It was Milly’s moment and it would be over in a flash once the soldiers got their senses back. She moved like lightning to each of the soldiers and pulled out her weapons from her pockets. Each soldier writhed and grabbed their ears from the pain piercing from end to end. They tumbled as if they spent too much time at the tavern and exposed parts that their armor did not cover. Milly took care to jab white bolts of electricity into each of them. One in their leg, the other in their armpit, and much to their leader’s dismay, on his face. Each one fell to the ground with a yelp and clattered onto the forest floor. Milly took their weapons and tossed them to the side just in case they woke up. Chomper bolted straight for the fresh meal and shoveled them up in a single pass.

Kuro’s ears rang with pain as his vision blurred. All he could see was the shadow of someone running in a circle around another tall object. No matter how much he rubbed his eyes to try to get rid of the bright spot that floated in his view it wouldn’t easily leave. Suddenly, Kuro felt a small hand on his shoulder guiding him back near the warmth of the fire and urged him to sit. The hand moved him with care, telling him that he could trust them to bring him somewhere safe to wait until his senses returned. Moments passed until his vision returned enough to see the three men were unconscious and tied to a tree. One unlucky soldier happened to have a small black dog happily eating their greaves off exposing their bare shins.

“Good Chomper, eat until you burst!” Milly cheered.

“Well that solves one problem, but what do we do with the leftovers?” Kuro asked. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep well knowing we have a handful of strangers in our camp.”

“Just leave their fates to the Goddess for what they did,” the stranger sneered.

“Whoa, isn’t that a little harsh?” Kuro argued. “Despite all of that, they’re people too.”

“Yeah, I hate getting caught by the guards as much as the next person, but I don’t think they deserve that,” Milly added.

The girl looked down at her arm and clicked her tongue before ripping a part of her dress to tie around the red spot.

“They’re more trouble than they’re worth,” she said as she sat down by the fire. “After all they’ve done, they won’t have my pity.”

Kuro nudged Milly with his elbow to direct her out of earshot of the stranger. Despite the sleepiness creeping back, Kuro recounted the girl’s story about the bandits. Milly stood there with one hand scratching her head and the other on her hip.

“Humu humu…” Milly trailed off. “I don’t trust her. Not one bit.”

“I don’t really either, but at the very least she needs help. If we leave her here, there’s no chance she’d make it until morning.”

She gave a slight shrug, “Yeah, we should help, but she could be dangerous so be careful.”

Kuro nodded and led the way back to the fire. The stranger sat there with her knees on her chest. Her face was twisted to keep the tears that gathered from falling knowing if one escaped the rest would follow. Their night was far from over and Kuro let out a long sigh before he sat beside her. The sight of the girl lost in sorrow tugged on his heart. As an adventurer, he was obligated to extend a helping hand. He just couldn’t ignore someone in trouble, but he also couldn’t take any chances.

“Hello! My name is Jeff and this is my associate the Marvelous Magical Margaret” Kuro greeted her.

Milly, hearing the conversation, jumped down to Kuro’s side and yanked Kuro by the ear over to her to speak. Her softened voice tickled with every word making his face flush.

“Margaret? Magical!?” Milly complained in a whisper. “What’s with those lame names?”

A shiver ran down Milly’s spine at the thought of her being associated with anything related to magic stomping the ground in frustration. She pointed a finger at his face but puffed her cheeks to keep whatever strong words she had to herself. Kuro couldn’t help but chuckle at her protests.

“I’m just being careful like you said,” Kuro replied quietly. “There’s already a countless amount of things Kuro and Milly could get in trouble for from earlier. Including beating up some ‘guards’. We also took down humanity’s savior all in one day already.”

“Fine…” Milly surrendered. “It’s better than being caught.”

The renamed Milly sat beside the stranger opposite to Kuro and extended her hand. A forced smile cracked on Milly’s face begging for the awkward moment to end.

“Hello, you can call me Margie and the flows of magic are with me today!”

“K-Karen…” she responded weakly, taking Milly’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Karen. “You're welcome to travel with us until we get to the next town,” Kuro joined in.

Karen dropped Milly’s hand and grabbed her knees once more, “I can’t. I have to get it back… My dad… I’m so sorry!”

Tears began to fall as she plunged her face into Milly's shoulder. All the while Milly placed her other hand on Karen’s head giving an awkward pat.

“T-There, there,” Milly comforted.

Milly shot Kuro a look desperate for help. Both of them looked at each other back and forth and at the girl trying to converse with their eyes to avoid making the situation any more awkward. Kuro had to do something as Milly’s shoulder was getting soaked and the pats were going longer than they should. He knelt down to their level in an attempt to be a source of calm.

“Karen, what do you have to get back? If there’s anything we could do to help just let us know” Kuro asked to draw her attention.

“A locket,” Karen answered, wiping her face on her sleeve. “It was a gift from my father and my most important treasure in the world. My late mother’s picture was in it and now it’s the only thing I have left in the world to remember them by. You’re adventurers, right? Would you be willing to help me get it back from those bandits? Whatever other goods they stole from us would be all yours… I just want my locket back. I won’t ask for any more revenge… It’s all I need to start over again. Please!”

Kuro placed his hands on his hips and tilted his head back. He had already made up his mind, but he had to look to his new companion. They were in this together now and it wasn’t only his decision to make. The worst thing to do at the moment was split up.

“What do you think Mi-Margie? We could use the supplies and funds,” Kuro questioned.

“If there are guaranteed free things we have to do it!” Milly cheered.

“I guess that means we’re in then, but first some information. How many bandits are we talking about here?”

“I’m not too sure, they came at us out of nowhere and it all happened so fast. Goddess, I think there were about ten of them? They surrounded our three wagons so easily.”

“And where are they?”

“Probably still in the clearing we made camp at, it’s not too far from here if we run. I was lucky to find you two when I did.”

“Outnumbered and outmuscled… We should leave now and strike while they least expect it. Otherwise, we should give up hope and just be glad to have our lives.”

Karen stood up and gave her new companions a nod before searching for some sort of weapon from their captive guests. Chomper was happily pulling off a shoulder plate with a mouth full of droll that made Karen flinch at the sight. From their leader’s hip, she found a small dagger with a green gem on the guard.

A deep sigh left Kuro as he piled whatever firewood they had left into a neat layered stack. After it piled high enough, Kuro transferred some of the flaming logs on top until the whole campfire rested atop.

“Hopefully that lasts them until daytime… Nobody deserves to be monster food,” Kuro thought to himself. “If they’re lucky their friends find them before that happens.”

At the edge of the darkness, Milly and Karen waited for him with their weapons drawn. He took the lead as the trio bathed in the night. Milly fiddled with an object on her coat and a beam of light lit up to guide their path. At Karen’s direction, they retraced her steps until they found a moment to rest.

For the first time that night, Kuro wished that the sun stayed asleep for a moment longer. Time was not their friend, however, and the forest was full of distant howling. Better it be monsters at night than an organized group of bandits by day. If all went well, they wouldn’t have to deal with either.