Chapter 5

Bree waved to Vi, who had just come to tell her that she had the Axol-might village read for transport; having only set their home up yesterday, she felt a little bad, like she had wasted their time. Winnie was busy drawing a near-perfect circle with thick chalk outside the castle grounds. Winnie had initially attempted to outline only the original grounds of the castle, but upon Bree's request, Winnie went 10 meters out, as the original island had oddly shaped edges.

Silver, Bella, and Minerva were also busy at work outside the castle grounds, chopping down the nearby trees to be used as lumber so she could make a bridge into the lake.

"What do you think?" Bree asked, looking over to Zoey, Annie, and Leafolio; in her hand was a holographic image of the Greenwater Lake drained of water.

"This is a lovely place for your home, My Lady," Zoey declared before Annie used her cotton hands to bop her.

"She's asking where we think it should go," Annie said before turning her mismatched eyes to the hologram. "Could you please add the town to this display, my lady?" Bree complied with the request, and Leafolio moved their arms, trying their best to point at a specific area."

"You can get closer, Leafy," Bree informed them. Leafolio did just that, and after some trial and error, they managed to find their recommended spot, roughly 20 meters from the town. The lake seemed to be 10 meters deep in the recommended area, and Bree smiled when she realized it lined up almost perfectly with the fishing docks.

Bree waved her hands, and an exact scale model of her home appeared in the hologram. A bridge connected her home and the town. She looked it over before checking the area below her home. I'll show this to Winnie so she can ensure the mansion doesn't sink," Bree thanked her subordinates and walked away.

"Wow," Zoey said as she walked away. "Somehow, she gets more impressive every time I see her,"

"Of course she does," Annie replied, Leafolio nodding in agreement. "Even we, two of her most faithful servants, have never truly seen Mistress Bree in a real fight," Annie clenched her fist at the thought. "I would love nothing more than to see it, yet at the same time, I fear for the day I see it, knowing my fear for her may upend my love of her,"

Upon seeing the plan, Winnie nodded, and her eyes became Yellow as she contacted Jaden and informed her that their arrival could cause a small tsunami.

"Yes," Winnie said. Mistress Bree has claimed the town of Greenwater, so it is her property. As such, if there is a wave, use your powers of heat to turn it to steam before it can hit the shore and damage the town." After a moment, Winnie's eyes returned to normal, and she bowed to her master.

"All is set for our arrival,"

"Perfect," Bree noted with a smile. I wish I could be there to see it." There was a moment of silence before Winnie shot up and stepped back in shock. 

"You're not coming with us, My Lady?"

"No," Bree replied flatly before elaborating, "When I was with Belin before things escalated, he mentioned the town was technically a tiny nation, sandwiched between two other nations; Daisy gave me the direction of the Kingdom where that Odren fellow is, so I'm going to go scout the opposing Kingdom, see if their worth the time to forge friendly relations with,"

"I…I understand," Winnie said before adding hopefully, "Could I accompany you on this mission, my lady?"

"Don't be silly," Bree replied, resulting in a hurt look from Winnie before she continued, "I can't just take you everywhere; it would make everyone else jealous. Besides, I need you here; someone needs to take charge in my absence, and I'd like my mansion to be standing when I come back, preferably above the water,"

Winnie's hurt changed to pride before Bree noticed she had momentarily hurt Winnie's feelings.

"Of course," Winnie cried out, "I will do my best to keep things in order during your absence, My Lady!"

"That said, I should probably bring someone," Bree looked at her followers, not entirely sure how the nation she was going to would react to monsters. She chose the only one she felt could pass as Human. "Zoey," her cat girl maid rushed to her side.

"My lady, what can I do for you?" She asked as she gave a curtsy.

"Zoey, prepare your things. Once the move is ready, you and I will be taking our leave from here." Zoey was silent for a moment before falling into a bow.

"I…I get to accompany you?" She asked, looking like she was about to cry, "This honor humbles me, Ma'am,"

"I can't tell her I chose her for her looks," Bree decided. "You and I will be going to a nation and scoping it out, so we'll both have to disguise ourselves as Humans; it may be hard, but do your best to act weak,"

"Of course, my lady," Zoey replied. "I will attempt to emulate Boris as best I can,"

"Boris is too high of a milestone," Bree said, earning a shocked look from Zoey, "Try and act like Boris could punt you like a ball,"

"That is gonna be hard," Zoey noted. "humans must be quite pathetic,"

"Well, not all humans; some can grow in power. Why, I was once a human," Bree felt stupid for saying that but was quickly put at ease.

"I am well aware," Winnie replied; both Zoey and Bree looked at her with suspicion, albeit for different reasons, "I read your Biography; you were not born with power; you ascended beyond that of your kin and became something more! It matters not what you used to be, but if a human can ascend beyond its humanity and become a mighty elf whose power is unmatched, then the potential for humans is indeed there,"

"That worked itself out," Bree noted before Zoey fell in shame.

"Please forgive my rudeness," She begged, "I was not aware of your humble origins,"

"Well, you're not entirely wrong about humans," Bree noted. "The only two humans worth noting as of yet are Jaden and Olu, and I suspect Jaden will be ascending to a Dragonling before too long,"

"I understand," Zoey replied as she looked up at Bree. "Most humans are pathetic, but a select few can become strong, and even smaller amounts can become strong enough to transcend their weak bodies and become something greater."

"Mistress?" Winnie asked. Now that the topic of her origin was out, she felt the need to question something. "I noticed while reading your biography that it mentions you have a power called Dark Manifesto, but I can find no record of what it is or does."

"Oh, that?" Bree asked sweetly. "It's just a silly power-up that doubles all my states and gives infinite mana and stamina for thirty seconds." The look Bree received at the response was all she needed to realize that she had scared them.

"You…you mean to tell me…" Winnie took a step back. "That the symbol of power before me is not even you at your strongest?"

"I suppose not," Bree replied casually, "but I can only use it every five minutes. It sounds fast, but those minutes feel like days in a fight that required me to use it." Bree flashed back to a raid battle that she had only managed to survive thanks to using Dark Manifesto right before getting hit with a killing blow from the boss. 

"Mistress, if you used this power against Bella in a sparing match with no magic, do you think you'd win?"

"Hm," Bree scratched at her cheek; the Transformation Ultimate Dark Manifesto was a skill she had acquired when she had turned her human character into an elf, and the skill doubled all base stats. Since all states rose by four with each level, players didn't have to mid-max, and Bree having bought the three fifty level cap increases, Bree, who had never once used a strength-based skill and had left it at 0 at Character creation, should have had exactly 1,000 points in strength. Meanwhile, Bella was sitting at the Max level for an NPC, level one hundred, with all her points specialized to strength and defense, but as an NPC, she received no level-up state bonus; as such, she was sitting at a cool 1,500 points in strength, the maximum number of points an NPC could have in a base stat. 

"If I put a number to it, Bella would have a score of 1,500, but with Dark Manifesto, I'd be a 2,000; of course, that's not even going into physical defense calculations; that would take all day to properly math out,"

"But you're a mage," Zoey looked awestruck before practically screaming out, "Ho...how strong would your magic be?"

Oh," Bree scratched her chin. "Including or excluding my gear." The thought hadn't crossed Zoey's mind, similar to how Zoey's maid outfit gave her considerable offensive and defensive capabilities, increasing her base speed and axe damage.

Bree's gear did the same for her, although Bree had considerably more powerful gear. NPCs had many items they couldn't wield and many restrictions, such as only being permitted one Legacy item. Bree's weakest equipped items were her shoes and mythic class items she had gotten after fighting a raid boss for the fifty-thrid time.

"I would probably kill a lot of people on accident," Bree realized. "That much power is…it's too much to picture, and it's mine." Winnie and Zoey were silent. Zoey remembered Annie's words only a few minutes ago about how seeing their Mistress go all out might cause their Love to crumble away into fear, and she was starting to believe that could happen as Bree sighed and shook her head.

"Well, I suppose I can try to calculate that out later," she decided. And besides, it's more of a trump card. I only use it if I think I'm about to die, although I also won't hesitate to use it if any of you are near death.

"Mistress," Zoey said, looking at her curiously, "Could…could you calculate my power?"

"Another time, perhaps," Bree replied. "We have places to go and buildings to move; I'll go see how the tree gathering is going," Bree walked away, leaving Zoey and Winnie to stand in silence for a few moments.

"To think," Zoey broke the silence and shook her head, "Even in my wildest dreams, I would never have thought she was so strong,"

"It's amazing," Winnie said as she overcame the shock. "Astounding; I can't wait to finish her biography; even reading of her power, knowing what I now know, I can see I have barely scratched the beginning of her story,"

After another hour of setting everything up, Zoey stood next to Bree. They waved to the others, who wished them safe and fast travels. Then, without warning, the mansion was gone, and in its place was a deep hole. Bree waved her staff, and part of the ground gave way to a large crack, carving through the earth as it moved deeper into the forest.

"That will go to the nearest water source, and soon this spot will be a lovely little pond," Bree said, "A deep pond, but a pond nonetheless," Bree spun her staff, and Zoey was coated in light, her outfits melted away, Zoey attempted to hide her shame, but she was already being covered up by new apparel before her clothes could fully dissipate, after a moment she was wearing brown pants, a plain brown Tunic, and a pair of rugged black boots.

"And now a simple glamor spell," she added. She tapped her staff, and Zoey's ears and tail began glowing. After a moment, she looked like she had normal human ears, with her tail taking the appearance of a plain cloth belt.

"Don't move your tail," Bree advised. "you'll sell yourself out. Now then, if anyone asks, just say we spent all our money on our weapons," Zoey held out her two axes in response. 

Zoey was wielding two one-handed Viking Battle Axes, their blades back as obsidian and their handles made of white ivory.

"Now, before we depart, I best make myself look more human." Bree tapped her staff, and her entire body was covered in light. Her whole body warped as she made herself taller. Her clothes were replaced with the same thing as Zoey's but with an added cloth cape. Her hair grew longer, and her ears took the shape of normal human ears, although still slightly sharp at the end.

After a few moments, Zoey looked at a very tired-looking human mage with long purple hair, a scar over her left cheek, and dark circles beneath her half-opened eyes. Her eyes now looked sharper, and her face gave off the look that she was exhausted. A few well-placed wrinkles made her look not quite old but not relatively young, as though she was just leaving the prime of her youth.

"How do I look?" Bree asked with a smile before looking at her staff with a saddened expression. "If I plan to use this disguise again, I'll have to use a different staff and need a new name. This one would eventually give me away." Bree stored her staff in her inventory and, after a moment, pulled out one made of purple stone. It ended in the shape of Birds Tallon holding a light blue orb.

"You look wonderful, my lady," Zoey replied happily. "Stunning,"

"Very well, oh wait!" Bree tapped her throat and spoke again, her voice now deeper and harsher, 

"How do I sound?" Bree asked, making Zoey's hair stand on end.

"Powerful," Zoey looked at Bree, and Bree realized she still needed a fake name, "Zoey, pick out a nice moniker for me to use, nothing too fancy,"

Zoey looked at her Mistress's false face and, after a few attempts, decided on one she felt was perfect.

"How does Billie sound?"

"Billie, it is then. Now, we look like simple humans, so let's get going. Let's see, since Greenwater is between the two nations, and Odren's kingdom was past Greenwater, we're probably already in the other nation, so let us find the road and travel in the exact opposite direction of Greenwater," Bree, or rather Billie used her levitation spell and shot off across the sky, Zoey raised her hands and her Axes turned into light, once they where stored away she bolted after Billie at full speed.

It took some time, but Billie managed to locate a road and landed on it; Zoey slid to a stop and destroyed part of the brick road as she came to a halt.

"I'm not fixing that," Billie noted as she walked down the road. Zoey showed no desire to repair it either and followed Billie with haste. 

"Are you not going to put your staff into a ring?" Zoey questioned.

"This one doesn't do that," Billie shook it slightly as she spoke. "It's not a unique item," Zoey looked at Billie in confusion and was given clarification, "The staff I usually have is a one-of-a-kind item I got as a reward for winning a tournament; I have like forty of these littered across the basement of the Mansion,"

"I see," Zoey said with interest. "I was not aware you were in a tournament."

"Uh…" Billie thought back to how she had made it to the top 10 players in the world and had been invited to a special trivia live stream about the game; she had won in a landslide victory and was one of only seven players ever to receive a custom item, although the price of her victory was a nearly endless stream of people bugging her to no end trying to buy her account. "It's complicated; I'm sure the stories in one of the books Winnie has, so just try and be patient, and you'll find the story one of these days,"

The duo were having a lovely talk about what they saw in the clouds when they finally saw someone else on the footpath.

A group of suspicious-looking human men was gathered around the road. Billie could tell at first glance that they were nothing but trouble based on the looks in their eyes when they saw Zoey.

"Don't talk or interact with them," She ordered Zoey. "And if any of them attempt to touch you, I give you permission to end them, but otherwise, don't act upon their words,"

"Understood," Zoey replied calmly.

"Well, now," one of the men said as he walked forward. "What do we have here?" Billie scrunched her face at the smell that assaulted her nose. "What are a couple of lovely ladies such as yourself doing wandering around these parts all alone?"

"This is a road," Billie motioned to the ground as she spoke, "I'd assume it would be easy to gather that we are following it to the nearest town,"

"Oh," The man said, "This road? This is our road; if you want to pass, you'll have to pay a toll," He smiled as he looked her up and down. "You don't look like you have much money, and your face ain't nothing to write home about; how about you hand over that staff and you won't have to join your friend. Since she's got nothing of wort on her, she'll be entertaining us as payment for passage. A couple of weeks should set her debt straight," The rest of the group agreed with enthusiasm that it was a great idea, and Billie gave a simple answer.

"Zoey," She said sweetly, "I've changed my mind. Kill them, kill all of them," The men laughed as Zoey approached them, their laughter dying when she summoned her Axes and looked up at them with rage burning in her eyes.

"I do not understand your use of the word 'Entertainment,' But you have offended my master greatly with it, and for that, you will die,"

"You think you can take us all just because of your little magic trick," The Man in front demanded as he held up his hand, preparing to cast a spell. "Think a-" Zoey shot forward and, with a single swing, took the man's head off, kicking his body into the group before bolting after it quickly and effortlessly dissipating the men. Billie walked forward calmly; upon reaching Zoey, she was storing her weapons.

"Wonderfully done," Billie cheered. "And you avoided getting any blood on yourself; I applaud your efficiency,"

"Your words Honor me," Zoey said, holding back her instincts to bow to avoid getting blood on herself.

Billie and Zoey continued down the path, encountering no other humans until they reached what looked to be a large city, easily five times larger than Greenwater.

"Wow," Billie grimaced as she looked at the crumbling city before smelling rotting meat and sickness. What a…" She failed to think of something nice and tired again. "It's very…It has a nice…no," Billie frowned before shaking her head. "Oh, this is gonna be something," she decided as the two approached the entrance. Nothing prevented them from entering.

"Hmm," Billie looked around and could tell that there were no monsters in sight, "Zoey, what do you think of this city?"

"It smells like sick," she said, her nose scrunching hard at the air's smell.

"Yeah," Billie groaned. "Belin made this nation sound nice. It's possible we found the wrong road." Her suspicions were confirmed when they saw one of the city guards wearing an identical suit to the one she had seen on the man attempting to take over Greenwater.

"Seems we followed the road in the wrong direction," Billie held her hand to her face with a groan, "I suppose in retrospect we should have left from Greenwater instead of trying to go out on our own,"

"What should we do?" Zoey asked as she looked around.

"We should ask for directions to Greenwater, check how things are doing, then head off to do our mission and see what the other nation is like," Billie looked around before adding, "Maybe I should ask for some names, calling them by their kings and the word nation is starting to feel mindless," Billie and Zoey looked around the city as they attempted to find a place they could obtain information from and, thanks to her discovery that Universal Translation also worked on writing, Billie was able to direct them to the local adventurers guild.

There was only one person in the guild. At first glance, she assumed they were either low on requests or that this area was for clients only. Billie walked to the commission's counter, where the building's only resident was a woman reading a book. Bland weapons and old, chipped armor pieces surrounded the counter in a little display area.

"Hello," Billie waved with her free hand, giving an exhausted-looking smile. The woman behind the counter gave her a half glance and then returned to her book.

"Whatever you're after, you probably can't afford it," She said casually. "But feel free to ask; I'm required to hear out all clients until they fail to provide coin,"

"Well, what kind of currency do you accept?" Billie asked politely.

"Coin, preferably made of metal and not plastic." The tone of her voice told Billie that the speech wasn't personal; it was very obviously rehearsed. Billie reached into her inventory, pulled out a gold coin from her time in the game, and presented it to the woman. One side had two snakes wrapped around a Juniper tree, and the other side depicted the full moon with its left side partially hidden behind a mountain.

"Are these coins acceptable," The Woman raised her right hand.

"Appraisal," A ring around her finger began glowing green.

"100% Pure gold coin," a female voice declared.

"Hu, teach me to judge based on appearance," without looking up from her book, she began listing the basic price, "a 100% pure golden coin is worth double the standard currency so that coin is worth two coins if you have more then feel free to make a request,"

"I would like to be taken to the town of Greenwater, then to the next nation over,"

" Travel from Irenfell to Ozama will cost you 13 pure gold coins," The Woman replied simply. A pit stop in Greenwater is up to you and won't cost extra. Please give your name when you pay." Billie produced the required gold and her current alias. The woman held her hand up, and a circle appeared around the gold. With a dim flash, a letter replaced it.

"Please take a seat," She said, motioning to a set of chairs. "Please note the gold you have paid is for the guild to post your request; adventurers of rank five and up are allowed to ask to be paid extra to take the job; six and below are not," 

Billie and Zoey were about to take a seat when Billie saw something that caught her eye. Sitting among the poorly cared-for weapons and armor well past their prime was a single beautifully crafted katana, its blade finely tempered and impressively well-kept. It had a dragon's head engraved onto the end of its hilt with ruby eyes; it had a leather grip and gold trimming running along the handle; next to the blade was its sheath, which also presented a gold trimming shaped like a Chinese dragon.

"What a marvelous sword!" Billie said in awe, her long history of hoarding weapons in the game based purely on how they looked swelling up within her. She could already see the sword hanging in the hallway of the second floor, the place where she had made custom rooms for all her NPCs. The woman behind the counter looked over and then returned to her book.

"That sword was reposed when a guild member failed to pay his tab for three consecutive months; its price is…" The Woman was silent momentarily before deciding, "Seventy-four of your gold coins." Billie could tell she was being taken advantage of, but she didn't hesitate to produce the gold. The Woman took the coin and put the sword in its sheath before handing it to Billie, who happily took it.

"I am quite sure we could find our way to Greenwater," Zoey said confidently.

"Well yeah, we just go the other way down the road," Billie replied as she put her new blade into her inventory, "But now I know this place is called Irenfell, that our destination is Ozama. Furthermore, I now know our coin is worth double here," Billie smiled, "Also, these adventures should prove a basis for you; if we get into a fight, I want you to try and lower yourself to their level,"

"I understand," Zoey said with a sparkle in her eyes. And I am sorry for questioning your information-gathering skills." Billie waved her off when she saw the Woman from the counter walking up to them.

"A group of Level Seven Adventures would like to take your request; I am required to inform you that the group in question has failed several missions in the past and have assaulted more than a few of their clients,"

"How comforting," Billie shrugged, "I'll accept them regardless,"

"Very well," the Woman walked back to her counter, and within a few minutes, a party of three walked into the Guild.

"Ah," a reasonably large man with chestnut brown hair and a bushy beard said upon looking around, "One of you must be Billie,'' as he approached, his two party members followed after him; one was a skinny blond man, and the other a irritable looking Woman with Black hair who was the same height Bree was usually.

"Greetings," The Large man said in a merry tone. "I am Gunter; these are my companions Vernin and Abigail, or Vern and Gale if you prefer,"

"Greetings, I am Billie, and this is my companion, Zoey," Billie offered her free hand, and they shook.

"I can't help but notice your staff," Gunter noted.

"Probably spent all of the money daddy gave her on it," Vern chuckled, "Maybe you should have bought some nicer clothes first," Zoey stood up, and Bree shot her a look.

"If you must know, I've had this staff for several years,"

"Yeah, whatever," Gale said. "Can we just get moving?"

"I do apologize," Gunter said to Billie, sounding sincere, much to Billie's surprise, "Me and my two companions have been having problems with the locals due to…differing opinions, and they are in quite the foul mood about it, Vern even had his-"

"Yeah, differing opinions.' Sure," Gale cut Gunter off and pointed to the door. Let's go with that. Now, can we leave this country and never come back?" Vern muttered something about eventually having to come back but was, for the most part, ignored.

"No apologies necessary," Billie could understand, wanting to leave; she'd only been in the city for maybe twenty minutes and was set never to return, "I assume you know what I have asked?"

"Yes, ma'am, I do," Gunter replied as he hit his chest. Upon inspection, Gunter and Vern wore matching outfits: plain green shirts with long sleeves and pointed shoulder pads, Brown gloves, leather armor, and plain brown pants with a belt and boots. Gale was wearing a set of Armor. Her shoulder pads had three outward-pointing segments, and she had a helmet secured around her waist.

Gale was armed with a one-edged sword, Gunter with a wooden staff, and Vern with a bow, a full quiver, and a knife holstered around his waist.

"Well then, we're ready to go whenever you are," Billie decided with a smile.

The company of five was quick to get out of the Irenfell city, moving quickly down the brick-laden path. The town was soon long behind them. Gunter was in the front, Billie was next to Gale, Zoey was behind them, and Vern was in the back.

"So, what business do you have in Ozama?" Vern asked as he gave Zoey and Billie a once over, his eyes lingering on her staff with a frown, "Going to go bother some Nobel about marriage to help pay off the debt that staff left you in,"

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your obsession with my staff?" She looked back at him curiously. He looked at the amethyst gem that made up the staff, the decorative design of the top, and the swirling blue orb on the end.

"My problem is some random chick in rags has such a high-quality weapon but is too scared of the big bad world to venture out alone," Vern spat. "there's no greater way to waste an excellent weapon than by placing it in the hands of a coward,"

"What makes you think I'm scared of the big bad world?" Billie demanded, "I'll have you know I simply have a bad sense of direction; the quest was to guide me, not protect me,"

"Sure," Gale said, rolling her eyes. "We'll make sure to inquire your aid if we get ambushed or attacked by anything then,"

"Zoey and I will happily assist without being asked," Billie said. As they neared a corner, Billie remembered the bandits she had tasked Zoey with exterminating. I don't know if this is relevant to the conversation, but there seems to be a fair amount of death around the next bend." The Party came to a halt, and Gunter looked back at Billie.

"Human, Monster, or Ferals?" He asked. 

"Human corpses," Billie noted, Unsure what the third option even was, "Couldn't tell ya what did 'em in, though,"

Gunter tapped his stick on the ground and widened his eyes. "She right," He confirmed.

"Look at you," Gale said with a laugh, "actually being able to use your expensive stick," Gale turned to Gunter with a serious look. "What do you want us to do?"

"These parts of the forest aren't safe," Gunter decided instantly, "We'll have to pass through and hope the Pig Goblins have already picked the sight clean,"

"What's a Pig Goblin?" Zoey asked, saving Billie from having to ask the same question.

"They're what happens when Feral Goblins get it on with Pigs," Vern replied. "It used to be a real problem before a nationwide decree required the Pig farms to be inside the cities; the local population should die out within the next few years. They're parasites, just like greedy pigs. They can eat bone and all, and they hunt in packs of twenty or so,"

"Wait, if you don't know about Pig Goblins, what got you so scared you needed an adventuring party to escort you across the border?" Gale demanded, "The Pig Goblins killed off the feral Goblin population almost a decade ago,"

"First, I was lost, not scared, and if I was scared, it was due to stories of an angry Centar running around," Billie avoided looking Gunter in the eye, as lying to someone while making eye contact was something she found personally difficult, "He was freed from a decades-long Soul bind and is fairly pissed at humans in general,"

"Why, I've heard that same rumor," Gunter replied as they continued moving. "Seems that Bratt Jacob Razzor got his comeuppance; they found him beaten to near death. He's still alive but unlikely to regain the use of his left hand,"

"What a shame," Billie felt Vern's gaze on the back of her head again and figured he had taken her sarcastic words at face value. Upon rounding the corner, they found the bricks before them clean and clear, save for a single severed arm.

"That is the most obvious trap I have ever seen," Billie confidently declared.

"What do you mean?" Gunter asked as he looked at the arm.

"There's a severed arm in the rod, yet the rest of the road is also completely spotless; something is hoping to catch someone who would investigate the odd situation off guard,"

"Sure," Vern said. "Listen, Pig goblins aren't that smart but are the smartest Ferals around; you're just being paranoid,"

"Then I'll go kick it out of the road," Billie marched forward to do just that. And if nothing happens, you can boast all you like." Billie left the group, and they watched as she walked up to the hand. Before she reached it, she jumped back as a small spear sailed through the air and hit the ground where she would have been standing had she not backed up; she heard the worst noise she had ever had the displeasure to hear, a pig squeal with a Goblin vocal tone.

A total of 24 fuzzy brown Goblins with tusks began emerging from the trees. Some had hooves, and some had feet, some had pig noses, some had long pointed goblin noses, and some had longish tails with tufts of fur.

"These are Boar Goblins," Billie complained. "I was promised Pig Goblins,"

"Seems life finds a way," Vern noted in disgust. "It would seem our Pig problem was silently turned into a Boar Problem,"

"That would explain the basic trap," Gunter noted. "the more a feral race evolves, the smarter they become! Billie, come back and group up; we don't know how intelligent they are," Billie took a step closer to the severed arm instead as the path to Gunter was struck with multiple spears.

Several of the Boar Goblins Squealed at them, making Billie flinch. "Oh, I hate everything about all of you," she decided as the creatures moved in.

The boldest of the Boar Goblins ran towards Billie with a raised spear, only to be cut down by an Arrow impaling itself into its face.

"Nasty ferals," Vern said. Zoey, stay back. Your clothing provided the least amount of protection. Gale, cover her!"

"Do as he says, Zoey," Billie said when she saw the defiant look on Zoey's face. Zoey stood complacent, and Gale looked at her. Then, she glared at Billie as she set up a protective barrier around herself.

"Now would be a great time to jump in," She noted.

"Yeah, but I typically don't like to kill things just because they look gross," Billie said with a shiver as the Ferals began licking at the Barrier as their eyes explored Billie's body like it was a freshly baked Pie. "Lucky they're gross inside and out, so my dilemma is solved," 

Billie Spun her staff before remembering she no longer had a blade and instead used the sharpish end of it to whack the creatures if they got too close to her Barrier; after she got one in the eye, they backed away from her and decided to focus on Gunter and Vern, Gunter held up his wooden staff and whipped it across the air, a green liquid spilled out in front of him.

"Acid Downpour," The Ferals stopped and took great care not to touch the puddle.

"I'm fairly sure they have a limited understanding of words," Billie noted. "That or they know what acid is and to avoid it,"

"Seems so," Gunter agreed as he held up his staff and fired a concentrated ball of Acid at the Boar Goblins, who scattered to avoid it; one made it past Gunter and ignored him due to the threat of Acid; Vertoowas to busy swearing about not having a sword as he jabbed his knife into the eye of one of the ferals that had come from the trees straight to them, his knife broke when he tried to pull it out, forcing him to swat at them with his bow. The Boar Goblin who had gotten through was running towards Zoey as she looked to be the most exposed.

"Zoey, you may kick the shit out of it," Billie noted; Zoey shot past Gale and punted the Goblin; the small creature hit Billie's barrier, and she jabbed at it to make sure it was dead. Gunter and Gale had given Vern some distance from the creatures, allowing him to shoot at them; however, only a few hits managed to be a killing blow.

"We've only killed like five of these little fucks," Vern noted.

"Zoey," Billie called out, deciding she had taken enough time to observe how hard she was permitted to go, "Summon your axes and join the front line," Zoey reached into her inventory and pulled out her axes.

"She has weapons, and you forbid her from fighting?" Gale demanded as she drew her sword. "Oh, this chick rubs me the wrong way," Gale joined in the fight and began hacking away at the Boar Goblins.

"She's only wearing rags," Billie muttered, repeating Vern's concern from the start of the fight. She dropped her barrier and walked up to the back line before tapping her staff and placing a circle beneath most of the remaining boar goblins.

"Pillar of flames," she said simply. The boar goblins turned to her as the magic activated, killing most of them. One managed not to get caught in the spell and jumped at Billie, its tongue flapping out. It was smacked downward into the flames with ease.

With most of them dead, the remaining 4 Boar Goblins attempted to flee; Zoey slashed two of them down, Vern put an Arrow in the back of one's head, and Gunter nailed the last one with acid.

Billie wiped her shoulder off and knew what Vern was about to do. Once close enough, he pulled his fist back and decked Billie in the face, who allowed the attack to send her sprawling across the ground.

"I'm not working for this bitch," Vern snarled, "Don't attack my ass!"

"She is wearing rags; you said as much yourself," Billie repeated as she picked herself up and patted her chest. "And if you truly want to ditch me, you're more than welcome. The Guild warned me you'd probably do as much; the punch was expected to,"

"Of course, they fucking did," Vern said as he angrily kicked the ground.

"Vern," Gunter said sternly; Billie saw what Gunter was about to do and stopped him.

"No need to smack him," Billie told Gunter, who stopped. "I've been punched by far worse than that,"

"That is true," Zoey replied, very clearly wanting to smack Vern.

"Vern," Gunter repeated. "We have a job to do, like it or not; we can't keep quitting on jobs just because you don't like someone, so man up and keep going, or you'll never pay off that tab, and we'll be stuck going back to that town forever," Bree could tell from Gunter's voice and Gale's glaring that she had acquired the animosity of all three of them.

"She is wearing rags," Billie gave up pointing that fact out since, in truth, the reason for Zoey hanging back was to try limiting her strength to what humans were capable of, "at least she knows how hard she's allowed to go now,"

"Shall we carry on then?" Billie motioned down the path.

"Since your staff works so well, how about you take the lead," Gale replied.

"K, just tell me if I somehow end up taking us the wrong way." Billie took the lead. The three very visibly began protecting Zoey and left Billie to defend herself.

"Why do you follow that Woman?" Vern demanded. "You're plenty strong on your own, hell I bet you could make rank four in any guild easy,"

"I would follow her to the end of the earth," Zoey replied, having been told not to call Billie Lord, My Lady, or Mistress while she was Billie.

"Why?" Gunter inquired "She doesn't seem to respect you all that much,"

"My reasons are my own," Zoey responded curtly; the group of three fell back a little, and Gunter lightly tapped his stick on the ground.

"What do you think?" he asked, having cast a spell that allowed his allies to hear his thoughts and theirs.

"Some sort of enslavement spell," Vern replied as he eyed Billie's staff, "That's most likely why she has that crazy staff; I'm betting we break that we can be certain if Zoey is free or not,"

"Yeah," Gale shot back, "but that staff is high quality; I tried appraising it, but all I got was that its too powerful for me to appraise; I'd rather not foot the bill to replace it,"

"We must not act rash," Gunter declared simply. "We do not know this woman or where she came from; what's more, it's rare for humans to use that kind of magic on another human. I've never seen a slave driver use their race for labor,"

"You right," Galre agreed. "what we should look for is to see if Zoey is glamoured, if she is. Then it's a near guarantee this Billie is a monster slave driver,"

"And if she is, then we are helping her make her next delivery," Vern gritted his teeth as they continued walking down the road.

"I sense they dislike us," Zoey noted, using the same spell Winnie was fond of using to communicate with her master.

"No, they dislike me," Billie noted casually. "They like you just fine." Unaware that she was thought to be a slave driver, Billie continued walking the path before them.

After several hours of nothing but walking, Billie conceded that she had drastically underestimated the size of the road. The night was already falling, and there were no towns in sight.

"Say," Billie looked at the long road ahead. "How far away is Ozama?"

"It's about four days to Greenwater," Gunter said; his dislike for her was evident in his eyes, but his tone was still just as polite as when they first met. She assumed he was trying to remain professional, "Past that it should only be two days to the city of Reopes, the capital of Ozama,"

"Hu," Billie scratched with her free hand, unconsciously scratching at the scar on her false face, "I suppose roads never go straight to your desired destination, so taking them would take longer than cutting across the forest in a straight line," 

"I see a good break in the treeline," Vern said. There's a sold outcropping of rocks with a clearing in it. What say we make camp and call it a night?"

"That is up to Billie," Gunter replied. "She paid for our service, so we must do as she demands until we complete our task, Within reason,"

Billie felt personally insulted that he felt the need to add the 'Within reason' part, "I don't personally care if you wanna make camp, then we can make camp,"

"Alright," Gunter noted. "But keep in mind, something tore up the road a ways back, and we don't know what it was or where it went; we'll need to assign a watch,"

"Since she's so sure of herself, I recommend Billie," Gale said.

"Sure," not needing sleep, Billie had no problem with the job. The group moved into the small clearing hidden snugly in the rocky outcropping, and Gunter tapped his staff; three Tents were summoned. Billie followed suit and summoned her tent; it had been used as a customizable revive point in the game; upon looking at it, she was sure she had been dangerously addicted to the game as she had spent real money on something as pointless as a cosmetic to make her tent look more extravagant.

"Nice Tent," Gale muttered as she eyed the tent three times the size of her own.

"Everything Billie owns is nice," Zoey replied instantly with a smile. Gunter tapped his staff, and a campfire was set up along with a little rack holding up a hanging pot to cook in. He tapped again, and nothing happened.

"Gunter," Gale said in a chastising tone, "Tell me you didn't forget the rations again!"

"No worries," Billie reached into her inventory; having stocked up upon leaving Greenwater, she produced several live Green Crabs that fell to the ground, "I hate going hungry, so I always try to have something on hand for dinner,"

"Hold up," Vern said as he picked up the Crab that waved its claw at him threateningly. "If you have these suckers, you must have been to Greenwater before; what did your previous guides abandon you?"

"Nothing like that; I just got lost and went the wrong way," Billie smiled. "With your help, I might make it to the right nation this time,"

"So are you going to Ozama for any special things, or are you just doing that thing where you switch adventurer teams at every nation to lower the total cost?" Gale asks, eyeing Billie with skepticism.

"I've just never been to Ozama and wanted to see what it was like," Billie felt that the trio didn't believe her, "What did I even do? having Zoey hold back couldn't have made them this mad!" Billie tried to figure out a reason behind the hostility aimed towards her while she used her magic to pull water from the air and fill the pot, leaving her less-than-hospitable guides to cook the Crabs

Zoey stood next to her diligently as Billie groaned in visible confusion, a look Zoey had never expected to see on her master's face, even if it was a false one.

"What is wrong, my lady?" Zoey asked after confirming that the sound of their guide's cooking would drown herself and Billie out.

"I can not for the life of me figure out why they're this mad at me. I could understand the irritation of me telling you to hold back, but this is just ridiculous," Billie sighed.

"Why not just ditch them?" Zoey asked, curious as to why her master was still playing along with this silly campaign.

"No, I wanna see how much work everyone can get done in four days without me around to boss them around." That was a Lie; she simply didn't want to admit she might have wasted an entire day wandering around lost.

"A Brilliant plan," Zoey agreed, "With you gone, they won't have to worry about praising you and will instead put their all into their task; they should get through twice the work they would otherwise get done,"

"Of course," Billie declared, lying through her teeth, "How very observant of you; I know for a fact that Winnie would be proud," Zoey smiled at her words.

"Thank you, my lady,"

"I speak only the truth," Billie replied. "Except when I don't." Billie looked to the sky momentarily, wondering about constellations before returning to the campsite. " Let's go eat; you haven't had green crab yet, have you?"

Billie and Zoey found the Crabs already done cooking, and their guides were sitting on logs around the boiling pot; Vern was eating some claw meat, Gunter had gone the direct route and was working on de-shelling two crab torsos, and Gale was munching on a leg, Zoey and Billie both took some crab legs and began eating.

"Wow!" Zoey cried out. This truly is delectable." Billie paid no mind and looked out at the stars, determined to memorize their positions and wonder if she could create a constellation; with Bee focused on the stars, she failed to see Zoey take her desire for Crab legs too far as she proceeded to do the same thing Daisy had done and began breaking the shells with her teeth. Lost in flavor, she wasn't paying attention when her tail came unwound for a moment and wagged at the new flavor.

"By the gods," Gunter said, keeping his words in his thoughts. "She has a tail!"

"And she's eating the shell," Gale pointed out. "Kind of an obvious giveaway that she isn't human; a normal person would break their teeth on that,"

"Oh crap!" Zoey realized as she hurriedly rewound her tail around her waist. "I hope Mistress Bree didn't see that!" Zoey continued eating as though nothing had happened, not even thinking to see if the humans had seen her slip up.

"So, are we kicking this chick's ass or what?" Vern demanded as she put his hand where his knife had once been, "Oh Son of a…regardless, that punch I gave her earlier is beginning to make me feel like I was a little too polite before,"

"We do nothing," Gunter decided without hesitation, "I am not going to fight a woman with a monster under her employ haphazardly; we take her to Reopes. Reopes has a zero-tolerance policy for slavery, as decreed by demon lord Argit. Gale, that armor lets you contact your wife, doesn't it,"

"Yeah, why?" Gale demanded, looking at Gunter.

"Because last I checked, your wife was under contract in Reopes; that is why you demanded we take this job, was it not?" Gale didn't reply and instead turned a light shade of red, "Please contact her and tell her we are taking a suspected Slave driver to Reopes; as it was Argit who had her contracted, I'm sure she can get a fair number of guards to meet us, and they should be more than capable of taking care of Ms.Billie should she be who we think she is,"

The Trio looked at Billie in silence. Although no words were said, she could feel their hate directed at her.

"What did I do?" She demanded, utterly bewildered by their hatred.