Camp at the Forest

''You're late,'' Casey said when I got back to the guild.

''Only five minutes,'' I said. On the way back, I stopped by the room I rented and fixed the belt hoster of the short blade to fit me better. In light leather armor now I didn't look like I was going to a church or a temple at least.The leather bag I got from the bandits was also with me, it didn't look nice but it was big and sturdy.

Besides the many benefits of looking harmless, there was a bad side of being underestimated. People wouldn't be eager to take you with them to a fight or trust you to fight with them. Still, if I were in heavy armor like Casey, neither the bandits in the forest nor the other two would be that careless when approaching me.

''Xander, Ian, we're leaving,'' Casey called out two young men from the crowd on the first floor of the guild.

Looking at them, both must have been melee fighter. They weren't as heavily armored as Casey, but both had built bodies, and since they were already trained from Casey, they should have the same class as her.

The fox giggled in my mind, ''The blond one is pretty handsome, don't you think?''

I looked at the blond one, ''Meh, I don't like beautiful men. I think he looks too fragile, but I also look pretty fragile. Don't judge a book by its cover. I don't know about his personality, but his appearance is not my type.''

The fox sighed, ''You're too picky. Seriously, you don't like someone because he's handsome?'' It sighed again, ''Anyway, what about the other one?''

I looked at the other one. His skin and hair were dark, a few inches shorter than blonde but he had a more muscular built. He wasn't pretty as the blonde, he was more my type... but he was looking at Casey and his smile... ''He's taken,'' I said to the fox.

''Who cares?'' The fox said. I rolled my eyes and didn't bother to answer.

Still... it was interesting. ''Well, it seems like not Casey.'' She gave a glimpse of both of the young men, and she turned to me, leaving the brunette's bright smile unanswered.

''What's in your bag?'' She asked me. Okay, fine, so I wasn't even reliable enough to know what to get with me.

I kept my temper and answered calmly. I was starting over from scratch and I'm literally level 1. I was not in a position to demand that people treat me with respect. ''Water bottle, dried meat, cheese, bread, salt, needle, and thread,'' I said.

I borrowed those from the kitchen of the inn where I was staying. If I see that no one had entered my room to check what could be stolen when I'm back, maybe I would even pay it back. Of course, I had nothing to be stolen, but I had set up a small trick on the door so I'll know if someone entered the room.

Casey nodded, ''No potions? If you want, you can buy a few from the guild.''

I looked at her blankly, ''I'm a healer,'' I said. Meanwhile, two newbies had come to near. I guessed they weren't more than twenty-five years old, probably about twenty-three.

''Yeah, sure. Let's go,'' Casey said and started to walk. The rest of us followed her. At least her trainee bothered to introduce himself.

''I'm Xander,'' The brunette one said and pointed the blonde, ''He's Ian. He acts like he's cool but he's actually just shy,'' Xander looked at me with a bitter version of the smile she gave Casey. Somehow... he looked broken.

I don't know if it was because I could never turn off the Desires of Heart skill completely, but in the last few days I have started to understand people's feelings much better.

''Hey,'' said Ian.

''Aww, he's not taken. His heart is broken. You should console and comfort him,'' The fox said.

''It's a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Sora,'' I said kindly and, ''What the hell are you talking about? He's younger than me,'' I said to the fox in, ah, not a kindly manner.

''You into mature men? Oh, oh! You have daddy issues! I should have known!'' The fox said excitedly. I just ignored it, I mean, who doesn't into mature men? Except for the fox's bullshit, our walk was quiet. Ian was indeed shy, and even though Xander normally seemed like someone cheers up everyone, he seemed to be in a bad mood.

Anyway, before long, Casey did the distribution of tasks. Xander is leading the way as our vanguard, coming back from time to time to report possible dangers. Ian was walking a few hundred meters behind us and covering our tracks. If anyone intercepted us or tried to attack from behind, we wouldn't be caught unaware.

I didn't think we were on such a dangerous route, but Casey's goal was to train the boys, and it wasn't my business. I was like a pretty good girl, walking beside Casey and making no problems. If she wanted to consider me as a brat who made her job difficult, it was her problem. I had no obligation or interest to prove myself to anyone.

Brisk walking, break, brisk walking, break. At each break, Xander and Ian switched their tasks. When Ian came to report that there was no danger, Casey said him to stay. Then we did wait for Xander to cover our tracks and catch up with us.

''It will be dark in two hours. We can camp here, Ian and I will prepare the campsite. Sora and Xander will go to the stream to fill our bottles and collect some akagac wood. We will take turns to sleep and watch. Any questions?'' Casey said.

''What is akagac?'' I asked without regard to seeming a newbie. Casey was already assuming me that way.

It was Xander who answered my question, ''A tree species native to here, burns smokeless, white in color. It's not difficult to distinguish. Shall we go?''