[Still Randall's POV]
Facing the guard captain of the town, he told us to come with him to his office.
"Is there an issue, Captain Rogers?"
"Yes… There is," he replied, grimly.
He led us to his office, and created a magic circle on top of the rainbow-ish crystal panel.
"Please look at it yourselves."
… And so, we did.
---
[Topic: Urgent Retreat.]
[From: Fegendale's Royal Ensemble.]
[To: St. Looned's; members of the ORT.]
[Content: Due to undisclosed reasons, we need to request Randall ■, Jean Verderift and Hiyoshin Hachigo to return to the Palace as soon as possible. NO DETOURS THIS TIME.]
[Sent at: 4/7/457.]
---
'Wow, what a coincidence. The next day after we capture people belonging to a trafficking gang, we're called to return back to the headquarters…'
The two women stared at the message, before one sighed and went back to pick her stuff.
However, Ren stayed. Her gaze stayed on the hologram, unchanging. Only to ask a question after thirty seconds or so.
"What does it say?"
I looked at her strangely for two or three seconds, and told her that we were ordered to go back.
"I… I see. Thank you," replied Ren, only to go quiet afterwards.
… After five minutes of watching the panda think, we all went back to the inn and picked up whatever belongings we had on us.
Or well, mostly the girls. I didn't have much to carry, besides my clothes.
"We've only spent one day here, and we weren't able to gather much information," muttered Jean, who felt expectedly dejected.
"I just hope we don't get kicked out over this." As for this sentence, it came from Ren. Obviously, she didn't feel even remotely good, but at least she could speak.
They kept talking, but I couldn't afford to pay much attention.
'So, on the first day, we explored the ruined town, and I got locked out of the room, which led me into a treasure hunt that devolved into a rescue operation…'
"Randall, do you have anything to say?" asked Jean, cutting my thoughts off.
"… It's strange."
"What?"
Shit, did I blurt that out loud?
"Uhh, nothing?"
And they forgot the situation… Or so I hope.
Ten minutes later, it was done.
"Thank you for having us over," said Jean, as she happily held the innkeeper's hands, who just smiled in response.
Ren did the same thing, eliciting a borderline untraceable flash of disgust in the granny's eyes, as they shook… hand and paw.
As for me? She didn't even bother.
With this, we silently left the town, and hit the road…
…
I'll be honest, not many things worth noting happened so far, with the sighting of a tree being one of the most interesting events that took place.
"Is that a forest?"
Needless to say, I was bored. And I still am. Because we still have a few hours to go before we reach Yuniler, or whatever the name of that small city was.
"Is that a group of merchants?"
This is nothing short of an agonizing ta- wait a second.
I took notice of the words being spouted by my companions, and looked at the forest ahead.
A group of six individuals, four humans and two elves, ran away from a forest. Three of them held on to some bags, while the other three provided cover fire with various ranged weapons.
A wave of wolves emerged from the vegetation, hellbent on tearing them apart.
"... Monsters," I uttered, coldly.
"Wait, Rand-"
… Right there, I felt something.
Almost subconsciously, the crimson crossbow appeared in my hand, and pointed straight at one of the dark skinned elves.
Her body jiggled with each step she took, in a feeble attempt to run away.
That is, until she tripped down.
And the arrow flew away.
A large wolf ran towards its prey, as it greedily flashed its bloody teeth.
"Shit! Someone, he-"
That elf, who closed her eyes in horror, didn't even have a chance to finish her words, because her ears feasted on another scene.
The body of the wolf, previously running towards her like a rabid monster, now found itself… missing its head.
"H-huh…?"
The fifteen or so bugs that chased the people remained frozen, as they stared at the wolf's headless corpse.
I asked Jean to take care of the humans. As for me? I dived into the scene as fast as my body allowed me to… Only for one of them to have the audacity to bark at me.
A laugh escaped my lips, as the crosshair of the crossbow met another head. The result? Yet another head blown.
The other monsters finally started to show panic, but it was too late.
***
[Jean's POV?]
"Shit…"
The wolf's head exploded, helplessly, which acted as a reminder for the other monsters. They had to retreat back to the forest, but not without taking some notorious losses.
"Wait, Randall! Come back here!" I yelled, as soon as I saw him heading into the forest.
He turned around, and stared at me. Lifelessly. Right in the eyes.
At that moment, I felt… unnerved by his gaze.
He stood there, for two or five seconds.
Only to recall his weapon, and walk over.
My body shivered as he walked over, and acted as if nothing happened.
Meanwhile, the crew he indirectly saved gathered their stuff, and came to greet us.
"S-sir Magnoldius formally thanks you for your help!" almost yelled one of the human men, as he pressed his palms together and bowed down.
He wore an oversized blue robe, with Nogarchid's national blue flag finely sewn on the left arm. His hands held on tightly to a few, seemingly heavy bags.
Strangely enough, the elf from earlier caught my attention.
Her dark skin and well-endowed body, covered by some worn, deep green robes, had a few bruises here and there. Most notably in her arms, possibly from carrying those bags full of gems… the ones she threw to the ground.
"It's nothing, really," casually said Randall, waving it off.
The merchant asked if he and his crew could repay us in any way, to which Randall replied…
"Actually, yes. Do you guys have horses or something? We're heading to Yumiler, but the trip has been slow so far…"
The gaze of the lead merchant trailed off towards the forest, his hand scratching the relatively chubby chin.
"It's… There.'
Letting out a tired sigh, the brown haired hand holder spoke. "So you want me to get it back? Sure, but we'll decide the price once I'm back. Jean, do me a favor and take care of them while I'm gone."
That… Why? Why is it always me?