Enora and I appeared in front of a shop. The placard out front had a picture of a purple caterpillar climbing up a rope towards a backpack. "Is this why you told me to move in that place?"

"Yes, I can sense the outside world in there, so I moved away from people. This shop should sell toothbrushes."

"Good! But I'm also going to need to shower tonight. I feel gross."

"I know what you mean. We should have showered at the inn. I guess we were too busy."

"R-right." I pushed the front metal door to the shop open, and as I did, I heard a bell chime.

"Welcome! Oh, it's you two!"

To my amazement, the guy manning the counter wasn't a bird. Instead he looked human almost, but his skin was dark gray. His ears were pointed, and his eyes were pitch black. He was wearing a brown woolen shirt. His smile showed small fangs.

"Whoa! Wh-mmm"

My mouth was again covered by my girlfriend as she whispered into my ear. "Don't say anything rude. I know you are curious. He is a Dark Elf."

"Actually my kind prefers the term Dothnur."

My girlfriend looked surprised and embarrassed. "I guess you heard that."

The Dothnir chuckled. “One thing my race takes pride in is our great hearing! Don't mind it. I get that a lot. What can I do for the person who bested Nychibi in combat?"

"You heard about that?"

"I just said my ears are good, but all merchants should have good 'ears'. If they want to stay in business. By the way, are you girls adventurers?"

""Nope.""

"Ah that's unfortunate…"

Enora and I looked at each other, but neither of us knew what was going on. We nodded to each other as we walked closer to his desk. "Is something going on?"

"Nothing you have to fret over. It's only that I wanted someone strong to be able to watch over my cousin."

"Your cousin?" I asked.

He nodded. "She will be parting tomorrow. She is also a mechant, but she insisted on leaving before a caravan could show up. The guild knows, and I'm sure they'll find someone but…"

"You want someone strong?" Enora asked.

"Precisely, and you have already proven yourself to be stronger than Nychibi. I am just woeful to leave her in weak hands. She will be heading east and crossing over the Fallen Rock Mountains."

"I heard someone say that was a dragon's domain?" I asked.

"Yep, that is Kalameet's domain, but he isn't a problem."

"A dragon isn't a problem?"

To my question, he shook his head. "That Kalameet won't attack anyone without ill will. Sure sometimes Bandits sneak through him, but the issue is the other side of the mountain. Once you get past the mountain you enter swamp lands. The Scalego kingdom doesn't control their Bandits close to the border. Damn Lizardmen…"

Enora narrowed her eyes at him. "You shouldn't judge the whole basket from a few bad apples."

"Hahaha! Isn't a few bad apples spoil the bunch?" He asked.

Enora narrowed her eyes. "If that's true then what do you make of the fall of the Calin Kingdom?"

"You mean that war that happened centuries ago? The Dothnur weren't… alright you win. My point still stands though. There are a lot of bandit attacks on the other side."

"Your cousin seems like a fool,” Enora said.

"Enora!"

"No, don't bother. Your girlfriend is right. By the way, I'm Belethor."

"Belethor? Where have I heard that before?"

"Dork, they don't have elder scrolls here…"

That's it! I slammed my fist on my palm. Wait! She knew that game!? When I looked at her she looked away.

"Right, so I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on between you too. You came here looking for something right?"

"Oh yeah! I need a toothbrush! Oh, by the way, I am Melle, and this cutie is…"

"E-enora!"

I giggled as she pinched my side.

"A pleasure to meet you both, but please leave the PDA out of my shop. You'll find the toothbrushes over on that shelf. The third one."

"Thank you, Belethor!"

We bounded over to the shelf, and to my amazement they didn't look much different from the ones on Earth. They were mostly brown, but there were a few of them with colors. I picked a red one, and Enora grabbed a black one.

"Did you find them alright?" We placed the toothbrushes on the counter.

"We did. By the way, what's the deal with the caterpillar?"

"Oh, this place is the Violet Goods Store. It's named after the Violet Monarch Caterpillars."

"Violet Monarch Caterpillar?" I asked.

"They live around here. They are giant purple caterpillars that don't become butterflies. They burrow in a tree their whole life. It is a beneficial pact between the tree and the monster. I thought it would be a good symbol for a merchant's trust."

"That's actually… Wait!" I looked at my girlfriend who was making herself smaller. "You told me that was a Treepillar!"

"I-I said it might be a Treepillar!"

"Hmm, and what about that Bacaw!? There is no way something has that du-..."

"You mean you both saw a Bacaw!?"

"Huh!? So it actually was a Bacaw!? Are they really special?"

"Damn right, those divine beasts are quite rare. It's said that only one sage has ever been able to tame one. Around these parts they are a symbol of good luck."

"Oh! I don't mean to change the subject, but you seem to know a lot of things?" I asked.

"It's part of being a merchant. I need to know about monsters just in case. Why is there something you want to know? It might cost you depending on what it is. Information isn't free."

"Hmm…"

"Don't worry I can pay. So just ask, dork."

"Right, Belethor, do you know where I can find giants?"

"Giants hmm…" He placed a finger on his chin. "I have never seen them…"

"So you really don't know?"

"I said I have never seen them, but I know where they are,” Belethor said. “Why do you want to know?"

"My dream is to wake one of them up!"

Enora clapped for me as I jumped and cheered.

"Pffft. Hahahahahahahahahaha….."

"Hey don't laugh!"

Belethor clutched his side as he slammed his hand on the counter. "I am… hahahaha… that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

My cheeks started getting red as even Enora chuckled.

"STOP!"

"Haha… sorry, sorry I'll give you the information."

"How much?"

"Well, I just heard the funniest joke of my life, so this one is free…"

"Mou"

"Right, so if you cross over the Fallen Rock mountains there are a bunch of kingdoms. First there is the Scalego." He frowned at their mention. "That is the swamp of lizard people. Past that you get to Farshaw planes. There are a few beastkin kingdoms there. North of that is my homeland, but that doesn't matter. Keep going East and you reach a human kingdom. North from there is…"

"Dusk,” Enora said.

"Figures, you know. Once you hit that human kingdom, beware of the north. It's just some rumors but…"

"Out with it!" Enoras eyes became fierce towards the poor shopkeeper.

"L-like I said it's only a rumor, but according to one of my sources… Dusk plans to siege that very human kingdom."

"Idiots…sorry you can go on."

"Right. Once you pass that human kingdom. You reach the Ocean of Nahziim. Beyond that is the Giant Continent."

"A whole continent of giants?"

"That's right. The place is so dry and hot most species can't stand it. They love it though. If you are going east can you please ride with my cousin tomorrow? I will give you those toothbrushes for free! If you take this letter to the adventurers guild they will accept you as mercenaries." He pulled out a letter and began writing before we had a chance to respond.

"We shouldn't…"

"It's fine Enora! I will protect you… even without magic I can be your shield!" I smiled at her and gripped her hand.

"That isn't what I meant." Thankfully she returned my smile. "I just have a bad feeling."

"It will be fine!"

He handed Enora the letter. "Here you two go! Take this to the guild." Just like that, we accepted an escort request.

As Enora and I arrived in front of the adventurers guild, there was a flock of bird people blocking the entrance. They all had a spark in their eyes as they looked at Enora. I glared at all of the ones trying to get close.

“Is it true!?”

“You really beat Nychibi!?”

“Isn’t she actually an S- rank adventurer?”

“No… there is no cri that's true”

“But you saw it… So criing fast…”

I was beginning to notice that the ones who said ‘cri’ were the parrot bird people. I wondered why I didn’t notice before, but more importantly, I wouldn’t let any of them take my girlfriend. I held onto her hand strongly as I held my other hand out to block any bird trying to get close.

“Make way you cridiots!” Annicri said, coming to the rescue. “Move your it will be your criking heads!”

The papabirdzy scattered as the fire in her eyes set their tail feathers ablaze. Only once the last one was gone did she turn around and smile at us.

“Wasn't it a little excessive to threaten their heads?” I asked.

“Crikikikiki, that’s nothin. It’ll be alcri. Anycri, Lord Harken wants to cri you two again.”

“Nope,” Enora said.

“So fastcri! Won’t you go at least one more time?”

“Nope,” My girlfriend said, straight faced.

“Well, there you have it. We are on a quest anyway. Tomorrow we will be heading out of here,” I said.

“CRIIII!? Cri aren’t serious? Didn’t cri just get herecri?”

“And now we are leaving. That should be crieasy to understand?” Enora smirked.

I lightly elbowed her side. “Hey, that’s rude. Say sorry.”

“Yea that’s rudecri! Ugucri…” Annicri put a wing to her eye as she faked tears.

“I-I’m sorry...”

“Crikikikiki! No problem. If you cri love birds aren’t going to come, it's unfortunate, but Lord Harken told me not to force cri. He did tell me to tell cri, he is sorry for whatever happens. And good luckri!”

“What’s that cryptic message supposed to mean?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Enora’s pun.

“What?” She asked.

I stared at her blankly. Did she really not notice? It took her a few seconds, but afterwards she pinched me again.

“Ow!”

“Crikikikikiki! Cri are both hilaricri… I’m not sure what he meant. I gotta go. Lord Harken told me to report right away. With your answer. Cri ya!” She said, flapping away from the guild.

“I wonder what she meant?” Enora asked.

“Who knows? We have a mission, remember? No use thinking about something we can’t know.”

Enora sighed after a brief moment. “True, I am just worried.”

“Everything is gonna be okay!” I put my thumb up to reassure her.

“Thank you—” She kissed my cheek before she finished. “—Dork.”

It was too late to reply as we had already walked into the wood tavern like swinging doors. Once they flung open, I felt like a gun-slinging cartoon character. I wished I had a piece of straw in my mouth and pants that are slightly too big for me. All the better if the pants had a large buckle on the…

“Ow! Will you stop!?” I mean it wasn’t that I didn’t want her to pinch me, but it wasn’t the time for that!

“I just had a feeling you were thinking of something silly again…”

I couldn’t help it. This interior was too much like the wild west. There were even frames of killed monsters on the wall. The heads sticking out were kind of freaky. Especially the large bear head. It had a beak!

There were so many whiskey bottles behind the bar too. There weren’t many people there, however—only a few stray birds chilling at the tables. There was even a dwarf in line at the receptionist desk. “Wait. Haven’t we seen that dwarf before?”

“He was the one that the Chibi knocked out before.”

I gasped. It was true, but the guy wasn’t drunk this time, even though he was still noisy.

“I told ye already to deliver these damn claws to that green kid!”

“But sir, can’t you just wait for her to come back to your shop?” The clerk asked.

He slammed his fist on the desk. It odd and silly looking. He was in a black apron, and he stood on his tippy toes to see over the desk.

“I don’t want that kid anywhere near me no more! You see this?” He pointed to a bruise on his face. “That damn kid is gonna get me in trouble with the misses. She be thinkin’ imma goin to a brothel…I ain’t inta that kinda play! Just take the damn claws. I don’t owe her nothin’ anymore!”

He threw glistening silver claws on the desk before storming past us and out of the guild. The few birds there started to laugh.

“Hahahaha, you see his face?”

“Crikikikikiki!”

“Shut up you lousy birds! Or take a request before I kill you…” The clerk said.

““Yes ma’am!””

The clerk’s feathers and the way she smiled at them made me think of another receptionist. We walked up to the desk hand in hand as it became quiet.

She narrowed her eyes at us, but she maintained her smile. “What can I do for my sister’s guests and the talk of the city?”

“So you really are Vernie’s sister?” I asked.

“That’s right, I am Bernie.”

I giggled.

“Something funny?”

“N-not at all! I was just thinking you have a beautiful name!”

Her face went red. “Th-thank you, Miss…”

“You can just call me Melle! And this cu-...”

“I’m Enora!” She got loud as she cut me off.

“Haha, you are both adorable. What can I do for you two?”

“We have this letter. We were going to go as guards of Belethor’s cousin tomorrow,” I said.

She grabbed the letter, and opened it. “Hmm… You are going to be working as mercenaries for a guild quest? Do you know what happens when the guild hires mercenaries that aren’t affiliated?”

“No?”

“The guild will take a 20 percent cut, and since you are going to be receiving 20 Fallen Gold Coins for delivering her to Scalego’s capital city the branch over there will take 4 coins.”

“Why so high?” I asked.

“The guild enacted this a few years ago due to some problems we had with mercenaries. However, if you become an actual guild member…”

“Yes!” I quickly raised my arm like I was in grade school again.

She chuckled. “It would be easy to process you, but this is a C-rank request. I know you beat Nychibi, so I could start you at least D-rank,” Bernie said, pointing a wing at Enora. “I am not sure about her though.”

I deflated. I didn’t even know magic or anything.

“Don’t look so down. Even if you start at E…”

“If she starts at E neither of us will join. I can vouch for her.”

“But I can’t just…”

“Just let them both enter as D-rank.” A golden bird appeared behind her and placed a wing on her shoulder.

Bernie blushed from his touch. “B-but sir…”

“It’s okay. I can sense her magic power, and she is just as insane as the Twilight.”

“I-If you say so… I will process them, but it doesn’t change the fact that they will be D-rank. If they join the guild there will be the problem that this is a C-rank request….”

Behind us, the doors were unceremoniously kicked open, and when I turned towards the loud bang. I was met with mean eyes, hair as green as spring grass, and wings like a forest.

“There is no problem if I am in their party is there?” Nychibi grinned.

Enora sighed. “I knew I had a bad feeling…”