Naeva-To Fight a Monster

Chapter 1

Naeva Zero didn't really consider herself a warrior. She'd learned how to use a staff from Master Zero seven years ago, and those skills had helped her survive in Finster, but even with what Master had taught her, the only monster she'd ever killed was a small griffin, and that was almost entirely by accident. Here in this country to the north, people had their mercenary guilds-or orders, as she'd heard them called-placed all over. Naeva's staff wouldn't often be needed when far more skilled warriors were always on patrol.

She didn't want to join any of those orders, either. She'd heard there was a solid income, especially in the ones that served the king, but while she could hold her own in a fight, that didn't mean she enjoyed it. Besides that, most of those orders were always running off to the next town over, if not farther. She was sick of traveling so much.

Why don't these guilds just pick a town to protect? she mused, glancing at another building, one that housed an order called Oceanheart, according to the sign. There are enough in this town alone to protect every settlement in this country.

The growling from her stomach reminded her why she wasn't preparing to sleep in the outskirts of town right now. Everything edible in the north "belonged" to people, so she needed more Tierisch money soon or she would starve. As someone who'd been doing nothing but survive during the last ten years, that meant becoming a low-profile, one-girl mercenary guild of her own, at least for now.

So Naeva had been asking around town, trying to find a place where she could work, but this town of Jotaris was frustrating in its peace. She supposed having so many orders based here would deter criminals. Normally that would be great, but as hungry as Naeva was...

She sighed. No business here needed a guard. The few that did already had a contract with a local order. Her skill with a staff would be useless here unless she signed herself into one of those guilds.

I never thought I'd hate a peaceful town this much, Naeva thought, her stomach growling still louder, demanding food now. Maybe if I'd just visited one of those guilds, I wouldn't be so hungry now...

"Excuse me, young miss?"

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Naeva cautiously turned, adjusting the sling over her shoulder, adjusting her staff so she could easily grab it if the need arose. A matronly woman was approaching, a sympathetic expression on her face. "I heard you've been looking for a job?"

Naeva instinctively put a hand on her staff, but she forced herself to relax. The odds of this woman being from a bandit clan were next to zero. Those dangers had passed when she left Finster.

"Yes, ma'am," she replied, inwardly cringing at her strong Finstrese accent. She kept having to remind herself that her freckles and wild berry-red hair already made her nationality obvious.

The woman looked her over. She looked Naeva over, from her bright hair, only neck-length but sticking almost straight to the right, to her tired blue eyes, to the roundness of her cheek even as the bones showed through, as if trying to prove her starvation. After a final glance at Naeva's torn clothes, the woman noted, "Well, you'll never get a job here looking like that." Seeing Naeva's disheartened expression, the woman's smile returned. "But that's besides the point. When I heard about you, I decided to come out and see if I could help."

"I don't want to inconvenience you," Naeva said uncomfortably, backing up a step. Inconvenience aside, she didn't want to let a stranger take her in. She'd learned her lesson about that mistake ages ago.

"I'll just help you get started, okay?" the woman promised, gently taking her hand and leading her down the street. "You can pay me back later if you must."