Postal Delivery Service

Dave

The past few days have been… eventful, to say the least.

""Boring, if thou were to ask me."" Nurgal barged in, her opinion unneeded. "Unneeded, he says. Were it not for thine power, then I would have personally discarded thee.""

'And yet, here I stand. You still need me, and there's nothing you can do until the job's done, isn't that right?' I foolishly taunted the goddess inside me, hearing a groan resound on her side. 'Besides, I still need to make you my pet before I die, permanently.'

""But thoust is already in possession of one!"" She loudly protested. ""Thine companion is more than good enough to service thee until the end of thine days. Why wouldst thou need a goddess like me in the end? I car not for companionship, or relationships even. Because at the end of the day, all beings shall meet the same end, and only I will be there to see it all crumble.""

Hmmmm, how do I respond to this? My mind raced, processing the information slowly as even Nurgal disappeared from my mind, her voice vanishing from my thoughts, as Asimi made her presence known. "Why do I feel like a child watching their parents argue?"

Good question, I don't know. But that's besides the point. We've wasted enough seconds idly sitting here. I think it's time I continue our little expedition.

Standing up from the grass, I reunited with Vestia, her smile warming my heart as I got closer to her. "So, what's the plan for today? More of the same?"

"No, I don't think so." She shot down the idea, pointing to the map she had laid out on the grassy dirt. "Yesterday, we made good progress in reaching deep into the Weeping Peninsula, and with the map thou hath acquired, I can only hope our travels will be more efficient."

"And what makes you say that?" I replied, layering a bit of faux pain in my voice. "My paths… are they really not up to par? To the point where, you needed to change them whilst we were in the middle of our trip?"

"No, not at all." Vestia denied, pulling me in closer as she pointed out a few locations. "We walk a straight path. And, if we are to deliver Miss. Irina's letter with great haste, then we must head straight for castle Morne."

Turning to our campsite, I spied the blind girl with an eye, memories of the past flashing through my mind, of another firekeeper. ""Ohoho~. There is another! Just when we thought she was the only one, you hide more mistresses behind her back. Such a Casanova~."" Nurgal, I need you to look around, and tell me who the fuck asked! "'Harsh in your words, are you? Fair, but I will remember this.""

Where was I? Oh right. "Should we leave her on a site of grace near the castle, or do we leave her here?" I asked, shifting back to Vestia, a thoughtful look on her face. "Perhaps we could bring her along for the time being and find a truly suitable place to keep her safe, if her father's somewhat competent, then it wouldn't be too far out of the picture to say he could protect her."

"That…" She trailed a finger on her chin as she looked skyward. "doesn't sound have bad. Wonderful, Dave, simply splendid."Why did I feel more wounded by her words more than anything? "However, an obstacle stands in our path. That giant wielding his devastating greatbow and massive stone arrows. What wouldst thou suggest is the best course of action?"

Several ideas popped up, and hundreds of them were left in the dust. Only a single one of them making it through till the end. "Why don't we run in such a pattern that it'd confuse the behemoth?" I suggested, gaining praise from the denizens of my mind. "The time it takes for him to load and fire a shot is massive. If we can just take advantage of that time, then I don't see any more problems coming our way."

"And after that?" Posing another question, she sipped on her cup of boiled water leaves. "Once we're past it, how wilst thou dodge the fire coming from behind? Unless…"

"Indeed." I answered simply, my left hand reaching for my Onyx Blade. "Violence will solve most of our problems, like it always has. My weapons will find themselves neatly nestled inside the archer. Speaking of which, you both will need to stay here for a moment while I take care of our little hurdle. Don't worry, it should be done come time our escort wakes. Any more than that and it would be a mark of shame on my skills."

"How so?" She questioned, a joking grin on her face. "Dost thou really see thine standards as so high that anything below them would be an insult? But just recently, I myself can remember more than one instance where it would have certainly been, no pun intended, tarnished."

That crossbow bolt… I can't… recover from that… "Fair, fair. Still, it won't be long, twenty minutes at the latest. If I take any longer, grab the girl and flank the giant, stick to the woods and out of sight."

"Alright." Taking my leave, I summoned torrent, moving to my mount's back as Vestia called for me. "Be safe. Thine recklessness is bound to cause thee many troubles, I can only hope for thine safety, even if it is already assured. Do it, for me, and this little one that has yet to be."

Did she… indirectly tell me to be more responsible? ""Ahahahaha~!"" Nurgal cackled in the background, as Asimi tried to console me, both of their efforts falling on deaf ears as urged my stead to move forward, fishing out my water container to take a sip. I really wasn't prepared for this, was I? Perhaps parenthood was never supposed to be a path I'd have to go on this early. Then again, it had to happen somehow, and either way, it was inevitable with how much I decided to blow my load inside of her… I just can't handle the responsibility, at least, not right now.

Pushing those thoughts to the wind, I spotted the glowing giant, already drawing his bow. A grin overcame my face, the thought of a challenge amusing me to no end, my hands tightly gripping around Torrent's handle.

There was about a kilometer distance between the two of us, and I'd have to make the whole trip mostly unscathed. It was a highly unlikely scenario, but damn I didn't have the drive to do it. My eyes sharpened, the world around me drawing to a crawl. My vision zoomed, focusing intently at the bowman's fingers, waiting for the right moment to-

It was off to the races, as my steed galloped to safety, avoiding the massive stone arrow coming right at us. One down, and there was still a long way to go. Luckily I was able to gain a fair amount of distance before he had to draw his bow. Again, he pull back his bow, and once more, my eyes and ears keenly observed, attempting to predict where it would land. Only for my eyes and mind to deceive me.

And as the arrow struck its target, Torrent fell, repeatedly tumbling over as the ground beneath him crumbled under the force, his legs damaged from the impact. It didn't look good, not one bit. Mangled beyond belief, and broken to shit. I'd need a miracle if I were to get this fixed in a timely manner. And to have fallen right at the middle… my fortune seemed to have turned around and flipped me the bird.

Gritting my teeth, I stared at it once more, my sight drawing thin as I dismissed the horse of its duty, eliciting a sad neigh in return. I know, bud. But I have to get through this somehow.

My legs ran on their own, entering a sprint as I stared down the towering fellow, his line of sight following mine as I moved. One… Two… Three… The string rung throughout the air, as my feet leapt off the ground. Jumping off into the side, finally reaching the last forth of the way there.

I had to be smart about this. Not only was I so close to victory, but I was also so close to death. One wrong move and- An arrow bypassed my senses, breezing through the air as it pierced my body, a foot-long hole in my abdomen suddenly appearing where it shouldn't have.

Sucking in a mouthful of air, it was instantly rejected as blood coughed out of my esophagus, a disgusting metallic taste staining my tongue. 'Flask… I… need my flasks' I urgently thought to myself, weakly fishing one out, my teeth pulling on the lid as I blew it out of my mouth. 'Faster, damn it. Faster!'

Downing the bottle contents, the giant had already notched another projectile, its face indifferent to the events playing out, blocked by a helmet. Gnashing my teeth, I keenly eyed the marksman from a far, my body reconstituting shortly thereafter.

Just a little bit more. One more step, even a half-step, any semblance of progress will be enough. Laying both my hands on the floor, I lifted myself upright, bring one leg over the next, repeating the steps even as he released his string, the arrow flying across the air. "Now!" I shouted, my legs pushing me off the ground while the projectile sailed just a hair away from me, my heart beating in my ears as though it were a drum.

Grabbing the Onyx Blade with both hands, I channeled my power into the sword, a blackish red flame bursting from the tip as it manifested into a viper, trailing the ground and managing to strike at the giant's legs, further crawling up its body with time.

Dismissing my weapon, I ran for it, using this opportunity to reduce the distance between us as much as possible. One…two…three… Four, I was within range. Raising my left hand up high, I drew upon my very own knowledge to pull off a pyromancy. Punching forward with an open palm, a wave of heat moved down my arm and funneled outward, exploding all at once.

A large explosion shot as a result, a point-blank strike at that. The giant staggered, its massive legs buckling under its own weight, tumbling to the ground with a great shock. The earth beneath me rumbled, small rocks momentarily jumping off the ground.

Using this rare opportunity, I resummoned my weapon, finding its glowing chest to be a suitable sheath. Pointing it towards the fine point, I plunged my weapon deep into his waiting hole, a burst of hot liquid shuffling out of the way as it made space for the greatsword.

With a weak cry, the beast had been felled, and its runes comfortably stored within my body. Another had fallen to my blade, and so easily at that. I almost felt disappointed by the sentiment. The rider in gold had been my strongest foe yet, seeing as he was still in the world of the living, a shame really. Perhaps I should return to him once I finish this journey.

Huh, this castle was much smaller than I thought it'd be.

…

"Thou hath made it just in time, with barely a scratch at that." Vestia praised, a wry smile etching itself onto my face. Right, little more than a scratch. "Though, unexpectedly, our guest seems to have woken up due to the noise coming from thy scuffle."

"And how's she holding up?" I asked, eventually noticing the girl walk towards us. "I assume you're relatively fine?"

"Y-yes sir." Irina stuttered, her steps now slowing to a snail's pace. "Thank you for taking me in, it was foolish of me to wait out in the open like that. I apologize for being an inconvenience."

"Nonsense." I reassured, trying to ease her into the situation. "Don't worry, we'll take you to your father, where it will hopefully be safe. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck traveling with us until we find you somewhere safe to stay. Can't leave you behind, after all, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I did."

"Thank you." She bowed, a light red hue dusting her cheeks. "However, there is but one issue."

"Which is?"

"As I've said previously, the castle had been overrun by its servants. Taking arms and slaying all who took residence in it. There were very little troops station at the building, but an abundance of weapons." Oh, that wasn't very good.

"So your saying there's a veritable army waiting at the doorstep?"

"Indeed." Me and Vestia looked between ourselves at this, a grimace contorting my face as I took in a deep breath.

"We will still deliver thy letter and thee to thine father, I can promise you that." Vestia spoke up, her voice appearing as though it were a beacon of light to the other blind woman. "Though, thou wilt have to make due with either hiding or staying here, it would be of great detriment to your health if thou were to enter the gates with us. I hope thoust will understand."

"…Thank you."

_____

[A/N: Managed to finish the chapter in my hotel room, bed is soft. Though, the mention of Irina 1.0 should interest you quite a bit. Copy and paste stuff below.

Anyways, if you find anything wrong in the fic, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and what I could have done in place of what is present.

Also, join discord server. I have one.: discord . gg / eTb2kPab4z

I also have a pa- tr eon at pa- t reon / balls1124 For only dollar or more, you can get access to 2 more chapters beyond the current one. That's pretty neat if I do say so myself.

With that being said, I'll enjoy my time in this comfy room.]