Day 8

Effie

Today, I decided to kill the Goblin Boss. The king asked us to - great, I thought. Perfect.

I am not happy.

It was going so well. Killing the odd goblin, finding some lovely elementite for the king. Great.

But that Goblin Boss was too much for me. It kept dodging my attacks, and hit back hard. I had a potion - yeah, fat lot of good that did.

"I can't believe how tough it was," I said to Sophia. "I wasn't ready!"

"Maybe you should've prepared better," Sophia said.

"The king thought I was ready," I pointed out.

"Hmm," said Sophia.

I had her stumped. It's not my fault. If the king thought I was ready, I was ready. The Goblin Boss's victory was a fluke.

Still, I'm taking tomorrow off.

Day 9

Tabatha

Effie's defeat yesterday is the talk of the town. Those goblins are even tougher than we thought.

Her friend Natasha moved in today, and the king snapped her up immediately as an adventurer. Everyone's spotted the pattern by now. He's signing up the girls, but not the boys. Except Arnold, of course. What's so special about him? I don't know what's going on, but it works out in my favour, so fine. It was well known that King Epitav favoured boys in adventures. Maybe King Leo's making up for that. Who knows?

Arnold and I explored the Goblins' Den today. It was nice getting to know him a bit. He's cautious - and so am I - but I wonder whether his is borne of cowardice. Still, he pulled his weight, and that's what matters.

Almos has been funny with me lately. Nicholas reckons he fancies me. I reckon he fancies adventuring, and wants to hear my stories. Either way, he's been like a shadow these last few days. Could get annoying.

Day 10

Natasha

The king does not fight. That's no way to king. What Padarak needs is a warrior king. Or, as I see it, a warrior queen.

I've got plenty of time. Let's sort out the warrioring first. We'll see where we go from there.

It's nice to be reunited with Effie. She took me to Kubito Grotto to train today. One of the other warriors, Tabatha, came with us. We spent the day killing bats.

"Where's the other guy?" I asked over lunch.

"He took on some quest in the town," said Effie. "You know the sort of thing - find a flower for one of the Moogles."

"He doesn't come out much?" I asked.

"Not if there's something safer on the menu," said Effie.

"He can do the job," said Tabatha. "He made quick work of the goblins yesterday. He just needs to grow a spine."

Hark at them.

We all levelled up today - Effie's on 5, Tabatha on 4, I'm on 2. Feels like a big gap right now, but I'll soon catch up.

Day 11

Tabatha

Three days ago, Effie was defeated by the Goblin Boss.

Today, the same thing happened.

But today, I was there too, ready to go. A new bronze sword in my hand. I defeated the Goblin Boss, and got a lovely pay packet for my troubles. That'll do for a rainy day.

"You must have been so brave," said Almos.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up."

"They say it's the most goblins anyone in town's ever seen."

"Well, yeah," I said. "But we've been picking them off for days. I was well prepared, and it paid off. I'm not a risk-taker."

Afterwards, I went to find Nicholas. Almos is just a bit much these days.

Day 12

Effie

Not happy that Tabatha was the one to take down the Goblin Boss. Twice I took that monster on. I have failed in the eyes of the king.

I was determined to score a win today - and what's the only behest from the king? "Retrieve a round dandelion". For crying out loud.

But I swallowed my pride, and off I went to the Junun Dei Meadows. Meadows! That's no place for a proven warrior. Look at me in my lovely field fighting raccoons or whatever.

Still, I achieved my goal. Got a medal for it, which seems sarcastic.

Benjamin's moved in now. He's an old friend of mine and Sophia's. It's nice to have the old group back together.

I haven't spoken to Reginald in a while. He and Arnold have been thick as thieves. But Sian and Lulu have moved back in now. They're both friends of Arnold's, but Lulu and Arnold had a thing before the miasma. We'll see how Reginald feels about being abandoned. It's all drama here.

Day 13

Arnold

I hate myself so much.

Lulu's back, but she's acting like nothing ever happened between us. Maybe I'm overthinking things, but she seemed to be going out of her way to talk to me and Reginald in identical terms. Maybe she's waiting for me to bring it up? But she's not making it easy. Or maybe I'm the one who's being weird? Maybe it was never a big thing for her.

I talked to Sian about it, but she's just as uninterested in romance as ever. Sian doesn't do boys - or girls, for that matter. She says her brain just isn't wired up that way. Tell you what she has done, though - she's become the king's latest adventurer. So that's four girls in a row the king's hired. People are talking, of course.

Lulu's tempted to volunteer too. That could be nice - it'd give me more of a chance to talk to her away from Reginald. But she hasn't been to the castle yet. Rumour has it the king's not looking for any more adventurers for the time being. But five warriors won't be enough forever, not for Padarak (did I mention we're officially a town now?).

Anyway, all of this swimming in my head, I head for Junun Dei Meadows. Nothing too taxing, I thought - and there was a Mindflayer there! I didn't even know what a Mindflayer was, but I certainly do now. It took me out with one hit, a horrible fire spell. Reginald comforted me afterwards, which was nice. I didn't see Lulu at all. Quite glad, in a way. This isn't how I want her to see me.

Day 14

Sian

They're all at it!

Colleen (that's my sister, by the way) fancies Nicholas like mad. Arnold's all hung up on Lulu. Tabatha and Almos have started looking pretty cosy. Get a grip! Am I the only one in the world who just doesn't care about any of this?

My first day adventuring today. I hate to say it, but it was nice getting away from the drama. "Drama". As if. Just the same boring whiny conversations a million times a day.

I went to the Goblins' Den. Tabatha took out the boss a few days ago, so she said it'd be safe for a newbie like me. Yeah, it was nice. Took care of a couple of goblins. No problem.

Oh, and I've got a bronze sword now too! Love a good sword.