(AN:New chapter will slow down a bit, I'm currently on the first day of an Internship, not on hiatus tho just slow)
In a beautiful forest that looked straight out of a fairy tale I used to read with my childhood friend, I strolled along a narrow dirt road, reading a note given to me by Mr. Alchemist. The atmosphere was peaceful, the air breezy and pleasant, and rays of sunlight filtering through the forest canopy created a truly scenic picture.
"See a thorny, big black tree… turn left. See a clear pond with a school of colorful fish… turn right" I muttered to myself as I ventured through the forest like a real adventurer, but the thing is, I didn't sense anything dangerous around at all, so it was basically a cakewalk for me.
An hour passes and I finally arrive at the as mention in the note.
It was a grove filled with vibrant, fiery-colored flowers, fluttering in the morning breeze like a sea of blazing flames.
I reread the note to confirm that this was the place where I was supposed to harvest the flowers, and yep, everything checked out fine. What I needed was a flower shaped like a ball of fire atop a vibrant green stem, which is growing all over the grove. Unfortunately, the note didn't mention how many I was supposed to collect at all. Did he really forget to write down the amount I needed? Really?
I thought about it for a while, then I just shrugged my shoulders and decided to just fill the basket with as many flowers as possible.
Minutes passes as I finally filled up an entire basket with flowers. I pluck up so many that's I kinda lost counted.
But as I stood up from my flower-picking posture, the corner of my eye caught sight of something.
It was the silhouettes of guards, standing watch over a mineshaft entrance carved into a small hill near the grove. And among them was a familiar face. An old man twirling his mustache like some kind of villain. It was the merchant from yesterday! It looked like he had changed clothes too, now wearing some sort of leather armor.
Now that I thought about it, I also had the village map I borrowed from the receptionist with me. I could just hand him the map I borrowed, finish his quest, then tell the receptionist that I lost my map while picking flowers.
What an ingenious plan. I think my peanut brain evolved into a walnut brain at that exact moment.
"Hello, Mr. Merchant!" I said, waving my hand at him with a bright smile on my face.
After he heard my voice, he and his two armed companions, probably his bodyguards, turned their heads toward me with suspicion written all over their faces.
Meanwhile, I pulled the village map out of my pocket, walked toward them, and showed it to the merchant.
Somehow, he looked at me with a puzzled and awkward smile. "Wow, you brought us a really detailed map of the village, huh? Great! Now come inside to get your reward!" he said, smiling broadly.
Damn, today I was basically getting coins and a connection with a merchant just for strolling through the forest. It couldn't have been a better day!
I looked up at the sky and prayed, "Thanks to the divines for my good luck today"
That was when I noticed some kind of bird circling overhead. It was a spectral creature with crystal-like wings, something I had never seen in my entire life. Admiring its ethereal beauty, I waved at it, thinking it must be some rare, probably magical creature.
In that moment, the bird disappeared in an instant, leaving me dumbfounded.
"Damn, so I really was blessed by the divines, huh?" I murmured to myself before following the merchant into the mineshaft.
---
As I walked behind him, I noticed that the inside of the mineshaft was far livelier than I had expected. Groups of intimidating armed men were everywhere, chatting, training, and gambling. Honestly, the place felt more lively than the adventurers' guild itself. The other thing I noticed was that every guard wore a pristine white fur cloak draped over their backs. It looked really expensive. Just how many men had he hired as guards, I wondered?
After walking for a while, we ended up in a space that seemed to be a mix between a storage room and a planning chamber, filled to the brim with boxes and barrels of trade goods, weapons, and armor. In the middle of the room stood a large round table, and atop a pedestal at its center rested a pure white crystal.
"Place your map on the table" the merchant said to me.
"Okay" I replied, placing the map on the table.
"Seems legit… now, about your reward…" he said coldly.
But in that moment, the one thing I least wanted to happen… happened.
"Uh… is there a toilet around here? Duty calls…" I asked with a warm smile, desperately trying to hide my embarrassment.
"Go through that tunnel, turn right, go straight, turn left, walk straight, then turn—"
"Thank you!!!" I shouted, hastily placing my basket on top of one of the barrels before bolting off, not even waiting for him to finish giving directions.
Unbeknownst to me, the merchant sneered after I had left the room.
"Tch. Fine. A damn fool like you is going to die soon anyway" After saying that, he pulled a signal whistle from his pocket and blew it sharply. "Everyone assemble" he shouted
---
After a lot of wandering in random directions, thanks to not listening to him properly, I somehow arrived at a toilet. In reality, it was just a damp room with a hole in the floor and a bucket beneath it, hidden behind a wooden door with a crescent-moon cutout. Fortunately, there were torches on the walls, so at least it wasn't dark inside.
I pull my pant down and squatting down on top of the bucket hole and begin doing my duty.
"Kinda boring. Let's read something to pass the time" I thought to myself, then pulled out the note the alchemist had given me and gave it a proper read this time.
That was when I realized there was an entire paragraph I'd missed, scribbled at the very bottom of the page.
It read:
"Bring me back only three flowers, no more than that. Be careful not to bundle them together. Torchbloom flowers are normally safe if there are only one or three of them, but they're extremely sensitive to flammable objects and can ignite once gathered too closely in massive numbers… I learned that the hard way."
That paragraph made me think, "Oh… but who cares anyway!" There were so many people here that if a small fire broke out, they could probably extinguish it really easily.
At that exact moment, I heard an earth-shattering roar, followed by a violent tremor beneath my feet.
"Earthquake!!!" I shouted in panic, hurriedly pulling up my pants and bolting out of the toilet, my mind filled to the brim with the fear of being buried alive.
After a few moments, the shaking stopped. Still, I didn't let my guard down. Mom and Dad had taught me that earthquakes often came in short sequences. So I kept running.
Some pathways were blocked by fallen rocks, forcing me to sprint in random directions, desperately searching for any room with a table. After all, Mom and Dad always said the safest place during an earthquake was under a table.
Finally, I found a room sealed by a locked iron door. Fortunately, a key that clearly belonged to it was just hanging on a hook beside the door.
I hurriedly unlocked the door and rushed inside. The room turned out to be some kind of makeshift bedroom, complete with bedrolls, a few chairs, and… voilà A big wooden table!
I wasted no time diving under it, plopping myself down as I let out a long sigh of relief. I survived!
Then I realized something.
I wasn't alone under the table.
There was a malnourished little girl with short messy red hair and ragged clothes, cowering in fear, and beside her, a well-mannered little girl with long well-groomed purple hair in fine clothing, gently trying to comfort her.
"Umm, hello?" I said, waving at them in what I hoped was a friendly manner.
"!!!!!"
Both girls recoiled from me in terror.
"Don't come any closer, you bandit!" they shouted.
"Bandit?! Where?!" I spun around in panic, gripped by the fear of getting stabbed in the back by some bad guy.
Seeing my reaction, the purple-haired girl asked hesitantly, "Y-you aren't a bandit?"
"No!" I shouted back immediately. "Young miss, I'm an adventurer!" I said, quickly pulling out and showing her my adventurer ID card.
Somehow, the moment they saw it, both girls' eyes filled with tears.
"Someone finally came to help us!" they cried.
Seeing that scene tugged at my heart… just a little. And then it clicked.
"The earthquake must've shifted the ground and opened a passage from the merchant's tunnel into some kind of super-secret bandit lair!" I said, nodding in satisfaction with my own understanding.
"Please get us out of here!" they both cried.
"Gladly, but if there are bandits around, we have to get out of here stealthily, okay? You both can walk, right?" I asked with a worried look. Then we all standing up from under the table.
If I had a choice, I wanted to get out of here alone and safe, not dragging children along and ending up dead. But… it was the right thing to do, I guess. And, well, getting a reward from their parents would probably be easy too.
"I could, but she twisted her ankle" the purple-haired girl said, pointing at the malnourished girl.
"I could carry her" I said proudly, like some kind of protagonist.
Then I tried to pick her up… and reality hit me. Somehow, the malnourished child was far too heavy for my fragile body.
After awkwardly and very gently setting her back down, I gave up on the heroic act and instead let them hold my hands as we walked slowly together.
We walked in random directions under my lead. Fortunately, somehow, we didn't encounter a single bandit despite being deep inside their lair.
After a really, really long time, we stumbled upon some kind of observation hole, wide enough for the three of us to squeeze through one by one. I ended up helping the purple-haired girl lift the black-haired girl out first, and that alone nearly drained the last of my strength. Still… I guess I did something right.
It was already dark outside, so we must have been lost in those tunnels for hours.
After gathering myself, I let out a long, agonizing sigh and looked around for any sign of civilization. I really didn't want to trade being lost underground for being lost in the forest.
Then I spotted it. A landmark I recognized.
The grove of fiery flowers, dancing like a sea of flame beneath the light of the twin bright moons.
"Follow me!" I yelled with confidence, leading the girls straight toward the grove.
But when we arrived, an utterly unexpected scene greeted us.
A fully armed unit of at least twenty men in village guard uniforms was marching into the grove. And at their head were three familiar figures. Two adventurer that's I recognized… and the guild receptionist, clad in full plate armor?!
---
Vice chieftain of the White Wolf Bandit Gang aka The Merchant POV (After duty calls me)
I called everyone in the hideout to the central planning room. Now, as I stood by the table, I was surrounded by all of my comrades.
"I've got the map. Our plan can finally begin!" I shouted with confidence.
"Huzzah!" everyone roared in reply.
"Umm… what about that guy in the toilet?" one of them asked, referring to that damn use-and-dispose spy.
"Once he comes out, I'll finish him off." I said dismissively. "It should be easy. That guy's a complete idiot."
"What about the hostages?" another asked. "Do we still have to feed them?"
"Dispose of them however you like." I replied coldly. "We don't need hostages anymore now that we have the crystal and the map." I jabbed my finger at the guard barracks marked on the map."Send the thief brigade in. Activate the super-expensive temporary magic disturbance crystal. It'll cancel their low-level armor and weapon enchantments long enough for us to raid them!"
"And if that fails?" one of the newer members asked nervously.
"Then we still have our other expensive weapon from the gnomes." I said, grinning. "Behold… gunpowder!"
I turned and extended my hand toward the side of the room where we stored our massive stockpile of gunpowder and oil.
Then I saw it.
A single flower basket sat neatly on top of one of the gunpowder barrels.
The basket was engulfed in flames, so high they were already licking the ceiling.
"Wh—"
I didn't even finish the word.
My world went white.
---
Isobel POV (At night on the same day)
My heart throbbed with regret and anticipation. Beside me stood Alex the Swordsman and Marigold the Priestess, two of the village's last remaining adventurers, their eyes burning with vengeance for their fallen comrades. Behind us, a disciplined line of town guards marched forward to defend their home. And then there was me. A veteran adventurer who had long since retired, becoming a guild receptionist after losing the one I loved, now clad once more in my old battle gear, ready to exact revenge for the newbie who was surely dead.
"I shouldn't have sent him there… this is my fault" I muttered to myself.
We gathered at noon, marched through twilight, and arrived at the grove beneath the glow of the beautiful twin moons.
But what greeted us wasn't a bandit guarding the entrance. Nor was it a fearsome bandit army.
Instead-
A newbie adventurer stood calmly in the middle of the fiery flower grove, the blossoms flickering like flames under the moonlight. Behind him were the missing orphan girl and the governor's daughter, both clutching his hands. And behind them lay the smoldering ruins of the tunnel entrance, fire and smoke still spewing from the wreckage.
It looked like a scene torn straight from a fairy tale.
A lone hero who had faced an entire bandit lair, annihilated it with overwhelming power, and rescued the princesses.
All of us just stood there, utterly speechless, as the newbie casually walked up to me.
"Oh, just as I thought, I was going to get lost in the forest! You guys really came in clutch" he said, sounding triumphantly nonchalant.