10: Landwyrm

Eliza entered through the door of the inn, seeing Sorin and Olivia chatting. The rest of the inn seemed to be relaxed, and scant few people were at the tables eating food except for a handful of remaining stragglers.

“Ya did good with this one, gramps.” Olivia said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Then…!” 

Olivia sighed.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll allow the guys to sell ya alcohol again, gramps. But never do this again, ya hear me? If Eliza’s lil girl wasn’t so sweet and friendly with Mary, and Eliza ‘erself wasn’t such a good teacher, I’d kick yer soggy ass to the curb!”

Eliza frowned for a moment. Sorin was… kind of pathetic.

Especially now that she had seen the road higher, seeing someone on the same level as her stumble around like this…

“Hello, everyone.” Eliza said, entering the room. Everyone turned to look at her upon seeing her entrance.

“Mom!” Lily shouted, while playing with Mary. “I have a new doll!”

Eliza smiled, seeing Lily so happy. For once, she felt like things would be alright. She even felt that now that she felt secure… she should help others, just as Sorin, Theodore, Olivia and Lucas had helped her.

She thought about something for a moment.

“I think… I found a job. Working as a teacher for the adventurer’s guild. I’d be able to sign up Lily and Mary for classes there, for free, too. I’d… work there for a few hours, then I’d go out and adventure, then return here for a bit so I can help cook. It… Should help with both mine and your worries about education… I hope.”

At her words, Olivia smiled.

“That sounds jus’ amazing, Eliza! You…” Olivia sighed. “I mean this. Thanks. You’re… bein’ awfully helpful… I hate ta’ admit it, but the old man was right about you and everythin’. You're... I hate ta' rely on you so much when I just met ya', but... I won't refuse the help, Eliza. Thank you.”

And thus, time passed peacefully without any major events occurring.

Eliza began work as an adventurer, quickly becoming famous for being one of the strongest people in the union. She was famous for being a teacher who while she was admittedly new, she was gentle with children and capable of calming most children down within moments.

Lily and Mary both began attending the adventurer’s school for children, learning from many teachers, not just Eliza.

And then, one day…

A shadow crept through a familiar forest, just outside of The Shelf. A person ran through the undergrowth of the forest, tracking large tracks of a beast. Each print had three holes drilled in the soil, left by claws, indicative of a creature that would likely tear creatures to pulp rather than skewer them.

A large, echoing thunder crashed into several trees far away. Snow fell from the trees in the winter as the entire forest was disturbed.

“Landwyrm spotted, El. It’s wounded. Not from us… but it's not our job to find out why, either.” the voice said. 

Eliza, who was behind the mysterious person, reached forward.

Gone was her rough green tunic and leather clothes she once wore.

She was now wearing cloth jeans and a stuffy white coat with an insignia of a fish on it… A symbol she now recognized as the symbol of the union. The same clothing Sorin wore, but much more professional on someone who wasn’t drunk whenever he had a chance.

“Got it.” Eliza said, rushing forward. While not as fast as her cohort, she had something that they didn’t. Eliza had Sword aura.

In mere moments, Eliza saw their target, the Landwyrm.

A large brown scaled beast, reaching over 100 feet long, the Landwyrm. Not quite hard to spot, either. It caused large damage to the forest simply just by traveling through. Ignoring the value of the materials from the corpse, the guild would have sent someone out to kill the creature due to the damage to the forest it caused alone.

‘Not that hard to find… I didn’t really need Rin here, did I?’ Eliza thought for a moment. But then she shook her head.

Rin, her friend from the adventurer’s guild, was a former assassin, one who took on high class jobs. That was until she failed an assassination of one of the Empire’s nobility and fled to the union to avoid the consequences.

After all, the empire despised her due to the assassination attempt, and the kingdom never tolerated failure of any kind. They both were places she couldn’t stay in, so the union was the only remaining place, barring the idea of staying in a small town for the rest of her life.

Rin was a small, thin girl with short blonde hair, and was nearly impossible to see in this forest. Not only was she an expert at finding ways to keep silent, but her small stature made her hard to see.

Moreover, she had learned several techniques to mask her scent from enemies and monsters, such as masking her scent with mud from the area, or specific alchemical potions which hide her scent completely.

Even Eliza, a sword expert for over three months, could barely know where Rin was at all times, despite having worked alongside her in recent missions.

‘Rin’s a friend. A very strange one, but I’m glad to have any and all friends right now. I’m glad to have her here… even if she’s getting paid too.’

“Ready for strike.” Eliza said. 

She pulled her sword out, a new sword provided to her by the union, and spread her aura on it. The sword, which previously looked nearly white, plunged into a cold, icy blue color and was coated with an aura of frost. Immediately, she plunged the sword into the ground, and a path of ice spread towards the landwyrm.

The ice encroached towards the body, causing the landwyrm to thrash about in an attempt to survive, but it was in vain. Eliza lunged forward one final time, swinging her sword towards the neck of the landwyrm.

Despite the fact that her sword was only four feet long, being a ‘hand and a half’ sword, or ‘bastard sword’, her sword aura cleanly cut through the large wyrm’s neck, over 7 feet in diameter.

Rin approached, smiling. Her face was a little dirty with mud, but she was clearly smiling. She was wearing the same uniform Eliza was wearing, but it was overwhelmingly dirty, covered in mud.

“Good job, El.” she said. “It’s always amazing, witnessing your sword. I’ve never seen you use elements other than ice, though. I guess it makes sense why you’re so proficient in using it.”

Eliza frowned.

“Wish I knew how to use fire, though.” she said, thinking about it.

She already knew that emotional growth would help her use other elements, but… Except for her love for Lily and her friendship with Olivia, Lucas, Sorin, and Theodore, she didn’t have much life experience recently.

“It feels like my growth has slowed down, recently. Like I've been staying stagnant.” Eliza sighed.

Rin laughed.

“You’re like a freak of nature compared to anyone else, though.” She said, approaching the corpse.

Rin pulled out a small purple pouch that when opened seemed to hold a galaxy inside. She put the pouch on the massive corpse of the landwyrm and…

The pouch completely sucked up the corpse. 

Eliza thought about it for a moment.

“I really want one of those. But… I have to save up for a house, and other things, too. Aren't they like 100 gold arrows?” She said, sighing.

Rin sighed as well. “Me too. I’ve been stuck with debt after debt, recently… The union’s paying off people on my behalf to make sure I can live here, but they stick me with the bill… I can’t not pay, either, unless I want to get thrown out of here too.” Rin said, showing Eliza more trust in that sentence than she hardly showed anyone.

They made their way from the nearby forest back to The Shelf, finding their way to the adventurer’s guild.

As they entered, a few people looked at them, and she could feel a couple eyes on them. While Rin and Eliza weren’t known as the strongest adventurers out there, they were strong enough that they both inspired others… and made them a little afraid, too.

“Hey there, pretty lady. We have something quite nice to share with you.” Eliza said to the receptionist she had met before. 

Eliza now knew her as Leora, a constantly tired woman who probably did a good half of the paperwork here on her own. Her brown hair, now cleaned up thanks to her lack of stress, and her more reserved attitude when she wasn’t drunk, made her quite popular in the guild.

Eliza thought about all the paperwork Leora did, but ignored it. Grant was a swordsmaster, a political powerhouse. He couldn’t be stuck doing paperwork over every little thing. That's why Leora was constantly stressed with paperwork in Grant's place.

Leora, a woman used to hundreds of adventurers having flirted with her, laughed. She couldn’t ever tell if Eliza was serious or not, but either way, it was best to keep safe and not actually take the flirting to heart. After all, she had dozens of people flirt with her daily, it wasn't as if Eliza was the only woman to ever do such a thing.

“Hello, miss Eliza, and miss Rin. It’s good to see that you’re safe. I’m assuming the wyrm is dead, then?” Leora asked.

Eliza nodded, and Rin handed over the pouch for verification to check.

Leora nodded once she looked inside.

“That’s great! I have your reward for completing the quest right here!” Leora said, handing thirty silver flints to both Rin and Eliza. “All you need to do now is go submit the materials to the alchemist, and you’ll get their payment too. The post said he wants it by sunset, so… Well, you better get going!” spoke Leora.

They both nodded and exited the guild comfortably.

On the way to the alchemist, Rin thought about how Eliza seemed overly comfortable flirting with women, even if she already had a family. But despite that, Eliza never flirted with Rin.

In some way, Rin's pride was a bit wounded, causing her to change her mindset, entering an 'information seeking' mode, in a way. Though Rin didn't even realize she was doing this.

“You…” Rin thought for a moment, but didn’t say what was on her mind. Instead, she asked a different question.

“If you don’t mind me asking, you have a daughter, right? What’s your… family situation like?” she asked.

Eliza smiled. Rin had long since noticed that Eliza would always smile when talking about her daughter, even if she never brought up her daughter in conversation on her own.

“It’s just the two of us, but we live in an inn, along with Olivia and her husband. We’re really comfortable, though, and I’ve been thinking about staying there a bit longer so that way Lily can remain friends with Mary, even when I have the money for a house.”

Rin paused.

“And… who is… you know? The father.” Rin asked indelicately.

At that, Eliza’s smile stopped. She realized that she didn’t really know who. The only one who could answer that question was… the peculiar deity who had sent her here.

For some reason, Eliza felt like that deity was like an absent father, ignoring his daughter while the mother worked hard.

Who even was that deity, Eliza wondered? She had been too busy trying to survive and become a better person that she hadn’t thought about it very much.

“Lily… technically does have a parent, besides me, but she’s…” Eliza said, not thinking.

Rin picked up on that detail instantly. Having been a trained assassin, she could recognize the subtext of someone’s words in a flash.

She knew Eliza wasn’t referencing her daughter there. She was referencing the other parent.

Rin’s mind, which had seen the empire, the kingdom, and the union, immediately came up with an assumption.

A completely wrong one.

Rin had seen countless same sex couples hide their relationships in both the kingdom and the empire, but those were mostly for political reasons, such as marriages. Eliza wasn't a noble... Right?

‘Eliza… had a "wife." They somehow had a child together. That wife is no longer in the picture… Eliza’s an expert swordsman… Maybe the wife was an expert mage? Anybody less than that wouldn’t be able to overcome the biological requirements, after all… She came from the kingdom, and she’s always seemed more noble than the average person… I'm certain. All I need to do is find a list of “single” noble women in the kingdom who are also expert mages if I want to find her wife…’ Rin thought, her mind having run a mile a minute.

And then Rin realized how odd her train of thought was.

It wasn’t any of her business. Eliza was a friend. Not an enemy, or a target to get compromising information on. She wasn’t constantly navigating a precarious political situation just to survive anymore.

Though… if Eliza became her enemy, she now had something she could use against her, as unlikely as that would be. And if, and somehow if, Rin trusted Eliza implicitly… maybe Rin could use this information to help her out?

“Ah… I’ll stop asking then.” Rin said, quieting herself down. She felt like she had the information lead, so there was no point in her continuing the conversation.

And so, the two awkwardly made their way to the alchemist’s shop.

The alchemist, an unnamed old man who wore purple robes, celebrated their arrival.

“Do you have it, then? The landwyrm?” The alchemist said, his eyes glowing with greed.

Rin handed over the pouch to the alchemist, smiling as she did. She knew she was about to get a payday here. Rin was happy, Eliza was happy, and the alchemist was more than happy. Everybody won here, Rin thought.

The alchemist grinned widely upon seeing the dimensional pouch.

“Great! Here, take these.” He said, handing four gold coins to both Rin and Eliza each.

Eliza smiled. She put the gold coins in her pocket, but secretly put them in the system, a trick she had learned was possible in recent months.

‘System… show me how much I have right now. Check my status.’ She thought to herself.

[Eliza: Age 25.]

[Physique: 629. Wisdom: 515. Emotions: 1350. Creativity: 592.]

[Body: 35. Mind: 50. Charm: 21.]

[Advice: You should consider looking for housing prices and evaluating your options, even if you plan to stay in the inn! It’s best to be prepared for unforeseen incidents. Better safe than sorry!]

[Payment accrued: 35143 silver flints and 50 gold arrows. Or, around 120,000 dollars.]

Eliza grinned widely. She had worked extremely hard, and the combination of her system payment, her normal payment as a teacher, and her working as an adventurer for some time had led to a massive amount of money in her name. An amount she never could have dreamed about having on Earth.

While she didn’t know when her birthday was, it had clearly passed sometime recently. That wasn’t exactly a bad thing, though she admittedly didn’t care about it that much.

Though, she did know Lily’s birthday was May 1st, having asked the system.

‘That’s around 5 months away… I’ll have to throw a big party, then.’ Eliza thought.

Rin looked at Eliza, who was smiling a lot... Rin realized she was thinking of Lily.

“Well… I’m off.” Rin said. “Have a good day, El. I hope you have fun at the festival with your daughter!” she said, storming off. Rin didn't know why she was mildly annoyed, but she decided to leave it at that.

“Huh?” Eliza asked. “Festival?”

But Rin had already left. Eliza was left there, alone and confused.

Sooner or later, she had made her way back to the honeyed bee inn, where Olivia and Lucas were wearing peculiar clothing.

“Oh, Eliza.” Lucas said, having noticed Eliza first. He nodded in approval.

Eliza looked at the two of them, wearing some kind of ceremonial dress with quite a number of folds and flower imprints. She was a bit confused, seeing that Lucas was also wearing the dress, but shook her head.

They were quite pretty, appearing as if it would normally be a large dress with an excess of fabric, but the bottom part of the dress went down flat like a yukata, but with the cloth seemingly forced into a peculiar flower, like made of origami, but using the cloth of the dress. She had no idea how it worked, but her mind wasn’t on that at the moment.

“Heya, Eliza!” Olivia shouted. “We’re all here jus’ gettin’ dressed for the new year’s festivities!”

Eliza looked forward.

“New year’s festivities?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, it’s yer first year here, huh?” Olivia said, smiling. “Well, we all get together an’ go play festival games down at the big market! An’ then, when everyone’s all nice an’ done, we let out a bunch o’ petals from the sky using magic! It’s a sight to see, I tell you!”

“I see.” She said, smiling a bit. “But… what are the dresses?” she asked.

“Oh, these ‘re called petalfold! Ya’ wear ‘em, and at the end of the night, you unfold the petal an’ to show yer' appreciation fer the new year, or somethin’!”

Lucas spoke up.

“It’s a way to show you’re letting go of the ideas from the previous year. To move on to the new year.” he said calmly.

Oliva nodded approvingly. “Yeah, what he said! What about it, Eliza? Wanna come with me, Lucas, an’ Mary to the festival?”

Eliza smiled. Not because she was excited for the festival itself…

But because this was an excuse to dress Lily up in a cute new outfit that she had never heard of before.

“Of course I do.”