Finn was waiting at the exit with a stupid grin on his face. “So tell me, what did you say to the priestess to get a private room?”

 

‘What did I say?’ “Actually, it was mostly her, although I can’t say I preferred the alternative.”

 

He just rolled his eyes. “Playing it cool then, ok I gotcha. Either way, I'm glad you're alright…” He paused, looking around before leaning in closer. “It was you, wasn't it, the one that killed the minotaur.”

 

“You think wargs bleed this much?” I lifted my arms, letting him get a good look at my armor. “Or stink this bad…”

 

“You killed that monster by yourself and came out with war wounds from a hero's story. Yet you didn't tell anyone. Is there a reason you're keeping it hidden? Is it because of the reward?”

 

‘Keeping it hidden… What?’ “I literally walked in the inn and pinned its head to the notice board…”

 

“Yeah… but no one there knew who you were. The mystery man as it were.”

 

“I-I… See…”

 

He took a step back. “I won't tell anyone your secret, I was just curious is all.”

 

“That's kind of you… But there's really no need. I wasn't actually trying to hide it, it just didn't seem like something to brag about, and… It would feel wrong. It was a black diamond quest after all. I pinned it to the board to spit in the face of the people who said they wouldn’t help me because we didn’t stand a chance.”

 

His eyes narrowed. “I was right, this story is interesting. Tell me more. What’s your name?”

 

“Chika.”

 

He squinted, tilting his head. “Chika?”

 

I nodded, confirming.

 

“Well, I've never known someone with that name, it should be easy to remember, and easier to find out more about you.”

 

“I told you already, it’s not like I’m hiding anything. You could always just ask me if you were so curious…”

 

He shook his head. “No, legends are best made when other people create them, otherwise it would just be a boring autobiography.”

 

“You're a storyteller?”

 

“Hm, yes well, technically I suppose I'm a thief who works alone and deals in information and valuable items. Although, I do fancy myself a tale or two.”

 

“Information? So that's why you were being so nice.”

 

“Well, it certainly helps. You might tell a friend more than a stranger, but I would say I'm good at what I do because I'm nice, not that I'm nice because I want to be good at what I do.”

 

“In other words, you're strange.”

 

He chuckled. “As strange as you maybe?” He phrased it as a question but left before he received an answer.

 

I thought back to everyone I interacted with. ‘Just what will they say about me? And how will that affect the legend?’ I was poor… So I hadn't heard or read a tale in a long time. Still, I fondly remembered storytelling, I was curious to see how it would turn out.

 

While I had a couple of acquaintances who seemed to like me well enough, most people I interacted with rejected me for either being weak, lacking experience or skill or on occasion, just because I was a girl. 

 

“Legends huh… Make it a good one…” I mumbled, watching him walk off into the distance. ‘If he's a thief I wonder what it was that he stole from the monsters here. The treasure in the great forest isn’t usually anything worthy of that skill set.’’

 

The moment I finished I was too tired to bother with anything else. I put the minitours head back in my storage, grabbed my knife, and went up to my room to bathe and go to sleep.

 

‘I wonder which will make it back to Lola first, my “legend.” or my story. I bet it’ll be fun to see how surprised she is I didn’t even need her potion. Oh, and that promotion will be nice too. I’ll be a higher rank than Ted now.’ I would have laughed at the thought if it didn’t hurt so much.

 

I pulled out my adventurer card. You only got to update it when something substantial changed… So for me… That was four years ago when I was still just 14. That was when I learned tier-two fire magic… I paid to update my card because I thought it would help me get into a party…

 

I stared up at the ceiling, trying my best not to move around on my bed on account of my ribs. ‘Well… I guess I’ll see tomorrow.’

 

I tried my hardest to sleep, but it felt like all the panic and stress was catching up to me. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the minotaur charging at me. I don't know how many times I woke up sweating before I finally opened my window, letting the cool air blow through and freeze my room.

 

Of course, then I was too cold to sleep comfortably… With nothing better to do, I got up to go for a run and calm my nerves… But I quickly realized my side hurt too much for that so I changed the plan to a leisurely stroll. Eventually, I got so fed up with all of it that I let out a yell at the top of my lungs, only to regret it at the same moment, clutching my side and taking a knee, hunching over. ‘Why does it hurt so freaking much…’ I lightly hit the ground with my fist.

 

‘Right… The healer only used lesser heal. So the wound will have been patched up, but my body will still have to heal all the damaged tissue on its own.

 

“Hey, you good little girl?”

 

‘Little… what?’ I looked up to see a giant of a man with polished leather armor and shiny heavy plate mail covering his left arm from his fingers to his neck. It was Damascus azure steal, heavily enchanted.

 

“What on… Why…”

 

He clapped his hands together before kneeling down next to me and laying a hand on my back. I felt divine energy flow through me and begin to heal my wounds. “Is that better?”

 

The pain was gone in an instant. I stood up and lifted my shirt to see my ribs, but they didn’t look any different. “The pains gone… but it’s still a bit sore. Was that lesser heal?”

 

“Uh… Yeah, that’s right.”

 

I poked it carefully. ‘The bone mended itself… For lesser heal to actually fix a broken bone and get rid of the pain That’s…’ “Just, who are you exactly?” I  lifted my eyes back towards him.

 

He was looking to the side, averting his gaze. When I realized why I quickly pulled my shirt back down. “S-sorry!” ‘Wait… It wasn’t like I was holding my shirt up that high though was I?’

 

“I’m just a passing adventure. I actually came here to help slay a minotaur but somebody beat me to it.” He looked off into the woods and started to mumble. “I guess I could hunt that water panther while I’m here… But I was trying to relax.”

 

 “So… You're at least B rank then.”

 

He turned back, locking his gaze with mine and making me flinch. I couldn’t tell you why… But it was hard to look him in the eyes, every time I tried it felt like I was in danger. My heart raced. I didn’t wear my armor because of its weight and pressure against my ribs, but without it, I felt naked.

 

“A-rank, but good guess.”

 

‘He… called me a girl…’ My grip stayed tight on my shirt, holding it down. “Did the guilds send you then?”

 

He laughed scratching his head. “Nah… An old friend called in a favor.”

 

“Oh…” ‘Figures they wouldn’t care enough…’

 

We both paused and for a moment it was like time had stopped. He was human, with messy blond hair and bright blue eyes that reflected the glow from the moons His sleeveless cotton shirt and metal armor did very little to hide his muscles, which were large, toned, and void of almost any scars. Or… To put it another way… He was hot.

 

“Well see you later, hope your tummy’s feeling better, Don't feel too bad, I hear everyone gets the runs from warg meat the first few times.”

 

I paused, my head tilting to the side… ‘What?... Wait…’ “That’s not!” I slowly covered my face with my hands. It was true… That was common from what I had heard… Even if it never happened to me. But… well…

 

Anyway, he was already outside of the camp walls by the time I became brave enough to uncover my face. “I can’t believe him…” ‘He seriously used a miracle on me… Because he thought I had a stomach ache?’

 

I wasn’t sure what jumbled mess of emotions I had. A part of me was so embarrassed I never wanted to see him again. A part of me wanted his autograph, I mean, a real A-rank adventurer… Then, of course, there was the last part of me that just wanted to stare into his eyes for a while… But I don’t know what that was about.