Chapter 2: The Inn and the Construction Site

Malki's Inn was a cozy two-storey house with an even cozier fire elemental as its owner and namesake. Upon hearing Ms. Fross's name, her smile became impossibly warmer. She ushered Ardiel up the staircase and into a room, gushing the whole time.

"What a handsome lad Purpur has sent me!" Malki bustled to and fro, heating up a bath before Ardiel could even try to speak. "Ardiel, was it? Don't you worry, I'll bring up your dinner myself in a bit. I know how fussy and broody you adventurers tend to be."

"Thank you," Ardiel managed to say, bemused. He stood just outside the room, things still slung over his shoulders and not even having a chance to correct her. When Malki finally paused to look at him, she frowned and tutted.

"Don't be all stubborn now," she said, ushering him into the room. "Drop your things and take a bath. Your dinner will be up shortly."

"All right." Ardiel let himself be swept up by her flow, his things and clothes falling on the bed and himself sinking into a blessedly hot bath. Malki had already left the room by then, presumably to fetch the dinner she mentioned.

Ardiel hadn't expected such a warm welcome, especially not from someone Ms. Fross had recommended. Perhaps he had given a better impression to the secretary than he first assumed. He let himself relax into the water, thinking over his upcoming job.

Ardiel had never gone against a demon lord before. Demons, yes. Once he even met a guy that claimed to have been one of the infamous Demon King's Generals, but turned out to have just been another low level demon lord's general. Him and his entire demon army was still weaker than the time Ardiel had to go up against a full-grown dragon.

He wasn't really one to boast, but Ardiel knew his strengths. He knew he qualified well enough for knighthood or for any of the largest Guilds in and out of the country. If he had a choice, he would even consider joining one or the other. Unfortunately, he didn't.

Fortunately, he was confident he could get rid of the demon lord by himself. It might take him a week or more, depending on how strong it was, but he knew he could do it.

It was with this confidence that Ardiel made his way across the city and towards its border along the Witchwoods Forest, early the next day.

Malki managed to make him stay long enough for breakfast, and even gave him a pack for lunch. Ardiel decided not to tell her about his plans for an extended stay in the forest. Nonetheless, he went to the border that separated the Witchwoods Forest and Moonhallow City with a bag of snacks and a promise to drop by as soon as he was done.

Once he got there, Ardiel had expected to be met with a wall and some guards, perhaps warnings of monster attacks and maybe even an ongoing battle. What he didn't expect was warnings of ongoing construction and a very exhausted construction crew.

The moment they saw Ardiel, with his neat but well-worn armor and the sword strapped to his back, their faces lit up with hope. Ardiel was led right into the site's main office amidst shouts of 'A fighter!' and 'Sir Fighter, welcome!'

The so-called office was a shed with only three walls and a canvas cloth half-draped over it, and inside were the foremen in charge.

The only 'wall' Ardiel had spotted separating the city and the forest was a wood and wire fence, halfway to being taken down. The general foreman, a burly fellow who introduced himself as Petren, explained that a noble had recently bought the lands bordering the Witchwoods Forest and had wanted to build a boutique on the property.

"But look here, sir fighter!" Petren smacked his hand on a map of the area, spread out on a table and held down with rocks. "Says here, the land extends all the way to the edge of the forest, even clipping some trees here and there. So we made the blueprints accordingly!"

He smacked the map again, twice in succession, and it lit up with bright blue lines, a sprawling mansion that indeed extended a little too far into the forest.

"Owner says 'make it bigger' and 'just cut 'em down' and such stuff," Petren complained. "We ended up with this, but the forest ain't letting us do it! You understand, Fighter sir, we can't just drop the job though my crew's been threatening to for days now. We can't continue with construction like this!"

Ardiel frowned slightly. This was not in the job description, was it?

"I was sent here to stop monsters terrorizing the city," he told Petren. "And defeat the demon lord controlling them. Is it because of the construction that the demon lord has started attacking?"

Petren stared helplessly at him. "I only know what I know, Sir Fighter," he said with a shrug. "We ain't seen no demon lord come out, but monsters aplenty if we even dare approach the barrier. Though there have always been tales of a demon lord's castle in Witchwoods, as any forest is wont to have."

Ardiel half expected the tales to be more about witches, really, but who was he to judge what stories spread around? He shook his head, both at his thoughts and the situation at large.

"Then, I'll try to find the cause of the monsters in the forest," he decided. He gave Petren a reassuring smile. "If I don't come back in a week, please tell Madam Secretary that I apologize for disappointing her."

Petren looked utterly grateful one moment, then fearful the next. He followed Ardiel as he made his way out of the office, fretting all the way.

"Are ye sure about this, Sir Fighter?" Petren asked. "They were some awfully big monsters! Vicious, too! Will you be going alone?"

"I'm an experienced fighter, Sir Petren," Ardiel assured him, patting him on the shoulder. "I've fought plenty of demons before. You say the monsters only appeared when you and your men approach the border?"

Petren nodded nervously, slowing as they came closer to said border.

"Then make sure you don't come near it until either I return or the week is up," Ardiel told him. After a pause, he added, "even more so if I don't return."

"Sir Fighter —…" Petren said, stopping just a few feet shy of the marked border. Ardiel gave him one last, respectful nod, before sauntering off into the forest. Petren watched him disappear amongst the trees with a worried sigh, thinking of a single thing.

Ms. Fross really should've told that young one the truth.