Winter Peaks

"Hahaha" Skyla laughed hesitantly as she took a step away from the lioness. She gulped as sweat trickled down her face whilst her mind swirled.

'Damn it…' she cursed.

How is she going to get some money? She didn't even know how money works in this world yet she was already in debt.

Suddenly she recalled the fight between the two vampires making her knit her eyebrows.

'Didn't Casper mention about some mission board?'

Her eyes immediately wandered towards the guild mission board and noticed the countless number of flyers up with the bounty in huge block numbers.

'That's it…'

Her eyes sparkled as she turned to Melinda excitedly, who raised her eyebrow curiously.

"Melinda… Would I be able to pay you if I go for any of those missions?" Skyla questioned as she pointed her finger at the mission board.

Her question stunned everyone present in the hall that the vampires who paid small attention now had their full attention on her. But the one who was startled the most was none other than Casper, who looked shocked out of his wits.

Melinda stared at her ridiculously, 'Does she even realize the seriousness of this matter?'

Casper snapped out of his shock and hurriedly grabbed Skyla, startling her and said in a serious voice, "Skyla, you can't decide things impulsively. The missions which we receive are those with criticality. It isn't easy for a vampire much less a human like you"

Skyla pursed her lips and glanced at him in displeasure, "So? Do you have a better idea than mine?"

Casper pressed his lips as he shook his head. Honestly, he knew that her idea was the best one available for them in the shortest time but the consequences behind this reckless decision would be severe.

"See? Then why are you against my idea?" she asked pointedly.

"It's true that we can acquire money fast in this way -"

"But?" Skyla cut him off impatiently as she took a step forward and stared at him.

Casper took a step back unconsciously and thought, 'Seriously… this woman transforms from a kitten to a wild cat in a second'

He sighed helplessly, "You can't go because you are human, Skyla"

Skyla frowned making him rub the space between his eyebrows, "It's too dangerous for you... and besides, we can't let a non-guild member take any of our missions"

Skyla looked indignant as she pressed her lips and clenched her hands to her sides. She fully understood his concern.., but she didn't want to be weak anymore…

She didn't want to trouble them anymore…

Melinda, who was observing Skyla for some time, chuckled softly when she saw her frustrated gaze.

'Tch… she's too easy to read'

But she liked it… Melinda let out a smile as she stated, "Well, that is only if you are alone, Skyla"

Casper and Skyla turned towards Melinda who had a smile on her face as she continued, "You won't be in danger if you had someone to accompany you.. Someone from the guild"

Casper's eyes widened in horror when he realized that Melinda was siding with the human while Skyla's eyes immediately shone as if she had finally found a supporter.

She nodded her head excitedly and clenched her fists in front of her excitedly before she turned towards Casper and coughed, " Casper, since you are too worried about me… then you can escort me to the missions"

A vein popped out of his forehead as his face had the word 'Huh' written all over.

He pressed his lips into a thin line as he suppressed his annoyance and asked whilst his lips twitched, "Escort? You obviously want me to be your guard"

Skyla blinked before shamelessly saying, "Well, if you want to be my guard so desperately, I will allow you"

Casper scoffed in disbelief, "Allow?"

He clenched his jaw as he rejected her mercilessly, "No.. I don't want to accompany you"

Instantly, tears swarmed in her eyes scaring Casper. Skyla sniffed as she wiped her tears, "You don't want to? So were you pretending when you didn't want me to go on missions?"

Melinda patted her shoulder and consoled her saying, "Look, look, these are men's true nature... So think twice before trusting any men in your life, okay Skyla?"

Skyla rubbed her eyes as she nodded her head sadly while Casper's brows twitched as he screamed within, 'Stop being so dramatic'

But he sighed in surrender.

He knew better than to argue with two ladies… he needed backers to stay his ground with them.

So he said, "We would have to check with Ezekiel first" Buhahaha, Ezekiel would never agree with this plan.

But all his plan crumbled when he heard the threat in Melinda's question, "Oh? Do you think he would refuse when he knows that he owes me money?"

Casper waved his hand and head vigorously as he agreed with her wholeheartedly. "You are right… he would never go against your words, Goddess Melinda"

Melinda huffed as she turned her head away from him and told Skyla, "There.. Now that we have decided on your ride. We need to pick a mission for you"

Pointing at the mission board, Melinda said, "Go on… go see whether you like any flyers"

Skyla nodded her head and walked towards the board ignoring Casper's pleading gaze. She skimmed through the flyers which were categorized according to their difficulty.

She had no choice but to agree with Casper, 'He was right.. I wouldn't be able to survive even the easiest ones"

Taking a deep breath, she decided to start from the difficult category and took a flyer.

Mission 1: To collect the golden blood of a rare beast residing in the Misty Woods…

'Beast? Woods?' Her eyes widened as she immediately put back the flyer on the board, 'Yikes… too extreme.'

She moved to the next category …

Mission 2: To raid an underwater cave in the Forbidden Cove…

Her eyes brightened, 'This seems plausible…' but her eyes dimmed when it fell on the bounty written in the flyer.

'Ten silver coins' Skyla pursed her lips, 'That means I would have to take a couple of missions in addition to pay off the debt as well as divide the share among everyone.'

She shook her head as she put the flyer back up on the board, 'This won't do either'

Now, for the next category…

Mission 3: Investigation of the shadow guilds in the northern area.

'Arrey! This sounds easy' Skyla picked up the flyer excitedly but her face twitched when she saw the bounty - two silver coins.

She closed her eyes as she cried inside bitterly, 'I would take forever to pay off my debt'

What should she do?

Should she take the difficult one or take a couple of moderate and easy missions?

She clutched her head in worry when she realized that if she undertook more missions, that means she would have to hold onto Ezekiel and his friends for quite some time…

And, something tells her that they won't be happy with this decision.

She pulled her hair frustratedly when her eyes fell onto the flyer on the table, the one which led a fight between the vampires.

Her body stilled as her eyes focused on the flyer, 'Right? Why didn't I think of this before?'

She walked towards the flyer while thinking, 'If this mission could make the vampires fight for it, it means that the bounty was quite huge and the mission was easy"

Swiftly she picked up the flyer and read it, her eyes brightening at visible speed. She exclaimed in joy as she skipped towards Melinda and Casper, "We are doing this"

Casper frowned when he noticed the flyer in her hands. 'Wasn't this the same flyer they were fighting for?'

Feeling something amiss, he said, "Let me see"

But to his surprise, Skyla frowned, "Why? Do you want to take this mission away from me?"

'What?' Casper looked at her stunned and saw her shake her head vigourously, "No way… this is mine. I have decided on this after careful considerations"

Casper slapped his forehead mentally, 'Why would I even snatch your mission?'

He was worried if there was a problem with the mission and wanted to confirm for his sake.

'I am worried since she looks too confident'

Before Casper could say anything more, Skyla placed the flyer in Melinda's hand and said, "I have decided"

Melinda nodded her head and signed their names before announcing happily, "Seal...and done"

"Yippee" Skyla cheered happily while Casper sighed exasperatedly.

Unexpectedly, taking care of a human was too much work for him.

Skyla skipped towards Casper and chirped excitedly, "Casper, let's go and quickly inform the others about our new mission to the Winter Peaks"

'Winter Peaks?'

His eyes widened in horror as shock coursed through his body, rooting him to the ground. He lifted his face in disbelief as he asked her in a shaky voice, "Where did you say we are going?"

"Hmm?" Skyla looked at the dumbfounded Casper in confusion and tilted her head, "Winter Peaks… we have to bring back the golden fruit borne there"