— Don't you have a hammer?
— It's not my fault, don't look at me that way, Colt! Everything lasts too fast. In four thousand years, there was nothing left. And when I go shopping, well, wars can start if I say the wrong thing. And usually, the wrong thing is anything I say, isn't it, Blith?
— Sometimes you don't even need to say anything. Just the other day, I went to Hanvrerdal, and I was shopping, one of the Maidens asked for my address, to deliver stones and mortar for the usual home reconstructions. — Blith sighed before continuing mournfully. — First, she thought I was lying, and then, well, a war started.
— Hanvrerdal? — The Unicorn Edas found the name strange.
He served Maid Cynethryth. They were in an atrium facing the forest and thinking about how to begin gathering raw materials for the furniture.
The Marquis was a learned Unicorn, but he had never heard of the city Blith mentioned.
For her part, Cynethryth had made clay cups. They looked more like toys than anything else, however, they were enough for the Immortal's teas, made with random herbs from the garden.
— That was the kingdom of those people with strong arms and mucous skin, the Frogoids. — A people also unknown to Edas.
— Ignore him, Colt. For the Immortal, these days are equivalent to yesterday or twenty thousand years ago. I don't even remember those. What I was saying is, we can create our own tools, or you can go buy them. How far is Fairfield? A day?
— Three, my Lord.
— Go with Blith, or we improvise. — The Demon King took the lead and stuck his hand into the trunk of one of the trees. He pulled out wood and then squeezed it with his hand, forming a ball at the tip and a handle. — This can be used as a hammer.
— No. — Edas assured.
Cynethryth asked and was bitten on her back, on her Maid's dress. She was thrown onto Edas's back, who began to trot toward the city of Fairfield.
STONECROW
The snow fell heavily, making traveling among the clouds a torture. Thus, dressed for the cold, the three Lolis walked along the roads of the Kingdom of the Scaly Stain.
Æthelflæd was the only one who didn't complain. She would have been fine traveling by Serpentary this whole time. However, the others were unwilling to carry the amount of contraband that the Human had in her blood.
Ǣg-berend trotted alongside the others. She felt out of place, but she enjoyed the company, and more than that, if the three were attacked by envoys from the Monster Continent, she preferred to be near the one who had saved her life.
Leofwynn didn't complain, but she hated every step in the snow.
They left marks in the white.
And around the road, they saw the trees losing their last leaves, heavy and dark, shedding the accumulated snow.
Foxes ran on the ground.
And Owls came out during the day, for the gray clouds imitated the early night's brightness.
They arrived in the City of Stone Crow and went to the Adventurers' Guild.
To everyone's surprise, Æthelflæd also had a registration.
She was a Porcelain Rank Adventurer, while Cwenburg and Leofwynn were Diamond Rank.
Thus, Ǣg-berend remembered her old group and felt nostalgia as she refilled the registration form, with the strong man at the reception judging her and doubting when she signed that she was a Level 1 Adventurer named Rose.
— Register our name as, the Arch-Alchemist Æthelflæd's Group.
— No, wait. This is important, don't write any name. — Leofwynn intervened. She was thinking, but ideas wouldn't come under the pressure of the Adventurer's daughter forming behind her. — Fine, use that crappy name.
And, at the Vassals of the Sword of Fire Guild, the Arch-Alchemist Æthelflæd's Group accepted their first missions, to exterminate a Monster at the Stonecrow Cliffs, a contract offered by the city hall itself.
— I don't understand one thing. — Æthelflæd began as the group walked along the calm streets of hexagonal cobblestones and two-story half-timbered houses with reddish roofs. — Why do we need to work?
— Leofwynn wants to buy a carriage to make traveling easier. — Cwenburg trembled as she spoke.
— And some better clothes for this weather. We have no savings left. — Leofwynn justified.
— Can't we just steal that carriage? — A random merchant's carriage, in front of a fabric shop, was pointed out by the Human.
— No. — the group replied in unison.
TROT PART I
Cynethryth rode Edas, and above her was a long red cloak. The Unicorn trotted firmly but calmly.
The surrounding fields acquired silvery contrasts from the snowfall, but also golden hues from the rye.
The last harvest gathered the commoners, and across the fields they reaped on both sides of the road.
Cynethryth's long braids, contrasting with Edas's black mane, swayed calmly, with the Maid's lethargic breathing keeping pace with the equine's.
BATTLE AGAINST THE MONSTERS
They were Demonized Oysters, fourteen of them, accumulated due to some Mage's scroll having conjured them on the beach, before the thirty-meter-high white Cliffs.
Leofwynn leaped onto them and incinerated them with one attack.
— Did you leave any to prove we killed these things? — Cwenburg called the Vulcan's attention, who ran to the water and picked up what looked like toasted shells.
The Receptionist was Valdemar, and he evaluated the shells, making the payment to the group. First Mission of the Arch-Alchemist Æthelflæd's Group, Complete!
The Lamias were the majority in this Kingdom, and this was visible at the tables, drinking and gathering. They wore leather armor, and their bodies bore natural scales.
The Serpentariums were also common, so much so that Godwyna had gone out for a meeting during the night. Tessa was an acquaintance of his, and they both drank at the Golden Lamb Tavern, the same place where the Lolis and the Centaur had dinner.
Godwyna ignored the friends and left early with Tessa for the City Hotel. The others rented cheap rooms at the Tavern itself. And they would have slept peacefully, if not for the lights.
Æthelflæd saw it first, near the window. She got out of bed and slipped on her slippers with her feet.
The air still smelled of olive oil and honey, and roasted ribs.
— Wake up, come see this. — First Leofwynn, and then Cwenburg, who preferred to stay asleep, and then Ǣg-berend, who disliked the idea of the Human going down the stairs to investigate.
In their pajamas, the three went down, leaving Cwenburg with her stuffed animals, bought right after they split the payments, a priority for the Unicorn-Girl.
In the street, the sound was constant until it ceased, and then something luminous would appear. Someone was running, laughing, shirtless. Generally Lamias. With the Serpentaries flying low, over the rooftops, carrying something that shone.
They were bamboo sticks, along with clay and gunpowder.
They called those fireworks Swords of Fire.
And they were indeed held by the Lamias as if they were swords. Ignited until they exploded, initiating total chaos, with the streets fighting, peacefully, even as they threw the Swords of Fire in a circular motion.
They soared over the residences in a light show and exploded on the other side in the middle of the crowds.
It was the beautiful Harvest Festival.
With the streets lit ablaze by the fireworks, which Æthelflæd, Ǣg-berend, and Leofwynn learned to handle and throw at strangers, who included Goblins, Humans, and the locals, who were the ones having the most fun.
In the room, with explosions happening down many streets, Cwenburg got up and closed the curtains, returning to bed. She thought of Edas and what he might be doing, and fell into a deep sleep.
TROT PART II
— Are we there yet? — Cynethryth pondered when the stars formed the ceiling and the night shone with the three Asteroid Rings cutting across the sky from horizon to horizon.
— Just two more days. — Edas replied, still at the same calm trot that had marked the entire journey. — I wonder what my Wife is doing at this hour.
— I bet she's thinking about you. — The Maid hugged the Unicorn's back tenderly, and they continued on.