Chapter 26: Not a title (1/2)

Leaving the guard station, Ilea was both in a thoughtful but content mood. The talk with Dale showed her a new perspective on things. ‘I’m glad I’m as free as I am. To be constantly afraid of dying and leaving behind a family or an unprotected town would suuuck.’

Walking around in the town aimlessly, the sun began to slowly sink. She heard mothers calling for their kids to come home and eat. Saw men closing down their shops with tired expressions on their faces, ready to go home.

A kid was playing happily with his dog. Perhaps the same she had seen earlier today.

Ilea found a bench on a hill with a nice view of a big part of the city. ‘I guess if I can be there to fight monsters and these people don’t have to. Kind of a win-win situation.’

She sat there for nearly an hour thinking about her purpose in life. Before it was more of an ongoing drag. Working out, consuming entertainment, going to work, school. In the future college and then work.

It seemed a bit pointless to her now. Of course she had enjoyed parts of her life back on Earth, other parts were annoying.

There was just something she enjoyed about her current lifestyle. The simplicity of it. ‘Maybe I should’ve gone into pest control instead of medicine…,’ She wondered. ‘Or maybe a farmer?’

What she knew for certain was that in this world, she was free. and she could forge her own path with her own strength. ‘The strength I luckily gained from an old ruin I accidentally stumbled upon…,’

She chuckled at that and decided that what she knew for certain was that she knew very little. There was no definite answer but she was happy, right here and right now. Getting up from the bench she stretched.

“Time to lose the sentimentality and do something.” So she did. She ran through the city in the evening glow of the sun with more and more lights coming to life around Riverwatch. Jumping up on a building, she continued on the rooftops, her Dexterity and speed leaving no mark of her passing behind.

‘Does the why really matter when you can run around on top of buildings, feeling the wind in your hair?’ Ilea didn’t care about the answer as she kept running, a smile on her face. Some people were wondering where the laughter came from that they heard, but it was infectious and many a face turned a bit more brighter at the noise. Others of course shouted at her to shut the fuck up but to her it was all the same.

The next day soon came. Ilea stayed in her expensive Inn bed reading the books Splicer had left in her possession after eating a rich meal and taking a long bath the evening before. Only getting up for lunch, she got dressed and walked downstairs.

Giving the room key back, she said goodbye to the innkeeper. The whole night cost her five silver.

‘So what to do today…,’ she thought as she stepped out into the road. It must’ve rained later in the night as she saw a cart being pulled through the muddy road. The sun was out and shining though.

She walked through the city, occasionally stopping to check out a shop or a stand with food. Finally she came up on the adventurer guild and went inside. The people inside immediately glared at her again and they started whispering.

“A healer above level 50??”, “Do you see her… no not the red haired one… what, yes I can see she has a great ass but look at the healer!”, “Matt, what team is she with?”, “Oh my god you bunch of creepy assholes.”, “Let’s go ask her, I’m sure she won’t decline your pure heart Legomo!”

‘I don’t have a great ass?’ She looked at the red haired woman and had to sadly agree. Looking to the guy who said that she raised her thumb. The man next to him freaked out but he just smiled and gave a thumbs up back.

“She heard me? What the fuck??”, “Don’t worry, she didn’t. It’s a language of the soul.”, “Your dick you mean…,”

She stopped listening after that and went to a notice board on the wall to check on assignments. Ilea completely ignored the people that came up to her and after the third one, they left her alone, back to their own conversations or on top of the next unlucky desirable that entered the building.

She noticed that very few people were alone. ‘Guess those are nutters like me.’ checking the notice board, she found a lot of different assignments. A lot of them were for protection of caravans or property. Some others for monster subjugation, many of those were posted by the city itself it seemed.

Gathering was a big aspect as well but those assignments were a bit different than Ilea expected them to be. Instead of going out and gathering, they were simply about protecting the person that wished to gather something.

‘Makes sense I guess… I’m not a herbalist or a miner after all…,’ She was interrupted by a clerk calling out to her.

”Excuse me, what's your name?” He asked as she approached.

”Ilea, why do you ask?” She said as she leaned on the counter

”Yea, not a lot of healers around. Fewer with black hair and blue eyes. There was a letter delivered for you. Please wait a moment.” He said and went to a back room. A minute later he came back and handed her a sealed letter.

“Does this cost me anything?” She asked but he shook his head.

“Paid in advance but I do appreciate tips.” He smiled a bright smile to which she handed over a couple coppers. Returning towards the notice board, she opened the envelope and read the contents.

‘Dear Ilea.

I have heard of the Elven attack and hope dearly that you are doing well. Please visit me in Dawntree as soon as you can, I have a job that you might be interested in.

Alice’

‘Didn’t she say she wouldn’t see me in quite a while… it’s only been a month or so.’ She shrugged as she thought that ‘Not like I have anything better to do and traveling seems nice.’

Continuing through the list of posted assignments, Ilea found something appropriate and took it. It was about the protection of a caravan on their way westward. They would leave in two days, exactly when her armor would be done.

Seeing as she was a healer, the clerk didn’t even double check anything and immediately approved her. “Your contact is Arven. He’s gonna be the captain of the caravan guard. They leave at midday from the southern gate. Take this with you to identify yourself.” She got back the paper she took from the wall which now additionally held a stamp.

Thanking the clerk, she went back outside, folding the paper and putting it into her notebook. She visited the library again but didn’t find Maria so left soon after again. She had plenty of books to read for now so there was no need to get more.

Ilea decided then that she’d be spending the next two days relaxing. ‘Not in the city though… I need some time away from all this busyness…,’ She thought, as she walked towards the southern gate. Exiting the city, she ran for around an hour, reaching an area overlooking the city.

Normally one would assume that a place with an as wonderful view as the one before her would be filled with people, or at least someone trying to sell something. It wasn’t though, for the simple reason that it was outside the city walls. ‘At least something good comes from so many people choosing not to fight…,’ She thought as she jumped up a favorable tree to look for a nice place to rest and read.

The day went by and before Ilea noticed, she had read through three of the five books Splicer had lent her. ‘Not bad…,’ she thought as she looked at the cover of the best one she’d read so far. A fantasy story about a young man facing down a demon to protect his family. The demon then forces the man to help him, holding his family hostage.

Upon helping the demon find an ancient sword, he learned that his family had long been eaten by the demon. Being left for dead by some of the demon’s followers in a high level dungeon, his resolve was set and he struggled against impossible foes.

The latter half of the book was basically him entering the demon’s kingdom and finding his revenge. ‘Not really a fantasy story though… considering the world I live in now I guess…,’

‘I do like revenge stories…,’ smiling at the book with the familiar feeling of loss in her stomach, she put it back into her pack. Deciding that she had read enough, she prepared to sleep.

Sleeping on something like wood didn’t bother her much anymore. Her much stronger body barely noticing the normally unpleasant cushion. Although she did of course prefer a nice inn bed, there was something about sleeping outside in this strange world that she found captivating.

‘Maybe I should carry around a nice feather bed with me…,’ Ilea mused as sleep came to her.

The next day was spent much the same. This time she also went for a walk around the forest, trying to sneak up on different animals. It didn’t quite succeed as planned but being able to outrun them still allowed her to catch up to them easily. Being a bit sick of meat though, she usually just forcefully cuddled them or fed them some fruit. Some of the animals even tried to follow her around afterwards. ‘I’m a princess alright…,’ She smugly thought, as she tried her best at singing songs from a different world.