"Wow~ You two look pretty exhausted. That old man really did a number on you, huh?" Thran said to Lucian and Fei as they limped towards his counter. "You two were gone for a few hours, what did he do to make you this exhausted?" He continued with a mocking tone.
"We've finished the request..." Lucian mumbled as he pulled the now dirty and even more crumpled paper from his pocket. His every movement caused dirt to fall from his clothes.
"I can see that."
"That's rather shocking, that old man actually gave his signature and let you guys do it." Thran mumbled in slight bewilderment as he looked at the illegible signature of the old man. "Did he give you the rewards of the request?" He asked. Neither Fei or Lucian held anything in their grasps.
"Yes... We just dropped it off at our home."
Before they arrived at the adventurer's guild, they stopped at their home to drop off the rewards they acquired. If they continued to carry the vegetables, they wouldn't have made it to the adventurer's guild.
"Okay, congratulations on completing your first request!" Thran exclaimed. His smug expression changed into a slightly proud smile. He moved his right arm to the side of the counter, and slid a stamp near the sheet of paper. "I'll get this authorized into our system."
They thanked Thran for his effort and left the adventurer's guild.
The next couple days were rather uneventful, they both stayed home and rested.
'Why... do I feel like something bad is going to happen...?' Lucian grimaced as he stared at the ceiling. A cold feeling swept across his skin after he had woken up. 'Could she be having a bad dream?' Lucian thought as he looked to the right. A small area around Fei felt constantly cold, it worsened whenever she was sad, or in a bad mood. However, his feeling was wrong as Fei silently slept.
Sighing in relief, Lucian ignored the bad feeling and sat up. After a couple of days rest, the muscle cramping and soreness had dissipated from his body.
'We should probably accept another request today... Hopefully there isn't any like that...'
He stretched his body then stood up from his bed carefully as to not wake up Fei. Just after he rummaged through his clothes, he heard a small yawn from behind.
"Oh, good morning." Lucian said to Fei.
"Good morning..." Fei replied as she rubbed her eyes slightly. Part of her nightgown slipped off her shoulder, revealing her pale skin.
Lucian stared at Fei for a moment while containing his internal thoughts.
"Mm...? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, I was just thinking about what we should do today." Lucian shrugged as he replied. "We should take another request today... 20 coppers won't last -" His eyes widened as the reason for the ominous feeling he kept feeling popped inside his mind.
'W-What's wrong?" Fei suddenly asked after seeing Lucian's face turn to horror and shock.
"N-Nothing!"
'Crap I forgot about that! I have to get 30 coppers to him today!' Lucian internally cursed at himself. "I just remembered, before we go to the adventurer's guild I have somewhere to stop." He explained to Fei.
"O-O-Okay..." Fei responded, she tilted her head slightly as Lucian grabbed his clothes in a slight panic. It was apparent to her that he was trying to hide something. He fumbled to grab the doorknob, and left the room in a silent panic. 'What's he even hiding...?' Fei questioned as she changed out of her nightgown.
Moments after she changed into a blue shirt, and a knee-length skirt, the sounds of Lucian changing ceased. 'What's gotten into him...?' Fei questioned yet again as his footsteps quickly scampered from the door instantly after.
"Um... Why, Why are you in a h-hurry already...?" Fei called out to him before he could leave the house.
"I just have something to deal with as soon as possible, I'll be back!" Lucian responded before he left in a whirlwind.
Silently, Fei stared at him from the doorway. Fear, confusion and worry gripped at her heart as she watched Lucian's back get smaller. Before got too far, an idea popped inside her mind.
"...nngh... ow..." Fei's voice resounded in Lucian's mind. He whipped his body around as his heart skipped a beat, only to see the entrance of their home to be closed.
'Was that Fei...? Why did it sound so muffled?' Lucian wondered as he checked around the area for a minute. 'Was that just my imagination?' He scratched his head for a few seconds before turning back to his original path. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of curious eyes watched him walk away.
'Why are more of them staring at me...?' Lucian thought as he continued along, the pairs of eyes that normally stared at him intensified; more gazes looked towards him, some looked past him in fear. 'Just ignore them... All they do is watch.' He focused his attention on the rocky path in front of him, ignoring the eyes that watched him from their homes or stores.
"Hey kid, where did that demi-human you always had with you go? Did you finally get rid of her?" A shopkeeper hollered at him.
"Finally took him long enough, its presence was a nuisance to see." A woman hanging clothes on a line commented loudly.
"Don't get your hopes up, he probably had her stay home."
"She's fine, I had an errand to deal with, thank you for the concern though." Lucian loudly responded, he didn't stop his stride and never looked in their direction.
"Bah!" The shopkeeper exclaimed.
"I told you to not get your hopes up! Demi-human lovers like him will never be convinced to let them go!"
"I don't get why the king enacted that law to allow demi-humans to be citizens, they're use-" The voices of the hecklers quieted down as Lucian made more distance between him and them.
As he neared the shop, more voices rose, but this time they didn't heckle him; screams of terror arose behind him.
"WHAT IS THAT?! HOW DID A MONSTER GET IN HERE?!"
"SOMEONE GET THE GUARDS!"
"IT'S GOING TO GET AWAY!"
"CATCH IT BEFORE IT CAN DO ANYTHING!"
Looking back once again, the view of multiple people chasing after a furry creature welcomed him. The furry creature nimbly weaved through the clutches of its pursuers and slid into an alleyway.
Lucian shrugged, and once again, continued his errand.
"There we go..." Lucian gulped as he stood in front of the door of the shop. Its sized multiplied, as the feeling of danger prodded at him. "It's just thirty copper, do I have that on me...?" Lucian double checked the amount of coins on him.
He steeled his nerves before walking inside.
"Welcome to my shop! How can I- Oh, it's you." The stout shopkeeper exclaimed. "I'll deal with you once I'm done here." He said to Lucian before turning to the customer he was originally talking with.
A few minutes later, he shook hands with the customer.
"Now, did you bring the copper?"
"Yes, here it is." Lucian set 3 medium-sized copper coins into the man's outstretched hand.
"Good, you can actually keep your word." The shopkeeper commented, he meticulously eyed the copper coin, after he was done he slid them into one of his pockets. "Now that's over with, how did that staff turn out? Were you able to use it?"
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to test it out, our first request wasn't something we hoped it would be."
"Well, you should test it out soon, it's best to see if she can use it before you do any fighting."
"Yeah, yeah. How much left do I owe you?" Lucian asked, he shrugged slightly as the shopkeeper's expression turned into disbelief. Despite holding onto his and Fei's funds, Lucian was terrible with topics related to money.
"How did you even forget the amount? We've talked about it for months!" The shopkeeper exclaimed. His disbelief grew as Lucian's neutral expression didn't waver. "Whatever... You owe me around 540 copper, don't forget to bring-"
"HEY SHOPKEEP WE NEED SOME WEAPONS! A MONSTER HAS SNEAKED INTO THE KINGDOM!"
"How the heck did that happen?!"
"No one knows! It suddenly appeared in this part! Everyone's tryna chase after it but the little bugger keeps avoiding us!"
"Geez... Just grab a few weapons from that table over there, but bring them back when you're done!"
"THANK YOU!"
The man who burst through the shop's door rushed to the table near the front entrance and snagged a few weapons and left as quickly as he came.
"Anyways, don't forget to pay what you owe in three days." The shopkeeper sternly ordered Lucian while pointing at him. "If you don't I'll find where you live and get that debt paid by force." His warning sent shivers down Lucian's spine.
"Y-Yeah, I get it..." Lucian sputtered as he took a step back, sweat began to form on his back and forehead. "30 copper in three days, I understand, I'll have it by then!"
"Good, now get yer arse out of here."
'We'll need to do a lot more requests...' Lucian thought as he rushed out. 'We only got 20 copper from one request... Fei'll have to figure out a budget for us.' Outside of the shop Lucian stared at the ground with his pointer finger resting below his chin. What was he supposed to tell Fei? His goal was to keep his debt hidden, but it'll take most of their income if they can't find any decent paying requests.
Another chill down went down his spine not long after, this time, he didn't feel in danger. Glancing over to the source, Lucian caught a glimpse of a white tail disappearing into another alleyway. 'Was that the monster?! Lucian rushed towards the same alleyway, but he was too late as the being he saw had disappeared.
"Where the heck?!" Lucian blurted out. "Where did it even go?!" He was left in shock, the part of the kingdom they lived in was rather enclosed, many of the residents live in homes that sat directly next to each other. His shock grew as he inched through the alleyway, only to find nothing but dust and dirt.
He searched around for a few minutes before leaving the alleyway and walked to his and Fei's home. Due to the appearance of the monster, his walk wasn't filled with glares or heckling.
Just outside of his home, a group of armed men interrogated his neighbor. Each wore platemail armor, a longsword sat on each of their hips. Lucian recognized them to be the guards that roamed their kingdom.
"Where did you last see the monster?" The guard in front of the group asked his neighbor. The authority in his voice sent his neighbor's spine upright.
"I-I saw the monster running over this way, it hid, hid behind that house right there!" His neighbor blubbered whilst he raised his finger and pointed towards the house in front of him.
"Thank you for your time, please proceed with your day, Sir." The guard said after he took note of the location.
Just before the guardsmen locked their attention on Lucian, he slipped into his home.
"This is going to cause a ruckus..." Lucian mumbled, his front door banged a few times. A few more bangs later, he heard the guardsmen leave.
"Thankfully... Oh, Fei I'm back."
Near their dining table, Fei stood with her arms crossed.
"Wait, did something happen?" Lucian asked as he looked at the state of Fei's appearance. Her hair was messier than her normal bedhead, a red mark covered her forehead, the fur on her tail stood up and dirt covered most of it.
"N-Nothing h-happened..."
"Why do you look like that?" Lucian followed-up, he took a step closer to Fei. "Did someone do this to you?" His tone became agitated, it grew with every second of silence. "Fei, pleas-"
"I F-F-Fell when trying to take a nap..."
Her one good ear flicked when explaining to Lucian.
"Please, tell me what actually happened."
"I-I..."
"I-I Fell... W-When watching you walk away..." She meekly explained, her cheeks became rosy.
"Phew... You sure are clumsy, or the ground just loves you." Lucian remarked, his worried frown instantly turned to a teasing smile after hearing Fei. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"N-No..."
"Just be careful next time."
"Mm..."
"We should get ready to leave." Lucian mumbled. His clothes were all sweaty due to his rush, meanwhile Fei's appearance was a mess, other than her hair the clothes she is wearing were all dirty.
"Y-Yes..."
An hour later, they left their home. Lucian only bothered to change into a clean shirt, and left his unkempt hair as is. While Fei switched into a dress, most of the time they spent came from her brushing her hair, and cleaning her tail.
"What type of request do you think we can find?" Lucian asked out of the blue.
"I-I don't know..." Fei responded, her ears slightly perked up after the sudden question. She felt her stomach churn as she looked at the staff in her hands. 'Will we be able to pay this off?' Her lips curled into a frown.
"Well, whatever we get, it'll be better than that last one!" Lucian exclaimed, his smile turned stiffly while seeing the side eye Fei gave him. "O-Oh, why don't we go see Aiko? She might be missing us."
"D-Do we have time to stop by, by there?"
"Yes."
"A-Alright..."
With their sudden decision, they detoured off their original path; thankfully, it was not far as they reached their goal in less than half an hour.
"Hm? Seems like a slow day." Lucian remarked, the tavern they often visited was empty, at the entrance a tall demi-human woman leaned on the front door. Her apron swayed as she tapped her foot.
"Welcome to- It's you two! It's been a long time you cuties, I thought I'd never see you again!"