Max nods at Beth, and she nods back. Almost simultaneously, the two dash forward at extreme speeds toward the group of squirrels. As they get close, the squirrels launch themselves off of the ground at them. Max swings his sword and cuts many at once, killing them instantly. He dances through the crowd and blood flies in all directions. Like before, Beth is doing the same thing, like how they were trained to do when facing a large number of small enemies.
The two are so efficient, they are like the blades of a blender. Not after long, the squirrels' numbers begin dwindling until there is only a couple left. Max simply swipes his sword and the area is now devoid of the beasts. Max looks over to where the crack was to see if there is any more coming from it, but now it's no longer there. On the ground below where it used to be is a small, transparent crystal orb, the same light blue color as the crack.
"I think we got them all," Max says as he walks over to the orb and picks it up.
He rotates it to inspect it. The ball's surface is smooth and the crystal is very clear, but aside from the blue color, it's not much different from a glass ball he has seen used as decoration.
"Mia, can you come here to check if the girl is fine? She looks to be still breathing." Beth says from beside the fainted girl.
"S-Sure." Mia comes out of the shrub she was hiding behind and carefully walks through the field of dead bodies, trying not to step in any.
"She doesn't look like she has any injuries. I think she just passed out." Mia says after inspecting her body.
"So… Can we now talk about what the hell happened?" Max says as he shoves the crystal orb into his pocket.
Mia and Beth fall quiet for a moment at Max's question.
"I think that was a crack?" Beth speaks up with doubt in her voice.
"That explains the insane number of squirrels earlier, there's no way this area would be marked green," Mia says.
"We should probably head back now, then. We weren't contracted to deal with this." Max says.
"Yeah. Max, go wash your face at the stream. Beth, you too. We can't have you walking around town looking like you just ate a whole cow raw."
Max also thinks that's a good idea since he doesn't want to attract any more attention than they already do. He walks back to the stream behind the thicket with Beth. It's not big at all, but the water looks clean enough.
"Max, that sword… is it the one that I gave you?" Beth asks as they bend down to splash water onto their faces.
"Yeah."
Blood drips down into the stream, merging with the flow, dying the water bright red. The cold splash makes Max feel refreshed in the summer heat. Once the adrenaline has worn off, reality sets in for Max. What he just encountered the second day on the mainland is what he has been training for his entire life on the island.
The squirrels weren't the fierce beasts they practiced to defeat, but fighting the real thing is completely different from the wooden dummies Max had back home. The thought of his decade of combat experience finally becoming of use makes Max's blood boil. He wants more.
"How do I look?" Beth breaks him out of his deep thought.
Max wipes the water off of his face and looks at her. While her clothes are still stained red, she no longer looks like she "ate a whole cow raw".
"Amazing as always." Max smiles.
"That's not what I meant, you idiot." Beth blushes a bit and splashes water at Max, who is chuckling at her reaction.
"You two, what's taking so long?" Mia calls from the other side of the bush.
"Coming," Max responds.
They walk back into the grass patch. The amount of dead squirrels is still unbelievable.
That's probably enough to destroy an entire village, Max thinks.
"Max, come here and carry her," Mia says.
"Me?"
"Yeah, who else?"
Realizing that he can't refuse his sister, Max reluctantly walks to the girl and picks her off of the ground, one arm on her back and the other under her knees. She looks even more like an angel from up close. Max can hear a little gasp from Beth behind him, seeing Max princess-carrying the random girl they came across.
"On your back." Mia scolds, unamused.
"Right, right."
Max sets her down while holding her limp arm and spins around. He then crouches and she falls onto his back. Max stands up, holding her by her thighs.
Max does not feel very righteous doing it, but he reckons if Mia was the one that told him to do it, it would be fine.
"Don't do anything weird," Mia says.
"Got it."
The three begin walking back out of the forest.
Max and the others didn't get any more attention than they usually do. Max figures that people carrying around bodies is probably not that rare in a city basically surrounded by monsters. The fact that the girl's face is covered by her hood probably also helps.
It's now sunset and they just arrived at the city square. There is a large stage set up in the center of the plaza with a flashy banner that reads "Cavendish Touring Theatre".
"They really do own everything," Mia says.
There is currently a play going on and the crowd is huge. The actors run around on the stage in elaborate costumes, but the dialogue is too far to be heard.
Max notices that the backdrop on the stage looks very familiar.
"Are they playing the story of Stratford Island?" Mia asks.
She seems to have noticed the same thing. Max realizes that she is right. The actors are most likely playing the original knights that were sent to the island.
"That's pretty cool," Beth says.
Max finds it ironic how the Stradfords are still being praised for their achievements centuries ago, yet they are now doing nothing when the rest of the world is in danger.
They walk past it without giving a second look.
The guild street is very crowded, much more so than it had been in the morning. It would be a hustle to go to the information center with the girl with them.
"Let's go back for now and report to the guild tomorrow," Max suggests.
"What are we supposed to say? Isn't it suspicious for three exterminators to not just survive, but defeat a Crack on their first day?" Beth asks. Mia looks at Max, too, waiting for an answer.
"We will cross that bridge when we get there." Max doesn't sound very concerned.
He knows that the worst thing that can happen is for their identity to be revealed, but after seeing the play, he realizes that it might not be a bad thing. However, the word might spread and they might be forced to go back, so Max still wants to keep his Stradford name a secret if possible.
Beth and Mia don't look convinced by his answer, but they seem to understand the logic since they stopped asking.
Soon, they arrive at the entrance of their inn. Max is beginning to feel tired from walking with the girl on his back.
"Mia, take my pouch and get us another room. I will go ahead and set her down in our current one." Max says before they enter the building.
"Okay." Mia grabs the coin pouch from Max's belt, and they walk through the door.
The tavern is bustling again. Emma the waitress is waiting around tables and doesn't notice them walking in. Max and Beth quickly walk through the tavern so they don't attract a lot of attention. They get up the stairs and enter their room.
Max goes to the bed and gently puts the girl down.
"What a day." Max walks over to a chair and slouches into it.
"Yeah…" Beth says absent-mindedly. She just stands beside the bed and stares at the sleeping girl.
"What?" Max asks.
"Since… Mia is not here, you want to do something?" Beth turns around to Max without looking him in his eyes. Her cheeks are red.
"Now?" Max is surprised to hear Beth ask that.
"What are you going to do while I'm not here?" Mia says while slamming the door open.
"N-Nothing." Beth stutters.
"That was quick." Max decides to just ignore everything.
"Yeah, apparently they have a vacant room right next door. Take it, it's yours. Beth and I will stay here with the girl."
"Are you sure?"
"The bed is big enough," Mia says matter of factly.
"Alright, then. But let's go get some food first. I haven't eaten anything since morning." Max stands up from his chair.
Max lies in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Slivers of moonlight shine through the window.
The dinner was good, like always. Emma greeted them but didn't have time to talk. She was very popular among male customers, probably thanks to her looks.
It has been so long since the last time Max lay down on a bed. The fabric is softer than anything he had slept in, but he doesn't feel the least sleepy.
A creaking sound comes from the other side of the room.
It's probably Mia, Max thinks. Back home, She used to go to his room at night when she couldn't sleep.
Max sits up, but it's not Mia who is standing at the door. It's Beth, in her white nightgown.
Comments (0)
See all