1 Chapter 1: Along The Riverside

Slimes... It was just supposed to be some slimes. Squishy, bouncy, easy to kill slimes. So, how did I end up in a situation where I'm now running for my life from a Lich? You know, an undead zombie-witch that floats, and literally. Never. Gets. Tired?...

When I think back, I'm positive it all started the day that adventurer girl came to my village. You see, what I should have done was admire her from a distance like the rest of the people around at the time did, and then gone back to milking my cows. But, nope. Brilliant me decided to go talk to her...

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From my small stable house I could see a few people moving back, and forth along the sides of the village street. Some of the neighbors were muttering about something. "Where do you think she's from?", I heard one of the people passing by with their friend say.

"She's and adventurer, right, not a soldier?", asked our neighbor; Mrs. Taver to another woman.

I peeked my head out the stable door to check out the situation.

It was just a girl. The first thing I noticed about her as she stood in the middle of the road was her hair; a long, shiney blonde with straight bangs, and braids going around the sides to keep the rest pinned back. I had always had this idea of all adventurers being muddy and soot covered, but she was far more elegant and put together. The next thing I noticed was her gear.

That's not a euphemism. I'm talking about the armor she wore. Light plate metal capped her shoulders, wrists, and legs, with some sort of leather-like material making up for much of the underneath and slightly more exposed areas.

I've seen other adventurers come and go through our village before. My Dad once said that it's normal for newbie adventurers to start off with something standard of that sort. It's perfect for taking some normal hits against some enemies one might start out with on standard quests, and the light weight made it easier to run if they ever were to get into any real trouble.

As I watched her I could see she was carefully surveying her surroundings. Continuously glancing up and down from the map she was holding back to the houses and roads with a confused look.

"Are you okay, Ms?"

I asked, walking up to her. I could hear a few more whispers from some of the other villagers.

She jolted her head in my direction.

"Huh, uh, is this... Gram town?", She asked.

"No, this is Pine Village.", I replied.

"Oh no, I must have read the map wrong...", She muttered.

"Gram town is about a days away in that direction." I motioned to the long road that stretched through the village and into the forest hills of the mountain side.

"I was supposed to meet up with my party in Gram, although, I think I might have gotten lost." She said with a somewhat disappointed look.

"Could I see your map?" I asked her, holding out my hand.

She stared at me for a moment and then gave it over, watching as I inspected it.

"Ah, okay, I think I see what happened. You must have followed the path along the riverside, right?"

"Yes?..." She replied slightly confused.

"Okay, so while it looks like there's only one path to follow, there's actually two. The one that leads to Gram got covered up a bit some time back during a storm, so I guess it would be easy to miss if you aren't paying much attention"

She held her palm to her face."I knew something like this would happen. I told my party members we should go in pairs but they insisted it would be faster to complete our quest if we split up.", She said sighing. "I better get going."

She turned to me as I handed back over the map, then began her walk towards the end of the road out of the village."

I'm not sure what it was. I guess something about a cute, clutzy girl who could get lost even while reading a map got to me.

"Wait.", I said. "It's going to be dark soon. Are you sure you want to leave now? You'll end up having to sleep in the woods."

"I'm an adventurer. Camping out is normal for the lifestyle."

I thought harder. "Do you want to stay the night at my place?"

"Your place...?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah, well, my famillie's farm", I motioned to the rock carved looking building with the wooden stable next to it.

She glanced at it, then back at me. "No, thanks." she said assuredly, turning to continue her walk once again.

"Are you sure? It can get kind of cold in the mountains at night.", I pressed once more.

"Just what are you trying to play at?", She snapped at me. "You're just trying to get me alone so you can try pulling something weird, aren't you?"

I jumped back. I could hear neighbors beginning to whisper louder now. "No, no, it's nothing like that, I swear! It's just that there can be some pretty tough monsters that come out at night sometimes, and we wouldn't exactly be alone or anything either. I live with my mother, father, and younger sister...", I continued trying to explain sheepishly.

"Oh..." She thought to herself for a moment.

"Are you sure it'll be alright with your family?", she asked.

"Yeah! For sure! I know they wouldn't mind at all!", I said wearing my most earnest grin.