Paridiots {VOLUME 1}: How to Survive a Fantasy World with a Party Full of Idiots

[6] But Then, Koemi's Ex Appears

"Funny... they're crows, right, meow?" Seiko chuckled, her voice a little strained. "I guess you could say that 'their skills exceed ours'..."

"Stop it with the crappy references already!"

...

"Quite an easy mission, I'd say."

While Blair walked off the scene, her greataxe slung over her shoulder and her suit clean, Seiko and I emerged with feathers stuck to our clothes as though they'd been glued. "Lucky... you didn't get the nasty half of that battle," I snorted, attempting to brush off the skirt of my dress.

"I don't think I managed to get a single crow beak, meow. They were everywhere..."

"I saw close to no challenge dealing with those pests. Perhaps we need to hold a training regimen?"

"N-no please!" Seiko and I exclaimed in sync. Any training guided by Blair would be a living nightmare, I presumed. Yeesh, not something I want to try. Noooo thaaaank youuuuu.

We collectively began heading to the site of delivery. Personally, I had a bone to pick with the woman as to what any sane person would do with a stock of crow beaks. Those crows had been tougher to eliminate than any other large mob- maybe even worse than King Crab. Aagh, definitely not worse. Still way more trauma from that thing.

The destination up ahead was a small cabin at the base of a hill, somewhat around the giant lake we had visited not too long ago. I gazed up at the top of the hill, squinting. Hm, looks pretty familiar. No clue why, though. I continued towards the front door, standing behind Blair as she rapped her knuckle across the surface a few times.

A girl with choppy black hair opened the door, smiling at us. "Good afternoon. Are you the group who accepted by request?"

"Unfortunately, meow..." Seiko murmured, but it was overpowered by a calm "yes, we are," from Blair. Hearing this, the girl inside the house nodded, opening the door wider for us to walk through. "Come inside, if you may."

"Delightfully," Blair headed for the interior, standing relatively close to the doorway. "Some manners you got, eh?" I teased, leaning against the wall beside her. Seiko stood on the opposite side of the doorway for the sake of space, while the girl stood in front of us.

The girl extended her hands, and our stone cold representative placed a large bag in the palm of one. "Roughly how many crow beaks did you manage to scrap up?"

"Approximately twenty-four. I counted along the trip."

"T-that much??" I stammered. No wonder that whole fight had been difficult, if we were fighting at least twenty-four crows. "This better be enough to satisfy, or I swear..."

"It's way more than what was required, thank you!" The girl bowed in a formal thank-you. "I appreciate all of your work! And the price was four silver per person, yes?"

While she spun around to go retrieve our pay, I took the time to glance around the place. It was well-kept, for a shabby old log cabin, and from what I could see of the area to our right, it was a cozy living room with a fireplace with two couches on either side. Close to the doorway was a counter lined with several stools, a large window-like area revealing a small kitchen behind it. To the right of that, or behind the living room, was a patio leading to the hill outside, followed by a hallway to the right of that.

As I navigated the area, a small figure came out of the hallway area, one I identified to be a young boy. He's probably a tween or so- wait.

Trying my best not to noticeably stare, I turned away, my eyes still trailing after the debuted kid. He walked into the kitchen, throwing my party and I a quick look but returning to his initial goal soon after. I know those eyes... it can't be!