The most average of average Joes, the most inconspicuous of the C ranked adventurers. The adventuring party known referred to as 'Still night.' Admittedly a cool name yet a little on the nose.
Dirius finally let go of my hand.
"So what do you need from us?"
A man with dustied brown hair and dark eyes spoke first leading me to assume he was the leader. The other members of his group being a dwarf with shaggy black hair and braided beard, a red haired female elf and a dwarf giantess.
I spoke first clearing my throat softly.
"Hello my name is Alice, my brother Averie and I are looking for an armed guard transport."
The elf spoke up next.
"Where to?"
"Sarion."
Dirius interjected, answering her question. 'Typical.'
"How soon you needa leave?"
The giantess asked, the rest of her other party members seemingly also intrigued at the prospect of potential higher.
"As soon as possible. We need to be there before next Monday."
I informed waiting for them to say something.
"I see. Think it's possible Fibs?"
The leader asked the dwarf as we awaited their response.
"More than Oscar, we should be there as early as Saturday night if we leave now."
The leader turned back to us.
"Here that you two? We leave in two hours, we'll officially accept your request. Get your ass in gear."
They all got up ready to get to work.
"My name is Oscar, I'm the leader of this here party. The dwarf is Fibs, elf is Eridya and dwarf giantess is Greta. We have four other members who are currently on a separate quest, but together we're the adventuring party Still Night."
Dirius reached out and shook his hand and I followed suit.
"Nice to meet you all, I hope our journey together goes smoothly."
"Price is twenty gold coins, ten now and ten upon completion."
The elf reached out and I placed the sum in her extended palm.
***
Their cart was spacious, it was pulled by some sort of giant land bird that closely resembled ostriches like on earth just bigger. I shoved Dirius slightly and whispered to him.
"So what you think? We in good hands?"
"Not yet but soon enough~, that elf is a looker."
BANG
"Come on I'm being serious right now bro."
"Don't sweat it too much, we went with the best option from what was available, we just gotta remain vigilant."
"Vigilant? The same vigilance that barely got us a wink of sleep last night?"
"I'm not the one who got startled by the easter bunny."
'I hate you.'
***
The ride went along without issue for the next few hours. The scenery was truly calming, the clear cobblestone path that had other carts and carriages going down it each to it's own destination. Based on how busy it was it was likely the main road to Sarion.
Snoreee~
looked next to me and surely enough Dirius had fallen asleep. 'Must be nice.' I graciously allowed him to rest his head on my lap. The deafening silence of this entire ride thus far boring as hell.
Curiously I started a conversation with the least intimidating looking party member, that being none other than the leader himself, he was also the only one in the cart with us, the others were outside.
In my role of being the sole intelligence gatherer between the two of us I had to resign to my faith. 'Not that I particularly mind.' A soft smile dusted my cheeks.
"Say Oscar."
"Mhm? Sorry I forgot your name little lady."
"It's Alice."
I laughed softly as he scratched his head slightly embarrassed.
"I was wandering if you could tell me more about what it's like being an adventurer and a party leader at that."
He placed his hand to his chin as he rubbed it searching for the right way to phrase his reply.
"Well it can be difficult but it's really fun. It pays well y'know and you meet all kinds of interesting people."
'Basic bitch answer but okay.'
That was just the gateway question anyway, now for more interesting ones I actually need the answer to.
"I see, that sounds neat Oscar. I had been thinking about becoming an adventurer myself but my brother and I are unbelievably weak."
He raised an eyebrow at me but for the life of me I couldn't tell why, it was only for a moment but it was like he was casting suspicion my way.
"Don't give up too soon, you may surprise yourself yet."
"Thanks for the encouragement but I needa ask. The vibe in that guild hall was rigid. They all like that?"
"Not all, it honestly varies based on the size of the town, the amount of available jobs and things like that."
He went on to explain how the smaller towns received less jobs and they became more structured and competitive as a result so no one really trusts or helps each other out but in larger cities the atmosphere wasn't nearly as stifled though still structured.
He also thought me about the way the ranking systems worked and it was what you'd typically expect. You ranked up based on how many quests you completed and a promotion exam.
I learned that Sarion also had the largest adventuring guild in all if Alther so that made that more excited to see the city.
"Oscar, bandits!"
The cart came to a halt as the scuffle was already underway.
"Stay here little lady with the princess on your lap."
I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Dirius was referred to as a princess. I raised his head off my lap and went to the opening to the side to peep at the action.
'First fantasy world fight.'
They didn't use any sort of magic just their weapons and martial arts. The elf shot arrows at the them and the Giantess stayed back guarding the cart with us in it, the dwarf used his axe to chop at the the marauders and Oscar used his sword to to parry and cut down enemies.
Their methods were unpolished but effective enough. They tied up the bandits with some rope and the dwarf pulled out a light blue crystal that was rectangular in shape.
"Hey what's that?"
"Haven't seen one of these before? This is a Fortuna crystal audio transmitter a Fortran for short. It's used to convey messaged quickly over great distances, it uses magic to connect between devices."
"Ah I see thanks for the explanation."
'So basically a smartphone.'
Thud
"Ow fuck"
'Guess that means he's up.'
***
The next few days were peaceful, I found myself genuinely enjoying this world. We'd travel from dawn till dusk and rested at night, we learned a lot more from them than I expected we would about this country and this world.
The unique flora and fauna of Satur was similar to earth in so many way yet so different at the same time. The sizes of things, the rarity and even novelty in certain areas.
Dirius and I also engaged in light training and sparing with them in an attempt to be more prepared for when we'd part with Still Night and enter Laertes academy.
Sooner than expected our last day with them had arrived, we'd made it to Sarion Saturday morning.
"And here we are you two."
Oscar smiled warmly, the cart stopping in front of the guild.
"Thank you so much all of you for getting my brother and I here safely and ahead of schedule."
"No problem it's what we were hired to do."
The giantess added just as I extended the ten gold coins with an additional five for good measure and to show our gratitude.
"We learned a lot from the Still Night party. I hope we meet again."
"I'm sure we will, so how about we show you both around the city and part tonight after a farewell dinner."
Oscar smiled before the the dwarf shared as well
"We know the best pub in town and besides we're friends now. "
"Friends huh?"
Dirius smiled slightly before responding again.
"Guess we are huh?"
"Anyway we should split up I'm going to get us an inn."
The elf began to head to the right and Dirius gave me a subtle smirk before following her.
"I'll get us something good sis!"
He called out from his retreating form, I shook my head not even deigning to waste a second more on his escapades. The rest of the Still Night part and I roamed the street. The architecture of the city was the same as the town just on a grander scale and more crowded.
The only noticeable difference was the addition of magic stoplights with fortuna crystals to guide traffic. We even went to to a magic item shop, it didn't have any standout items as it was only a small stall but I purchased two pho- I mean Fortran crystals for four gold coins a piece for Dirius and I to be able to communicate more effectively when apart and to reach Still Night as well.
The last night we spent with the others was surreal, it felt like we knew them longer than we actually did which was a feeling I had forgotten even in my old life because I'd become more guarded with the level of fame I had as a singer. 'Sigh. I hope things work out at school this time around.'