A pair of amber-colored eyes entered an old bar on the outskirts of Troan, her face was so tired, by the dark circles that were so obvious under her eyes. Her robes which were stained with mud in some corners showed she had just come from the forest, while the two swords on her back raised many questions for the Dwarves who were relaxing drinking beer.

As the only remaining dhampir race, Eira had a lot of bad reputation among the Royals. Not because her temperament is sometimes uncontrollable, but because she can be a threat to several big kingdoms.

"Two beers, please," she asked the barmaid, then took out a coin from her pocket and started counting.

Today, not her lucky day,  but that doesn't mean her usual days are also lucky, it's because she just lost 3 bets in one day. After counting the remaining coins, which were only enough to eat for tonight, Eira shoved the coins back into her pocket. Tomorrow night she will eat root squirrel again if she doesn't get any coins tonight.

Two dwarves approached Eira who was busy thinking about tomorrow's dinner. She glanced at the two Dwarves, one of them wasn't the type to be hard to beat if they intended to fight, but not the type who liked to make a fuss other than to get coins. The dwarves liked to bet coins just to see a fight, and Eira could take advantage of this situation.

"Is there a problem, Lads?" asked Eira without looking at the two Dwarves.

"No, we just wanted to know what would bring a girl like you to a Dwarf bar this late?" asked the Dwarf with the long braided beard.

Eira turned to the Dwarf. "Just like most people, for fun," she replied.

"Not with your two swords," said the dwarf next to her who looked younger than the bearded dwarf.

Two beers were put down by the barmaid, when Eira glanced at him to hand the coin, the barmaid lowered his head without saying anything, his eyes not even daring to look. It's not his business to interfere. Eira then gave her the last three coins while drinking a glass of beer in one breath.

"You're not a witch, and your ears aren't pointed as the elves, nor with fairy wings." The braid-bearded dwarf glanced at Eira with a judging gaze.

"Kilorn, we are not here to judge her," said the young Dwarf.

The bearded dwarf who was called Kilorn looked away in annoyance with a snort. "You ask her," he snapped and left Eira with the young Dwarf.

The young dwarf took a deep breath as if tired of his friend's attitude. “You see the Dwarf over there,” he said, pointing at a group of Dwarves in a soldier uniform. “They say you are a monster hunter, is that true?”

Eira took another glass of beer while chuckling. "Depends on who asks," she replied.

"You know what this is?" The dwarf took out a gold coin bearing the hammer symbol while showing it to Eira.

Of course, Eira knew very well about the coin. Dwarven royal gold coins called Frocrint of Troan, that belonged only to dwarf nobles and were worth a thousand Clovrint gold coins. If she got just that one coin, then Eira wouldn't have to bother thinking about the root squirrel for her to eat tomorrow.

"What do you want?" asked Eira while looking at the young dwarf. By the looks at the body size of the young dwarf, it's not like most dwarfs, much taller a bit, while his long hair is left loosely neatly. He looked cleaner than every Dwarf in this bar.

"I bet 10 coins on everyone if you're not a monster hunter, I'll give you 2 if you say no to them," he offered.

Eira chuckled, not because the young Dwarf was trying to cheat on the bet, but because of the fact what he wanted to know. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to accept, other than that, the coin offer was pretty good for her to refuse.

"I'm not a monster hunter," shout Eira suddenly which almost made everyone turn to her.

The young dwarf smiled as he gave two coins secretly which Eira quickly hid.

"You hear me, Lads? You lose,” the young Dwarf cheered.

“Huh, I told you you will lose. How could she be a monster hunter,” said Kilorn from his table.

To be honest, Eira wouldn't have said any more if Kilorn hadn't judged her like that and kept his god damn mouth shut. She was satisfied with her 2 gold Frocrint coins, but Kilorn's words were not something that Eira could tolerate. During her life, everyone doubted her, and Eira wouldn’t let anyone try to doubt her again.

Eira got up from her seat and walked over to Kilorn who was sitting in the middle of the room. "Why are you so sure?" she asked sarcastically.

Kilorn looked surprised that Eira boldly approached him. "You said it yourself, didn't you?" Kilorn chuckled as if making fun of Eira who swallowed her own saliva.

Eira smiled wryly, then paused for a moment, as if contemplating doing nothing. Until finally she chose silence and turned to her half beer. However, when Eira had just given up on her uncontrollable temper, Kilorn chuckled as if underestimating her choice to remain silent.

Like lightning in the daytime, Kilorn was surprised when Eira threatened him with one of the swords that had disappeared from her back and ended up at his neck. A commotion began, as did the soldiers who were now on guard with their swords.

"You don't know who you're dealing with? If you cut off my head there will be a very severe punishment for you,” said Kilorn who looked hatefully, as if his high position could make Eira lower her sword.

"I don't care who you are, I don’t bow to any kingdom, which means I have my own laws." Eira raised her sword for Kilorn to stand up.

"Wait!" This time it was the young Dwarf who interrupted. "I'll give you 2 more coins if you free him," he offered as he took out two gold coins and placed them in front of Eira.

What a good tactic to get extra coins than Eira expected. She took the gold coin and shoved it into her pocket, while her right hand was still aiming at the poor dwarf's neck. "If I say I'm not a monster hunter, it doesn't mean I can't fight, General."

Before leaving, Eira scratches the General's face with her sword. Of course, that was what she would do even before the young Dwarf offered her 2 more gold pieces, but she would also not leave without leaving a mark. For Eira, it would be a lesson for the General not to easily judge someone from the outside. As for Kilorn himself, he would remember it as an insult for humiliating him in front of his own soldiers.

Now, Eira could leave in peace, especially after her pocket was filled with royal gold coins. After buying 2 bags of fresh meat, Eira went to the forest. She touched a large silver bird feather tied with a leather cord and hung around his neck. Not long after that, a large bird with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion appeared from the sky, slowly descending towards him.

The griffin, an animal that is almost never found, has become a sacred animal for fairies and elves. The reason is, the animal never appears on the surface, even the fairies and elves have made a special forest for Griffin so that one day they can see it.

As for Eira, she didn't even think she could ride a Griffin. At that time, she intended to infiltrate the meeting of 7 kingdoms in Arlon when Eira met someone named Venus who turned out to be from a different world from hers. Venus is looking for a criminal who has escaped from her world and hiding in Gaia. Eira who accidentally met her agreed to help Venus. From there she met Griffin, but the animal didn't intend to meet Eira at first, he preferred Venus who turned out to be a human. After Venus finished her business, she returned to where she came from, who then gave the silver feather of Griffin had given to her for Eira to use.

Until now, Griffin had become Eira's ride for traveling. But because of Griffin's well-known reputation, Eira always came and went from the forest so that no one would see her riding a Griffin.

"One bag for now and one for later," she said, taking out a bag of fresh meat and giving it to Nero—Griffin's name.

Of course, Eira and Nero weren't very good friends, at least that's what Eira thought. The reason is, he prefers the previous owner who is a pure-blood human than Eira who is only half-human. Even so, Nero always comes when she calls him. Perhaps, she's the only one who thought Nero didn't like her.

"Come on, Nero, I'm so tired." Eira then rubbed the top of his head gently, which was returned with a lazy snore. However, Nero lowered its head so that Eira could climb up.

Slowly he flapped its wings until they shot swiftly through the trees. The night air above was quite cold, making Eira shiver slightly. Nero who noticed that Eira was not used to the night air, tried to fly lower.

"Thank you," Eira muttered.

Their journey is quite far, Eira lives in the Arlon area, near the Celebes river which merges with the Haetra sea. The Arlon area had a lot of forests which made it a perfect place for Nero the Griffin and Eira to live. Away from many people, although she traveled more often than living in her house in the woods.

It's been almost two weeks, Eira didn't come home. She spent most of her time hunting and traveling. Living as the only remaining dhampir race makes Eira not good at making friends. The only friend she has is Nero. Even before the animal became her friend, Eira would sometimes talk with her sword or the horse she used to ride.

For her, a home is no longer a place where she lives, but a place where she feels calm and reminisces about all the memories of the past. Although the memory of it's not as much as she remembers. But the dreams that are like memories tell her that she was once happy.