“Man, this is some shit breakfast.” Nikita says, sitting on the opposite side of the table from the four of us. “You should get better grub before the next time I drop in.”

The Grekkan mercenary is chipper and energetic, as if the events of last night had never even occurred. They did, though, as evidenced by the massive amount of property damage and the sour expression on everyone but Nikitia’s face.

Zutiria looks annoyed and tired.

Sam looks furious, distracted and distant.

Meri looks like she’s on the verge of tears.

Meanwhile this new chick is chomping away eagerly at the eggs, toast and sausage I made her. Even though I made sure there’s enough food for everyone it seems that Nikita is the only one who has an appetite.

Thanks a lot, Opalina.

We all slept in the same bed last night, including Meri. Even after everyone got healed up though no one was in the mood for any blushing nonsense or flirtatious banter. We all just needed sleep and if the Shield Maiden was embarrassed then she sure as hell didn’t show it.

I can’t imagine what else might have been on her mind.

The bed in the dorm was cramped and completely unsuited for more than two people. Suffice to say, Nikita is the sole person in the room who had a decent night’s sleep.

I’m starting to legitimately wonder if I’ll ever get to enjoy an entire undisturbed night in my new bed...

The bronze-skinned warrior sits up and stretches excitedly with a wide grin on her face, finishing up her breakfast and slamming her emptied glass of milk down on the table rudely. “Alright, bitches! Meet me out back in ten minutes. That’s where you do the training, right? Place looks shittier than the Aegean stables, but it’ll do I guess.”

Everyone stares at her with a dead expression on their face.

I can’t let this go on. I need to actually talk with her.

“Nikita, would you mind a word in my office?” 

“Ah. Sure, I guess?” Her beaming face takes a turn for the confused, as if completely unaware of what I might want to talk to her about.

I tell the girls to finish their food but it falls on deaf ears. Each of them is lost in their own little world.

Nikita follows me to my office and I gently close the door behind us. She immediately starts strutting around and looking at all my shit as if she owned the place. “Lots of pervy books in here. You ain’t backed up, are ya? Can’t imagine you are with such nice pieces of ass like those three hanging around.” She laughs loudly and slams her hand into her knee as if she just told the funniest damn joke ever.

“So, what exactly did Opalina tell you about our situation?”

“Yeah, Opal’s great. Said you were real close with her and you had some girls who could use some training and that you might need some extra security around this shithole. Right?”

“Yes. Although you realize now the building is even MORE compromised after your break in, right?”

She laughs and rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. Then she gets close. Really close. Nikita throws her arm around my neck like we’re the best of pals and she points off dramatically into the horizon. “Buddy. This place could have a thousand holes in it and it’d still be the safest building in the realms. Why? You got a Champion in your corner from now on. Me.”

“Yes, well. You haven’t even discussed what the hell you want from me as far as payment goes.”

She tilts her head and leans down to look me in the eyes. She’s tall, by the by. About 6’5 feet. “Huh. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Nikita laughs again, shaking her head over her own stupidity. “Are you mad or something?”

I take a deep breath, thinking to myself what a gigantic fucking understatement that is.

“I am not happy.”

“Do ya need a hug?” She stretches out her arms, completely genuine and not at all mockingly which makes it even worse somehow.

From what I can tell, Nikita is a very honest woman with no filter or regard for what is and isn’t socially acceptable. She comes off as oddly wholesome, yet totally badass and dependable... but her personality translates that into fucking insanity like last night. I think she said she was shitfaced so that might’ve been a factor too though...

I can’t even guess at what’s going on in her head.

“No. What are your services even going to cost me? And how are you going to be keeping an eye on the Guild? You’re not planning on living here or something, are you?” She better not be. I want to use my bed and I want to use it TONIGHT- I paid good gold for it! That Dwarven bed was supposed to be my reward for a successful month!

Gods, I never fucking splurge on myself... is this my punishment for trying to reward myself for once in my life?

Goddess, why are you doing this to me?

...

No response. Typical.

“Olive oil. I need you to give me a chariot’s worth of extra virgin olive oil every single week on the dot.”

...

“HAHAHA! Relax, I’m joking. Just one of those Grekkan stereotypes, am I right?” Nikita smiles brightly and slaps her knee once more. “I don’t give a shit, I don’t really need money. I owe Opal more than you could imagine and I’d do whatever she asked of me in a heartbeat. But I am planning on crashing here a couple of times a week if that’s cool with you, Chief?”

“I suppose we could prepare a room for you.” At this she just smiles blankly, and I let the sentence linger to see if she challenges it. Thank the gods, she doesn’t. I was terrified of having to potentially go yet another night without my sweet reward. “I don’t suppose you’re planning to pay for the damages you inflicted on the Guild?”

Nikita laughs wildly for a long, long time to the point where she becomes almost out of breath. As she exhales deeply, she smiles and says, “No.”

Of course not. I expected nothing less.

I sure hope Gwinlinn was planning on stopping by today... I don’t believe I’m welcome at Shatterbrew’s any longer so it’s not like I can just drop by and ask her to visit for repairs that I presumably won’t be paying her for.

“How are you planning on providing security if you’re not permanently on site, if I may ask?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I don’t have access to a lot of my skill set these days, but I’m a... hmm. What do you folks call the class again? In Grekka we call heroes such as myself Divine Champions. I think your closest class would be Paladin, although there’s a lot of differences.” She reveals with her usual casual attitude.

“You’re going to have to be more specific because I’m not following.”

“I can sense where fights are happening. It lets me know where to go so I can jump in uninvited to any brawl of my choosing. I... don’t do a lot of fighting these days, but protecting you guys is a bit different.” She smiles and puts her hand on my shoulder reassuringly. “If something happens here, I’ll know. I ain’t even gonna be far away, to begin with. I’ll be nearby at some local bar or gambling den. I’m just not exactly ready to up and move in here, ya know?”

I nod my head in response. “I suppose that would be good enough.”

I thought I recognized that symbol on her belt, if I’m not mistaken it’s the sigil of the Grekkan God of War, Ares... she’s wearing it upside down, though. In truth I’ve heard a lot about the Divine Champions of Grekka, it’s somewhat common knowledge though you have to take the stories with a grain of salt as each telling gets even more exaggerated.

For instance I think one of their Goddesses is said to be born from the seafoam that arose from the ocean after another of their Gods was castrated, or something. There’s no way that can be true.

Unlike many other realms, the Gods and Goddesses of Grekka run rampant and interfere with their population to an almost comical extent, to the point where realm travellers specifically avoid it at all costs. Especially attractive female realm travelers.

Nikita is obviously extremely talented, and I have no idea what she means by not having access to her skill set anymore but the fact remains that the girls could use a combat instructor and a well practiced servant of Ares is just about the best choice I could have asked for... despite the threat to the Guild’s structural integrity.

“Don’t go making any more holes in the building, though. That’s kind of a deal breaker.”

She laughs once more and dismisses me with a wave of her hand. “Yeah, don’t worry Chief. I just wanted to present myself as an enemy to see the girls in a natural state where I could actually judge their talent, ya know? Not gonna be pulling that again. And it went well, too.”

“I think it went a little too well.” I try to hide my slight annoyance, but I’m sure I’m doing a piss poor job of it.

I know that I’m a bit of a hypocrite. Just yesterday I was telling Zutiria not to coddle Meri during training, but... what Nikita did last night is something I’m not entirely comfortable with. That was really, really dark for a bit there and... I don’t know how they’re dealing with it yet. The three of them have been entirely stone-faced since waking up and have barely said a word.

More than anything I want my adventurers to become stronger. I can’t accompany them on quests and give feedback... despite how much I want to... So they either need to be more self reliant, or we need a miracle that would let me watch and guide them from afar. And that’s a lot easier said than done.

“Is that what you think?” Nikita smirks as if she knows something I don’t.

“Yes. You might have seriously damaged their confidence, or-”

“Or hurt their feelings?” She laughs in a way that ticks me off, and I get visibly mad.

Nikita gives me a thorough look over and the smirk is replaced by an understanding smile. “You’re a good guy and you really care about those chicks. I get that. You want them to improve but you don’t want them to get hurt. I ain’t asking you to believe me based on nothing. C’mon out back with me and I think you’ll be surprised with what you find.”

Her genuine smile manages to soothe me, much to my surprise. “Alright. If you say so.”

Clasping me on the back firmly, she leads me out of the office and before we step out of the building I see that all three girls are no longer at their seats on the table and that all of the food has been eaten to the last crumb.

Out in the training yard Sam, Zutiria and Meri all stand at the ready fully clad in their armors with their weapons drawn. Each girl is more focused than I’ve ever seen them, and their gaze focuses on Nikita the second she appears.

“You bitches ready?” The Grekkan Champion smiles, holding out her hand. I didn’t get to see it last night, but I can clearly see a golden ring on her finger that I assume is her Auto Loader. It shines brightly even in the typical dull Dewhurstian light, waiting for her to command it to arm her.

“Teach me how to use this fucking thing!” Sam angrily plants her sword in the ground. Her face is stubborn, prideful and conflicted. “The right way. I don’t want to change weapons. Big swords are cool, even if I need to work on myself to use it properly...”

“I-I want to be strong and confident like you!” Meri shouts behind a deep blush. “Please, take good care of me!”

‘And I’ll do the things you say too. I’m not good at being super motivated, but... huzzah.’ The petite Mage lifts up her staff with mock enthusiasm. Despite her sarcasm, I can tell that she’s taking this seriously.

Nikita smiles back at me with that same confident and smug smirk only now accompanied by a cheeky thumbs up.

Ok, fine...

I’ll admit that you’ve earned it, Nikita.

When I see that smirk I can’t help but smile back at her. I should have had more faith in the girls, because the Grekkan fire that this former mercenary lit under their collective asses is burning hotter than the forge of Hephaestus.