Hm...I should strike up a conversation with Merchant Lady here.
It's boring having to walk back, I just realized now that we were so far away from the village.
"Why'd you decide to walk anyway, Merchant Lady? You could just sit inside the caravan you know?" I asked, my hands behind the back of my head as we walked.
"I can't just stay inside the Caravan after that. If some monsters come out again it would be best I stay outside instead, besides as the Leader of the caravan it's only right that I lead the way." She said, showing pride a bit with how she's puffing her chest out...
"Also, stop calling me Merchant Lady. I have a name, it's Serena." She said which made me realize I hadn't actually known her name for awhile now.
Good thing she reminded and took the initiative.
"Right. I didn't know your name! My bad, sorry I forgot to ask." I said scratching the back of my head now, seriously I'm acting like we're friends when I don't even know her name.
"....Anyway, the other 4 are, Levy, Rea, Io, and Jin. Atleast remember how they look and while you're at it maybe tell your friends too? I don't wanna see them die accidentally cuz your friends didn't recognize them." She said.
I would've felt offended by that if it weren't for the fact that they literally just faced off several ogres before and almost died.
So, this time I'll let her off with that.
"Uh-huh, don't worry, those guys back there might act stupid but they're not. I hope you'd try a little to see if they're trustworthy?" I said, I'm still not set on with trusting them. I know they're sent by a human kingdom from outside, I just don't know what they're here for. I don't think it's to kill us, maybe to see if we're a threat? I'm actually surprised the other kingdoms of the humans haven't attacked yet.
Maybe someone out there is helping us?
----
We arrived at the village about an hour after that.
The look on each of their faces as they looked at the little "kingdom" we had here was priceless!
I couldn't hold off my laughter because of how they looked.
Serena was shocked, I could tell because of the fact her body turned rigid when we walked closer even with that poker face on her face.
The other four's reaction was a little exaggerated, with how their mouth was wide open and their eyes literally shranked.
"Pft- hahahaha. You guys should keep your mouth shut! You might catch flies." I said while smirking, poking them with my index finger a bit.
"W-What the fuck happened?! We we're just gone for a month!" Rea, a red head with pointy elf ears asked. She's sort of been breaking my views on the elegance of elves with how much she cursed along the way, when she was excited while talking with her friends I could hear her say "Fuck" or "Shit, what bullshit!" and all that.
I guess I should've known when her hair was red rather than golden?
Anyway other than that they were a fun crew too.
Now, I have to decide how I act. All the monsters inside the village is basically evolved, if I do the wrong thing it might backfire and make them send an army here.
Ha...
While I was still thinking we finally got inside after Boulder opened the gates and greeted us. I could see the worry in his eyes and I could tell he wanted to say something, but I signalled that that could be talked about later.
He agreed reluctantly and walked back.
And just as I expected from the merchant group, they flinched and looked wary. I could tell they were observing around, they were especially looking at the huge tower we had on the square.
Yeah, even a few kilometers back I could already see the tower. I'm surprised they didn't ask about it, I guess they were thinking they were hallucinating.
We continued walking towards my house, I couldn't see Scarface around nor Fen and the others.
They're probably inside the tower. Good. We still have a bit of time before Boulder leads them here. I just know that guys was going to call them, it was obvious because he was going towards the direction of the tower. He did try to go around but I could tell anyway.
When we finally got inside my little abode I finally talked.
"I guess we should talk now, right? Serena?" I said as Serena promptly manifested a sword out of nowhere and was now threatening to slit my throat as she was behind me. Seriously, for a human, she was a bit tall. Standing at around 5'8, back in my country in the previous world, seeing a woman pass 5'4 was already considered very tall.
"Don't move. The sword doesn't have an eye, Aria." She said her voice a cold, but there was hesitation on her actions.
That's either because this is her first mission as a, what ever it is they're here for, squad. Or because she thinks of me as a friend.
I'll put my bet on the latter, a little narcissistic but I think the girl sees me as one.
I could see the other 4 also alert and looking at me and the sorroundings. Probably looking if there were some ambush here or something.
Yeah, I wouldn't think they were here for something if they didn't do that. I guess that just proves that they are.
"Yeah, we should." I said as 'I' tapped Serena on the back. From the moment we were walking towards my house I already casted Illusion magic little by little, just enough for them to not see the mana fluctuation of the duplicate skill I was using. I also covered my clone up with illusion magic on the way here.
I do have foresight you know? I'm not stupid enough to start thinking that just because I was around simple minded brawns everything would be sunshine and rainbow. I didn't survive for as long as I have back then to be so naive.
I guess the other me also thought that cuz she immeditely used Ice magic to freeze the other 4's feets on the spot. One of them, Jin, started to cast spells but too bad another of my clone already covered their mouths with a clean cloth.
I got those cloths after cutting them out from the clothes of when I was small. They're clean, I swear! I asked Jia to clean it with healing magic, I actually didn't know it could do that.
Anyway, they really shouldn't have let Serena be the one to hold me captive.
When Serena saw that she backed her blade away from me.
I was starting to think she wasn't part of this, but from the look in her eye that indicated she 'knew' I wouldn't do anything to them I knew she was just either naive or stupid.
Although, her gamble paid off I guess?
But, the same can't be said on the others so I used Shadow magic to create another bind on them. Now they really can't move nor use magic!
While I did that, my clone led Serena towards the table on the living room.
I dragged the other four with me. Today I realized that the Ice could move if I willed it. So yeah, I was moving their feet using the Ice below them.
Welp, Time to talk!
Little Theater
Serena: "I can't believe you tricked me with a clone!"
Aria: "Hey, you pulled a sword on me first. Fair's fair."
Serena: "Fair?! You tied us up with shadow magic!"
Aria: "Oh, sorry. Would you prefer ice instead?"
Serena: "...Forget I said anything."