"I have no money."
I muttered the words while sprawled on the lumpy inn mattress, flipping open a wallet lighter than a sparrow's breakfast.
Five hundred rien stared back, barely enough for a crust of bread.
Tonight's room was already a lost cause.
"Shit. Why am I this broke?"
The answer sat plain in my skull.
I had stopped taking requests the moment Letty's pink hair appeared on the horizon.
Twelve days of hiding had drained the purse dry.
"That damn hero."
I rolled off the bed and paced the creaky floorboards.
Running to this inn after our first clash had been a mistake.
Letty was still in the city, sniffing for black-haired adventurers like a bloodhound.
Yesterday proved it.
I had crept to the guild for a simple goblin quest, and there she was, shouting at the reception desk.
I spun on my heel and vanished before her garnet eyes locked on.
Hiding cost coin; working risked capture.
The math was brutal.
I needed a request that paid fast and carried me far.
~
The guild hall smelled of ink and old leather.
I scanned the board, hood low, heartbeat steady.
A fresh parchment glowed like a beacon.
<< Escort to neighboring country Etal >>
Qualifications: Able to repel monsters and bandits. Rank irrelevant.
Recruitment: Ten slots.
Reward: 150,000 rien fixed, plus bonuses.
Five days by carriage.
Thirty thousand rien per day.
Nobles or fat merchants usually posted such sums, but the client was listed only as "private."
Perfect.
Take the job, ride out, never return.
Letty would scour the city while I vanished across the border.
I claimed a slot before the crowd thickened.
Departure: tomorrow morning.
I paid the innkeeper my last five hundred rien for the stable loft, shoved a curious horse aside, and slept on straw with an empty stomach.
~
Dawn painted the meeting square in pale gold.
Carriages waited in a neat row, guards checking wheels and harnesses.
I slipped through the bustle, pack light, hood deeper.
A familiar voice rang out like a cracked bell.
"It's been a while! I couldn't apply for the party, so I booked us both on this escort instead! Sign here!"
Pink hair flashed in the sunlight, twin tails bouncing with triumph.
Letty stood beside the lead wagon, waving a contract like a victory flag.
My escape route had just become a cage.
"Why are you here…!"