In the bustling trade hub town of Greenwick, forty prospective members of the Adventurer's Guild from all walks of life have crammed themselves into Swallowtail Tavern. It had been months since the call to arms was made, thousands applied but the initial screening has since thinned their numbers to a mere fraction. Fatigue and impatience were setting in. Even though their stay at the tavern was provided for by the capital, they didn't exactly come for a vacation.
All of them were itching to prove their worth through strength, cunning, and intelligence. To demonstrate whether they were worth their weight in gold making a living under a civilian army in the prospering Kingdom of Cassun. However, with the construction of the Guild Hall still underway, they will have to wait a little longer.
The aspirants were set to journey to the Royal Cassun tomorrow morning. Mayor Mortimer Beurich had already procured proper lodging for a week's long stay at the resort until the Guild Hall was raised. Some were excited by the prospects of staying at a renowned establishment known for its hot springs, food, and hospitality. Others were especially interested in meeting the four staff that worked there who were rumored to be exceptional beauties.
Among these intrepid adventurers is one Itsuki Minato, squirming his way through the tavern keeping one hand over his coin pouch and the other on his hilt. His eyes darted from corner to corner of the crowded floor searching for his companions.
"Oi, Itsuki! Over here!" A large green hand at the front of the bar shot up and waved to him.
Itsuki pushed past a group of half-demons that reminded him of Vic. They gave him a dirty look as he passed by.
"Slaver." One half-demon spat in Itsuki's path, but he ignored it and continued towards the front.
There was an open seat on the counter where the tavernkeep had just wiped down. A young light elf kicked the stool out for him to take.
"Sorry, I'm late! Did you guys already order?"
"I ate," The half-orc belched. "Maya hasn't."
"I'm not hungry."
"Y'ain't ever hungry."
"You're the one who's always hungry, Butch..." Maya brushed the silver hair from her eyes and glanced behind them at the table of half-demons. A few of them were still glaring into Itsuki's back. "Those guys giving you trouble again?"
"Yeah, but they're just misunderstanding something I said during the prelims. They won't even give me a chance to explain."
"Anyone would be suspicious of a human coming from the north."
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that humans have a history of enslaving others in this world, too."
"Don't help that Orcus' split down the middle and Darcie ain't doing a damn thing to help."
"Can't fault the Republic for looking after their own interests."
"Aye? How did Grennadier's king looking after his own self interests turn out for 'em?"
"..." Maya waved him off. "Not letting you bait me into talking about Grennadier again."
Butch snorted, and then turned to Itsuki. "So what kept you?"
"The mayor wanted to give me something to pass onto the Royal Cassun's proprietress."
"You know Proprietress Vic? Think you can get us some VIP rooms?"
"I know her, but I'd rather not impose on her again…"
Itsuki recalled his discussion on prices with Vic and the others. He checked his coin pouch. Of the twenty gold coins he was gifted only two remained. He was beginning to regret having gone on a spending spree as soon as he arrived at Greenwick.
The Goddess didn't really think this through when she sent him here: She gave him a sword, but no sheath or training; a new world, but no knowledge of it; and a setting full of gorgeous demihuman girls, but no charisma to woo them. Well… there was one, and he was excited to see her again soon.
His short time at the Royal Cassun turned out to be fruitful. The money Vic gave him kickstarted his journey to Greenwick where he signed up for the Adventurer's Guild. In the month that he's been here he'd made friends with Butch and Maya. Though they can get a little dicey with each other but that's a different matter.
His companions were more accepting of his circumstances than the other races, and they were eager to teach him about this world. Well… about their world at least. He didn't need to know that half-orcs and their true-blood orc relatives mate in orgies. Nor did he want to know the hundred different ways Maya can kill someone with a single cut. All that did was make him nauseous thinking about Butch engaged in orgies, and shudder everytime he saw Maya's knives. Their eccentricities may be why they so readily accepted him. Likewise, he accepted them in spite of their strange backgrounds.
Itsuki looked over at Maya who had left her seat to play a knife throwing game with the other guild members. A wooden plate with three carved rings was pinned onto a pillar as a makeshift board. Two members hit the outer ring, but Maya nailed three shivs into the center with ease.
Maya was a light elf born to a modest fishing family in Grennadier. A storm had robbed her of her family and she was forced to make a living through petty thievery. When her fellow countrymen began to revolt against the crown, she hightailed it to Cassun on her father's battered dory. She summed up her homeland in a single sentence, 'The streets of Grennadier are dressed in more wealth than those that walk it.'
"Hot springs, huh." Butch crunched into a boar's leg. "Heard the proprietress is something."
"Something is one way to describe her." He recalled the time Vic made mince meat of an ogre.
"Orcs don't like her. My clan chief knew a lesser tribe that'd gone to Royal Cassun."
"What happened?"
"Proprietress up and threw 'em all down Arabor."
"By herself?!"
"Aye. She made copies of herself or something."
"Like… Naruto?"
"What?"
"Er, uh— Nothing. Just something from my world."
Like Maya, the half-orc Butch wasn't a Cassun native. He hailed from a valley between the Gilded Peaks and the Republic of Darcie. His clan had fought in the war against Demon King Septus, and what remained of them traveled south seeking refuge from the civil war in Orcus. While the remnants of his clan continued to the capital, he stayed in Greenwick after hearing about the Adventurer's Guild.
"ALRIGHT, YE LOUTS!" Harold, the tavernkeep ripped off the plate with knives still stuck in it. "Kitchen and bar's closing up for the night. King ain't paying me enough to feed all yer fucking mouths."
Half the crowd jeered in response. Maya pulled the knives from the plate and brandished one in front of the tavernkeep. "We'll only be gone for a week, Harry. Just admit you're going to miss us."
"All of ye can stay at Royal Cassun fer all I care." He stomped away in a huff. "Rotten… mangy… dirtying up my tavern…puh!"
Maya returned to her seat. "Maybe I should've ordered something."
"Told ya."
⚔ ⚔ ⚔
Night and day was indistinguishable in Greenwick other than the shade of the sky and the blanket of stars. Tonight, the town appeared to have several more stars out. Merchant caravans were still hauling goods in every direction, with the bulk of them coming from the north. Brothels had girls out soliciting customers. The townsfolk were as lively as they were at the start of the day. Even the farmer Itsuki talked to in the morning was still awake trying to sell out his crates of apples.
The three of them stopped by the apple farmer. Maya tossed some copper his way and grabbed two of the least molding fruits. Itsuki's stomach growled as he watched his elven companion bite into the apple.
"Don't look at me. These are mine."
"You still have two gold coins left. Should get something to eat before we turn in."
"We still have a week before the Guild Hall opens. I don't want to end up wasting all my money."
Maya wasted no part of the apples, scarfing down even the core and seeds. "We can step out of the town and maybe find a rabbit to hunt."
They headed for the western edge of town. Following the west road would eventually lead to a small orchard managed by a community of apple farmers. It was safe for the most part, as guards have patrol routes that extend from Greenwick to the orchards. Going off the path and into the woods risks a goblin ambush. The flesh-hungry little imps roam the surrounding area in search of lost prey. Occasionally there would be accounts of attacks on the road, but guards can only cover so much of the area. This was one of the few duties that the Adventurer's Guild will hopefully take over, and allow the Kingdom of Cassun to pull back its soldiers into a standing army.
Maya led the way down the road with Butch and Itsuki trailing some ways behind. They had completed plenty of missions together during the preliminary examinations, and this formation with their dextrous elf in the lead kept them safe. Her keen senses and light-footedness allowed her to spot danger from a distance while they remain unseen.
"You know," Butch began, shifting his warhammer to the other shoulder. "It's starting to look like Maya's our party leader."
"Now that you mention it the three of us aren't really the leading type, are we?"
"I always had a clan chief to follow."
"Guildmaster Aurora said I have no aptitude for leading a party, so…"
"Some hero you are."
"There's no rule stating that a hero has to be party leader!"
"When we do get started as guild members, we'll need to fill our ranks with a mage."
"A spellcaster would be nice. Buying healing poultices and bandages eat into our expenses."
Maya stopped in her tracks, turned to them and waved frantically down the road. Butch and Itsuki caught up and saw their elf approaching an upturned wagon.
"There!" She pulled away some of the debris to reveal an injured half-dragon man. His blue scales were dyed red from his own blood, and he was barely breathing.
"Damn, see. A mage woulda been useful right about now."
"No time to worry about that!" Itsuki uncorked one of his poultices and poured it down the unconscious man's mouth. A moment passes before he choked and sputtered blood as he came to.
"Urgh... "
"Are you alright? What happened?" Maya gently lifted the man to his feet.
"Goblins… they attacked my wagon." His dazed eyes surveilled the mess. "Where's the human girl?"
Butch came back after investigating the surrounding area and shook his head. "No sign of anyone else. But lots of tracks heading southwest."
"Go slow. Who was this girl?"
"I hired her to protect me and my wagon this morning. S'pose she did seeing as I'm alive. Last thing I remember she chased them away."
"She probably chased them south with your goods." Maya put her hands against a cluster of tracks. Upon closer inspection, Itsuki also saw what his companion did— a set of shoeprints.
"We should look for her."
"Are you crazy? We were just coming out here to get you some grub."
The half-dragon started picking up what remained of his apples. Butch helped him lift the wagon back onto its wheels.
"Uhm, excuse me…"
"Jonah."
"Jonah, do you recall what she looked like?"
"Uh…" Jonah picked up a muddy apple and tossed it away. "Big glasses, had freckles. Wore a nice purple robe."
Maya's ears twitched with recognition. "That sounds like Eve."
"That's right. That was her name."
"Eve?"
"She was that ditzy Darcien mage. Think she was the only member of her group to past the prelim exams."
"So she's a fellow guild member. Then we definitely have to go help!"
"I'd give it up if I were you." Jonah warned. "She's likely their next meal after my apples, if not already suffering a worse fate."
Itsuki gulped. "Like… rape?"
Audible groans filled the otherwise quiet scene. Maya lifted her head from the tracks and held her mouth. "That's so gross. Goblins don't have genitalia."
"Why would you think that?"
"They'd sooner tear your head off."
"O-oh…"
"You're home must have been a terrible place to live, Itsuki." Butch shook his head disapprovingly.
Itsuki was suddenly filled with shame for having thought such a thing.
"Okay, fine! My bad! We should still help her. Not for glory or to brag, but to expand our party size."
"Well, she is a mage and we do kind of need one." Maya relented and looked at Butch for his opinion.
"You're the tracker. Itsuki and I won't find a thing without you."
"Alright, alright! We'll look for her."
"Thank you!"
"But if there's any sign that she's already dead, we're booking it."
They bid Jonah farewell, assuring him that the way back to Greenwick was safe. Maya assumed her position towards the front of the group, but her pace going into the forest was much slower. She scrutinized every snapped branch and trampled leaf. Occasionally, she would signal a pause and a forest critter would dart across their path in the next moment.
The tracks became panicked leading into an embankment. Goblin footprints fell deeper into the mud and had longer strides. Maya surmised that the goblins likely encountered Eve around here and made a desperate attempt to cross the stream.
"They were probably few in numbers, but if they were bold enough to attack a wagon then they must have a nest nearby."
"Maya, across the stream. Look!" Butch pointed to a figure lying still on the ground. From here, it was indiscernible whether it was a goblin or human.
Itsuki was the first to dive in.
"Hey, it's dangerous!"
He lifted his weapon and gear over his head and trudged through the shallow waters. The stream only came up to his thighs, but the sediment underneath made it difficult to keep balance.
Itsuki was halfway across when his foot got caught between two rocks and plunged into the water. He shot back to the surface with all his stuff flowing downstream.
"Shit!" He grabbed his sword and knapsack, but saw the coin pouch escape from his reach.
The other two caught up and hauled Itsuki over the other side of the embankment. They were soaking wet and no worse for wear.
"Crossing a stream is a lot harder than I thought…"
"You dumbass!" Maya coughed up water as she admonished him. "You're lucky we haven't seen any rain. This area is known for flash floods, that's why there's an embankment!"
"Sorry… more importantly," Itsuki rushed to the body and gagged when he saw the bloated, half-eaten green corpse. "Urk, what happened?"
"Looks like a wolf fished it out of the water."
Butch turned the goblin over with his hammer. Its entire backside was charred.
"Guess our mage girl scored a kill."
"Yeah, she might not be so lucky if there's a nest."
Maya located the tracks on this side of the embankment, and the trio continued their pursuit. They were led down a winding path dense with vegetation until the way opened up to a clearing along the side of a cliff.
The immediate surroundings smelled of smoke and feces. There were several untended fires still going. Partially eaten apples lay strewn across the site. This was without a doubt where the goblins made camp.
"Weird. The tracks are all over the place."
"Ain't that normal?"
"No, like… they were in a hurry or something."
"Maybe Eve chased them out?"
"Doubtful. I estimate about fourteen goblins judging by the size of this campsite. There's no way they would abandon their nest to one human mage."
"What do we do? Keep looking?"
"You're call, hero."
Itsuki went around the camp one more time when he saw something stuck to a tree. It was a large red feather the size of his forearm.
"What'd you got there?" Butch came to inspect it too.
"I dunno. Some kind of chicken feather? Too long to be a chicken though. Maya, do you know—"
Maya's eyes grew wide with recognition. She opened her mouth to answer, but the word was caught in her throat. Instead, she instinctively went for the knives at her waist. Butch was the first to see it.
A large shadow cast down by the moonlight fell upon the camp. Brilliant red and black feathers decorated the head to thighs. Light from the fires revealed a draconic head and in its large black beak held a lifeless goblin, arms dangling from side to side as the creature cocked its head at each new prey. Another was held struggling in its hooked talons. It raised the leg holding the goblin and repeatedly slammed the ground until it went still.
"C-c-cockatrice!" Maya fell back to the other two and raised her knives for a fight.
Even though Maya gave a name to the beast, Itsuki couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. The terrifying sight before him was a cross between a rooster and dragon. A mythical creature in his world, but in the flesh in this one.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
The cockatrice loosed a deafening shriek and swallowed the goblin whole.
Butch stepped forward raising his warhammer. "Get back!"
"We can't outrun a cockatrice!'
The beast lunged forward for its next meal. Butch swung his hammer in a wide arc, but the cockatrice caught it in mid-air with its talons.
"Butch, let go!"
He tried to pry it from the cockatrice's grip to no avail, and looked up just in time to see its large open beak dive in.
"Butch!"
"Gotcha, you damn bird."
His large green arm wedged itself inside the cockatrice's mouth. Maya circled around back.
"Itsuki, don't just stand there!"
Itsuki came to his senses and pulled his longsword from its sheath. He readied himself to fight when something knocked the weapon from his hand.
"Ow…" He bent down to grab his sword but instead found a brawny arm at his feet.
"Urr...RAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!" Butch howled and fell to his knees clutching the gushing wound where his arm should have been.
Itsuki's own knees went limp. Large talons closed around the half-orc's body, lifting him into the air. Maya had also froze in fear, her assault halted by the grisly scene.
With a single flick of its leg, it sent Butch flying across the camp and into a campfire. The cockatrice cocked its head at Itsuki, and then turned its attention to Maya who was closer.
"Hey…" Maya whimpered. "You're a hero, right? Help me…"
Itsuki took a step back, and then another. He didn't know where his sword was. He didn't want to see if Butch was still alive. This was more than what he signed up for. It was nothing like the encounter with the ogres.
This time he couldn't do anything as he watched the cockatrice lift Maya into its serrated jaws.