“Hey, aren’t you a guys a little too strong to be just Silver ranked?” I asked Godfrey the next morning.

We’d already eaten breakfast and were on the road again. It was finally the 3rd day and we were expected to reach Derton by nightfall, assuming nothing happened. Of course something did, but fortunately we still made it on time.

Things were getting back to normal Daniella’s reverse harem too. That didn’t last long, but a good night’s sleep seemed to get them back in the mood. Though none of them woke up early to help her keep watch that morning.

Elliot still seemed upset though. He never started a conversation and when asked a question he only gave single word replies. It was the most quiet he’s been during our whole trip other than when he was sleeping or passed out.

“Oh! You’ve got a good eye kid. We’re actually all separately Gold ranked, and Lynn is Platinum,” he said as he showed me his 2 dog tags. One was silver and had the word “Ascension” etched in it, and the other was gold, engraved with his name, birthday and hometown.

“Unfortunately the Adventurer’s Guild won’t let our party rank up to Gold because we don’t have enough members.”

“What do you mean? I thought all you had to do was pass a test? That’s what the last adventures I traveled with told me at least.”

“It’s true that there is a test, but you need more members the higher rank you are. Silver needs 4, Gold 5, Platinum 6 and Diamond 8. There’s a limit to people’s individual strength after all. Even I couldn’t beat a Gold ranked monster all by myself.”

“Why don’t you just get another member then?” Lucy asked. She kept taking the initiative to gather information about being adventurers so I thought she was seriously considering being one in the future.

“No one else will join us,” he sighed. “I’d like to think that it’s because they’re already in their own parties, but really they’re just scared of Lynn to join us.”

“Can’t they just join for a day and rank up with you then leave?” I thought she had a good idea but it turns out the guild had already taken measures against that.

“Unfortunately whenever people join or leave your party you have to report it to the guild. And if you ever don’t have enough members you automatically rank down. So that won’t work. Maybe its for the best though. This way I won’t have to share Lynn with anyone else, and I don’t think I could handle another woman,” he laughed.

“Is that why you took this quest? Because you can’t take any higher ranked ones?” Since we could never paid a lot and I surprised a party that overqualified would take it.

“No, this is actually a Steel ranked quest. There’s plenty of other Silver quests we could take. If the guild knew about that there were Goblin Lords in these woods we probably would have accepted that too.” He said as he pointed to the heads strapped to his back.

“What about the Goblin King?” Lucy asked.

“Then it would have turned into a Gold Ranked quest and we would have to let someone else take care of it.”

He shrugged.

“Anyways, the real reason we’re here is to prove to Lynn and the others that she isn’t cursed. If we can get you to Derton and back safely then maybe they’ll stop believing it and we’ll finally get our 5th member. It took me a whole year to convince her though, and she would only accept the easiest escort quest we could find.”

“So you don’t believe it’s real?” I didn’t think he did but I asked to just to make sure.

“Of course not! If I did then we would have joined some other party by now. Dani and I have gotten plenty of offers after all. Anyways, enough about that. We’re almost at the village of Mornwood.”

We were at the point where our river joined up with the Iron River – the main river running through most of our country.

The Iron River was named that because it led to almost all the iron mines in Thearyn. It was much bigger than the river we’ve been following, wide enough to for 2 boats to comfortably travel side by side.

Mornwood was originally built right where the two rivers met, but because that spot was prone to flooding it had be moved slightly closer to Derton. But because of that there was a well-built stone bridge waiting for us at the intersection.

Godfrey turned and spoke to everyone.

“Listen up everyone! Once we cross this river we’ll head straight towards Mornwood and get some lunch. Once again if you get separated from the rest of us for some reason just keep heading downstream. But no matter what happens don’t jump into the river. There are worse things than goblins down there.”

◊ ◊ ◊

We traveled over the bridge and left the wild forests behind, replacing them with plains and farmland. Of course as a village less than a day away from Derton it was a lot bigger than ours. But since it was still too cold to plant anything nobody was tending to the fields, giving it an eery abandoned feeling.

As we approached we heard shouting coming from a watchtower built on the edge of the village.

“When was that built?” I asked, pointing at it. “It wasn’t there the last time we visited Derton.”

“You mean the watchtower? If I recall correctly they put it up about 3 months ago, after we lost Orlan to the theocracy,” Godfrey answered. “That was the last city between here and Ranta so they’re strengthening they’re defenses everywhere.”

We were still walking towards the gate – albeit a little more slowly – when we heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Stop right there!” it said. It’s owner was too far away for us to see them but it sounded like he was right in front of us. “Drop your weapons and state your business.”

“For us to be able to hear him from so far away, he must have Euthmoar’s blessing,” Henry said.

Euthmoar is the God of Sound and Communication, also known as the Messenger God. He’s the only on who can directly speak to humans and is the one who delivers all the gods’ messages to us. Incidentally his heavenly law forbids intercepting and reading other people’s letters, which is the other reason for his nickname.

“Meaning he can probably hear us from other there too, so there’s no need to send me as a messenger,” Raphael said lazily. He acted like our conversation never happened but hearing his voice behind me still sent shivers up my spine.

“That’s right, so don’t try anything funny. I can hear every word you say. Now tell me who you are and why you’re here!”

“We’re the Silver Ranked party Ascension, and we’re escorting these villagers to Derton.” Godfrey shouted.

“Do you have proof? Show me your identification,” the voice commanded.

“What a pain,” Raphael grumbled as pulled his from under his leather armor. Like Godfrey he had a silver one with his party name and a gold one with his personal information, though his was missing the birthday and hometown.

The men got very exciting as they watching Daniella reach down her robe for hers.

“I only see 3 tags, where’s your 4th member? Did they die on the way here?”

“No, she’s scouting ahead. Can we come in or -”

But before Godfrey could finish his question the owner of the voice started shouting at us.

“I knew it! You’re with the bandits!”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act dumb. It can’t be a coincidence that you showed up right before they did. Get lost! We already have reinforcements on the way!”

“Godfrey, looks like we got trouble coming from the north,” Raphael said as he pointed in the opposite direction of Derton. There were several masked people riding on horses, heading straight towards the village. Most of them wore leather armor, but the two leading the pack had a full set of plate armor.

“I see. This village must have had trouble with them before. No wonder they thought we were with the bandits. Guess we’ll just have to prove them wrong.”

While he was speaking about a fourth of them split off and charged straight at us instead.

“Raphael and I will fight the main force. Dani, you stay here and take out the rest of them,” Godfrey ordered before running towards them. Raphael sighed before following him reluctantly.

“Is he mad? What good is a shield going to do against all of them? Or is he expecting the dragon to come save us again?” Micheal asked, though he stayed awfully close to Daniella.

“Don’t be silly; we can’t bring a dragon this close to the city. I’ll be fighting them off this time. I have Alri’s blessing too remember?” she said as she drew a large circle in the ground again.

“Cause it was so useful last time,” Micheal grumbled.

“We weren’t this close to the river back then,” she said with a smile.

When the bandits were a couple seconds away from Godfrey he lept in the air with a roar and slammed his hammer to the ground, shaking the earth again. Though it was too far away to make the villagers fall again, we could still feel it from where we were.

It wasn’t enough to stop the horses, but it did slow them down enough for him and Raphael to knock two of the bandits off and steal their horses.

After that they rode towards the main unit, leaving the rest to Daniella.

The bandits seemed conflicted about whether they should chase after them or keep coming after us, but in the end they chose the second option. But by the time they got to us we were already protected by Daniella’s shield, and this time it had a thick outer layer of water.

It was flowing from the river behind us, wrapping itself around the dome.

“Hehe, I think they’re scared of you boss,” one of them laughed as they circled around. “Don’t worry, you can come out there. We’ll make sure you have a really good time.”

“I call dibs on the in the robes,” another one sneered.

“No way! I get her first! I’ll show her how to really use a staff,” someone else yelled as they started fighting over Daniella.

The slashed and poked at the barrier but fortunately their weapons couldn’t get through.

“Out of the way,” the one in steel armor said as he twirled his weapon in the air. “My trusty spear can penetrate any woman’s barriers.”

The other bandits laughed as he rode a fair distance away on his horse. When he was far enough to sprint he turned around and charged straight as us, his spear perpendicular to the ground. Just as he was about to crash into us he thrust it forward. It managed to pierce the layer of water, but it didn’t get any farther than that.

The other villagers started to get worried when they saw that, but Daniella remained calm.

“Haha! You see that? Just a little further and we’re good. Another thrust ought to do it!” the boss yelled.

His gang cheered him on, but when he tried to back off to try again he couldn’t.

“What the? I can’t pull it out!”

“Well now you’re just telling a girl what she wants to hear,” Daniella said in the same flirtatious voice she used the other men. “Don’t get the wrong idea though. You didn’t force your way in, I let you through.”

Ice started forming around the tip of the leader’s spear and it quickly crept up towards his arm. The leader immediately let go of it and backed off before it could reach him though.

“This bitch! She’s tougher than she looks. But it doesn’t seem the rest of them can fight. We just gotta take her out,” the leader grumbled. “Then, she’s all mine.”

“Great, you disarmed him. Now what?” Micheal asked. He was armed with the a chipped sword a goblin dropped the day before.

Most of us were in fact. Technically they belonged to our guides, but they let us borrow them until we reached town. It was easier that way they said. After all, they can only carry so much by themselves.

“Now this!” Daniella yelled.

Tentacles of water sprouted from the shield and knocked the thieves off their horses. When they were down the tentacles dived onto their heads and wouldn’t let go.

The first to be attacked were the ones who fought over her before the fight started.

I could see air bubbles quickly leaving their mouths as they grasped and slashed at the tentacles, but their hands and swords went right through them. Their companions tried to help but there was nothing they could do.

Before long they stopped moving altogether.

“We need to run boss!” one of the minions yelled. “She’s too strong for us!”

“Che. Everyone retreat and meet up with the others! Maybe she’ll change her attitude when we come back with some hostages,” he said with a smirk.

While they were talking the water tentacles were drowning more and more of them. But the ones still standing managed to get back on their horses and started heading back towards the village.

“Leaving so soon?” Daniella asked. “Don’t forget your weapons!”

The tentacles grabbed their fallen weapons and threw them at the thieves in one smooth motion. Each of them screamed in pain as they were stabbed in the back, but most of them managed to stay on their horses.

“You’re just going to let them go?” Micheal asked. “They’ll just come back with more people.”

“Did you already forget? Godfrey and Raphael are there. They’ll get what they deserve.”

“Right. What about them?” he pointed at the unconscious bandits. “Are you going to turn them into the city or something? And when are you going to take down this barrier? It’s really cramped in here.”

“Not yet. It’s still too dangerous to let our guard down. They might just be faking. It’s safer to kill them first,” she said in a cold tone.

The ice encasing the bandit leader’s spear melted and a tentacle raised it above the closest one’s body.

“Wait!” I shouted. “You’re going kill a bunch of unarmed men? Aren’t you strong enough to take them into custody?”

She looked at me for a moment before speaking.

“You said your name is Leif right? Well our quest isn’t to capture bandits. It’s to get you to town safely. I’m not going to risk your lives for a couple of bandits.”

“But –”

Before I could finish my thought the spear plunged down, straight through the bandit’s heart.

I watched as his body jerked up and started twitching. He choked out of some of the water in his lungs, but it just as quickly filled with blood. His face turned pale as he coughed out more and more blood until, eventually, he died.

A majority of the kids screamed. As it was most of their first trips to Derton and our village has never been attacked, it was their first time being exposed to such violence.

They watched the goblins get slaughtered of course, but it’s different when it’s a human.

Someone threw up. I’m not sure who was the first one, but they started a chain reaction. In such a crowded space everyone could smell it, and it caused others to puke too, myself included.

“Are you okay Leif?” Lucy asked as she knelt down next to me and handed me her wineskin. “Drink some water, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Thanks.”

I gratefully accepted her offer. I took a large gulp from it and the cool sensation did help a little, but I was still feeling a little nauseous.

“Sorry,” Daniella said. “But you might want to turn around for this. It won’t take long.”

Her tentacle pulled the spear out of the corpse and raised it above another one of the bandits. Except that one wasn’t really unconscious.

As I was turning around he suddenly jumped backwards and spat out the remaining water in his mouth.

“You bitch, you were really going to kill us all!” he yelled. “Even we wouldn’t stoop that low!”

“I’m still going to,” she replied. “The fact that you’re still conscious is proof that you all need to die.”

The spear thrust towards him, but then he shouted for his life.

“– heretic!”

That stopped her attack.

“…What did you say?” she asked. The spear was mere inches from his heart, but she didn’t kill him.

“Hehe. You heard me, I’m a heretic!” he smirked. “You know what that means, don’t you? You can’t kill me. Instead you gotta make sure I get to the church safe and sound! Unless you want to be branded a heretic too.”

“Actually, that’s a common misconception,” she said as she pulled the spear back.

“What are you –”

Then she sliced off his right arm.

“AHHHH!” He screamed in pain as he clutched opening with his other arm, but then she cut that one off too.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he yelled when he fell to the ground.

The tentacles that were attacking him wrapped around his wounds and stopped him from bleeding out.

“It’s true that I have to take you to the church, but you don’t have safe and sound.”

“Isn’t that a bit too cruel?” I asked. Even the best potion in the world wouldn’t be able to grow his arms back, and no healer would use their blessings on a heretic.

“For going against the gods he deserves a lot worse,” Henry said as he looked down on him. I’d never seen him look at anyone with such contempt until then. “And he’ll get it once we get to Derton.”

“You should count yourself lucky.” Daniella said to the bandit. “If we had an empty wagon to transport you on I would have cut off your legs too.”

“…Just kill me,” he whimpered as he knelt down and laid his head on the floor.

“We both know I can’t do that. You already declared you’re a heretic. After we drag you back to Derton you’ll be worked to death, despite not having any arms.”

“I was obviously lying!” he shouted. His face was a mess of drool and tears. “I was just trying to save my life. But it’s not worth living like this.”

“It’s too late it take it back now. But, if you want to kill yourself…” She placed plunged the spear into the ground with the pointy end up. “I’m not going to stop you.”

Stared at it for a few moments before slowly standing up and wobbled over to it.

“My family lives to the right of the Hogwash Tavern. Tell them…tell them I’m sorry for me.”

Then he drove his head through the spear.

“As if we’d do that idiot,” Daniella said.

She pulled him off the spear with her water tentacles and picked it back up again, positioning it above the next closest bandit.

“Do you hate heretics that much?” I asked. She didn’t seem like a particularly religious person so I didn’t understand why she would go so far.

“I don’t personally care either way, but I couldn’t risk him attacking us on the rest of the journey. He stayed conscious after my first attack somehow, so he must have some sort of blessing.”

“I was talking about how you refused to deliver his message. Can’t you grant him his dying wish at least?”

“Why should I?” she shrugged. “Would you just do what he wants? Someone who wants to hurt you and your family, you’re just going to follow his orders?”

“Well…I…”

I didn’t know what to say.

It’s true that he was trying to harm us, I thought. But the way he died was just too cruel. It seemed like the least we could do to make up for it.

How naive I was back then.

“Anyways, like I said, you might want to turn around while I finish off the rest of them.”