It's pink!
Pink!

Okay, maybe I'm not one to talk with my silver-white hair color.
But even so, pink!?

I would assume she has to be a magician of some kind.
I've heard that those energies can cause weird oddities in one's appearance.
Like red hair for fire mages, and brown eyes for earth.
However, PINK!?!!

 

"Oh my god! Are you hurt? You must be lost! Don't worry we'll help you! Everything will be alright! Liana is here for you!" (L)

 

Why do all women I meet have the sudden urge to squeeze me tightly to their chest?!
And to rescue me you are more than two weeks too late!
Now you could say my status is not really threatened anymore.
It is more along the lines of "to be evaluated", considering certain very uncommon circumstances I found myself in.
But now I am sure they aren't bad people.
Something that makes me eager to not let them get ripped apart by my spiders.
I should try to calm her down, as she seems very into this soothing.

 

"I-I am fine!" (N)

"You can't be! Do you know how deep you are in the forest?" (L)

 

Excuse me?
Isn't it up to me to decide that?
I know where I am!
I've read a map!

Yes, I can understand where she's coming from.
There are no settlements close by, just trees.
It doesn't make sense that I am here.
And I for sure can't tell them where I am coming from.

 

"Don't worry we will protect you!" (L)

 

I am not the one who's in danger here!
In fact, they are in terrible peril without realizing it, as they apparently have no idea where they are.
Like this, it could turn out very badly when one of the Arachnae finds them.
Masiabi would hunt them down mercilessly and god beware if Kyroki would get them.
On the other hand, as I said before, this is not really a forest of death.
The others usually don't kill everything that comes in here directly.
So it should be possible for them to leave.

 

"We should bring her to the others!"

 

This one who speaks now is a young man.
I would say in his mid twenties.
He seems to be a swordsman, wearing a leather outfit and has his crucial points covered in plates.
So they want to bring me to their group and I have absolutely no idea how I'm supposed to explain to them that this is not necessary.
And because I stay silent they leave me no choice.

I am brought to something like a camp.
Some smaller trees were recently cut and a clearing came into existence.
They have tents, a big campfire, and some wooden pikes around the perimeter.
I can see three more at the moment.
So a group of six.
A man of large build approaches us, carrying an impressive wooden axe.

 

"Ah John, good that you are back! Edward and Connor are taking their sweet time!" (R)

 

Okay, eight!

 

"Who is this?"

 

I am small and was hidden behind John, but there is apparently no way to completely escape this situation.

 

"H-hello! I'm Neri!" (N)

 

I'm a little nervous because of the situation and the fact that my spider familiars are a little bit agitated.

 

• "Please don't come close, I don't want you to be seen."

 

Eritu said they were integrated into the other groups and thus a bit of hunting experience should already have accumulated.
And in this way also killing proficiency.
That is enough to make me nervous.

 

"What is a small girl like you doing in such a place?" (R)

"We found her close to the camp, Robert." (J)

 

The big man that was just called Robert gives the impression of being the leader but has a very friendly sounding voice.
I should stay vague and not give details that could lead to a slip of mine.

 

"I live here with my sisters." (N)

 

That is no real lie if you think about it.

 

"You live here!? Here in the forest?" (R)

"Ehm no, not directly!" (N)

 

More like... below.

 

"But you know where you live? Can you show us?" (R)

 

That's a definitive...

 

"No, I'm sorry." (N)

 

Can't hurt to be polite.

 

"She's obviously lost! We need to help her!" (L)

 

This Liana is far too good for this world.
However, that is quite a problem for me now.
I should separate at the first possibility.
There would be far too many problems if they'd take me with them now.
It's hard to understand, yet it isn't that bad here with the others, and trading my life here to go with some strangers into a probably hostile environment would not be in my favor.
But my attempts to stop this are prevented as she is practically glued to me.
You aren't my mom!

 

"You might be right, but this contradicts our assignment." (R)

"There are more important things than a simple guild quest!" (L)

"That is not up to you to decide! You are new and should know your place." (R)

 

This was rather harsh.
Yet, now it is clear that they are adventurers.
But what am I going to do now?
And what do they want here?
Liana takes me to a chopped tree to let me sit there.

 

"Here, you must be thirsty. Wait a moment!" (L)

 

She holds out a bowel, yet it’s empty.
Rather confused, I look at Liana who seems to concentrate.
Then I detect how drops gather inside and soon a fine amount is there to drink.
This is the first time I saw magic, as it is rare and even more rarely displayed.
If you don't count the weird and difficult-to-understand things that happened to me.
To have someone like her with you on a journey should be incredibly useful.
But that doesn’t explain her hair at all!
Nonetheless, it was something special and I look at her in astonishment.

 

"Don't worry, it's perfectly normal, so you can drink it without fear." (L)

 

I am not thirsty, but it would be rude to reject it.

Yep, that's water!

 

"You are a water mage!?" (N)

 

As I said, she is the first mage I've ever seen, and because of that just as special to me as, for example, giant spider girls.

 

"To be precise, I am more like the healer of that group." (L)

"A healer!?" (N)

 

This is unbelievable!
Not only are mages so rare that I never saw one before in my life, but good mages are even rarer.
However, someone possessing more than one kind of magic, that's extraordinarily rare.
Yet, healing magic might explain the hair.

 

"What is someone as great as you doing here?" (N)

 

Such a person could surely live a pleasant life at some kind of honorable institution.

 

"Oh, thank you for your kind words. I'm an adventurer and we are on a mission to inspect certain occurrences relating to this part of the forest." (L)

 

Why do I believe to know where this is going?
Okay, I’ll take the bait!

 

"What kind of occurrences?" (N)

"You know, there was a huge swarm of giant spiders that approached the outskirts of Lindon. We were following the traces till this place." (L)

 

What did I say?
I should try to lure them away from us!

 

"But, but there aren't any spiders here. I'm living close to here and it's completely peaceful! You must be at the wrong place." (N)

 

Oh man, I'm lying so much here.
I'm totally unused to this and not sure if I'm doing a good job at all.

 

"I mean, there ain't any monsters to deal with at this place!" (N)

"Not necessarily. It means there is a reason that they are not here. It could be a random situation, but it’s more likely that something is driving them away. Probably what we are looking for." (L)

 

Nah, there aren't giant spider monsters who control everything here!

 

"But now about you! You said you are living with your sisters here?" (L)

 

There is no reason to lie about anything as long I don't mention certain details.

 

"Sort of. It is a bit complicated. You could say they are relatives of some kind. At least when my parents died they took me in. And I am grateful for this." (N)

"But where do you live? You don't seem as if you have been going a very long distance. So are you really living this close to the forest?" (L)

"Kind of! It was very hard to get accustomed to at first and still is, but it is not unbearable. In the end, I was a totally unknown person to them and they helped, so I should stay a little open, right?" (N)

"I guess! They sound... peculiar if they decided to live here." (L)

 

Oh, dear, you have no idea!

 

"But really, aren't mages with more than one affinity incredibly rare? How are you an adventurer?" (N)

"I, well, I had some problems at the academy. Unwanted attention and such. Also I'm not so great. Just to have such a trait doesn't mean you are good at it." (L)

 

I feel that this is no funny story, so I don't inquire any further.

 

"However, you are also something. One could think you are a ghost, as pale as you are." (L)

"Yes sure, but it was not really my decision!" (N)

 

It was the decision of a bunch of very abductive spider monsters!

 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you!" (L)

"None taken. But it kinda rubs a bit of salt into the wound." (N)

 

She seems to be nice and is very open about her life.

 

"No, no! I mean you are beautiful in a special way. There is no reason to be dejected because of your looks." (L)

"It's not directly about the looks, there are other circumstances that make it hard on me." (N)

"Then I should stop now." (L)

"Might be better." (N)

 

All in all this troop looks quite capable.
Eight trained fighters are already a force to be reckoned with.
Or rather seven and a healer.
Nonetheless, they would have no chance if the others decide to attack.

 

"But if they retreated, why are you here? It sounds dangerous to deliberately seek out monsters that went back home." (N)

"You don't need to worry! The guild purposely sent a large group just to stay safe." (L)

 

You ain't safe!

 

"They are all capable adventurers." (L)

"You must know them quite well to trust them this much." (N)

"Well, not that long. But Robert has a good reputation and they accept me among them, despite my lack of experience. Healers might only rarely accompany groups, yet they trust me very much with such a responsibility as taking care of them." (L)

 

You are far too trusting, lady.
Telling me all this!
How old are you?
I wasn't sure before, yet with this new evaluation I would say around seventeen years old.

 

"And have you fought monsters before?" (N)

 

I've got the feeling this might be her first mission as inexperienced as she seems to be.

 

"There were some encounters, but I am just a healer and don't fight directly. My water magic is also not really offensive." (L)

 

Makes sense, however now I am concerned that someone could take advantage of her.
I am very soft myself, but apparently, she's not much better and to top it all off, is also in a terrible situation.
On the other hand, my situation involves giant monster spiders, so who am I to judge?

 

"But you don't need to worry! The others will protect you if danger should arise.

And I will stay with you until we are safe again." (L)

 

To me, she seems very nice and I wouldn't want something to happen to her.

 

"Hey, Edward and Connor are back!" (J)

 

Ah, the last members of this troop!
I think Edward is a sword fighter of some sort and Connor has a crossbow.

 

"What took you so long?" (R)

"Don't be like this! We brought our meal!" (Ed)

 

They present two large rabbits.
And I become pale!
Figuratively; a more bleached state is not possible.
The reason is clear.
It is absolutely forbidden to hunt in this forest.
Or more specifically, Masiabi hunts down all predators to protect the stocks.
This isn't good, they are in grave danger.
And at the moment the atmosphere is growing tense for me.
The reason being, I don’t just sense my own spiders, but also have an awareness of all familiars in the vicinity.
So I know that there are some smaller ones around here, watching.
It was clear that they couldn't have entered the forest and stayed undetected.
Too many familiars are watching everything.

 

"Neri, what is wrong?" (L)

 

This all might soon turn out very bad, but maybe I can fix it if I soothe the waves.

 

"Tell them that you all need to go away now and leave the flesh here!" (N)

"Neri, I don't understand?" (L)

"You were right! There is a reason why there are no monsters here! It is forbidden to hunt inside the forest and those who break this rule get targeted! You all need to leave now without the prey, maybe that will calm things down!" (N)

"Neri, what is the problem?! You know what dwells here? Tell us, so we can prepare for the fight!" (R)

 

Our discussion got loud and the others started to listen in.
Edward and Connor are surprised, asking themselves who I am.
John and Robert should have both got the most important points.

 

"No, you can't fight it! If you stay everyone will die! You must leave!!!" (N)

"I know whatever it is that scares you so much must be frightening, but it is our job to face such things, so you don't need to worry!" (R)

 

Why aren't they listening?!

 

"You can't! They will... they will kill you all!" (N)

"So more than one! Do you know anything else about the threat?" (J)

 

They are completely ignoring what I’m trying to say.
Even worse, with the tension, my spiders become agitated and draw closer.
Also, some of the other spiders are creeping nearer.

 

"You should tell us! They can't do anything to you if we take care of the problem!" (R)

"You don't stand a chance." (N)

 

I say with a flat tone.
The only one even thinking about my words is apparently Liana.

 

"Maybe we should listen to her. Retreat and reassemble. She seems very convinced of it!" (L)

"Liana, you are still too green behind the ears! Look at this girl, she is so small. What scared her could just be one of the spiders we're here for, but this is nothing we cannot manage." (R)

"It's not like we don't know how to fight! This will be easy!" (Ed)

 

How can one be this full of himself?
I stare completely out of options.
Then out of the corner of my eyes, I notice that John readied his bow at something.
And then, my sense tells me what it is.
One of the bigger spiders got out of cover and John noticed it.
Immediately, I rush at him and jump into his side.

 

"Zing"

 

"Uoh!" (J)

 

Too late to deter the arrow now.
It flies through the air and finds its target.
The spider dies instantly.

I stare in disbelief and fall to my knees.
I just realized something!
That one belonged to Eritu.
She won't forgive this!
They are all done for!

 

"Neri?" (L)

 

Liana approaches me in this state.

 

"Run." (N)

"What?" (L)

"Run as fast you can! You need to get away from here!" (N)

"Neri, I don't understand you?" (L)

"RUN!!! Flee now! Don't look back! Don't stop! Just run! Before it's too late!" (N)

"She is obviously agitated. Maybe we should wait until she calms down." (J)

"Please! Leave or they will come and..." (N)

 

I sense spiders crawling toward us.

 

"It's too late." (N)

"Now tell us what’s scaring you! Who’s coming?" (R)

"My sisters." (N)