Mally walked through the forest quietly. Rat had been left in a clearing, and they had their sword at the ready. They had to kill five goblins to get paid. That seemed simple enough, but they wanted to get more, at least ten. Mirabel had been incredibly concerned when they left on their own, but they knew they would come back alive. They were in goblin territory now, and while the goblins were typically left to their own devices, they had been raiding more and more lately. So, the culling had began. The crown didn't consider it important enough to send the knights, so adventurers had been called upon to do their jobs.
And so here Mally was. Walking through the forest, in the middle of goblin territory, ready to be attacked at any moment. They had their spores out, and they had them on alert mode to tell them if there was movement behind them. Carefully, they stepped over a fallen tree, and there was a snap behind them. Their head whipped around, and there it was.
It was small and green, dressed in a loincloth, with a wide open mouth betraying sharp teeth. There was drool slipping out from between its teeth, and Mally spun their sword around. With a high yell, the goblin charged them, and they activated their magic.
The goblin pulled up short, clawing at its throat as it dropped its crude sword, and Mally watched with cool, detached eyes as it fell to its knees, struggling to breathe. There was a look of panic and pleading on its face, but all they could think about was the constant gang rapes that beset the farms on the outside of the city, men and women both. They hardened their heart as the goblin fell to its face and clawed towards them, and there was rustling in the bush. Another goblin leapt out at them, and they blocked its strike with its club and twisted their sword, sending the club skittering away.
It flew at them, snarling loudly, and they clogged up its throat. It fell to its knees, letting out a weird hissing noise, and they tilted their head.
"Well," they said as one stopped breathing and went limp. "That's one."
The goblin snarled at them and tried to lunge, and Mally took a step to the right so it went wide and collapsed to its knees. It scrambled for its club and swung it wide, and Mally sidestepped that, too.
"You should just give up," Mally said dispassionately, and it collapsed and seized up on its side. Drool leaked out from its mouth, and it went limp.
Mally turned. They would come back later to collect their heads. In the meantime, they would head towards the village. They would meet more on the way over, and they had a feeling this would be a war of attrition. It was a matter of how long they could use their mana. They wanted more than just five of them, so they could get paid more, but they had to be careful. They had to be very careful.
An arrow came soaring out of the forest, and before they even realized what was going on, it struck them in the shoulder. They grunted as pain flared, and another arrow came flying out at them, and they ducked behind a boulder. They pulled it out, and their flesh started to close up around the wound weeping pale white liquid. They let their head hit the back of the boulder and breathed through the pain, and then they struck with their power.
There was the sound of something falling out of a tree. Something snapped, probably the bow, and they dialed it up to ten, choking out the goblin. There was a garbled noise behind them, and they waited patiently for the goblin to die.
It was dead. There was no more pulse, and they stood up. Another arrow came soaring at them and hit them in the dead center of their chest, and they dropped down and yanked it out. Clear white liquid came gushing out, and they cursed quietly. They would have to mend their shirt. How were they going to explain the lack of blood stains?
The hole closed up, and they directed their attention to the other archer. How many were there? There was another thump as it fell out of the tree, and a branch cracked behind them. A goblin came flying at them, and they stabbed it through the chest before it could crack their head open with its club. Blood splattered all over them, and oh, that solved that problem. They straightened up, and that was five. They could head home now, but they wanted to get more taken care of.
There was a crack in the brush behind them, and they whirled, ready to strike down the interloper, and then they froze.
Brown hair. Blue eyes, staring at them like saucers in the middle of her face. She was in riding pants and a neat little coat, and she had a lute over her shoulder. Fucking Daisy Aldova.
"What are you doing here, my lady?" Mally bit out, and she stammered for a moment.
"I... I wanted to see an adventurer in action," she said, pale faced and freaked out, and Mally frowned at her.
"This isn't a sight for tender eyes, my lady," they said. "Go home."
"I... don't know how to get back," she stammered, and Mally breathed out. Of course. Of course she was lost. "Did you just... kill all of them?"
"Yes," they replied, and she went pale.
"Oh," she said, her voice very quiet. Mally cleaned off their sword on their pants and sheathed it, and then they turned for the clearing.
"Let's get you home," they grumbled. "Go back to the clearing; I need to collect proof of death."
"You were... really brave," she stammered. "I would have panicked."
"Thank you, my lady."
"How do you become an adventurer?" she blurted, and Mally stared at her in silence.
"That's not a path for you," they said, and she turned bright red.
"Well, I wasn't asking for me," she said, even though she obviously was.
"Uhuh," they said. "My lady, I need to chop their heads off. You don't want to be here for that."
"I can handle it!" she protested, and Mally pursed their lips as they studied her. She looked small and scared. What did she even think she would see, coming out here like this? How long had she been following them? Why didn't they even notice?
This was disturbing. They didn't like this at all, and what was she doing with a lute? What was that going to do? Honestly, this girl...
"All the same, my lady, I would prefer not to do it in front of you. You'll get blood on your clothes," Mally said, and she looked down at her outfit. It was a very cute outfit. Browns and yellows.
"Okay," she mumbled and turned to walk away. "I'll... wait for you at the clearing."
Honestly, this girl... Mally was supposed to kill ten goblins today. They were deeply annoyed, and they got to the grisly work of chopping the heads off and tying them up by their sparse hair. The blood coming from their necks would probably stain Rat's saddle, they thought in annoyance. Honestly, why did the main characters keep following them? They were just a commoner and an adventurer. After all that damn work they did to get away from the plot...
Why was it still following them?
They lifted up the five heads and walked to the clearing, annoyed as all hell. They wanted to escape the plot, dammit. Why was it refusing to leave them alone?
A low growl assaulted them, and they turned. There was something lurking in the underbrush, and it was decidedly not a goblin. Yellow eyes peered out at them, and they drew their sword.
"Well? Come out," they said, and a luna wolf slunk out. It walked right past them and settled down to chew on one of the dead bodies, and they watched for a moment as it ripped a chunk out of the goblin's stomach. It was skinny, its ribs showing, and they felt for it. It probably was a rogue, banished from its pack and unable to eat.
They watched it eat for a moment, before they turned and kept walking. The wolf licked its chops and slunk after them, and they looked back in irritation. It looked young. Really young, maybe six months old. Not even full grown yet.
"What?" they asked it, and it dipped its head, watching them carefully. "What, you want some good food?"
They slung their pack off their back and pulled out some jerky, tossing it to the creature, and it gobbled it up, watching them with cautious eyes. Its tail slowly started to wag, and they frowned at it.
"No," they said, because they were not about to become a Disney princess. "No."
It drifted closer to them, and they sighed. It would run off when they reached the city. No way it was going to follow them in.
With that, they turned aside and kept walking to the clearing, where Daisy was sitting in the grass, plucking idly at her lute strings. She brightened up at the sight of Mally, and then her eyes fell on the luna wolf.
"Ah... You have a luna wolf," she said, and Mally looked back at it.
"Not for long. It'll run when we reach the city," they replied as they tied the heads to the saddle. "Let's go."
She bumbled to her feet and got the lute swung over her shoulders before she climbed onto her horse, a stunning dapple. The luna wolf watched them, and Mally urged their horse forward, towards the game trail.
"Why did you have to go and follow me, huh?" they asked Daisy, and she flushed.
"I just think you're very..." she trailed off and turned adoring eyes on them, and they sighed.
"This is a weird hobby for a lady, my lady," they said, and honestly, they knew one of the 'charming' aspects of Daisy was her lack of social tact, but really. This was too much.
"I never..." Daisy trailed off. "I've never been much of a lady."
Mally was quiet, because they got it. They did. But, Daisy needed to figure out how to be a lady, quick. She'd had her debutante, and while it was acceptable for her to have weird hobbies before then, now it was thoroughly frowned upon. She was probably suffocating.
"Don't you have a tea time to get to or something?" Mally asked, and she looked down in shame.
"I... haven't gotten any invitations," she said quietly, and Mally could not imagine that. She had no social power, and that reflected. "I've gotten a few invitations for balls, but they kind of invite everyone to those, so..."
"I see," Mally said. They would have never run into problems like that. As the daughter of a very wealthy marquis, they would be going to nothing but tea parties and balls and salons. Thank gods they had killed themself.
"I think... I think I would be happier as an adventurer," Daisy said with clear longing in her tone, and Mally was quiet. She probably would be, yeah, but they weren't about to encourage her.
"It's hard. You never know where you're going to lay your head at night," Mally said, and Daisy was quiet.
"I know, I just... I think my problems would be simpler," she said, and Mally pursed their lips.
"I can't say escape isn't the only option, but..." they trailed off, and Daisy glanced at them. "But you should think of your position."
"I know. I'm the eldest daughter. My only job is to marry well," Daisy said, and Mally wished that wasn't her life. "But, I just... I want to run away from all of it. I've always dreamed of being an adventurer, but..."
She glanced at the heads bouncing against Mally's side.
"Maybe I'm not cut out for it," she murmured and looked back. "That wolf is still following us."
"It'll leave when we reach more people," Mally said confidently, and she was quiet.
"You won't take care of it? It looks skinny."
"No," Mally said, flat. "My hands are full just feeding myself and Rat."
"Oh," she said, sounding hurt by this, and Mally swung their leg over the pommel of their saddle as they rode. "Who's Rat?"
"This guy," they said and patted Rat on the neck. There was a crack in the woods, and a low snarl, and Mally went still.
Shapes began to emerge from the wood, goblins, and without a word, they slid off Rat and drew their sword. The wolf pinned its ears back and snarled, and Mally swung their sword around.
"My lady, you need to run," they said, and Daisy's eyes went wide. Without a word, she slipped the lute around to her front and played a few notes.
The goblins all went ramrod straight, and then Daisy began to play. Suddenly, they all started shuffling in a dance, and Mally blinked as they started to dance in a circle around them. They moved in jagged motions, jerking, with looks of terror on their faces, and Daisy turned to Mally.
"What are you doing?" she demanded as her fingers danced over her lute. "Kill them!"
Since when had Daisy learned puppeteering? Mally didn't remember that coming up in the manhwa.
Even so, they needed to take advantage. With a glance back at the luna wolf, whose ears were pinned back in confusion, Mally breathed in and unleashed their spores on all ten goblins. They started choking, and Mally pushed it up to the max, trying to make it as quick as possible, because they didn't know how long Daisy could keep this up. Slowly, one after another, they began to drop, dead on the forest ground. The remaining goblins danced over their dead bodies, tripping and shuffling, and then they dropped, too.
It was over. Daisy and Mally had taken care of it, and Mally spun their sword around as the luna wolf slunk forward to sniff at the dead bodies.
"My lady, you should go forward," they said, and she set her jaw.
"You're going to chop off their heads?" she asked, and Mally nodded. "Then, no. I can handle a little violence."
"My lady, it'll disturb you," Mally protested, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight.
"I don't want to go!" she cried, and Mally paused at the force of her voice. She looked weirdly desperate, and Mally wasn't sure what to do. "What if I'm waylaid while you're here?"
Oh... Oh, that was true. Mally paused, because they did want to get paid, but...
"Alright," they agreed quietly. "You can stay."
Gods. This felt like an event. It couldn't possibly be an event, right? Random luna wolf shows up, they kill goblins together... No, this couldn't possibly be an event.
It was fine. It was fine. Everything was fine.