Outside, only the musicians awaited them.
They cast a brief glance at Alina, without addressing her destroyed dress or how blood-stained her delicate body appeared. A monster. Arisen from hell, in the form of an angel.
Bloody Angel, she truly possessed a fitting name.
Only the string player Soto dared to say something.
"If you keep this up, Alina, soon you'll have no one left who wants to see your dance," the man prophesied, caring like a father.
The girl had to admit that her two jobs couldn't be reconciled with each other. She had known this for a long time. But she didn't want to give up her passion for dance in favor of her obligation to her father. Just as she couldn't refuse the job as a bounty hunter.
It was a miserable dilemma she found herself in.
Perhaps another society that she guarded. Even that had been denied to her so far.
"The next performance will be more peaceful," she promised the musician. "I was recently asked to perform for a celebration. Is that more to your liking?"
Her smile was as sweet as honey, which none of the men could usually resist. However, with the torn dress and the blood-stained body, it didn't come off very favorably.
"If you seek Ero, he's sunbathing over there." Soto nodded towards a hill.
Not even far away, so that one could easily see the boy leaning against a linden tree.
His brown hair was a shade lighter than the bark. It was long enough to sway in the wind's breeze, inviting some girls' hands to run through it. At least that's how many of the young girls who knew him or were getting to know him greeted him. Alina, on the other hand, found it silly when these hens flocked around the young nobleman.
To them, his family's fortune seemed like a nice addition to the handsome boy. Yet, he had hardly dressed appropriately for his status for years.
Just like now, in trousers worn by work and a long shirt tied in the front, dirty from the dust of their journey.
His pretty, also brown eyes remained closed.
He should have heard her screams.
"Bastard!" Alina cursed softly.
Soto received no attention, instead, the musician joined his comrade, sensing what spectacle would unfold next. So, this band sat together while speculating quietly about the course of events.
Alina, on the other hand, grappled with other problems. Her useless companion and the dress, now only held up by her hands. So she stomped towards her friend.
"What has to happen for you to help me once when I need you?" a small storm rained down on the boy.
He remained silent. A pleasant smile graced his lips, basking in the beautiful sunshine that warmed and bronzed his face. If he thought he could continue to enjoy that, he hadn't counted on his girlfriend.
Alina didn't speak further until she stood in front of him, casting her shadow over him.
"I could have really used your help. There were 25 men I had to fend off, including a few well-trained swordsmen. One, in particular, kept me at bay."
She withheld from her friend the fact that this particular man had killed most of the robbers before dealing with Alina.
"You're still alive, so why should I help you?" he said coolly, accompanied by a long yawn. Slowly, only one eye opened. "Although, upon reflection, it seems I may have missed out on some things." His second eye also opened. The boy tilted his head with interest.
"If he had really intended to kill me, your beloved Alina wouldn't be standing here now," she blurted out, as if it weren't already apparent that the opponent's attempt was to have her standing naked before him.
She tugged at one of the torn sleeves with her right hand. The left was still busy keeping her dress up. Perhaps she should have worn something else beforehand.
Standing in front of him like this, the girl felt it was a very foolish idea.
"What a beautiful death!" Ero exclaimed amusedly. "It's not that I wish for such an early demise myself. But before that, such a sight, and one gladly goes towards all that follows."
Alina's cheeks glowed.
Really quite a stupid idea, to approach him in her anger like this.
"Can you explain to me why I always get the menial tasks in our partnership while you're lounging around somewhere?" she barked at him over her embarrassment.
He still didn't say anything, but straightened up first. After dusting off the earth from his trousers, Ero stood challengingly in front of his girlfriend. In doing so, he revealed a grin that almost distorted his handsome features.
"I can tell you that, fair maiden!" Ero said, unabashedly tugging at the girl's dress with his thumb and forefinger. "It's because I don't look as wonderful in a dress as you do."
With any other girl, he wouldn't have been so bold. But with her, it was different. They had grown up together since childhood. First in competition and enmity, now condemned to comradeship.
For a moment, Alina wasted her time imagining.
The handsome boy, with the beautifully sculpted physique and well-formed muscles, especially in the areas of arms, chest, and abdomen. Handling his broad two-handed sword required strength from Ero.
In this picture, he wasn't wearing the usual attire, but one of her dresses.
She couldn't prevent a smile from creeping onto her lips. But it also gave her an idea.
It only took a well-placed kick to bring the boy down. So that he awkwardly fell back to the ground. Before he could get up, she prevented him from doing so with a kick of her bare foot to his stomach.
"I suggest you just try it out!" Now it was her turn to look challengingly at him. "For the next while, you'll wear one of my dresses for a whole day!" She smiled. "Unless you want my wrath to strike down Beldor's dearest son."
She could see he was about to beg to be spared from seeing her without clothes. But then he changed his mind.
He crossed his arms behind his head in a relaxed lying position.
"Go ahead, take another step closer, fairest of the fair. Or lift your leg even higher. Then a sight truly worth dying for will be revealed to me."
He said all this in a indulgent cooing.
Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. She gladly complied with his wish.
Her slim leg lifted. In the fire of anger, she brought it down so quickly that he couldn't dodge. Under the force of the kick, all the air escaped from the boy's lungs.
Ero didn't maintain his composure now, but rolled onto his stomach in pain. But he deserved it, Alina was sure.
"I was just having fun," he protested in a gasp.
Alina remained entirely serious about it.
"I wasn't!" She turned around. "You'll look pretty! I'm sure I have a suitable wig."
"Alina!" he shrieked from his position on the ground. "Please don't do this to me. Consider what a humiliation it is to have to train like this in front of the boys."
She didn't hear him, or rather didn't want to. Her steps were already heading towards the bandit camp. But who knows. Maybe it could be something therapeutic for him, and he would show her more appreciation afterward.