Chasing A Ghost 1

"Hold your horses. There's a bunch of things I need to take care of before we get to that. You bought her some time. That's enough for now."

Kimberly said those words to me after getting me worked up last night. Ugh! I was so ready to get into the face of danger to save a couple's way of life. Oh, well. I guess the next best thing is to find out anything I could about this lady those thugs were talking about.

This settlement is small but thick wooden walls surround it to protect against any curious monsters or wild animals. Anyone who wants to come here must go through the only gate. And of course, If such a lady did enter, the guards who are posted there should know something.

"Yo Bobbin, Neal, how you doing?"

I greet the two guards who are standing at attention. Bobbin's a young beast woman of the cat tribe in her early twenties and Neal's an older dwarven gentleman around his mid forties. The Sheriff doesn't believe in learning through lectures so he sticks the newbies with the old foxes to learn the ropes.

"Hey, Richard," Neal greets me with his usual big smile. "Came to join us?"

"Hello, Sir Richard," Bobbin adds in her always formal tone.

I got to know this duo when I first got here. They were the ones guarding the gates when I carelessly kicked a giant spider to the wall. Needless to say, they were not happy.

"Nah, I'm here to ask something," I reply.

"Shoot away," Neal responds.

"I'm looking for a lady that came in recently. I know that we don't get much people coming in and since the settlement is pretty tight knit, you'll immediately recognize if someone's new."

"Ladies eh?" he thinks for a bit. "If someone did come in, it wasn't during our shift. How about you Bobbin? Saw any new lady faces?"

She shakes her head and says, "I had to take care of my siblings yesterday so I came home right after work. Didn't have time to even enjoy a beer at the pub."

"Those siblings of yours keeping you busy lately huh?" I chuckle. "Hopefully this settlement can get some decent people to babysit for you. All we got are thugs and explorers."

She sighs and replies, "Tell me about it..."

"Hahaha, you're also at that age when you'll start thinking about getting hitched," Neal chimes in. "Most of the guys, and ladies I don't know what you're into, are a bunch of unpredictable, and often violent, folks."

"I'm into men, Neal..." she says dryly. "In any case, we don't know the lady you're looking for, Sir Richard. Maybe you'll have more luck at the pub when it opens later."

"Alright, I guess I'll do that."

Honestly, I want to catch this person as soon as possible. Apparently, she disabled my [Basilisk Eyes] which means that she's no small-fry. And by the looks of it, already knows where Sylvia's hiding since she sent those guys yesterday. It's as if she's saying that she could take Sylvia by force if she wants to so why bother hiding? What an arrogant woman...

"Oh wait!" Neal exclaims. "Yes, the pub! Cramer was talking about this "hot chick" he met at the gate a couple of days ago. Of course, I didn't believe the guy since he's a drunken pervert who makes shit up to impress us, but maybe she's the one you're looking for."

A couple of days ago... But I rescued Sylvia and Francis just the other day...

"Did she say to Cramer why she's here?" I ask.

"It was a wild night so I don't remember much," he scratches his head in thought. "I think he said she was... waiting for someone? Again, I thought he was bullshitting so I just treated him like white noise."

Bingo! She probably somehow knew that they're heading here and waited for them. Such a distasteful hobby...

"That's actually very helpful, Neal! Thanks." I say and pat him on the shoulder.

"Glad I could help! It's the least I could do after all those times you've helped us," he replies. "If you wanna see Cramer, he's always at the pub as soon as it opens. But now that I think about it... I haven't seen him for a hot minute."

"He's probably just took some time off work and drunk himself to sleep in some ditch," Bobbin chimes in.

"Wow, you... you really hate him huh?" I say carefully.

She just shrugs in response.

"Well, I got what I'm looking for so I guess I'll just kill time until the pub opens," I say as I stretch my tired limbs.

I deserve a break man. I rescued some strangers, got into a fight with a snake, and Kimberly keeps pestering me. Richard needs some alone time. However, it seems that life has a way screwing me over.

"Oh, right one more thing, Richard," Neal calls out to me before I start heading off into the forest. "Sheriff Margrave's looking for you,"

Ugh. That can't be good...

"Neal... buddy. We're friends right?"

"Haha, not gonna work this time, Richard," he blocks my advance before I could even start. "He's pretty pissed at me when I lied about where you were the last time. Unless you can give me a yearly salary, you better see him asap."

"Ugh, what could that boring, stick in the mud, rules guy want with me?" I groan.

"This boring, stick in the mud, rules guy want you to cooperate as, you're, told," a familiar, authoritative voice says behind me.

It's the Sheriff. He looks like a cowboy through and through. Brown poncho, gun belt, a bandolier across his chest and of course the big ol' cowboy hat. His attire screams vagabond but his way of speaking has this stiffness and class that you would expect to hear from a posh butler.

"H-hey, there Nick! Didn't expect to see you here," I chuckle nervously.

"From the looks of it, you didn't expect to see me at all," he responds in a deadpan manner. "Tell me, Demain, where were you just heading off to?"

"Oh, you know just in the forest. I'm craaaaving for berries lately," I reply.

"Oh really?" he raises an eyebrow and steps closer. "So you'd rather pick berries and flitter about in the forest than do what I told you to do a couple of weeks ago. Is that right?"

"Well... now that you say it like THAT, it DOES sound like I'm just fucking around."

"Because you are!" he finally snaps. "I've given a task to EVERY person in this settlement because that's my JOB Demain. I know you might see me as bossy or annoying and whatnot but it is my duty to lead this settlement off the ground."

In response, I calmly lock eyes with him until he's done with his outburst.

"You done?" I ask.

He bites his lips in frustration. It IS his duty to make sure that everyone cooperates but he knows that there's nothing he could do to make me do his bidding.

"You're so strong, Demain..." he says as he grips his fists tight. "I'm just... frustrated that you don't seem to be willing to help us..."

"Dude... you got approved by the Church to start a settlement here despite being human. Plus, I saw you put six holes into a man in one second. You have good leadership skills and the people actually like you! Trust me, you, nor this settlement, don't need my help with whatever it is you guys want to accomplish."

Zero lies in what I just said. He has everything he needs to make this settlement great but he somehow got the idea that he needs me to get to his goal. I should've let him kill that damn troll instead of doing it myself because I was bored...

He eyes me for a second. It's clear he doesn't get complimented much since he's second-guessing what I just said. Eventually, he sighs and walks off.

"Fine, do whatever you want," he says as he lights up a cigarette. "If you want to talk to Cramer, I sent him to investigate the place I told you to take a look at since I couldn't find you. Heh, I guess fate's with me on this one, Demain."

Son of a bitch...