wait for Polka," said Nene with a grin.
"Evenin' ladies. I suppose you're my escort for the day," greeted the herbalist. Miyabi said his name was Kelin. He was an average looking guy sporting a tan robe with a leather bag slung over his shoulder.
"Yeah. Please take care of us," replied the bard politely.
He chuckled and said, "I think I'll be in your capable hands than the other way around. In any case, let's get going. Time's a-wastin' and there are herbs in need of collecting."
That said, he led them out the east gate, where the forest is the closest. They didn't seem to go too far in and they always stopped intermittently for Kelin to check the area for identifiable herbs. So far, he had what looked to be grasses and mushrooms stored in his bag. They had a pretty relaxing time, but the lion girl seemed to be getting antsy.
"Are you alright?" asked Polka as she nudged her party mate.
"Even if I'm fine with this, running around without getting into a fight isn't what I imagined ending my day with," replied Botan as her ears involuntarily twitched.
Suddenly, there was rustling as the herbalist cut out some herbs.
"Bad. Bad. Bad," were chanted as the bushes suddenly sprung to life. Kelin hurriedly retreated behind the party, who immediately drew their weapons. The shrubs then shuffled closer to them.
"What in the world happened?" shouted Polka as she darted forward and smashed the first shrub to splinters.
"I don't know! I've never seen the forest come alive like this before!" replied the herbalist in a shout as the shrubs rushed down the monk, scratching her with their branches and twigs.
"Enough talking, she needs our help," retorted Nene as Lamy chanted and stretched out her hand while she chanted, shooting one shrub with a ray of frost.
As Botan moved in to finish it off, the bard shouted encouragement, "Hang on, Polka! We're right behind you." She started joining in to stab at the awakened shrubs.
"Hurry!" the fennec fox girl shouted back as she weathered the scratching blows to strike back at one of the shrubs.
One by one, the awakened plants fell to frost and claw, to sword and fist. However, a lucky hit struck the monk in the head and she fell on the ground, groaning in pain.
"Polka!" shouted Nene as she moved to stab another shrub. With a melodic tone, she called out a healing note, a word linked to reinvigoration, and a green aura enveloped the downed fox girl. With a roar, she rose to her feet and beat another shrub to splinters. Crisis averted, they quickly finished off the rest of the awakened shrubs.
"Thank the gods you're here," exclaimed a relieved Kelin as he approached the party that was surrounded by broken wood and torn leaves, with burst splinters scattered everywhere.
"Are you alright, Polka?" asked Lamy with concern as the cleric fussed over the monk.
"I'm fine, Lamy," she assured with a grin, "No need to mother me so much."
"Then you shouldn't have run in straight away," scolded Nene with a frown, "If we weren't here to help, you might have died."
"Hn, why did those shrubs suddenly come alive?" asked Botan with a puzzled look, "These kinds of things don't happen naturally."
"I would imagine so," a voice suddenly said.
Leaves flew and swirled at a point in front of all of them. Slowly, a green woman stepped out of the whirling vortex that dissipated as she was fully formed. She was almost naked save for leaves protecting the more important parts.
"A protector of nature," the lion girl murmured reverently. She bowed and asked, "How can we be of service?"
"All is well, nature friend," the dryad replied serenely, "As long as no tree is harmed needlessly, all is well." Glancing around, she continued, "So it seems someone has been playing with the underbrush. I am afraid it is common to find such things happening when one has recently been experimenting with using their powers. If you wish to help, then perhaps you would go to the school in the city to remind them to try not to damage the forest with reckless experimentation."
"Gladly," the fighter accepted.
Nodding, she turned to the herbalist and said, "A kind man, you are. Your care for nature is appreciated." As he blushed and muttered his thanks, she turned to the others and said, "As long as you do no lasting harm, the forest welcomes you. Goodbye." And she dissolved into a whirlwind of leaves that was carried off in the wind.
The first to recover was Nene, who said, "Okay… right, have we collected everything we needed, Kelin."
"Oh, ah, yes, we have," he replied, composing himself, "Yes, well, please. Come with me to my shop and you will be properly compensated."
The grateful herbalist rewarded them with four healing potions. They agreed to take one each and then headed back to the guild house. As usual, Miyabi was there to greet them.
"Welcome back," greeted the guild clerk, "Well, night time is coming, so no more quests until tomorrow. So, I suppose you want to make use of the rooms upstairs?"
"Yes, please," said the party in unison, who then devolved into giggles, except Botan, who smirked.
"Ah, well… please go to Robel if you wish to eat. I recommend the fried chicken. It's pretty good," stated Miyabi with a smile.
After handing the room keys to them as well as telling them which rooms they were having, they decided to check out the bar across the street. Strange enough, it had a welcoming feel to it when they walked through the doors. The place was half full at the time and still had unattended tables. A ginger-haired guy manned the bar, dressed very smartly and chatting with a few drinkers seated there. The general atmosphere was just as noisy as a normal tavern. They sat at an empty table and a waitress came to take their order. They took on Miyabi's suggestion and ordered a serving of fried chicken.
"So, what brought you here to join the guild?" asked Nene when the waitress left, "For me, I wanted to get to know the world better and find my place in it… and hopefully bring joy to the people at the same time."
"I want to run my own traveling circus," Polka stated boldly, thumbing to herself, "I grew up in one and when the ringmaster retired and the circus disbanded, my family settled down near Gekko. I want to bring joy and laughter the same way as well, only with fame and fortune included as well. Any of you want to join?"
"I could give it a try, if only once," offered the bard.
"Yay! My first member," cheered the fennec fox girl.
"Hn… I lived with a nomadic tribe in the grasslands near Gekko," said Botan calmly, "To be honest, I wanted to explore the world and see what's there before going back home and taking up my mantle as a hunter of the tribe."
"A noble purpose," praised Lamy with a serene smile, "As for my reasons, I wished to explore my independence. To see what I can accomplish, be it great or small. And hopefully, do my family proud when I return with tales of my adventures."
It was then the waitress brought their drinks. Nene then lifted her mug of ale and said, "Well, here is to our future adventures. Cheers!" The others echoed her actions and toasted, drinking a mouthful of ale. The lion girl let out a sigh of satisfaction while the half-snow elf hiccuped softly with a blush.
"Kikiriki! Here's your chicken!" said a different person very jovially. It wasn't their waitress in a commonly seen waiting dress.
Instead, it was a girl wearing two hats dressed in a vibrant orange and red dress with a short skirt. She held a plate of hot fried chicken, vegetables, and a dollop of something yellow in one hand and balanced three other places of similar servings on her other. One by one, she placed the plates in front of them. The smell was absolutely mouth-drooling and the party's reaction mirrored that.
"Go on, dig in! Tell me what you think," she encouraged them.
Their hunger aroused, they quickly dug in and soon, exclamations of joy and excitement. This brought a great big smile to the girl with two hats. "And my work here is done," she stated happily as she headed back to the kitchen. The chicken, the vegetables, and the dollop that they discovered was potato, was polished off in no time. Soon, the party was letting out sounds of satisfaction.
"Amazing," muttered Nene.
"If I knew this existed, I'd come here sooner," agreed Botan.
With Lamy offering to pay for dinner, the party headed back to the guild house. After chit-chatting a bit, they headed back to their rooms and turned in for the night.
Morning came and the party was up and ready. Water was really cold but they braved the lower temperatures and took turns to use the bath. They then adjourned to the bar to get a quick breakfast before beginning a new day as adventurers.
Polka walked up to the counter and slammed the wood surface, declaring, "Quest, please!"
Miyabi was taken aback. Then, he sighed and said, "Honestly, too early… alright, go ahead and look on the board."
They hurried over and crowded around it. Since it was still early in the day, there weren't that many other adventurers there. After some hushed discussion, they picked out one request and brought it to the counter.
Miyabi picked it up and examined it. "Hmm, an escort quest? I see. Well, if I'm not mistaken, this person is a weapons trader and is heading north towards the nearest village. If I am correct, it is a half-a-day's trip by foot and faster by cart. I think if you leave now, you'd be back here by night time. As for the trader, she informed me that she will be waiting at the north gate, so do make your way there."
"Sounds good. Let's get to it!" cheered on Nene, echoing what was on the party's minds.
They made their way to the north gate after getting their backpacks in order and met up with the trader. She was in a typical trader's getup of brown-colored traveling clothes with the only addition being a blacksmith's apron with a few tools sticking out of it. She had a box of her wares on her draft horse securely strapped on one side and a small anvil over the other. She shook hands with them after greeting, "Good morning, I'm Jen. I suppose you're my bodyguards?"
"We are!" said Nene with a smile, "We are ready to go at a moment's notice."
"Nice to meet you all," she replied, returning the grin, "Right. Let's get going. These weapons aren't going to sell themselves."
"Yahoo!" exclaimed Polka as they made their way past the northern gate.
The party and the trader took their time to walk, careful not to tire themselves out by moving too fast. They made good progress after a few hours but some rustling in some tall grass that they were going to pass by put them on alert. Botan heard some growling as well.
"Jen, I think something's in there," warned the bard as everyone dropped their packs and moved towards the side of the road.
"Ah, then I'll be waiting here then," replied the trader worriedly tugging on the reins of the horse to halt it.
Suddenly, a lion burst out of the grass and leaped straight at Polka. She was instantly knocked off her feet as a clawed paw struck her chest. It then took a big bite out of her shoulder.
"Get off her!" roared Botan as she tried to claw its head. It suddenly let go of the screaming monk's shoulder and leaped back to avoid her claws. However, that left it open.
Nene practically shouted out the healing note as she stabbed the wild animal in its side. At the same time, Lamy clutched her amulet as she muttered softly shoving her hand at the fox girl. A shimmering aura coated her and then the cleric turned her attention to the beast, her hand going in a grasping motion and pointed at it. The frost that formed over the entire head caused it to roar in agony. It tried to maul Polka again but with the ice over its eyes and the shimmering aura covering the monk, it failed to do anything of note.
The fennec fox girl wasted no time leaping to her feet and sent a roundhouse kick to its frosty nose. The crunch was audible. She kept up the pace and landed a thunderous punch to the exact same place with a furious yell. The force of the blow pretty much shattered the front of its skull and it went down in a heap, blood flowing out its nose.
"Are you alright?" asked the lion girl as the monk bent over with her hands over her knees, her heavy breaths gulping down precious air.
"I…'m fine..." was the ragged reply. As the others gathered around her and showed their concern, her breathing leveled and she then said, "You know… can we bring the body and sell it at the village?"
Everyone blinked. The trader brought her horse over and asked, "So, what's the plan now?"
Polka grinned and said, "Well, it's like this..."
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter. So, Holo5 finished their jaunt in the sewers. Then, they made a second run outside in the forest. The forest comes alive. Quite literally. After that, a little cameo from an unknown chef -wink-wink-. The next day, an escort quest as well as the establishment of some... shenanigans for Botan. Other than that, thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.