The morning after the Hero and her party led the town guards in a surprise attack on the bandit camp. Just before dawn they snuck into the forest and within the hour had them all apprehended. The bandits had been caught off guard but that didn't mean they weren't prepared, what they weren't ready for was the strength of the Hero. Despite having even more numbers than we had been told and far greater equipment for that matter it was near useless. As soon as the fight started Ardent and the Hero unleashed their magic. An enormous beam of light lit up the forest which could be seen clearly from the town. I wasn't sure what the spell did but it practically ended the fight right there. Only the stronger bandits were able to move after and even they didn't take long to put down.
Of course this all came from third hand knowledge. Why? Because I wasn't there. Why the hell would a person like me be there? Even with the Hero there had been a small number of casualties on the Guards side. If I had gone too that could have easily been me. The most I could do would be offer them some refreshments at the end, or maybe patch up their equipment. Nope, I wanted to stay as far away as possible in peaceful safety. I already died twice to them and didn't want that to be a third.
The result was we left later than usual because of the aftermath but not so late that I couldn't make up for the time. I was finally back on the west road and smoothly driving the carriage towards the border. Which thinking about it… I was driving to die somewhere else. I sighed and held the reigns tighter. Pina turned to me with a chirp feeling the tension.
"I'm fine girl, just keep moving, you're doing great. We'll rest soon," I rubbed the birds back.
I pulled the carriage over for lunch as I usually did and opened the door for the Hero. Her reaction wasn't what I expected. The bright eyed girl was downcast and while she would usually take the time to breathe in the outside air, she just slopped down into a seat instead. The others looked like usual, though Ronalt was mildly concerned. Despite my curiosity it wasn't my place to pry and I began to prepare lunch. Disappointingly my food couldn't lift the gloom from her expression.
As they ate I saw to Pina and looked at their weapons to care for. While they had been cleaned, the Hero's sword had traces of blood as did Marley's hammer. It was expected. A natural cause to the fight, however staring at the Hero's pure white sword, the slight blemish ached into my heart.
"Rain, can we speak?" Ardent's voice came from behind me and I set down the Hero's sword.
"Is there something you need?" I turned around.
"I heard you had some capability as an apothecary, might you be able to make anything to revitalise the heart?" We were quite some distance from the others but even so Ardent's words were spoken softly.
"Is this for the Hero?" There were quite a few things I could make. Most were like energy drinks, others affected the mind, and some I knew of were illegal.
"Well yes," he nodded with a complicated smile.
"Can I ask what happened?"
Ardent paused and stared at me briefly as if trying to pry out my intentions. Finally he sighed, "Rain have you killed anyone before?"
"Not that I can remember," I answered simply.
"Do you have any qualms about it?"
"Well that depends. Is it deserving? Is it in self-defence or is it simply murder? Depending on which changes how I feel about it but all in all it's not something that we can always prevent."
"Hmm I see, so to you it is a natural phenomenon of life."
"Natural… yes I guess so," I shrugged.
Ardent looked back to the Hero, "To Lara to kill is the final resort. She is truly a pure soul and someone who was born in a loving world unlike ours. The concept of monsters doesn't even exist where she came from, at least not in true life."
No wonder she felt so different from us. I wouldn't say our world was devoid of love but I had to agree that all things considered it could be quite harsh. Even a few of my family from Axel had died due to unforeseen circumstances. Bandits, monsters, demons, those weren't even our main concerns. For us in a small town our biggest issue was never to piss off a noble.
Ardent continued, "This morning's raid on the bandits. The Hero fought in what could be said to be her first true battle. She was magnificent but the bandit leader also proved tricky and in the end refused to give up, going so far as impaling herself on the Hero's sword. She cursed Lara as she died and although they were merely words, Lara hasn't been quite herself."
"So you want me to make something that will lift her spirits?" I raised my brow. "I can make some simpler stuff but just sharing a drink and having a laugh should have the same effect. If you want something more potent, well…." My voice trailed off.
"For now I believe Lara will be okay however in the future when we must fight the demons. It is possible that your more 'potent' concoctions may be needed. When we reach the next town, try stock up on whatever you need."
"Understood," I bowed and Ardent left. I could tell this was a last resort of things for Ardent. To drug the Hero wasn't something I wanted to be a part of, however if she was to fail in her duty at the end, all this would be for nothing. In the past wars there were potions readily used for soldiers to 'fix' the same problems Lara had. The worst could flip a man's mind and instead of feeling remorse or fear from death, they'd instead fill pleasure. It was outlawed but not before creating drug fuelled and crazed men who could only be happy killing. For the Hero I wouldn't give her anything that bad, just something to calm her mind… probably.
I finished up cleaning and maintaining the equipment and soon after we left. Although Ronalt gave me directions I already knew which way to go. Basically we were going straight west. On our current path the next town we'd be staying at wouldn't be till the sixth day, in other words the day before we'd face the Monster. Till then it would be good old camping. Not that camping changed how I had been spending my nights. The Hero and her party would sleep in the carriage in their rooms and I'd do like I usually did. There were the denizens of the night, dark creatures that would attack people during the night, but they would keep to themselves so long as we camped at the right places.
So we just made our way. The difference was that I had more to do, cooking, cleaning etc. The work kept my mind off what was coming and like my first two lives, nothing much happened. The Hero regained most of her cheer by the second night. She practiced combat with the others and sometimes when a monster came too close to the carriage or road they'd put it down. The patrols along this region were sparse and the road itself was not much more than dirt. Although the fastest route to the west not many took it due to the lack of townships. Plus you'd need capable body guards in case of a monster attack.
I watched the Hero and the others from afar and rarely talked aside from taking orders. Ardent would occasionally smile my way and Taylor would pester me but that was it. Experiencing it again, it was kind of lonely. Back home I'd always be surrounded by people, yet right not I was secluding myself. Though the others weren't putting much or any effort to know me either. As was the difference between the upper tier of society and myself. Then there was Earnest who was an outsider but aside from fighting he kind of only took up space.
On the sixth day we arrived in the late morning to the town of Greytree, named aptly so for its myriad of grey trees. It was the Kingdom's closest major town to the border and heavily fortified with a tall wall. It was larger than the previous town's we had visited and held a high populace of military. If the demon's started to act up, Greytree was the first line of defence in this area. Along the rest of the border were similar encampments though very few had a town attached.
We entered as travellers bound for the North and just passing through. Any suspicion was ignored due to Ronalt's influence. Even the commanders of the base didn't know of the Hero's existence nor why we were all here. Like usual I was told to go to an inn and the Hero departed with her party while I packed away the carriage into the stables.
On the way back I caught the Hero speaking to Marley. They were standing near the west gate and staring out into the wilderness beyond. A shallow plane of grass followed by dark forest more foreboding than the others we'd past. Just looking at it sent a shudder through my spine. Across from there was the demon's territory but before that was the Monster.
"So it's just over there," the Hero stared at the forest wistfully.
Marley nodded, "One day's travel through the forest and we'll be in the demon's territory."
"Do you know what it's like?"
"No way," Marley shook her head vigorously. "Go ask Ronalt or Ardent about that. I've hardly seen any demons."
The Hero replied dryly, "Still more than me." She paused. "Is it strange that I'm nervous? This journey has barely started and soon we're going to leave the Kingdom behind. Am I really ready?"
Marley took both her hands in hers, "You're the Hero, our Hero. You can do this and no matter what happens we'll be there to support you."
"Thank you." The smiles they showed could lift up even the coldest of hearts but it couldn't lift up mine. I'd heard that conversation before and tomorrow we'd leave and die.
The first to go was Marley. After passing through the border everything seemed fine, there weren't even any demon patrols. Then just as the sun started to set, the earth rumbled and out from the forest floor the Monster would appear. The memories were still fresh inside my mind. That giant creature stretched out covered in moss and dirt. Its mouth like a catfish gobbling the trees as it chased us. Ardent trying to fend it off with magic atop the carriage. Nothing worked and a thick gas assaulted him. He collapsed and Marley went to heal him. In the next moment a lance of rock pierced her heart. No one had seen it coming. The carriage flipped and everyone jumped out. What followed was a desperate act of survival as one by one they were picked off unable to do anything. In the end Ronalt wounded and near broken grabbed the Hero and ran, leaving me to be eaten with the others.
"Move it boy!" someone yelled and I stepped aside. Two men carrying a box brushed past me.
My hands were shaking from recalling the memory. What I felt back then was unlike any fear I had before. No matter what, I wasn't going to go through that again. There had to be another way through the border. I couldn't run off by myself either. At worst me and my entire town could be branded as felons. I'd protect them no matter the cost.