It seems Nelia's pockets weren't that deep. She did say she had more stashed, but it's in a safe place. She didn't bring that much. Like she said, only enough for a few meals. But… we did have to spend a few coins for a pair of fur coats. Although I said I wasn't cold this place is actually freezing. And Nelia had so much skin exposed. It was a necessity in the end.

And lucky for me a local blacksmith let me use his grind stone for free. This way I was slightly able to make my sword into a proper usable weapon. So I managed to sharpen it. We couldn't afford a new weapon. After that we asked for the location for that cave. So it was time to go get that flower. Or so I thought.

"Hey, you two!"

A voice called towards us. When I turned around, I saw a very elegant looking female knight with crimson hair wrapped in a ponytail.

"I've been watching you. A human and a Mazoku hanging around that long together is suspicious. Please show me your papers."

Papers? What's she talking about? Does she want some sort of ID? Is she here to arrest me? Word of the prison break couldn't have already reached this place so fast. I can't afford to engage in a fight now. There are too many knights.

"Ahem. Just a moment. Here they are."

Nelia to the rescue again. She pulled a piece of paper from… well it's better not to say where she pulled it from. It felt weird. She mischievously winked at me and while the girl was reading the paper she whispered "it's a fake, but a pretty good one, it should pass at a first glance".

"I see. Everything looks okay then. Forgive my rudeness, but it is our duty to maintain peace in this city."

"No trouble at all. We understand."

"Come on, Nelia. If this is settled we need to get to that cave already."

"Cave? Pardon me again, civilians shouldn't venture outside without a proper escort. I assume you are referring to the cave near the mountain range. What business do you have there?"

Me and my big mouth. I've spent too much in prison. My mind isn't as sharp as it used to be. If I am to get my revenge I can't make mistakes like this. I ended up telling her the same story like the elf. Looking for the hydraria flowers for my village. For a second she kind of twiched.

"Allow me to come with you two."

Eh? What drove this development? Is she still suspicious about us? Why would she offer to help random people she just met?

"You don't need to go out of your way…"

"It's no trouble. This is actually my day off, so I can afford it. Besides the cave is probably filled with monsters. You two will need all the help you can get."

"But what's in it for you? Nobody in their right mind would…"

She kinda got flustered and waved her hands cutting me off.

"Oh, please don't misunderstand. I'm not looking for a reward or anything. I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I understand the need to find a cure, so I want to help you out."

Ugh. What choice do I have? No matter what I say she won't take a hike. Guess we gotta take her with us. But I'm not dropping my guard for a second. She could pounce on me at any time for all I know.

"Fine. If you really want to, then come with us."

"Right! I'll be in your care then. My name is Sylvia."

"Nelia."

"Yurishia."

------

Our way was pretty straightforward. But geez… this girl really likes to talk a lot. She kept asking me lots of stuff like what was my village like, what's the weather like, what special food do we had… she's like a kid who didn't get the chance to explore stuff out. I had to come up with all sort of crazy stories. I wanted to shut her mouth up

Now that I look at her she is kinda pretty. I know what are probably thinking, but don't judge me. I was in prison for 10 years. I didn't get to fap at all. The guards were all perverts if I tried anything like that so I had no choice but to go on a 10 year abstinence. And since my mind is still that of a male, of course I will get funny ideas when I see a pretty girl. But sadly this isn't the time.

I probably should mention that I asked Nelia if her spider minions can dig up some intel on her. A firm nod and we were all set. Like I said, trust is a very rare resource for me, so it's better to know all the corners. I won't be as gullible as I was back then.

On our way we managed to pick up the other common ingredients. Pepper mint, golden magnolias and lorian leaves. However since we took this knight along, we had to gather more than we needed. Can't be helped since I said this is for a village. And so we pretty much crossed the snowy plains with no issues and reached the cave. 

The cave was pretty much at 1h walking distance from the town. We arrived there without any major issues. I am rather curious how these dimensional monsters look like. And more importantly how strong they are.

"From here we might encounter monsters, so be on your guard."

I always am. And so, we entered the cave in search for that flower. The cave was damp and dark. You really needed to pay attention where you stepped. It was full of cracks and puddles. I lost count of how many times my feet got wet. Sylvia generated a small glowing light orb to act as torch and light the way. Well, for me and Nelia it wasn't necessary, since Mazoku can see in the dark as good as in the light.

We eventually reached an opened space. For a moment I paused.

"Lady Yurishia, is there something wrong?"

"We've got company."